The Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts is so large that Neil is reminiscent of the extravagant approach of American golf. He had to make a big detour to the exit where Snape had left.

There was still a corridor to go from the exit, and Neil heard a stumbling footstep approaching, and he didn't have time to recite the invisibility technique, so he quickly dodged behind the side of the decorative armor. The knight with the axe and spear turned his head to look at him as if confused, but was immediately slapped back into place.

Although Neil didn't think that a person with such hurried footsteps would bother to keep an eye on the armor next to the hallway, risk should be avoided.

Sure enough, the owner of the footsteps ran past him all the way, or rather fled, without looking to the side from beginning to end. Neil stepped out of the shadows behind his armor and shook his head as he looked at the gaudy purple turban that was fading away.

It seems that Professor Snape must be in a terrible mood, and he only hopes that this resentment does not spread to him—having said that, Neil himself knows how unlikely this is. He was even hesitant to meet up with the other party.

Unfortunately, it backfired, and just as he hesitated, another figure appeared from behind the corner Quirrell had just run to. Neil nearly mistook him for a stunted Dementor who hadn't washed his headcloth in two years, only to discover that it was Severus Snape, who was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"What are you doing here?"

Obviously, the threat of blocking Quirrell in the corner didn't improve the bad mood he had built up on the court, and when he aggressively questioned Neil in a condescending tone, it was almost as if he wanted to be arrested as a criminal as well.

In fact, that "like" may all be superfluous.

"Mr. Professor."

Neil bowed with a lower-than-usual attitude.

"I just saw Professor Quirrell running over there, and he didn't seem to be ...... Calm down? ”

Snape snorted coldly.

"How would I know. Maybe he was frightened by some hallucination. ”

Neil smiled politely, and tacitly skipped the topic, "Ah, yes, Professor Quirrell is a little nervous at times...... What about you, Professor? Are you feeling okay right now? ”

Snape's expression was clearly saying "It's not your turn to worry about this", and probably thinking that expressions alone were not enough to express his emotions, he repeated it again in words.

"Okay, hardcore." Neil shrugged his shoulders and said with a wry smile, "But I wish you could be more grateful to me, Professor." ”

"Gratitude?" The phrase seemed to poke into a hornet's nest, and Snape slowly repeated the word with a gloomy expression, "You mean, if you hadn't intervened at the time, I would have failed—lost to that third-rate bastard who couldn't get on the table?" And in the case that I warned you in advance not to be nosy? ”

"Of course not, Mr. Professor, I'm sure you won't misestimate the strength of yourself and your opponent, and even without me, you can settle it all with a little more time yourself." Neil replied without hesitation, apparently anticipating such a reaction, "But you should really follow Professor Quirrell's example and hide yourself a little better when you chant the spell, Mr. Potter's friends have mistaken you for a murderer who interfered with the broom with dark magic." ”

"So what? Should I care? ”

"Oh, trust me, you should. Someone like Miss Granger has no brakes once you've identified a target, and if I hadn't stopped at the time, she'd have sneaked all the way through the crowd to sneak behind you in order to 'save' Mr. Potter, and then secretly set your robe on fire to distract you while you focused on fighting Quirrell - yes, trust me, she'll do it. ”

The overly specific description made Snape wonder if he had secretly made a similar plan, but before he could figure out the point of doing so, another wave of demagogy rose.

What are the consequences of this? Professor Quirrell will be given a chance, and you'll have to walk all the way back to the office with big hairy legs and strawberry pants...... What's in it for you? If my actions hurt your self-esteem, then I apologize to you sincerely, heartily and from the heart...... Anything goes! But we shouldn't lose sight of the ends and the means, should we? ”

Snape stared at him silently for a long time, but just as Neil thought his expression was finally going to soften, there was an earth-shattering cheer outside, as if the time had been pinched. Even through several walls, Lee Jordan's loudspeaker-amplified voice still reached the ears of the two men clearly.

"He succeeded – he did! Potter has grabbed the Golden Snitch! Gryffindor successfully turned the game around 170-60! The youngest Seeker in the school made history today, to hell with all Slytherins - uh, sorry, Professor, I didn't mean that......"

