Watching Snape leaf through his notebook without a word, Morris could not help asking, "Is something wrong, Professor?"
To be honest, he did not think there was anything special about his notebook.
He had simply jotted down all his thoughts and questions as he studied Potions.
He knew where his own Potions skills stood.
To a Potions Master like Snape, the contents of that notebook probably did not even count as introductory material.
Snape finally looked up from the notebook and regarded Morris with a complicated expression.
He fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly weighing his words.
Finally, he spoke in a stiff tone. "You have too many questions, Mr. Black. And most of them are meaningless."
Morris shrugged indifferently.
After all, those were just thoughts he had casually recorded in his notebook.
"Give me your quill," Snape said suddenly.
"Oh, sure." Morris handed over his quill and watched him curiously.
Snape took it without explaining, flipped straight to the blank pages at the back of the notebook, and began writing.
About a minute later, he returned both the quill and the notebook to Morris.
Morris looked down and found the titles of a dozen or so books neatly listed on what had been a blank page.
They were all about potions.
Incidentally, Snape had rather nice handwriting.
"This is..."
"Read all of these books," Snape said flatly. "From top to bottom, every single one. The first five cover the basics, and the rest are advanced material. Incidentally, I had already finished all of them in my first year."
"If you still have questions after that, come to my office and ask me."
"Thank you," Morris said gratefully. "You're a good person, Professor."
Snape kept feeling there was something odd about that remark.
It even sounded a little like mockery.
A good person?
He hardly qualified.
This was merely his basic duty as a professor.
He gave a slight nod and added, "If you truly... admire me, as you claim, pay attention in my classes. Also, do not discuss those irrelevant matters with Mr. Potter. They have nothing to do with you."
Hearing this, Morris realized that his entire conversation with Harry and Ron earlier had been overheard.
He noticed a faint edge of teeth-gritting in Snape's voice when he mentioned Harry Potter's name at the end.
From the look of things, Snape really did not simply dislike Harry Potter; there was a deeper reason behind it.
But Morris had no intention of investigating.
That was someone else's private business.
In the library that afternoon, Morris told Harry and Ron about his encounter with Snape.
When they learned they could no longer copy Morris's homework, Harry and Ron both looked as though the sky had fallen.
"Merlin's holey socks!" Ron wailed. "What am I supposed to do? Whose homework can I copy now?"
"Do it yourself," Morris replied lightly.
"I refuse to give in!"
"...Whatever makes you happy."
Morris had no idea what Ron was holding out for.
It was only homework. Was there any need to resist it so fiercely?
Look at Harry-he was already leafing through his Potions textbook.
Now there was someone who truly understood what needed to be done.
"You should do your own homework, Weasley."
A voice broke into their conversation.
Ron glanced at the newcomer and said irritably, "This has nothing to do with you, Granger."
Holding a thick book, Hermione stood before their table with her chin raised, her voice clear. "Of course it has something to do with me, Weasley. If certain people in Gryffindor lose us piles of points over this sort of behavior, I'll have to work even harder to earn them back."
"We haven't lost any points yet, have we?" Ron retorted. "Mind your own business."
But Hermione went on as though she had not heard him. "Copying homework is wrong in itself. It's disrespectful to the professors, and I can't just stand by and watch you go astray. Don't you agree, Morris?"
She turned toward Morris's seat, hoping for a little support.
But the seat was empty.
At some point, Morris had already left.
Hermione froze for a moment.
"Er..." Harry spoke up at just the right moment. "If you're looking for Morris, he went over to the shelves while you were arguing... discussing things. He told me he was going to find a few books."
He raised a hand and pointed.
Among the nearby shelves, Morris stood on a ladder, his head tilted back as he concentrated on examining a book on an upper shelf, paying no attention at all to what was happening over here.
Ron puffed out his chest as though he had seized on some crucial piece of evidence and said smugly, "Well, you're wrong, Granger. Morris is my friend, and he's willing to let me copy his homework! He said so himself!"
Harry did not think this was something to be proud of, nor something to announce loudly.
At that, Hermione's face flushed slightly with anger.
She stamped her foot and raised her voice. "I'm done with you! Do whatever you like!"
With that, she turned and strode briskly toward another part of the library.
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"She's angry?" Ron said, looking a little bewildered. "Over this?"
"Apparently so." Harry nodded.
"Wait-shouldn't I be the angry one?" Ron could not understand it.
Hermione was clearly the one who had come over looking for trouble.
What was that supposed to be, storming off in a huff after losing an argument?
Meanwhile, Morris was searching for the books on the list Snape had given him.
He planned to borrow them all in one go, then study them at his leisure in his dormitory.
For him, a dormitory he had to himself was clearly better suited to reading and studying than the library.
While looking for the books on the list, Morris came face-to-face with Hermione.
Hermione had just rounded a row of shelves in a temper.
"Looks like you've finished arguing," Morris remarked casually, his tone calm.
Of course he had noticed Hermione and Ron's dispute. He simply had no interest in joining a squabble between children, so he had walked away.
Arguing over something like that struck him as rather childish.
Seeing Morris's detached, untroubled expression, Hermione felt the anger that had nearly subsided suddenly flare up again.
"Morris," she said coldly, "as his friend, shouldn't you stop Weasley from copying homework? You know perfectly well that he's wrong."
"Is that so?" Morris said, his voice as steady as ever. "Unfortunately, I can't force Ron to change his mind. Ron surely understands that it's a bad thing to do, too, but it's his choice, and I choose to respect it."
In his view, people acted according to their own will.
As a friend, if Ron said he wanted to study, Morris would naturally do everything he could to help. But if Ron wanted to get through his homework using improper methods, that was Ron's own decision as well, and Morris did not want to force him to change it.
At most, he would offer a little advice, and nothing more.
"Ah, found it."
Before Hermione could speak, Morris's gaze landed on a book with a dark brown cover on the top shelf.
Advanced Potion-Making.
It was the second-to-last book on the list Snape had given him.
He climbed to the top of the ladder and pulled out the thick, heavy book.
Once he was down, he looked at Hermione, who was still standing there with a complicated expression, and said, "I still have several more books to find. Goodbye, Hermione."
He paused, then ultimately offered a reminder. "If you want friends, you'd be better off not lecturing people when you talk to them. Apart from me, I doubt many people could put up with it."
"I wasn't lecturing!" Hermione protested instinctively.
"Maybe." Morris did not argue. He simply nodded and headed toward the next set of shelves.
If he said too much, the other person would get annoyed, too.
Despite how he usually acted, he had quite a good sense of boundaries when dealing with people-or so he thought.