Chapter 33

By fourth year, the curriculum had reached a level of moderate difficulty, no longer the child's play of the earlier years. Especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts, where in previous years, we mainly learned basic defensive spells and how to deal with dark magical creatures. The constant change of teachers had made the content disjointed. This year, however, our textbook included some basic attack spells.

This year's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was a retired Auror. The previous year's professor had suffered a magical accident and ended up in St. Mungo's, just like many before him who never taught a second year, confirming the rumored curse Voldemort placed on the position. It was said that this year's professor, Macaulay, had only applied for a one-year tenure, wisely avoiding the risk of testing the curse's validity.

After a few weeks of classes, we began learning Obstacle Spells. Lily and I did quite well in class, and back at our base, the practice room thoughtfully provided some dummies, roughly the size of adult humans, for us to practice on. While Lily and I could practice on each other, getting hit by spells always meant falling down, and even with protective mats, it still hurt.

We practiced spell strength on stationary dummies and precision by having one of us use a precise Levitation Charm to move the dummy while the other practiced their spells. If we mastered advanced Transfiguration, we could even make the dummies move autonomously, but that was a high-level application of Transfiguration.

Sometimes, Severus would join us, and I realized just how skilled he was in Defense Against the Dark Arts. He must have practiced privately.

When learning these attack spells, Professor Macaulay often emphasized their practical applications. The word "practical" made me think of the reports of attacks, Death Eaters, the Order of the Phoenix, and the war. It felt as if the ivory tower we'd been in since we started school was drawing closer to reality.

My studies in healing magic were still focused on treating physical injuries. Madam Pomfrey said this required a process of experience, and I was progressing quite quickly. I no longer rushed; healing magic required precision and careful practice.

In the second month of the semester, we encountered a familiar face in the reception room of the Hog's Head, or rather, a familiar face to Severus.

The young man with short brown hair in a drab traveling cloak was Damocles Belby, a recent Ravenclaw graduate whom we'd met at Professor Slughorn's dinner party last year. Severus must have recognized him too; they had talked for a long time about potions, becoming kindred spirits of sorts.

He didn't notice our recognition. After greetings and introductions, he explained his purpose and took out a package from his cloak, containing several bottles of potions.

While Severus examined the potions, I chatted with Belby. He seemed not to recognize Severus. From our conversation, I learned that he had just graduated and had no intention of finding a fixed job but wanted to research potions independently, funding his research by selling potions. Severus judged his potions to be of high quality, and Lily and I recorded and prepaid for some of the potions, with the rest to be paid upon their sale.

After he left, it was already noon. We left the Hog's Head and, familiar with the routine, changed back into our school robes and returned to our base on the eighth floor. Severus sat in an armchair and said, "I have an idea."

"Is it about Belby?" I had a hunch.

"Yes, I want to partner with him for the potion shop," he confirmed. "Cyril Prince cannot stay in the UK indefinitely; eventually, he will have to 'leave the country.' The potion shop needs someone to manage it. Belby and I are friends, and he has great insights into potions. Today's potions were of high quality; he's definitely qualified."

"Well, if you say so, Severus, it must be suitable. But we don't know his stance yet. Maybe we should observe a bit more?" Lily suggested cautiously, and we all agreed.

Over the next month, Belby brought potions weekly. We chatted with him, carefully probing his stance. He was cautious, only vaguely revealing his neutrality. Eventually, we happily reached an agreement: he was only interested in his potion research, and we were only concerned with the potion shop, with no desire to get involved in the conflict between dark and light wizards.

Belby agreed to our cooperation proposal, likely because he and Severus got along so well, just like at last year's dinner party. Once the topic turned to potions, they began an engrossing discussion. He even commented to Severus, "You're the second person I've met who matches me so well. Your ideas are extremely valuable for research."

I began to imagine his reaction when he discovered Severus' true identity.

We arranged to meet him at noon the next day at the Three Broomsticks to discuss the details and hinted that there were some things we needed to tell him, hoping he wouldn't be too surprised.

On the weekend at noon, we arrived early at the Three Broomsticks and chose a private room. Lily and Severus waited inside while I waited outside for Belby.

