The winter chill had not faded with the end of the Christmas holidays.
On the contrary, even though the spring sun had stubbornly begun to show itself, even though the fire in the hearth was blazing, and even though most of the students were laughing and enjoying the last bit of happiness before the holiday ended...
Some students in the castle still felt cold to the bone.
"I seriously suspect Snape got his brain damaged by Voldemort during the war half a year ago. Or maybe Voldemort's soul took him over!"
Ron complained loudly in the Gryffindor common room, but the young lions around him were not annoyed in the slightest. Instead, they nodded with deep sympathy.
Aside from that extremely unreliable theory, they really could not think of any reason why Snape would assign so much homework, and make it so difficult, over the Christmas holidays.
Even as seventh-year students in the advanced class, they had no choice but to scratch their heads over it.
To put it bluntly, they had already begun imagining what would happen if they failed to hand it in, and the sarcastic look Snape would give them.
"I said long ago that Fawley has filled your heads with far too many unrealistic fantasies, making you mistakenly believe you have enough ability to master an advanced class.
"In reality, with your brains, you might as well repeat first year. Under my instruction, you may even have the faintest chance."
Just imagining Snape's cold, mocking face was enough to make the faces of these lucky Gryffindor advanced-class students turn green.
Seeing this, Ron's courage to complain rose several notches.
"Maybe Voldemort realized he couldn't beat Professor Fawley, so he deliberately left Snape behind to torture us, the future stars of the wizarding world!"
Even Harry, who had agreed with him completely at first, could not help tugging Ron's sleeve, telling him to rein it in a little.
"Snape only assigned a tiny bit more homework. There's no need to drag Voldemort into it. Besides, Professor Fawley was very certain when he said Voldemort was completely destroyed. It's impossible for him to have left any soul behind."
Ron curled his lip, not caring at all about Harry's "betrayal."
"Then explain this. How exactly did Snape survive facing Voldemort?"
"Er..."
They had discussed this question long ago. Even Hermione had not managed to give a convincing answer, so they could only credit the all-powerful Professor Fawley for it.
Of course, the simplest way would be to ask the people involved. But since one of them was Snape, and the other was Professor Fawley, who had not appeared in the wizarding world for a long time, that method was not very simple after all.
In fact, after the great battle, Harry had worried about how he was supposed to get along with Snape.
He had thought Snape was prepared to sacrifice himself, and from Dumbledore, he had learned about the tangled love and hatred between Snape and his parents.
Yet unexpectedly, aside from his gloomy aura having faded quite a bit, Snape was still the same irritating Snape.
If Snape were not genuinely good at teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, they probably would already have skipped class in protest.
Seeing Harry stammer, Ron said smugly, "See? You know there's no way to explain it."
"There's no need to explain it. If Snape really had a problem, Professor Fawley would probably have come back to school and started making preparations long ago, just like when he was guarding against Voldemort!" Harry snapped.
At the mention of Professor Fawley, whom they had not seen in so long, Ron immediately lost interest in joking around. Of course, he had even less interest in finishing his homework.
"Ever since first year, we've run into all sorts of things at Hogwarts. Tell me, how did our last year end up so normal?"
"You really shouldn't say that. We still have half a year before graduation. If Voldemort or someone else really pops up and causes trouble..."
Harry thought about it and realized that although their experiences over the past six years had been dangerous, they had also been exciting.
The two exchanged a glance, realizing their thoughts had somehow lined up, and both broke into helpless grins.
"If we could trick Professor Fawley into coming back, I'd even accept another war breaking out..."
"How did you know Professor Fawley is back?"
Hermione suddenly appeared, looking at the two of them in surprise.
"?" x2
Harry and Ron blinked blankly. After a moment, they finally came back to their senses.
"What? The professor is back?!" x2
Their shout instantly rang through the entire common room. Apart from the younger students who were still confused, nearly everyone rushed over excitedly.
To them, the only person at Hogwarts who could be called "the professor" on his own was that man.
"Is Professor Fawley really back?"
"Did he come back to replace Snape?"
"Does that mean we don't have to do Snape's homework?!"
"Stop!"
With the authority of Head Girl, Hermione shouted in a clear, forceful voice, instantly suppressing the noisy students.
Once the room had quieted down, she nodded in satisfaction.
"Professor Fawley has indeed returned. However, he's been taken to the Headmaster's office by Professor Dumbledore, so he won't be able to come out for a while."
Seeing the faint disappointment in her classmates' eyes, she quickly added, "But Neville came back with the professor, and he said the professor really did return to prepare a lesson for us..."
"Woohoo!"
Ron immediately shouted in excitement, then grabbed his Defence Against the Dark Arts homework and threw it high into the air in revenge. The pages came fluttering down with a clatter, like fireworks celebrating the professor's return.
The other students quickly followed his example. Some students, driven half-mad by the homework, even excitedly tossed their half-finished essays into the fireplace, further igniting the wild joy in the room.
One could imagine just how torturous Snape's homework had been.
Harry, however, held the essay he had barely started, hesitated for a while, and finally looked to Hermione for help.
"Neville didn't say Professor Fawley came back to replace Snape, did he?"
Hermione planted her hands on her hips, a wicked smile appearing on her face.
"Of course not. In fact, Professor Fawley is probably only back to give us graduates one final lesson."
"Then Snape's homework..."
"Of course it has to be handed in as usual!"
Hermione smiled until her eyes curved, making her look slyly adorable.
At any other time, she would have sternly stopped them, but Professor Fawley's return had made her so happy that she did not mind playing one small prank on her classmates.
After all, the pranks George and the others used to pull were far worse than this!