This was Aurora and Vaux's first encounter with Quidditch, a sport that had taken wizarding by storm, so much so that it took them a while to figure out the rules of the game. To this end, Vox also borrowed a book from the library to flip through, and Aurora just waited to hear a condensed version from him.
Her curiosity for novelty is limited, perhaps because by her deep nature, she is not a little girl at all. Sometimes Aurora also tries to remember who she used to be and how old she really is. She felt that judging from the lack of vitality that a child should have, even though she had regressed her cognition for many years, perhaps she was already a dying old man before.
But the truth is that what Aurora can remember every time is too fragmentary to even be called a memory at all, more like an instinct that remains in the depths of the soul.
And even these delicate things, in the new environment and increasingly difficult to cope with the pressure of the curriculum, have become as small as the footprints of the beach smoothed by the waves. More often, Aurora almost forgets that she is a traveler in a different time and space, and the heavy schoolwork in front of her makes her very strained.
Professor Binns is already confused enough to turn the leaders of both sides of a big war against him.Flying lessons are always a life-and-death gamble on the power of independent action in the next month, and the moment you sit on a broom is to choke the throat of fate; And Potions class was already difficult, giving Aurora the feeling that she was testing Snape's bottom line and punishment with her life.
Fortunately, since Hagrid helped Aurora establish a friendly bond with a nightfall cub in the Forbidden Forest, her fear of heights has lessened a lot, although it has also made her hate brooms even more.
As for Potions class, Aurora had many times been able to step on the minimum standards set by Snape. This course was getting more and more metaphysical in her eyes anyway, she seemed to be really poor in practice, but every time she was able to reach Snape's minimum acceptance, and it was when that acceptance was fluctuating at any time.
So Aurora couldn't figure out if she really learned potions or what's going on, but she was sure of one thing. It was Snape's expression and eyes warning her that if she wanted to play a game of cat and mouse with him, it was best never to fall into his hands, otherwise Aurora would regret coming to Hogwarts.
Caroline reassured her that she didn't have the talent to learn well anyway, it was better to be able to cross the line every time like now, anyway, the standard was agreed in advance, and Snape couldn't treat her well. You should know that students want to be like Aurora, stepping on the line and stepping on one accurate.
It can be said that this kind of student who frequently steps on the professor's bottom line is the easiest to be caught, but it is the kind of student who is too bad and good to be in the middle is the least likely to attract the professor's attention.
I wish Professor Snape wouldn't remember her bottom-line gauge next academic year.
Aurora sighed, tiny vapor rising through the gaps in her scarf. She narrowed her eyes at the snow-covered sky and the Quidditch team flying through the air, the Slytherins were already way ahead of Ravenclaw, and the blue sweater Seeker was trying to chase the golden snitch who was too fast to see the shadow from the snow to try to turn the tide. Four first-graders huddled in a medical shed in a specific location on the ground, with the badge of a school hospital volunteer pinned to their chest. Inside the tent lay a Ravenclaw player who had just been hit by a Bludger.
Although the snow had been cleared this morning, it quickly accumulated a thin layer.
The perspective of sitting on the ground is actually very bad, and after a while, your neck will be sore and unbearable. And the players on both sides are surprisingly fast, and they can only see that in the snow-white curtain, several sapphire green and sea blue afterimages are intertwined and flying. Aurora didn't look up, and directly used his listening to judge which direction the cheers were coming from. On the right is the Slytherin score, on the left is the Ravenclaw.
Tea Roll was tormented by such low temperatures, huddled in Aurora's knitted hat and refused to come out, using the soft and warm cotton thread and the little girl's smooth long hair as her own nest. Aurora specially tied her hair in half and hung it on top of her head as a round ball, so that the tea roll could curl up more comfortably.
"Looks like the Slytherin won." Vaux said as he moved his sour neck. Beverly next to her didn't have any expression, just snorted faintly, and couldn't see the change in mood.
"Aren't you happy?" Vaux looked at the other party's unresponsive look and couldn't help but ask.
Beverly blinked, her tone lighter and more cold than the white snow that fell on the ground: "I'm very happy." "
Vaux opened his mouth, feeling that the other party must have a deep misunderstanding of the word happy. But looking at the Slytherin performance, Vaux is worried about tomorrow's Gryffindor.
Just as I was thinking, one of the Bludgers that had been drawing circles around the audience suddenly changed direction and rushed straight towards the medical shed on the ground. The layers of snow that swept up the ground at a very high speed swept over like a storm, and the cold wind howled and chaotic.
