"Yes."
As he spoke, Wade walked in, closed the door behind him, and took out the potion he had just brewed.
"Professor, I have some questions about potions that I'd like to ask."
Seeing the freshly brewed potion, Snape's tone softened considerably.
"I hope you can be more mindful of time in the future, rather than acting like a foolish lion and doing whatever comes to mind immediately—what is it you want to ask?"
"It's like this, Professor—I heard that in today's Potions class, you only needed a few drops of a potion to restore the shrunken toad to its original size. I've also brewed the Shrinking Solution before, but other potions don't have such an immediate effect."
Wade placed the vial on the table and said, "I assume the potion you used was an Aging Potion, but how did you make it work without ingesting it?"
When it came to his area of expertise, Professor Snape's demeanor became even more amiable.
He first took the potion from Wade, gently shook it, examined it carefully, and even sniffed it before setting it down.
"I can see that you followed every step—though standard, it's as monotonous as a Muggle assembly line. I hope you're not foolish enough to stuff your brain into one as well."
Snape curled his lips, and offered a rather blunt critique.
While Snape always emphasized precision and strictness in potion-making to other students, when it came to evaluating Wade, he criticized him for being too rigid.
Wade lowered his head, and pondered for a moment to suppress the corners of his mouth that were threatening to curl up.
When Snape used the term "assembly line," Wade knew that the professor had been watching quite a bit of television recently, possibly even rewatching some programs multiple times, which was why the metaphor came so easily to him.
The most memorable "assembly line machine" recently had likely appeared in a Muggle silent comedy.
Thinking this, Wade felt more confident about the purpose of his visit.
If Professor Snape had truly been utterly despondent and completely disinterested in the outside world due to Lily's death, his heart would have been like an Antarctic ice wall, nearly impossible to breach.
But he wasn't.
He still had a love for life and aspirations, much like how he hoped to earn the Order of Merlin.
Professor Snape turned around, took out a similar potion from his cabinet, and handed it over, saying, "Take a look at this."
Wade took it, examined it in the same manner, and after thinking for a while, said uncertainly, "Evening primrose?"
"Correct. Adding one-third of an ounce of evening primrose seeds and a small spoonful of powdered epiphyllum root during the brewing process will achieve the effect you're looking for."
"But Professor, how do you control the dosage?" Wade asked again. "It has to be just enough to restore the original state, not too old or too young."
"The dosage is calculated based on weight and magical power. This potion also requires considering an additional factor, which is the time interval between the two potions..."
Professor Snape explained in detail, and Wade took notes as he listened.
For Wade, Potions was a subject that couldn't be shortcut. He had to memorize the properties of each ingredient, the quantities, and the timing of their use, and then practice repeatedly to achieve satisfactory results.
To become a Potions master like Snape, aside from effort and resources, talent was the most crucial factor.
In this regard, Wade didn't set such high expectations for himself, as human energy was limited. After spending a significant amount of time on spells and alchemy, his practice in Potions naturally decreased.
Even so, Wade was still one of Snape's rare standout students, someone who made teaching feel rewarding, almost making Snape want to share even more.
After finishing the discussion on Potions, Snape glanced at the time again.
Seeing that Snape seemed about to shoo him away, Wade quickly said, "I have one more question—Professor, I heard you're also very skilled in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
It was common knowledge that Snape had applied to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but Dumbledore had never agreed.
Hearing this, Snape asked, "Of course—is there something in the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum that you don't understand?"
"I don't have any issues with what's taught in class. I just wanted to ask—can injuries caused by Dark Magic, especially severe ones, be healed?" Wade said.
Snape frowned. "That depends on the curse... and how severe the damage is. The victim's own magical power and willpower are also key factors... What kind of Dark Magic are you referring to?"
Wade: "For example... uh... mental breakdown caused by the Cruciatus Curse?"
Snape remained silent for a long while before asking, "Why do you want to know this?"
As if he had never heard of Snape's disdain for Neville, Wade spoke frankly, with a hint of distress:
"During our magic practice tonight, Neville accidentally shattered a target. He tried to repair it but couldn't."
"We all thought it was just a piece of wood, and we could just throw it away and get a new one, but Neville kept trying and trying..."
"Then I guessed he might be thinking of his parents—I heard the Longbottoms were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse for resisting Voldemort, which led to their mental breakdown, forcing them to spend the rest of their lives at St. Mungo's."
"Neville—sigh—Neville really seems to be in pain. So I was wondering if there's any way to help him..."
"Sometimes I even wonder, which is more painful—never having something, or having it and then losing it?"
Wade did not attempt to directly persuade Snape to treat Neville better.
He was merely a student who happened to receive more attention from the professor, and often gained guidance and help from Snape. To openly criticize Snape's attitude toward another student would come off as ungrateful.
Moreover, even Dumbledore couldn't change Snape's attitude toward Harry. How could a few words from Wade possibly make a difference?
Snape was not the type to heed advice or act out of compassion. He was a man obsessed with love and hatred, and someone who would hold onto grudges for a lifetime.
Though he was willing to sacrifice his life to kill Voldemort, he remained indifferent to most people.
When Snape used his authority to bully Neville, he felt a sense of satisfaction but was unable to empathize with Neville's pain.
Or perhaps he knew, but he simply didn't care.
What Wade aimed to do was pull Snape out of that detached, cold state, and force him to passively consider the situation from another perspective.
If Snape could temporarily set aside his resentment and disdain, he would realize that his actions had caused significant harm to Neville. Yet, they were both victims of Voldemort's reign of terror.
If Snape had a higher moral compass, he might recognize that he, too, bore some responsibility in the matter, and that taking out his anger on Neville was truly unjustified.
The office remained silent for a long, long time. Wade didn't know what Snape was thinking, but he met those deep, hollow eyes with calm composure.
Wade's Occlumency skills were now quite advanced, so he wasn't afraid of direct eye contact—though, of course, Professor Snape was not so rude as to intrude into a student's mind without cause.
After a prolonged silence, Snape finally spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "If the Longbottoms could be cured, they wouldn't still be at St. Mungo's."
"You should return to your common room, Grey."
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