Hogwarts: I Obtained the Paternal System

Wizards really were efficient.

With the damage Snape had inflicted earlier, if this had been the Muggle world, he probably would have been dead by the time the ambulance arrived.

Yet at St. Mungo's, he had been successfully treated in just over an hour.

Wizards really were something else.

"That's good, that's good!"

Darren said with a sigh.

He had gotten quite a few good things from Kenli. Without Kenli, he could not even trigger temporary quests now.

He wondered when the system would issue another temporary quest.

[ Ding, having detected the host's thoughts, the system will issue three temporary quests every day. The rest requires the host's own initiative. ]

All right.

So that was how it was. He had been wondering why the system had stopped issuing them; it turned out there were only three temporary quests per day.

And clearly, temporary quests gave better rewards.

He wondered what rewards he could grind out tomorrow.

The instant the boy heard the news, his eyes lit up.

He looked utterly delighted.

There was not a trace of gloom in him. He was simply happy that Kenli was safe.

Snape's fingers curled, and a flicker of nostalgia surfaced in his eyes.

Lily!

He truly was Lily's child.

Red hair, green eyes, fair skin, handsome features, and a personality so much like Lily's—it made him unable to bear directing his hatred for James Potter at the boy.

And Lily had two children: Darren Potter and Harry Potter.

One had already begun to soften his heart. If both stood before him...

The same red hair, the same green eyes, the same courage, the same kindness, the same... He felt that he might be unable to stop himself from showing tenderness toward the two children.

Dumbledore had said that Voldemort would return someday. He had to play his role as a double agent well. He could not be kind to those two children.

But he could not find a single reason to treat this child poorly.

Looking at that face, those emerald-green eyes, that red hair, and his kind, brave nature, he truly could not say anything harsh to him.

And there was Harry Potter in the future...

They were twins. They would look exactly alike.

Damn it, he could not see him as James Potter's child at all.

This was Lily's child!

Grieving over Lily's death, Snape had never gone to see Harry Potter, despite living very close to Privet Drive.

He had thought that if he did not look, his heart could be a little harder. But all of that had failed the moment he met Darren Potter.

(PS: The original work never mentioned whether Snape secretly visited Harry. In this setting, he did not, so don't argue with the author. If you argue, you're right!)

Chapter 7: Packing Up

Darren, unaware of Snape's thoughts, also thought of Harry Potter at that moment.

The famous protagonist, Harry Potter, was actually his older brother. He truly had never imagined that in eight lifetimes.

At the same time, he felt a little sorry for the original owner of this body.

Look at Harry Potter. Though his parents had only been with him until he was one year old before dying—

Lily had placed a bloodline protection on him, which rebounded and killed Voldemort.

And as long as Harry Potter believed Petunia's house was his home, Voldemort could not harm him.

The moment he was born, he had a name and status.

Even if Petunia later treated him badly, she still gave him three meals a day. Unlike the original owner, who often went hungry for two or three days at a time.

Harry Potter was famous throughout the wizarding world, while the pitiful original owner had died in this tiny Orphanage.

Tsk, how miserable!

Darren sighed endlessly.

Then he looked up at Snape.

He wondered whether this man had ever seen Harry Potter. After all, quite a few fanfics later had paired him with Harry.

He had heard Snape had a crush on Harry?

Ahem, wrong channel.

"Professor Snape, the letter says I have an older brother named Harry Potter. Can I meet him?"

The protagonist!

He had never seen a creature like a protagonist before!

"You will meet after school begins."

Snape spoke in a hollow, emotionless voice.

Darren nodded in disappointment.

He also silently marveled at Snape's professionalism. Good heavens, he was using Legilimency every second of every day.

Or did Darren really look so much like Lily?

Had it made Snape incapable of pretending in front of him anymore?

Thinking of that, Darren became even more curious about what he looked like now.

The original owner had indeed had red hair and green eyes, but because of his injuries, malnutrition, and the Orphanage's neglect, he had not looked good.

Not only had he been scruffy, but his face had been sallow, his body thin, and his eye sockets sunken.

Back then, even Darren had disliked his own appearance.

Afterward, he had nursed his body every day, finding ways to get his hands on any food he saw.

But he had not looked in a mirror these past few days, so he did not know what he had become.

Especially after gaining the Paternal Halo from the system, his looks had surely improved. He just did not know how much.

But this was not a good time to say that he wanted to go back and look in a mirror. He could only stand curiously beside Snape, pacing back and forth with an itch in his heart.

"If you have nothing better to do, you can use those hands of yours, which are always thinking of doing something stupid, to pack your things!"

Snape glanced at Darren and said sarcastically.

What was so important about that Kenli?

Did he really have to stand foolishly at the door waiting?

Instead of wasting time, he might as well pack his things and get some rest.

The marks from his head being smashed bloody a few days ago were still there. Did he want to spend the days before school started in St. Mungo's or the school infirmary?

And Dumbledore too. He really was getting old; his brain had been muddled by too many sweets. He had actually talked to a woman who loved money like her life for so long. Could a single Obliviate not solve the problem?

Snape felt that some of the Death Eaters' methods for solving problems were excellent. At the very least, they did not waste time.

Damn it, he had come in such a hurry that there was still a cauldron of Veritaserum brewing.

It was probably ruined by now.

That damned Dumbledore—why could he not do things faster?

Of course, Darren had no idea that so many thoughts lay beneath Snape's hollow gaze. He had only heard Snape tell him to pack his things.

Ah-ha!

Could it be that Snape had noticed his curiosity?

"Yes, Professor!"

Darren nodded vigorously and happily made his way toward his room.

Snape was left behind, silently gazing at his retreating back in remembrance.

Lily!

Darren's room was fairly clean.

Though the original owner had been a child who did not like tidying his room, Darren was an adult and occasionally got the urge to clean.

Besides, there was not much in the room to pack.