Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

Inherited for thousands of years, the ancient castle that has gone through the vicissitudes of history still exudes mysterious magic in the heavy snow. During the Christmas holiday, Hogwarts is much quieter than in the past.

In the empty castle, apart from the murmurs of the figures hanging on both sides of the narrow corridor and the clinking sounds of the standing armor, only Peeves' shrill singing pierced the tranquility of the castle from time to time.

Severus Snape's vigorous steps made his robe bulge into a waving cloak, and the whole person looked like a big bat with wings spread but running on its feet, and the expression on his face could be seen from the shady prey and pale lips that he was in a bad mood at the moment.

"Sherbet lemon."

After hearing the correct password, the ugly stone monster quickly jumped aside, even a little flustered, as if it was also afraid of something.

Snape strode into the cracked wall, and the moment he walked into the circular office hidden behind the wall, his mood quietly became a little worse for no reason.

Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time, was leaning on the back of his chair. Behind the half-moon-shaped mirror frame, his hard-to-reach azure blue gaze was cast on the high dome of the office. Piles of long-legged desks were waiting to be answered.

"Where have you been?" Snape glanced at Dumbledore's purple traveling cloak, which was still on, and spoke bluntly.

"Just going for a walk." Dumbledore withdrew his deep gaze and said with a gentle smile, "You know, Severus, for an elderly person like me, it is very helpful to maintain a moderate amount of exercise."

"Indeed," Snape said with a hint of sarcasm, "how many days have you been walking around?"

Snape's reaction could be said to be expected, Dumbledore smiled nonchalantly, "How is Miss Granger?"

"It's pretty stable. Pomfrey has dealt with her problem in the right way. She will return to normal after a few weeks of rest."

Snape's tone was blunt, but he finally answered the question truthfully. However, when he saw Dumbledore showing relief and about to expose the question, he couldn't hold back his anger any longer.

"I think you know exactly what those smart, pushy guys in Gryffindor have been doing—secretly brewing Polyjuice Potion and having the audacity to break into my office and steal the ingredients. Dumbledore, how has the school become so tolerant? Allowing the breaking of school rules and stealing a professor's property?"

"Despicable behavior is never tolerated," Snape's reluctance seemed to make the exhausted Dumbledore feel tired. He took off the mirror frame on his nose and rubbed between his brows.

"But we should look at people's purpose through their behavior to judge whether their hearts are equally despicable. Severus, I don't think Harry, Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger intended to investigate the truth of the incident with malicious intent."

"So you plan to let it go, even if he will be in danger because of his reckless behavior?"

For some reason, Snape's face turned pale under the mild firelight. Although he didn't name the "he" in his words, Snape was sure that Dumbledore would understand.

Suddenly, there was no sound in the office, only the slight snoring of previous principals in a row of murals hanging on the walls, and Fox's subtle but crisp cry.

"Not letting go, Severus, but watching," after a long silence, Dumbledore spoke again, but the silent confidence was gone from his tone. "It is true that sometimes the boundary between courage and recklessness is not so clear, but when dealing with young people, we should be more tolerant, Severus. We should avoid stifling their inherent advantages as much as possible."

"Tolerate?" The corners of Snape's mouth twitched. He was extremely reluctant but couldn't restrain himself from recalling the past when he was studying in this school. "No need to pretend, Dumbledore. You have always tolerated the students you admire."

Snape had completely transferred his hatred of James Potter to Harry. While protecting the son of the woman he loved, he had to endure that the child was so similar to his father, which made Snape's emotions extremely distorted.

"Let's end this subject, Severus," privately, such conversations had happened countless times since Harry Potter entered this school, and even Dumbledore felt very helpless about it.

"Could you trouble me to meet a guest at the school gate?" Dumbledore stood up. The clothes he was wearing couldn't meet the guests. "Actually, Minerva was supposed to do this job. Unfortunately, she accepted the invitation from the editorial team of 'Transfiguration Today' to attend a reception about Transfiguration. This is a rare leisure for her. Try not to disturb."

Snape was not interested in Dumbledore's private appointment. He turned and strode away, his face worse than when he first entered the office because of the past memories throbbing in his mind.

But by a strange coincidence, before leaving the office, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked back at Dumbledore, who was using his wand to clean the mud from the hem of his robe, with a suspicious voice.

"Who did you meet?"

"Ah—actually, I originally planned to let you know about this surprise at the school gate, but since you asked," Dumbledore smiled, and the incomprehensible light bloomed in his blue eyes again. "Bryan Watson, the student you admire the most these years."

On May 12 at 7:31 pm, taking the express train, Bryan, who got off at Hogsmeade Station, waded through a large section of snow-covered trails and appeared outside the big iron gate of Hogwarts on time.

Two wild boar sculptures with wings at the gate of the school have been guarding this great magic school for thousands of years. Bryan's gaze passed through the iron gate fence with emotion, leaped over the playground with six tall clubs, and stood on the cliff. The gloomy castle on the shore, until it sank into the boundless Forbidden Forest.

"I had guessed that it would be you, Professor, who came to greet me when I got on the train," Bryan said. The rusty door slowly opened with a creaking sound, and he stepped into the school gate, facing the black figure striding forward. When Severus Snape's expressionless face came into view, Bryan put down his suitcase and opened his arms with a sincere smile.

Author's Note: "Sherbet lemon" was not a password for Dumbledore's office in the Harry Potter series. The password to access Dumbledore's office was "lemon drop". Dumbledore was fond of lemon drops and often offered them to visitors. So, it served as a clever and memorable password for his office.