You Reap What You Sow

Dumbledore closed the door, leaving the space inside to that poor family.

He rubbed his eyes and said to Pomfrey, "Please go and get some rest, will you, Pomfrey? I believe they will need quite a bit of time."

He turned his head to look at He Shenyan, saying nothing, merely patting him on the shoulder before leaving. He strolled down the corridor alone, his back lonely and desolate, as if he were remembering someone.

Harley later learned the full story in the Daily Prophet. A photo of Neville with his parents and grandmother was printed on it, accompanied by bold, black lettering: "Couple Insane for Years Finally Healed!"

Ron and she finished reading the report while eating, and the two reached a conclusion: it must have been the professor who helped.

They were convinced of this.

The speculation in the newspaper was that Dumbledore had acted personally, claiming he had harbored guilt toward the couple for years and had therefore been researching how to cure the madness caused by the Cruciatus Curse, healing them once his research yielded results.

However, Neville's parents claimed it was not Dumbledore, and they remained tight-lipped about the person's name. The report also stated that Dumbledore merely "wore a mysterious smile."

Harley's assessment of this was: "This person named Rita Skeeter is truly annoying. Asking the Headmaster is one thing, but to actually run to Neville's house to conduct an interview?"

Ron dealt with the roast chicken in his bowl and said, "Neville hasn't been to school for three days; his progress might fall behind again. We have to help him."

"Of course, but what is going on with Hermione lately?" Harley set the newspaper aside and began eating a large bowl of vanilla ice cream.

"I don't know either. She hasn't even been eating much lately; she's been buried in the library the whole time."

Ron shrugged indifferently. Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Harley pretended not to know who he was delivering dinner to every night. However, Ron was truly unaware of who Harley was delivering vanilla ice cream to every night.

"I'm heading off, then."

Harley stood up. She had finished the entire large bowl of vanilla ice cream, and not only that, she grabbed another bowl on her way out. Ron thought to himself that if she kept eating like this, she might become very fat, but he didn't dare voice the thought.

Last week, Malfoy had been cornered by her again for staring at Harley, and he even began to suspect that Malfoy was somewhat enjoying it. This was the third time since the start of the term, not counting the incident on the train.

Well, it has nothing to do with me anyway.

Ron thought, finishing his roast chicken in a few quick bites, then grabbing a bowl of mashed potatoes and French onion soup before heading to the library. He wore a silly smile on his face as he walked, completely unaware of it himself.

"Professor, I brought you ice cream again."

"Thank you, Miss Potter."

Snape nodded calmly, taking the ice cream. Halfway through the semester, he was finally able to face Harley with relative composure.

But Harley's next sentence nearly made him tumble from his chair: "Do you know my mother, Professor Snape?"

Snape gripped the ice cream tightly to keep it from slipping. He took a deep breath and asked, "Who told you these things, Miss Potter?"

"No one told me, Professor. I guessed it."

In the ensuing silence, which stretched to an awkward length, Harley kept her green eyes fixed on Snape, while Snape merely kept his head down, dealing with the ice cream.

"...Very well, I did know your mother." He finally gave up the resistance.

Harley smiled faintly.

But all she said next was, "Alright, Professor. Remember to get some rest." Then she left.

She left Snape sitting in his office like a dull puppet. He did not understand what Harley meant, just as he had never understood what Lily meant in the past.

He sighed and finished the remaining ice cream. Wiping his hands, he picked up the notebook placed to the side and began to study again.

A flame had always been hidden in his heart, never extinguished. And this flame was gradually burning brighter and brighter.

Since ancient times, people like him had always been this way, hiding the flame in their hearts, afraid to show it—in the end, they either burned themselves to death or found a way to release it.

For the next period of time, Hogwarts was very peaceful.

Neville returned soon after; he was no longer as cowering as before, having completely changed into a different person.

Many professors were very gratified by this. Harley continued to bring ice cream to Snape every night, and so did Ron.

Aside from delivering dinner to Hermione, Ron spent his time in the library handing over his notes to her, and the two studied together. Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was April 17th, Easter. Hogwarts would be on a two-week break starting that day.

Harley had nowhere to go, so Hermione invited her to spend the holiday with her.

Her family planned to travel to Hawaii, and Harley was initially worried that Hermione's family might not be happy about it. But Hermione's father, a dentist, welcomed her very warmly.

The students had all left, and most of the teachers had as well. Now, the only ones remaining in the school were the gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, and the caretaker, Argus Filch.

The two of them actually enjoyed vacation time, but they insisted on not leaving the school. He Shenyan knew the reason: they had been following McGonagall to study. McGonagall was one of the few who would never leave the school regardless of the time.

She seemed to treat this place as her own home.

Aside from these three, only Snape remained in the school.

During these two weeks, he had barely stepped out of his office, and for meals, he had the Hogwarts house-elves deliver some to his office. His beard had grown out, and his hair was gradually getting longer, but he no longer had the energy to concern himself with his appearance.

He was entirely devoted to his research.

He Shenyan had not told them a single lie: meditation was difficult, researching spells was difficult, and the new methods of potion brewing were even more difficult. But no matter how difficult, nothing compared to the Resurrection Spell that He Shenyan had taught him personally.

According to the classification in the Compendium of Basic Spells, this was a seventh-level spell that they could not reach by any means at present.

It belonged to the highest tier. Its name was very ordinary, simply called the Resurrection Spell. But the principles behind it were not simple at all. Snape still remembered the serious expression on He Shenyan's face during that private lesson, and he remembered every word he said.

"...This spell was invented by myself. I combined five resurrection spells from my predecessors and eliminated their flaws to create this one. I must warn you that this spell is extremely dangerous and uncontrollable. Because the act of resurrecting life itself is dangerous; if you want to obtain something, you must pay a price."

Yes, you must pay something. Snape silently recited this sentence, continuing to throw himself into his research with fervor.