The Forced First Step

The Hogwarts Express slowed beneath the vast twilight sky, and the wilderness beyond the windows gradually gave way to scattered lights. Lin Yanqing walked down the increasingly empty corridor, every step feeling as though he were treading on invisible thorns. The soul bond was like reins slowly tightening; the closer he drew to the other end, the sharper and more piercing the resistance and disgust it conveyed became.

He finally found Snape in the narrow connecting passage at the very rear of the train.

The boy had his back to him, his black figure leaning against the icy carriage door as he faced the scenery flashing past outside the window, like a frozen shadow sculpture steeped in malice. Even from a distance, the aura of "keep away from strangers" nearly seemed solid.

"Host, you can do it! Think about not getting punished! Think about hiccuping in front of the whole school! (??????)??" System Cub waved glow sticks in his mind, trying to drive away his nerves.

Lin Yanqing took a deep breath, suppressing the erratic pounding in his chest, and slowly approached. When he was three steps away, Snape abruptly turned his head—there was no surprise in his eyes, only utterly frozen vigilance. The contract left him nowhere to hide.

"Get lost." The single word was laced with ice chips, more bone-chilling than the cold wind outside.

"..." Every opening line Lin Yanqing had prepared froze in his throat. He steadied himself and forced himself to meet those unfathomably dark eyes, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "I just... wanted to talk about what happened earlier. It was an accident, I swear..."

"An accident?" Snape sneered, cutting him off. The mockery in his voice was sharp enough to slice through the air. "Someone capable of silently triggering unknown defensive magic is telling me that an ancient contract forcibly binding two souls was an 'accident'?" He turned around to face Lin Yanqing fully, examining him like an experimental Flobberworm. "Save your clumsy act. Who sent you? What do you want?"

Lin Yanqing's heart clenched. Snape's sharpness and suspicion far exceeded his expectations, cutting directly into the most dangerous territory. He immediately shook his head, genuine urgency entering his voice. "No one! I'm just a first-year! Before today, I didn't even know who you were! I don't have any purpose!"

"Then how do you explain this?" Snape raised a hand, his fingertip vaguely pointing at the air between them. The invisible bond seemed to tremble with the gesture. "And that... strange wand of yours."

"I don't know!" Lin Yanqing could only cling to that point, wrapping part of the truth in mist. "My family... is somewhat unusual. This wand has been passed down through generations. Maybe... my bloodline or wand resonated with your magic in some way when they collided, creating something... beyond our control?" He carefully avoided the core forbidden topic: the system.

Snape stared hard into his eyes, his gaze like a scalpel attempting to strip away every disguise. Lin Yanqing forced himself not to look away, doing his best to maintain the image of a frightened yet honest first-year.

Silence fermented amid the train's rumble. Through the contract, Snape could sense that the emotions flowing from Lin Yanqing contained nothing more than nervousness and a trace of fear, with no obvious malice or deceit. Yet that did not dispel his doubts. Instead, it made this bizarre connection even more irritating.

"Regardless of the reason," Snape finally said, his voice low and resolute, "find a way to undo it. Once I find one, you'd better cooperate. Otherwise..." The unfinished threat spread through the air, cold and menacing.

"Ding! Mission complete! (★ ω ★) Though the process was winding, effective dialogue has been achieved! Distributing rewards..."

The instant Snape finished speaking, the system notification sounded like heavenly music. Lin Yanqing nearly collapsed. Snape's threatening warning had actually been judged by the system as "breaking the ice"!

At the same time, he felt the inner pocket of his robe grow slightly heavier. There were now ten Gold Galleons and a strangely textured package inside.

Snape sharply caught the fleeting wave of relief that passed through Lin Yanqing, and his brow furrowed even deeper. This Eastern boy was becoming increasingly strange and unfathomable.

Just then, an announcement sounded on the train, informing them to change into their robes and prepare to arrive at Hogsmeade.

Their confrontation was forcibly interrupted.

"I'll be watching you." Snape threw out those final words, then swiftly turned and vanished down the corridor as if avoiding something filthy, his black robes billowing like a night raven's wings.

Lin Yanqing leaned against the cold carriage wall and let out a long breath. His back was already soaked with cold sweat. This forced first step had finally been taken, stumblingly, on hellish difficulty.

He returned to his compartment and changed into his new black first-year robes. Looking at the deepening night and the outlines of distant mountains outside the window, he felt a complicated tangle of emotions.

"Cub, aside from sharing emotions and location, doesn't this contract have any practical benefits? Like letting me instantly comprehend all magic?" he asked hopefully.