When I saw Belby enter the Three Broomsticks in his familiar gray cloak, I approached him and politely nodded, "Hello, Mr. Belby. Please follow me; Mr. Prince is waiting for you in the private room."

He seemed surprised to see a student like me receiving him and gave me a scrutinizing look. He probably had no impression of me from his school days. Noticing my eye color, his eyes filled with obvious confusion. I had deliberately styled my hair like I did yesterday when he saw me, with light makeup to make myself more recognizable, except for the height and eye color. Belby gave me a questioning look, but I smiled mysteriously, indicating that he would know soon enough.

As we entered the private room, I immediately cast an Anti-Disruption Charm and a Silencing Charm. The next second, we heard Belby's exclamation, "Oh, Merlin! It's really you! I thought I was imagining things..."

Severus replied with a sardonic smile, "Mr. Belby, pleased to meet you again. I'm Severus Snape, also known as Cyril Prince. We met yesterday morning."

Lily and I couldn't help but stifle our laughter.

"Oh, come on, Severus, call me Damocles. We weren't this formal last year. I can't believe I didn't recognize you!" Belby said, making a funny face as he sat across from Severus. "Alright, what do you want? Since you've revealed such an important secret to me, you must expect me to agree to something."

Lily straightened her expression, "You can certainly refuse, but you must keep our secret."

"And how do you plan to ensure I keep it?" Belby seemed genuinely interested.

"How about a Fidelius Charm?" I suggested half-jokingly, "Or maybe an Obliviate?"

He looked a bit surprised, "You've already learned such advanced spells?"

"Who says it's impossible? But maybe I'm just bluffing," I said playfully. Of course, we were bluffing; we were only fourth years.

"Alright, alright, I'm scared. Shall we discuss the details of our cooperation?" Belby said cheerfully, showing no signs of being frightened.

"Then let me reintroduce myself, Mr. Belby," Lily stood up from her seat next to Severus and extended her hand to Belby. "Lily Evans, fourth-year Gryffindor."

"Damocles," Belby stood up and shook her hand, "I know you. Professor Slughorn mentioned you, said you saved his dignity while teaching Potions to Gryffindors."

"Well, you probably don't remember me, even though we met at the professor's dinner," I joked, "Sawyer Hill, also a fourth-year Gryffindor."

"Uh, I think I know you now," he said, turning to shake my hand politely.

"Yes, I'd rather you not remember me for my terrible potions," I laughed nonchalantly. "So, let's have a great cooperation!"

Lying on the sofa in our base, I flipped through the contract in my hand. After repeatedly reviewing books like *The Power of Contracts* and *The Constraints of Magical Agreements*, we had drafted a contract. Now, it had all four of our signatures and was confirmed to be magically effective. The contract ensured mutual responsibilities and benefits, binding us together. Of course, Damocles was obligated to keep our secret.

After Christmas, Cyril Prince would leave the UK, and Damocles would officially take over Severus' work.

Closing the document, I stretched, "It's time for dinner. Let's head to the Great Hall. I miss Tito at times like this." This term, I hadn't brought Tito to Hogwarts. I had left him at Severus' house to occasionally clean up. He could go anywhere, learn new recipes, and visit Aunt Druella without her knowing. I also asked Tito to find cousin Andromeda and see how she was doing since house-elves could move unseen by wizards if they wanted to.

Letting the Room of Requirement open a door on an empty fourth-floor corridor, we headed to the Great Hall on the first floor.

"Severus, do you have any plans with Damocles? The contract mentioned joint research," I remembered it specified that the potion shop would fund the research, with a portion of the benefits from the results going to the shop and the honor belonging to the researchers.

"We want to research ancient potion formulas or new potions, with several directions in mind. We'll discuss them when the time comes." Severus' demeanor was particularly strong when talking about potions.

"Can I join the research too?" Lily interjected, "I think I could be of some help."

"Of course," Severus raised an eyebrow, "The contract includes all four of us. As long as your potion skills don't blow up the cauldron and hinder our progress, you're welcome to join us." He glanced at me when saying the last part.

I felt deflated; it was true. "I can't help with potions, but maybe I could help test them," I weakly suggested.

Severus glared at me, "We wouldn't let you test potions. That's dangerous!"

"Alright," I raised my hands in surrender, "I was joking—"