Snow fell over Hogwarts after just one day away.
The castle and the mountains were wrapped in white robes, and the young students had added winter clothing too, with knitted mittens hanging around their necks. In the free time after meals and classes, most of them gathered on the open grounds outside the castle to build snowmen or strolled along the lake to admire the snow. The younger students chased and roughhoused, or rode brooms through the gaps between the towers. The older boys and girls pressed close to one another, whispering innocent, awkward little words of affection, and before long, their cheeks and noses were red from the cold.
Skyl led a young woman with red hair and blue eyes back toward the castle. He walked slowly ahead with a dog on a leash, while the young woman looked all around with her bright eyes, letting out soft exclamations of wonder from time to time.
"Hogwarts has changed a lot, hasn't it?" As a current younger student, Skyl warmly hosted this graduate who had returned to her old school. Draped in a soft black silk cloak, he stretched out his hand and pointed out the scenery, introducing the new buildings and houses the school had built one by one. When he mentioned the White Tower on the northern cliff, however, he only vaguely said that it was a place for magical experiments.
Lily Evans nodded gently. Once Skyl finished explaining all the changes outside, the absurd feeling of having died and come back to life that had been lingering in her heart also seemed to scatter like clouds blown apart by the wind.
She was wearing a plain black wizarding robe, something she had casually picked out at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in Diagon Alley. At the time, Madam Malkin had only said that her figure was nicely proportioned, her skin snow-white, and that she looked like an elf who had jumped out of a cauldron.
They had also gone to Ollivander's wand shop. When the shopkeeper saw the wand she had chosen, his face had filled with confusion. Willow, ten and a quarter inches, it was the old wand of the deceased Lily Potter. It was a non-sale item kept in a special display cabinet, yet it had flown straight into the witch's hand.
Remembering the dull, confused gleam in Ollivander's moonlike eyes and the way his expression and movements had become so tangled, Lily Evans still found it funny. If not for the binding oath, she really would have liked to greet him openly and announce that she was the dead Mrs. Potter herself.
She still remembered that when she had first set foot in Diagon Alley, Ollivander had been a gentlemanly middle-aged man. Now he was much older, and his eyes had even begun to look a little cloudy. Still, his sensitivity toward wands and their users remained just as sharp.
Time truly flew. Once Lily began reminiscing, her little boat was quickly lost in a tide of memories.
She still remembered the gloomy boy who lived on Spinner's End, the first person to let her know she was a witch. Diagon Alley was also the place he had led her to visit when she was young. The magic world's splendor and strangeness, to a child who had lived in the Muggle world, had felt like stepping into the hall of a beautiful dream. Her child, Harry, must have felt the same as his mother when he first saw that magical Diagon Alley and the crooked, ancient Gringotts.
The hundreds of glass windows in the main castle reflected the cold, faint glow of the snow-covered ground and the snowy clouds. Some students sat on the windowsills of common rooms or dormitories, where blazing magical fireplaces released waves of warmth. They could read by the daylight and, when tired, turn their heads to admire the view. Someone spotted Skyl and Lily slowly walking toward the main castle. Looking down from high above, their figures moved through the frolicking crowd, looking a little lonely amid the vast snowfield.
Professor McGonagall was dozing by the window of her office. She had fallen asleep in her high-backed chair without realizing it. When she opened her eyes and saw the Dementors by the edge of the Forbidden Forest rising into the air and circling like a flock of crows, she guessed that Skyl had returned.
The Deputy Headmistress pressed her lips together and gave an irritated hum, angry that the transfer student had gone back on his word. He had agreed to substitute for her, taken the professor's certificate, and then vanished immediately afterward, disappearing for an entire day yesterday. Because of him, she had been left without sleep day and night, teaching classes during the day and helping in the tower at night, exhausting herself completely. No wonder Snape, Dumbledore, and the others looked so awful. Spellcasting really drained the mind. No matter how many energy-replenishing potions one used, they could not hold back mental exhaustion.
She rose and looked out from the window. She saw a tall, thin wizard walking out of the castle's front doors, just in time to meet the transfer student.
When Skyl saw the old bat drifting over with his cloak billowing like a ghost, he could not help showing a mischievous smile. He greeted him pleasantly. "Good day, Professor Snape."
