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

Only two people remained in the Potions classroom. Since there was only Potions class today, Snape brazenly kept Lin Mo behind to do the hard work.

The underground classroom was dimly lit only by a few slivers of light coming through the window near the teacher's desk. Using this meager light, Snape began grading the holiday Potions homework from the other grades with his quill.

After tidying up the Gryffindor area, Lin Mo straightened up and looked at Snape. Snape's young and handsome face held a slightly angry expression, his brows furrowed, as if he had never relaxed.

Noticing the children's gaze, Snape neither looked up nor said anything, continuing to grade the trolls' assignments that were giving him a headache. This was his job; even if he disliked facing such academically unserious assignments, he still had to carefully annotate each one with the knowledge he already knew by heart.

Turning his gaze away, Lin Mo looked again at the source of the light shining on Snape. The scorching sunlight streaming through the window set the tone for September's summer, but the harsh sun brought little warmth to the cold ground.

Even the heat from the outside world is blocked by an invisible barrier, unable to penetrate this icy Slytherin, just like the students here. But in reality, this ice only blocks insincere feelings, regardless of personality; it's Slytherin's protective coloration.

Whether it was because the light was too dim to illuminate the corners of the underground classroom, hindering the cleaning, or because he was worried that the person sitting at the podium grading papers nearby might not take care of themselves and strain their eyes, Lin Mo didn't take out his wand. Instead, he waved his hand, and the entire room instantly brightened up.

The light seemed to regard Snape as a god, approaching him little by little from the outside in, as if cautiously afraid of harming this celestial being, until it illuminated Snape's entire body.

Sensing the magic and light around him, Snape looked up at Lin Mo: "Mr. Lin, I think I told you today not to use your wand in front of your poor Potions professor who's grading these worthless papers, didn't I?"

"Sir," Lin Mo reverted to his original form of address, since they were alone now, "but I didn't use my wand."

Snape, who was in a bad mood from grading homework, didn't even notice the wand before he blurted it out. By the time he realized what was happening, Lin Mo had already finished answering.

Seeing Snape glare at him, Lin Mo quickly smiled ingratiatingly and hurried over to clean the Slytherin area. Just kidding, what if he angered his own headmaster? Play dumb or get beaten up? Getting beaten up might mean facing the Death Curse… Lin Mo: I'm not scared, I'm just worried Severus will get sick from anger. |ω・）

At one moment, a halo of light reflected in Lin Mo's blue-gray eyes, like stars shining in the Milky Way, a magnificent sight for a fleeting instant.

Snape looked into those eyes and said nothing more. He just tilted his head slightly to watch Lin Mo clean the table, then lowered his head to continue grading homework without saying another word.

Not long after, Lin Mo finished packing, put his things back in their place, approached Snape, and saw him frowning as he wrote something. Lin Mo stood aside and waited until Snape finished writing before speaking: "Sir, I'm done packing. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

Snape glanced at Lin Mo, picked up all the parchment, gathered it together, stacked the items, and stood up, holding the papers: "Mr. Lin, is there anything urgent?"

"No." There were no classes this afternoon, and he had already finished all his other homework. He could do the potions homework on Friday night or Saturday. Lin Mo answered truthfully.

"Then come with me." Snape suddenly had the idea of ​​using free labor. So, in a sense, Lin Mo was kidnapped by Snape.

Once inside the cellar, Snape placed what he was carrying on his desk and pointed to the herbs beside the workbench: "Process those things. I've taught you how; I hope you haven't forgotten."

After saying that, Snape sat down and continued to frown as he graded papers. Seeing this, Lin Mo realized that he was being used as a tool, and helplessly walked over to start processing herbs, but after searching for a long time, he couldn't find a chair near the worktable.

Snape always used the workbench for making potions, and he always brewed them standing up, so there was no chair. Lin Mo stood there blankly, his gaze falling on the chair Snape was sitting on, and quickly dismissed the idea of ​​grabbing it. Honestly, why does he have to try something he can't do properly, only to die trying?

The cellar wasn't entirely devoid of furniture like chairs and tables; they were simply placed in separate cubicles. Of course, Snape's resting area was in another cubicle. So the cellar was actually quite large, and there were many potions stored on shelves some distance from the workbench.

Thanks to the advanced magical talent that Changfeng gave him as a reward, Lin Mo can currently master some simple wandless spells. As he grows older or practices more, he can master even more wandless spells.

Having already been reminded twice today, Lin Mo still didn't plan to use his wand. He used wandless magic to turn a large, unused wooden basket next to him into a stool and sat down to process the materials.

