The Story Wasn't Over
Thinking about what came next, Lin Er's voice grew a little subdued.
"The secret Snape wanted to expose was this. He was outstanding at Potions, and Lupin disappeared every full moon, only to look as though he'd been through a serious illness afterward. Snape had guessed the truth long ago; he just didn't have proof.
"There wasn't much difference between a Werewolf and Dark Magic. A Werewolf was even harder to control. After all, Snape was only studying it, while the Werewolf had already been at school for five years.
"Sirius Black noticed him watching and following Lupin, so he used that to lure Snape to the place where Lupin hid after transforming.
"So neither side was made up of good people. Snape wanted to expose the Werewolf's secret and get him expelled, and show Lily—the protagonist's mother—that they weren't good people either.
"Black wanted to use the opportunity to teach Snape a serious lesson. He didn't care whether the transformed Lupin bit Snape to death or infected him.
"Snape fell for it. When Lupin attacked him, the protagonist's father learned about Black's plan. To keep his friend from having a killing on his conscience, or perhaps because he didn't want Snape dead either, he went and saved him.
"When they were taken to the Headmaster's Office, Snape thought the headmaster would expel the Werewolf and be ashamed to admit that one of his favorite students was a Werewolf.
"But unexpectedly, Dumbledore was the key person who had allowed the Werewolf to attend school. He didn't comfort Snape, who had nearly been bitten to death by a Werewolf.
"Instead, he said Snape had brought this on himself by following them with bad intentions. He also demanded that Snape acknowledge that the protagonist's father had saved his life and keep Lupin's secret.
"After nearly dying, Snape couldn't say anything, while the protagonist's father and the others could tell Lily that they had saved Snape's life.
"In the end, Lily wondered why Snape was always so focused on them and spoke badly of them. Even after they saved him, he wasn't grateful, and she called him ungrateful."
"Damn, isn't that too much? Neither side was good, but that's just bullying!"
In the small town, very few people had read Harry Potter, and many who had read it hadn't finished it. The people who had come over to listen had simply heard a new story, and their perspective followed Lin Er's.
Putting yourself in his shoes: you nearly died at school. Granted, it was partly because you wouldn't leave things alone, but did that make it reasonable to have a source of danger at school? And on top of failing to handle it fairly, the headmaster threatened you to keep you from telling anyone.
The next day, your best and only friend, the girl you had a crush on, told you a version of events with parts cut off both ends, making you acknowledge a nauseating life-saving favor. The girl also thought you were ungrateful and beyond help, showing no gratitude even to the person who saved your life.
Anyone would have been driven mad with anger at that point, right? Who could resist turning dark?
"After that, the fighting between the two sides got even worse. They fought almost every time they met.
"After their fifth-year exams ended, the Marauders stopped Snape again. One knocked his wand away, and another made him lie on the ground, unable to get up.
"Of course, he hadn't grown up in a good environment either. He opened his mouth and out came foul language, so a spell filled his mouth with soap bubbles.
"Lily came over and stopped them."
The classmates around her pictured the scene and wanted to laugh, but held back on moral grounds. When they heard Lily had appeared, they all breathed a sigh of relief. His friend was there; she would help him, at least, right? Two against two—that was fair.
The bell rang in the corridor, and the students hurried back to their seats. Lin Er thought over Professor Snape's youth again, feeling a little down.
But today they'd had so much time to tell stories only because the rain had canceled their exercises between classes. Normally, there wasn't nearly enough time.
Math was very good at soothing people's emotions. A single geometry problem could occupy all their thoughts, leaving no room to think about anything else.
At noon, Lin Er filled her enamel lunch tin, made especially for children, halfway with food and put it away. She planned to heat it up for him when it was time for his meal.
Her thinking had been too limited before.
The space created by the Undetectable Extension Charm could hold living things. She could even raise animals in it and let people go inside, so she could light a fire and heat food in there.
It didn't matter if the magic book couldn't send a stove over. She could heat the food in her schoolbag and then send it.
That would keep the child from eating at irregular times and always having cold food.
He was only seven; it wouldn't be good if he developed a host of illnesses.
Her schoolbag was now divided into three sections: one had shelves she'd nailed together herself from wood at home, one was an area lined with discarded asbestos roofing sheets she'd picked up, and one held piles of rice and peanuts.
The shelves held food, water, clothes she hadn't taken out, and miscellaneous items. The asbestos-sheet area held coal and a stove.
There was also an old school desk she had taken from the school's abandoned storeroom—the kind that was missing parts and would eventually be taken home and chopped up for firewood.
She had patched it up, and it was now a cupboard holding pots, bowls, basins, and cooking utensils.
After her meal, Lin Er had a small cake. These things didn't keep long, so she had given Ying Yuecheng quite a few and told him to give some to Ying Yuechi.
Ying Yuecheng was her older male cousin, and Ying Yuechi was the younger. There was less than a year between the three of them, and Lin Er was the oldest.
They then went to the same middle school. The youngest had been a top student since childhood, and Lin Er wasn't close to him because they had hardly ever interacted.
But the two cousins got along well, so if Lin Er gave something to one, she naturally wouldn't leave out the other.
As for Ying Yuecheng's odd remarks about her having struck it rich, Lin Er didn't argue. She simply asked whether he wanted them or not. If he didn't, he could give them back; even after they expired, she could still use them to attract fish.
Ying Yuecheng shut up at once and ran off with the snacks.
"Don't tell anyone at home!"
"Got it, sis!"
Ha, now that there was food, she was his sis. Speaking of which, how had they grown close in their previous life? Back then, Lin Er had never had snacks to share with anyone.
Oh, it seemed she had been too disappointing, always getting bullied over little things. Ying Yuecheng couldn't stand watching and looked after her a few times, and they grew close after that. At first, they had been less like an older sister and younger brother than an older brother and younger sister.
Only later had he gradually started calling her sis.
Thinking of that, Lin Er's annoyance vanished. She really did owe him.
Shi Meng and Xu Duoduo got some too. The three girls sat together, while Xu Chao went to Shi Meng's seat. It was almost time for the midday rest anyway, and as long as they didn't talk, the teacher didn't pay much attention to who sat where.
They had just eaten, so the small cake was only an extra snack. Shi Meng finished hers in a few bites and started tugging at Lin Er.
"What happened after that?"
"What?" Lin Er tossed her trash into the garbage bag hanging under her desk, not realizing what Shi Meng meant.
"Snape was being bullied, and Lily came over and saved him. What happened next?"
Lin Er paused, took some water from her drawer, and had a sip. She checked the time; there were still more than ten minutes before the midday rest began.
The students in front and behind who had heard were curious too and turned around. Shi Meng quickly moved the books aside to make room for them, and Xu Duoduo also looked at Lin Er curiously.