A Challenge Match? Snape Wanted to Sell Him a Dream

Severus Snape's workshop.

Aaron had no idea why he had been summoned, and he had been kept waiting for nearly twenty minutes.

Still, Snape truly was a Potions master. The shelves in the room were packed with glass bottles and jars, and most of the rare potion ingredients scarce on the market could be found here.

There were not only ingredients, but also quite a few finished potions.

"Ha! Professor Snape leaves his things out in the open like this. He's definitely going to get robbed someday. If this batch of stuff could be taken out of the school, it could easily sell for tens of thousands of Gold Galleons—enough to live comfortably for three to five years," Aaron muttered to himself.

After saying that, he suddenly felt a chill at his neck. A long shadow was cast on the wall. From the cut of the robes and the hair hanging beside the ears, it was not hard to guess who it was.

"Hehe! Professor, I'm only telling the truth. Don't you have any traps in here?"

"Stop being glib." Snape shot him a glare and sat down behind his desk. "Do you know why I called you here?"

"How would I know?" Aaron said speechlessly. If he knew, why would he have come?

"You know Harry Potter has become Gryffindor's Seeker, correct?"

"I know! The entire Hogwarts is talking about it, but what does that have to do with me?"

"I want you to become the Seeker for the Slytherin House Team."

"I refuse!" Aaron said at once, his tone especially firm.

Play in a match? What kind of joke was that? Something as showy as that belonged to the savior, Harry Potter. He had no interest in it.

Besides, Quidditch matches were dangerous. What if his hand slipped and he accidentally crippled some student? He would probably have to pay a hefty medical bill.

Others might see it as an opportunity to prove themselves, as an honor, but to him, it was nothing but a thankless chore.

"Why? You have the talent for it." Snape was somewhat surprised. Almost no student disliked Quidditch, and he would wager that if he randomly picked any new student, none of them would refuse.

But what he had not expected was that Aaron was one of the few students who had no interest in Quidditch. Watching a match was fine, but playing in one? Hehe!

"I simply don't want to participate. What if I lose the match because of me? If you really want a Seeker, I think Draco Malfoy would be suitable. He would be more than happy to have a chance to face Harry openly."

"Is that so? He was the one who recommended you to me. Want to know why? He said he wasn't confident he could catch a cat while riding a wildly swerving Flying Broomstick." Snape sneered, then gave Abei an interested glance. "And this cat of yours feels very different to me. Extremely different. Just being near it gives me a warm feeling."

Abei shrank back, and Aaron immediately gathered it into his arms. "An illusion. That is absolutely an illusion."

"Hmph! Whether it is an illusion or not, you know better than I do." Snape straightened in his chair. "As things stand, you are the most suitable candidate."

"Hehe!" Aaron curled his lip disdainfully. "Professor Snape, I respect you—very, very much. But just because you dislike Harry Potter doesn't mean you need to drag me out to challenge him! Besides, I think this is especially unfair to Slytherin's original Seeker. We Slytherins have principles too. We can't disregard a student's feelings just because of the Head of House's personal emotions."

"Rest assured, I specifically spoke with Terence. He will cooperate properly. As long as you can prove you are stronger than him, that will be enough. This concerns Slytherin's honor. He will not refuse to give up the Seeker position."

Aaron paused. This Terence must have been Slytherin's Seeker.

"Professor, you really are something! But the student whose feelings I was talking about is actually me. You can't force a student to participate in a Quidditch match he doesn't want to join!"

"Eh! How can that be called forcing?" Snape said blandly. "I am merely giving you an opportunity to gain honor. That should be considered favoritism, shouldn't it?"

Aaron: ...

Whoever wants that kind of favoritism can have it. I certainly don't. Wasn't he supposed to prove he was better than the original Seeker? When the time came, he could just hold back a little. Surely he would not make the House Team then.

Snape clearly sensed what Aaron was thinking and said calmly, "It's settled, then. Perform well! Otherwise, I think it may be necessary to remind the Headmaster that pets should be prohibited from entering sacred places such as classrooms."

"You..." Aaron gave a bitter laugh. "Professor Snape, isn't that a bit much? Even if Harry has talent, he is only a first-year student. He may not necessarily be able to beat Terence."

"How is it too much? I do not know Potter's level, but I know Professor McGonagall well enough. If Harry Potter were not capable, Minerva McGonagall would not have chosen him as Seeker. She was the first to break the rules, so why can't I replace a player at the last minute? I want to prove that Slytherin students are stronger than Gryffindor students. Her new students include Harry Potter, and mine include Aaron Gaius."

Aaron raised a brow. He had not expected Snape to think so highly of him.

"It's not impossible for me to be the Seeker, but what do I get out of it?"

Snape folded his hands and silently looked at Aaron. "Quidditch points count toward the House Cup. If you win, the value of the championship will be self-evident, and you will earn the respect of every Slytherin student."

Aaron's mouth twitched. How was that any different from trying to get something for nothing?

He did have a task related to the House Cup, but Snape did not know that! Snape wanted him to work for free without paying a price? Dream on.

"Professor, can we have some more tangible rewards? That trick for fooling children stopped working on me when I was three, and I'm a rather materialistic person." As he spoke, Aaron kept glancing at the finished potions on the shelves. His meaning could not have been clearer.

Snape's mouth twitched slightly. He stood and blocked Aaron's line of sight. "I am rather curious. You are the heir of the Gaius Family, no less prominent than the Malfoy Family. Shouldn't you have anything you want?"

"That may be true, but after coming to school, I don't want to trouble my family over every little thing." Aaron's words lacked conviction. After all, not wanting to was one thing, but no one knew what reality would bring. If he encountered trouble he could not resolve himself in the future, he would probably still have to ask his family for help.

At that moment, he suddenly thought of Voldemort's remnant soul mentioned in the task. His gaze toward Snape gained a trace of scrutiny.

As the Head of Slytherin House, Snape's abilities could not be lacking. Taking on a remnant soul should not be a problem. If he could get Snape to help when the time came, those thousand Magic Points would be his.

For some reason, Snape suddenly felt his scalp tingle. He asked coldly, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. As long as you agree to help me once unconditionally before the end of this school year, I'll join the House Team. Of course, I won't make things difficult for you. It will definitely be within your capabilities."

Snape's expression slowly darkened. "Aaron, are you bargaining with me?"

"Mm... you can put it that way. And I will only participate in this year's Quidditch matches. I won't concern myself with any after that. If you don't agree, forget it."

Snape pondered for several seconds, then nodded helplessly. "Fine. It is a deal. But you had better defeat Harry Potter on the field. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

"Understood, understood. Honestly, Professor, you are truly contradictory. I have never met anyone as contradictory as you. In the first Potions Class, you were clearly apologizing to Harry Potter. Your method was especially subtle, but I could tell that you cared about him. If you simply did not want him to know, that would be one thing, but afterward you kept targeting him at every turn, as though you could not stand seeing him do well. Can you tell me why?"

"Get out." Snape pointed at the door and roared.

Aaron wanted to say something else, but Snape's second sentence came immediately. "Do not make me repeat myself. Get out."

"Fine, I'm leaving." Aaron stood up at once and walked outside.

Just as Aaron was about to step through the door, Snape suddenly said, "By the way, Mr. Gaius, you had better stop prying into my affairs. It will do you no good."

"Don't worry. My curiosity isn't that strong, and I have no interest in your past. Consider it... my respect for you!"

After Aaron left, Snape gave a bitter smile in the workshop. "What an irritating little wizard."