The end-of-year feast finally arrived.
All the members in the group chat logged into the group space one by one.
They brought food and drinks, ready to join the Hogwarts feast through Basil's live stream.
Basil had changed into a snow-white robe splashed with ink-wash landscape paintings (made by Professor Dovey from the School for Good—she was an excellent seamstress, and this was his uniform as school master). His hair was temporarily turned black, giving him an elegant, refined vibe.
But under the influence of the [Sword of Truth and Goodness] at his waist, the students who would normally go crazy over him just glanced in awe for a moment before ignoring him.
The Great Hall was decorated in Gryffindor's red and gold colors. A massive banner with the Gryffindor lion hung on the wall behind the staff table.
The house tables were packed with people. Sirius sat next to Hagrid.
Snape was straight-up absent.
Quirrell's seat at the staff table was also empty, but everyone knew why from the Daily Prophet.
All eyes were on Dumbledore, waiting for his speech.
"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "Before we tuck into these delicious treats, I must trouble you all to listen to an old man's ramblings. What a splendid year it's been!"
"Your little heads must be fuller than before... There's a whole summer ahead to digest it all before next term, so make room in those brains."
"Now, as I understand it, we must first award the House Cup. The points stand thus: In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two points; third, Ravenclaw, four hundred and twenty-six; second, Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two; and first, Gryffindor, with four hundred and eighty-three points."
The Gryffindor table erupted in thunderous cheers and stomping.
Ron banged his goblet on the table hard, while Harry clapped along beside him.
In the group space, everyone's reactions varied.
Madison leaned forward, stars seeming to sparkle in her eyes: "Hogwarts, my Hogwarts."
Zoe adjusted her hat brim, staring intently at the side of Hermione's face as she held Basil's hand, saying nothing.
Beatrice wanted to critique how this was way worse than the Ever Ball, squinting to find flaws. But the enchanted ceiling reflecting the starry sky, paired with floating candles, left her speechless.
Sophie munched on chocolate made by Dot, also noticing Hermione's wandering hand, but she just smirked dismissively.
They'd all read the original books, and they knew what Basil had done this school year, so they weren't surprised by Dumbledore's point announcements, Sirius appearing next to Hagrid, or Snape's absence.
Instead, they focused on Basil's surroundings or the hall's decor itself.
But Hermione was different. She had a soft spot for Snape, who always shipped her and Basil.
She noticed Snape's absence right away and was curious.
So, after Dumbledore announced the House Cup winner, sat down, and the plates filled with delicious food, she couldn't help nudging Basil with her elbow.
"Do you know why Professor Snape didn't come?"
Harry and Ron perked up their ears too.
In the group space, Madison licked her lips. "It's only at times like this that I realize my sweetie is still just a little boy. I wanna hold him in my arms and feed him milk." Zoe coughed under her breath, and the others rolled their eyes.
Meanwhile, Basil, paying attention to both reality and the group space, scratched his cheek.
"You guys probably already know."
"Harry, didn't you hear from Hagrid why Snape hates you so much?"
"Sirius and your dad were close enough that he could be your godfather."
"From that, you can guess Sirius and Snape didn't get along, right?"
"Not to mention, Sirius calls him Snivellus every time he mentions him."
Hearing this, Harry hung his head in disappointment.
The fact that his dad was a jerk felt like ancient history.
If Basil hadn't brought it up, he might've forgotten.
He suddenly realized that Sirius, who'd been treating him like his own son lately, was one of the guys who bullied Professor Snape. Part of that Marauders clique.
Ron noticed Harry's low mood after a bit.
He piled some chicken onto Harry's plate. "Harry, some people are just born easier to pick on than others. Snape's obviously one of them. That creepy face, greasy hair, that snooty tone—like he's spitting venom with every word."
"If it wasn't your dad and his friends messing with him, it would've been someone else."
"Hagrid said it, right? Your dad and them were popular back then."
Smack! Harry slammed the table.
Everyone around looked over, including Dumbledore at the staff table.
But Harry didn't notice, his eyes red as he spat out, "You don't get it at all!"
"Harry Potter's a freak! Messy hair, baggy clothes, shoes that don't fit... He deserves to be bullied!"
"I've heard that crap a million times."
"And in the end... Dudley's gang was popular at school too!"
He stood up and rushed out of the hall.
Just leaving behind, "Sorry, I'm full."
Ron hesitated for a second, grabbed a few pies, and followed him out.
Then Sirius went after them.
In the group space:
"What's up with that kid?"
Beatrice looked baffled. In the original story, she was all about cliques and bullying, so she couldn't understand Harry. Even after chugging a Baruffio's Brain Elixir (Medium) to speed-read the full Harry Potter series.
"He's playing Snape's role in Muggle primary school."
Madison, surprisingly, got it completely. After discovering her powers and having a space identical to the Ravenclaw common room from the books, she'd been squeezed dry by her parents as a kid, so she threw herself into Harry Potter. She knew the books inside out.
No one understood Harry Potter better than her.
Zoe just raised an eyebrow and kept trying to death-glare Hermione.
Sophie was actually worried, but her concern was clearly for Basil. "Basil's friend skipped dinner because of what he said. He won't blame himself, right?"
"You okay?" In the real world, Hermione gripped Basil's hand, asking with concern.
"It's not your fault, Basil."
Basil looked speechless. When had he ever been that fragile? Hermione knew him better than that, right?
But the next second, Hermione's increasingly bold hand explained why.
