HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

Ms. Hodge is right; West is indeed no less than Harry in this respect.

The boy's red hair blazed like fire in the wind, and his fierce dive attracted most people's attention. The students in the stands were nervous for him and unconsciously gripped their binoculars tightly.

Ravenclaw was behind Slytherin from the start, and the match ended quickly in five minutes after Wester swiftly defeated the Golden Snitch.

A cheer erupted from the Slytherin stands, and the silver-green flags surged like waves.

Snape smiled and accepted the congratulations from the other heads of the house without batting an eye.

He nodded in the direction of West, a visible hint of pleasure in his eyes. "Not bad."

Immediately afterwards, Gryffindor won their match against Hufflepuff, with Harry catching the Snitch in just five minutes, about the same time it took Whis.

During the match, Hermione and Ron's eyes kept shifting between Quirrell and Harry, looking heavy and worried, which puzzled Neville.

Hermione and Ron were determined to use the Leg-Locking Curse that Schdraco had taught them if Quirrell tried to harm Harry again.

Quirrell didn't cause any trouble throughout the game, but his eyes kept darting back and forth between the Potter brothers.

Harry jumped off his flying broomstick a foot off the ground and saw West and Snape talking about something.

Snape noticed his gaze and glared at him.

Harry: "..."

Immediately afterwards, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder; it was Dumbledore.

"Well done," Dumbledore said softly. "I'm glad you're not thinking about that mirror all the time. You're living a fulfilling life...that's wonderful."

An hour later, West and Harry left the dressing room together, preparing to return the flying broomsticks to the broom shed.

West cherished the Nimbus 2000 immensely; Harry thought he would sleep with it if he could.

Both of them were in a cheerful mood.

West leaned against the wooden door, waiting for Harry to put the broom inside the shed.

Suddenly, they saw a hooded figure quickly descend the steps of the castle's main gate and rush towards the Forbidden Forest.

West's nonchalant expression turned serious; he recognized the man as Professor Snape.

"Harry, come here." West called softly to Harry, and the two of them mounted their brooms and quietly followed behind Snape.

Snape ran into the Forbidden Forest, where Quirrell stood opposite him.

West and Harry rode their brooms and landed quietly on a tall beech tree.

Harry's eyes were full of curiosity as he secretly observed the two of them.

Quirrell seemed somewhat afraid of Snape, and his stuttering was even worse than usual.

"...No—I don't know why you—why—why did you choose to meet here, Severus..."

"Oh, I don't think this should be made public," Snape said, his voice icy. "After all, students shouldn't know about the Philosopher's Stone."

West and Harry listened intently. Quirrell was muttering something. Snape interrupted him.

"Have you figured out how to get past Hagrid's beast?"

"But—but—but, Severus, I—"

"You don't want me to be your enemy, do you, Quirrell?" Snape said, taking a step closer to him.

As Quirrell stumbled backward, he bumped into an old pine tree, its needles falling on his twitching shoulder, making him look quite disheveled.

"I—I don't know—"

"Very well," Snape interrupted him. "We'll talk again soon, after you've had time to think things through and decide who you're loyal to."

He covered his head with his cloak and strode out of the open space.

Quirrell remained motionless, standing frozen in place like a wooden sculpture.

West quietly left with Harry.

"West! Harry! Where have you been?" Hermione cried out.

Ron was still cheering for the Quidditch victory and was about to pat Harry on the back when Draco squeezed in and hugged Harry. "You were amazing, Harry! You're a true friend of mine, Malfoy!"

Having said that, he noticed West standing to the side, hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly opened his arms. "Slytherin's honor, how about a hug?"

West rubbed his forehead, took a half step back, and said, "No need."

"Never mind that! Let's find an empty classroom!" Harry said seriously. "I ran into West..."

The five of them found an empty classroom, and locked the door after confirming that Pipi Ghost was not there.

Harry recounted what he had just witnessed to them, while West sat in a chair to the side, deep in thought.

"What do they mean by this?" Ron asked, completely bewildered. "Why does Snape look like he's threatening Quirrell?"

