It wasn't a Howler after all...
Because of her inexplicable, catastrophic worry, Lyla didn't dare open the letter sent by Mr. Lupin until late at night.
The thick envelope contained a lot of information, and surprisingly, it also included a heavy handful of golden Galleons.
'What does Mr. Lupin mean by this?'
Looking at the shining Galleons lying on the wooden table, Lyla didn't know what to say.
'Could it have been sent to the wrong address? Maybe it was money sent to his family or something...' Looking at the already opened envelope, she had to muster up her courage to read Mr. Lupin's letter.
To the learned Miss Hamilton...
'Was it really a letter for me? Then why were there Galleons...?' Lyla looked down in confusion before she quickly understood the reason.
Brewing the Wolfsbane Potion requires a lot of expensive medicinal herbs. I am very grateful for your help, so I absolutely don't want to add to your financial burden.
This money is specifically for you to buy the necessary ingredients, and any extra money is considered a small reward for your hard work.
Don't reject these things. We're friends. Shouldn't friends clarify these things together?
Ah... Upon seeing the word "friend," Lyla couldn't utter a single word of refusal.
'So this is what good friends are like!' Lyla couldn't help but feel a little happy. The Galleons Mr. Lupin sent had the warm, heavy taste of true friendship...
'That sounds a bit strange.'
However, having this money would certainly make things much more convenient. Lyla didn't think she could keep shamefully begging for free ingredients from Professor Snape indefinitely... and besides, that wouldn't be good for her fragile heart either.
'Although it wouldn't be very convenient to buy them myself...' Lyla pursed her lips and continued reading down the parchment.
Mr. Lupin talked about many things, but most of them were related to what he was currently doing.
He was currently investigating the dark wizard's whereabouts in the deep forests of Albania. The letter simply referred to the target as "That Person."
If those ominous words had appeared in Mr. Riddle's academic diary, Lyla wouldn't have batted an eye. After all, she had been in a coma for fifty years and had absolutely no idea who this "Voldemort" was that everyone feared.
But reading the vague phrase "That Person" now triggered a completely different fear.
Lyla looked up alertly at her closed office door.
'Good, that person didn't come!'
Forgive her extreme caution. After all, Dumbledore had a terrifying habit of silently appearing at her door late at night... and this jump-scare phenomenon had only increased since she arrived at Hogwarts.
After confirming that Dumbledore had indeed not magically appeared, Lyla let out a breath and continued reading.
I wonder how you're doing at Hogwarts, Miss Hamilton? Are your classes going well?
'It definitely wasn't very smooth... Whether it was showing the students the Killing Curse or scaring myself into fainting in Mr. Lockhart's class...' Lyla shook her head awkwardly, pulled out a piece of parchment, and started writing her reply.
"I'm fine... Dum... Dumbledore has been very kind to me. I guess you could call it kindness?"
Lyla felt that her letter was terribly written. After all, she had hardly ever written a real letter to a friend before. The only letters she ever wrote were forged replies to the fraudulent fan mail Lord Grindelwald had ordered her to manage fifty years ago.
Therefore, she wrote down whatever scattered thoughts came to mind, and would even unconsciously write out ellipses in her sentences because of her natural stutter.
However, Lyla found this experience very interesting. Writing letters to her friends, chatting with them, eating with them, attending classes with them...
Well, in a sense, her long-held wish was finally fulfilled.
'I am so happy.' Lyla thought to herself...
"Ah!"
'Why did I write that sentence down too?!' Lyla panicked, quickly picking up her quill pen and violently scribbling over the embarrassing words.
However, Mr. Lupin's letter also reminded her of the pressing matter of the Wolfsbane Potion.
She had already sent this month's dose to Mr. Lupin, and now it was time to start brewing next month's batch.
The medicinal herbs were running dangerously low, and she needed to go buy more tomorrow. But where could she go?
'Is Diagon Alley too far...?' After thinking for a while, Lyla thought she might be able to ask someone where she could buy the specific herbs in bulk.
'Professor Snape is a good choice... I just happened to want to ask him about potion-making... But... Professor Snape is terrifying.'
