Chapter 17: Encounter at the Playground
In view of Snape's strong resistance to her closeness, Jiang Li stopped hugging him and simply grabbed his collar and carried him home like a chick.
"Mia didn't take good care of the little master. Mia will punish herself severely."
As soon as she got home, Mia screamed loudly and started hitting her head hard.
If Jiang Li didn't know the character of the house-elf, he would have thought that he was abusing it every day.
"Mia, help me buy some magic recovery potions and potion materials."
Jiang Li took out a bag of gold Galleons and threw it to the house-elf, then carried Snape into the room and threw him on the bed.
"Have a good rest. Your magic power is now exhausted. Don't force yourself to use magic before it recovers. If there is anything you need, you can ask Mia to do it."
Seeing Snape unable to move, his face pale, his black hair falling on the white pillow, looking pitiful, Jiang Li walked to the bed, covered him with a quilt, and placed the bottle of salamander on the table near the bed.
Snape watched her movements silently, and when Jiang Li was about to close the door and leave, he asked.
"Why are you so nice to me? Isn't the boy you knew dead? You and I are just strangers."
He could feel the kindness of this girl. Unlike Dumbledore's show of kindness with a purpose, Jiang Li didn't seem to need anything in return.
Jiang Li stopped, turned his head to look at Snape's inquiring eyes, chuckled, and said self-deprecatingly: "Who knows, maybe it's because I've been caught in the rain, so I want to hold an umbrella for others.
You should go to bed early. Children won’t grow tall if they stay up late.”
After she finished speaking, she closed the door quickly.
The room fell into darkness again, and occasionally the sound of a salamander restlessly hitting a bottle could be heard.
Snape stretched out his hand and placed it next to the bottle, feeling a warmth in his palm.
very warm.
The quilt was extremely soft. Snape felt sleepy and slowly closed his eyes.
He felt as if he had had a strange dream.
When he opened his eyes again and looked at the white patterns on the ceiling, Snape was sure that he was not dreaming.
He would never use such childish patterns in his room.
Snape got up from the bed, feeling weak.
This is the aftereffect of excessive use of magic power.
When he reached the door, Snape saw a bunch of fresh lilies in the vase on the table and pursed his lips slightly.
Jiang Li sat at the dining table, supporting his chin with one hand and picking up dumplings with chopsticks in the other hand. He used a silent spell to turn the pages of the book floating in front of him. He caught a glimpse of Snape coming out of the room and tapped the bottles of potions on the table with his chin.
"Mia bought a few bottles of magic potion to restore your magic power last night, but since you were already asleep, she didn't give them to you. Remember to drink the potion after you finish your meal."
Snape sat down at the dining table, glanced at the table, and asked in confusion, "Where are the knives and forks?"
"This is Chinese food, no need for knife and fork."
Jiang Li pulled out the two failed magic wands, picked up the dumplings like chopsticks, and said with a smile: "Just use the magic wand to pick them up and eat them."
Snape: "..."
He looked at Jiang Li as if he was a mentally retarded person.
"If I remember correctly, they used chopsticks, not wands."
Seeing that he failed to fool Snape, Jiang Li felt a little regretful. He thought Snape was easy to fool.
She stretched, took out a gift box from behind her and handed it to Snape.
"What is this?" Snape looked at it puzzled.
"I started preparing your birthday present a week ago."
A week ago, that should have been for him at seven years old.
Seeing that Snape didn't move, Jiang Li looked at him suspiciously and said, "Why don't you open it and take a look."
Hearing this, Snape opened the gift box. A magic wand was lying quietly inside, with some surprise in his eyes.
He picked up the wand, and it responded to him instantly, fitting perfectly, but it felt a little different from his previous wands.
Jiang Li took a sip of black tea and introduced it to him slowly: "The magic wand is made of birch, the body is thirteen and a half inches long, and the core is made of phoenix tail feathers and snake nerves."
Snape suspected that he had heard it wrongly.
"What do you think the core of the staff is made of?"
"Phoenix tail feathers and snake nerves. I used a little trick to refine them together. It's very suitable for you." Jiang Li said calmly.
Snape had never heard of anyone using two materials in the core of a wand.
Each wand has its own temperament, and they generally use cores made of only one material.
He looked at Jiang Li with an unclear gaze, feeling that he could not understand this girl.
"Don't you like it?"
Jiang Li tilted his head and looked at him and said, "I have studied this wand for a long time and I think this wand core is most suitable for you. If you don't like it, I can make a new one for you."
"No, I like this wand very much."
Snape put the wand in his arms, looked at Jiang Li and said seriously: "Thank you."
"You don't have to be so polite, just treat me as a family member." Jiang Li said with a gentle smile.
Snape didn't say anything. After finishing breakfast, he became restless.
He couldn't wait to see Lily.
Seeing him fidgeting, Jiang Li asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"
"I'm going out for a while." Snape looked at Jiang Li and said.
"Do you need me to go out with you?" Jiang Li asked.
"No, I can go by myself."
Snape didn't want Jiang Li to know too many things. Although the other party was nice to him, it was his private matter.
"Ok."
Jiang Li didn't ask any more questions, and said with emotion: "The child has grown up and has his own ideas."
Snape: "..."
"It's snowing outside. The custom-made robe has been delivered. I asked Mia to hang it on the hanger in the entrance. Remember to put it on when you go out."
Hearing this, Snape walked to the door. There were two coats hanging on the hanger in the entrance hall, one was Jiang Li's and the other was obviously his.
When he took the robe and put it on, he caught a glimpse of a pair of cotton boots in the shoe cabinet. They were smaller in size and men's style.
There's no way a house-elf could wear this, it's obviously meant for him.
Snape turned his head and glanced at Jiang Li. He saw her sitting quietly at the dining table, writing and drawing on a piece of paper with a quill in her hand. Her light golden hair was tied behind her head, with some strands of hair falling on the paper. She looked very elegant and gentle, and didn't look like a troublemaker at all.
He withdrew his gaze, put on his boots, pushed the door and walked out.
It was covered with snow outside and the snow was falling heavily. Snape walked to the place where he met Lily once.
It was an almost deserted amusement park with a large chimney towering above the sky. At that time, Lily was swinging on the swing there.
But now it was deserted and snow covered the entire playground.
When he walked under the tree, his shoes sank into the snow at once. The white snow covered the uppers of his shoes, and his ankles were covered with a thick layer of snow.
Snape raised his hand to brush off the snow on the swing, sat on it, pushed the ground with his feet, and the swing immediately began to shake.
Almost no one would go out in such bad weather. The only sounds in the playground were the creaking of the swings and the mournful sound of the wind and snow blowing on the buildings.
He remembered Lily's home address!
Snape jumped down from the swing and ran in the opposite direction of the huge chimney.
There are rows of neatly arranged houses, and the people living there are dressed neatly.
Snape found the residence in his memory.
Standing at the door, he nervously straightened the wrinkles on his clothes.
"Knock knock knock."
He knocked on Evans' door, a hint of uneasiness on his steady face.
Hearing footsteps coming from inside the door, Snape felt that he was a little reckless.
He didn't even know Lily at all, and if he suddenly came to find her, would he be considered a liar?