"Mr. Rosier!"
"Please come outside."
Jerry looked up toward the figure standing still as a statue at the classroom door.
Selina.
Selina stood there without speaking, but her eyes, burning with intense hatred, were like poisoned daggers, piercing through the noise and magical glow of the classroom, firmly pinning Jerry's small body.
The surrounding students fell silent instantly. Everyone felt that chilling killing intent, undisguised and almost solid.
On the podium, Severus Snape also stopped his monotonous lecture on the history of the Wolfsbane Potion.
Eleanor Shafiq—Ofina's mother, the Potions Master—had taken leave recently, possibly to care for her injured husband.
Called by name, Jerry first glanced at Selina at the door, then turned to Snape.
Snape's gaze lingered on Jerry's abnormally calm face for a moment. No anger, no questioning, not even a trace of curiosity.
He simply nodded indifferently, signaling Jerry could leave, but his eyes clearly said: Go and come back quickly, don't waste time.
With tacit permission, Jerry stood up from his seat unhurriedly.
He straightened his tailored Slytherin robes and even gave Pansy sitting next to him a reassuring smile, as if he were just going to the restroom instead of facing an enemy ready to tear him to shreds.
Jerry walked through the rows of desks, his steps calm and composed.
When he stepped out of the classroom and the heavy wooden door closed slowly behind him, the cold, dead silence of the corridor enveloped him instantly.
Selina gave him no time to react.
The moment Jerry's foot touched the cold stone floor, a slender yet powerful hand grabbed his collar like an iron pincer.
The next second, the world spun.
Jerry's small body was lifted off the ground by an irresistible force and slammed mercilessly against the cold, rough stone wall opposite.
Thud!
A dull impact echoed in the empty corridor.
Jerry's back collided violently with the hard wall. The impact made his small body shudder, almost squeezing all the air from his lungs.
Jerry's feet dangled in the air helplessly. His entire body was held up single-handedly by Selina, like a kitten grabbed by the scruff of its neck, powerless to resist.
Selina's face came extremely close.
She was much taller than Jerry. Leaning down slightly, her beautiful face, twisted by extreme hatred, was almost touching Jerry's forehead.
Strands of her night-dark hair hung down, brushing Jerry's cheek with a chill like a grave.
Jerry could clearly smell the unique scent emanating from her—a mix of expensive perfume and intense hatred.
He could even see the two flames named "Revenge" about to erupt from the depths of her beautiful obsidian eyes.
"Rosier... I finally caught your handle!"
Selina's voice was filled with twisted, vengeful pleasure. She could almost foresee how this little bastard of the Rosier family would break down, cry, and beg under her absolute power and humiliation.
She leaned closer, wanting to see every twitch of fear on his face.
However, what she saw were eyes so calm they were heart-palpitating.
The moment Selina said the word "handle," a burst of killing intent—colder and purer than the fire of hatred in her eyes—suddenly erupted from those calm eyes.
This killing intent even made the warm air from the magical torches drop several degrees instantly.
Immediately after, an extremely crisp sound exploded in the dead silence of the corridor.
Slap!
Jerry moved.
No one even saw how he did it.
Suspended in the air single-handedly, his small body seemingly powerless, he twisted abruptly with a ghostly agility that defied physics.
Jerry's small left hand turned into a white blur. With lightning speed, it slapped Selina's beautiful face, which was slightly open in astonishment, without mercy.
The force of this slap was beyond imagination.
Selina's pretty face was whipped to the side by this sudden blow.
The corner of her mouth split instantly, blood trickling out.
Five clear, red finger marks appeared on her face at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Severe pain, and a shame even greater than the pain, blanked Selina's mind for a full second.
However, Jerry's attack didn't end there.
This slap was just a prelude.
The moment Selina's body stiffened slightly from pain and shock, and her grip on his collar loosened by half a degree, Jerry's suspended body moved with astonishing explosive power.
Using his back against the wall as a pivot, his core muscles engaged violently.
His body snapped tight like a compressed spring, then curled his leg wearing an exquisite leather shoe at an extremely tricky angle.
Jerry's target was clear, vicious, and full of undisguised punishment.
Not the chest, not the abdomen.
Thud!
Another dull impact, even more tooth-aching than the collision with the wall.
The tip of Jerry's hard leather shoe, wrapped in a subtle yet extremely condensed magical blast, kicked precisely and cruelly into the soft spot between Selina's legs.
"Ugh!"
A whimper that could no longer be suppressed burst from deep in Selina's throat.
It was an intense pain indescribable by any language.
As if a red-hot iron rod had been stabbed fiercely into the most private, sensitive part of her body and stirred crazily inside.
That pain crushed all of Selina's pride, strength, and hatred in an instant.
Selina's body seemed to have its bones removed, arching backward violently into a painful, spasmodic shrimp shape.
