HP: At the beginning, I influenced Snape's childhood.

"You said you didn't want me to point my wand at you." Snape seemed not to hear Lin Mo's words, as if he was thinking about something, and spoke to himself.

"That's true." Lin Mo thought for a moment and nodded in response.

Who knows what his professor was thinking? He clearly felt a little uncomfortable being pointed at by the wand, not that he was targeting him.

"Sir..." Lin Mo guessed that Snape probably thought that he was uncomfortable because of the accident when they first met.

"I'm not afraid of you pointing your wand at me, nor is it only when I'm facing you that I don't want to be pointed at by a wand."

It's just that I might be more sensitive to these things, so I feel uncomfortable whenever someone points a wand at me.

"If it were anyone else, and I could beat them, I probably would have dueled them directly." Lin Mo looked intently into Snape's eyes, which were as calm as a still pond.

It's not because of you that I feel bad; on the contrary, you are the exception in my instincts because we are the same kind of people.

"So what I said to you before, you don't need to worry about it. It was just an instinctive reaction that came out of my mouth."

At one point, Lin Mo really hoped that Snape's calm, black eyes would show some movement, at least that would make him look more alive.

"Mr. Lin is brave and fearless, and considerate of others. Your poor professor has nothing more to say." Snape didn't want to continue the conversation. He looked up at Lin Mo, his tone devoid of emotion.

He forgot that the child in front of him was not like him. He was despicable, cowardly, and tyrannical, and he never thought that if he were in the same situation as the child, he would choose to protect them.

He, Snape, was a pure Slytherin, a cold-blooded fellow, not the doctor from St. Mungo's who saved lives.

He always prioritizes maximizing his own interests, and he considers the pros and cons of his actions. He has to think about gains and losses, and he cannot bring himself to protect the greatness of others no matter what.

"If Lockhart does something like this again, sir, you should just ignore that guy." Lin Mo didn't want to see Snape like this.

Although Lin Mo knew that changing the subject might lead him into a trap, he didn't care.

"Ha." Snape raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with sarcasm. "Do you even know which stupid troll forced your poor headmaster to join that dueling club?"

"...If that's what you mean, then I think I understand." Lin Mo had successfully gotten himself into trouble.

"So Mr. Lin knew all along how much trouble he had caused your poor, busy Dean," Snape said coldly.

"Sorry," Lin Mo said subconsciously.

Unbeknownst to him, he had developed a pattern of frequently acting like a jerk, admitting defeat, and apologizing when facing Snape.

Habit is a terrible thing, as it is when you get used to darkness, and as it is when you get used to being alone.

"Mr. Lin, you don't need to keep apologizing. You don't owe me anything, and I have no right to choose." Snape's voice was calm, a calmness that no one else could detect.

Lin Mo looked at Snape, trying to dig out even a trace of resentment from Snape's numb face.

Unfortunately, he failed.

The Snape before him was the real Snape, yet one that was impossible to perceive, not the free and self-loving Snape that Lin Mo had envisioned.

Perhaps the endless darkness and pain numbed Snape, causing him to give up resisting.

When did his professors lose their right to choose?

The rapidly flashing thoughts made Lin Mo's mouth feel a little sore. He couldn't help but press his tongue against the roof of his mouth, trying to relieve the itch that was spreading to his heart, like being stung by a wasp.

Perhaps after I left, Severus, a little boy, lived alone.

Perhaps it was because after making friends, someone took those friends away, and when they resisted, they were outnumbered and bullied, leaving them powerless.

Perhaps due to ridicule and exclusion from students in the same college, students from other colleges kept their distance and even attempted to harm them physically or mentally.

Perhaps due to a moment of impulsiveness, he lost his friends and was separated from them by death. Helplessly, he was forced to become a spy by using the children of his friends and enemies as leverage.

Perhaps even if they bear the blame and insults from outsiders, students, or even those they protect with their lives, they still have to pretend to be unfazed and keep going.

Snape let the boy look at him with a puzzled expression, without uttering a word of mockery.

Snape thought that children could not possibly understand their own meaning, while Lin Mo was wondering why fate seemed to be predetermined, and no matter how hard people tried, they could not break free.

Lin Mo is not a person who likes to back down. In fact, he almost never backed down in his previous life, not even insincerely.

However, when it came to Snape, Lin Mo preferred to be more submissive rather than have the two of them argue.

Aside from Snape's disregard for his own life and health, Lin Mo had no desire to argue with him about anything.

Compared to Snape, Lin Mo knew he had lived a very good life in this one. He had a brother, brothers, and friends. At least he didn't have to give much to gain other people's complete sincerity.

This was something he had almost never experienced in his previous life, and something Snape had almost never experienced in this life either.

Therefore, Lin Mo would rather suffer a loss in words than accept criticism or ridicule.

"Why do you think that, sir?" After a long while, Lin Mo finally spoke, knowing the answer already, but he didn't want one.

Snape believed that Lin Mo wouldn't understand, nor did he need to understand at this age, and he wanted to use Venom to dispel Lin Mo's doubts.

"Whatever you think in other circumstances, I have no right to interfere."

But I want to say that I can guarantee that you can refuse me anytime you wish, as long as it concerns me.

"No matter when, no matter what you want, you can choose, as long as you follow your own wishes." At this moment, Lin Mo hoped that he could speak with utmost sincerity.

This time, he won't leave again. He wants to save Snape's heart, and he will, no matter the cost.

No one knows the price of changing one's destiny. Equivalent exchange is the law of the world, but fate, in its invisible way, always seems to prefer taking advantage.

But this time, reason and impulse aligned, and Lin Mo had to do it because he was rescuing Snape, who was also his former self.

The figures in his memory overlapped; he had seen the shadow of the characters in the book in himself, and now, the characters in the book had become living, breathing people.

He saw a reflection of himself in Snape.

This is never a replacement, but a similarity of souls.