Perhaps being each other's only choice went both ways...

"Think about it, Dumbledore." Charlemagne deliberately ignored Snape. "You have no reason to refuse, do you?"

"Prewett is wasting his time studying those useless courses at Hogwarts. But if he follows me, he can become Potions Master in just a few years, which will only benefit you," Charlemagne pressed on.

Snape stood up from his chair, his cheekbones twitching as if he were gritting his teeth.

"Calm down, Severus," Dumbledore urged.

Charlemagne stared intently at Dumbledore, waiting for his next words.

Dumbledore frowned in thought.

We absolutely cannot let Silan leave Hogwarts. If we fail to keep an eye on him and he goes astray, the consequences will be unimaginable.

A brilliant genius, when using his extraordinary wisdom for good, can promote social development.

But once a genius embarks on a path of crime, the destruction he can cause is absolutely terrifying.

"Right now, Silan is still a virtuous and well-behaved young wizard. But if he's released for a few years, suddenly disappears, and then reappears as a ruthless and insane Dark Lord..."

"Hiss... It's a scene that seems familiar again."

Thinking of this, Dumbledore felt as if he had been pricked by a needle, and he trembled violently.

"From the moment he was born, the Quill of Acceptance wrote his name in the Book of Admittance. The Sorting Hat placed him in Slytherin House. He has been Hogwarts person from beginning to end." Dumbledore stood up, his hands on the table, and said unequivocally, "President Charlemagne, I cannot let you take him away."

"Moreover, Mr. Prewett himself has no intention of leaving Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall immediately added.

Snape felt a moment of relief and found Dumbledore much more agreeable.

With the principal and vice-principal in agreement, Charlemagne had no choice.

He stared intently into Dumbledore's eyes for a long time before slowly nodding. "Well, I hope you've made the right decision."

"Severus," Charlemagne turned to Snape, his previous confrontational demeanor completely gone, "I hope you can nurture him well."

"Of course," Snape said.

"With his talent, if he doesn't become Potions Master before adulthood, that would be a dereliction of duty on your part." Charlemagne slowly stood up. "That wasted time could very well have been transformed into genius-level inspiration in the field of Potions."

"You should understand that becoming Potions Master at seventeen and becoming Potions Master at twenty-seven are two completely different things."

Snape nodded silently.

"Goodbye, everyone." Charlemagne left cleanly and decisively.

"Severus..." Dumbledore said.

Snape suddenly snapped out of his reverie, "I'll go see Master Charlemagne off."

After saying that, Snape caught up with Charlemagne, and the two walked silently side by side out of the school.

After the argument subsided, the two returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

But Snape clearly sensed a strange self-doubt within him.

"Charlemagne is right..."

Becoming Potions Master at a young age certainly increases the likelihood of making great contributions.

Life is full of uncertainties. Illness, aging, and accidents can all greatly deplete a person's energy and will. When struggling with these things, even the most brilliant genius will expend a great deal of energy, resulting in a waste of talent.

If Prewett could become Potions Master before adulthood, he could conduct his research during the most energetic and inspired period of his life.

This could very well propel Potions to new heights.

"Is it really the right thing to keep him here?" Snape's resolve wavered.

After Charlemagne off at school, Snape hurried back, lost in thought.

As he turned onto the second floor and passed the window, Snape stopped, letting the cold night wind whip around him.

The cold night wind blew in through the stone window, but it couldn't dispel the doubts and unease in his heart.

Snape stared blankly at the courtyard below, his jumbled thoughts swirling in from all directions, tangled together and impossible to unravel.

"Perhaps Master Charlemagne is right..."

"Perhaps we could let Silan study under Master Charlemagne during the summer vacation; that way, he'll progress much faster..."

Snape stood silently by the window, frowning and lost in thought.

The cold wind blew the moonlight, as fine as salt, down from the moon, and gazing at it for too long made one feel somewhat dazed.

Two figures, standing close together, suddenly jumped out from the first floor and came into Snape's view.

They walked into the courtyard and strolled slowly.

When the cold, November moonlight fell upon them, it seemed to soften, draping them like a light veil.

The two seemed to be talking, their soft voices flowing through the night like a faint stream.

It's cold at night.

The white breaths exhaled by the two as they spoke close together were swept up by the night wind, entangled together, and inseparable.

Snape recognized them immediately: Silan and Hermione.

Pure, gentle moonlight, two people truly devoted to each other, and hearts slowly beginning to touch...

Snape closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the confusion and doubt he had felt earlier had completely vanished.

"Those two have to stay at Hogwarts!"

"I'm not going anywhere!"

Snape turned with a determined look, his robes billowing as he tossed them, casting a huge shadow on the ground.

"Isn't it just becoming Potions Master before adulthood?"

"I personally wrote the teaching materials and taught him step by step. And Miss Granger, I had her join in too, to study with Prewett..."

Snape walked briskly towards his office.

"Those two should stay together!"

I refuse to believe it.

In the courtyard.

Hermione glanced around with great concern.

The students have now dispersed, and Charlemagne and the two Wizengamot wizards have also left Hogwarts.

"Are we alright after running away like that?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Silan smiled and said, "It's alright."

Anyway, he never planned to go to the Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, so it didn't matter whether Charlemagne minded or not.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt a lingering fear. "So Master Charlemagne is the president of the Extraordinary Society of Potioneers. I can't believe it. He actually wanted to take you as a student and said he could make you Potions Master before you even come of age. Don't you regret not going with him?"

"No regrets," Silan said. "Even if I hadn't left Hogwarts, I could have become Potions Master."

At this point, Silan stopped and looked earnestly at Hermione, saying, "More importantly, I don't want to leave you."

Hermione hadn't expected him to speak so directly and passionately. Her heart skipped a beat, and her face flushed involuntarily. She whispered:

"But Master Charlemagne said I could go with him. Maybe I can even benefit from your connections and get a position at the Extraordinary Society of Potioneers."

"But you'll be unhappy, Hermione. You're not my appendage; you have the right to choose. I won't let you be forced to leave the place you love because of me," Silan said earnestly, still looking Hermione in the eyes.

Hermione felt a surge of warmth in her heart, thinking, "Silan is always like this; when he's with me, he always subconsciously considers my feelings. When I'm with him, I always receive just the right amount of respect and complete freedom of choice..."

"It's because of you that I like..." Hermione's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

"What?" Silan asked.

Hermione looked up somewhat flusteredly, waving her hand. "It's nothing. Let's go, it's so cold~"

The two walked side by side into the castle.

Hermione glanced at Silan out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but smile.

"I am indeed free when I'm with Silan, but I don't seem to have many choices," Miss Granger thought to herself. "Because if Silan is around, I will always choose him without hesitation."

Time and time again, time and time again...

By the time Hermione realized it, Silan seemed to have become an essential, even the only, option in her life.

Miss Granger suddenly realized that the reason Silan was still by her side was because he had chosen her time and time again.

"Perhaps the only thing is mutual..." Hermione thought.

These dreamlike thoughts floated aimlessly in my mind like blown bubbles.

As she thought about it, Miss Granger blushed.

Snape returned to his office, silently reclining in his chair, staring at the ceiling.

"They need to come to class together..."