Soon, following Dumbledore's footsteps, Lyla went deeper and deeper down the stairs.
'Where are we going?'
Lyla looked at the increasingly dark surroundings and couldn't help but purse her lips. 'Could Dumbledore be running some kind of wizard trafficking business?'
Just as her suspicions peaked, the stairs came to an end. This was the basement of Hogwarts, cold and damp. Lyla had to pull her robe tighter, even though she was already wrapped up securely.
'Does anyone really… like this kind of place?'
She looked at Dumbledore's back, pursing her lips. She wanted to ask again if Professor Snape was really a normal-sized human and not a giant, but she only opened her mouth, unsure how to start.
"We're here," Dumbledore said, unaware of her internal panic. He stopped and gently knocked on the door in front of them.
"Severus," he called out slowly. "It's me."
"Come in, Professor Dumbledore..." It was a low, cold voice. It sounded as if it could instantly throw Lyla into the frozen lake beside Nurmengard and then pull her out again.
Lyla instinctively trembled, but Dumbledore had already pushed open the door and walked inside.
"This is Miss Lyla Hamilton," Dumbledore said, turning slightly to reveal Lyla, who was currently trying to hide behind his back.
Lyla cautiously raised her head and glanced at the owner of the gloomy office.
It was a man wrapped in a black robe that perfectly matched the environment. His shoulder-length black hair looked damp, and his eyes were dark to the point of absolute coldness. They also held a slight hint of disgust.
"H-h-hello!" Lyla stammered, her voice trembling. She pulled on Dumbledore's robes to keep herself from collapsing to the floor in pure terror.
"Hello..." Snape drawled slowly, standing up. Lyla could feel him scrutinizing her from head to toe.
"Is she the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts?" Snape asked.
"Strictly speaking, there's also Mr. Lockhart," Dumbledore nodded slightly. "Won't you invite us to sit?"
"But... of course..." Lyla could feel him almost squeezing the words out of his mouth one by one, as if each letter was a deadly curse.
'If that were true... he must have killed me hundreds of times already.'
Lyla didn't know why Professor Snape harbored such inexplicable hostility toward her. Regardless, it didn't stop her from feeling overwhelmingly scared and timid.
"We have two 'qualified' Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors." Snape watched them sit down and offered a thin, sarcastic smile. "How wonderful."
"Indeed, Severus." Dumbledore shrugged as if completely oblivious to the sarcasm. "Miss Hamilton is the most suitable candidate I could find."
Snape was silent for a few seconds. His cold eyes surveyed Lyla's bowed head a few more times. "Let's hope so."
"Then let's talk business, shall we?" Dumbledore said, looking at Lyla. "As I mentioned before, our Miss Hamilton hopes to brew a few bottles of the Wolfsbane Potion."
"Hmm..." Snape paused. "Then, Miss Hamilton... what ingredients does the Wolfsbane Potion require?"
'Ah! Why are you suddenly talking to me?!'
Lyla's body trembled violently. She gripped the edge of her chair and stammered, frantically trying to answer. "Wolfsbane... wolfsbane... and..."
"Excuse me, Miss Hamilton, did you eat Mandrake before coming?" Snape frowned, cutting her off.
"N-no..."
"Then why do you look as though you haven't woken up yet?" Snape said slowly. "Absent-minded..."
"Miss Hamilton is just a little shy," Dumbledore explained gently. "But she absolutely possesses the ability to brew the Wolfsbane Potion."
"And the ability to be a Professor?" Snape pressed.
"Exactly," Dumbledore nodded confidently.
"Hmph..." Snape sneered, shaking his head. "Since Professor Dumbledore trusts you... then please, follow me."
He stood up briskly and brushed past Lyla. The cold breeze he stirred up made her shiver all over again.
"Don't misunderstand, Severus," Dumbledore whispered in a low voice. "He's actually a very warm-hearted person."
