After a quick tidy-up, Lys changed out of her research clothes, donning a shirt, vest, and trousers, with a felt school robe draped over her as she stepped out.
Slughorn was in his office chatting with Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, while a little badger sat quietly beside them.
Yesterday, they had mistaken the description given by the young wizards who were almost attacked: a red-haired fifth-year senior, skilled in spells, courageous, strong, and smart, who knew how to weave lies to deceive bad guys.
They thought it was Gryffindor's Lily Evans, but halfway through the praise, both the young wizards and Evans denied it.
"Professor, you must be talking about someone else."
"Professor, it's not this senior; she's too short, and her hair is too red."
Evans had hidden in the library with Snape that day to avoid Potter's persistent invitations to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, so she hadn't left the school.
But hearing Professor Pomona's words, she was surprised. Protecting over ten young wizards from Death Eaters and werewolves, even without direct confrontation, wasn't as simple as it sounded.
Everyone was puzzled for a moment—smart and brave? Red-haired... red-haired.
Professor McGonagall suddenly asked, "Did she have a large snake on her shoulder?"
The leading little badger tilted his head in confusion, gesturing at his shoulder, "I don't know, Professor. The senior's cloak was very large, but there did seem to be something on her shoulder."
Professor McGonagall nodded knowingly, looking at Slughorn, "Stalys Black, it's very likely her."
But at that time, Lys was fast asleep, grumbling and impossible to wake.
When Lys went to the kitchen, someone had already reported to the two professors separately, now just waiting for the little badger to confirm who it was. The parents said they wanted to write a thank-you letter; such a big event, they needed to know who it was, right?
After Lys knocked and entered the office, she relaxed a bit, finding fewer people than she had imagined—just the two professors and the leading young wizard.
Since it was indoors, Lys didn't cover herself too tightly, and Crunch raised his head, not hiding inside the cloak.
"Senior! Senior!" The young wizard jumped up from his chair, "Thank you, senior, for that day!" He bowed deeply with a grin.
Lys calmly nodded at him, looking at the two professors, waiting for them to finish so she could return to her dormitory to continue organizing materials.
Lys's calmness left the two professors unsure of what to say—well done? Thank you for protecting the students?
Clearing his throat, Professor Slughorn spoke up, "I know what that little stone of yours is," watching Lys's changing expression, he cleared his throat again, speaking slowly, "I'll talk to you about that separately later, let's first confirm the situation from that day."
Give some face, give some face, don't be so cold...
Lys obliged by clearly recounting the people, events, and dialogues from that day, while noting that the little troublemakers hadn't heard which house she belonged to.
"Did senior get injured protecting us?!" The little boy stared at Lys's right hand with the protective gear.
That day, he and Black had hidden behind the senior's cloak to avoid the bad guy's gaze, not noticing that the senior was injured!
"It's not because of you," Lys adjusted the protective gear, feeling it slightly dampened by blood, "I did this to myself before."
Drawing out her bloodied arm, she skillfully used her left-hand wand to cast a cleaning and drying charm, raising the protective gear for a glance before comfortably tucking her arm back in.
"Don't keep looking at me; just pretend this wasn't done by me. Don't cause trouble for a Slytherin, understand?" Lys said, looking at the little boy, "Professor Sprout, I hope you can help convey this to the little ones, uh, the children, so no one knows."
Some things can't be said too clearly; Lys doesn't want everyone to know about this, being forced to make statements and take sides on meaningless matters wastes her time.
After all, to gain the other party's trust, she had said she might become a colleague with a Death Eater in the future.
If it were students from other houses, such words might have room for maneuver, but during this sensitive period, a Slytherin promising to become a colleague with a Death Eater could lead to significant trouble.
"But, but senior, Black told me that the werewolf was the wanted Fenrir Greyback, you need to be careful, okay?" Lys didn't say much in front of the professor, nodding perfunctorily.
After sending off Professor Sprout and her student, Lys looked expectantly at Professor Slughorn, since face had been given.
So...
"Professor, what exactly are those little stones?"
After leaving the professor, Lys eagerly prepared Crunch's private snake supplies—those little stones and big rocks—for it to sleep on, as the professor had shown her a material book earlier, indicating these were gallstones from snakes with magical bloodlines, which could dissipate in non-sealed environments and were generally used as supplements for magical snake pets, quite rare.
Lys managed to brew a potion with mediocre effects; Crunch wasn't a magical snake, and drinking it made it uncomfortable.
So later, she simply spread them out in Crunch's sleeping area, locking them in a potion storage box during the day to prevent unnecessary dissipation.
Occasionally, Lys wondered about the fist-sized gallstones, pondering how big the snake's gall—or rather, how big the snake itself must be.
"""
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (55+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!