He Has Lily's Green Eyes

Ethan's eyes shimmered with genuine light.

Snape: "..."

It was like punching a wad of cotton—Snape's mouth hung open, but he couldn't find the words.

Was this even about immersion anymore?

And if he kept sinking deeper, what would become of things?!

"...It seems Mr. Vincent has a more open attitude toward Dark Magic than the average person."

Snape sneered with biting sarcasm, snapping the sketch shut.

With a flick of his wand, the fireplace roared to life.

Threads of warmth finally filled the room again.

"Your task for tonight—don't waste time. Get started."

Snape pointed at the two large buckets of red and green slime on the floor, a malicious, expectant curl lifting his lips.

The last student he'd punished like this had ended up crying and vomiting.

So what about Ethan?

Let him see how this arrogant little brat crumbled under torment.

—Yet.

Soon.

Snape realized he'd celebrated too early.

Not only did Ethan show no disgust, but he even wore a pleased expression.

As he squelched through the bloody rat livers, slime splattering onto his clothes and face without a care, he smiled, his eyes gleaming with an eerie, manic light, like a murderer dissecting prey, brimming with endless fascination.

Damn.

The kid had found inspiration in this.

A deep chill crept over Snape.

Every second spent in the same space as Ethan was torture.

"May I ask what you're thinking right now?" Snape couldn't hold back, cutting in.

Ethan blurted out: "Toad Man."

Snape: ?

Ethan tilted his head up, his face smeared with green slime, grinning at Snape:

"Imagine combining a toad with a human—what a magnificent feast of art that would be."

"Humans and squishy animals, like externalizing the weakness in one's heart, or returning to their primal state—"

"Enough!"

Snape barked, shooting to his feet.

Just hearing Ethan's description gave him goosebumps all over.

Twisted, utterly twisted!

What kind of trauma had this kid suffered? How could someone so young harbor such dangerous thoughts?!

Snape vanished the filth with a wave, fixing a cold stare on Ethan, his voice grinding through clenched teeth:

"You think you're impressive? Having some artistic talent no one else has, making people fear you—does that make you proud?"

Ethan blinked: "I didn't—"

"Don't interrupt when a professor is speaking. Ravenclaw loses two points."

Snape smirked with satisfaction.

"You caused serious harm to Mr. Malfoy before school started. I don't know how you did it, but is that how you treat your classmates? Perhaps I should suggest to the Headmaster that we confiscate those bizarre, disgusting drawings of yours."

"..."

Ethan paused, lowering his head.

Seeing this, Snape felt a wave of relief.

In all his years teaching, no student had dared defy him.

After a few seconds of silence.

Suddenly, a voice like a sigh rose:

"He has green eyes, Professor Snape."

"What?"

Snape froze, caught off guard.

"I said," Ethan looked up, meeting Snape's gaze directly, "Harry Potter has a pair of beautiful green eyes just like Miss Lily's. Perhaps you've already noticed."

Snape's smile froze.

Then his cheeks flushed red with anger.

"If you're trying to provoke me further—"

"Malfoy said," Ethan cut Snape off again, "that if Harry Potter wasn't careful, he'd die a miserable death, just like his mother."

Though Malfoy's original words were "Harry's parents."

But Ethan figured temporarily removing the "father" part would hit harder.

Sure enough.

As if a pause button had been pressed, Snape went completely rigid, his eyes widening in disbelief.

His mouth hung open, but no sound came out.

"So..."

Ethan delivered the final blow in a gentle voice:

"When I saw a child with those eyes being insulted like that, I couldn't help but teach Malfoy a little lesson."

"Professor Snape, was I wrong?"

Dead silence.

Absolute dead silence!

Snape stood frozen, as if stunned senseless.

Only the crackling of the fireplace filled the room.

If Ethan had a brush right now and could paint a pair of green eyes on Snape on the spot, the effect would've been even better.

Too bad he hadn't learned how to turn his wand into a paintbrush yet.

But even so, the buffs were already maxed out.

Seconds later.

Anger crept back onto Snape's face.

And this time, it clearly wasn't aimed at him.

"Go. Go fetch Malfoy for me..."

The professor's voice trembled with rage.

Ethan: "Professor, what about the points I lost—"

Snape: "...For your courage toward a fellow student, Ravenclaw gains ten points."

Ethan: "Professor, my commission—"

Snape: "..."

He irritably fished a handful of coins from his pocket and shoved them into Ethan's hand without even looking.

Ethan didn't linger. He dropped a quick "I'll go find Malfoy now" and turned to run.

Only after he'd gotten some distance did Ethan stop, panting, and look down at the coins in his hand by the flickering candlelight.

There were five gleaming golden Galleons, along with some silver Sickles and Knuts.

Enough to use better materials and redraw a more durable, higher-grade [Gate of Opening].

He'd gone straight from broke to well-off.

"..."

Slowly, slowly.

The corners of Ethan's mouth lifted.

It was the most genuine smile he'd worn since the start of term.

Standing in the dark, damp corridor, lit by the swaying candlelight, it looked utterly eerie.

Ethan found Malfoy outside the Slytherin common room.

He was bragging with his gang of followers.

When they saw Ethan, their faces lit up with nervous smugness.

"Professor Snape wants to see you," Ethan said.

"Me?"

Malfoy looked puzzled, but then it clicked:

Snape must want to punish Ethan in front of him.

He'd figured as much—after all the harm he'd suffered, there was no way Snape would let Ethan off with just a chore.

Malfoy's eyes darted around as he came up with an even more humiliating approach.

He jerked his chin at his cronies and said, "You don't mind if my friends tag along, do you, Ethan? Or... are you embarrassed to have them hear?"

The cronies let out snickering laughs.

Ethan blinked and kindly advised, "I think it'd be better if you went alone."

After all, hell awaited ahead.

But Malfoy clearly got the wrong idea.

Seeing Ethan say that, he assumed Ethan was scared, and the smugness on his face grew.

"Enough talk! Let's go, all of us together!"

The Slytherins grinned maliciously and followed Malfoy in a group.

Ethan shrugged.

He'd warned him, after all.

If the other guy wouldn't listen, what could he do about it?

They arrived at the Potions office.

The door was half-open, revealing Professor Snape's back facing them in the dim room.

Malfoy curled his lips, glanced at the unfazed Ethan, raised his hand to knock, and walked in.

"Professor Snape—"

"For insulting a classmate, Slytherin loses ten points, Mr. Malfoy."

Snape turned slowly, his dark, icy voice slithering like a snake through everyone's ears.