The hand grabbing Jerry's collar finally lost all strength in the pain and let go abruptly.
Jerry's small body drew a small arc in the air, then landed on the ground lightly and silently like a cat.
He even reached out a hand to support himself against the wall, stabilizing his figure. The whole process was as elegant as a dance performance.
After standing firm, Jerry said coldly, "If you have evidence proving I violated Ministry bans, please show it. Otherwise, stay away from me, bitch!"
After saying this, Jerry didn't bother to look at her again.
He straightened his collar, preparing to turn and leave.
However, the moment he looked up, his movement paused slightly.
For the first time, a trace of extremely subtle surprise surfaced in his ancient-well eyes.
Jerry noticed that in the shadows of a corner not far down the corridor, a figure had been standing quietly for some time.
No, not one.
Many.
The leader was a tall witch with sharp short hair and a cold face.
She wore the standard deep red Auror uniform robe, a silver badge representing the captain's rank pinned to her chest.
Her hand was subconsciously pressing on her wand at her waist. Her sharp eyes were wide open, filled with incredible shock at the scene that utterly subverted cognition.
It was Mina!
Behind Mina stood a whole squad of at least six fully armed Aurors.
All looked solemn, wands in hand, magical halos ready for battle surging around them.
But at this moment, the expressions on the faces of these battle-hardened law enforcers were identical to their captain's—dumbfounded.
Their gazes swept back and forth between Selina, who was kneeling on the ground groaning in pain and wretchedness, and the boy who was not even waist-high to them, who had just downed her with a fierce knee strike and was now as calm as an elegant noble.
The whole scene fell into an absurd, deathly silence.
The Aurors' brains clearly couldn't process what they had just witnessed.
"Captain Mina, it seems this isn't our first meeting. Such a big formation today... here to tour Hogwarts? Or is there something I can help with?"
While this silent and weird confrontation continued, a burst of magic, suppressed to the extreme and mixed with hatred and madness, erupted without warning behind Jerry.
It was Selina!
This woman, driven to the limit by pain and humiliation, finally completely abandoned all reason and dignity as the Deputy Head of the Auror Office.
She saw Mina and the others arrive. In her view, this was a godsent opportunity!
Jerry had his back to her, fully focused on confronting Mina.
This was her only chance!
A perfect chance to blast this bastard to渣 form behind with a curse!
"Die! Rosier!"
Selina let out a hoarse roar. The tip of her wand had condensed a ball of vicious black-purple light capable of shattering bones.
She didn't even chant a spell; this was a curse condensed entirely from pure hatred and killing intent!
Sneak attack!
A Deputy Head of the Auror Office actually chose to attack a boy from behind!
Mina and the Aurors behind her exclaimed in shock. They wanted to stop it, but it was too late!
"Selina!"
"Director!"
Jerry didn't even turn his head.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, the moment that magic erupted, the corner of his mouth hooked up into a cold, mockery-filled arc.
However, the anticipated curse didn't hit him.
In the split second before Selina swung her wand down.
Creak!
The heavy wooden door of the Potions classroom beside them was pushed open violently by an invisible force.
A tall, thin figure clad in robes black as night appeared silently at the door like a true ghost.
It was Severus Snape.
His face held no expression. In those bottomless black eyes, anger colder than the currents of the North Sea surged.
He didn't even draw his wand.
He just raised a hand and made a grasping motion toward the frenzied Selina.
Hum!
An indescribable, powerful, suffocating invisible force instantly choked Selina's throat.
Her arm about to swing down seemed frozen in mid-air, unable to move a millimeter.
Her wand let out a wail, the light of the curse extinguishing instantly.
Her entire body was lifted slowly into the air as if pinched by an invisible giant hand, feet leaving the ground.
On Selina's face, the crazy grin froze instantly, replaced by extreme fear caused by suffocation.
She clawed at her neck with both hands, legs kicking futilely in the air, but couldn't break free from the invisible bind.
"In my opinion, 'Professor' Selina..."
Snape's voice was silky and filled with venomous sarcasm, every word drilling into everyone's ears like a cold snake. "The teaching standards at Hogwarts do not seem to have fallen so low as to require the Deputy Head of the Auror Office to give a first-year student 'remedial lessons' via a sneak attack from behind at the door of my classroom."
With a contemptuous flick of his wrist, the invisible force flung the vainly struggling Selina away like discarding useless trash.
With a muffled thud, her body hit the wall on the other side of the corridor, then slid down like a broken sack.
Having done all this, Snape didn't even spare her another glance.
Snape slowly lowered his hand. His obsidian eyes, devoid of any warmth, turned slowly to the facing formidable enemy—Auror Captain Mina.
"If you have business, state it."
