Chapter 82: Eighty-Two

When Lys entered the hospital wing, she found Professor Slughorn there. He frowned slightly at her attire and hairstyle. "Oh, Merry Christmas, my dear. I must say, your little cookies were absolutely delightful."

After exchanging polite pleasantries, Lys scratched her face. Her overly long hair kept brushing against her skin whenever she lowered her head or moved, which was quite uncomfortable.

After explaining her purpose, Lys went into the office and focused on applying fertilizer to the lily. When she came out, Madam Pomfrey and the professor were discussing why the Bone Regeneration Potion had been used up so quickly recently.

"It's Hagrid and Lys. I must say, Lys truly has the makings of a natural healer. She's managed to mend all those terrible fractures on Hagrid's beasts. That's why the Bone Regeneration Potion is running out faster," Madam Pomfrey said, even reaching out to pat Lys on the head.

"Madam, I think I need some magic stabilizer. For some reason, the ones I've been drinking lately don't seem to work." Lys pulled out a few remaining glass bottles of stabilizer.

Professor Slughorn took one of the bottles and examined it before opening it. "Oh, it looks decent. You didn't brew this yourself, did you? Snape must've made it."

"Yes, Professor," Lys replied, not minding his bluntness.

After sniffing it deeply, Professor Slughorn frowned. To confirm his suspicion, he even took a small sip.

"Adding sugar renders most potions ineffective. I don't think either of you would make such a rookie mistake, but I can confirm there's sugar in this."

"This is a serious issue. Potions are a precise and vital form of magical treatment. Who would add sugar to your potion?!" Madam Pomfrey was furious. If Lys hadn't noticed or had ignored the issue, her current lack of control over her magic could have led to serious consequences—especially since Lys... well, tended to fight with a heavy hand.

Lys's expression darkened. Snape, with his passion and dedication to potions, would never joke about them. If he had a problem with her, he'd attack her verbally, not tamper with his own work. That left the four troublemakers as the likely culprits, but without concrete evidence, she couldn't accuse them outright.

She could only reassure Madam Pomfrey, saying she might have been sleep-deprived and accidentally added the wrong ingredient. After being handed two sleeping draughts and a vial of Elixir to Induce Euphoria, she quickly fled the office.

On the last night of the holiday, Lys decided to venture into the Forbidden Forest. The fruit used for baking those hard cookies was ripe, and she planned to gather some for Hagrid. If she went during the day, she'd risk getting caught.

But who could explain why there was a wizard with a poorly cast Disillusionment Charm standing next to her?

"Snape, unless my nose has completely failed me, your scent is overwhelming!" Lys complained, catching a strong whiff of wormwood. How many calming potions had he brewed to end up smelling like this?

Snape, noticing Lys boldly walking into the Forbidden Forest in her black cloak, silently cursed her as a brainless reed. Unable to resist, he sniffed his sleeve. The scent was indeed strong.

Ignoring her, Snape strode deeper into the forest. Seeing his lack of response, Lys headed straight for the fruit tree. The two ended up walking side by side, which made Snape pause for a moment. When he noticed her pace remained steady, his suspicions eased slightly.

After completing their respective tasks without interfering with each other, they tacitly staggered their return paths. Each thought the same thing: avoid meeting again. Yet, they both ended up at the hourglasses that displayed house points. Seeing each other, they silently cursed, "Brainless reed!"

Having already crossed paths, there was no avoiding it. They exchanged a brief, exasperated glance before heading toward the dungeons.

At a corner, Lys suddenly grabbed Snape by the collar and dragged him into an unlit, empty dungeon. Just as Snape was about to pry her hand off and put some distance between them, they heard Peeves' voice.

"Aha! With the Bloody Baron out of the way, let's see what fun I can find in the Slytherin common room tonight!" Peeves, the most annoying and troublesome ghost in the castle, loved playing pranks on students.

If he spotted them, he'd surely spread the news across the entire castle. Since ghosts could pass through walls, neither of them could be sure if Peeves was still in the common room or had left. But they couldn't take the risk.

Reluctantly, Lys led Snape to the kitchen. She had noticed before that Snape had a deep respect for food. Every dish on his plate was always finished, whether he liked it or not.

The house-elves cleaning at night assumed the two young wizards were hungry and promptly brought out a massive tray of food. When Lys gestured that they couldn't finish it, the elves even provided several containers for them to take the leftovers back.

As Lys stuffed the containers into her robe, she realized she couldn't fit any more.

Unable to face the elves' disappointed eyes, she glanced around and tossed two containers into Snape's robe. Despite his efforts to pull his robe away, she succeeded.

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