HP: The Stellar Witch [OFC]

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The following days found Lys spending exhausting hours in the library—it was time for Crunch's first shedding.

She had nearly worn out her copy of "How to Care for Your Snake," practically memorizing the section about caring for a shedding snake. When Crunch finally broke free from its old skin and crawled happily across the table, Lys was overjoyed.

One weekend, as Lys and Crunch were sprawled across a library table while she studied the spell that had previously drained her magic, Snape appeared beside her.

"Miss Black, might I discuss something with you?" Snape seemed to struggle to phrase his request without his usual caustic tone.

Standing in the library corridor, Snape held out a piece of parchment. "Your snake—I've discovered it's an extremely rare species in Britain. I'd like to trade this spell analysis for its shed skin and venom."

"You mean Crunch? It's indeed not a local snake, and its first shed skin is my treasure—I won't give you that. But you can have the future ones. As for the venom, what do you plan to do with it?"

"Brew antidotes. What else did you think?"

"Take down that arrogant glasses boy and the proud dog!"

Snape couldn't help but marvel that someone else shared his distaste for those Gryffindors. "If your memory serves you correctly, your snake is venomous. I'd rather not get expelled."

"Then it's settled—you give me the spell analysis, I'll give you the next shed skin, and we'll only collect venom through massage method. I won't accept any other way."

After their satisfactory trade, the two stood in the corridor discussing the spell. Lys couldn't help but admire how Snape, despite his sharp tongue, possessed not only extraordinary talent in potions but also brilliant insight into spells. The entire parchment was covered in tiny, precise writing detailing the theory, objectives, precautions, and expected results.

Lys made a mental note to try it once she felt better. Seeing Snape's animated discussion, she ventured, "I have two more books with similar interesting spells. Would you like to take a look?" They'll be pleased if I learn these quickly, she thought.

As they stood by the window deep in discussion, neither noticed the movement behind them until the parchment was suddenly snatched from their hands, startling Lys.

There stood Potter, mud-covered and holding a broomstick, who after glancing at the parchment, shouted behind him, "Lily, come quick! Snivellus is studying Dark Magic! Here's proof!"

Snape visibly panicked, prompting Lys to step on his foot. "That's not true—this spell is even in the library books. We're doing... academic research."

"Oh look, Lily! Snivellus has found himself a cunning, deceitful Slytherin friend. A lying Slytherin!"

When one tactic failed, Potter quickly switched to another. Lys was so angry her nose wrinkled, and she stepped on Snape's foot again. Why aren't you speaking up? Where's that sharp tongue of yours? Has fear of Evans's anger made you mute?

I'll have to handle this!

"Last time, Evans encouraged Snape to make new friends. This shows he values and follows her advice! Potter, you just want Evans to be angry—you never listen to anything she says!"

Potter's angry retorts about "sneaky Slytherins," "Dark Magic," and "pathetic Snivellus" grew so loud that Madam Pince came charging with her feather duster to chase them out.

Lys was thoroughly fed up with these situations. "Evans, can't you just deal with that wretched Potter once and for all? He's insufferable." But Evans merely glanced between Snape and Lys, remaining silent.

When Lys noticed Snape glaring at her disapprovingly despite her help, she angrily snatched the parchment back from Potter and stormed off.

She walked past that arrogant dog with her head held high. He was just a spoiled, stupid dog—she would have her victory eventually! Though in truth, it was Madam Pince's presence that prevented any further confrontation.

Recently, Lys rarely spent time in the common room. These aristocratic heirs seemed to have their own group tensions, and sometimes even those under Regulus's platinum prefect protection were mocked and bullied.

That stupid dog would even come to the dungeon entrance to tell Regulus to report any bullying to him. Didn't he realize his brother's awkward position was because of having him as a brother?

The Black family, whose motto was "Always Pure," had become a laughingstock—a daughter from a branch family married a Mudblood, and the head family's eldest son and future heir was sorted into Gryffindor. No matter how excellent the other son might be, he had an exploitable weakness.

Different noble families would attack each other over whose father or family had gained favor with the Dark Lord or who had failed in their duties. The common room was constantly filled with such verbal attacks.

As one of Slytherin's lowest-ranking members, Lys stayed in her dormitory to avoid becoming a scapegoat. This highlighted the advantage of having a private room, though it was rather small, giving her the same cramped feeling as living above her mother's shop.

Snape wasn't so fortunate. His roommates, Avery and Mulciber, were children from declining pure-blood families—crude yet arrogant, with an almost instinctive drive to curry favor with the powerful while stepping on the weak.

Snape's life had become difficult lately. Besides Potter's harassment, those two idiots made it impossible to find peace even in his dormitory, severely limiting his time for reading and studying.

Last time, that Stalis Black mentioned she had books about Dark Magic and asked if he wanted to see them. He actually did want to, but Potter's interruption had prevented him from accepting. He hoped to see them now, using the excuse of delivering snake food.

When he caught up with Lys in the library to discuss collecting venom, he was about to speak when he noticed her face had turned frighteningly pale.