Snape's voice was low, raspy, devoid of emotion, yet more oppressive than any roar.
It was pure impatience belonging to a superior.
Snape didn't care that she was an Auror captain or why they were here.
They disturbed his class and attempted to harm his student on his turf—that was enough for them to die a hundred times.
"Professor Snape!"
Mina tried to keep her voice steady, but an imperceptible tremor betrayed her inner tension. "We are here on Ministry orders to execute official business."
Saying this, she took a rolled parchment document made of stiff vellum from the inner pocket of her uniform robe.
The document was sealed with the Ministry's official wax, exuding an unquestionable seriousness.
Mina unrolled the document and handed it to Snape.
"By order of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, we need to summon Hogwarts first-year student, Mr. Jerry Rosier, regarding the recent Gringotts theft, to the Ministry for routine questioning and investigation before closing the case."
Mina's wording was very official and cautious, deliberately emphasizing "summon" and "assist in investigation" rather than "arrest."
However, when the parchment was fully unrolled, both Snape and Jerry behind him subconsciously skipped over the bureaucratic jargon, their gazes landing directly at the bottom of the document—on the signer's name.
At the bottom of the parchment, a name was signed clearly in flowery script.
But the one signing this important document to take a student from Hogwarts wasn't the highest official of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the renowned "fair and strict" Amelia Bones.
It was a Deputy Head.
The moment he saw that signature and title, the expression on Snape's iceberg-like face didn't change a bit.
But the temperature in the entire corridor seemed to drop several degrees out of thin air.
Snape slowly extended two fingers, pinching a corner of the document with a gesture as if picking up something extremely dirty.
He didn't even take it, just using Mina's hand to scan the content with his black-hole eyes.
"A summons issued by a... Deputy Head?"
Snape's voice was silky and slow, like a viper hissing. "Wanting to take a student from my house without notifying the Headmaster?"
Snape released his fingers, letting the document fall.
Mina caught it flusteredly.
Snape took a step forward. That tall figure, like the incarnation of night, brought mountain-like pressure to Mina.
"Since the Ministry officials need your 'assistance' so... 'urgently'!" The oily sarcasm in Snape's voice thickened. "Then, Mr. Rosier, go and 'cooperate' with their investigation."
At these words, Mina and the Aurors behind her were stunned.
They thought they would face a fierce confrontation over Hogwarts' sovereignty, but didn't expect Snape to "let him go" so easily.
Only Jerry, upon hearing Snape's words, had a flash of understanding and an imperceptible smile deep in his eyes.
Hiss!
"Alright then."
Jerry nodded very obediently, a trace of childish innocence and helplessness even appearing on his face. "Since it's 'assisting investigation,' of course I'm willing to cooperate. However..."
Jerry changed the subject, his gaze sweeping over Mina and the fully armed, unfriendly Aurors behind her, asking in a matter-of-fact tone: "Can I go back to my dormitory first? I heard the Ministry's interrogation rooms are usually in cold basements. I need to get some... warm things. You know, I'm only eleven, my body isn't as strong as you Auror adults."
This reason was reasonable, flawless, leaving no excuse for refusal.
"No!"
A hoarse voice full of malice came from the corner.
It was Selina. She had struggled awake from unconsciousness at some point, supporting herself against the wall, staring at Jerry with bloodshot eyes. "He must want to go back to destroy evidence or prepare to escape! Don't let him out of your sight!"
Selina's voice was full of unwillingness and madness. She absolutely couldn't tolerate this bastard who trampled her getting any breathing room.
However, before Selina finished, Snape's cold, viper-like gaze fell on her again.
"'Professor' Selina!" Snape's voice no longer held sarcasm, only pure, undisguised disgust and threat. "It seems the 'lesson' just now wasn't profound enough. Do you need me to help you 'review' what kind of... 'privileges' the Head of Slytherin House possesses in Hogwarts castle?"
Just a simple sentence made Selina's body shudder violently. She remembered the near-death fear of being choked by the invisible force just now.
She opened her mouth, but finally closed it unwillingly in the face of Snape's substantive killing intent.
Mina's headache worsened.
She looked at her half-dead superior on the ground, then at Snape, who clearly stood with Jerry and was harder to deal with than a demon.
She knew if she forcibly refused this "reasonable" request today, Snape would definitely have ten thousand ways to ensure she and her team couldn't even walk out of Hogwarts' gate.
"...Fine."
Mina squeezed out the word through her teeth, then signaled the Aurors behind her. "We follow him the whole way."
Helplessly, this Auror squad, originally here to secretly arrest a felon, now seemed like a group of bodyguards. Led by Snape and Jerry, they marched mightily toward the Slytherin dormitory area in the dungeons.
The spiral staircase to the dungeon was dark and long. Cold dampness seeped from the walls. Only green magical flames burned eerily on both sides, stretching the shadows of the group long and short like ghosts.