Jeez, taking the chance to cop a feel, huh!
"Bitch!" x4
Hermione's move was too obvious, catching everyone's eye in the group space, who let out heartfelt groans. Even Madison, trying to immerse herself as a Hogwarts student, joined in.
The movie version's extra spotlight on Hermione had already made Madison resent the fictional character. In Hollywood, her run-in with Emma had been memorable (Madison's social media coziness with Rowling and her Harry Potter movie gripes rubbed Emma the wrong way).
So Madison's "bitch" was the loudest, and she started grinding her teeth.
"Madison?" Sophie turned in surprise. In her mind, Madison was super generous. Totally cool with sharing Basil. That's how it was in the original story. "You just hate Hermione Granger?"
Madison narrowed her eyes. "Not this Hermione—I'm just venting."
She uploaded the full Harry Potter movie series and recounted her unpleasant encounter with Emma Watson.
After hearing it, Basil paused in stopping Hermione's wandering.
He suddenly felt an urge to go to Madison's world. That displaced, deja-vu feeling from his original world pulled at him irresistibly.
Would there be his parents' graves in Phoenix Hill Cemetery in Yuzhou?
Would there be a high school freshman Li Lin at Yuzhou No. 4 Middle School?
In his frustration, his vision linked up with the group chat's live stream system.
His eyes had fused with the system's magic camera, able to photo and video-record everything like an album in his brain.
And it pierced straight to the essence of magic.
This "pierce to the essence" function came after the [Sword of Truth and Goodness] was destroyed, when he fretted but noticed the [Magic Book] could still make its card.
The key to the [Magic Book] making cards was engraving—copying info from the original template onto the card.
Without the magic camera fused eyes, he'd have to do it on the spot, using the [Magic Book]'s power to probe the spell, creature, or item's full info.
But with the fused eyes, the "photos" it "snapped" fully recorded the original template's info. Even if destroyed, he could make from the "photo."
Like making the [Sword of Truth and Goodness], and the [Deathly Hallows: Invisibility Cloak] and [Deathly Hallows: Elder Wand] from stored templates—their photos.
So, linking the magic camera eyes to the group live stream was normal, and he could control whether to link.
But it also meant he could stream what's happening now in the Hogwarts third-floor corridor to the group.
In the third-floor corridor.
Harry was cornered by Ron and Sirius.
Ron was munching on a pie, panting.
Sirius looked full of concern: "Harry, what's wrong?"
Seeing James's face with that expression was like spotting Lily and Snape hand-in-hand by the lake in first year.
Of course, Snape got pranked the next day for stepping into Potions with his left foot first.
Seeing Harry silent, he eyed Ron to explain.
Ron: "Harry knows you're a jerk. He was Snape in primary school."
Sirius punched the wall. "Who? I'll kill him!"
Ron stepped back. "Who do you mean? If it's the one who told Harry, you probably can't. You gonna kill a castle portrait?"
Sirius shook his head. "I mean the ones who bullied Harry!"
Now, swapping Snape's embarrassing scenes in his mind with James's face made him murderous.
They messed with Snape? Fine—that Slytherin lot were Death Eater wannabes back then, and Snape was too close to Lily. Who knew Snape would turn good later.
But Harry getting the same treatment? Unfair! Harry's so kind! Handsome!
How could that scum stomach it? How dare they?
"Harry!" Sirius put his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Did they make you drink toilet water?"
Harry shook his head.
"Did they strip your pants in public?"
Harry shook his head, clenching his fists.
"Did they humiliate you in front of someone you like, make you crawl like a dog?"
Harry shook his head, then threw an uppercut at Sirius's chin.
Disappointed, he said: "I didn't think you guys were way worse than Dudley."
Ron nodded while eating pie. "Obviously. Dudley's your cousin, after all."
Sirius clutched his chin, blurting: "So that bastard's the Dursley kid?"
Then he defended: "We only did that to Snape. He snuck up on us sometimes too. Gave us a beating."
Harry smirked bitterly. "Us?"
Sirius soothed: "Snape was good at that. He was a little monster obsessed with the Dark Arts. James was popular, great at Quidditch, good at everything except Dark Arts."
"How could you expect James to fight Snape's strength with his weakness?"
"He could've called his evil friends?"
Seeing no reaction from Harry, he added: "You might not know, but Snape was a Death Eater once."
"James, Lily, and I were proud Order of the Phoenix members, on the front lines against dark wizards."
Harry staggered, leaning against the wall. "From what you said, it sounds like you forced him. Isolated, he had no choice but to join the Death Eaters."
"Hagrid said Snape just grew up in the Muggle world, didn't know the wizarding world back then. Wrongly chose Slytherin."
"My mum was a Mudblood in Death Eater eyes, and Snape, friends with her, was already isolated in Slytherin."
"You guys kept pushing him to choose."
"And he's definitely not a Death Eater now. Trusted by Dumbledore to teach here—maybe he's an Order spy."
"After you stopped pushing him."
"No, Potter." Snape descended from the fourth-floor stairs, holding a silver item, expressionless. "That mangy dog's right. I'm a thorough monster obsessed with the Dark Arts. A complete villain."
"I switched to Dumbledore's side for benefits. The Dark Lord couldn't give me what I wanted."
"And he was doomed to fail."
Then he headed to the third-to-second-floor stairs, vanishing from their sight.
He appeared too suddenly, leaving Sirius stunned for a moment. Forgot to call him Snivellus.