Silent... He should be called Thomas now; both he and his Twin brother are Young Wizards.
Because their mother, Eileen, is a Wizard.
But their father, Tobias, is just an ordinary Muggle, and before their marriage, Tobias did not know Eileen's true identity.
When the twins were three years old, the older brother, Thomas, had a severe magical outburst. The surge destabilized his developing magic, leaving his abilities weakened and unpredictable for years.
The abnormal magic fluctuations of the Young Wizard attracted Ministry of Magic staff, leading to the exposure of Eileen's Wizard identity.
Tobias was laid off due to an economic crisis and was at the lowest point of his life. When he suddenly learned that his wife and sons were the evil wizards often described in books, he blamed all his career failures on his family and began to drink heavily every day.
Eileen could only go out to work, but she had no qualifications from the muggle world, so she could only work as a temporary worker in a factory. Not only was the work hard, but the pay was also extremely low.
And this meager salary, in addition to supporting the family, was often snatched by Tobias to buy alcohol.
The two brothers, Thomas and Severus, grew up in poverty, often going hungry.
The magic outburst at the age of three not only caused severe damage to Thomas's magic development but also damaged his soul. To outsiders, it seemed as if he had become a 'fool'.
With his mother busy and tired from work, the young Severus could only take on the heavy responsibility of looking after his brother. 'Looking after' really just meant making sure his brother didn't run off.
This also meant that Severus, though already seven, had not yet started school, while Thomas was ineligible for regular schools. Both brothers were illiterate!
Although Thomas's memory of the original Harry Potter books was very hazy, he remembered that Young Wizards had to go to Hogwarts at a certain age. Would Hogwarts teach spelling from scratch?
The brain development of an ability user is far beyond that of ordinary people, and their soul power is also very strong, which gives them an extremely strong learning ability. But in the apocalypse, China hardly used English, and what he had learned before had long been forgotten!
Suddenly, there was a sound from the windowsill. Thomas turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.
A raven was perched on the windowsill. He was tapping on the glass window with his beak, then cawed twice, like a visiting guest.
Wood Element Ability users have an inherently high affinity for nature, able to communicate with various creatures in the natural world, and can also help their growth and evolution.
So Thomas understood what the raven said: "Little monster, little fool, quickly open the door for Lord Raven!"
Thomas was speechless: Are you being polite?
He said to the raven through the window: "You raven, who are you calling a little fool?"
"I am a noble magic raven! I am not like those ordinary ravens!" The raven outside the window flapped his wings, exasperated.
"What's different? I don't see it?" Is this actually a magic creature? Thomas carefully examined the raven, but it just looked like an ordinary raven.
The raven tilted his head, staring at Thomas with his beady eyes: "Little fool, you can talk!"
Just then, Thomas heard footsteps approaching the door, and the old wooden floor creaked.
As the door opened, Severus happily walked in, carrying a tray: "Thomas, Mom bought milk today!"
He immediately saw his brother standing by the window, pressed against it, in a standoff with the raven who often came to scrounge for food.
Severus quickly put the tray on the floor. Although he knew Thomas wouldn't open the window, he was still a little nervous as he pulled Thomas away from the window, saying sternly: "Thomas, how many times have I told you, you're not allowed to go near the window!"
Thomas felt that he was largely influenced by the original Thomas's memories.
Otherwise, why would he find his little brother, with his small face and acting like a little adult, so incredibly cute!
Severus saw Thomas obediently standing to the side, then he himself stood on tiptoes and opened the window, with a look of disdain: "Stupid raven, why are you here again? We don't have any food for you!"
The raven flew in, familiar with the way, and landed on the mirror: "Little monster! Dinner! Dinner!"
Thomas frowned: "Hey, you're not allowed to call Severus a little monster!"
"Lord Raven isn't called 'hey', my name is Boris."
But in Severus's ears, it just sounded like his brother and the raven were cawing at each other. He frowned, feeling something was strange.
Thomas saw that although Severus spoke with disdain, he had no intention of driving the raven away. He first handed the milk to Thomas, then picked up a piece of dark bread, took a bite, and broke off a piece to feed the raven. The boy and the bird ate happily together.
Thomas realized that even though Severus didn't understand bird language, this raven might be his only friend.
But there wasn't even enough food for one person, let alone having to share with a bird. No wonder his brother was a size smaller than him.
Thomas handed the milk in his hand to Severus: "Drink."
"I don't want it, it's for you." Severus gently pushed his hand, signaling.
Suddenly, he realized something and looked at Thomas in shock: "Thomas, were you just talking to me?"
Thomas smiled and stroked his brother's head: "Severus, I've always wanted to talk to you, I didn't mean to ignore you."
Is this what it feels like to have an older brother? Feeling that not-so-large but very warm hand, Severus's mouth hung open for a long time before he could close it. Then the boy awkwardly said: "I didn't really want to talk to you either, but if you want to chat with me, I can keep you company for a while."
Thomas chuckled and hugged his brother: "Yes, I want to chat with Severus. I've wanted to so much these past years, wanted to protect you." These were the words the original Thomas had always wanted to say. As he spoke them, Thomas felt the last trace of restraint in his body dissipate.
Tears gradually gathered in Severus's eyes. Just as they were about to fall, he turned his head away, roughly wiping his face with his sleeve, stubbornly not letting Thomas see.
Thomas didn't force him, just gently patted his back, waiting for him to calm down on his own.
At Thomas's insistence, Severus drank all the milk, while Thomas ate the remaining piece of dark bread, which was dry and hard, and one piece wasn't even enough to fill him up!
Thomas watched Severus meticulously licking the crumbs from his hands.
He felt he had to find a way to make money. He had finally returned to a peaceful world; he couldn't let his quality of life be worse than in the apocalypse!
The house had poor soundproofing. The sound of the downstairs door opening reached them. Severus immediately became alert like a small animal, signaling Thomas to be quiet, and listened intently to the sounds downstairs through the door.
"Severus, I'm home." A female voice sounded, weary and hoarse, with a hint of tenderness.
"It's Mom!" The boy breathed a sigh of relief, his dark eyes instantly lighting up. He dropped all his guard and pulled Thomas, running downstairs.