Seeking Guidance

Even though Harry hated Snape, he still had to continue attending Potions Class until it was over…

Snape had the students form pairs and tasked them with brewing a simple potion to cure boils.

Before Gemini could even suggest pairing up, he saw Draco eagerly approaching him.

Well, what else could he do? He couldn't exactly turn Draco away, could he?

"Dried nettle... crushed snake fangs..."

To Gemini's surprise, Draco didn't make any mistakes; he was quite sharp.

A good kid, too bad his upbringing had led him astray.

"I'll handle the rest," Draco said confidently. "Actually, I brewed this once at home before school started, under my mother's guidance. My mother is actually quite skilled at potions."

"Ah, thank you. We might be a bit short on porcupine quills, I'll go get some more," Gemini nodded and turned towards the potions cabinet.

Snape, who had just finished berating everyone except Gemini and Draco, walked over to Draco. Seeing the passable potion above the flame and the slugs Draco had just stewed, he nodded in satisfaction.

"All of you should observe Malfoy's technique for stewing slugs, so your ignorant brains can have something to fill them."

That was classic Snape...

Gemini, having just retrieved the porcupine quills, smiled and walked back towards his seat.

Hiss—

As Gemini passed Neville, a potion with a strong, pungent odor shot upwards.

A strong premonition kept stimulating the back of Gemini's head. He quickly turned his head. On the table beside him, the cauldron in front of Neville had already melted into a twisted metal lump, and the green potion was about to spray onto Neville and himself.

Whoosh—

In an instant, white webbing stuck to Neville's back. Gemini yanked Neville behind him, flicked out his black cloak, and used it to shield himself from the splashing potion.

However, it was no use. The black cloak was riddled with holes within a second.

Gemini leaped up and hung from the ceiling, shooting webbing at the cauldron with one hand and simultaneously firing webbing with the other, suspending all the nearby students beside him.

"What the hell... are you brewing aqua regia?"

Seeing the webbing he shot being dissolved by the potion, Gemini couldn't help but gasp.

Although he remembered this scene happening, he hadn't expected it to be so explosive.

The potion was spraying everywhere!

"Idiot!"

Snape roared, noticing the commotion. With a flick of his wand, he swept away the potion and webbing on the ground.

"I suppose you didn't take the cauldron off the heat before adding the porcupine quills, did you?"

Snape roared at Neville, who was hanging from the ceiling, from the ground. The scene was somewhat comically absurd.

"Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the porcupine quills? Do you think it makes you look good when he makes a mistake? Gryffindor lost five points because of you."

Harry felt very annoyed by this.

As he spoke, Snape looked at Gemini, who was hanging from the ceiling, and his tone softened slightly. "Very good, stepping forward at a critical moment. Slytherin gains another five points."

Judging by Neville's expression, he would have preferred to be doused by the potion, so he could be sent to the infirmary instead of remaining in this terrifying classroom.

Finally, the two Potions classes, filled with Snape's love and hate, favoritism and prejudice, came to an end.

The little Gryffindor lions fled the Potions classroom basement as if escaping a disaster.

"Fox."

Snape expressionlessly called out to Gemini, who was packing his things to leave.

"Is there anything else, Professor?" Gemini asked.

"Why didn't you use your wand just now?"

"Reaction time, Professor. I didn't have enough reaction time," Gemini smiled. "A wand is a wizard's companion, but fundamentally, it's merely an extension of the wizard's magical will, not a part of the wizard. Drawing a wand takes time."

"Do you think I didn't see your reaction speed?"

"Another point is that the education I received is people-oriented; life is the most important thing. With my reaction speed, in that situation, I could have drawn my wand, but at the cost of the people next to me being drenched in that potion. Therefore, I believe the first thing to do is to save people, even if I don't have much interaction with them."

Snape stared at Gemini intently. "You don't seem like the type of person to do something like that."

"Yes, I think so too," Gemini said with a gentle smile. "But Professor, the body's instincts are the most genuine reflection of the soul. Just like how you instinctively stepped in front of Harry just now, even though you seem to dislike him immensely."

Upon hearing this, Snape's eyes narrowed.

"What... are you trying to say?"

"I just find it very interesting," Gemini looked at Snape with some curiosity. "Modern magical history has records of both Harry and Voldemort. The book includes Professor Dumbledore's words: Love is the greatest magic in the world."

"So, Professor, what does it feel like to love someone?"

Gemini looked at his own fair hands and murmured, "Undoubtedly, I have emotions, but perhaps I've ignored them for too long. It's hard to imagine what kind of emotion it would be if it were to bloom in its most powerful magical form."

"So, as my Head of House, can you teach me?"

In the armaments shop, this magic didn't exist.

This was the first thing that couldn't be found in the armaments shop, but Dumbledore hadn't lied about this matter, because the armaments shop admitted that such a weapon did indeed exist.

Snape stared blankly at Gemini for a long time.

There was no imagined anger or rage, nor did he use Legilimency on Gemini for having his secret exposed.

Because he was the Head of Slytherin, and standing before him was a student seeking his guidance.

He just stood there, his face still expressionless, but his unfocused gaze was hollow, carrying immense tenderness and pain.

"It's... pain..."

After a long while, Snape finally spoke slowly, his gaze returning to Gemini's face.

"It's regret... it's despair! It's unbearable agony..."

"But knowing it's pain, regret, despair, unbearable agony, yet still willing to endure it."

Snape's tone was low: "I don't know what the love Dumbledore speaks of is, nor what love you seek, this is merely my understanding of this magic. Now, your questions are answered, Get—out..."

Gemini vanished from Snape's sight with a Soru, his legs kicking up as he disappeared down the corridor in a flash.

There would be plenty of time to ponder questions later, but for now, Snape's mood was likely volatile, and a wise person doesn't stand beneath a dangerous wall.

When Gemini arrived at the Great Hall, he was immediately stopped by a group of Gryffindor cubs.

"Gemini, that was really... thank you."

Neville said, blushing and stammering.

"If it weren't for you, we probably would have been shot all over." Harry said, still shaken, vowing that he would never be in the same group as Neville for Potions Class again.

After Harry spoke, the other cubs whom Gemini had pulled away chimed in, thanking Gemini.

"You're welcome," Gemini said, waving his hand gently.