Snape! You Have No Heart!

Lynn had not lied.

Less than two hours later, someone came to summon them to the Deputy Headmistress's office.

Not only Mark and Michel, but Lynn was called over as well.

Besides Professor McGonagall, the Head of Slytherin, Professor Snape, was also in her office.

Both of them wore grave expressions, impossible to read.

The moment Lynn and the others entered, Professor McGonagall questioned them bluntly.

"Do you know what McLean went out to do early this morning?"

Naturally, Mark and Michel did not dare lie in front of the professors. Besides, they were not close enough to Hubert to cover for him.

"H-He went to the owlery to borrow a school owl to buy something," Mark said quietly, swallowing nervously.

"What was he going to buy?" Professor Snape's eyes were like sharp blades, as though they could cut open their skulls and peer straight into their thoughts.

Mark trembled all over from fright, his lips pressed tightly together as he failed to say a word for a long while.

Michel secretly glanced at Lynn from the corner of his eye.

From beginning to end, Lynn stood to one side and watched coldly without saying a word.

"He was going to buy something from Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley." Michel finally gathered the courage to tell the truth.

At once, both professors' expressions changed!

They knew very well what kind of place Knockturn Alley was, and what Borgin and Burkes generally sold.

"Explain clearly! What was he going to buy?" Professor McGonagall's voice even became shrill, as though she had been enraged to the extreme.

Under those circumstances, Michel completely sold Hubert out. Like pouring beans from a sack, he revealed every plan they had plotted before.

"He was going to buy Essence of Insanity!"

Michel shouted, "He thought someone like Lynn entering Slytherin was simply an insult to every Slytherin wizard! He wanted us to pretend to make up with Lynn, then use the excuse of treating him to desserts to slip Essence of Insanity into his food!"

The moment Michel uttered the words Essence of Insanity, Snape's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"How dare he do such a thing!" Snape's voice was so gloomy it could freeze someone to death.

He was a Potions Master himself, so of course he knew exactly what kind of potion Essence of Insanity was.

The Ministry of Magic had classified it as a banned potion. It looked very similar to Liquid Luck and appeared completely harmless, but after drinking it, a person would become mentally deranged, like a madman.

Although its effects were not permanent, it was still a potion despised by countless wizards and explicitly prohibited by the Ministry of Magic!

Now one of his students actually intended to use such a potion to harm a fellow student. Snape felt as though his lungs were about to explode with rage.

Professor McGonagall looked like an enraged lioness. She glared coldly at Mark and Michel, who had lowered their heads and did not dare look at her, then pronounced their punishment.

"Slytherin will lose fifty points! You two! Starting today, report to Filch every evening for detention for one month... no! Two months!"

The corner of Snape's mouth twitched uncontrollably, but in the end, he said nothing and tacitly accepted Professor McGonagall's punishment.

But the matter was not over yet.

Professor McGonagall and the others had not forgotten why they had summoned Lynn here.

Snape turned his gaze toward Lynn, who had been quietly playing the role of a "victim" without speaking.

"Belloc, did you know about their plans beforehand?"

Everyone in the office, including Mark and Michel, focused their attention on Lynn once more.

Lynn blinked and said innocently, "How could I have known, Professor? Yesterday, they suddenly came to make up with me, and I was happy about it for quite a while."

As he spoke, Lynn secretly equipped his title: Freshman Rookie.

Freshman Rookie: 1. While this title is equipped, students who believe their status is higher than yours will unconsciously make things difficult for you.

2. Teachers' concern for you doubles.

3. When learning basic magical knowledge, your learning efficiency increases threefold.

Note 1: This title's effects only take effect while equipped.

Note 2: This title will disappear upon advancing to the second year.

At the same time, Lynn's acting skills were enough to leave Mark and the others several worlds behind.

His eyes reddened slightly, tears seeming to swirl in their corners, yet stubbornly refusing to fall.

"I've actually always wanted to be friends with them. I know they look down on me because of my background, but I thought that could change. As long as we treated each other sincerely, we could still become friends in the future, couldn't we? Yesterday, I thought they had finally accepted me. But I never expected that they, they..."

Lynn pressed his lips together as though desperately holding back tears. His aggrieved expression was so convincing that even Dou E would have felt inferior.

Mark and Michel's jaws nearly dropped to the floor. So the person who had pinned Hubert to the wall and beaten him up that day had not been you?

Professor McGonagall's heart practically melted as she listened.

She had already known Lynn was an orphan and that living alone had not been easy for him. She herself had paid him the admission home visit.

From another perspective, she was the one who had brought Lynn into Hogwarts. Yet after arriving at Hogwarts, he still had to endure discrimination and bullying from his dormmates.

Professor McGonagall now felt that she had been terribly unqualified as a teacher.

The anger and severity on her face slowly melted away. In a gentle voice full of apology, she said,

"I'm sorry, Belloc. Something like this happening is a failure on us professors' part..."

Mark and Michel's jaws dropped again. They had never seen Professor McGonagall like this.

However, Snape, standing nearby, interrupted her.

"Wait, McGonagall. I haven't finished asking my questions yet."

Snape's gaze remained icy, as though Lynn's acting and title had not affected him in the slightest.

"I learned that this morning, you actually left the common room before Hubert did. Then, after Hubert was attacked, you arrived at the scene very quickly. Can you tell me where you were during that time, Belloc?"

Looking at Snape's wife-less face, Lynn could not help complaining inwardly:

Snape, you have no heart!

Still, even though Snape had not been affected, Lynn was not afraid of his question, because Hubert's attack really had nothing to do with him.

"I have a habit of jogging every morning. Since coming to Hogwarts, I've also become very fond of magic. After my morning run, I practice spells by the Black Lake outside the castle. Hufflepuff senior Cedric can testify for me. He practiced spells with me this morning."

Through the portraits in Professor McGonagall's office, Lynn's witness, Cedric, was quickly summoned there.

All you dear readers said you'd definitely vote next time. I was careless; I did not dodge.

As a result, the recommendation votes plummeted yesterday. I said, young people, you have no martial virtue. The dear readers hurriedly apologized, saying they did not understand the rules and had merely been talking nonsense.

But he was not talking nonsense. "Definitely next time" and skilled freeloading were clearly well-practiced. Later, he said he had trained for three or four years in finishing a chapter and immediately leaving. It seemed he had come prepared.

Is this good?

This is not good!

I urge all you esteemed readers to mind your conduct.

Reflect on yourselves properly.

Do not commit such petty cleverness again in the future.

Reading should be about harmony and martial virtue.

Do not just read without voting.

Thank you, friends!