HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

West prepared a spacious and fully equipped potion-making workshop, providing several lost potions and a wide variety of rare materials, which kept the potions professor, who was eager to leave, from leaving.

Snape's black robe sleeves swept across the display shelves, his fingertips lingering for a few seconds on several rare potion encyclopedias before he looked at the parchment West had placed on the table.

"An improved version of Wolfsbane Potion? What is this, Unicorn Tears?" Snape carefully examined the notes in his hand, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism.

"Severus, I'm really jealous," West complained. "You're much more enthusiastic about potions than I am."

Snape glared at him. "Seriously! Where did these recipes come from?"

West tapped his temples twice with his lightning-struck wooden wand. "From here."

He leaned close to Snape and sighed softly, "I have complete control over the Dark Curse, Severus. This means I have gained access to all the knowledge of Dark Magic from ancient times to the present, including potions, alchemy, and spells."

Snape's face darkened, and he became wary. "So, the antidote from back then was also your memory—"

"Yes," West said directly.

Snape instinctively gripped the potion formula in his hand. He realized Dumbledore had miscalculated.

The Unbreakable Curse established by Dumbledore and West requires West not to use the Unforgivable Curse on innocent people, and there are only three existing Unforgivable Curses—

The Soul-Stealing Curse, the Heart-Rending Curse, Avada Kedavra.

What about ancient black magic? Those terrifying black magic spells that have disappeared into the river of time are not within the scope of the Unforgivable Curse.

West stared into Snape's eyes, his intense gaze sending a chill down Snape's spine. "Severus, what are you thinking?"

His dark green pupils were encircled by snake scale patterns, emitting an eerie glow in the dim candlelight, captivating and chilling.

"What's your strength now?" Snape couldn't help but ask, "Compared to Dumbledore?"

West thought about it carefully, "They're evenly matched, but that's just a hypothetical situation. Dumbledore has more practical experience than I do."

Snape asked, "Do you...want more power, or rather, to become the third Dark Lord?"

West quieted down, looking down at him. "Severus, you don't need to test me."

He twirled a strand of Snape's black hair between his fingers. "I just want the people I love to be safe..."

"You may underestimate the power of the Somerset family, and you may underestimate me, Severus..."

I won't do anything to upset you...

The young man knelt down, rested his head on the man's lap, buried his face in his robe soaked with the bitter scent of herbs, and said with infinite longing, "Severus, don't be afraid of me, trust me."

The Slytherin serpent retracted its fangs, coiled itself around its lover, and revealed its scarred back.

Snape felt West's trembling breath, his body stiffened, and he resisted the urge to push him away. He placed his hand on West's head and ruffled it.

"Hey, Severus..." Seeing West about to push his luck and put his hand on his waist, Snape suddenly shoved West's head down, "...Stand up!"

West stood up, looking dejected.

"Get out! I need to study potions!" Snape said in a low voice, barely able to contain himself.

"Alright, Severus," West said reluctantly, "I'll bring you lunch later."

After the young man closed the door, Snape's tense back gradually relaxed.

The situation is not good.

Snape frowned, somewhat incredulous. He was actually slowly ceasing to resist West's advances.

The scent emanating from West felt so familiar and intimate to him. Being beside West, he couldn't help but feel calm and incredibly safe.

It was as if the two of them had been together for many years and were very close.

Snape frowned and used Occlumency to clear his mind of any wild ideas.

Life went on uneventfully like that.

Aside from mealtimes, Snape almost never saw West. West would be ruthlessly thrown out the door as soon as he put down his tray.

West was extremely resentful and began to question whether it was the right thing to do to give Snape the prescription.

Harry shuttled between Somerset Manor and Potter Manor—he actually preferred to live in Somerset so he could see West more often.

However, Sirius was not welcome at Somerset Manor, so Harry had to take some time to return to Potter Manor to keep his lonely godfather company.

And so, with Hogwarts about to start, West took Harry to Diagon Alley to buy supplies for the new term.

After buying Harry the books he needed for the new semester, West took him to Madam Malkin's Robes Shop and ordered several new robes and four or five sets of personal clothing for Harry.

"West, isn't that too much?" Harry asked.

"Shh, your brother's got plenty of money," West said.

He was busy talking to Madam Malkin about the latest fashion trends. Harry overheard a bit of his conversation, and it seemed they were discussing ordering a new robe for Professor Snape.

With a wave of his hand, West bought more than a dozen custom-made sets, and Mrs. Malkin couldn't stop smiling.

"..." Harry shut up.

Harry suddenly remembered his neglected godfather, hesitated for a moment, and then took out his money to buy Sirius two sets of clothes.

West finally finished his conversation with Mrs. Malkin, and the two went to Florin's Ice Cream Parlor, where they had arranged to meet Ron Hermione.

Ron and Hermione were both tanned brown, and they waved frantically at them.

"Oh, West!" Hermione screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Where were you in your second year?!"

As a disclaimer, West had declared his intention to return to Hogwarts and continue enjoying his school days, using ancient dark magic to revert to the age of thirteen, which is why Hermione and Ron did not notice anything amiss.

Hermione opened her arms, about to hug West, when West took a few steps back. "Calm down, Hermione, my boyfriend will be upset if he sees this."

Hermione laughed, her tears turning into a smile, "You have a boyfriend?"

Same-sex couples are not uncommon in the wizarding world, so people didn't react much to West's words.

"My ex-boyfriend," West said calmly.

"Uh, I've heard of ex-boyfriends, but this is the first time I've heard of subsequent boyfriends." Ron's eye twitched.

"Don't change the subject, what happened to you!" Hermione keenly noticed that West had changed; his appearance and demeanor were different from before.

West explained simply: "I was cursed, and Headmaster Dumbledore helped me remove the curse, which took some time."

Hermione looked at him in confusion, not understanding what kind of curse would take more than a year and prevent them from meeting, but the clever little witch could tell that West didn't want to say more, so she didn't press him further.

"Anyway, welcome back, West!" Ron said happily, then turned to Harry. "By the way, Harry, did you really inflate your aunt's circumference?"

Harry, remembering the thing he'd forgotten, felt a little nervous. "I didn't mean to—I lost control."

Ron laughed uncontrollably.

"It's alright, it's just a minor's magic going out of control. The Ministry of Magic won't expel you for this, Harry," Hermione reassured him.

"Anyway, our family's spending the night at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, Harry, West," Ron said, "Hermione's coming with us, do you want to come?"

Hermione nodded in agreement, looking at the two of them expectantly.

"I can't, I have to go back," West said. "Perhaps Harry could stay, or would you like to visit Potter Manor?"

"Pottery Manor! Harry told us!" Ron's eyes lit up. "Can we go? Harry said he even has a game console!"

Harry laughed. "Of course!"

Hermione got excited too, "I want to go too!"

The three children began to discuss excitedly. Harry talked about his new room, game console, and Firebolt, which drew envious exclamations from Ron.

"Oh, right," Ron pulled out a long, thin box, opened it, "my new wand! Look!"

After the group was forced to admire Ron's new wand, West asked, "Is there anything else you haven't bought?"

Hermione looked through her wallet and said, "Speaking of which, my birthday is coming up soon, and I'm going to buy myself a birthday present."

"What do you want to buy, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I want an owl, and you all have one—Harry has Hedwig, Ron has Errol," Hermione said calmly.

“I don’t have any,” Ron said. “Errol is our family owl; all I have is Scabbers.”

He took his pet mouse out of his pocket.

West and Harry exchanged a glance.

The target has been identified.