As they retraced their steps, Harry was still wrestling with those little sticks. But he had improved since he first started: he could make the sticks sharp now. With a little more effort, turning them into needles would be just around the corner.
After all, his father had been a little genius who taught himself the Animagus Transformation, and his mother had been exceptionally talented too. Harry had inherited at least some of his parents' excellent genes.
However, Ezio didn't bring Harry along when he went to Snape's office.
By the time he reached the area near Snape's office, the first afternoon class had ended. A moment later, Snape emerged from the darkness with a cold expression, like a bat ready to sink its teeth into someone.
He paid Ezio no mind and went straight inside, pushing open the door.
"Did I invite you in?" Snape turned to look at Ezio, who had followed him through the door.
"Don't be so petty, Professor Snape. Show the child a little more tolerance." Ezio waved a hand dismissively. "I just spoke with Professor Dumbledore. He's quite supportive of my idea. After all, I'm doing this for you, for Slytherin, and even for the good of all Hogwarts students."
"You must be sick of those clumsy idiots who can only brew Potions into a pot of fecal matter."
"This is your office, so I won't invite you to sit down."
Ezio casually pulled over a chair and sat down, looking relaxed.
"You think the headmaster's permission means you can talk to me like this?"
Malice practically spilled from Snape's gaze. He stared at Ezio, looking as though he might throw him out the very next second.
"Perhaps we should start by upholding Slytherin tradition, my esteemed Head of House."
Ezio flicked his wrist, and a foot-long Broken Spear appeared in his hand.
"Wizards can't Apparate inside Hogwarts, but I can. We're only two meters apart. Which will be faster: your Nonverbal Spellcasting, or my blade cutting through your spell defenses?"
"Actually, we're not enemies. There's no need for us to be so hostile toward each other." As he spoke, Ezio turned his palm and drove the Broken Spear into the chair's armrest. He stood up and looked at Snape without fear. "I was the one who brought Harry to Slytherin. That made you happy, didn't it?"
"His eyes are just like his mother's. Does that remind you of anything?"
In an instant, the veins on Snape's forehead bulged. It was as though Ezio had touched on some forbidden subject. Snape gripped his wand.
"I'm not interested in the old grudges between your generation. Just now, I even helped Harry understand what you were trying to tell him. He was surprised to learn that you used to be his mother's good friend. I'm passing along his thanks."
Snape narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression as cold as before. His gaze on Ezio didn't waver at all.
"Thanks to a certain Gryffindor senior who prefers to remain anonymous, I've learned a little about what happened at Hogwarts back then." Seeing the fury in Snape's eyes burn ever more fiercely, Ezio calmly spoke in a soft voice. "There's nothing wrong with liking a clever, beautiful, and kind girl..."
"Shut your mouth!" Snape snapped through gritted teeth.
"But the mistake was that you didn't cherish her when you had the chance."
Snape pointed his wand at Ezio, who stood two steps away. A few sparks flickered at its tip. Its owner's anger had passed into the wand, setting it alight.
"I even know that you used to be close to that lot, like Lucius Malfoy and those Slytherin scum who later became Death Eaters."
"My dear Head of House, you wouldn't want Harry to find out about all this, would you? Don't tell me you don't care about him. You've let too much slip where he's concerned. You look at him as if he were your son, whom you haven't seen in over a decade. You're practically overflowing with affection."
Snape's face stiffened slightly, but fortunately, he already had a dead man's face, so he barely let anything show.
"You've seen it yourself: Harry inherited his mother's talent. He's a clever and outstanding child. Do you want him to spend the next few years hanging around with those idiots, and then turn into a hopeless fool?"
"You know better than I do what Slytherin is like these days. It takes a lifetime to learn good habits, but only a moment to learn bad ones."
"If I leave Harry to fend for himself and let those idiots drag him around, do you think he might turn into the kind of person you hate most?"
"If you think you can use something like this to threaten me..." A sneer tugged at Snape's lips.
"You liked his mother. Isn't that enough?"
The rest of Snape's unfinished sentence lodged in his throat. At that moment, he seriously wondered whether Dumbledore had told the little brat something. Otherwise, how could he be so certain about it—and keep using it to threaten him? A sense of helplessness suddenly rose from deep within Snape, and his hatred for Ezio grew even stronger.
"I don't mean Harry any harm. Professor Dumbledore can vouch for me. I have a stake in Harry, so more than anyone, I want him to become better."
"Voldemort isn't dead, is he? Sooner or later, Harry will face the Dark Lord, who'll return from the dead. It's something he has to confront. Perhaps it's his fate. He has to avenge his parents with his own hands. He's already come to accept that, and as it happens, I can help him grow faster. Professor Dumbledore has given his tacit approval."
"Dumbledore must be growing senile too," Snape said in a sinister tone, though he slowly lowered his raised wand.
"He didn't tell me. I figured it out myself. I found some things that didn't add up, made a deduction, and later confirmed it."
"Voldemort made Horcruxes. He'll return sooner or later. Isn't his greatest dream to live forever? That's no secret."
"Harry has come to Hogwarts, so the wheels of fate are about to turn. Voldemort has been lying low for ten years. That's long enough. We can't know exactly when he'll return, but I don't think we'll have to wait much longer."
"Do you want Harry to be an ordinary wizard by then, someone who's wasted his talent and is unremarkable in every way?"
"You can hate me, but you can't deny that I'm the best in Slytherin. No one at Hogwarts is more eager than I am to grow stronger. I have the talent, and I'm willing to work harder than anyone else. I'm bound to become the brightest star at Hogwarts. Having me by your side and receiving my help is an honor."
"We're both Slytherins. We both know there's nothing more important than gaining an advantage. Put aside those pointless negative feelings, Professor. Compared to what we stand to gain in the future, our personal likes and dislikes now are insignificant. Refusing to work together because you hate me is such a foolish choice. It's not Slytherin at all."
"Do you really think Slytherin and Gryffindor got along well? If they didn't, why did they stand together to establish Hogwarts? The castle itself was even provided by Slytherin."
"Because of advantage, because of glory. By founding Hogwarts, they became great wizards remembered and celebrated even a thousand years later. Though later generations condemned Slytherin as an evil wizard who pursued Dark Magic, no one dared to brand him a dark wizard. He was one of Hogwarts' Founders, and that made him immortal in history. His contributions to the Wizarding World were beyond question!"
"Slytherin has always pursued glory, and so do we. We don't need to care about the process. As long as the result is what we want, that's enough."
"Clever sophistry," Snape said coldly.
"That's because I firmly believe you could be the first to change the outdated, bad habits of Potions and become a great wizard remembered by future generations."
"I want the power to avenge myself!"
"And you can earn people's respect and admiration, along with the chance to raise Harry into an outstanding wizard."
"Wouldn't you want to attend Harry's wedding one day, as his mother's best friend, and offer him your blessings in person?"
Ezio smiled. "Our interests align, so what misunderstanding could we possibly fail to resolve?"
Before you continue