HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

West followed Snape into the cellar, the door closing behind him with a muffled groan.

The cellar was as cold and damp as ever, the candlelight dim, casting Snape's black robes like flowing asphalt. A faint smell of rust mingled with the pervasive scent of wormwood.

Snape walked to the medicine cabinet, his usual elegant steps faltering slightly. West's gaze remained fixed on Snape's blood-soaked left calf.

Snape suppressed the pain, not wanting West to notice his condition. "The troll has been captured, Mr. Potter."

He pulled out a bottle of sleeping pills and handed it to West, gesturing for him to leave quickly. "Or have you inherited your foolish father's hero complex?" In the shadows, Snape's lips were pale, his jaw was clenched in pain, and his left knee was bent involuntarily.

The stench of blood in the air grew stronger. West stood motionless, while Snape, even more agitated, his voice lower and hoarseer than usual, ordered, "Back to your lounge."

West stood stubbornly for a long time, but finally succumbed to an inexplicable emotion. "Professor, being bitten by a Cerberus is no small matter. If it's not treated soon..."

Snape's pupils contracted sharply, dark clouds churning within them. He whirled around, bumping into a potion bottle on the shelf, the dark red liquid exploding on the ground.

Snape gritted his teeth. "Since when have you been stalking your aging professor?" Two blazing embers of anger ignited deep within his eyes. "Do you think I'm too old to even swing a wand?"

West pretended not to hear Snape's taunts, skillfully rummaged through the medicine cabinet and pulled out white cinnamon. He pressed the stubbornly standing headmaster into the armchair, half-squatted down, and tried to lift the blood-soaked hem of his robe.

Snape grabbed his wrist tightly. "Who gave you permission to…"

"Professor," West interrupted Snape, "let me finish bandaging, and then I'll tell you everything, okay?"

Snape paused for a moment, then released his grip. West was able to roll up his trousers, revealing three bloody scratches.

West gasped and whispered, "It might hurt a little, Professor."

Snape gave a cold laugh, unwilling to say more.

West pressed the white cotton gauze soaked in fresh blood onto the wound, and Snape's muscles tensed up abruptly, cold sweat dripping down his pale jaw and onto the back of the boy's hand.

While observing Snape's expression, West recited an obscure runic hemostatic spell.

"Who taught you the Dark Magic technique to stop bleeding?" Snape's question was tinged with the trembling of excruciating pain.

West paused for a moment, then continued bandaging as if nothing had happened, tying a neat bow.

Snape's eyes twitched, and finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he grabbed West by the collar, their eyes locked at close range. "Since when did you start..."

Snape calmly activated Legilimency.

West was trying to figure out how to fob Snape off, but when he met Snape's dark eyes, the nerve that held him back from all reason suddenly snapped, and something lurking deep within his soul awakened.

His round, jade-like eyes instantly lost their luster, transforming into eerie vertical pupils with snake-scale-like patterns appearing within them.

Snape met those eerie snake eyes that no longer resembled Lily's, and his pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints.

"What's next, Professor?" West gripped Snape's arm, a strange voice escaping his lips. His snake-like eyes gleamed with an eerie green light.

West screamed in his head. This wasn't what he meant to say!

"...The Philosopher's Stone." Snape murmured as if lost in thought, but before he could finish, he snapped out of his reverie, knocking over several potion bottles behind him. Amidst the shattering sounds, a crack appeared on Snape's hardened face. "Potter! What have you done?!"

Snape tightened his grip on the boy's collar, his knuckles turning white from the force, and the black robes cast serpentine shadows in the candlelight. His fingernails, tinged with blue from years of potion use, almost dug into West's collarbone.

In the dim light, Snape's usual nostalgic and forgiving gaze towards the boy changed.

How could he look at him like he was a monster?

West was pale and his head was buzzing, while the monster that had finished causing trouble was laughing at the scene before it returned to the depths of his body without a care.

The instant Snape activated Legilimency, West's brain felt like it was about to explode. The unknown monster dwelling deep within his body let out terrifying roars, furious that its territory had been invaded.

His body was taken over by a monster. That monster invaded Snape's brain without his consent...

Who exactly is "he"?

For the first time, West felt what anger was, but when he met Snape's gaze, it turned into a deep sense of powerlessness. "I don't know... Professor."

Snape's face hardened. He picked up his wand, grabbed West's arm, and pulled him outside. The cellar door slammed open.

West, still pale, cried out in alarm as Snape strode out, "Professor, your leg..."

"Shut up!"

Snape dragged West through the corridor to the statue outside the headmaster's office, whispered "Lemon Olaf," and the statue slowly moved aside, revealing the office door.

Snape barged in.

At this moment, Dumbledore had already changed into his pajamas and was preparing to go to sleep when he saw Snape with a cold expression and West with a pale face, and came down the spiral staircase with a look of surprise.

"What's wrong, Severus?" Dumbledore asked, his wise gaze falling on West. "Has something happened to West?"

Snape shoved West in front of him. "Something's wrong with him."

Things are getting out of control. West thought helplessly. What is that thing hidden inside him? And what does "he" want to do?

Dumbledore's blue eyes, behind his half-moon spectacles, narrowed slightly, and the spyglass peeking out from his dressing robe sleeve vibrated at a low frequency. The old headmaster waved his elderflower wand, and three high-backed chairs slid out from the shadows. "Perhaps we should sit down and enjoy some cockroaches?"

"Now is not the time to show off your wicked sense of humor!" Snape pressed hard on West's shoulder. "His eyes..." Snape hesitated, unsure how to express himself.

West stared at the phoenix feather pattern on the carpet, his right hand unconsciously reaching for his wand.

Dumbledore suddenly grabbed the boy's wrist: "Don't be nervous, child. Severus, may I see your memories?"

Snape drew his wand and pressed it to his temple, a strand of silver thread being pulled into the Pensieve. In his memory, when West's pupils changed, the scene suddenly went blank.

This isn't Legilimency, Snape thought. Legilimency merely allows the caster to see the other's memories, while West seems to be directly controlling his mind, forcing him to be honest—similar to drinking Truth Potion.

After reading this memory, Dumbledore's expression turned serious, especially after seeing the snake-like markings in West's eyes.

For a long time, because of the prophecy and the scar on Harry's head, he had focused all his attention on Harry, but he never expected that West would also have a problem.

He raised his elder wand and tossed a check charm at West. The spell flashed white as it passed through West's arm.

Dumbledore had Snape pull up West's sleeve, and the two of them discovered a crescent-shaped scar on West's arm.

Even though West completely trusted Snape emotionally, he tensed up at this moment.

"This is..." Dumbledore's eyes widened in surprise as he ran his enchanted thumb across the indented scar.

An evil force extended tentacles from the scar, like a poisoned blade, piercing the invader's skin.

When Dumbledore raised his hand, his thumb was already burned, the skin charred and cracked.

West's brain started to ache again, his face, which had just regained its color, turned pale again, and he pressed his lips together without making a sound.

Snape stared in astonishment, and recited the Healing Charm to Dumbledore several times before the scorched cracks gradually closed up.

"Dark magic?" Snape was almost out of control.

Dumbledore's gaze lingered on the scar, then he sighed, "Perhaps worse, Severus."

West felt the crescent-shaped scar on his left arm throbbing, as if something was traveling along the blood vessels from the scar back to his heart.

In a daze, West could hear Snape's rapid heartbeat behind him.

He remembered the ribbon tied to Snape's calf in the cellar, which was perhaps now fluttering its wings under the professor's black robes with his rapid breathing.