Suzanne, a nurse at the school hospital, was startled when she saw the Bludger rushing towards this side, and hurriedly went to pull the door to watch the game: "Get out of the way!" "
Caroline and Aurora were rescued in time and therefore dodged quickly. Beverly instinctively reached out to aim at the Bludger that was getting closer and closer in front of her, the tip of the thin alder wand sticking out of the cuff a little to the center of the ball, and a silent spell catapulted out of the girl's cuff.
The wind wrapped the snow and ice and blew open the curtains of the white tent, and the nearby hangers and benches were all thrown out a long distance.
Beverly lifted her hand upwards, and the Bludger and the air currents that had become sharp as a blade from the high-speed movement flooded the sky. The tiny snowflakes without temperature swirled into a sharp dagger and cut through the face, clear and piercing cold pain.
Aurora just looked up, her eyes were misty pale, and physiological tears were stimulated to gush out, using warm body temperature to melt the frost crystals in her eyes. The strongly stimulated retina cannot see anything for a moment.
"Beverly? Vaux?! "
"Lie down!"
Vaux knocked Beverly away at the last minute, and the bright red cloak shook off and wrapped the two men in unison, and threw them to the ground in unison.
Beverly finished chanting the last syllable of the spell in her mind, and the Bludger changed direction the moment it was about to hit Vox, rushing towards the top of the tent overhead, almost falling apart from the entire medical shed, and breaking a large hole in the top.
Snow fell over the hole, feathers as gentle and white as feathers, falling on the top of Vaux's head and Beverly's brown curls scattered over the snow. Beverly blinked her eyes to melt the snowflakes that fell into her eyes, and a large area of clarity spread in her vision, and she could see the expression on the face of the boy above her.
Vox breathed a sigh of relief, "Are you all right?" "
The slender, smooth alder wand whizzed out of Beverly's cuff, its end in her hand, the tip of the wand against the Gryffindor badge on Vox's chest. Her voice carried a frozen sweetness, which fell in her ears to make people feel pleasant but a little dumbfounded: "Get up, get up now!" "
Vaux was stunned for a second, almost jumping off Beverly, and then stepped aside with embarrassment. His face became somewhat conspicuously rosy from the combined effect of the cold and the rush of too much blood, and his golden-brown eyes looked around blankly, unable to find a suitable focus.
"How are you doing?" Aurora ran over, picked up Beverly from the snow, patted off the snow on her body, and looked at Vaux, "Did you get hit or hurt or something?" Beverly gasped softly and shook her head, her small, delicate face mostly covered by a dark green and silver scarf.
Suzanne and several other nurses hurriedly came over to check on the two children and were completely relieved to make sure that there was nothing wrong. Only Aurora's eyes seemed to be red and tearful because she had been staring at the snow for a long time, and she had just been blown into her eyes by the wind.
At this time, a loud whistle came from the opposite side of the wide white arena, and the right side of the audience almost boiled as loud, whistles and cheers came one after another. Lady Hoochie and Aurora's voices rang out at the same time: "Slytherin won." "
The Ravenclaws who had withdrawn came to pick up the players who had accidentally withdrawn from the game after being hit by a Bludger, and Aurora retreated outside the medical shed to make room for them in the messy and cramped tent.
She looked up at the Slytherin audience and was overjoyed, everyone celebrating the news that their house had reached the Grand Finals. Only their Potions Professor, who was always dressed in black, the new Head of Slytherin, still sat in the same position as he had been when he was seated, and the expression on his face was obscured by flying snowflakes and messy shoulder-length black hair, and he could not be seen to be unhappy.
After the race, the snow also stopped temporarily.
Although the final exams were getting closer, because Christmas was also approaching and a Quidditch match had just ended, the excitement of the younger students had not yet passed, and they still lingered in the open space outside the school building to build snowmen or have snowball fights. The older wizards gathered in twos and threes to discuss Hogsmeade the weekend before Christmas, buying new clothes and gifts for the Christmas just around the corner.
Aurora declined Caroline's offer to go to a snowball fight with them, because snowball fights between wizards were always inseparable from magical cheating, a hundred times more brutal than snowball fights between Muggles. She chose a bench not far from Vox, cleaned all the snow off it with her wand, sat on it, opened her backpack, and began to write back to Remus Lupin.
