https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-995-Friends-Who-Are-Too-Enthusiastic/13017818/
Chapter 994: The Calm Severus Snape
Chapter 994: The Calm Severus Snape
"What did you say?"
In the Longbottom family's yard, Fred and Cedric were both stunned, looking at Kyle and Conna in disbelief.
And it wasn't just them; Professor McGonagall and Professor Saxia, standing nearby, had similar expressions on their faces.
They racked their brains but couldn't fathom how they could hear such surprising news just by attending a Christmas dinner.
Kyle had proposed to Conna...
Well, it wasn't too surprising, to be honest.
In the current Hogwarts, except for a certain emotionless ghost professor, basically everyone knew about the relationship between the two, and even Hagrid was aware that they would eventually get married.
But no one expected Kyle to be so...well, brave?
Or decisive.
When the professors chatted, they often mentioned the outstanding students at school.
Among them, Kyle and Harry were the most frequently mentioned.
And when talking about Kyle, they couldn't avoid mentioning the group of six, including himself, just like how talking about Harry would inevitably lead to Hermione and Ron.
Within that group, Kyle and Conna, Cedric and Qiu were acknowledged as the two couples.
So, the professors often discussed who among them would get married first.
Most people, including McGonagall, thought it would be Cedric.
Apart from Cedric being older than Kyle, there was also Kyle's identity as a genius wizard.
Magic is ever-changing, and the more one understands, the more one becomes immersed in it. When one is assigned Magical Script and has more magical energy, it's natural to unintentionally neglect personal emotions.
They had seen too many young wizards like this, including some professors themselves.
Of course, this wasn't absolute.
For example, James Potter and Lily Evans got married not long after graduation.
But strictly speaking, they couldn't be considered the most dazzling genius wizards...at least they couldn't defeat Voldemort.
But Kyle could, and he did.
So, the magic he could perceive was broader than that of James.
And there was Conna, the youngest member of the Society of Extraordinary Potioneers, breaking the Society's record of nearly two hundred years.
However, they didn't immerse themselves in the insights of their respective fields but maintained the most primitive personal emotions.
What's the matter? Has magic lost its allure, or has the allure of potions faded?
But it was at this moment that Professor Minerva McGonagall suddenly understood a sentence that Dumbledore had said long ago.
At that time, Kyle had just graduated, and Dumbledore, uncharacteristically, was even willing to take on the role of school director, spending a lot of Galleons to open an Alchemy class just to keep Kyle at Hogwarts.
At that time, McGonagall subconsciously thought of Voldemort, the young Tom Riddle.
They were both genius students, but Dumbledore's attitude was completely different...
One was repeatedly rejected when seeking employment, while the other was willing to pay to keep him at the school.
She had asked Dumbledore about it, but she only got an ambiguous answer.
At that time, Dumbledore only said that Kyle and Voldemort had an essential difference, and it was difficult for him to be attracted by the vortex of power.
At that time, McGonagall didn't quite understand, but now she suddenly understood.
Perhaps the ability to retain "normal human emotions" was the main difference.
When Professor McGonagall came back to her senses, Kyle and Conna were already surrounded.
With Mrs. Weasley and Tonks as the leaders, the witches surrounded Conna, asking various questions excitedly and curiously.
Cedric and Fred grabbed Kyle's collar, looking fierce, as if they were interrogating him about something...
"Sorry to interrupt you," she said, "but I must ask, do your parents know about this? Chris, Diana, and...Severus." As she spoke the last name, she suddenly paused.
It might have been an illusion, but she thought she heard Professor Snape's angry roar in her ear.
The lively atmosphere suddenly froze at that moment.
"Okay, I understand."
Without saying more, the lady principal of Hogwarts, with her rich experience, immediately guessed the truth of the matter.
...However, some people also lost the mood to continue attending the ball due to this little incident.
Professor Minerva McGonagall and Professor Saxia took Conna back to Hogwarts, while Kyle went to Hogsmeade Village with the Weasley family and Cedric.
...
"It's too much! I wanted to do the same!" Fred kept muttering on the way back, occasionally glancing at Kyle with a resentful look.
In fact, he had also planned to propose to Angelina today and had even prepared special fireworks, which were placed under the table where he was sitting.
When the time came, he could take the opportunity to propose to Angelina by igniting the fireworks.
But Kyle beat him to it.
Those fireworks were still lying there untouched.
What's more, the most painful part was that he was so excited that he forgot about it.
Now that Angelina had already left, if he wanted to propose, he would have to wait for the next opportunity...
"It's all your fault..." Fred muttered again.
Kyle looked at him, not understanding what he was saying.
Although he didn't know what he was rambling about, Kyle's intuition told him that it was best not to respond at this moment; otherwise, he would most likely ignite a powder keg.
So Kyle wisely closed his mouth.
...
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts.
Just as Minerva McGonagall had expected, another powder keg, Severus Snape, exploded as expected!
A furious roar echoed through the Headmaster's office.
According to the Dripping Tap Gargoyle, which served as the key to the Headmaster's office, it only felt a gust of wind blow by, and when it came to its senses, it almost had its head chopped off by something.
Additionally, it was said that the entire Hogwarts' portraits saw a dark shadow wandering in the castle's corridors that night, like a homeless ghost.
The shadow also seemed to be muttering something, and an incomprehensible buzzing sound spread throughout Hogwarts.
McGonagall was a bit worried and planned to talk to Snape the next day.
At least she was happy for Kyle and Conna as a couple; they both understood each other's thoughts, and no one was more suitable for each other than them.
In her opinion, Snape was acting too childish.
But what she didn't expect was that the next day, Snape had already returned to normal.
