Beware of Dumbledore

The moonlight was like water, shining inside Hogwarts Castle.

Barton sat on a low stool, quietly guarding the Portkey in front of him, motionless.

Suddenly, the top hat before his eyes trembled brilliantly a few times!

Barton quickly got up, picked up his wand, pointed it at the black hat, and clicked it, then firmly grasped it with both hands.

After about a few breaths, Li Wei and his group squeezed out quickly from the miniature hat, rapidly expanding along a kind of illusory passage.

"Pat."

Landing lightly, Li Wei let out a soft sigh.

"Did anything go wrong? Barton."

"No, Master."

As soon as he spoke, a knock suddenly sounded from outside the door.

"Tap, tap, tap."

It sounded like the texture of a wand tapping on a door.

This was very unusual—Li Wei had already cast a silencing charm, so no sound from outside should have reached the room.

Unless, the magic on it had been dispelled.

Li Wei glanced at Barton—it immediately understood and apparated away with the Portkey.

"Relax, put your wand away, this is Hogwarts."

Li Wei calmed his two assistants, telling them to go about their business. He, holding his wand, went to the door, ready to cast the spell—Dragon Scale Protection.

The door opened, and Snape stood behind it, also holding his wand.

"Snape?"

Li Wei's brow furrowed, displeased—dispelling the protective magic of his home without permission was too presumptuous.

Seeing that Li Wei was unharmed, Snape put away his wand. Folds appeared on both sides of his slightly chubby chin, and he said mockingly, "I noticed several strong magical fluctuations in your room—Li Wei, if I were you, I'd be careful."

"What do you mean?"

Snape turned his head to look down the corridor—the Great Hall was hidden at the end of his sight, dark and chaotic, as if it would swallow everything.

"Aren't you going to invite me in for a sit?"

"...Come in."

Snape walked into Li Wei's office, calmly observing his surroundings—the air still held residual magical fluctuations, clearly an attempt to conceal something. The two assistants were pretending to read, but Snape could feel their hidden gazes.

As expected, they must have left to do something important just now.

"It's getting late, so get straight to the point, Snape."

Seeing Li Wei trying to rush him from the start, Snape wasn't displeased. Instead, he felt a sense of pleasure—was he that afraid of his secrets being exposed?

"Aren't you going to offer me a cup of tea?"

Snape's gaze rested on the large floor-to-ceiling window—in front of it was a small round table with three chairs. Moonlight was spilling onto the table, creating a serene and beautiful scene.

Drawn by the sight, Snape sat down in the leftmost seat, issuing an invitation to Li Wei as if he were the host.

At this moment, he vaguely had a bit of his former demeanor.

"Drinking tea under the moonlight with a middle-aged, stout uncle? You really thought of that."

Li Wei shook his head but still obligingly sat down opposite Snape.

"..."

Seeing Li Wei attacking his physique and age before even sitting down, Snape's lips twitched slightly, but he still insisted on remaining silent.

After a brief silence, Li Wei's gaze towards Snape shifted slightly.

"...Do you really want to drink it? Drinking tea late at night will affect your sleep."

"A small bottle of calming draught can solve that. What are you being so fussy about?

Facing a benefactor who kindly came to warn you, you're too stingy to even offer a cup of tea. Is this your hospitality?"

Li Wei sighed, unsure what Snape was up to, but to maintain colleague relations, he finally spoke, ordering:

"Barton, get him a cup of iced lemon black tea."

The house-elf Barton quietly appeared, but this time, he didn't add a lethal amount of sugar.

Snape nodded slightly, somewhat satisfied, and finally spoke, "You've been researching Dark Arts recently, haven't you? You were forced to teach at the school, and you have no interest in teaching students at all."

Li Wei's gaze drifted out the window. A night raven had just landed in the woods and disappeared.

"Dumbledore told you?"

"That's not important. What's important is I want to know why—didn't you vehemently reject Dark Arts back then? Why have you embarked on this path again?"

"It's been over a decade, do you still want to talk about it? I find you to be quite nostalgic."

Snape pursed his lips and fell silent again.

Moonlight spilled across his profile, faintly revealing a melancholic aura from the past.

Perhaps it was the series of events today that had left his taut nerves weary.

Or perhaps it was the perfect stillness that permeated the air at that moment.

Li Wei suddenly felt a profound sense of exhaustion.

Forget it.

Since he was already teaching at Hogwarts, some things were unavoidable.

With that thought, he spoke calmly:

"I've never been against Dark Arts, I just felt there was no need to get involved with them before laying a solid foundation.

Besides, my talent isn't great. Just trying to fully grasp the mysteries of spells and Transfiguration already takes up all my energy.

The reason I didn't study Dark Arts back then wasn't due to any prejudice, it was simply because I didn't want to split my focus. That's all."

"Not enough energy? Is that why you rejected me?" Snape seemed to recall some unpleasant memories. "With me teaching you, you could have easily mastered those simple spells! Even learning Dark Arts wouldn't be—"

"That's different," Li Wei shook his head. "If it's not something I learn and deduce based on my own thoughts, it won't bring any benefit. Instead, it would pollute my knowledge system."

Seeing that Snape couldn't be persuaded, Li Wei continued:

"Moreover, you and James Potter and his group were in such fierce contention. Researching Dark Arts with you would be equivalent to taking sides—"

"So you were scared?"

"—Scared? Did you forget who helped you out when you were at your most desperate?

And you couldn't even fulfill the only request from your benefactor—to stop bothering me."

"..."

Snape felt like he was about to lose control.

He hadn't experienced such strong emotional fluctuations since Lily's death.

His gaze unconsciously shifted to the iced red tea in front of him. He grabbed it and gulped it down.

"So, this is why you refused me, refused to join Potter and the others? You were afraid that if you joined them, you'd inevitably have to oppose me?"

"No, I'm not afraid of that."

"..." Snape took a deep breath.

"I just found James and the others too rowdy and childish, bullying a reclusive, gloomy little kid every day, not studying magic and just wandering around. I really don't have time to waste with them."

Whether it was the ice cubes or not, though Snape didn't think he was satisfied with Li Wei's explanation, the feeling in his chest at that moment was incredibly clear and refreshing!

"Li Wei, you left the school today, didn't you? I don't care how you did it, I just want to tell you one thing.

Since I can sense this magical fluctuation, Dumbledore certainly can too.

If you've left school to secretly research the Three Unforgivable Curses behind his back—"

Snape stood up to leave. Before opening the door, he added:

"You can't hide anything that happens in this school from Dumbledore. Whether it's ghosts, professors, students, or the portraits everywhere, they could all become his eyes and ears.

If you're doing something dangerous, then like I said at the beginning, you should be more careful."

"This is my final piece of advice to you!"