HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

Snape hesitated for a long time, but finally silently pushed West out of the cellar.

A lingering scent of potion, like the fresh aroma of wormwood, still lingered in the air.

West leaned against the door for a long time, feeling his heart pounding violently in his chest, and sighed.

"Severus..." The broken breath echoed through the stone corridor. West lowered his head, swallowing the wildly growing delusions.

He regretted it; he shouldn't have pressured Sievert like that.

But love, desire, and jealousy are three things that are naturally intertwined, and he is helpless against them.

"Um, Vie, are you alright?" Harry asked.

West looked dejected, leaning back in his chair, lost in thought and silent.

Just then, Hermione rushed into the classroom and sat down next to Ron.

She has largely returned the time converter this semester, making her studies much easier and less stressful than last semester.

Soon, Moody's distinctive thumping footsteps echoed down the corridor.

He walked into the classroom, and the students stared at him curiously, except for West, Harry, and Draco.

West looked dejected and didn't give anyone a second glance. Harry wanted to curse this imposter to death on the spot, and Draco was even less likely to like the teacher who had turned him into a weasel.

Moody took out the roster and began calling out names, his piercing fake eyes fixed on each student who answered.

"This year, I'm going to let you experience the spells that wizards cast, and teach you how to truly deal with dark magic," Moody said, putting down the roster.

The students below discussed it in hushed tones.

"What the hell?" Ron blurted out.

"Logically, since you're not even in sixth grade, I shouldn't be telling you what illegal dark magic spells look like. But Professor Dumbledore greatly praised your courage and believed you could handle it."

"And I also believe that the sooner you understand what you're dealing with, the better."

Moody chuckled softly. "So... does anyone know which spells are subject to the most severe punishments under wizarding law?"

Ron and Hermione raised their hands, and Moody looked at Ron first. "You're Arthur Weasley's son, right? Then tell me."

"Um, my father told me about one, the Imperius Curse, right?" Ron said uncertainly.

Moody nodded, opened the drawer of the lectern, and took out a glass bottle containing three large spiders. Ron shrank back.

What followed was an absolute ordeal for the students in the audience.

Moody demonstrated the Imperius Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, and the Killing Curse on the three spiders one by one.

When the text reached the part about "heart-wrenching pain," the spider's legs all retracted, and its body convulsed violently, as if it were enduring terrifying pain.

"Stop!" Hermione shouted.

She looked at Neville, whose face had turned completely white. He gripped the table tightly with both hands, his eyes filled with terror, and his body trembled along with the spider.

Harry turned to look at Draco and saw that his hands were clenched tightly around the hem of his clothes.

Moody seemed unconcerned and cast the Killing Curse on the last spider, which fell silently onto the table.

"A very unpleasant curse, with no breaking spell," Moody said, turning his gaze to Harry. "As far as people know, only one person has escaped the Killing Curse, and he's sitting right in front of me right now."

Harry stared calmly at Moody.

The students around him turned to look at him, but he didn't care.

Harry sneered inwardly.

He did escape the killing curse, but his parents were completely taken by it.

Harry felt a warmth on the back of his hand. He looked up and saw West patting his hand.

When Moody announced the end of class, everyone started talking about it as soon as they left the classroom.

“This isn’t funny.” Hermione frowned, still looking at Neville. “Neville’s parents were groped in the heart…he was terrified.”

Harry felt the same way.

Draco's lips were pale as he cursed Moody viciously, "If the Ministry of Magic finds out what he's done, he's finished..."

Just then, Moody walked over. Harry instinctively stepped in front of Draco to block him.

"Hmph." Draco cowered behind Harry, grumbling softly. He wasn't afraid of Moody! He'd get his revenge sooner or later!

Moody glanced at Harry with his blue eyes and then took Neville away.

"He won't do anything to Neville, will he?" Harry asked West with concern.

"He wouldn't dare," West said.

Harry and Ron went back to their Gryffindor dorm to get their Divination textbooks and charts, only to find Neville already there, sitting on his bed reading.

"He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Harry asked.

"Oh, no," Neville quickly waved his hand. "I think Professor Moody is quite nice. I'm reading the book he lent me."

Neville held up a copy of "The Amazing Aquatic Plants of the Mediterranean and Their Characteristics".

Three question marks appeared above Harry's head.

He had to admit that the imposter was a very dedicated actor, at least for now, and seemed quite engrossed in the professor's role-playing game.

Hermione isn't in the common room; she looks like she's gone to the library again.

She has recently become obsessed with studying the history of house-elves and is determined to promote SPEW. The association now has four members: the president herself, Harry and Ron who were forced to join, and West, who seems very interested.

It is said that West also sponsored 100 Galleons for the House-Elf Rights Promotion Association, which Hermione will use for promotion and membership development.

Hermione is currently trying to persuade Draco and Pansy to let Draco help her develop pure-blood family members in Slytherin.

"Not even if it means death!" This was Draco and Pansy's twelfth refusal.

Hermione wanted to seek West's help, but West disappeared as soon as get out of class ended.

"He's been in a bad mood lately, he seems to be going crazy," Harry said.

"Huh?" Hermione was so busy with the association's promotional work that she hadn't even noticed West's change. "What happened?"

"My initial guess is that he had a falling out with Professor Snape," Ron said.

Hermione waved her hand regretfully, "Then I'd better not bother him."

West was indeed going crazy. He hadn't been alone with Severus for two weeks; the last time they met was in Potions class.

Snape refused West entry into the dungeons, but he himself returned to the dungeons immediately when he was not in class, and even handed over the task of night patrols entirely to Filch, resolutely not giving West any chance to get close to him.

Snape once again turned West away.

He rubbed his temples, realizing that things couldn't continue like this, but he really couldn't face West right now.

Recalling that day, Snape's ears turned red. "This..."

A name lingered on his tongue, but he ultimately didn't utter it.

Snape realized his heart was pounding. It was a feeling of attraction against his will.