"I'm not opposing him," Harry said, stiffly, "He always finds excuses to take away my points."
"Then go talk to Professor McGonagall, see if she can give those points back," Hermione said, not bothering to argue further as she turned away.
Harry was cursing Snape vehemently in his mind.
Yet, what Harry didn't know was that the person he was thinking about was actually just a wall away from him.
Moreover, half an hour ago, Snape had stood precisely where Harry was now, with a complex mood, pounding the wall twice with force.
...
At this moment, inside the Room of Requirement, Snape had more or less looked around and returned to the foyer.
"Where's Conna?" he asked Kael coldly, who was standing in front of him.
"In the Magic Text classroom," Kael replied, "The third classroom on the second floor on the left. If you have no particular business, you better not disturb her."
Don't disturb Conna?
Snape seemed to have heard some sort of blasphemous statement, suppressing the urge to draw his wand, "Do you know what you're saying?"
"Of course, professor," Kael shrugged indifferently, "But is there a problem with that? Learning Magic Text requires concentration. Sometimes even just a brief distraction can make you miss the subsequent content. You wouldn't be planning to cause trouble, would you..."
Snape's expression froze.
"What?" Kael stifled a laugh, "Professor, what did you think I meant?"
"Certainly just that," Snape took a deep breath, using his strong facade to cover his true thoughts.
"I'm warning you, stay away from her!"
"Can't do that," Kael said, meeting Snape's gaze, speaking deliberately, "Yes, you heard right... Impossible, I can't do that, don't even think about it!"
Snape was immediately enraged, and the good mood he had traded fifty Gryffindor points for vanished instantly.
But quickly, he seemed to recall something and calmed down once more.
"Then you'd better behave," Snape said through gritted teeth, pushing the words into the gaps between his teeth, "Don't let me catch you doing anything excessive again, or you'll certainly regret it, I say what I mean!"
"Don't worry," Kael responded this time without hesitation.
Those words wouldn't allow it to happen anyway.
Kael immediately put on an impeccable faux smile, saying eagerly, "Then professor, the Magic Potion Classroom is on the third floor, I can lead you there."
These days he had become well-acquainted with the place, knowing exactly which classroom hosted which class.
And Snape said nothing further, just following Kael up to the third floor.
Throughout the process neither spoke again, making the atmosphere slightly awkward.
Apparently feeling somewhat stiff, as they arrived on the third floor, Kael took the initiative to break the silence.
"Professor. Have you ever thought about changing jobs?"
"What do you mean?" Snape narrowed his eyes.
"Don't get me wrong." Kael stopped by a classroom door, "My point is, opening a Potion Master Shop or something, I happen to have a shop in Diagon Alley, it was a gift from Sirius."
"Is that so? That's rather generous of him." Snape said with a sinister tone, "Thanks, so what's your point?"
"Not much." Kael shrugged, "Just... well, if Professor Dumbledore ever has unreasonable requests, like making you do dangerous tasks, you can actually refuse."
"Even if you can't be a professor because of that, you can sell magic potions at Diagon Alley. My friends—the Weasley Brothers—have a shop there, and honestly, they're earning quite a bit, much more than a professor's salary."
"What do you mean by this?" Snape said, his face tense, puzzled as to why Kael suddenly said such... inexplicable things.
Instinctively, Snape pondered a possibility but quickly dismissed it.
Impossible... Dumbledore wouldn't tell anyone about his identity, even if he was truly senile, and certainly not to a student.
He stared fiercely into Kael's eyes, seeming to want to find answers within them.
Unfortunately, Kael wasn't Harry; under the protection of Occlumency, Snape could see nothing.
Instinctively, Snape reached into his robe pocket, where a small bottle lay.
Veritaserum... he had specially brought it out with him today.
"Nothing, then," Kael laughed, not minding Snape's movements.
He pointed to the adjacent door, "Here's the Magic Potion Classroom, but professor, I must say there's actually not much to see, you might be a bit disappointed."
Magic Potion, probably the only course here without significant changes. Aside from the variety of magic potions that needed preparation, the other procedures were almost exactly the same as now.
But just as Kael was about to leave, Snape stopped him.
"What exactly do you know?" he asked deeply.
"I don't know anything," Kael said with a smile, "It's just that now the Death Eaters are rather rampant, should Professor Dumbledore ask you to deal with them someday, just come up with an excuse to refuse... if only for Conna."
Snape fell silent, lost in thought. After a long time, he gently spoke, "The professor's task is to protect the students."
"I know," Kael nodded, "I was just speaking offhand, professor, you really don't need to worry about it."