In this oppressive silence, a voice almost imperceptible, sounding directly in the brain, entered Jerry's ears.
The voice was low and raspy, coming from Snape walking silently like a ghost beside him.
"Idiot, are you really going? If those Ministry fools didn't have evidence to nail you dead, they wouldn't make such a big scene. It's not too late to turn back. I can use a potion to put you in a feigned death state, then find a chance to send you out. For the sake of your dead father who had some brains, this is the only thing I can do."
Snape's voice used a highly advanced sound transmission technique similar to the reverse application of Occlumency.
This was his last and only "kindness" to the son of an old acquaintance.
However, Jerry just continued walking without looking sideways. The corner of his exquisite mouth hooked up into a faint smile, but he didn't respond in the same way.
His silence was the best answer.
Finally, the group arrived before the damp stone wall carved with a silver snake.
Snape spoke the password in a raspy voice. The stone wall slid open silently, revealing the spacious, magnificent, yet gloomy Slytherin common room behind it.
The few senior students in the common room, seeing the Head of House enter with a team of murderous-looking Aurors, were scared silent, shrinking into corners.
Jerry didn't stop, walking straight to the passage leading to the boys' dormitories, arriving at a distinctive door made of dark oak.
He pushed the door open and walked in composedly.
As if Jerry weren't a suspect about to be taken for interrogation, but a host inviting guests to visit his bedroom.
Mina and the Aurors behind her exchanged glances, complex looks in their eyes.
But duty called; they couldn't let the suspect out of sight.
Mina waved her hand, leading the team inside.
Snape's ghost-like figure also crossed the threshold silently.
His bottomless black eyes narrowed slightly the moment they swept over the furnishings inside the room, as if assessing something.
And Selina, despite the dull pain in her abdomen and weak legs, wouldn't miss this opportunity to witness Jerry's arrest with her own eyes.
Gritting her teeth, supporting herself against the wall, she limped into this dormitory located in the deepest part of the dungeons.
The room was much more spacious than imagined.
Near the door was a huge mahogany bookshelf occupying almost the entire wall.
It was stuffed with books of various thicknesses. The text on some spines had faded almost invisibly, emitting a unique scent of age mixed with parchment and ink.
On the other side of the room was a mahogany desk with precise alchemy instruments.
Most striking was the huge round window.
Outside was the deep, dark green water of the Black Lake.
At this moment, a massive Giant Squid drifted slowly past the window like a ghost, its huge tentacles stretching in the lake water, casting eerie shadows.
Jerry walked to the center of the room and turned to face the people filing in.
His gaze first swept over the tense Aurors with hands on wands, then landed on Mina's cold face.
"Captain Mina!" His voice was calm and polite. "I have some... private items I'd like to show you and Deputy Head Selina alone. Could you ask your team members to wait outside for a moment?"
As he spoke, his right hand moved gently at his side, fingers performing an extremely covert gesture undetectable by ordinary people.
Hum.
A magical fluctuation almost invisible to the naked eye emanated from his fingertips.
The next second, a heavy ledger with a black dragon-hide cover appeared out of thin air in his hand.
"Why ask my people to leave?" Mina's voice held wariness.
"Because the content of this ledger!" Jerry gently, almost caressingly, slid his finger over the cold dragon-hide cover. "Involves some... very sensitive figures. I think, before confirming your stance, letting too many people know this content benefits no one."
His gaze glanced meaningfully at Selina.
"Of course, if Deputy Head Selina insists on everyone staying to 'admire' it together, I have no objection. Only then, if something... uncontrollable happens, don't blame me for not warning you in advance."
Selina frowned.
Looking at Jerry's almost eerily calm face, an ominous premonition suddenly rose in her heart. But the intense desire for revenge, to see him arrested with her own eyes, finally overwhelmed her reason.
"...Let them go out."
She squeezed these words through her teeth, then nodded at Mina. "Just you and I staying is enough."
Mina hesitated for a moment, but finally waved her hand, signaling the Aurors behind her to exit the room.
"Guard the door. No one enters without my order."
The Aurors obeyed and filed out.
The heavy oak door closed slowly behind them, completely isolating the four people in the room from the outside world.
The room instantly fell into an oppressively extreme silence.
Only the water of the Black Lake outside emitted low gurgle sounds like heartbeats.
Snape stood behind Jerry to the side, arms crossed, like a silent statue.
Snape's bottomless black eyes scanned back and forth between Mina and Selina's faces, showing no emotion.
"Need me to leave too?" Snape's raspy, low voice broke the suffocating silence.
Jerry turned his head and looked at him.
"There's no need for that, Professor."
A faint smile touched the corners of Jerry's lips. "I think you'll find what follows quite interesting as well."
