Jane Yu, now thoroughly familiar with the route to Snape's house on Spinner's End, stepped inside to find her mentor with a relaxed expression, mouth set in a neutral line.
But the moment he spotted Dumbledore, Snape's face immediately darkened, opening with his familiar mockery:
"Well, I suppose I've once again become part of my esteemed Headmaster and his cherished child's holiday bonding activities, haven't I?"
Jane blinked innocently, while Dumbledore's blue eyes looked even more guileless than hers.
"Little Spinner's End becoming a holiday resort for the greatest wizard and his child—what an honor for such a filthy, lowly place."
Having been kept awake half the night, Snape faced this old-and-young duo feeling his anger teetering on the edge of eruption:
"If you weren't wizards, I'd probably be seeing you both at the Cokeworth police station, arrested for construction noise violations."
Jane's gaze grew even clearer, and Dumbledore's eyes became even more innocent.
"Ahem... desperate times call for desperate measures... swift construction prevents complications." Faced with justified complaints from his subordinate, Dumbledore couldn't help but blush. "We have a grand plan to complete... naturally, this requires your assistance, Severus."
Snape's eyes flicked toward a large white cloth in the room, nodding coldly:
"I suspected as much. So, did Miss Jane'sDraught of Living Death become Draught of Dying Death, or did her Elixir of Euphoria turn into Mourning Draught, requiring both student and guardian to come knocking, seeking trouble from the instructor?"
His gaze fixed on Jane, filled with implications of "I knew you'd cause trouble again" and "prepare for a 365-day detention package when term starts."
"I don't think so, Professor," Jane couldn't help retorting. "My potions are perfectly healthy... I just wanted to headhunt directly... deliver offers to your door..."
Snape took a deep breath—instantly grasping the implications, a crushing sense of working-class pressure suddenly broke his spine!
"Excellent. See how respectful our Miss Jane is—famous and wealthy, yet still remembering her old professor. So much so that beyond bearing the burden of teaching Potions to all Hogwarts, she wants him to take on additional part-time work. This must be what you mean by 'never forget who dug the well when drinking water.'"
As the boss providing both Order of the Phoenix membership and Hogwarts Potions Professor positions, Dumbledore felt an arrow inexplicably strike his knee.
"Oh, this time is different, Severus," he countered. "This is a Ministry arrangement. We need an undisturbed location for producing Auror magical equipment. If you could join Yu's project, nothing could be better."
Before he finished speaking, Snape had already snorted coldly.
Nice words, but essentially asking him to babysit again!
"Excellent, Headmaster. Choosing my place for the laboratory address—surely your far-sighted wisdom. Perhaps last time's experience gave you some mistaken notion that having me supervise students during holidays is a brilliant idea, but I'm afraid I must remind you again—you know the dangers here aren't less than before—"
"No, Severus, the location was Yu's idea," Dumbledore interrupted.
Snape suddenly fell silent, his previously hissing venom stopping like a faucet suddenly shut off.
He didn't understand why Jane would squeeze into this dark, filthy Muggle street when she had plenty of excellent locations available.
But he understood that such a choice, regardless of anything else, carried absolute trust in him.
Over many years, he hadn't often received such intense emotions from students. Most faced him with fear and disgust, mentioning him behind his back in combinations with words like "biased," "point deduction," "cold-blooded," and "old bat."
He didn't care what students thought of him—he was indifferent to it... but...
At this moment, a heavy emotion—perhaps what could be called being moved—suddenly spread through his heart...
This left him momentarily speechless, feeling as if his mouth was locked, his tongue weighed down.
After a moment, his voice became very soft, eyes fixed intently on Dumbledore, full of inquiry:
"Yes, I should have realized—every absurd incident involves her. But what time is it now, yet you're playing house games with her? Perhaps she doesn't know, but you should know who I am...?"
His gaze flicked again toward that large white cloth, full of implication.
"Is there a possibility she's already guessed?" Dumbledore said calmly.
Snape's hand on the armchair suddenly clenched into a fist, pupils sharply contracting!
This plunged the room into eerie silence.
"Perhaps we can be frank, Severus," Dumbledore continued.
After a moment's thought, Snape—having exchanged glances with Dumbledore—stood up, strode to the white cloth, and yanked it away!
Beneath lay Peter Pettigrew's unconscious body!
"Strong Draught of Living Death, Stunning Spell, Memory Charm. Everything in this house will become secret—he'll retain only memories of serving tea," he said hoarsely. "I always follow our great Headmaster's instructions."
He tossed the white cloth back over Wormtail like discarding garbage, turned around, and asked quickly:
"So, what do I need to do in this matter? Act as a lookout? Protect this place during holidays? Ensure her safety?"
He received an unexpected answer.
"None of those," Jane smiled, knowing her goal was achieved. "There's just a potions research list urgently needing resolution—naturally, potion ingredients and research funding are all provided, with attractive salary plus St. Mungo's free medical insurance—even Unspeakables say it's excellent."
With solid basic employee benefits, the quality difference compared to the Order of the Phoenix and Death Eaters was immediately apparent, moving even Snape.
After all, working three jobs or four jobs—it's all work. For potions brewing, his specialty—
Brewing three batches or four batches—it's all brewing. Surely he'd handle it expertly.
The Half-Blood Prince, quite proud of his potions skills, nodded slightly.
But what he never expected was—
One minute later, his gratitude and relief values would rapidly return to zero.
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