She wrote down her recent situation at Hogwarts and some thoughts on it, four or five pieces of parchment were used, and her palms were sore. Aurora shook her right hand, and the thick ink splashed from the tip of the quill onto the plain and flawless snow, speckled and black, stretching and soaking along the lines of snowflake crystals.
At the end of the letter, she greeted and blessed Siris Black, who was far away in Azkaban, as usual. Aurora misses him a lot, and the more it comes to Christmas, the more she misses Marianne. They are their only connection in the world other than the Vaux family and Lupin.
She knew that Muggle prisons were allowed to visit the prisoners inside, and wondered if there were such rules in Azkaban. She wanted to ask Remus, and if anything, she would love to meet Ciris, bringing eggnog and ginger snail biscuits that Dean Sprout had taught her.
At the end of the end, Aurora writes, "I, like you, believe that one day he will come back innocent." She didn't ask Cirith why he was in jail as she had done before, because Lupin would have rounded the question, and Aurora didn't want to embarrass him anymore.
She just missed the handsome boy who was dashing and casual, as dazzling as fireworks at any time, and could burn the entire night sky in just an instant, forming a strong contrast with Remus's gentleness and restraint but extremely harmonious. At a time when she was at a loss because she had to adapt to this strange world and strange body, the presence of Siris and Remus gave her great comfort.
"It's snowing again."
I don't know who said that.
Aurora looked up and saw snowflakes falling from the smoky gray sky. Her eyes were still very uncomfortable, and she had seen more and more blurry things at the beginning of the halfway letter, and she kept crying, always feeling like she had entered the sand.
She rubbed her eyes with a handkerchief for a while, but instead of getting better, it became worse. Aurora looked around blankly, and the excessively pale snowfield began to sting her eyes, leaving her with little way to restrain the welling of tears.
The tea roll poked her head out of the gap in the cotton hat, and the slender and flexible body fell in front of Aurora, gently stroking her eyes with the emerald green leaves on top of her head to wipe the tears from her face. Aurora suddenly realized that she may have been in the snow for too long, and coupled with the wind and frost falling into her eyes before, she developed snow blindness.
At this time, Vaux, who changed the intermission, dodged Cecilia's snowball while running towards Aurora: "How is it, is it written?" I'll take it back to Hastings... Aurora? What's wrong with you, your eyes? "
Aurora covered her eyes with her arms and tried to stand up, and the stationery and quill in her arms were scattered all at once. She snorted, frowning and trying to bend down to fumbble to pick it up, but was stopped by Vaux's arm holding her. He hurriedly picked up the stationery on the ground, "I'll take you to the school hospital." "
After that, Vaux turned and shouted at the red-haired boy on the side, "Bill, can you tell me how to get to the school hospital?"
Bill was just about to say something when Cecilia's voice suddenly sounded, "Professor Snape? "
Aurora subconsciously tilted her head, let her long hair cover her cheeks, reached out and tucked the tea roll back into her hat, her eyes aching unbearably.
Snape originally just happened to be passing by, but he accidentally saw the familiar little thing standing in the snow with tears streaming down his face, frowning and looking uncomfortable. Snowflakes fell lightly on her, tangled with her long pale blonde hair, reminiscent of the white pear blossoms that bloomed in the shallow morning sunshine.
Hearing someone calling his name, the little one subconsciously dodged sideways, as if wiping his tears with his sleeve, but it was obviously useless. Snape understood at a glance that a group of over-energized little trolls were rampaging through the snow like disaster, and one of them was unlucky enough to have snow blindness.
He raised an eyebrow, maybe this little girl won't like snow again for a long time to come.
Vox hesitated, but still said: "Professor, Aurora's eyes seem to be injured, can you tell me how to go to the school hospital?" "
"Having enjoyed enough of such snow, you should really go to the hospital to relax, right?" Snape bowed his head slightly, his tone not much warmer than the temperature in the air, and as slow as the snowflakes that fell on his shoulders. Then he turned and motioned for Vaux to follow him.
Before he could take a few steps, Vaux was called away by a Gryffindor, saying that Professor McGonagall was looking for him. Aurora loosened his thick robe and told him to go first, no problem herself.
"Anyway, it's not the first time to go, it's okay." She really felt so. And if Professor McGonagall asked Vaux to go, there must be something important.
"Well, thank you for leading the way." Thanks to Snape's love of black, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, Aurora could barely make out the outline of the Potions Master through the cracks.
