"Rejecting him, huh… might hurt that poor little wizard's fragile heart," Kasenhis said with a laugh.
"No… no, Professor, absolutely not. If I don't reject him, then I'm the one whose fragile little heart will get hurt," Harry said, shaking her head furiously.
"That's up to you. I'm just an ordinary, unremarkable alchemy professor. Psychological counseling is a bit beyond my syllabus," Kasenhis said, shaking his head.
"Then Professor, just tell me how to reject him," Harry said.
"Find an opportunity, preferably when you're alone with him, and reject him directly. Fewer people is better. Rejecting someone in public is too humiliating. And in the future, when you turn back into Harry and want to invite someone… uh, or confess, it's best not to do it in public either. A dance partner or girlfriend obtained that way tends to come with a strong risk of being kidnapped by the audience."
"Because a crowd full of people shouting 'say yes,' 'say yes,' 'marry him,' 'marry him' is really irritating," Kasenhis explained.
"But right now, inviting dance partners seems to always be like that," Harry said, puzzled.
"That's because I'm just a professor, not your parents. I can't exactly teach you how to handle this kind of thing," Kasenhis said, utterly speechless.
"That makes sense." Harry nodded and stood up to leave.
Kasenhis stretched lazily as well, picked up his notebook, and checked whether there was anything he'd forgotten to do, so he could find some time to take care of it properly.
Once outside, Harry let out a soft, pitiful whimper. It was as if some heavy weight had bent her over, leaving her without the slightest bit of strength or will.
Right now, she really wished a troublemaking Slytherin would pop up in front of her so she could vent properly.
And then Sirius suddenly appeared right in front of her. "Hello?"
Harry shrank her neck in fright.
Sirius scratched his head. "Why did you get more timid after turning into a little girl?"
"That's because you move too fast. Who can handle someone suddenly popping into their face like that?" Harry said helplessly.
"Alright, alright. I just heard—uh, heard from Ron about what happened in class, so I came to check on you," Sirius said, patting Harry on the back as the two of them walked down the corridor together.
"What did he tell you?" Harry asked tentatively, hoping it wasn't about Draco inviting her to the ball.
"About Sniv—uh—Snape. I heard he gave you quite a lot of points?" Sirius said.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. Pretty strange, right? He gave me at least forty points in one class. I suspect he might've taken the wrong potion."
Sirius let out a sigh of relief. "As long as it was just points. He didn't make you eat or drink anything weird, did he?"
Harry looked at Sirius with a shiver. "Why would you even ask something like that?"
Sirius stared at her with question marks practically popping over his head. "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Oh. I thought Remus had told you already. How do I put this… uh, it's old-generation drama. Your mum, Lily, and Sniv—uh—Snape were childhood friends, you get me?"
"HUHHHH?" Harry's voice jumped an entire octave.
"Yeah, what's so surprising about that? You need to properly understand your mother's charm, just like you look right now," Sirius said matter-of-factly.
"Then what happened after that?"
"What else could happen? Do you think Snape has any charm at all? Of course your dad won your mum over. Then Snape felt like he'd been cuckolded. Add in all the friction, fights, and mutual attacks we had back then, and he started hating the whole house along with the owner. That's how his grudge ended up landing on you. Changing tactics every day just to mess with you," Sirius explained.
"So you're saying my dad cucked Snape? Pfft~! Why can't I hold it in, this is hilarious!" Harry's expression management completely collapsed.
"You can't really call it cucking. Snape and your mum never actually had anything going on. What cuckolding is there? He just turned into a loser, that's all," Sirius said with a strange snicker.
"Haahh.. Got it, got it. Then what did you mean when you said Snape might make me drink something weird?" Harry asked.
"It means that right now you look almost exactly like your mother, and I have very deep reservations about his character. If you keep swaying around in front of him looking all pretty, it's hard to say something won't happen."
"What the fuck—"
"Yeah.. for example, with his status as a Potions Master, slipping a bit of Love Potion into something you eat or drink is entirely possible," Sirius said.
"He probably wouldn't… If he wanted to do that, he would've done it to my mum directly. Why would he wait for me?" Harry shuddered at the thought, just imagining herself hopelessly falling in love with Snape…
"Lily's talent in Potions was no worse than Snape's, at least not by much, so she could tell. You, on the other hand, maybe not," Sirius said.
"Then wouldn't I be pretty dangerous right now?"
"Mm… you could put it that way. If before, when you looked like your father, Snape's feelings toward you were hatred by association, then now that you look like your mother, it might turn into affection by association."
"Who knows, if he really loses control, he might even drink some strange potion himself, turn back into a young man, and invite you to the Christmas Ball," Sirius said, finally unable to hold it in and breaking into a very obvious chuckle.
Harry, standing beside him, felt none of that amusement. Just slightly imagining a miniaturized Snape appearing in front of her, bending slightly and extending his hand, sent a chill straight down her spine.
Let alone holding Snape face to face, arms around each other, gazing deeply into each other's eyes while dancing.
"Holy Fuck—!" Harry instinctively sped up her steps. She'd made up her mind: the first person of the opposite sex she ran into would be her dance partner!
No, wait—who cared if they were the opposite sex? Two girls could dance together too!
And then she saw Draco coming around the corner.
Seeing Miss Harley rushing toward him, Draco immediately remembered Professor Kasenhis's earnest advice.
"Greetings, radiant young lady. I am Draco Malfoy, and I sincerely wish to invite you to be my partner for the Christmas Ball."
Harry looked at Draco extending the invitation and subconsciously took a step back.
Actually… the second person she met wouldn't be bad either, right?
Then she saw the second person.
Goyle, standing right behind Draco…
She looked at Goyle, then looked back at Draco. In the end, she fixed her gaze on Draco and placed her hand in his.
"I… I accept your invitation."
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