Unlike other places in Hogwarts, Snape's office didn't have any flashy Christmas decorations, which made the atmosphere here look a bit desolate.
No, it should be said to have a somewhat solemn and murderous air, because Snape was sitting by the workbench with a face full of anger. Beside his hand was a bottle of Felix Felicis and an opened gift box.
Seeing this scene at first glance, Link was a little puzzled, because he had already sent his gift. Even if Snape thought the thing he sent was bad, it shouldn't have made him this angry, right?
After hesitating for a moment, Link was about to say something to ease the atmosphere. But before Link could speak, Snape suddenly grabbed the bottle of Felix Felicis and said, "This is the gift you gave me? Giving a bottle of low-quality Felix Felicis to a master of potions, has your originally empty troll brain been filled with water by yourself using some variant water-filling spell?"
Snape was truly angry.
At this moment, the reason he was angry wasn't because the gift Link gave him was cheap, but because, Link actually gave the same gift as him.
He, Snape, as the record holder of "cold and aloof enough to not give anyone Christmas gifts for 20 straight years," had finally made up his mind to give someone a gift, and in the end, it ended up being the same gift as the recipient gave him!?
And moreover, he, as the elder, gave the same gift to the younger generation that the younger gave to him.
This was absolutely unbearable for Snape.
'No! I have to give this kid something else! I can't lose face like this!'
Thinking like this, Snape's face became even gloomier. He suddenly slammed the Felix Felicis down on the table and said coldly, "Speak! What else do you want?"
"Huh?"
"Huh what! Speak quickly!"
"Oh oh oh! I get it now!"
Link was a bit confused about Snape, just a moment ago, he was raging and scolding, and now he wanted to give him a gift? What kind of move was this?
But once he understood, Link was instantly overjoyed.
This was a great opportunity to learn Occlumency and other offensive spells, he really hadn't expected that the plan he made just last night could be put into action today.
Looks like this transmigrator still has some presence.
Silently cheering in his heart, Link immediately said, "Then can you teach me Occlumency, and also the Disarming Charm, the Fire-Making Charm, the Exploding Charm…"
"Stop stop stop!" Snape interrupted Link, "Why do you want to learn these spells?"
"Ah, it's like this, I've been researching the Sensory Charm recently, so I need…"
Link slowly began telling the lie he had already made up, but Snape's brows only furrowed more and more.
You couldn't blame Snape for being suspicious. Although Link had once created the Human Explosion Curse, a vicious spell, in the eyes of all professors and classmates, he had never been a combative person.
So for someone like him to suddenly want to learn so many offensive spells was clearly unreasonable.
Snape scanned Link up and down with a suspicious gaze, and when his sight passed over Link's neck, he unexpectedly saw a small black mark there.
He stepped forward and suddenly pulled open Link's collar, revealing the dense bruises all over his body, and a terrifying wound on his chest that was blackened to the point of turning red.
This made Snape's eyes suddenly freeze.
"Who did this!"
Snape roared while grabbing Link's collar.
Link panicked completely and couldn't think of how to explain, so he stayed silent, but this silence, in Snape's eyes, was like confirming some of the guesses in his heart.
'This was… done by a classmate, right?' Snape came to this conclusion.
He had actually long known that Link was often bullied by classmates. But in the past, those were just small scuffles, and his relationship with Link wasn't as close as it was now, so he had never taken it seriously.
But the current situation clearly couldn't be described with just the word "bullying."
With Snape's rich combat experience, only prolonged beatings or curse attacks could cause such serious injuries.
And based on these observations, the reason Link suddenly wanted to learn offensive spells was easy to understand.
The child probably wanted to take revenge not by relying on others, but purely on his own strength.
While automatically imagining scenes of Link being blasted away by various spells, Snape's breathing became heavy, and the fingers holding Link's collar turned faintly white from how hard he was gripping.
Don't misunderstand, Snape wasn't just angry over Link's experience, but because Link's situation made him recall some very unpleasant memories from his own school days.
Those unforgettable memories had followed Snape for decades. Whenever the night was deep and quiet, they would surface as nightmares, tormenting him in his sleep.
Snape painfully closed his eyes, but those ferocious faces and deafening mad laughter still echoed in his mind.
This made him want to roar. To raise his wand and give each of them a good Avada Kedavra.
'Occlumency!'
Snape silently chanted the Occlumency incantation in his heart. As the magic power flowed, a bone-piercing coldness rose rapidly from his heart, instantly freezing his rage, and also freezing all his emotions.
This was the true strength of Occlumency.
It not only helped the user defend the mind, but also allowed one to enter a state of absolute rationality, free from all irrelevant emotions.
And for Snape, this state of absolute rationality was the only way he could temporarily escape that abyss of pain.
Finally, Snape slowly opened his eyes. At this moment, there were no longer any emotional ripples in them, only an unfathomable depth, like the eternal Black Lake, chilling to the bone.
Next, he let go of Link's collar and, in a cold voice devoid of all warmth, said, "I won't teach you those spells."
"I... is that so?"
Link was a bit disappointed, but at the moment he didn't dare say more, because Snape's behavior just now was truly too strange.
But to Link's surprise, Snape shook his head after hearing him and then continued, "Those spells are too low-level. I will teach you something stronger."
With that, Snape didn't care what reaction Link had. He picked up his wand on his own, elegantly twirled it in the air, then pointed it at the stone door of the office.
"Sectumsempra!"
Whoosh~
A breeze lifted Link's golden bangs. He turned around a bit late and looked toward the door, only to find that a terrifying slash, deep as a finger, had been carved into the stone door made entirely of anti-magic obsidian.
[📍If you're enjoying this story, be sure to check out my new fanfic— "Naruto: The Uchiha Rules the World". It's a fresh take on the Naruto universe, with power, plot, and the Uchiha clan at the center of it all. Give it a try and let me know what you think.]
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