With that, Jerry gently placed the black ledger in his hand onto the mahogany desk.
Thump.
The soft sound struck like a heavy hammer in the quiet room.
Jerry's fingers tapped rhythmically on the cold cover of the black ledger. The light tap, tap, tap sounded like an overture for some terrifying presence about to take the stage in the dead-silent room.
However, Jerry didn't immediately open the "Pandora's Box" capable of overturning the entire Ministry of Magic as Mina and Selina expected.
Jerry's gaze slowly shifted from the ledger, passing over the wary Mina and the grim-faced Snape.
Finally, like a precise scalpel, it landed on Selina's face, pale and twisted with hatred and pain.
"Deputy Head Selina!"
Jerry's voice suddenly became unusually gentle, as if chatting casually with an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time. "Before showing this 'leverage,' I've always been curious about one thing..."
A look of boyish innocence and confusion even appeared on Jerry's face.
"Didn't all your family members die in that... 'accident' caused by my father?"
This sentence was like a poisoned dagger, stabbing fiercely into Selina's already riddled heart.
Her body trembled violently, and flames of hatred erupted again in her bloodshot eyes.
"You bastard..."
"Oh, wait!"
As if suddenly remembering something, Jerry patted his forehead lightly. A devilish, knowing smile flickered in his dark eyes. "My intelligence seems to have a loophole. There should be... one sister still alive, right?"
"You!"
Selina's roar was stifled in her throat by a scene unfolding before her eyes that froze her very soul.
Jerry simply brushed his free hand casually over the mahogany desk in front of him.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by a slight magical fluctuation, hundreds of photos appeared out of thin air like cursed snowflakes, instantly covering the entire wide desk, some even sliding onto the floor due to the thick stack.
They weren't magical photos, but the most ordinary color photos developed on paper from the Muggle world.
There was only one subject in the photos.
A girl who looked about seven or eight, with beautiful black long hair like Selina's and a brilliant, innocent smile on her face.
In that instant, Selina's pupils contracted to pinpoints. Her breathing stopped completely.
Lily...
That was Lily!
It was her only, her last remaining kin in this world, fostered with Muggle relatives! It was the only light in her life she had hidden using every means possible!
The first photo showed Lily on a park swing, smiling like an angel.
The second showed Lily carrying a small schoolbag, skipping on her way to a Muggle school. The angle was from a car across the street; the compression of the telephoto lens revealed a heart-palpitating sense of voyeurism.
The third showed Lily sitting in a classroom, chin in hand, staring out the window in a daze. This photo was taken from outside the classroom window.
The fourth showed Lily in her bedroom, wearing pink pajamas, hugging a teddy bear, fast asleep. The lighting was dim, and the angle... was from the foot of her bed!
...
One after another, recording every moment of the girl's life.
Eating, watching TV, playing with friends, her blurry figure left on the bathroom mirror while showering, even... her white, tender tummy exposed when kicking off the quilt in the middle of the night.
These photos were like thousands of cold poison needles, stabbing fiercely into the depths of Selina's soul one by one.
This wasn't a simple investigation anymore!
It was terrifying, all-weather, dead-angle-free surveillance that invaded the bone marrow!
"Her name is Lily, right?"
Jerry's voice now sounded like the whispers of a devil from the depths of hell.
He casually picked up the photo of Lily sleeping in her bedroom, his fingertip gently caressing the girl's peaceful sleeping face.
"Such a familiar name!"
"She looks only eight, but is actually sixteen; she was just frozen for eight years. She likes strawberry ice cream, is afraid of spiders, and has a slight allergy to peanuts. Every night before bed, she must listen to her aunt read a story from The Tales of Beedle the Bard to fall asleep..."
With every detail Jerry spoke, Selina's face grew paler.
Snape's arms, crossed over his chest, had quietly dropped at some point.
Mina's hand holding her wand was trembling slightly.
Mina felt as if something was blocking her throat. She had imagined ten thousand possibilities before coming, but never thought she would witness such a... lingering execution of the soul.
"Look, Ms. Selina!"
Jerry looked up, his face still wearing that gentle, harmless smile, but his smile now was more chilling than any vicious curse. "Sometimes, destroying something innocent, cute, and beautiful... is actually very, very simple."
He slowly placed the photo back on the table, then picked up another of Lily walking alone in an alley after school.
"For example, a drunk Muggle driver accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brake at a certain corner..."
"Or, the somewhat aging gas pipe in her home having a tiny... negligible leak one late night..."
Every "for example" was like a huge hammer, smashing again and again on Selina's nerves, which were already on the verge of collapse.
Jerry paused, giving Selina a little time to imagine those scenes fully and in detail.
Then, with a near-judgmental, cold tone, he concluded this terrifying monologue.
