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

Snape was startled by the sight before him. In his memory, Lin Mo's face, which was somewhat immature yet resolute, and which was different from his usual gentle and cold demeanor, always wore a calm smile. But now, he seemed lost in thought.

His eyes were slightly red, and his right hand unconsciously rubbed his left hand's fingers. His face was expressionless, like a puppet being manipulated.

"Damn troublemaker!" Snape's face darkened considerably when he saw the child in the distance. He strode forward towards Lin Mo and reached out his large hand to pull Lin Mo away.

Still immersed in the Mirror of Eris and unable to calm his emotions, Lin Mo almost lost control of himself. When he sensed someone approaching, he instinctively tried to block the attack.

But when he caught a glimpse of Snape's face out of the corner of his eye, Lin Mo immediately stopped and allowed Snape to approach.

Seeing Lin Mo's series of responses, Snape's face darkened even more, and he grabbed Lin Mo by the back of the neck and left.

At first, Snape was a little shocked because he almost couldn't move Lin Mo. He looked closely at the somewhat dazed Lin Mo and suddenly realized that the reason he was able to easily move him yesterday was probably because Lin Mo deliberately went with his strength. But that wasn't the case now.

Snape frowned, pulled Lin Mo along forcefully, and cast several Confusion Charms on himself and Lin Mo with wandless magic to prevent them from running into students on the way.

From childhood, Snape had always trained his body regularly, so his physical fitness was far superior to that of other wizards. Even pulling along a person who was over 1.7 meters tall and didn't want to follow him was not a big problem.

"Bang!" A familiar sound, a familiar scene. The stone snake at the cellar entrance was once again disoriented. It subconsciously flicked its tongue, wondering if it had committed some terrible sin recently.

Lin Mo was pulled to the sofa, but instead of sitting up straight immediately like he had the night before, he remained in the same position. Snape looked impatient, but still helped Lin Mo sit up straight.

Snape placed his hand where the wand was kept, intending to take it out for Lin Mo to examine, but suddenly remembered Lin Mo's request from the previous night. Snape reluctantly withdrew his hand, his expression growing increasingly frightening.

He approached Lin Mo, squatted down, looked at Lin Mo carefully, and gently patted the other's back, but Lin Mo still did not react.

Snape acted swiftly, using his two large hands to gently turn Lin Mo's face so that it was facing him.

His voice was deep and resonant, yet firm and steady, putting people at ease: "Look at me... Mo, snap out of it." His tone wasn't hurried, more like a whispered instruction, but his anxiety was still palpable.

His dark, abyss-like eyes met those clear, bright blue-gray eyes, and for a moment, Lin Mo was pulled out of his memories.

Having just recovered from his shock, Lin Mo felt as if he had been resurrected from ancient times, and his body instinctively trembled slightly. Snape removed his hands from Lin Mo's face, placed them on his shoulders, and gently pressed down, his intention to soothe him was obvious.

The hand, though not particularly warm, seemed to convey an undeniable, reassuring power. In just a moment, Lin Mo regained his senses and quietly adjusted his state. Snape seemed to realize that the child was alright as well. He withdrew his hand, straightened his back, took two steps back, and reverted to his stoic, venomous demeanor.

Lin Mo took a deep breath, looked at Snape, and couldn't help but feel a little downcast, his head drooping. Seeing Lin Mo like this, Snape thought that Lin Mo was depressed because he had left the Mirror of Erised, and couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.

"Mr. Lin is truly aloof, noble, and ignorant. Could it be that the renowned dual-leader genius has become so dejected because his poor, meddlesome professor dragged him away?" Though it was sarcastic, Snape's lips curled into a cold smile, his tone revealing barely concealed anger.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, sir." Lin Mo ignored Snape's sarcasm. He knew very well that today's events were the end result of his use of the Mirror of Erised.

He is the sword that breaks the dawn in the darkness, the vanguard of elite troops, destined not to remain in the past forever; he is the backbone hidden in the night, the mainstay standing against the enemy in the black zone, destined not to indulge himself because of these things. Even if this may be his last chance to see his comrades-in-arms.

Logically speaking, Lin Mo is an extremely strong and patient person. Even if the people around him were to die in front of him or at his own hands, he would not lose his composure and become so incapable of controlling himself as he is now.

But that's exactly what happened today. It wasn't Lin Mo's mistake, nor was it because he was too weak.

Traveling through time and experiencing a second life inevitably requires bidding farewell to one's past self, and the Mirror of Eris is the best way to do so. This connection cannot be explained by common sense; separation can only be achieved through this perverse method.

"So Mr. Lin knew what reckless things he had done..." Snape continued to mock. Merlin, who was in the tens of thousands of acres of changing rooms, knew how confused and panicked he was when he saw the boy, who was as pure and innocent as moonlight, become so numb and indifferent.

Lin Mo also nodded and accepted Snape's venom, because he knew that Snape was doing it for his own good.

"Sir, I promise I won't go again." Lin Mo pursed his lips, his bright eyes, which seemed to hold the stars, looked earnestly into Snape's gaze.

Damn it, it's all this little troublemaker's fault, so why did I soften when I saw his slightly reddened eyes? Snape roared inwardly.

"Does Mr. Lin have a 'next time'? Could it be that our Hogwarts student role model has come to enjoy being dragged back by his busy Potions Professor?" Snape still wouldn't give an answer.

"Um... sir, please don't be angry..." Lin Mo said softly, moving slightly closer to Snape. "As long as you're not angry, I'll definitely listen to you."

Upon hearing this, Snape raised an eyebrow, looked down at Lin Mo who was cautiously closing the distance... no, rather, quietly snuggling closer, and gave him a flick on the forehead.

Seeing Lin Mo gently rubbing the spot where he'd been flicked on the forehead, Snape said, "Since Mr. Lin is so earnestly admitting his mistake, I have only one question."

"Who is 'Ziqin'?" Snape asked, uttering the name Lin Mo had murmured in front of the Mirror of Erised, his eyes reddening.

Lin Mo was taken aback by Snape's question and, after a long pause, uttered only two words: "An old friend."

Seemingly dissatisfied with this ambiguous answer, Snape decided not to give Lin Mo another chance. He angrily assigned Lin Mo the tasks for the afternoon and evening before slamming the door and leaving.

For the next few days, Snape gave Lin Mo no pleasantries, offering nothing but sarcasm and ridicule. And Lin Mo, just as Snape had said, never looked at the Mirror of Erised again.

Christmas soon came to an end, and all the professors and students returned to Hogwarts.

There was some Norwegian Spinosaurus over there, but Lin Mo didn't want to get involved in such trivial matters, so he helped the Norwegian Spinosaurus without participating.

Everyone who was found had fifty points deducted from their score and was sent to the Forbidden Forest to do hard labor. Lin Mowei was not involved in any of these matters.

The poor little dragon was penalized for spending time with his adorable Harry, and the ever-strict Snape didn't hesitate to tell his friend about it. As a result, Draco successfully obtained the punishment unique to the Malfoy family—copying the Malfoy family precepts.

These days, perhaps some old bee sitting in the principal's office has finally realized what's going on and is searching for his old flame... cough cough, after failing to find his old rival, he ignored Snape's awkward persuasion and chose to have a chat with Lin Mo.

This matter had dragged on for so long that Lin Mo was taken aback before heading to the principal's office.

Fortunately, the great white magician let Lin Mo in without making him recite the purchase order from Honey Duke.

Author's rambling: Don't rush this week, there's one more chapter coming tomorrow (~0~)