The thin, pale boy stood alone in the cold wind, wearing only a thin, old black robe.
The robe was clearly adult-sized, ill-fitting for his slender build, and a bit too short, revealing his fair, delicate ankles.
He had shoulder-length black hair, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that he hadn't styled it carefully; he had left it loose and it looked a bit messy.
It was evident that the child had not been well cared for.
His eyes were black, and when he looked at you, it was as if a deep abyss in the water were staring back at you, devoid of emotion and knowledge; looking at him for too long would only inspire fear.
But Linda was not afraid.
Seeing a black-haired, black-eyed boy in Britain, where everyone else was blonde with blue eyes, Linda felt a very familiar sensation, as if she had seen someone from her hometown.
"Severus, we're here!" Lily waved her arms excitedly, pulled Linda's little hand, and ran towards the boy.
The boy waited silently until Lily came to him, out of breath, and then he said, "You haven't been out playing for a long time." His voice was low and calm, with a hint of disappointment in his words.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I had some work to do earlier, so I couldn't go out. You weren't waiting here all the time, were you?" Lily looked at him with a hint of apology and concern in her eyes.
Lily had previously arranged to meet him here during her free time. He hadn't shown up for their appointment lately, and she wondered if he had been waiting for her all this time.
The young man paused for a moment, then immediately raised his voice, "Of course not, I just got here today," his voice growing harsher.
Hearing the young man's answer, Lily felt a slight sense of relief, and a genuine smile appeared on her face: "That's truly wonderful; otherwise, it would have been a real shame to keep you waiting for so long."
Linda stood aside and watched the boy with curiosity, feeling that what he said was a little strange, as if something was off.
After exchanging a few words with the young man, Lily began to introduce Linda: "Severus, this is my cousin Linda. She's Chinese and will be staying with us from now on. Besides, we're classmates now, so we'll be together often."
Lily's tone was full of enthusiasm; she hoped that Linda would quickly adapt to this new environment and make more friends.
After introducing Linda, she continued to introduce the young man in front of them: "He is Severus Snape, our neighbor in town, the same age as us, and my friend."
Snape's face slowly brightened with a smile as he heard Lily introduce him as her friend.
It was as if a person who had been drowning for a long time was holding onto a piece of wood.
Linda extended her hand to the boy in a friendly manner and said with a smile, "Nice to meet you, Severus."
The boy hesitated for a moment but eventually took Linda's hand and nodded gently.
"Lily, I found a very interesting book about potions. Would you like to read it with me?" Snape hadn't seen Lily for a long time and hadn't paid much attention to Linda. He didn't have much to talk about with Lily and was afraid of losing his only friend, so he quickly brought up a topic that caught her interest.
"Really? Great, I want to see that!" Lily loved Potions and was a little impatient when she heard Snape say that.
Snape introduced her to a new world.
He possessed many extraordinary abilities, such as being able to levitate objects without touching them and even being able to instantly open the petals of a flower bud.
This was different from Petunia and her parents. Petunia was afraid of this power and even called it "freakish."
He also wondered if there was anything strange about him until he met Snape.
"You know what? You actually have magical talent!" Snape told her.
"What does that mean?" Lily asked in surprise.
"It means you have special magical powers and can do things ordinary people cannot," Snape explained.
"Wow! This is amazing! But why can only I do this?" Lily asked curiously.
"Because you are not an ordinary human; you are a witch!" said Snape.
"Witch? Like those people in fairy tales who can do magic?" Lily asked excitedly.
"That's right, we are all witches, and there is a special school called Hogwarts for training witches. We will go there together in the future," Snape said.
"Wow! That's really amazing! Then I must learn a lot, a lot about magic," Lily exclaimed with excitement.
"Yes, it really is amazing..." Snape said with a smile.
From that moment on, Lily was filled with longing and anticipation for magic, and Snape became her best friend and mentor.
They shared their dreams and hopes as they explored this mysterious world together.
However, Petunia did not like Snape; she thought he was always a strange one, did not enjoy playing with him, and did not allow him to get too close.
But Lily thought that Linda would definitely not think that way.
Though only a few weeks had passed, Lily could clearly see that Linda's inner world was very strong, as if she possessed a power that could encompass everything in the world, and she would never feel disgust due to the differences between herself, Lily, and Snape.
In fact, Lily wanted more people to accept them instead of viewing them as outsiders. In this regard, she felt very comfortable with Linda.
Meanwhile, Linda watched from the edge of the lake as Lily and Snape sat together, immersed in the world of their book, engaged in constant discussion.
She didn't feel uncomfortable being ignored; on the contrary, she allowed her thoughts to drift and flow.
In fact, she didn't fully understand the topic they were discussing, but she knew what they were talking about.
Because her mother, Cindy, was a witch, and the Hogwarts that Lily and Snape spoke of was the same school Cindy had attended.
After coming to Britain, Cindy had shared her learning experiences with Linda.
She even firmly believed that Linda could follow in her footsteps, attend Hogwarts, and become an excellent witch.
Although Linda had never shown any magic, she had never experienced the unconscious magical awakening that other wizard children did.
But Cindy remained hopeful.
However, Liam believed that Linda had inherited her talent and would become a talented practitioner like him.
Both had different expectations for Linda, which placed great pressure on her.
So if I am nothing, just an ordinary person, what should I do?