"Wouldn't these small 'accidents' that could happen anytime... like forging evidence of a Gringotts theft and mobilizing the Auror Office to trouble me..."
A brilliant, angelic smile appeared on his face.
"...seem simpler, cleaner, and more... efficient?"
"...This is unethical."
The one speaking was Snape.
For the first time, undisguised, profound disgust appeared on Snape's face, usually cold as a ten-thousand-year iceberg.
Those bottomless black eyes stared dead at Jerry. That gaze was no longer scrutinizing a Slytherin student, but looking at a... monster purer and more chilling than Voldemort.
Threatening and torturing another's soul with an innocent life—this method had transcended the scope of Dark Arts, touching upon a more primal, uglier "evil."
For a man like Snape, who still clung to some twisted "morality" deep in his heart, this was an intolerable bottom line.
Hearing Snape's accusation, Jerry slowly turned his head, facing the Head of Slytherin squarely for the first time.
Then, Jerry smiled.
It was a sneer colder and more contemptuous than any before.
As if listening to a childish toddler discussing naive questions like why the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Jerry didn't argue, nor did he spare Snape another glance.
This silent, complete disregard was more insulting than any heated words. It told Snape clearly: Your "morality," your "bottom line," is worthless to me.
The next second, Jerry turned around completely.
Like a predator locking onto its next prey, his gaze fell calmly and focusedly on Mina.
The last "law enforcer," who had stood there gripping her wand from the beginning, seemingly bound by invisible shackles.
Mina's heart skipped a beat. She felt cold sweat instantly soak her back.
She knew it was her turn.
Jerry's smile returned to that gentle, harmless look. As if he had just finished a trivial matter, he walked composedly to Mina.
"Captain Mina!"
His voice remained steady and polite, sounding like a good student asking a teacher a question. "I'm sorry you had to see that... unpleasant scene just now. However, I think this also helps you understand more clearly how important what we are about to discuss is."
He extended his other hand. This time, what he pulled from the inside of his tailored robe was no longer a pile of sickening photos, but a letter sealed in high-quality parchment, looking perfectly ordinary.
There was no recipient name on the envelope, nor any magical mark; it was clean as a blank sheet of paper.
"This is for you." Jerry handed the letter to Mina.
Mina didn't take it immediately.
Her hand still gripped her wand tightly, muscles tense like a drawn bow.
She stared dead at the letter, as if it weren't a letter but a venomous snake ready to lunge and bite her throat.
"What is this?" Her voice was hoarse from extreme tension.
"Your 'handle'."
Jerry answered with a smile, using the exact word he used with Selina, but now it carried ten times the chill.
Seeing her hesitation, Jerry wasn't annoyed. He twirled the envelope elegantly between his fingers and spoke slowly in a chatty tone: "Captain Mina. Graduated from Hufflepuff with excellent grades. Parents are ordinary Muggles running a small bakery in London, right?"
Mina's pupils contracted violently!
Although this information wasn't top secret, coming from an eleven-year-old child in such a familiar tone was itself extreme terror!
Ignoring the horror on her face, Jerry continued in his flat, cruel tone, narrating a secret she thought long buried.
"In the Auror Office, you have always been known for fairness, integrity, and hatred of evil, a role model for all new Aurors. But no one knows that to raise the high treatment costs for your father, who suffers from what Muggles call 'leukemia,' you once... used a little convenience of your position."
Jerry paused. Those dark eyes seemed to pierce Mina's soul, seeing the dirty, rotting secret deep in her heart.
"Three years ago, during an operation to encircle a black market smuggling ring, you were responsible for inventorying the seized loot. Among them was a batch of very rare magical plants from the East with life-extending effects—Moonlight Grass. According to regulations, these should have been turned over to the Ministry's inventory. But... three of them disappeared silently. They eventually appeared on the black market, exchanging for a large sum of Galleons enough to pay for your father's treatment for several years."
"Shut up!" Mina finally broke down, letting out a suppressed growl. Her wand sparked dangerously due to intense emotional fluctuations.
Jerry's smile grew brighter.
"Don't be nervous, Captain Mina. I'm not here to judge you."
He gently stuffed the letter into Mina's hand, which was trembling slightly from force.
"Inside this letter are all the witnesses and physical evidence of that black market transaction, including the testimony of the middleman who helped you sell the stolen goods, and... a magical recording of you paying for your father at St. Mungo's Hospital with that money. I think if this stuff appears on Madam Amelia Bones's or the Daily Prophet's desk..."
Jerry didn't finish, but the unfinished threat made Mina feel more despair than any vicious curse.
Her career, her reputation, her everything would vanish instantly.
And her father, currently undergoing treatment, would lose his source of funding and...
"Now!"
Jerry took a step back, widening the distance between them again, his face returning to the polite, elegant posture of a noble scion.
