"You're up to no good."
Under Lily's death stare, Snape couldn't help but roll his eyes.
He really couldn't figure it out for the life of him.
Why was it that every time he did something out of line, Lily would immediately detect it as if she had telepathy!
What was this?
Some damn fairytale magic where good friends' hearts are linked? Wasn't it a bit too ridiculous?!
"Fine, fine! It was like this last time too. You never let me help when you do something serious!"
"Beautiful Miss Lily, I hope you know we're about to break off relations. Please mind your manners."
Snape disdainfully brushed off Lily's fist that was hammering on the chest of his wizard robes.
This nonchalant attitude made Lily grit her teeth in hatred. She felt she didn't need to wait for the planned time; acting out a break-up now in her true character would surely convince many people!
It was the weekend, and the two were walking on the way to Professor Slughorn's office.
After a month of preparation—
Slughorn was finally ready to receive these two potential seeds, confidently prepared to absorb two future outstanding wizards into his Slug Club!
But to be honest, neither Snape nor Lily was very interested in this.
The former had been busy observing the subsequent impact of the "Muggle Threat Theory" on his roommates recently and investigating suitable candidates to influence next in the study group.
Moreover, through persevering efforts, he had made physical contact with most students and professors in the school. Now that he was about to accumulate another sum of experience, Eric was busy selecting a suitable specialty to replicate.
Not to mention the most important task of creating a minor hex.
As long as he could develop Levicorpus, which swept the school in the original story, the current dilemma of lacking experience would be solved immediately!
This was also the highest priority project in Snape's current plan, keeping him dizzyingly busy all day.
If Professor Slughorn's owl hadn't tapped on his window this morning, he would have wanted to deliberately forget this matter and pretend it never happened!
Lily, on the other hand, had been addicted to spending time alone with Snape in the Room of Requirement recently.
In order not to hold him back when the time came, and secretly delighted to return to the nostalgic tutoring time, Lily cherished every minute and second spent in the Room of Requirement.
If she hadn't known that Snape was also invited by Professor Slughorn—
Lily would definitely pretend she hadn't received the owl's letter and drag this matter out until she couldn't anymore!
Although attending a professor's invitation, both of them were dressed no differently from usual classes.
Amidst talking and laughing, Snape knocked on the door.
"Aha, look who's here! Come in, come in!"
Professor Slughorn was overjoyed, welcoming them in impatiently as if afraid they would run away.
The Potions Professor's office was furnished quite comfortably.
Extravagant decorations rarely seen outside were everywhere here. Every detail revealed a considerable cost, accompanied by a degree of comfort matching the price.
The sofa under their buttocks was quite soft.
Especially after Slughorn smilingly handed over two glasses of low-alcohol cider, even Snape had to admit that the experience of this trip was indeed far more wonderful than he imagined.
The incense burner on the desk emitted a faint fragrance, fresh but not cloying.
Next to it was an inverted hourglass with three silver-headed, green-bodied snakes meeting at the top, full of Slytherin style.
The sand inside hovered at the top for a long time, stagnant, not flowing down naturally due to gravity. It was evidently an interesting little alchemical item.
"This is a souvenir given to me by Ulrich Popkov.
That year, the Ballycastle Bats were only one step away from winning the championship. The day after defeating the Appleby Arrows, Ulrich, who served as a Beater, gave it to me.
How should I put it? Thanking me for the spiritual guidance I brought him over so many years. He is always too modest."
Noticing Snape's gaze—
Professor Slughorn said with a somewhat proud chuckle, explaining the origin of this small item to the two.
Under his practiced guidance, the originally somewhat reserved Lily soon blossomed into a smile, relaxing more and more in the slight intoxication brought by the cider.
On the contrary, Snape, who should have been more familiar with him, made Professor Slughorn feel a long-lost difficulty in conquering!
No matter what topic he raised that he thought was interesting, this black-haired boy, known among other students for his reclusiveness and talent, showed no outward emotion.
Although he always wore a polite smile on his face, Professor Slughorn could see at a glance that the other party was actually not interested in what he said.
He secretly glanced at the hourglass out of the corner of his eye.
Generally, after activating this alchemical hourglass, as long as the time was spent in heated and pleasant conversation, the sand inside would fall extremely slowly, or even stop completely.
However, Slughorn realized with a slight toothache that the sand in the alchemical hourglass was flowing down neither fast nor slow.
Obviously—
If Lily wasn't staying beside him right now, the sand loss speed would probably be even faster!
Hmm, it seems Snape doesn't like socializing. Perhaps I can only pull Miss Evans into my club alone...
Muttering in his heart—
Professor Slughorn tactfully ended the topic that had rambled on for more than an hour, stood up his chubby body, and took the initiative to say:
"It's getting late. I hope we all left a good impression on each other today."
"Of course, Professor Slughorn. The conversation with you has benefited me a lot."
Lily said regretfully. Today's chat was more interesting than she imagined.
Snape also nodded politely.
In fact, his heart was itching to return to the Room of Requirement and dive back into the sea of books without coming out.
Taking the wine glasses handed back by the two—
Out of pain for the loss of talent, and Lavinia's mysterious attitude in her letters—
When seeing them to the door, Professor Slughorn subconsciously made a final attempt to retain them, intending to arouse Snape's interest.
"Mr. Snape, I noticed you have extremely outstanding talent in Potions class. I wonder if you are interested in seeing some very interesting potions and recipes? Even the Scar-Removal Cream that has been very popular in recent years is in my collection."
"Oh?"
As soon as potions were mentioned, Snape was instantly alert.
"If possible, that would be great. As for the Scar-Removal Cream, forget it. After all, I developed that stuff myself, and I've long been tired of looking at it."
"..."
Professor Slughorn: !!
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