In the final days of the Christmas break, Hogwarts seemed frozen in a crack in time. Snow still lay thick, and silence reigned, but beneath that cold tranquility, undercurrents stirred in more hidden ways.
Snape's patience was like that of a dormant venomous snake. He no longer rushed into high-risk direct investigations, instead turning his energy toward the more fundamental—and more lethal—task of gathering information. Somehow, he had acquired an old copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Its margins were crammed with dense notes—some were his own, while others belonged to someone signed "Half-Blood Prince." He seemed to be using those profound annotations to search for some kind of breakthrough.
"Over the past four months, Wilkes checked out Tracing the Origins of Modern Dark Magical Artifacts from the library three times." Lin Yanqing slid a note toward him. This was the result of disguising himself as a younger student with the Mimic Mask and cleverly examining the records right under Madam Pince's nose. "And every time was around the full moon."
Snape lifted his gaze from the potion textbook and swept it over the note. A flicker of understanding flashed through his black eyes. "Tracing the Origins of Modern Dark Magical Artifacts," he repeated softly, his fingertips unconsciously tapping against the table. "Chapter Six gives a detailed introduction to identifying and temporarily stabilizing the energy fluctuations of certain... alchemical items with a dark aura."
A vague outline began to take shape. Wilkes might not have been practicing Dark magic. He might have been handling, identifying, or searching for specific Dark magical artifacts for someone.
Ding-dong! (｀?ω?′) Intelligence integration analysis in progress... Correlation increased! Suggestion: set a targeted bait.
System Cub popped up an owl emoji wearing a detective hat.
"Bait..." Lin Yanqing murmured thoughtfully. They needed something that could draw