Snape's Concerns

After bidding a hasty farewell to Hagrid, Silvan took his package and hurried back, eager to return.

While passing the open space in front of the castle, he spotted Harry and his friends.

Hermione was crafting a type of blue flame that could be contained within a bottle to keep them warm.

Bluebell Flames were a special magical fire; even if one placed their hands over them, they would not be burned, feeling only a pleasant warmth. They were considered one of the most common spells wizards used for heating.

However, "common" in this context referred to adult wizards; very few first-years could master this spell. If Professor Flitwick had seen Hermione's handiwork, he likely would have awarded Gryffindor five points without hesitation.

Well... a professor did indeed see it, but unfortunately, it was not Professor Flitwick; it was Snape, and he was not looking at her.

"What do you have in your hand, Potter?"

"It's Quidditch Through the Ages," Harry said, showing it to him.

"Confiscated. Library books are not permitted outside the castle." Snape snatched the book away. It seemed he was in a good mood today, as he didn't even deduct any points.

Silvan walked past from the side. He had originally intended to stay out of it, but Snape was on a rampage.

"Stop, Ollivander! What do you have there!" Snape said, drifting toward Silvan like a giant bat.

"I bought a few things; the owl just delivered them." Silvan displayed the brown paper bag in his hand.

Snape pursed his lips and said nothing, nor did he invent a rule on the spot to confiscate Silvan's belongings as he had with Harry.

He was only targeting Harry, not every Gryffindor; it was just a pity he couldn't deduct a few points from Gryffindor to liven up his day.

He was indeed in a good mood today.

But just as Snape prepared to leave, he suddenly caught a familiar scent... the smell of blood.

As a Potions Master, he was all too familiar with that odor.

In an instant, his gaze locked onto the brown paper bag in Silvan's hand.

"Open it!" Snape looked at Silvan with a stern expression. "Now, immediately! Do not make me say it a second time!"

Silvan cooperated, opening the bag in a few quick motions.

Snape immediately leaned in to peer inside.

Harry and his two friends, whose book had just been confiscated, also quietly crowded around, their faces full of curiosity.

Then they saw them: several bloody hearts, each the size of an egg.

"Ugh!" Hermione was the first to cry out, pressing her lips together, her face turning deathly pale. The other two were no better; Ron was even worse than Hermione, nearly vomiting on the spot.

Snape's expression was equally grim, though not because he was looking at these bloody items.

As a Potions Master, dealing with such things was fundamental; even the rat spleens and toad livers the students used in Potions class were measured by the bucket. This little bit was nothing more than a drizzle to him.

Snape was thinking of something else.

Hearts were rarely used in potions, and such items were often associated with Dark Magic. Many famous curses required a heart as a medium.

There were precedents at Hogwarts of students researching Dark Magic, so he could not help but be nervous.

"What is this!" Snape demanded sharply.

"Red Cap hearts," Silvan said.

"Why buy such things?"

"Because I have a use for them, of course." Silvan glanced at him. "Hogwarts school rules do not forbid students from buying Red Cap hearts."

Snape's expression stiffened, then he said coldly, "There is such a rule now. You had best be honest!"

"Fine, I use them to craft wands," Silvan said.

"Liar!" Snape's gaze was piercing. "No one has ever used Red Cap hearts to craft wands."

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape, but I think you are mistaken..."

Before Silvan could finish, Harry stepped forward.

"We saw with our own eyes that Silvan crafted a wand with a core made from the nerves of a Red Cap heart."

"That's right," Ron added, stepping up as well. "I saw it too, and so did Neville and Seamus."

The two spoke with great conviction, not sounding like they were lying at all.

This made Snape hesitate slightly.

He suddenly looked into Harry's eyes.

Because he was telling the truth, Harry was not afraid of Snape and met his gaze defiantly.

But the next second, Harry instinctively lowered his head...

He did not know what had happened, but just then, he felt something very wrong—a strange thought occurred to him, as if Snape could see right into his mind.

Snape's expression shifted as well. He looked at Silvan as if he were a rare animal, muttering something under his breath.

The voice was too low for anyone to hear clearly, save for a faint, "It is actually true..."

Silvan's mouth twitched... Snape must have used Legilimency on Harry just now. There was no doubt about it; he definitely had.

The feeling was quite strange.

Even though he was the primary cause of this and had been the one to bring up the wand-making, Snape had chosen to use Legilimency on Harry to verify the testimony.

Of course, it was not that Silvan wanted to be subjected to Legilimency—no one would like that—but this blatant "favoritism" was truly eye-opening.

However, even if Snape were to use Legilimency on him, he would see nothing.

As a wizarding family spanning over two thousand years and the only wand-making family in the United Kingdom, the Ollivanders held too many secrets. How could they not have means to protect their memories?

In fact, when Silvan first opened that ancient, worn copy of Wands and Wizards as a child, his memories had been protected by the complex, dizzying magic array carved into the inside cover of the old book.

A magic array—something even older than Niven, a product of Merlin's era. That copy of Wands and Wizards had come from that same time.

Its effect was equivalent to receiving Occlumency for free, and an enhanced version at that.

Because besides Legilimency, the Imperius Curse did not work on him either... provided it was the Imperius Curse of a normal wizard; the likes of Dumbledore, Tom Riddle, or Grindelwald were exceptions.

After all, it was something from over a thousand years ago, and with no one to maintain it, it was normal to have some flaws. At least when facing the other ninety-nine percent of wizards, Silvan felt quite confident.

On the other side, after learning the "truth" of the matter, Snape quickly accepted the fact that Silvan could craft wands using Red Cap hearts.

As the saying went, wizards who dealt with wands were never normal; he could accept the development of any strange and bizarre things.

But acceptance was one thing; the items still had to be confiscated. A first-year student fiddling with bloody hearts in the dormitory was simply unacceptable.

"Let this be the last time." Snape snatched the bag away. "In the future, you are not permitted to purchase these things privately while at school."

"Then what am I supposed to do if I have a need in the future?" Silvan was certainly unconvinced, and he felt a pang of heartache.

Red Cap hearts were not expensive, but for the wizards in Knockturn Alley, delivering goods to Hogwarts was a high-risk transaction that required a premium.

This bag of items had cost Silvan a Galleon; that amount of money could have bought enough snacks for the whole dormitory to eat for three days.

"I am a wandmaker registered with the Ministry of Magic. I have the right to create," Silvan argued firmly.

"That is no excuse for you to trade with Dark wizards," Snape said coldly. "You can come to a professor."

"Come to you?"

Silvan swore he was just trying to be difficult with Snape and wanted to get a jab in, but he did not expect that after a moment of contemplation, Snape actually nodded.

"You may."