[HP] Astringent

Ron gnawed on the drumstick and said vaguely, "Harry, Aunt Vanessa won't have anything to do with Snape, will she?"

This terrible imagination made Harry shiver, and he shrank his neck: "Impossible!"

"I don't want to...but my aunt asked him for help, and he went!"

"They're colleagues, Ron." Hermione interrupted him. "It's normal for colleagues to help each other before."

"But we're talking about Snape! Who did Snape help? He threatened to poison Neville's toad just now! And apparently he wanted to take points from Gryffindor at the end!"

Harry retorted: "I don't think they are very familiar with each other, and Snape still calls her Professor Weasley."

"That's the problem! Snape never called anyone that. He treats people like they have a vendetta against him, but when he sees his aunt, he's polite," Ron babbled, "and I haven’t seen any other professors of my aunt have such a good relationship.”

"I think she's nice to Hagrid and Professor Lupine," said Harry, "and she's nice to everyone, too."

Ron almost choked on the bread, and took a gulp of pumpkin juice: "That's true..." He was convinced.

They arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and when everyone was seated, Lupine walked into the classroom, smiling and putting his battered suitcase on the desk.He told everyone to put away their textbooks and led them to the faculty lounge.

The staff common room was filled with mismatched rescue chairs, and Snape sat in a low armchair.He saw them come in with bright eyes and a sarcastic smile on their lips.

When Lupine came in and closed the door behind him, Snape said, "Don't close it, Lupine. I'd better not look." He stood up and walked past the class, his black robes fluttering behind him.

On the porch, he turned and said, "Lupine, no one may have warned you, but Neville Longbottom is in this class. I advise you not to ask him to do anything difficult unless Miss Granger whispers in his ear." audible instructions."

Neville flushed, and Harry glared at Snape.

There was a sound of footsteps from far to near, and Vanessa ran over panting: "I found you, thank God." She let out a sigh of relief before saying to the others, "Good afternoon, Remus, and Xiaoge Ryffindors."

Several students who knew her replied: "Good afternoon, Professor Weasley."

"I have something to do with Severus, didn't bother you?"

Lupine said: "No, we're saying I want Neville to do what I stopped in the first stage."

"Yes, Mr. Longbottom is a good boy."

Snape pursed his lips, and Vanessa didn't continue to say this: "Hagrid's friend is not very well after drinking the potion... seems to be dying!"

"Looks like your potion managed to kill a spider." He smirked.

Vanessa explained to Lupin while the others waved goodbye: "You still have to ask Severus about the potion."

Lupine said, "Oh, oh, yes."

She and Snape walked out of the room, closed the door, and said, "Hey, there's nothing wrong with your modified potion. But I really need you to check it out, I don't know what I would do without you."

Snape looked reluctant to help, so Vanessa had no choice but to use her trump card: "The dying spider is an eight-eyed spider."

His dark eyes lit up instantly.

It is a pity that the spider was not rescued, because it did not have diarrhea but ate poisonous aconite by mistake.Snape was so rewarded that he almost took the whole body home for an autopsy.

Hagrid didn't know what happened, and was crying bitterly: "Professor Snape, I didn't know you were such a good person, and you came to the Forbidden Forest to help him see a doctor."

Snape raised the corner of his mouth in a rare way, and went home contentedly.He was looking forward to going back to configure a wonderful potion, but instead of speeding up, he slowed down to match Vanessa's speed.

There was a gentle breeze, and the glass bottles in the pocket collided with each other, making a crisp and pleasant sound.Vanessa conjured a bottle from behind and put it in his palm, and said briskly, "Here you are."

He found a spider's fang inside, and the dark eyes sparkled.

Even though Snape's body was full of vicissitudes, under the bright sunshine, he regained some of the spirit he should have at this age.

"I knew it, I saw you circled its head several times."

Vanessa was sincerely happy, her eyes were clear and bright, and a breeze blew through the ends of her hair, bringing up a few strands of warm red hair.She stood still in front of the gate of the castle, with her flying hair behind her ears, the sun was blinding her eyes.

She smiled sweetly: "Go back and make your potion, I have to go back and see Dahei."

Before she finished speaking, she turned and left, leaving behind a slender figure that disappeared into the wind.

In the evening, Vanessa went straight back to the castle for dinner. As expected, Snape didn't show up. He must have been stuck in the laboratory and never came out.She summoned a house-elf and asked, "Has Severus asked you to prepare dinner?"

"Not yet, dear Professor Weasley."

"Then help him with a red-eye steak and a cup of Earl Gray tea." Vanessa recalled his taste, and added, "Add a tuna salad, and put it on his desk. Can you help me add a warming spell? ?”

"Of course, I'm happy to serve you."

"Thank you."

With a loud blast, the elf disappeared in place.

Vanessa was walking towards the library with a few finished books in her arms. She inexplicably heard a group of Gryffindor third-year children whispering, and Snape's name seemed to be mentioned, and she pricked up her ears.When the students saw the professor approaching, they laughed and walked away, as if nothing had happened.