Snape replied, "You don't have to. Then slowed down and walked ahead.
Nearly a semester of knowledge and affirmative thoughts that often popped up inexplicably in her head made Aurora understand that Snape was someone who didn't like people getting too close to him. Even in the Forbidden Forest, Aurora would keep a certain distance from him, never bouncing around and pulling his sleeve like walking beside Hagrid, let alone chatting and joking.
It's just that this distance is a severe test now, and Aurora is trying to open her eyes and see the road in front of her, but unfortunately she can't do it now. Instead, in the distorted and blurred vision, a toe fell forward, and as she fell, she instinctively grabbed forward, starting with a thick and rough and cold piece of fabric.
It looks like some kind of felt texture, but it should be quite old, with a lot of hairballs.
In order to prevent the tea roll from falling out of the hat due to such turbulence, Aurora's other hand subconsciously covered the hat, and she really fell into the snowdrift without any buffer. Frost and cold instantly encroached on her nose and lungs, as well as severe pain.
She was absolutely crying out of pain, but it was not something she could control, it was purely a physiological reaction.
Without hesitation, Snape withdrew the corner of the robe that Aurora had dragged into the palm of his hand, and put it back on the cloak that had been pulled to the crook of his arm, his face unkind. The other party's short cry was forced to suppress, and then sat on the ground with his hat and raised his head, patted the snow on his face, coughed a few times, and stood up shakily, his eyes bloodshot to the point of red blood, as if the next second would drip out of that bright red blood bead.
"Sorry, Professor. I just didn't see clearly. "
Aurora said, rubbing the tip of her sore nose over and over again, and suddenly a little glad that the snow blindness had taken away her vision. She didn't want to see Snape's expression now, afraid that she wouldn't be able to accept it.
Did she just rip off the other's coat?
Thanks Merlin, thanks for winter.
Snape responded mockingly, "Then maybe it would be better for you to stay here and continue to get used to it?" "
Aurora opted for strategic silence. To be honest, she now regrets a little about letting Vox go, she can't see anything, her eyes hurt and tears, if it weren't for the conditions that didn't allow it, she would have to lie on the ground and fumble away, advancing at a speed like a snail crawling.
How far is the school hospital? Will I be blind if I continue like this...
Snape looked back for the third time and saw that the little girl had strayed from behind him, walking unknowingly in the direction of a wall. He pursed his lips and took a few steps to pull the little girl back. As soon as Aurora looked up, she felt a piece of clothing with a faint bitterness of potions and a temperature that did not belong to her head cover her head, obscuring all the wind and frost and snow reflections that would irritate her eyes.
The severe pain in the eyes was slightly eased.
"... That's a good idea indeed, Professor. Aurora weighed her words, "But then I'm even more invisible." "
"Is there any difference from the way you looked just now?" Snape hit the nail on the head with her lies.
I have to admit, he has a point. Aurora shut up knowingly.
Looking at the little girl wrapped in a cloak and not even visible on her toes, Snape hesitated, then frowned and picked up the other party extremely unskillfully. Then he noticed that Aurora stiffened all of a sudden. The little girl was as soft and light as a ball of marshmallows, and Snape didn't have much trouble holding it, and when he walked into the school, many people thought that their eccentric Potions professor had found some strange material from the Forbidden Forest.
"Moonstone and spray roots." Aurora's voice fluttered muffled from under the black robe, with a young tenderness and softness, delicate and soft scratching people's hearing, she speculated through the residual smell of this robe that wrapped her in airtightness, "Professor Are you configuring a palliative?"
Snape was expressionless, and his voice was cold and mean: "Good recognition, Field, it's a pity that Hufflepuff doesn't get extra points." So shut up. "
Great, so that even if he doesn't talk all the way, he won't be embarrassed, it's he who shut himself up. Aurora shut up as she wished, and relaxed her body.
Madam Pomfrey meticulously treated Aurora's eyes and told her not to stay in the snow for so long next time. If there are too many snow blindness, it will seriously affect normal vision.
Aurora blinked her eyes that had regained focus, and everything in her vision returned to normal, but the red color around her sockets had not yet faded, and she looked like she had just cried.
"Thank you, Professor." She looked up at Snape to the side and thanked her sincerely.
The other party did not reply as expected, turned around and left the school hospital.
The door opened, and fresh pale snowflakes fell to Snape's feet.
The snow still didn't stop.