He was no longer scowling, no more shouting, and no longer venting his emotions on the armor statue; he even rarely appeared in the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Severus, you..." McGonagall hesitated, opening her mouth to speak.
She wanted to tell Snape not to interfere too much in Conna's life and not to do anything behind her back, as it wasn't good.
It wasn't good for Conna, nor was it good for him.
After all, he was no longer Kyle's match, and if he really went too far, even Conna's face wouldn't be of any use.
"Minerva, I know what you're thinking," Snape said, elegantly wiping his mouth after finishing the roasted potatoes on his plate.
"To be honest, if Kyle hadn't proposed to Conna, I might have already resigned by now."
"Resign?"
"Because I couldn't possibly try to harm my former student as a Hogwarts professor." Snape's voice was calm.
And he used the word 'try,' indicating that he was currently very clear-headed and lucid.
"Very well, he's braver than me," Snape suddenly laughed.
McGonagall felt a chill run down her spine, and her hair stood on end. Her hand under the table gripped her wand and pointed it at Snape, turning it slightly.
"Disperse!"
A flash of white light hit Snape and exploded violently.
Snape, with his back to McGonagall, didn't seem to notice anything; he only felt a gust of wind in the Great Hall, but at this moment, he wasn't in the mood to think about these trivial matters.
(See the original text in Chapter 6, Section 9, of the book/bar!)
"No reaction..." McGonagall frowned.
She had just used the Disperse Curse, and the lack of reaction indicated that Snape wasn't possessed by a particular ghost, and it also ruled out the possibility of Kyle's involvement.
The constant scheming to expel Kyle, Snape now praising him—this was too much for McGonagall to take in.
It was like one morning, Snape had dyed his hair pink... actions that could only be done if controlled by the Soul Snatch Curse.
However, the lack of reaction to the Disperse Curse seemed to be her overthinking...
As she was still dazed, Snape had already left the Great Hall.
Moreover, this incident didn't seem to cause much of a stir.
After the Christmas full of surprises, everything seemed to return to normal, as if nothing had happened.
Conna continued to study potions with Professor Saxia.
It was said that Professor Saxia was teaching her to brew a special kind of love potion.
Not the love potion that induces infatuation, but another kind.
It was rumored to bless two people in love, enhancing their magical power and perception to varying degrees, with effects similar to Felix Felicis.
The potion's effects were powerful, but so were the conditions.
This potion was more demanding than Felix Felicis, requiring at least six months to brew and needing to be personally brewed by one party, with the condition that their feelings couldn't change during the process.
Or rather, they could only deepen, not lessen...
More importantly, if both parties weren't mutually in love, this blessing would turn into a curse.
The conditions were too harsh, so this potion had already disappeared centuries ago.
The reason Saxia knew about it was thanks to St. Mungo's rich potion reserves.
After learning of Kyle's proposal to Conna, she immediately thought of this.
Enhancing magic and perception, a rather cliche effect, sounded like using Galleons as a gift, far less appealing than the luck of Felix Felicis.
But this was also the most sought-after effect in the magical world.
At least Saxia had never heard of any other potion that could increase a wizard's magic...
Oh, and there was the Elder Wand.
But that was like a fairy tale, most wizards had never even seen it.
So, during the Christmas holiday, she and Conna had been preparing for this potion.
Saxia went out several times and even brought Snape along, finally finding all the necessary ingredients.
Kyle came by and offered to help, but before he could finish his sentence, Snape kicked him out.
Literally, he kicked him out.
He couldn't even retaliate, as their relationship had subtly changed after the successful proposal.
This was the first time Kyle saw a look of... provocation mixed with disdain on Snape's face.
In any case, it was quite irritating.
However, aside from this, Snape didn't do anything else.
After that, everything seemed to return to normal.
Snape's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Saxia's Potions class, and Kyle's Alchemy class all proceeded as usual.
The only difference was that Kyle voluntarily took over the Potions class for the second years.
McGonagall organized a meeting with the professors.
Snape was the first to agree, almost without hesitation, and the other professors didn't object.
Kyle's potion skills, though far inferior to his spellcasting abilities, were due to his exceptional spellcasting talents.
Just look at his title in the Daily Prophet.
Before his graduation, when the Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic praised him, they always referred to him as "Young Dumbledore" or "The Successor to the Hogwarts Headmaster."
After Snape's testimony at the hearing was made public, Dumbledore has been replaced by "Old Kyle."
Although this nickname had a playful element and was mixed with a reporter's personal thoughts, it was undeniable that most wizards didn't reject this nickname.
This meant that Kyle no longer needed to emphasize his strength by using the name 'Dumbledore.'
Under the contrast of such achievements, any other talent would pale in comparison.
Moreover, he had a true potion genius by his side, making the contrast even more evident.
However, Kyle had consistently scored full marks in potions exams during his school years and held an N.E.W.T. Potions certificate with all Os.
Teaching second-year students temporarily was more than enough for him.
Then Kyle brewed a batch of Euphoria Potion on the spot, and the matter was settled without any twists or turns.
There wasn't even the imagined scene of Snape making things difficult for Kyle.
Initially, McGonagall wondered if Kyle and Snape were acting, and had secretly fought several times.
But later, she realized that she might have overthought it.
After the Christmas holiday, for a long time, Kyle and Snape didn't have much interaction.
Especially after the Easter holiday, Snape suddenly became busy.
With exams approaching, Snape didn't spend as much time preparing for them as he had in the past.
Moreover, he didn't seem to care much about whether Slytherin would win the House Cup.
In previous years, this was Snape's golden time for deducting points... After all, if the other three houses' scores dropped, Slytherin's would naturally rise.
But this year... According to McGonagall's observations, Snape would rush to his office after class, not bothering to look for excuses to deduct points elsewhere.
...
(End of Chapter)
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