Just when Harry and Ron came over, they greeted her happily.They were going to the library to find Hermione, and the three of them went downstairs together on the way.Vanessa asked curiously: "What are they talking about, what happened this afternoon is something funny?"

"Ah, it's Professor Lupine's class, it's great!" Harry and Ron rushed to talk about how they dealt with Boggarts.Lupine has always been popular. When he was still in school, he gained the admiration of a group of elementary school girls.

"Neville did a great job!" said Ron. "He was the first to complete the task of dealing with the Boggart! We were all dying of laughter! It was Snape who came out of the closet!"

Harry and Ron got carried away and didn't notice Vanessa's frozen expression.

What Neville was most afraid of was Snape. Boggart turned into Snape when he saw him. A funny figure in a hat, wearing a green dress, and carrying a large red handbag.

Vanessa's face became more and more serious, and she interrupted the two of them impolitely: "Children, I don't think this is interesting."

"Auntie, you are just like Professor McGonagall. I bet even Professor McGonagall will laugh when he sees this scene."

"But you can't disrespect the professor like this!" Vanessa said sternly, with anger in her eyes.

Harry said, "Malfoy and the others laughed at Professor Lupine and Hagrid."

"That's why I deducted points for them! And I haven't deducted points for you yet." Vanessa sighed, and put the book on Mrs. Pince's counter. "I don't want you to learn these things from Lupin..."

After receiving assurances from Harry and Ron, she was in no mood to borrow books. She wanted to settle accounts with Lupine, and considering that Snape didn't like others to stand up for him, she felt depressed.

When she is in a bad mood, the first thing Vanessa thinks of is to pet the dog.As night fell, the crescent moon was crescent, and the bitter evening wind brought a damp chill. She didn't go back to get a thicker cloak, and walked to Hagrid's hut.After Hagrid welcomed her, he took an oil lamp and Fang went to inspect the edge of the Forbidden Forest together.

She put the sofa cushion on the ground, ignored Dahei's struggle, hugged it tightly in her arms, and stroked it up and down.Dahei also noticed her depression, and after resisting for a while, he obeyed.

She also knew that Snape's treatment of Neville was a little too much, and he was always critical of Gryffindor.But she couldn't accept others treating him in this way.People can't be completely fair, and she also prefers Gryffindor students.But when it came to dealing with Snape, he was always biased again and again.It didn't make any sense, she just couldn't help protecting Snape and accommodating him as soon as she saw him.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door, and Vanessa opened it, surprised to see Lupine standing outside.The wind seemed to get stronger, and his hair was blown a little messy.

"What's the matter?" Vanessa was still angry and blocked the door on purpose.

Lupine noticed something was wrong, and still maintained a gentle and powerful smile, and said, "Can I go in and have a look at Dahei?" Dahei also stood up, and Vanessa was like a wall between the person and the dog.

"Are you looking for material for next class? I don't think my dog ​​can help you tease the professor."

Lupine asked politely, "Vanessa, have I done anything to offend you?"

"Do you mind if I talk to you?"

Vanessa closed the door behind her back, she looked into the distance silently, and Lupine didn't urge her.She clearly distinguished the birch tree on the hillside not far away.She'd never forget it, where the fifth-year breakup between Snape and Lily had happened, and she'd been standing not far away.

After a while, Vanessa said: "I thought you were different from them. I thought you didn't agree with their actions, what Potter and Black did to him."

As witty as Lupine had already guessed what she was going to say, he nodded: "I really disagreed with it when I was in school."

"Yes, I noticed. Every time you didn't really join them, although you didn't stop them, but at least you didn't laugh like everyone else!" Vanessa stared at Lupine, her eyes met, she Wanting to find some shame out of it, Lupine did look embarrassed.

"Yeah, I don't think what they're doing is funny."

"I didn't mean to mention their names. I know it will make you sad." Vanessa said sternly, "But I heard about what happened this afternoon. I think you did too much and are very disrespectful to others!"

"I'm very sorry."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to."

Lupine said sincerely: "I just want to encourage Neville to get rid of the fear in his heart."

"You can use other methods. You can let him imagine something else. Boggarts don't only conjure up women's clothes."

"You're right." Lupine nodded thoughtfully. "I should have thought it through."

Seeing his humble appearance, Vanessa calmed down a little, but she still couldn't laugh.She stepped aside and asked bluntly, "Do you still want to see Dahei?"

"It's getting late, maybe tomorrow." Lupine said, "You care about Severus?"

Her hands were twisted together nervously, and she said uncomfortably: "No, I just... I didn't have the courage to stand on the opposite side of most people and speak out my thoughts before, and I don't want to do that again."

"Yes, yes, it was difficult." Lupine recalled the past, with nostalgia in his eyes, "Just now I seemed to see Lily standing in front of me."

Vanessa lowered her head and smiled self-deprecatingly: "No one can be like her."

"Yeah, she's an amazing person, there's nobody like her."

Vanessa roughly pulled her hair back, and went back to the castle in silence.