Good Medicine

Anna turned to Lucius, who was standing off to the side, and spoke, giving him a response of sorts to what he had come over and said to her earlier.

It looked as though she was giving him a way to save face in front of everyone, but she was actually mocking him for meddling.

The familiar tone and familiar manner brought back memories of the feast at the start of term two months ago.

He had been wrong. He should never have come to the feast today! Especially not when Miss Grindelwald was there!

Lucius Malfoy realized that the little fox before him had used him, and he felt both angry and an indescribable sadness.

Down below, students from all four houses had begun visiting one another's tables, with the exception of those from Death Eater families. Everyone was mingling merrily, while all he had left was embarrassment.

Anna watched Lucius stiffly apologize and return to the Slytherin table, but she felt no satisfaction.

After all, he was only an underage wizard, acting in accordance with his family's beliefs.

If he enjoyed wealth, splendor, and renown that others could never attain in a lifetime, he naturally had to shoulder the corresponding responsibilities and pay the price.

"Headmaster, thank you for your answer. Oh, right, these are Halloween presents for you."

Putting those thoughts aside, she took some Muggle World candy from her storage ring and gave it to each professor at the High Table in return. The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who had already received candy from Anna twice today, looked even more embarrassed.

Everyone overlooked the girl's surname and watched her clever, adorable manner with affection, stirring a faint sense of pride in Dumbledore.

Ah, having a daughter really was wonderful. No wonder Gellert doted on her so much.

Lucius Malfoy returned to his seat, feeling utterly dejected. Watching the students on the other half of the Slytherin table interacting amicably with the other houses, he suddenly felt how lonely it was around him.

What did it matter if he had followers? He didn't have a single true confidant he could talk to, whether in another house or in Slytherin.

A soft hand gently settled over the fists he had unconsciously clenched, and his fiancée, Narcissa Black, looked at him with concern.

"It's all right, Cissy."

He patted her hand gently with his other one to reassure her, but even the smile on his face looked forced.

He didn't know when he would next cross paths with Anna. Thinking of Snape's pointed warning that afternoon, Lucius began to waver.

It seemed that the next time he went home, he would have to have a proper talk with his father about Miss Grindelwald.

When Anna returned to her place at the table, Lily was staring intently at her with admiration.

Potter and the others beside her also showed a little admiration.

Openly challenging the school rules and breaking down the invisible barriers that had long separated the houses was something they had never imagined doing.

Compared with their own rule-breaking pranks, this seemed far more exhilarating.

And so, with what she had done today, Anna succeeded in leading the original group of four down a different crooked path.

The group openly removed their masks. Narcissa Black was surprised that her cousin had slipped over to Slytherin at the very start of the feast, while those who had been sitting there from the beginning also realized that Slytherin students were not as obnoxious as they had imagined.

At least Riley and the others were witty and well-mannered, and they joked about things that happened in their dormitories and among their friends. Apart from being a little more elegant in their behavior and a little quieter, they were no different from Gryffindor students.

The original purpose of sorting students at Hogwarts was to distinguish each young wizard's traits. Of course, people with similar personalities also had more to talk about when brought together, but this undoubtedly reduced the vigorous clashes of different ideas between students with different worldviews, outlooks on life, and values.

It was the clash of ideas that gave rise to innovation and could better advance the Witching World. The result of working alone behind closed doors was stagnation, a situation reflected not only in the students of Hogwarts but also in the Witching World as a whole.

If a starting point could be found at school to promote harmony between the houses, then it seemed feasible that such clashes and exchanges could also be expanded to the whole world.

The road ahead was long, and the once utterly dark path before them would have to be explored one step at a time.

Thank you again, Lucius Malfoy. You really are useful, senior!

After the feast, Anna took Lily and the others back to the Gryffindor table. The Gryffindor students, who had previously treated her as invisible, gave her friendly smiles, and a few bolder ones came over to say hello.

The silver-haired girl responded to each of them and readily chatted with those who approached her, politely addressing them as seniors and looking very well-behaved.

After the feast, the younger students would return to their dormitories, while the older ones would attend the Halloween costume party.

Anna said goodbye to Lily, and Snape walked beside her as the two went along side by side.

"Do you always talk to them in that tone? Doesn't pretending get tiring?"

He found it somewhat hard to believe that the soul in Anna's body now had already lived one life.

"But I really am a child now, and children who are too mature aren't likable."

The crying child got the candy.

A sensible child who knew how to act cute was even better at winning the affection of her elders.

She made use of these advantages while enjoying her life over again.

After all, in her previous life, her closest family had died early, and the relatives who had adopted her had little affection for her. That, together with her congenital illness, had shaped her into someone sensible but emotionally distant, leaving little room for affectionate interactions.

No wonder such a thing had happened later...

Anna frowned slightly, but quickly pushed those unpleasant memories from her mind.

Snape noticed the emotions of the person beside him fluctuate a little. She seemed to have remembered something, but soon grew calm again.

"Oh, Severus, I wasn't talking about you.

"But I still hope you can open up a little. Not everyone gets a chance to start over.

"Enjoying a school life completely different from the one before, and making up for past regrets that way-wouldn't that be nice?

"By the way, has the scar on your hand healed?"

The girl lowered her head, wanting to check the scar left by his magical outburst.

"More or less."

The potion Anna had brewed was very effective. The once clearly visible scar had been reduced to a very faint mark.

Listening to Anna, Snape suddenly felt that the despair he had once clung to, his shattered soul, and all the tangled grudges and conflicts had, now that he had been reborn, grown distant from him.

Just like this scar, they had hurt and they had existed, but they would eventually fade.

He had also never realized so clearly that the good medicine that had been treating this wound all along was named Anna.