Chapter 73 — Snape Definitely Has a Problem

Chapter 73: Chapter 73 — Snape Definitely Has a Problem

Chapter 73 — Snape Definitely Has a Problem

After Christmas approached, the air grew colder and colder.

By now, even owls in the wizarding world could get frostbite, so hardly anyone wanted to send letters in such weather.

Of course, Vesey suspected the real reason was that the holidays were approaching. Everyone was too eager to go home, so nobody could be bothered to send letters.

That was understandable.

It was freezing outside. No one wanted to go to the greenhouses for Herbology in weather cold enough to freeze their hands, and no one wanted to brew potions in the dungeon when their fingers were already numb from the cold.

Vesey was freezing too.

She wore thick gloves and wrapped herself up tightly, but even that wasn’t enough to keep the cold away. She almost wanted to crawl into a cauldron full of warm potion.

"I really feel sorry for those who can’t go home. Having to spend the holidays at Hogwarts..."

She sighed.

It was during a Potions lesson.

Malfoy was sitting across the aisle, smirking as he mocked Harry.

Vesey immediately glanced toward Snape.

After silently mourning Malfoy’s fate for a moment, she deliberately put on a sad, distant expression.

Her hand trembled, and the potion in her cauldron immediately changed color.

Vesey quickly added some honey-locust juice and stirred the potion counterclockwise several times.

The potion quickly returned to its original color.

She had to thank the Potion Improvement ability she had obtained from her fourth diary entry.

Otherwise, the entire cauldron would have been ruined.

Snape had been standing nearby.

The moment Vesey’s potion changed color, he hurried over, afraid that she might hurt herself if she mishandled it.

When he saw her calmly correcting the potion, Snape’s lips curved into a relieved smile.

But there was also a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Of course, he had heard what Malfoy said.

And the moment he heard it, he instinctively looked toward Vesey.

How sad must this child be to react like this?

Sure enough.

Vesey looked genuinely disappointed.

She had even become distracted enough to affect her normally steady hands while brewing a potion.

Snape wanted to scold Malfoy.

But guilt immediately filled his heart.

This child has no parents because of me.

I killed her family. How can I possibly have the nerve to stand in front of her?

He looked sadly at Vesey.

Only when she finished brewing the potion and looked up at him gently did Snape finally come back to his senses.

"Professor, what’s wrong? Are you tired?"

Snape froze.

Yes.

Since he was the one who had killed Vesey’s parents, how could he not protect her now?

He exhaled slowly.

Then he turned his displeased gaze toward Malfoy, who was still showing off to Harry.

"Malfoy, can’t you keep your mouth shut while brewing your potion? Ten points from Slytherin, and detention. I hope Mr. Malfoy can learn when he should and shouldn’t speak."

Malfoy froze.

He normally mocked Harry all the time, but he had never seen Snape become angry over it.

And he could have sworn he had seen a faint smile on Snape’s face when he was mocking Harry before.

...

Malfoy was completely confused.

Until Pansy kicked him and told him to look at Vesey.

"Even if you hate the Potter family, you can’t say things like that in front of her! She looks like she’s about to cry. Are you really planning to make Miss Potter hate you just because you can’t get her to like you?"

Malfoy slapped a hand against his forehead in frustration.

Why hadn’t he thought of that?

Harry Potter was an orphan.

So was Vesey.

He had always thought he was only mocking Harry.

Instead, he had accidentally hurt Vesey too.

Looking at Vesey with her head lowered, Malfoy felt unusually guilty.

Is it too late to apologize now?

Unfortunately, it was.

Because the lesson was already coming to an end.

The moment class finished, Harry immediately pulled Vesey away.

He had also noticed how upset she had looked during the lesson and naturally wanted to comfort her.

But before he could say anything, Vesey comforted him instead.

She said firmly,

"Brother, Mom and Dad are gone, but you still have me. I’ll become very strong in the future, and I’ll protect you!"

"Brother, you don’t have any other relatives. I’m your only family."

"..."

Harry covered Vesey’s mouth.

His eyes had turned bright red.

"Those are the things I wanted to tell you, Vesey. I really want you to know that I love you very much. If you wanted to break my Nimbus 2000 into pieces, I’d let you."

Vesey couldn’t help laughing.

"Why would I break your broom?"

Harry scratched his head.

Then he gave a silly grin.

"What are you two little ones doing?"

Hagrid’s voice suddenly came from behind them.

Vesey turned around and saw Hagrid carrying a fir tree and looking at them with a smile.

"We’re big kids already!"

Vesey muttered.

Hagrid laughed happily.

"All right, big kids it is! Then do you two want to come to the Great Hall with me? Professor Flitwick has decorated it beautifully!"

Vesey immediately became interested.

After Hermione and Ron finished packing up, the four of them went to the Great Hall with Hagrid.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were already there, and both of them smiled when they saw Vesey.

Professor Flitwick even conjured a tiny flower fairy and placed it on Vesey’s head, making her look exceptionally beautiful.

Vesey immediately took the flower fairy and placed it on Hermione’s head.

Her eyes lit up.

"Hermione, you’re just as cute as it is!"

Hermione smiled.

Vesey didn’t have much interest in anything else.

After all, it wasn’t as though the professors could keep putting things on her head as decorations.

Hagrid positioned the fir tree and sighed.

"There’s only one day left until Christmas..."

Before he could finish, Hermione and the others had already torn their eyes away from the beautiful decorations around the Great Hall.

"You reminded us. We still have to go to the library."

Hagrid looked at them in surprise.

"You’ve all been working too hard. And now you want to go to the library again? I think you should have some fun instead. Don’t push yourselves so hard!"

Hagrid said earnestly.

But the smile on his face disappeared the next second.

"No, we’re not going there to study."

Harry looked at him seriously.

"We’ve been trying to figure out who Nicolas Flamel is ever since you mentioned him."

Hagrid’s mouth fell open.

"You haven’t given up yet?"

Then he became anxious.

"Listen to me! I already told you... It’s a secret! You shouldn’t keep digging into it! Whatever Fluffy is guarding has nothing to do with you!"

But Harry and the others didn’t believe him.

They were convinced that Snape wanted to steal whatever was behind the trapdoor.

And if they wanted to stop Snape, they first had to figure out what he was after and then protect it.

Of course, Vesey had no idea that this was their real purpose.

They had simply used the excuse of protecting Hogwarts property to bring her onto their side.

Thinking about this, Harry secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, we didn’t tell Vesey the real reason.

Otherwise, she would definitely be angry.

But Harry remained convinced of one thing.

There must be something wrong with Snape!