Neil could have sworn he saw Snape's expression sink again at a speed visible to the naked eye, the whole process as smooth as the face-changing artist he had seen once in his hometown.

"Well, what can I say?" He carefully chose his words, "It's just the first game, right?" It's too early to say anything, isn't it? ”

“…… I don't care about Quidditch rankings. ”

Snape coldly dropped the sentence and turned away, leaving Neil, with a bitter expression standing alone. Even without the help of sophisticated means, he could see that this was one of the biggest lies told by the other party today.

"Well, I've just said it all in vain...... "Why do they always think of a way to make a mess of relationships?" ”

……

……

That evening, Gryffindor's common room was immersed in a sea of joy. They suffered an epic fiasco last year, but this year is off to a great start. The fight back against Marcus Flint's despicable behavior has also become a long-standing topic of conversation. Harry was treated like a hero, being surrounded by the crowd shaking hands, clinking glasses and slapping on the shoulders - he might not be able to lift his arm tomorrow morning because of a bruise.

Neil, who had just blended in with the Gryffindor students quite naturally, didn't seem to be in high spirits.

"Hey, what's wrong, Neil? Aren't you happy for Harry? Ron, blushing with excitement, sat down next to him and took a sip of the pumpkin juice from his glass.

"Of course I'm happy for him, Mr. Weasley." Neil said lightly, "But at the same time, I can't ignore the loss I suffered in the process......

"Losses? Did you bet with someone? ”

"No, not strictly speaking...... Forget it, don't take it personally. Also, I don't recommend drinking too much during this time, Mr. Weasley, there are times when a person's bladder is more fragile than you think. ”

Hermione gave the two of them an annoyed look.

"It's too early to celebrate." She leaned in and whispered, "Have you forgotten about Snape?" I don't know why he'd go to this point to get Harry to death, but we have to stop him, and who knows if he'll do something more horrible next time? ”

Neil's expression was a little embarrassed.

"I suggest you take a sober look at this, there may be some kind of misunderstanding here......"

"Misunderstanding?" Hermione clenched her fists in anger, "We all saw him chanting a spell on Harry, or did you stop him—speaking of which, thank you, Neil, if it weren't for you, Harry would be in danger today." ”

"A little effort, Miss Granger." Neil smiled at her, took off his non-existent hat and placed it on his chest with a slight salute, but unfortunately, the expression on Hermione's face did not relax because of this, and it was clear that he was not going to give up his suspicions.

"Well, I know that might be a bit ...... Not very easy to understand. He scratched his nose, being caught at this point was Snape's biggest failure this time, and he didn't know how to excuse him, "But you can look at this from a different perspective, maybe Professor Snape is trying to protect him from the out-of-control broomstick?" ”

"How do you say the same thing as Hagrid?"

"Maybe it's because we're on the same page—tell me, Miss Granger, if Professor Snape really intends to kill Mr. Potter, what is stopping him from working on the materials he used in Potions class to cause an accident caused by the freshman's mishandling of the medicine? With Mr. Porter's average grade in this class, I'm sure few people would find this anything suspicious. ”

Hermione choked up on this unusually harsh but not unreasonable remark, but she was still not fully convinced: "Maybe he doesn't want to be suspected?" ”

"So decided to cast a spell on Mr. Potter's broom in full view? I don't think it makes logical sense. ”

"But Snape hated Harry—hate wasn't enough to describe their relationship, he simply hated Harry, you have to admit it, right?"

"Of course." Neil nodded calmly, "I didn't say that Professor Snape was a gracious and friendly man, that he hated Mr. Potter, that he hated me, that he hated you, that he hated all the non-Slytherin students - in fact, I think he hated even the Slytherin students. But that doesn't mean anything, right? Hating someone doesn't mean having to resort to action to eradicate him from this world, like me and my Master...... Hey, seriously, you really can't drink anymore, Mr. Weasley! Can you still hear me? Hell, how the hell did he do it, it's pumpkin juice! ”