"You followed me all this way, watching me the entire time." Snape stared coldly at Anton with his dead-fish eyes, his wand slightly raised. "If you can't give me an explanation, I don't mind hitting you with a jinx."
I'm done for! Snape caught me!
As a teacher at school, the man was nasty, but he was still a reasonably decent person.
But in the Land of Chaos? Hah.
Anton knew Snape all too well. The man had a heart of stone, and he really would kill. Even Snape himself had no idea how fearsome his reputation was among Dark Wizards. That reputation had been built over the years on a pile of corpses, each sliced in half by a certain razor-sharp spell.
He really will kill me!
Anton reached that conclusion instantly.
He quickly assessed the difference in their strength, then reluctantly slipped the Old Wizard's wand back into his Hidden Holster.
He dropped the tree trunk, raised his empty hands, and performed a French salute. "Snape, I mean you no harm."
Snape glanced quickly to either side. Once he was sure no one was nearby, he swiftly approached. "How did you recognize me?"
Oh, obviously by that awful hair of yours. It looks like it's been soaking in butter for three days and nights.
Anton seriously wondered whether telling the truth would get him buried in some corner of this barren mountain.
Living under the constant pressure of life and death had long since given Anton nerves of steel and a sharp mind.
Without them, he would have died long ago at the side of someone as terrifying and temperamental as the Old Wizard.
Anton gestured at his face. "We've met before. May I remove my disguise?"
Snape gave a slight nod.
Anton lowered his hood, removed his mask, and took a mouthful of the voice-restoring antidote he had prepared. Then he took the iron pot and backpack off his back.
"I have a dream."
The time spent removing his disguise had finally allowed Anton to put his thoughts in order.
As he spoke of his dream, Anton's eyes seemed to shine. "I long to become a Potions master."
"When I was younger, I wandered from one gathering place of homeless wizards to another. I had nothing to do, and my life had no meaning."
"Just when I thought I would spend the rest of my life like those rotten people, rotting away in some forgotten corner of the world..."
"As though heaven itself had willed it, the wind blew a copy of the Daily Prophet straight into my face."
"Your picture was on it." Anton gazed at Snape, brimming with emotion.
"It said you had improved the Wolfsbane Potion. The paper had so many words of praise for you."
"You have no idea. Every gathering place of homeless wizards was singing your praises then. Countless werewolves fell to their knees and wept."
Overcome with excitement,
Anton raised his tightly clenched fists. "That was when I swore I would become someone like you!"
"Not only did I study Potions as hard as I could, I searched everywhere for information about you."
Anton did his best to imitate one of his ex-girlfriend's friends from his previous life. The girl had been an utterly obsessive celebrity fan.
"You are the beacon that lights my way through life!"
"You are the reason I grit my teeth and keep going, even when I'm exhausted!"
"You are the one unchanging conviction in my life."
"My idol~"
Anton's cry of "my idol" was unbearably gushy. He looked like a devout believer who had finally come face-to-face with God.
Even someone as hard-hearted as Snape felt goosebumps rise.
Seeing Anton approach in excitement, he quietly took half a step back in alarm.
Anton had fully immersed himself in the role.
Snape coldly raised his wand. "Don't come any closer!"
Yet the obsessive fan pressed his forehead against the wand's tip, his eyes misty and brimming with tears. "I know I'm naturally dull. I may never achieve what you have in my entire life. Sometimes, I feel so, so tired."
"You're like a star in the sky, so impossibly far beyond my reach."
"Kill me. To die by your wand..." Anton exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. "I would be happy."
The wind howled past.
A fallen leaf gently slapped Anton in the face.
He raised his eyebrows, opened his eyes, and looked around. "My idol?"
"My idol?"
His idol had vanished without a trace. What a crushing sense of loss. Hahaha.
Anton picked up his backpack again, found his old wand on the ground, and continued on his way, humming.
His performance just now had been a little embarrassing.
But at least he had made it through alive and unharmed.
Life could be so hard sometimes. A young child actually had to throw away his dignity just to survive. Sigh.
Anton felt a little sorry for himself.
Why is my life so hard?~~
"Expelliarmus!"
The wand flew out of his hand again.
Again?!
Anton's expression chilled. He quietly drew his spare wand from the Hidden Holster. As long as it wasn't a wizard on Snape's level, he was determined to kill whoever it was. Did they think his Cruciatus Curse couldn't kill?
He looked up.
Holy shit!
"My idol?!!!"
That bastard Snape had actually fucking appeared again.
He doubled back?
"You almost fooled me!" Snape sneered. "I remember your face now. You sold me a Moonlight Turtle Brain at the Leaky Cauldron. You weren't the least bit excited to see me then."
Not excited? It had been worse than that. Snape's sensitive heart had taken quite a blow at the time.
The moment Hagrid brought out the Gold Galleons, the child had eyes only for Hagrid, as though Snape didn't exist.
