Snape had anticipated many possible reactions.
Perhaps confusion, perhaps timidity, perhaps stubborn defiance.
But he hadn't expected Lin Yuan's face to remain as calm and placid as a still well.
"I understand, Professor." Lin Yuan nodded, as though he'd merely listened to a dull lecture on Potion ratios. "The theory is clear. Please demonstrate it. To me, seeing magic take shape is more persuasive than any words."
Snape's eyebrow twitched upward, a trace of disdain evident in his reaction to Lin Yuan's answer. "Very well. Since you're so eager to witness your own failure, I'll oblige you."
This hadn't been part of his plan.
Demonstrating his most private Patronus to a first-year student? It was absurd!
But their relationship wasn't that of teacher and student. It was a transaction.
Lin Yuan had traded information about Quirrell for this lesson.
As part of the bargain, showing him a "finished product" was a necessary step for the buyer to inspect the goods.
And deep down, Snape also harbored a trace of the Half-Blood Prince's pride.
He would show this self-proclaimed genius what true, top-tier magic looked like!
He would make him understand that an uncrossable chasm lay between talent and true power!
Snape closed his eyes.
The air in the office changed at once.
The chill and oppression that had long lingered there seemed to be pushed aside by an invisible force.
For an instant, the lines of Snape's pale, sharp-featured face seemed to soften.
No complicated scene of happiness appeared in his mind. No laughter, no sunshine, no beach.
There was only one image, as clear as if it had happened yesterday.
By the lake at Hogwarts, a red-haired girl with emerald-green eyes had smiled at him and cast a little spell, making a flower bloom in her palm.
That smile,