Harry Potter: Who cares about belated motherly love?

"Yes, Theodore Nott?"

I never thought of it. Well, not that I never thought of it at all, but I was more suspicious of Pansy Parkinson than of him.

After all, she was an obvious pure-blood, and it would have been easy for Tom Riddle to manipulate her.

"Ah..., you're here, Weasley..."

Theodore Nott looked at me blankly with his blurry, unfocused eyes, and I couldn't help but feel a chill running down my spine.

—Today was not the first time I spoke to Theodore Nott.

He doesn't have as strong a presence as Draco, and isn't very noticeable among the Slytherin students, but because of his handsome face and the elegant temperament that comes with a noble family background, he has a lot of hidden popularity among the second-year girls.

However, because he was a pure-blood, and he didn't socialize with people even in the same dormitory, he didn't often attract attention.

The first time I met him was when I was in the first grade.

At that time, I had not yet become friends with Hermione, nor was I inseparable from Harry like I am now. It was one day after school, not long after I started school, I was going to the library, but I happened to get stuck on the fifth floor landing on Hogwarts' famous "moving staircase".

At that time, I thought to myself: If I went down one more staircase, I would reach the fourth floor where the library was. What bad luck.

The person who happened to be trapped on the landing with me in this extremely boring situation of not knowing when the stairs would be restored was Theodore Nott.

There were only two of us at the time, and surprisingly, Theodore spoke first.

"It would be nice if we could just get down to the next staircase. The library is right there." I couldn't help but mutter to myself, and he immediately agreed, "Indeed, I don't have time to be stuck here."

I remember staring at his face in amazement.

"……What's wrong?"

He looked back at me, seemingly panicked, and I suddenly realized that he was only eleven years old and a first-grade student like me.

Since he was from the "Nott" family, which was famous for its pure-bloodism, I might have had some prejudice against him without even realizing it. I didn't expect that he would talk to me, a Gryffindor, so naturally.

Of course, this may be because I am also a pure-blood, not a Muggle-born. However, even so, the Weasley family is well-known as "blood betrayers" in the British wizarding world. There are many pure-blood advocates who look down on our family (such as Lucius Malfoy).

Under these circumstances, I was surprised that Theodore, despite his insistence on pure-bloodism, could speak to me so frankly.

So much so that I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hehe... a little unexpected. After all, there are many people in Slytherin who are hostile to Gryffindor."

At that time, I remember Theodore looked at me with a surprised expression.

"…I have no reason to regard you as an enemy."

"Yeah, me too… why don't we chat for a while? Anyway, we have nothing to do until the stairs move."

I found his slightly confused expression amusing, so I suggested with a smile.

We talked on the landing for about twenty minutes at that point.

Although he seemed uncomfortable talking about himself, he was surprisingly a good listener.

Although we weren't close enough to be called friends, from then on, we would occasionally chat as long as there were no other Gryffindors or Slytherins around.

But after all, there are not many such opportunities, only two or three times in total.

Ah, but he saved me from a Slytherin once.

Because of the incident with Puff, I became an unwilling overnight celebrity as a "natural dragon tamer", and for a while, Slytherin first years kept pestering me.

Although that Slytherin student was not a member of the "Holy Twenty-Eight Families", he was the second son of a family with a certain reputation in the British wizarding world. Now that I think about it, he might have wanted to use me to improve his own status.

His family lineage, though ancient, is on the decline, and his elder brother is the heir to the family line, so he may be anxious about the future.

Ever since the Daily Prophet reported what happened between Puff and me, he's suddenly become unusually affectionate and keeps pestering me.

Especially in joint courses like Potions, he always deliberately sat with me.

Although now it seems that he was much more gentlemanly than Lockhart, at the time I just felt annoyed.

I tried to avoid him every time, but it seemed to boost his ego and he gradually became a bit of a stalker.

One day before dinner, when I was being harassed by him in front of the Great Hall, Theodore suddenly said to him: "Can't you see she is fed up with you? It's a disgrace to Slytherin."

His grey-green eyes glared fiercely at the Slytherin student, whose face immediately turned blue with fear.

After all, Theodore is "Nott".

Like the Malfoy family, the Nott family is an old noble family among the Holy Twenty-Eight Families (in fact, the definition of the Holy Twenty-Eight Families was proposed by his ancestor Contancras Nott).

In the hierarchy of the Slytherin Houses, the "Notts" are second only to the "Malfoys".

Although he was only a first grader at the time, his remarks sometimes carried more weight than those of a seventh grader.

As a result, the Slytherin student didn't dare to anger "Nott" again and never bothered me again.

I once sent a letter to Theodore because of that incident.

Feeling much better now that I was no longer being harassed by the Slytherin student, I sent him a thank-you card and a small handkerchief I had sewn from some spare fabric.

Although he didn't reply, I saw him using the handkerchief I sent him. The light green fabric was the leftover fabric I used to make a dress, and there was a small snake embroidered in the corner with a darker green thread than the fabric - the symbol of Slytherin, so I can be sure that it was from me.

After that, because I was busy with various things, I never communicated with him privately again. But in my impression, Theodore had never been so lifeless, and there should have been a more intelligent light in his eyes.

——He definitely doesn’t have such a dangerous aura.

***

"Ronnie, do you know him?"

Harry watched the conversation between Theodore and I and blinked.

"Theodore Nott. He's a second-year like us... but his temperament has changed a lot."

I glanced at Harry and then back at Theodore, who was giving me a smile that seemed soft and affectionate.

He had an outstanding appearance, and under normal circumstances, such a smile would probably make people blush, but the strange atmosphere at the moment made it all chilling.

"I've always wanted to meet you, Weasley... I've been waiting for this day..."

Theodore whispered like a sigh.

"Nott, is that you? Did you attack Ginny?"

"No, I don't have that ability..."

I questioned Theodore, who seemed unusual, but he just shook his head.

"Who is that? Why are you here?"

Harry asked, but Theodore didn't answer. To be more precise, Theodore didn't seem to notice Harry at all until Harry asked him loudly, and then he seemed to realize Harry's existence for the first time.

"Potter, you're here too... Well, this is to be expected... Weasley, you wouldn't risk your life alone..."

Theodore nodded to himself, but his tone sounded a little dazed.

No, it was more like his anger was fading away.

Before I could question him further, his body slowly tilted.

"Nott?!"

With a dull thud, Theodore fell heavily to the cold stone floor. I almost rushed over to check, but at this moment, a voice rang out.