"You're thinking too much, Host! (￣▽￣*)" The system displayed an emoji of someone knocking his head. "The core of the contract is protection and connection! But because you share part of your magical origins, learning magic with attributes similar to his might become a little easier! For example... Potions-related magic? He'll become a master in the future! (?? ω ?? )y"

Potions? Lin Yanqing fell into thought. Perhaps this was... a potential breakthrough?

"And also!" the system added. "Because of the absolute protection rule, any healing or support magic you use on him will be significantly enhanced! But offensive magic will be severely weakened or even reflected back at you! Fighting is a no-go! ╮(╯▽╰)╭"

Well, the route of brute force had been completely blocked. Lin Yanqing was helpless.

The train finally stopped at a dim little platform. The night wind, carrying the crisp chill of the Scottish Highlands, poured into the carriages. Lin Yanqing followed the crowd off the train and heard the booming shout of Hagrid, the half-giant. Instinctively, he "sensed" that black figure—Snape was walking alone at the edge of the crowd, deliberately keeping away from the noise, especially Potter and his group. Lily seemed to want to approach, but other excited first-years surrounded her.

"Not more than four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted, pointing at the little boats by the lake.

Lin Yanqing saw Snape quickly board an empty boat, radiating a barrier that said, "Do not approach." He hesitated for a moment, but in the end, under the other boy's nearly tangible icy stare, he stepped into the same boat.

Snape's face looked even gloomier in the night, but he said nothing. He merely turned his head and stared fixedly at the pitch-black lake, using his entire back to proclaim, "Refuse to communicate." Lin Yanqing was happy to have the peace and sat at the stern.

"Duck!" Hagrid shouted as they passed through the cliff. All the first-years, including the extremely unwilling Snape, lowered their heads.

Then, as the boats passed beyond the curtain of rock, everything opened up before them—

The towering Hogwarts Castle rose against the mountainside. Countless windows glowed warmly, and the pointed towers reached toward the star-filled night sky, more magnificent and majestic than anything he could have imagined.

An indescribable thrill surged through Lin Yanqing. It was the shock of a dream becoming reality. He glanced at Snape across from him. Though the boy's face remained tense, when the castle's radiance reflected in those black eyes, a swift yet impossible-to-conceal glimmer of longing flashed through them. This was the promised land where he wished to bury his past and seize knowledge and power.

The boats reached shore, and the first-years climbed the stone steps, gathering before the enormous Oak wood doors.

Hagrid knocked on the door.

The doors swung open, revealing Professor McGonagall in emerald-green robes, her expression impeccably stern.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here."

She led the first-years into a small room beside the entrance hall and briefly introduced the houses, the House Cup, and the Sorting Ceremony.

"Remain quiet while you wait." Professor McGonagall left, and the room immediately filled with nervous whispers.

Lin Yanqing leaned against the cool stone wall and could clearly "feel" Snape's tension not far beside him—a complex mixture of pride, inferiority, and an intense desire for recognition. His own heartbeat inevitably quickened as well.

Suddenly, a sharp, soul-deep stabbing sensation came from the other end of the contract! It was not physical pain, but more like extreme psychological rejection and embarrassment.

Lin Yanqing abruptly looked at Snape. The boy's face had gone deathly pale, his lips pressed into a thin line, his gaze nailed to a small group of first-years who had just entered the room. At their head stood the pale boy with light blond hair—Lucius Malfoy. He was sweeping his eyes across the room with the faint superiority of someone evaluating merchandise.

Snape's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. It was an instinctive, violent reaction to a class he desperately wished to join yet deeply felt humiliated by. Through the contract, Lin Yanqing clearly "read" the shame, longing, and profound self-loathing that nearly drowned him.

Just then, Professor McGonagall returned. "Now, form a single line," she ordered. "Follow me."

They passed through the grand entrance hall once more and entered the brilliantly lit Great Hall.

The sight before Lin Yanqing stole his breath: students filled four long tables, a thousand floating candles illuminated the Great Hall as brightly as day, and a brilliant river of stars stretched across the velvet-black ceiling. At the High Table, all the professors sat formally dressed, while in the central golden high-backed chair sat Albus Dumbledore, with his silver beard and half-moon spectacles.

When Professor McGonagall set down the three-legged stool and the battered Sorting Hat, Lin Yanqing noticed that Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes were slowly sweeping across the line of first-years from the High Table.

When the headmaster's gaze passed over Lin Yanqing and Severus Snape beside him, Lin Yanqing distinctly felt that the gaze... seemed to pause for an almost imperceptible, nearly nonexistent instant.

Dumbledore's fingertip lightly tapped the armrest, almost too subtly to notice, while a profound and inscrutable curve appeared at the corner of his lips, as though he knew everything.