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

The snake's head nodded frantically, and the wooden door opened. The stone snake, looking utterly resentful, overheard Lin Mo muttering as he entered: "If I weren't afraid I'd damage your wooden door, I wouldn't have kept this stone snake here."

The stone snake on the door paused, thinking to itself: "Wolf Destroyer, I can't afford to mess with him."

Snape, bent down to pick a potion in the Forbidden Forest, suddenly felt the vibration of his contract. This was his contract with the Stone Serpent, which only alerted the contractor when someone attempted to force their way into the cellar and the Stone Serpent sensed danger.

Beneath his black robes, Snape frowned, silently ruling out whoever might have intruded. First, it couldn't be any of the other professors; they were all aware of the existence of this pact. Second, the Dark Lord wouldn't do such a thing; it truly didn't fit the elegance of Slytherin. That left only that unsuspecting little troll.

The next second, Snape thought of someone, and immediately forgot about gathering herbs, turning around and walking quickly towards Hogwarts Castle.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo in the cellar was searching for a remedy on several shelves. He quickly identified two bottles of the potion, carefully stored them, and then took out two more bottles of remedy from his pocket. These were homemade.

In fact, Lin Mo's remedy was not bad, only slightly inferior to Snape's. The reason he didn't give himself the remedy directly was to fulfill Dumbledore's request.

Of course, he didn't want to steal Snape's things, so returning two bottles was a simple apology, and he could only make up for the rest by sending some gifts later.

After changing the potion, Lin Mo was not in a hurry to leave. After all, the final step of the plan was to be caught by Snape, otherwise how could he dispel Dumbledore's doubts?

Not knowing when Snape would return, Lin Mo could only choose the most foolish method: waiting. He would pretend to have just found the potion when Snape returned. Little did he know, Snape had already received the news and was on his way back while he was inside.

The wooden door was suddenly flung open with tremendous force, almost bringing tears to the stone snake's eyes. Stone Snake: I'm the victim! I'm the victim! (ಥ_ಥ) Please, have some humanity!

Sensing Snape's return, Lin Mo immediately feigned panic and blocked the place behind him where the calming agent was placed.

"Mr. Lin, could you please explain to your poor professor and dean why you are in my office?" Snape approached Lin Mo, his presence exuding an oppressive aura.

"Sir..." Before Lin Mo could finish speaking, Snape pulled him aside, looked at the obviously tampered shelf, picked up two potion bottles, and turned them upside down.

The original SS engraving is gone; instead, it has become ML, which has Lin Mo's style.

Snape chuckled, his tone dripping with sarcasm, and said, "Mr. Lin knows how to cover things up, huh?" With that, he put one potion bottle back and opened another to take a look.

"A soothing potion," Snape said. "Mr. Lin's potions are alright. What brings you here to 'borrow' some?"

As he spoke, he reached for his wand, intending to use a Summoning Charm to retrieve the remedy Lin Mo had placed in his pocket. However, Snape stopped before even touching the wand, asking, "Will you let me find it, or will you hand it over yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo immediately obeyed, forcing a smile as he handed the potion to Snape.

"Answer my question." Snape withdrew his potion and looked at Lin Mo as he spoke slowly.

"Sir, I... Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to help Harry, and I can't explain myself if I don't do it." Lin Mo wasn't lying to Snape; he was simply stating the facts.

Without needing to spell it out, Snape understood, and his anger subsided somewhat. He still asked, "So, the clever Mr. Lin intends to take it from your Potions Professor?"

Even though Snape knew that Lin Mo was trying to dispel Dumbledore's doubts, he was still somewhat angry, though most of that anger was directed at Dumbledore.

In the end, just like before, he was unable to keep the people he wanted to keep, nor could he stop them from getting caught in the vortex. He, Snape, watched as one by one the people around him entered the game, and even he could no longer distinguish between his own black and white.

"I'm sorry, sir," Lin Mo said, adopting a posture of admitting guilt and submitting to the law.

Hearing Lin Mo's words, Snape came back to his senses, pondering each word. "Thank goodness, you haven't left yet. Perhaps I still have a chance... to atone for my sins."

"Since Mr. Lin is so sincere in repenting..." Snape only said half a sentence, then, seeing Lin Mo's somewhat surprised expression, he curled the corners of his lips and continued, "Then I should do as Mr. Lin wishes and deal with him accordingly." He spoke the last half sentence slowly and deliberately.

"Now, turn around," Snape said.

Lin Mo readily complied, turning his back to Snape with trust. In their line of work, turning one's back to anyone, even a teammate, is a major taboo, because they are alone and have no backup. Lin Mo couldn't possibly be unaware of this, yet he did it anyway.

Seeing Lin Mo turn around, Snape took out his wand and used the Summoning Charm and Transfiguration Charm to turn a gift-wrapping ribbon into hemp rope. (Of course, this ribbon was for Lin Mo to use when wrapping gifts.) He then put his wand away.

Snape approached Lin Mo, and although Lin Mo instinctively wanted to turn around, he refrained from moving. Snape grabbed Lin Mo's wrist and tied the child's hands behind his back.

Although he was restrained, Lin Mo did not resist, since a rope could not hold him back. However, he did this only because of Snape.

Snape's fingers twisted and wrapped the rope, and accidentally his fingertips brushed against the back of Lin Mo's hand before he immediately separated them. Lin Mo felt a little itchy and his hand recoiled slightly.

The touch on his hand was slightly warm. Snape raised an eyebrow, his hardened and dormant heart stirring slightly, and he deliberately moved a little further away. Lin Mo keenly sensed the subtle abnormality in the person behind him, tilted his head, and lowered his eyes.

After quickly tying it up, Snape looked at it, tightened the ends, then pulled Lin Mo to sit down on the sofa, walked over to the side, picked up a book, and used magic to float it in front of Lin Mo's eyes and open it.

"Why didn't you tell the stone snake at the door that I sent you to the cellar?" Snape paused and suddenly asked.

"Maybe... I'm too stupid, I didn't think of that." Lin Mo lowered his head without looking at Snape and began to make up a story. But in reality, he just didn't want to lie in Snape's name.

"I remember saying that if you have an emergency, the password is 'Black Falcon.' Mr. Lin, don't you even remember that?" Snape's eyes flickered, his meaning unclear.

"Hmm..." Lin Mo didn't know how to answer. He felt that Snape's password seemed to be a trap specially designed for him, and he might fall into it if he wasn't careful.

"Alright, then the 'shrewd' Mr. Lin can stay here and read for today." Snape gave Lin Mo a meaningful look, then turned back, walked to the desk, sat down, and began grading homework.

"Um... sir, I've already read this book, could you please choose another one..." Lin Mo said, pushing his luck.

Upon hearing this, Snape looked up, raised an eyebrow at Lin Mo, and waved his hand impatiently. Another book on the bookshelf flew to Lin Mo and opened automatically. Then he lowered his head again and began grading homework.

"Hehe, thank you, sir," Lin Mo said with a soft laugh.

Snape didn't look up; he simply stopped what he was about to do and changed his hand to an A instead.

Author's rambling: There will be another chapter tomorrow. The first year is finally coming to its final battle. (ง •̀_•́)ง