Potions, Howlers, Worldviews

The underground classroom for Potions Class.

It was even colder and more gloomy here than the main castle building. Various glass jars were placed along the walls, and the animal specimens inside made one's back go cold.

Professor Snape was a very methodical man.

His classes begin with the attendance list.

Hermione Granger.

"Arrive."

"Draco Malfoy".

"Godfather, I'm here."

"Harry Potter".

Upon hearing the name, Snape's lips curled into a mocking smile.

The sarcastic and cutting words were already on the tip of his tongue, about to spill out...

Harry, however, spoke up first, taking the initiative to say, "Hello, Professor Snape. I am Lily Evans's child."

"You may not remember this name, but I will always remember it."

"She was my mother, and she sacrificed herself to protect me."

As he spoke, Harry blinked his emerald green eyes, his expression somewhat sorrowful, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, "My mother mentioned you many times in her diary, saying that you were a very important friend to her."

Cultivate relationships and build connections.

Harry even used "child" instead of "son" when introducing himself.

These cunning little tricks of conversation earned Harry a disdainful look from Malfoy, who was standing next to him.

Unfortunately, Snape's Lifetime reputation was ultimately shattered by the word "love".

The Potions Master had been a backup option for Harry's emerald green eyes.

Confused and disoriented, he had no energy to expose Harry's little trick.

Snape's lips trembled slightly as he asked with difficulty, "The diary? You still keep it?"

Harry's sadness deepened.

He sighed, "It was burned by my cousin Dudley on my ninth birthday."

"I remember it very clearly..."

"That day, my uncle lost money betting on horses, and he found an excuse to beat me up badly and starve me for a whole day."

Poor Snape, his heart softened after being fooled.

His once empty, deep, and emotionless black eyes became like a warm spring.

I can no longer utter those harsh and sarcastic words.

Anyway.

Before me is Lily's child.

Snape slowly closed his eyes, his facial muscles contorting slightly.

Was the brat who burned Lily's diary named Dudley?

He remembered it.

When he has time, he'll go to Privet Drive and make that damn Muggle understand...

What will happen if you touch the Half-Blood Prince's sore spot?

For five consecutive days, Snape used various excuses to give Ravenclaw extra points.

This made Harry the most popular freshman in the school.

However, his friend Malfoy's disdain for him grew day by day.

That day, Harry returned to his dormitory, and a broom Accio towards him.

Snap!

Harry gripped the flying broom tightly in his hand, tilted his head, and asked, "What's going on?"

"A guy with warped values."

Malfoy didn't immediately answer his question, but instead sarcastically remarked, "If your previous suggestion doesn't work, are you planning to dress up as a woman and attend class?"

Harry chuckled. "Nice idea, too bad we can't use it."

Severus Snape was Draco Malfoy's godfather, and when the former clearly began to favor Harry, Malfoy was somewhat jealous.

Between comrades-in-arms who have fought side by side, there's not much room for petty calculations.

After a few jokes, I stopped taking it to heart.

After exchanging a few words, the conversation returned to Harry's flying broomstick.

The four custom-made Nimbus OP were gifts from Lucius Malfoy to his son and his friends.

Hermione and Neville both had a share.

"Chinese Ebony handles, Anti-curse plating, highly polished, with Adhesion Charm and Auto-Tracking Charm to ensure riders are not killed in a fall."

Harry, like an expert on flying broomsticks, rattled off the details. "The powerful vibration control and magic engine allow it to go from a standstill to full speed in just two and a half seconds."

"Your father was willing to make four of these custom-made ones at once?"

Malfoy curled his lip. "About three days from now, my father will send a Howler saying that my failure to get into Slytherin House is a disgrace to the Pure-blood families."

"Therefore, I took precautions in advance."

Harry became interested. "How did you do that?"

In the Prophecy class, Professor Wang Yan showed them "major events" that would happen around them in the future.

Most of the apprentices played the role of clumsy Prophet, trying to use their foresight to impress the little girl.

In Harry's opinion, that was the most boring thing to do.

Few people know how to make good use of this.

"I nipped that Howler in the bud."

A wicked smile crept across Malfoy's face, "Two days ago, I wrote a letter to my father, to convince him..."

"I came to Ravenclaw to find the crown of the Founders Ravenclaw's Diadem, to acquire endless knowledge and supreme power, so as to replace Voldemort's position and become the next Dark Lord to rule the world."

"In the letter, I expressed my disdain and contempt for Voldemort —this part was not fake."

"Unbelievable! How did Voldemort, that fool who always makes mistakes, manage to dominate the entire Magical World?"

"I even wrote a plan from first grade to seventh grade to make sure my father thought that every step I took seemed feasible."

Harry, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, exhaled a cloud of smoke. "So, Mr. Lucius was scared by you?"

"He never expected his son to have such 'ambitions'?"

He chuckled maliciously as he fiddled with his custom-made Nimbus OP broom, "If my son were like you, I'd break both his legs."

Malfoy said noncommittally, "The best way to make people ignore something is to do something else that is shocking."

He brandished the Nimbus OP flying broom in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips, "The result... you saw it too."

Draco Malfoy didn't spend much time paying attention to his father's emotional journey, but with a little thought, he roughly understood.

It was nothing more than a gradual change of shock, worry, relief, and silent observation.

Neither of them took the "next Dark Lord" matter to heart.

Did 100,000 people die because of Voldemort?

During World War II, approximately 15 million people died because of Hitler.

The difference between the two cannot be calculated logically.

The Survival Quartet had no interest in playing any "grade-dominating" games with their peers.

They have no intention of vying for power in the Magical World.

The true meaning of magic is worth pursuing for a lifetime.

They spend all their free time in the library.

As their knowledge and experience grew, the four men's fear of Voldemort gradually diminished.

Harry and Malfoy thought the so-called Dark Lord was a joke.

Only individuals who place all of humanity under oppressive, dark, and ruthless rule are qualified to call themselves "Dark Lord"!

By their standards, the first Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald, could only be considered a country bumpkin who relied on his own strength.

The second-generation Dark Lord Voldemort was slightly better, but he could only barely be considered part of the Mafia.

They are all forces that cannot be brought to the light of day.

True dark forces, a power strong enough to Shrouding the Heavens, must possess three characteristics:

A complete organizational structure.

Reasonable career advancement pathways.

A hypocritical set of rules and regulations that can be presented to outsiders without being disliked.

Death Eater don't have any of these.

As Harry and Malfoy were engrossed in their conversation, Hermione suddenly interrupted them, "Don't you realize how strange your positions are?"

"No normal person would automatically adopt the perspective of the 'hero,' right..."

"Why are you all considering things from the Dark Lord's perspective?"

This problem stumped Malfoy and Harry.

The two looked at each other, both seeing the other's confusion.

Perhaps, during those 360 days in the Little World of Famine, what was reshaped was not only their values, personal traits, and skills, but also something deeper.

They have become accustomed to plundering other living beings to support themselves.

The confusion was quickly replaced by clarity.

Perhaps...

It's not them who have warped values; it's the world.

(Snape, the Half-Blood Prince: In terms of being a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), you little wizards are far from being good enough...)