The natural order turned upside down!
Snape might have mastered Levicorpus, or had Levicorpus used on him, but he could never have gained the power to reverse cause and effect. Ian believed he had seen the truth!
Snape was a plagiarist!
This was definitely a major weakness of Professor Snape's. Perhaps it couldn't compare to the story of him and Lily Potter, but it was absolutely a truth that could make Snape die of embarrassment on the spot at Hogwarts.
Its impact was no less than a middle schooler having their whole school find out their online handle was [King's Contempt] and their signature was [Let the World Feel Pain]!
"You're smiling like an idiot."
The witch didn't know why Ian was standing there grinning foolishly.
"I just thought of something happy."
Ian felt the witch's gaze and immediately came back to his senses.
"Threatening people makes you happy?"
The witch's deep gaze seemed capable of seeing through everything.
"Professor Mara! And you said you couldn't read minds!"
Ian was once again greatly startled.
"You just asked me about that sentence, and now you're standing here grinning foolishly. Any normal person could easily guess what you're plotting."
The witch rubbed her brow helplessly, as if she could hardly bear Ian's stupidity.
"Tell me, who got my book?"
She seemed quite concerned about what she had left behind in the mortal world.
"One of my professors. Every year, he uses the same opening line in class. It's the sentence you wrote in one of your books, Professor Mara."
Ian hurriedly explained.
"The professor who teaches you Potions at that school called Hogwarts?" The witch saw Ian nod and replied in a rather indifferent tone.
"At least it isn't a disgrace."
What, exactly, was not a disgrace went without saying.
The knowledge written by this haughty witch, of course.
"Can Potions really stop death?"
Ian asked the question that had troubled many Hogwarts students for their entire lives.
"Of course. But that professor of yours definitely can't do it." The witch gave a faint, noncommittal laugh, her tone brimming with a certainty that made Ian curious.
"Why?"
Ian hurriedly pressed her for an answer.
"Because I've already cut down the last Golden Apple Tree in the mortal world. The main ingredient in the potion that can stop death, or even reverse life and death, is a Golden Apple."
The witch patiently answered Ian's question. "Of course, if your professor is talented enough, perhaps he can find a substitute for Golden Apples in the mortal world."
That was what she said, but her tone was full of disdain. She clearly didn't believe that any Potions scholar in later generations could find an ingredient capable of replacing Golden Apples.
Ian didn't believe it either.
After all.
If Snape could really stop death, he wouldn't be mocked by so many people as someone who only knew how to brag. It wasn't hard to see from the original story that Snape really couldn't make such a potion.
Still.
Now that he knew where and when that oft-repeated opening line came from, he had finally discovered the origin of Snape's classic quote.
He couldn't do it.
But once... someone really could.
"Professor Mara, why did you cut down the Golden Apple Tree?" Ian had heard the witch mention cutting down the tree more than once. He wondered if it had anything to do with the obsession that kept her in Limbo.
"Because I felt like it."
The witch smiled.
There wasn't the slightest trace of anything strange in her expression.
"Okay."
Ian knew he wasn't going to get the real reason out of her.
"Potions are different from magic. The ingredients keep changing. If you want to learn, you'll need to bring me some Potions books from your era."
The witch changed the subject of her own accord.
"Don't I need to bring some ingredients too?"
Ian blinked.
"My dear apprentice, I've been dead for a long time, but I'm sure that even in your era, Potions ingredients aren't worth just a few pennies."
"So, even if I needed them, could you... afford to buy them?"
Lies don't hurt.
The truth is the sharpest blade.
Exposed as a penniless boy, Ian's youthful face flushed slightly.
"I should be able to find some of the ingredients that the school has." Ian admitted that he was broke, but Hogwarts certainly wasn't a poor school!
"Hah, I don't want you getting hunted down by your Potions professor." The witch was clearly a Potions Master, so of course she knew how much Potions ingredients meant to a master of the art.
"Professor Snape's pretty good to me. Maybe if I beg him pitifully, he'll lend me some Potions ingredients. I already owe him quite a bit of money."
Ian spoke uncertainly.
"He's so good to you, and you still want to threaten him? Tsk, you really do have some of the qualities of a Dark Wizard." The witch eyed Ian again, her gaze full of surprise.
"..."
Ian didn't know how to explain. He just felt that blackmail was like a nuclear bomb. Naturally, he could choose not to use it, but having one was far better than not having one at all.
"Fine, I'll stop teasing you."
The witch waved a hand with a chuckle. "Don't underestimate your teacher. I just haven't studied this knowledge in a long time. You only need to find some modern books for me."
"It won't take me long to catch up with your era, and then... surpass it." Her boundless confidence revealed her pride in all its glory.
Even Ian felt his blood stir.
Who wouldn't want a teacher who was outrageously impressive?
The more impressive the teacher!
The more the student could learn!
He could almost see his bright future!
"Praise you, Professor Mara!"
Ian immediately began applauding and offered up some flattery.
"Hah, you'll surely accomplish great things."
In a good mood, the witch gave Ian her assessment.
"Of course! I've got such an excellent teacher!"
Ian immediately picked up the cue.
It came naturally.
However.
"I meant that your talent for flattery will surely lead you smoothly along the path to power," the witch continued with a chuckle.
Was that praise?
It certainly didn't sound like it!
"How can sincere praise be called flattery..." Ian widened his eyes with an earnest look, as if he'd just heard something unbelievable.
"See? I told you that you had talent."
The witch clearly wasn't falling for it.
Even Ian, who usually had thick skin, started to feel awkward.
"Study magic well. Once you're strong enough, you won't need to disguise yourself." The witch gave Ian a meaningful warning.
"I understand."
Ian's expression grew a little more serious.
"Then, my foolish apprentice, let's learn some magic." The witch suddenly rose from the bench and walked toward Ian on her long legs.
"You're far too weak right now."
The witch stopped beside Ian. She was more than a head taller than him, and her commanding presence made him feel an unavoidable pressure.
"I don't have a wand."
Ian spoke nervously.
"A wand is just a tool."
The witch looked at Ian's bewildered expression.
She couldn't help sighing.
"Your era... is truly rather bizarre." She commented, then raised a hand and broke off the metal frame of a painting in the hall.
Almost at the same time.
Without an incantation.
Without any other movement.
As the witch held the metal frame out toward Ian, it gradually changed into the shape of a standard wand, though it was impossible to tell what kind of wood it was made from.
"Magic?"
Ian was astonished.
"Knowledge."
The witch's voice was steady.
While Ian was still wondering whether this cheap teacher of his was trying to fool him, the witch had already come up behind him and pressed a finger to the back of his head.
"Let's start with some simpler magic."
Almost as soon as she finished speaking.
Ian felt a bone-deep chill that made him tremble with fear.
"Feel this killing intent."
The witch's gentle voice made Ian realize something was wrong.
What kind of simple magic required him to sense killing intent?
"Feel it with your heart. Then repeat after me..."
The witch's finger pressed against the back of Ian's head. Some kind of emotion passed through her finger and into Ian's mind, and he felt an incredibly powerful impulse surging through his thoughts.
"Avada Kedavra."
In the magnificent hall.
Flames burned in the fireplace.
The witch taught her apprentice his first spell.