"Do you still think I need to go to the Ministry with you to 'assist in the investigation'?"
"Then how do you plan to handle me?"
Snape suddenly spoke.
Jerry still ignored him, simply walking toward the door.
The moment the door was knocked, the despair and fear in the air seemed to be gently pushed aside by an invisible hand.
Knock, knock, knock.
Three rhythmic knocks, neither hurried nor slow, carrying an unquestionable authority.
A knowing smile flashed in Jerry's dark eyes. He turned his head and whispered to Snape, who was still immersed in shock and fear, "Professor, the answer to your question is arriving right now."
Snape frowned tightly, his pale face written with confusion and vigilance.
When he asked "how do you plan to handle me," he had actually prepared for the worst.
But Jerry just told him to "wait a moment."
This composure, this certainty, made Snape feel a bone-chilling cold.
The heavy oak door was pushed open from the outside.
The first person to walk in was Minerva McGonagall.
The Head of Gryffindor House had no expression on her face at this moment. Her sharp eyes swept over Selina limp on the floor, the pale-faced Mina, and the complex-looking Snape without showing any surprise or confusion.
She just crossed her arms, walking straight to the wall like a detached bystander, leaning against the cold stone wall without a word.
Following McGonagall was a tall witch wearing a dark green traveling cloak, her face mostly hidden by a hood.
Judging by her figure and gait, she was a young woman. Her movements were somewhat stiff, seeming extremely uneasy about the surrounding environment.
Jerry didn't pay immediate attention to this mysterious visitor.
He turned around, his dark eyes falling on Selina and Mina again.
"Ladies," his voice remained calm and polite, but the dismissal implied was clearer than any order, "I'm sorry, the following content has nothing to do with you. Now, it's time for you to leave."
He paused, the corner of his mouth hooking into a meaningful arc.
"Of course, if you feel you can insist on staying..."
Jerry didn't finish, but the unspoken threat hung over their heads like a sword, making both Selina and Mina shudder involuntarily.
Selina didn't speak.
She just stared dead at Jerry for a few seconds with eyes that had lost all luster, hollow and empty.
Then, she lowered her head, picking up the photos of her sister Lily scattered on the floor one by one with trembling hands, clutching them tightly in her palm.
Having done all this, she didn't look at anyone again. Turning around, she limped toward the door.
Mina hesitated.
Her gaze swept back and forth between Jerry, Snape, McGonagall, and the mysterious green-robed witch, trying to catch some useful information.
But in the end, she said nothing. Clutching the letter Jerry stuffed into her hand, she turned and followed Selina out of the room.
The heavy oak door closed slowly behind them.
Click.
The sound of the lock engaging was exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
At the exact moment this soft sound fell, Jerry moved.
His movement was as fast as a ghost, without any warning.
His fair, slender right hand raised abruptly. In his palm, a ball of pitch-black light, emitting heart-palpitating magical fluctuations, had condensed into shape.
Whoosh!
That ball of black light, wrapped in terrifying energy enough to tear space, shot straight toward the mysterious green-robed witch still standing at the door like a meteor!
"Jerry!"
Snape's pupils contracted violently. His body lunged forward instinctively, trying to block this sudden attack.
His fingers had touched the wand in his sleeve; a protection spell was on the tip of his tongue.
But he was a step too slow.
The black light ball hit the green-robed witch's chest accurately.
Poof.
A dull muffled sound.
However, the anticipated flesh and blood flying didn't happen.
The moment the black light ball touched the witch's body, it didn't explode. Instead, like a drop of ink into clear water, it permeated into her body rapidly and silently.
Immediately after, the green-robed witch's body began to undergo drastic changes.
Her figure began to twist and shrink, her skin changing color and fading. Her face hidden by the hood also began to reshape like melting wax.
The whole process lasted only a few seconds.
When everything returned to calm, standing at the door was no longer the mysterious green-robed witch.
Replacing her was a petite woman with dazzling black long hair, a face covered in freckles, and eyes emerald green like jade.
Snape's body froze completely the moment he saw that face.
On his pale face, cold as a ten-thousand-year iceberg, for the first time, undisguised, extreme shock and... pain appeared.
His lips trembled, his Adam's apple rolled violently, and his eye rims turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Li... Lily..."
A hoarse, broken name, like talking in a dream, squeezed out from his clenched teeth with difficulty.
Lily Potter.
The woman he loved all his life, hated all his life, and felt guilty about all his life.
The woman who should have died under Voldemort's Killing Curse ten years ago.
At this moment, she stood alive, real, in front of him.
Professor McGonagall still leaned against the wall with arms crossed, saying nothing. Her sharp eyes watched all this calmly, as if what was happening before her was just a play unrelated to her.
But seeing the ledger on the table, a trace of unconcealed curiosity and gravity flashed in her eyes.
