"Andy, thanks for the gift."
Harry came over just as Andy sat down and asked, "Andy, where did you take those pictures? You know, I've never met my parents."
"Oh, you mean those pictures! It was me who took them in Godric's Hollow, it is said that Godric Gryffindor was born there, and the village was named after him."
Andy explained, "My grandfather lives there, and your parents were there back then...oh, I'm sorry."
"That's okay!"
Harry said in a hurry, "If there's a chance in the future, can you take me to Godric's Hollow? I'd like to pay my respects to my parents."
"Sure," Andy said.
"Thanks!"
Harry thanked him and went back to the Gryffindor long table.
Andy felt someone watching him again at that moment, and the gaze literally made Andy feel as if he was on the edge of his seat.
It was still Snape.
Andy got the feeling that not only did he want to deduct his points now, he probably wanted to put some poison in his food or something.
Crazy!
Andy complained in his mind, I gave you a Christmas present, why the hell are you throwing out your hate at me?
You have to oppose someone every day to make you feel better, isn't that right?
***
After the dinner, the Christmas holiday was officially over and a new semester began.
On Monday morning, the Ravenclaw had two Potions classes in a row with the Hufflepuffs.
Andy finally realized that Snape's glare last night was not an illusion on his part. His temper seemed to have got extremely bad over the course of a holiday, and the younger wizards of both houses had been targeted hard by him.
Andy had got five points deducted by Snape for disrespecting a professor just for hiccuping.
Hermione also got two points deducted by Snape for distracting others because she instructed a classmate on boiling a potion.
At the same time, Andy also got two more points deducted by Snape for watching others make mistakes.
Throughout the two potions classes, Snape acted as if he was going through menopause, looking at anyone, any little action could be found by him as a reason for deducting points.
Moreover, Snape's poisonous tongue power had become close to perfection.
He could talk a young wizard to the point of mental breakdown without any dirty words, in a slow and rational speech.
All the young wizards fell silent, silently praying in their hearts that these two Potions classes would pass quickly.
After the Potions class ended, everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
"Collins...you stay," Snape said suddenly.
"Okay, Professor!" Andy shrugged and gave Hermione a reassuring look, signalling Hermione to go ahead and eat in the Great Hall.
All the young wizards looked at Andy in turn, with a look as if they would go and pay their respects to Andy's grave on this day next year, filled with pain and sadness.
"Professor, is something wrong?" After the young wizards left, Andy asked first.
Andy also wanted to know what kind of potion Snape had taken mistakenly.
Snape's pair of hollow pupils stared at Andy dead in the face, and when Andy saw this, he immediately averted his eyes to avoid meeting Snape's gaze.
"Collins..."
Snape stared at Andy and asked in a slow, measured tone, "How much do you know about... that incident?"
That incident?
Andy thought Snape was asking about Quirrell and said bluntly, "I did feel something was wrong with Quirrell, he said he was attacked by a vampire, but I didn't feel like it."
"And he didn't mean to teach the class properly at all, which isn't in line with a professor's mindset. Professor Binns' classes are boring too, but he's at least taking them seriously."
Was that so?
Snape always had the feeling that Andy knew more than that.
"That's not what I am asking about."
Snape's face hardened a bit as he took out a greeting card and asked, "What does this mean?"
So that's what it was about!
Andy looked puzzled, "Christmas wishes to you, Professor...what's wrong with that? I just want you to start a new life."
I just don't want to see a magical genius fall into self-destruction, what's wrong with that?
And it's not like what happened to you in the beginning was an unseen secret, right?
You bullied Gryffindors when you were in school and tried to solicit ignorant Gryffindor girls to join the Death Eaters, but aren't you reformed now?
Or had Hermione really guessed right?
Could Snape's change of heart really have something to do with that Gryffindor girl?
It was a pity that Helen had been unwilling to reveal the name of that Gryffindor girl, so Andy still didn't know who she really was.
Snape stared at Andy dead in the face.
After receiving the greeting card, he had a feeling that something was wrong.
For this reason, Snape made a point of investigating Andy's family background, and that's how he found out about Andy's mother - Helen Collins.
Snape and Helen didn't have any conflict, except that deep in Snape's heart, there was an unspeakable memory where humiliation and sadness coexisted.
And that memory is connected to a magic spell.
The Levicorpus spell!
Helen had witnessed what had happened and was aware of everything that had happened at the time.
In case Helen talked to Andy about her school days and told Andy about it as a joke - Snape felt like he could hang himself somewhere.
It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
Think about it, her kid goes to school and the kid's professor was a classmate of hers back in the day. Just in time for Christmas, mother and son sat around the fireplace and talked about their experiences attending Hogwarts.
What a beautiful and heart-warming image!
The image tormented Snape all Christmas, in case Helen said something and Andy told Harry about it...
Oh, NO!
Snape felt like he was going crazy just thinking about it.
"You better not go around talking too much, even if you've heard something," Snape whispered threateningly.
"Uh..."
Andy looked puzzled, "Am I supposed to have heard anything? Could it be..."
Snape looked a little nervous.
Andy looked at Snape and said, "Professor, don't worry, I'll keep your secret."
Andy suddenly realized that perhaps what happened back then was not exactly the same as the story from Helen's mouth.
After all, Helen was looking at everything that happened back then from a Gryffindor's perspective, and that would inevitably be a bit biased.
Of course, all of this had nothing to do with Andy.
By pretending he knew something, Andy might be able to use the secret to pin Snape down.
"I have a very tight mouth!"
Andy gave Snape a meaningful look, and seeing that Snape was about to lose his temper, Andy decided to end this conversation immediately.
"Professor, I have an aunt."
Andy said, "If you decide to start a new life, I can introduce you."
Snape took a deep breath, "You! Get out!"
Gotta go, Andy turned around and left.
Just as he reached the door, Snape's vaguely threatening warning came from behind him, "Remember your promise, and don't talk about it!"
----
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