He should accurately be described as a walking nightmare. Lyla took a deep breath and huddled defensively in her chair, not wanting to move.
But when she saw Nova standing quietly on the owl perch, she nodded seriously.
'For my friends! I'll risk everything!'
"Professor Snape... I... I have something to ask..."
Seeing Miss Hamilton standing hesitantly at the dungeon office door, Snape sneered, his face dark. "Speak quickly if you have something to say."
"Eek!" Lyla flinched violently. Her bright blue eyes darted nervously down to her boots, her hands flailing haphazardly in front of her. "I just... wanted to ask..."
"What do you want to ask?" Snape paused. His dark, cold eyes scanned her from head to toe before finally settling on her pale face beneath the hood. "I have something else to say, Miss Hamilton…"
"If you continue to stammer like this..." He snorted coldly and said nothing more, but that sinister snort alone was enough to send sharp chills down Lyla's spine.
"It's about the Wolfsbane... Wolfsbane Potion... ingredients..." Lyla tried desperately to speak more completely and fluently, but her racing heart didn't seem to allow it.
"Heh." Snape chuckled, his low tone heavily sarcastic. "It seems our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Miss Hamilton..."
"It seems we've run into trouble," he said, as if suddenly remembering something amusing. "Why don't you go see Professor Lockhart?"
"Ah... I almost forgot," Snape said smoothly, looking at Lyla, whose face was rapidly draining of color. "Isn't it true that a certain Miss Lola Hamier fainted a few days ago?"
"Ugh!" Lyla quickly shrank back and frantically waved her hands. "I... I don't know... I'm not quite clear about these things... I..."
"What a pity," Snape shook his head mockingly. "I remember Professor McGonagall explicitly said that a Professor would be auditing my Potions class."
"What a... pity..."
'Please, Professor Snape, stop talking!'
'I know I was wrong! I shouldn't have agreed to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for Dumbledore, I shouldn't have come here to find you, and I shouldn't have asked about the Wolfsbane Potion...'
'I'm just a pathetic parasite! I beg you, please stop talking...'
Lyla leaned weakly against the damp dungeon wall, feeling entirely numb with terror.
Seeing Lyla's deathly pale face looking as if she were about to faint again, Snape shook his head with a cold smile. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother the other Professors."
"Instead, I would choose to go to the Potions classroom and find an old textbook."
"I believe even students of Durmstrang Institute... should know that the detailed brewing process for the Wolfsbane Potion is in the very last chapter, right?"
"Oh... right, our Miss Hamilton was a student fifty years ago... then you need the modern notes even more, don't you?"
"As for the ingredients," Snape said with a smirk, "Hogsmeade village, right next to Hogwarts, should be the best choice for an unprofessional witch like you."
'Ah? Is Professor Snape... actually telling me what to do?' Lyla paused, deeply surprised to find that Professor Snape only seemed highly intimidating on the surface, but in reality... he was actually giving her exactly what she asked for.
"What are you still doing here?" Snape frowned at Lyla's stunned, silent expression. "Are you waiting for me to tell the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures that a Veela has escaped here?"
"Or..." He looked sharply at Lyla's twitching pointed ears hidden under her hood. "Are you waiting for me to use Veela ears to brew potions?"
"Oh! I'm sorry! I... I'm so sorry! I... I... I know I was wrong!"
Bang!
"..."
After taking a few deep breaths in the silent, empty corridor, Lyla's mind, which had been completely numb with fear, finally calmed down.
'I'm sorry, Professor Snape, I presumptuously assumed you were being kind to me...' Lyla crossed her arms and paused for a long moment before daring to look up at the heavy office door that had just been slammed in her face.
'But... thank you anyway.'
"Th... thank you..." Lyla said in a weak, trembling voice, bowing slightly to the closed door.
"Oh."
Snape, looking at the simmering potion vial in his hand from behind the door, snorted coldly. It was unclear whether it was because he had heard her timid whisper or because he was simply annoyed.
Or perhaps, a bit of both.