Lily Evans revealed a look of shock. In her memory, Snape had been a Death Eater through and through. Her blue eyes fixed tightly on Snape, as if she wanted to see through him from top to bottom.
After so many years, Snape's appearance had grown more mature. He was still just as unkempt, and he still kept that tasteless long hair. Fortunately, he had learned to wash it. Lily secretly laughed despite herself. Perhaps he was even using a Potter family product for his shampoo.
"You were not at school yesterday, Mr. Skyl." Snape had come to hold him accountable. His tone was neither cold nor warm, yet somehow carried an irritating edge for no reason. He had not forgotten to wash his hair today either, but his fluffy, messy hair refused to behave and kept falling down in front of his face, blocking his vision.
From time to time, Snape shook his head to fling the annoying strands away. He could hardly imitate a woman and reach up to tuck his long hair behind his ear, could he? If anyone saw that, it would surely damage the dignity of the Head of Slytherin.
Skyl gave a vague excuse. "Ah, there was a reason for that. I went out for a while. Yesterday, I also wandered around London and Godric's Hollow."
"What were you doing in Godric's Hollow?" Snape narrowed his eyes, testing Skyl's tone, but the transfer student did not answer.
Skyl instead introduced the young woman beside him to the Potions professor, his face beaming with warmth. "I'm extremely busy with teaching, so I skipped class for a day to invite a helper. This is the teaching assistant I have newly recruited. Potions class will be left in her care."
Only then did Snape finally look properly at Lily Evans. What he saw was a strange witch with deep red hair, ocean-blue eyes, proper and delicate features, and skin so pale it seemed as soft as a newborn's. Northern England's first snowfall landed on her face, and in the faintest way, she looked a little like someone he had once known.
This witch looked pleasing enough, but the way she looked at people was like a knife, extremely impolite. Snape's first impression of her immediately dropped sharply, and he gave a cold, indifferent hum on the spot.
Seeing that Snape still acted the same as he had back then, Lily felt both amused and nostalgic, along with a sense of melancholy over the passing of old days. So a Death Eater could actually sneak into Hogwarts and openly teach and educate students. She had no idea what Dumbledore was thinking. Or perhaps many changes had happened during the time after her death.
The old bat scrutinized the female assistant with a critical eye, and a suspicious tone floated from his throat. "Hmm? Is she qualified for this job? Not just any graduate in her twenties picked up at Diagon Alley is capable of teaching."
"Do you not trust my judgment?" Skyl tilted his head and looked askance at him.
Snape immediately closed his mouth. He took a deep breath and gave the female assistant a cold nod in greeting. "Welcome, madam,?"
"Collins. Ivanna Collins." Lily casually made up a name. In a calm tone, she said, "Professor Snape is still the same as ever. Though you actually washed your hair. How rare."
The old bat's expression shifted, and he instinctively shook his hair. With a cold face, he asked, "You were also a Hogwarts student?"
"Gryffindor."
Snape nodded impatiently, then looked at Skyl again and said to the transfer student, "Since you are back, I can focus on my work. I will still have to trouble you from here on."
"A small matter."
"Then farewell, Mr. Skyl, Ms. Collins." The old bat flicked his hair, his great sleeves fluttering as he went straight toward the White Tower.
Lily watched Snape leave before quietly asking Skyl, "Snape hasn't done anything bad, has he? Has he bullied Harry?"
"Uh, about that. Professor Snape is a famously good professor at Hogwarts, praised by everyone. As for Harry, you can ask him in person. But do not forget our agreement."
"I'll be careful."
After Snape walked away, the students playing nearby gathered around to greet them. Many of the girls saw Afu and let out delighted cries, unable to resist reaching out and touching the handsome big dog all over.
Skyl untied the leash and let Afu play with the students, while reminding him to return to the headmaster's office on time. The big dog grumbled in dog language, cursing under his breath, but he still could not escape the fate of becoming a toy for the young wizards.
"Let's go, Ms. Collins. I'll show you around inside the castle. The school was fully renovated last year, so you will need to learn the routes again."
The transfer student led the resurrected witch across the pale snowfield and back into the hall of magic.
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