Draco curled his lip in disdain. "Anyone with eyes can see it's Weasley."

"The beast they're talking about, is it Cerberus?" Hermione asked gravely. "It belongs to Hagrid! Good heavens, Quirrell is asking around about how to deal with Cerberus!"

Even after that incident, Hermione still trusted Snape.

"The question is, which side is Professor Snape on? Whom does he serve?" Harry frowned.

"Calm down, everyone." West stood up. "Although I don't know what the professor is saying, he won't hurt the students. Trust him, okay?"

Draco scoffed. "The Dean wouldn't hurt students. Although he's strict and scary, he's a good person."

Hermione hesitated before speaking, "He also saved Harry. If he were a bad person, he wouldn't have needed to do that."

"Perhaps," West said slowly, under everyone's expectant gaze, "...the Professor is on Dumbledore's side, and Quirrell is the bad guy."

"But that doesn't make sense..." Harry questioned. "Then what was his purpose in saying that?"

West didn't answer, but instead looked at Hermione, "Hermione, what do you think the professor's purpose is?"

Hermione lowered her head in thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, "If West's guess is correct, the professor is more likely testing Quirrell to see if he knows how to get close to the Philosopher's Stone!"

"And through Cerberus's methods, in Hagrid's hands," West continued with a laugh, "Quirok will try to get close to Hagrid in order to obtain the Philosopher's Stone."

"What does Quirrell want the Philosopher's Stone for?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"The Philosopher's Stone can be used to make an elixir of immortality," Hermione replied. "Does he want to live forever?"

West felt that things weren't that simple, but he had no clue what to do.

"I heard that the stone won't be there next Tuesday," Ron said.

The group exchanged glances, understanding each other perfectly.

After the discussion, West went straight to the cellar. He was going to help Snape process a new batch of potion ingredients that night.

This wasn't his responsibility, but West was happy to lighten Professor Snape's workload.

Upon arriving at the cellar, West knocked gently three times, and only after receiving Snape's permission to "come in" did he open the door and enter.

Snape was sitting at the table revising third-year students' papers, his lips pressed tightly together, looking very annoyed.

Seeing that Snape had no intention of talking to him, West didn't want to make a fool of himself and started organizing the potion ingredients on his own.

Over the course of the last semester, his skills improved significantly, and he quickly finished processing the potion ingredients.

Snape hadn't finished revising his paper yet; after the third year came the fourth, and after the fourth came the fifth. His expression grew increasingly irritable.

"These trolls, Quidditch has turned their brains into mush!" he angrily typed several Ps, only occasionally dropping an A, which barely passed.

"...Professor, shall I help you revise it?" West asked.

Snape looked up and glared at him. "Mr. West, have you got nothing better to do? Do you think you're capable of grading fifth-year papers?"

"We can give it a try," West said calmly.

"..." Snape didn't speak, but pulled out the paper West had given him a couple of days ago and started reading it.

After reading it, Snape typed an "O" with a complicated expression, his face turning even uglier—this was directed at an older student.

West is only a first-year student! His skill in potions already surpasses that of most upperclassmen!

"...If you have nothing else to do, go back to the common room and write me another paper," Snape ordered coldly. "Take the potions from the second shelf of the cabinet."

West walked to the cabinet and found a vial of medicine on the second shelf.

"...Felix Felicis?" West was stunned for a moment.

A bottle of Felix Felicis of perfect quality. Its shimmering, molten gold color, with large droplets of liquid leaping like goldfish on its surface.

"Professor, this..."

"...Take the Quidditch reward." Snape lowered his head to revise his paper, his voice somewhat awkward.

West was somewhat moved, and looked steadily at Snape. "Thank you, Professor."

It wouldn't be difficult for a potions master like Snape to concoct Felix Felicis, but a single bottle of Felix Felicis requires at least six months of brewing time, making it extremely time-consuming.

Perfect quality is even rarer; one must be careful at every step and absolutely cannot make the slightest mistake.

This bottle of Felix Felicis was a treasured possession of Professor Snape.

West thought for a moment, then put the Felix Ferulic around his neck and went back to the lounge.