It had been as if he were saying, "Hey, Snape, you're not even worth as much as that freakishly large oaf."
Nobody knew how annoyed he had actually been.
Yes, he really was that petty!
"How could you doubt me like this!" Anton looked as though he had suffered a terrible humiliation, his face flushed scarlet.
This was the crucial test of his nerve. Before, he might only have needed his gift for bluffing, but now his resilience was truly being put to the test.
As always, when it came to resilience, perseverance, and patience, who had he ever feared?
Anton's thoughts seemed to drift back to his previous life. When his ex-girlfriend's friend heard the news that her idol had demanded sexual favors, she had gone completely hysterical. Watching his girlfriend comfort her had frightened him a little.
The shattering of a dream was truly terrifying.
"How could you doubt me!" Anton's eyes reddened.
"Do you know what I was going through then? No, you don't know anything!" Anton grew hysterical, roaring.
"My teacher died! A terrifying potion set his body on fire, and the explosion even blasted a two-meter crater in the ground. I was all alone, with no one to turn to. I wandered everywhere. I didn't know where to go next."
Anton thrust up his index and middle fingers to indicate two. "Two months! I went hungry for two whole months, never knowing where my next meal would come from."
"You have no idea how grateful I was when you bought my Moonlight Turtle Brain!"
"But..."
"You actually doubted me!"
Anton stared coldly at Snape. "Snape, give me back my wand. I want to duel you!"
"Today, either you kill me, or I kill you!"
"If I kill you, you'll still be the perfect idol in my heart."
"..." Snape wore an odd expression. For no clear reason, he began wondering whether he really had remembered it wrong.
Though the child kept talking about killing, his eyes were filled with tears of disappointment. It left Snape feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
It seemed he really had hurt someone who admired him.
The old wand flew through the air and returned to Anton's hand.
"???"
Anton stared blankly at the wand in his hand. Shit, what now? We aren't really going to duel, are we?
Should I hit him with a Cruciatus Curse without warning?
Could I win if I took him by surprise?
Snape's expression softened. "How far have you progressed in Potions?"
Anton blinked, hurriedly opened his backpack, rummaged through it, and carefully drew out a sheet of parchment.
Seeing the backpack packed with pages of notes, Snape finally believed him.
What Snape didn't know was that all of these were the Old Wizard's notes. Only one sheet bore Anton's own handwriting.
And that was only because Anton had accidentally coughed blood onto it, prompting the Old Wizard to make him copy it out.
His hands were exceptionally steady as he drew out that single sheet.
He calmly handed it to Snape.
Inside, he silently prayed that Snape would look only at this page. Otherwise, the whole act would fall apart~~~
Though he was nervous enough to die, Anton still did his best to maintain his wounded "my idol doubts me" expression.
Snape tugged at the corner of his mouth in what passed for a kindly smile and took the parchment, just as he had accepted assignments from one class of students after another.
But as he read, his brow furrowed.
"What potion is this?"
"Research into a potion that enhances perception, my idol," Anton answered quickly. The formula recorded on this sheet was an important part of the Wizard's Eye potion.
"Very imaginative, and a unique approach." Snape gave Anton a surprised glance. "You're quite talented."
Anton blinked. This wasn't his research.
Still, it gave him an idea of the Old Wizard's level in Potions. Even Snape thought it was good.
"It's simply too complicated. Many of the steps are unnecessary."
Snape set down the Suitcase containing Nagini and sat on it. He placed the parchment before Anton. "From here to here, there are seven steps in total, all of which can be simplified. You only need to add powdered scarlet moonflower rhizome to replace them."
"And here..."
In the night breeze, Snape gave him a full hour's lesson, breaking down the entire formula in clear, accessible terms.
The parchment was covered in his red annotations.
Even after Snape had swept away, Anton continued staring blankly at the parchment.
He could actually understand this complicated potion now.
In just one hour, he had understood all of it!
Before this, beyond preparing ingredients according to the Old Wizard's instructions, he hadn't had the slightest grounding in theory.
Clap, clap, clap. The Old Wizard floated over from a distance, applauding. "I witnessed a splendid performance of deception. Anton, you have quite a talent for being a Dark Wizard."
Anton pressed his lips together, then spread the parchment out before the Old Wizard. "Perhaps you should look at this."
"He actually dared to scribble over my formula?" The Old Wizard flew into a rage. Before long, however, he fell silent, staring intently at the parchment. At last, he said wistfully, "After Turning into a Ghost, I seem to have lost the ability to think as I once did."
He glanced at the parchment again and marveled, "A Potions master's reputation is certainly well deserved."
"Yes." Anton gazed in the direction Snape had left. "Now he really is my idol."
Snape had opened a door into Potions for him, dazzling and extraordinary, utterly captivating.
It seemed he had truly begun to like Potions.
He longed to study at Hogwarts, then openly bring his own research to this Potions master for advice, rather than resorting to deceit.
Of course, he felt no shame now. He simply wanted to live. That was all.
Before you continue