Jerry noticed her gaze.
He casually closed the ledger recording everything and handed it to McGonagall like passing an ordinary textbook.
Then, Jerry turned around, facing the man and woman still immersed in their emotions, seemingly frozen in time. In an unquestionable, cold tone, he issued an eviction order.
"I imagine you two have a lot to say to each other."
Jerry's voice held no warmth. "But this is not the place to catch up. My dormitory needs quiet from now on."
Snape shuddered violently, waking from that morbid obsession. He gave Jerry an extremely complex look, but eventually, his gaze returned to Lily.
Snape reached out, seemingly wanting to touch her, but stopped in mid-air. Finally, he just rasped out one word: "...Go."
Lily hesitated, looked at Jerry, sighed, and followed Snape step by step out of this room that terrified her.
When the heavy oak door closed again, only Jerry and McGonagall remained in the room.
The moment the lock clicked, the oppressive atmosphere in the room changed abruptly.
Jerry walked up to McGonagall. On that boyish face, innocence and childishness faded, replaced by a deep chill completely inconsistent with his age.
"Who moved against me?" Jerry asked directly.
"I think my performance during this period should be described as perfect. I didn't provoke anyone, nor did I make any dangerous moves. Very consistent with the behavior of an obedient good boy, isn't it?"
McGonagall's face instantly became somewhat unsightly.
Her fingers gripping the ledger tightened slightly, looking at Jerry with complex eyes. "Not the Order of the Phoenix. But... it was Dumbledore's tacit approval."
While speaking, McGonagall flipped through the ledger emitting an ominous aura in her hand. The contents made even this witch used to storms feel heart palpitations.
"He detected your private transaction with that woman, Mei-ting Kim. Everything today, be it Selina or the Aurors, was a warning from him to you."
McGonagall's voice was very low. "Because I got too close to you, I've also been completely excluded from his core decision-making circle this time."
Saying this, McGonagall took a small crystal vial from her robe, containing a liquid shimmering like melted stars, and handed it to Jerry. "This is the new Activation Potion."
Jerry took the potion and drank it without hesitation.
That familiar energy, hot as fire, slid down his throat into his stomach.
Placing the empty vial casually on the table, he looked up. Those dark eyes were now dyed with a layer of scorching, aggressive desire.
Jerry stepped forward, reached out, and directly wrapped his arm around McGonagall's lean waist, pulling her forcefully toward him.
"Professor!" Jerry's voice carried a scorching rasp. "Since we are 'in the same boat' now, shouldn't we... do something to help each other?"
Before McGonagall could answer, he tipped his toes slightly and accurately kissed her lips, which had distinct lines and a cool aura.
McGonagall stiffened instantly, but just a second later, her arm holding the ledger dropped slowly. She bent down slightly, closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around Jerry's neck, and responded to the boy's kiss with a near-greedy posture.
This kiss was full of possessiveness and venting. Their tongues tangled unreservedly, exchanging breath and fluids.
Jerry's hand began to be unsatisfied with staying on McGonagall's waist. His palm, boyish yet unusually strong, stroked up along the smooth fabric of her robe, finally covering her breast—still full and perky despite the corset—through a thin layer of shirt.
"Mmh..."
A suppressed moan with a heavy nasal tone overflowed from McGonagall's throat.
Her body trembled slightly from this bold kneading. She went soft, leaning almost all her weight on Jerry.
Jerry's kiss moved down gradually, sliding over her graceful jaw, finally stopping on her neck slightly flushed from arousal.
He nibbled gently on that delicate skin with his teeth, while his other hand reached in more presumptuously along the hem of her robe.
Jerry's palm skillfully crossed the warm, smooth inner thigh, directly caressing the mysterious, hot valley wrapped in a layer of thin, tight stockings.
Through that delicate black silk, almost imperceptible, Jerry could clearly feel the flower lips there had fully bloomed, becoming plump and soft, and had secreted a large amount of honey fluid, soaking that small area into a muddy mess.
"You're soaked, Professor!"
McGonagall's breathing instantly became rapid and heavy. She clamped her legs, seeming to want to stop his deeper exploration, but this subconscious action instead made his fingers fit more tightly against that wet slit.
Suddenly, Jerry stopped.
"Professor, do you think an old man who always likes to hold all the chess pieces in his hand, thinking he is the savior, yet is so old he can't even control his own students... isn't it time for him to retire and enjoy his old age?"
McGonagall froze, then reacted completely.
She knew better than anyone whom the "old man" Jerry referred to was.
"He thinks a painless warning like this can make me restrain myself? He thinks holding you can make me hesitate? I'm realizing something now. Why those two became his students! Not because they were born evil, but because he controlled too much."
Jerry chuckled lightly and looked up.