"Ah... is that... is that so?" Lyla managed to squeak out. 'This "warm-hearted" Professor Snape has already scared me completely cold!'
'He's even scarier than Hagrid! Almost as scary as Dumbledore! No... in some ways, he's even scarier than Dumbledore...' Frightened, Lyla followed closely behind the Headmaster, gripping her sleeve tightly.
"Just a heads-up, Miss Hamilton..." Snape stood in the ingredient storeroom, tilting his head slightly. His cold eyes made Lyla's entire body stiffen.
"The ingredients I can provide are only enough to brew three bottles of the Wolfsbane Potion."
"Which means... if you want to make the potion for your..."
Snape suddenly sneered. "Trouble-making furry friend."
'Did he really not have any personal history with Mr. Lupin?' Lyla instinctively wanted to ask, but the next second, Snape flicked his robe.
"You'd best use it sparingly."
"O-okay..." The question died in Lyla's throat, immediately turning into a faint murmur of agreement.
"Also... you'll need to purchase the Mandrake on your own." He paused. "I presume you, having eaten it before, know where to buy it, right?"
"Ugh!" Lyla quickly nodded vigorously, pulling her Spatial Storage Book from her embrace.
"Please... please put the ingredients... in here..."
Listening to Lyla's quiet stammering, Snape examined the thick book a few times and raised an eyebrow. His gaze shifted subtly, upgrading her from a mindless pest to a functioning human.
"Miss Hamilton is an expert in Magic Array Studies," Dumbledore noted gently. "She has helped the Ministry of Magic collect many Dark Arts artifacts."
"Then she's certainly suitable for the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor position," Snape said, pursing his lips. He placed the sorted ingredients into the pages of Lyla's open book.
"More suitable than me," he added through gritted teeth, looking as though he wished he could bite the words to death as they left his mouth.
Finally, Lyla understood where Professor Snape's hostility came from. 'Could it be that he really wanted to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor?'
'It must be!'
'Dumbledore, I beg you! Please let Professor Snape take this position! I'm perfectly fine just cleaning Hogwarts... I'm definitely better at it than the House-elves!'
Recalling her miserable days at Durmstrang Institute, Lyla looked at Dumbledore with desperate, pleading eyes. All she got in return was a polite blink.
"Thank you for your help, Severus," Dumbledore said, smiling gently.
"It's nothing," Snape snorted coldly. He leaned down slightly, bringing his face dangerously close to Lyla's.
Startled, Miss Hamilton slammed her book shut and snapped to attention.
"Just a reminder, Miss Hamilton."
"The recipe for the Wolfsbane Potion requires wolfsbane, powdered dittany, the caps of Northern Irish mushrooms, and mandrake."
"Furthermore, if dragon's blood can be obtained to replace the wolfsbane... the effect will be even better."
"What?" Lyla was stunned for a moment. She originally thought Snape would say something sarcastic, but he was actually giving her brewing advice. And dragon's blood could actually be used...?
Seeing Lyla freeze up, Snape frowned.
"Miss Hamilton, next time, open your ears and listen carefully... I will only say this once." Snape's voice grew deeper, making Lyla—who had just started to think he wasn't so bad—shiver all over again.
Scared out of her wits by his looming presence, she catastrophically misunderstood and stammered, "U-use... use my open pores?"
"Do wizards listen with their pores?"
"N-no..."
"Then don't say such foolish things again." Snape almost squeezed the words out of his mouth one by one.
"S-sorry!" Lyla squeaked.
Looking at Lyla, who had almost shrunk into a corner, Snape shook his head. He was about to say something else, but suddenly, he caught sight of the silver hair and pointed ears hidden beneath her hood.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. He shot Dumbledore a deeply puzzled expression.
"That's all for now..." Snape nodded at Dumbledore. "I still have my research to do."
"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore."
"And... Miss Hamilton."
It wasn't until more than a minute after Snape had left that Lyla felt alive again.
'I swear I will never come to Professor Snape's office again!'
'Never again!'