Chapter 48
This was undoubtedly a terrible Saturday as Harry hadn't slept well all night and had even had a nightmare in the morning, yet he still had to get up early to practice Quidditch.
By eleven o'clock in the morning, the entire school began heading toward the Quidditch pitch.
The weather today was muggy and humid, with faint rumbles of thunder in the sky, Harry greeted Ron and Hermione, who had hurried over to wish him good luck. The next moment, he suddenly remembered and said to Ron "Remember to tell Hermione about that thing!"
"Harry, today's a big day. Don't think about that stuff for now, okay? I'll tell her later." Ron gave Harry an encouraging punch on the arm and quickly left.
Harry was a bit annoyed at his carefree attitude. His gaze unconsciously drifted toward the professors' stands. Professor Lucian was standing there right now, his face expressionless.
The shadow from last night's nightmare hadn't faded yet, and just looking at him now filled Harry with fear. At that moment in the teachers' viewing area, Snape was speaking to Lucian.
"I didn't expect you to actually come watch a Quidditch match." His voice was calm, lacking its usual mocking tone.
"Hmm. My mindset has shifted a bit lately." Amid the roaring cheers and noise, Lucian watched as the fourteen Quidditch players shot up into the lead-gray sky. Harry immediately drew everyone's attention by flying at the highest altitude.
It had to be said, he was quite dazzling during Quidditch—he actually had a bit of the charisma worthy of the title "Savior."
"How novel—as if some people never change." A glint flashed in Snape's eyes as he stared straight at the Quidditch pitch, not looking at Lucian.
"You'll never change, will you?"
"..."
Snape tilted his head slightly. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Lucian's posture was straight and tall, still focused on the match. It seemed like the earlier remark had been casual.
He suddenly realized that ever since Lucian's conversation with Dumbledore last time, Lucian really did seem different. When had this guy ever spoken to him in such a conversational tone? Thinking back to what Lucian had said yesterday, a certain idea began stirring in Snape's mind.
"Don't think you know me so well." He first tried to save some dignity for himself.
Lucian ignored him. In the stands, the voice of the Quidditch commentator, Lee Jordan, dominated "Slytherin is far ahead—the score is currently sixty to zero! I hear they somehow got their hands on a batch of top-notch brooms. Clearly, they're getting a huge advantage in flight. This is an unfair win, Professor McGonagall! ...I got it." The blatantly biased commentary quieted down after a warning from his own Head of House.
Snape listened to Lee Jordan's words. Far from getting angry, his mood actually improved a bit more.
Seeing that Lucian wasn't responding, he thought for a moment, cleared his throat lightly, and asked "How long do you plan to stay at Hogwarts this time while teaching?"
"I don't know—maybe a year, maybe a few years. But it's not really up to me. It's possible that if I can safely pack up and leave at the end of one year, that'll already be lucky."
"Isn't that just a legend? Even you believe it?"
"A legend? More than thirty professors have rotated through this position before me. Do you expect me to chalk it all up to coincidence?" Lucian asked with raised brow "Rather than believe that, I'd prefer to see it as the result of both magic and human intervention. From what I know, many Defense Against the Dark Arts professors didn't fare well after leaving Hogwarts. A lot of them quietly died in some unknown corner not long afterward—I suspect that's tied to the Death Eaters still loyal to the Dark Lord."
Snape let out an irritated "tch" after hearing Lucian's analysis. If it were him, he definitely wouldn't believe in the curse—after all, he himself was a Death Eater, but now that the one facing this curse was Lucian, he couldn't just ignore its existence.
So, for the moment, it was best to assume he could only work alongside Lucian for one school year.
"Boom—"
With a muffled thunderclap, the rain poured down harder, and the match entered an even more critical phase.
Gryffindor had only scored 10 points so far, while Slytherin—thanks to the Malfoys funding brand-new Nimbus 2001s—had already racked up 120.
If they scored just a few more, even if Harry caught the Golden Snitch, it wouldn't be enough to turn the tide.
Snape's mood grew even better.
But that good mood quickly vanished—the Golden Snitch, symbolizing the most crucial moment of the entire match, was hovering just inches above Malfoy's left ear, yet he remained completely oblivious, and Harry was already diving straight toward Malfoy—Snape's smile vanished completely.
Through the hazy curtain of rain, Harry reached out fiercely amid the watchful eyes of the crowd—and his fingers closed around the Golden Snitch. But the broom clamped between his feet plummeted straight toward the ground!
With a bang, water splashed everywhere.
The crowd rushed over, while Harry excitedly raised one hand high—the Golden Snitch was firmly clutched in his left fist.
"A stunning comeback! Harry Potter! Our Savior has once again saved the Gryffindor team!" Lee Jordan's voice echoed throughout the pitch.
"What an idiot—just focused on taunting his enemy and didn't even notice what was right beside him!" Snape was clearly unhappy with Malfoy's performance and muttered a low curse under his breath.
Then he casually glanced at Lucian—he swore that if the man dared to mock him even a single word, he'd leave immediately.
But what made Snape feel a subtle mix of emotions was that Lucian wasn't looking at him or at Harry on the field. Instead, his gaze was fixed on Professor McGonagall—he'd been watching her ever since the signs of Harry's comeback appeared a minute ago.
"You don't see Professor McGonagall like this every day, do you?" Following Lucian's line of sight, Snape saw her cheering and clapping wildly because of Gryffindor's victory, unable to hide the smile on her face no matter how hard she tried.
Lucian watched this version of Professor McGonagall and felt her image suddenly become much more vivid in his mind—no longer just the pen pal from their letter exchanges.
He felt like he was starting to understand more and more what Dumbledore meant by those "moments."
"Ahem—Lucian." Just as he was quietly pondering, Snape's voice suddenly rang out again.
"What is it, Snape?"
"Look at him." Lucian followed his gaze—Harry was now surrounded by the crowd, being tossed high into the air repeatedly.
"Students these days are getting worse and worse. A tiny, insignificant little achievement and they get this carried away."
"They're just celebrating. Aren't you being a bit too sensitive?" Snape was rebutted and momentarily forgot his original intent. He whipped his head around, glared at Lucian, stepped closer, and hissed through gritted teeth "Speaking of which—our house clearly lost, yet you look pretty happy. Have you figured out which side you're supposed to be on?"
"The middle." Lucian replied almost instantly, earning a question look from Snape.
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