After class, as expected, Eda got zero points because her cauldron had been emptied, and there was not enough time left for her to start over and finish the potion. All she could hand in was a half-finished product.
It had to be said that besides being a Potions master, Snape might also have been a master of time management.
He had an incredibly precise grasp of time. Emptying Eda's cauldron and leaving her what seemed like plenty of time to start over actually left her nowhere near enough time.
First give you hope, then let you slowly experience despair. When the bell rang, all you could do was stare at the unfinished potion and sigh.
The classroom door opened, and seven or eight students immediately streamed out. Not one of them wanted to stay another moment in the underground classroom that had been filled with smoke and heat for so long.
After packing up her things, Eda leisurely walked out of the classroom. In her experience, you absolutely must not run.
The faster you ran, the hotter you would get. Exercise would also make you sweat more, leaving you sticky and even more uncomfortable.
Taking her time, Eda was the last student to leave the classroom. By the time she stepped outside, she could no longer see any of her classmates.
There was only one person in the corridor outside the classroom, Igor Karkaroff. This was not the first time Karkaroff had come looking for Snape. The first time he had come to see the Potions professor had been back in April.
When Karkaroff had first arrived at Hogwarts, Eda had thought he was arrogant and self-important, like a shark that moved the moment it smelled blood.
But then Karkaroff had been verbally crushed by Mad-Eye Moody, and afterward he had only dared to be angry without daring to say anything.
All bark and no bite. That was Eda's new assessment of Karkaroff. He looked tough on the outside, but it was all for show. Inside, he was weak and terrified. And that was indeed the case.
Since April, the composure had disappeared from Karkaroff's face. Every time he came to see Snape, another layer of anxiety appeared on his face.
At this moment, Karkaroff was leaning against the wall, twisting his goatee around his finger. There was no trace of his former calmness, and he could only comfort his panicked heart with his habitual gesture.
When he saw Eda leave, and saw that no one else came out behind her, Karkaroff immediately entered the underground classroom and closed the door behind him.
The weather was hot, and two men had closed the door to secretly talk in a room that had just hosted a grand feast of boiling cauldrons. Weren't they hot?
Inside the classroom, Karkaroff said anxiously, "Severus... you can feel it too, can't you? Tell me what I should do!"
"Open the classroom door, Igor. It's hot," Snape said impatiently.
"Severus, help me, and help yourself too!" Karkaroff said earnestly. "He is getting stronger every day. It is becoming clearer every day. You know what that means."
Snape still looked impatient. He waved his hand to fan himself, although the gesture looked more like he was shooing away a fly.
"Open the door, Igor. Are you afraid everyone will know what you came here to discuss with me?"
"No one is here. I checked. There's no one outside!" Karkaroff said. "Don't avoid the issue, Severus. Avoiding it won't solve anything! You and I, we... we have to face this problem."
Karkaroff paced back and forth across the classroom. The hot weather made his mind even more restless. Suddenly, he walked up to Snape and violently pulled back his sleeve.
"It is becoming clearer and clearer. Sometimes I can even feel it burning my flesh. Think about it. What will he do to us when he returns? What will he do to us who betrayed him?"
Snape disgustedly took two steps backward and said in his distinctive tone, "I am not like you, Igor. I will not betray my colleagues."
The expression on Karkaroff's face changed dramatically, as if he found Snape's words utterly absurd.
"You don't actually consider those people at Hogwarts your colleagues, do you? Do you think Dumbledore will continue to trust you?"
"Don't forget who you are!" Karkaroff said, each word deliberate as he advanced toward Snape.
Snape continued to retreat. Karkaroff's approach was irritating him.
Again, he said, "I am not like you, Igor. I will not betray my colleagues."
"You are still as slippery as ever. Yes, it was precisely because you were so slippery that Dumbledore helped you escape judgment." Karkaroff dejectedly stepped backward until he bumped into a table and stopped.
Karkaroff's voice grew weaker and weaker as he continued, "I know he will be back soon, and I also know how cruel he is to traitors. I might be the first, and you absolutely won't escape either."
Karkaroff stopped advancing toward Snape. Now it was Snape who began advancing toward Karkaroff.
He walked over to Karkaroff's side and slowly said, "That is the difference between you and me, Igor. I know he will return, and I have always been waiting for that day to come."
Karkaroff, leaning against the table, instantly went pale. It seemed to be from shock, or perhaps disbelief.
He stammered, "Impossible... There is no reason... It can't be... How could he trust you, and even help you so much?"
Snape continued advancing, forcing Karkaroff to look into his eyes.
He continued, "Igor, don't compare yourself with me. You are not worthy. Death is the best outcome you can hope for!"
The Potions professor's intimidation made Karkaroff even more frantic. Beads of sweat as large as beans dripped from his forehead. His eyes were vacant, and he muttered, "Impossible... There is no reason..."
Snape released Karkaroff and stepped back again. He had said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done. The rest depended on what Karkaroff chose to do.
That being said, Snape had no expectations of Karkaroff. The man standing before him, the headmaster of Durmstrang, was simply a coward.
Flustered and terrified, Karkaroff leaned against the table in a daze, muttering to himself. After quite some time, he raised his head and gave Snape a frightened look before hurriedly running out of the classroom.
Unease and fear filled Karkaroff's heart. He suddenly pushed open the classroom door and gulped down the air outside, as if he had just been trapped in a room with some kind of monster.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Karkaroff, still gasping for breath, struggled to straighten himself. Supporting himself against the castle wall, he hurried away without daring to look back.
Behind him stood Snape at the classroom door, watching him leave.
Snape simply stood there at the classroom door. He neither returned to the underground classroom nor left.
After a while, Snape said softly, "Come out. Stop hiding."
The corridor was silent and empty. There was no one in sight. When Karkaroff had rushed out of the classroom just now, he had not seen a single person either. Who was Snape talking to?
As soon as his words fell, Eda, who had been hiding like a chameleon, walked out from the corner. She reached up and tapped her forehead, dispelling her Disillusionment Charm.
Eavesdropping was a rather disgraceful thing to do, but Eda really wanted to know why Karkaroff was so panicked and what he intended to do.
So Eda had pretended to leave, deceiving Karkaroff. After estimating that enough time had passed, she turned around and came back, pressing her ear against the underground classroom door.
When she saw Snape draw his wand, Eda also moved her hands behind her back.
Eda trusted Snape. If he had wanted to attack her, he could have simply left her undiscovered and launched a surprise attack. That would have been much easier than calling her out and facing her in a one-on-one duel.
"You heard everything?" Snape asked.
"More or less. I heard the main points," Eda answered, while tightening her grip on her wand behind her back.
One should never intend to harm others, but one should always guard against others. Although Eda trusted Snape, she could not let down her guard completely. Snape's words just now had not only frightened Karkaroff, they had also startled Eda, who was listening in.
"What did you hear?" Snape continued asking, his wand still in his hand.
"Who is he? And who is he? And what does 'it' refer to?" Eda asked, answering with questions. These were the things she had heard. She had already thought of the answers, but she still needed to verify them.
"You certainly heard quite a lot." Snape nodded. "Have I ever told you that your curiosity will eventually get you killed?"
...
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