HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

"First, we need to find a place where we can practice," Draco said.

"It would be best to keep that peeping Tom away," Ron complained. "He's so annoying."

Harry had a sudden inspiration: "I know a place, follow me!"

Harry led everyone to the eighth floor and stopped in an empty corridor where there was a tapestry on the wall called "Trolls Beating Barnabas".

Harry silently repeated to himself: I need a place to practice the Patronus Charm—I need a place to practice the Patronus Charm—

A stone door suddenly appeared on the wall of the corridor.

West clicked his tongue in amazement, "The Room of Requirement?"

"Yes, I only found out about it these past couple of days," Harry said.

The group entered; the room was spacious and bright, indeed suitable for practicing spells. In the center sat a box, which began to shake violently as they approached.

"Boggart," Hermione exclaimed in surprise, "He can conjure that up?"

"Maybe it'll be a Dementor if you open it." West chuckled.

Draco and Ron shivered.

"Alright, the Guardian Angel Spell isn't too difficult for you. You just need to remember to recall your happiest memory while chanting the spell—remember the incantation and call upon the guardian spirit for protection."

After everyone had memorized the incantation, West stood beside the box. "Ready? Hermione, you go first."

Hermione stepped forward, her face resolute. She raised her wand, aiming it at the box, ready for anything.

With a flick of his wand, Wester opened the box, revealing a familiar, enormous monster before them.

"Protect the Gods!"

Hermione was indeed exceptionally talented; her wand emitted a silver light, but it was still far from being able to transform.

West pulled Boggart back into the box, nodding in approval. "Not bad, very impressive for someone who could do this well on their first attempt."

Hermione was not satisfied, of course; she ran to the side and continued practicing.

Next, Harry, Draco, and Ron also tried, and all three were able to emit white light, but it was a little weaker than Hermione's.

"Alright, it's getting late, let's call it a day." Seeing that the four of them looked tired, West announced the end of training.

Most importantly, he had to go back to have dinner with Severus.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron asked, puzzled.

Hermione stood blankly in front of a pile of clutter in the corner, holding a dusty, worn-out crown in her hand.

West squinted, walked over, and took the crown from Hermione's hand.

Hermione snapped back to reality, took a breath, and realized everyone was staring at her.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, puzzled. Her mind went blank; she only remembered that she had just been trying to decipher the runes on the inside of the crown.

"Hermione, well done." West felt the fragment of soul on the crown and laughed with pleasure. "This is one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."

"Hordeal???" the three asked in confusion, only Draco stared wide-eyed in horror, "Has the Dark Lord gone mad?"

"Yes, a Horcrux," West twirled the crown in his hand, pouring in a powerful surge of dark magic. He felt the trembling of the soul fragments and couldn't help but laugh even more heartily, his usually indifferent features becoming lively.

"Horregs are vessels created by splitting a soul using evil magic and sealing the fragments within objects. The soul splitting is triggered by murder," West explained.

"My father said that Horcruxes can deform a person's soul, gradually causing them to lose their humanity and turn them into a beast that only knows how to kill," Draco murmured.

"You're only telling us this now, something so important..." Harry looked at West, his eyes full of accusation.

"...I thought I told you." West was unusually embarrassed. After all, he had been spending all his time with Severus lately and hadn't been able to pay attention to the children.

"You're a Horcrux too, Harry." West said calmly, dropping a bombshell that left everyone stunned.

"What do we do?" Hermione asked urgently, her voice breaking. "Aren't Horcruxes supposed to be objects? How could Harry... No, I need to look it up..."

Harry looked blankly at West.

"Don't panic, would I let anything happen to Harry?" West asked helplessly. "I have a way to solve this, but not now. We haven't found all of Voldemort's Horcruxes yet. Harry, as one of the Horcruxes, might be able to sense the others—"

"Once I've dealt with these Horcruxes, I'll extract the soul fragment from Harry's body."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

West calmed the boys down, threw the crown on the ground, and fiery serpents, transformed from Fiery Blaze, crawled out from the tip of his staff and inch by inch climbed onto the crown.

Everyone seemed to hear a male voice screaming shrilly. After a while, the screams gradually subsided and disappeared.

West picked up the Ravenclaw tiara, which no longer possessed any spiritual aura, and put it into his ring, intending to give it to the headmaster of Ravenclaw later.

"That's it?" Harry looked dazed. This was way too easy!

When West escorted the boys back to the Great Hall, dinner had already begun, but he didn't see Snape at the teachers' table, so he turned and headed toward the cellar.

Sure enough, Snape was still researching potions.

Seeing West enter, Snape looked up. "What did you do in Defense Against the Dark Arts class today?"

His gaze fell on West like a knife, making West's heart tighten involuntarily.

How did it spread so fast?

Snape seemed to read his mind. "Lupin apologized to me after class."

West snorted coldly, "He knows what's good for him." His gaze swept over the empty potions cabinet, realizing that Snape had already given the wolfsbane potion to Lupin.

Yesterday, while he was helping Severus prepare the wolfsbane potion, he secretly added a bottle of bitter thorn vine juice—it wouldn't affect the potion's potency, but it would make the potion even more bitter and disgusting.

Snape definitely saw it, but chose to turn a blind eye, or perhaps he was secretly pleased to see Lupin suffer.

"Severus, I don't like him." West walked around to Snape's side, trying to change the subject.

"If you knew he was a good friend of your parents—" Snape scoffed.

"I don't care, Severus, you're not my friend," West said. "I hate Black and Lupin. They didn't contribute anything to Harry and me growing up, so why should they have my respect?"

"Most importantly, they are very unfriendly to you." West's expression darkened.

These words startled Snape.

Is this favoritism? He thought bitterly.

He finally felt the favor he had longed for for over thirty years in West, but he wasn't sure if he needed it now.

"Also, Severus, I just destroyed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."

Snape's complex and bitter expression vanished, replaced by a layer of frost. West, sensing something was wrong, cautiously began, "Severus..."

Snape jumped to his feet, slamming the book in his hand at West. "Why! Always! One person! To do such! Dangerous things!" he roared.

West, like a dutiful student, timidly said, "Um... Harry and the others are here too..."

Snape was even angrier, his chest heaving. "You dare bring these third-year students with you... West! Do you want to die...?"

West's pleas for mercy echoed from the cellar, causing the passing students to exchange grave glances.

The following day, following rumors that West had fallen for the Potions Master and that West had been "poisoned" by the Potions Master, rumors that West and Professor Snape were playing strange games in the cellars once again swept through the entire Hogwarts.

When Snape arrived at the Great Hall the next day, he received disapproving looks from McGonagall and several other professors.

"Severus, although we know West likes you—" Professor McGonagall trailed off, "you can't bully him, he's still just a third-grader—"

Sprout and Flitwick nodded gravely, their faces filled with reproach for Snape.

Snape: "..."