Snape's Guardian

The victory in the Quidditch match was like a potent stimulant, immersing the entire Gryffindor tower in a sea of revelry.

The Weasley twins hoisted Harry high, singing and dancing around him with heroic treatment; Ron, like the most loyal knight, vividly recounted to everyone how Harry had "devoured" the Golden Snitch; even the usually calm Hermione wore a radiant smile from the heart.

This fervor lasted for a full day, only gradually cooling down at the crack of dawn the next day under Professor McGonagall's stern gaze and the pressure of heavy coursework.

As for Lin Yuan, the outside clamor was merely a passing breeze outside his window.

His world was always that silent ocean surrounded by towering bookshelves and the scent of ancient ink—the library.

At this moment, he was sitting in a forgotten corner of the Forbidden Section.

This spot was excellent, perfectly positioned to avoid Madam Pince's ghost-like patrols and allowing him to observe all the energy fluctuations in the entire area.

Spread out before him was an evil tome, its cover made of some dried human skin, with a dim eyeball embedded in its spine—Howl of the Soul and Blood Pact.

This book itself was a collection of vicious curses.

An ordinary wizard, upon merely touching it, would be corroded by the residual resentment within, leading to mental derangement at best, and uncontrolled Magic Power at worst. The pages fluttered as if windblown, emitting waves of whispers only souls could hear, filled with pain and despair, attempting to lure and corrupt the minds of any reader.

However, these mental pollutions, fatal to ordinary wizards, were like a gentle breeze over a mountain peak to Lin Yuan's resilient Divine Soul, causing not the slightest ripple.

As soon as the malicious whispers approached within three feet of him, they were instantly purified and annihilated by an invisible field of Will, unable to create even a ripple.

He calmly flipped through the pages, his gaze sweeping over the twisted and evil Ancient Runes written in blood, his expression as indifferent as if he were reading a supermarket shopping list.

"[Bloodline Curse]: A sustainable, transgenerational malignant curse applied by using the target's blood or hair as a medium. Its essence utilizes the law of 'Causal Connection.' Hmm... this approach is about seventy percent similar to the 'Bloodline Curse Killing Technique' in the cultivation world, but the energy structure is too unstable and prone to backlash. An immature, high-risk, low-reward spell."

"[Soul Sacrifice Array]: An opportunity to briefly communicate with an 'Otherworldly Being' by sacrificing the souls of numerous living creatures. A crude lever used to pry open higher dimensional powers. Unfortunately, they don't even know what they are communicating with. This is not a transaction, but inviting trouble."

Lin Yuan's fingertip lightly brushed across a passage on the page about "how to extend the effectiveness of a curse."

His brain, or rather his vast sea of consciousness, was dissecting the underlying logic of these dark magics at a terrifying speed, breaking them down, categorizing them, and then converting them into data nodes within his own knowledge system.

Just then.

A cold aura, like a venomous snake, silently appeared at the entrance of the Forbidden Section.

Lin Yuan didn't even look up; his Divine Soul had already sensed the identity of the approaching person.

Severus Snape.

The Potions Master, like a true ghost, clad in his black robes that seemed to absorb all light, moved silently between the bookshelves.

His footsteps were so light they were inaudible, yet with every step, the surrounding air seemed to grow a degree colder.

He didn't head directly for Lin Yuan but first circled the Forbidden Section, his obsidian-like eyes scanning every shadow like searchlights, as if confirming his territory had not been invaded by other rats.

Finally, he stopped behind Lin Yuan.

He didn't speak, merely stood there quietly, his gaze falling upon the open, ominously radiating Howl of the Soul and Blood Pact before Lin Yuan.

The moment he saw the title, even in Snape's unfathomably deep eyes, a flicker of unconcealable shock flashed.

This book...

He certainly knew this book.

It was one of the most dangerous tomes in the Forbidden Section, one he himself dared not easily touch during his student days.

The curses attached to it were enough to drive an adult wizard mad.

And this boy before him... this eleven-year-old first-year Gryffindor, was reading it with relish as if it were The Tales of Beedle the Bard?

Snape's gaze was fixed intently on Lin Yuan's face.

He saw the face, so calm it showed no ripple, and the eyes, so clear they seemed to reflect the starry sky.

No fear, no confusion, no madness induced by dark magic.

Only a... pure focus and calmness that he couldn't comprehend.

Snape felt his throat grow dry.

This boy... was he truly completely immune to these curses?

How was that possible?!

"It seems Gryffindor's points have made you so audacious that you dare to touch this knowledge which even the undead fear," Snape finally spoke, his characteristic smooth and cold voice breaking the silence.

Lin Yuan slowly raised his head, meeting Snape's gaze, which was filled with scrutiny and suspicion.

"Professor," he closed the book, his tone as calm as ever, "Knowledge itself is neither good nor evil. Good and evil lie only in the heart of the user."

This sentence, sounding like something Dumbledore would say, filled with philosophical meaning, did not seem ridiculous coming from an eleven-year-old boy. Instead, due to his transcendent aura, it carried an irrefutable persuasiveness.

"Hmph, eloquent words." Snape snorted coldly, but he didn't dwell on the matter. He changed the subject, his voice filled with sarcasm, "Potter nearly broke his foolish neck on the Quidditch field yesterday. You were there, how did you feel? Did you think your Gryffindor 'Savior' looked like a ridiculous puppet controlled by strings?"

Lin Yuan knew this was a test.

Snape was testing how much he had seen.

"What I saw was a professor doing his utmost to cast a 'Counter-Curse,' trying to save a student attacked by dark magic," Lin Yuan calmly stated the facts.

Snape's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

"Professor, your 'Counter-Curse' yesterday was exquisitely performed. The energy output was stable, the targeting extremely precise, and maintaining balance for several minutes in such a complex adversarial environment was admirable," Lin Yuan's tone was like an objective academic critique. "Unfortunately, those children perceived it as the source of malice."

He paused, then looked up at Snape's face, hidden in shadow, and added as if with a hint of kindness, "I think they've probably misunderstood you."

"Misunderstood?" A supremely contemptuous arc pulled at Snape's lips, his voice filled with deliberately amplified, icy disgust. "What does Potter's life or death have to do with me? I wish I could see him fall off his broom and smash into a pile of mud as conceited and arrogant as his father."

He spoke so venomously, so mercilessly, as if Harry Potter were his mortal enemy.

However, Lin Yuan simply watched him.

Within his Divine Soul's all-seeing vision, he could clearly "see" the true emotions hidden deep within the scarred heart of the "Half-Blood Prince," beneath the black shell filled with venomous thorns in Snape's mind.

It wasn't hatred.

It was a mixture of guilt, pain, longing, and a clumsy protectiveness that he himself was unwilling to admit.

He wasn't protecting the boy named "Harry Potter."

He was protecting the only bloodline Lily Evans had left in this world.

He was protecting those eyes, identical to hers, a pair of emerald green.