The city was shrouded in a light veil.

On a smoggy day in London, it seemed as if layers of gauze floated through the air.

On the quiet streets,

Ian was still immersed in the sorrow of parting.

Although he had always looked forward to truly learning magic, when he finally stepped out of the orphanage to pursue his studies, he still felt a deep sense of reluctance towards this place and the people here.

After all, this was where Ian had lived for eleven years since his crossing.

“Ha, it seems, Mr. Prince, you know how to be likable.”

Snape's voice broke the heavy atmosphere. For some reason, his seemingly normal words, paired with his slow, deliberate tone, always managed to convey a sense of sarcasm.

Ian did not respond.

He simply dragged his suitcase behind him, following Snape.

His mood was somewhat low.

He didn't really want to expend energy dealing with the professor before him. After all, for this Potions Master at Hogwarts, no matter how well a student behaved, it would not earn their goodwill.

Faced with Ian's silence,

Snape spoke again.

“You left all your money to them; that’s not something a smart person would do.” Clearly, Ian's earlier actions had not escaped the keen eyes of this wizard.

“I still kept a little to… to exchange for currency in the magical world.” Ian looked up at Snape, who seemed inconsistent with his persona.

Wasn’t he supposed to be taciturn?

“Well, that’s not too foolish.”

Snape snorted dismissively.

“You know you’re just an orphan raised here, the kind that needs to be taken care of, right?” Snape slowed his pace and squinted at Ian beside him.

“My health wasn’t very good as a child; perhaps due to the awakening of magic, I could be considered frail.” Ian did not directly answer Snape’s question.

“Ms. Ilena would take me to the hospital in the city. Back then, the orphanage's financial situation was much worse than it is now, yet she would still buy me expensive medicine.”

“The food at the orphanage was also very scarce. When I was sick, Catherine would share half of her bread with me, and Daniel would run out to find wild herbs for me.”

“Although Daniel's witch grandmother ended up poisoning herself with her own medicine, that didn’t stop Daniel from believing that as long as I took his medicine, I would become strong and healthy.”

“And Mia, who is a bit younger than me, would pray to God for me all night whenever I was sick. Everyone was very, very kind to me.”

Ian's voice was calm and gentle.

“Tsk tsk, are you trying to move me?”

Snape remained unmoved.

“Not at all, Professor.”

Ian did not expect Snape to understand his feelings. He had heard that those who became Death Eaters did not understand what love meant, so he could only explain to Snape from a different angle.

“They considered me a lot, so when I am able, I certainly need to consider them too.” Ian spoke softly but firmly.

“It is my rightful responsibility.”

The tender voice echoed on the empty street, and the small figure followed Snape through the fog. His calm words left Snape, wrapped in his black robes, silent for a long time.

“Tsk tsk, not very big, but you have quite a lot of reasoning. You're really worrying about things that aren’t your concern.”

After a long while,

Snape made a sarcastic remark, his expression unchanged.

“Though a wealthy benefactor has been donating anonymously over the years, the purchasing power of the pound has recently fallen sharply. Without that money, everyone would live very hard.”

The reason Ian set up a stall in the street every day was not only to improve his proficiency in Psychology but also to earn a little more money to help Ms. Ilena, the head of the orphanage.

Even without Hogwarts, the money would eventually be used for eggs, milk, vegetables, and meat, brought back to the orphanage in other ways.

To be honest, an eleven-year-old child really doesn’t have much to spend on himself. Ian was not a saint, but he was definitely not the kind of ungrateful person who would forget his benefactors.

“So, you want me to call you the savior of the orphanage?”

Snape continued to glance sideways at Ian, his slow tone making one want to punch him.

“No, Professor. If you could show a little generosity and donate some money to the orphanage, then you would be the real savior, the true hero.”

Yes.

After saying all that,

Ian’s true intentions finally surfaced.

He turned his green eyes towards Snape, thinking that perhaps the color of his eyes, similar to Lily Potter's, might have some influence?

Moreover,

Although he still didn’t understand what Dumbledore had said before, he could indeed sense Snape’s feelings of guilt from his Mind Perception.

If he could use this to get Snape to donate some money, it would definitely be a fortunate thing for the orphanage—after all, Ian’s little earnings would only last for a while.

But standing here now was Snape, the Potions Master of Hogwarts; even a little slipped from his teeth would greatly benefit the orphanage.

Do not underestimate the financial power of a Potions Master.

“You really are a…”

Snape stopped walking.

His black eyes stared at Ian, filled with sharp and ambiguous complexity.

“A qualified Slytherin.”

Clearly,

Ian’s little trick could not fool Snape. He understood almost instantly what Ian had been trying to achieve through all his emotional appeals.

“Just too bad, you don’t understand me. I’m not a good person; I won’t donate even a single Galleon to a ridiculous Muggle orphanage.”

Snape sneered.

With disappointment in Ian's eyes, he took another step.

He led Ian into a deserted alley.

“Drink it.”

Snape suddenly took out a bottle of green potion.

His words carried an undeniable tone.

“Hmm?”

Ian, dragging his suitcase, was slightly taken aback as he looked at the bubbling green potion in the bottle, swallowing nervously and revealing an awkward smile.

“Professor, what is this…”

He felt like the other party was trying to poison him; even if it wasn’t lethal, it would probably leave him with psychological trauma. Everyone knows that potions in the magical world are notoriously unpleasant to taste.

“Do you really think I need to scheme against you, tricking you into drinking a potion?” Snape looked at Ian with a contemptuous gaze.

Well,

That was indeed reasonable.

“I just think it doesn’t taste very good.”

Ian weakly replied.

However,

Snape merely stopped and stared at him expressionlessly.

“Alright, alright.”

After a moment of hesitation,

Ian took the potion.

Like taking medicine, he gulped it down in one go—what? The aftertaste was not bitter at all, but sweet, like coconut milk, very smooth and pleasant!

This isn’t right,

Weren’t Snape’s potions supposed to be notoriously bad?

Ian was still savoring the potion.

“I have never seen such a timid fool like you!”

Snape suddenly lunged, one hand gripping Ian's neck while the other waved his wand to perform Apparition—both of their figures instantly vanished from the alley.

Ian felt his vision blur.

When his sight regained clarity,

everything around him had changed dramatically.

Before him was a cobblestone street that seemed to stretch all the way to the sky. Various shops lined the sides of the road, each different from the other, as people dressed in strange, lavish clothing laughed and played in the streets.

Feather dusters swept dust automatically, brooms cleaned the streets without being held, and owls, snakes, mice… various animals perched cutely on the shoulders of wizards.

The scene he had only seen in movies now appeared before Ian in a way that was a hundred times more shocking than in the films.

He knew,

This was Diagon Alley.

The place where he and many others… began their dreams.