"I get it!" Harry stood back up, drawing his magic wand and pointing it at Snape. "For example, I should suspect right now... that you are a werewolf!"
Snape's expression immediately darkened.
"Gryffindor, you'll lose ten points for your disrespect! Potter!"
He nearly roared out the words.
"It was you who told me to suspect everything, Professor." Harry looked at Snape with a sense of disbelief. "I start suspecting, and then you're unhappy..."
"Gryffindor loses another ten points!" Snape said coldly. "Because Mr. Potter contradicted a professor in class!"
Harry wisely shut his mouth. He was having a hard time controlling himself and wanted to cast some kind of magic spell on Snape, maybe hang him up to wash his mouth out.
After class, everyone was still loudly discussing what had just happened.
"Oh my god, that old... professor." Ron swallowed back the word "bat." "Why is he targeting Professor Lupin? Is it because of that Boggart incident?"
"He's really petty." Hermione said with a sense of disbelief. "Oh my, even if he was angry, he shouldn't be attacking Professor Lupin in that way, right? I mean—he said Professor Lupin was incompetent, and even wanted him to lose his job... I saw it, Professor Lupin's living conditions aren't great; his clothes have patches on them and even his robe's edges are frayed."
"Who wouldn't agree?" Ron shrugged. "But if I were you, I'd save it for when we get back to the common room—you forget, I have a special condition. Whenever I say anything bad about that old... professor, he shows up right behind me."
"Very self-aware, Weasley."
Snape's voice sounded from behind him.
Ron turned around trembling, meeting Snape's black eyes.
"Since this isn't in class, I won't take any points from you." Snape said with a cold laugh, then he looked at Hermione. "Silly girl—if everything were as simple as it appears on the surface, perhaps you'd have been in seventh grade the moment you enrolled, right? Miss Omniscient?"
After saying this, Professor Snape dramatically swirled his robes and quickly left the area.
"I think you're right, Ron." Hermione said, still a bit shaken. "Wow, not getting points deducted was… unexpected."
"Unexpected for me too." Ron nodded emphatically.
On October 2nd, it was a sunny weekend, and it seemed even Vivi wanted to enjoy the break, returning from the Muggle world to the school.
She found Harry, called him out, and planned to take advantage of the pleasant weather to sit by the Black Lake.
Halfway there, they saw Cassandra walking in from outside the Great Hall.
"Hey, Cassandra." Harry greeted proactively, "Want to sit by Black Lake with us?"
"No thanks, I don't want to interrupt your little world for two." Cassandra snorted.
Just as she was about to leave, Harry spoke up. "Come on, I remember the last time you replenished your life energy was early last month, it's about time again, isn't it?"
Cassandra, who was initially reluctant, took the verbal step Harry offered and nodded, "Well, since you insist—are we going together with this magic-power-depleted stray cat?"
"Saves time." Harry said succinctly.
"You really are... greedy." Cassandra huffed coldly and raised her chin. "Alright, you two lead the way!"
Vivi was just about to say something when she heard Harry whisper, "Vivi..."
"Alright." Vivi nodded, granting Harry's request.
She understood—Harry didn't want her to argue with Cassandra and risk chasing her off.
Of course, Vivi didn't mind much either, since Cassandra and Harry were childhood friends, and Cassandra had essentially groomed Harry into the golden boy he was now.
She couldn't possibly force Harry not to help extend Cassandra's life, right? What if Harry resented her for it?
The three of them walked to the shore of Black Lake, with Harry sitting on the grass first, followed by Vivi, who hugged Harry's arm and happily nestled on his right side.
"Cassandra." Harry patted the left side. "What are you standing there for?"
"Hmph..."
Cassandra gave Harry a disdainful look but still sat down obediently.
She was initially expecting the stray cat to make a snide comment, but to her surprise, she said nothing.
"Unbelievable that Grindelwald would let me get close to her little boyfriend." She continued to jab with her words.
"Yeah, can't let some people just die, right?" Vivi responded with a smile, tacitly accepting Cassandra's claim of 'little boyfriend.'
"Ahem, don't misunderstand, Cassandra." Harry tried to explain weakly, trying to balance things a bit: "Vivi and I aren't in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship..."
After saying this, Harry felt a chill.
"Oh? Really?"
Cassandra's tone suddenly became cheerful because she sensed Vivi's displeasure.
She reached out and grabbed Harry's arm.
A strange silence fell among the three, none of them speaking, just staring out ahead.
"Let's lie down a bit."
Harry leaned back onto the grass, the scent of the earth filling his nostrils.
With his sudden move, Cassandra also found herself lying on the grass unexpectedly.