Thanks to Lin Mo's skillful knife work, the materials were quickly processed. He walked to the desk and saw that Snape had just started grading a homework assignment. So, unlike in the classroom when he saw the assignment being graded immediately, he didn't wait. Instead, he leaned closer to the desk, twisted his head at a slightly awkward angle, and looked at the words Snape had written. He also took the opportunity to see what kind of troll's scrap paper Snape had mentioned actually looked like.

After Snape finished his corrections—which had nearly pierced the parchment with his pen in frustration—he looked up at Lin Mo and noticed that the workbench in the distance had been cleaned and the processed herbs were neatly arranged. He raised his chin and said, "There's water over there. Help yourself if you're thirsty. There are cups over there; help yourself."

Lin Mo readily agreed, went over, poured himself a glass of water, took a couple of sips, and then went back over. He glanced at the empty glass on Snape's desk, then at the person sitting there. Snape hadn't started grading the next assignment; instead, he was watching Lin Mo and his movements. So their eyes met briefly, then looked away.

Watching Lin Mo take his cup, pour a glass of water, and place it in front of him, Snape didn't say anything. He picked up the cup and took a couple of sips. In fact, neither of them had drunk any water all morning.

"Professor, is there anything else I can do for you?" Lin Mo asked politely, knowing full well that his good brothers had all gone to Hagrid's side, including Draco and Hermione.

"Yes," Snape said, noticing Lin Mo's "I wasted my time asking" expression after hearing his answer. His expression softened slightly, even his habitually furrowed brow relaxed. "What, Mr. Lin, don't want to stay any longer? That's alright, you can leave anytime."

"Oh, no need," Lin Mo chuckled dryly, looking at Snape's insincere face, and said, "No, no, I'd be happy to stay and do something." Good grief, you actually believe what Snape said? Aren't you afraid that one day you'll get injured and won't have any potions to use in the infirmary?

"That's good. Since Mr. Lin has made this request, I'll reluctantly let him do his part." Snape said, giving Lin Mo four-fifths of the assignment.

Lin Mo took the thick stack of parchment and fell into deep thought, her little face contorted with worry as she almost cried: "Sir, you've given me way too many tasks! Aren't you going to pay me anything? (ಥ_ಥ)"

"Not at all," Snape suddenly became interested in teasing him, watching Lin Mo's exaggerated acting, and after a while said, "You just need to level up, leave the grading to me."

He glanced at the stool Lin Mo had transformed into after his surgery and said, "Open the door on the left front of the workbench, go get a chair and sit down to do your work. Take a quill pen from me. Oh, and don't forget to turn that wooden basket back to normal."

Hearing this, Lin Mo had no choice but to comply. As it turned out, grading only the assignments was not as difficult as he had imagined. However, by the time Lin Mo placed the last graded assignment on Snape's desk, the sun had already begun to set, and the light coming in had become somewhat dim.

Looking at the two small stacks of homework he had set aside that Snape hadn't touched on his desk, and the stack of homework under the parchment Snape was currently grading, Lin Mo picked up the homework that he had just placed on the desk and the homework that had been placed there not long ago, and went back to begin grading his own work.

Two people are indeed more efficient than one, but by the time they finish grading, the sun has already set. If only Snape were grading today, he might have to stay up until very late at night or even all night. However, Snape is one of the most meticulous and conscientious professors when it comes to student assignments.

Snape called over his house-elf, ordered dinner for himself, and gestured for Lin Mo to order as well. After the house-elf left, Lin Mo smiled and asked Snape, "Professor, is my batch alright?" The boy's bright eyes seemed to pierce through the outside world and strike straight into the heart.

"Not bad," Snape replied nonchalantly, though he was secretly pleased. "You gave some grades too high. You need to be stricter next time."

"What? There's a next time? I knew I shouldn't have come this time," Lin Mo thought. Snape saw Lin Mo's expression, and the corners of his mouth subtly turned up slightly.

In short, Lin Mo's status as a laborer was confirmed today. Snape told him to come every Friday after Potions class. Of course, the benefit was that he could occasionally do some experiments with Lin Mo or brew particularly difficult potions. If he had any questions, he could ask Snape directly.

Author's rambling: I feel like most of you aren't in a rush for romance, so I'll wait until fourth or fifth grade to write it.

Xiao Mo is actually very good at hiding his emotions. After all, he's been a spy for so many years; if he didn't, he would have been kicked out long ago. But on the one hand, things are different now, and on the other hand, he can let loose a little when he's with Snape, which can be seen as making up for the childhood he never had that was happy and free.