After Harry left, Adrian lingered for a while. This wasn't because he enjoyed standing in cold corridors, but because...In the shadows, a pair of eyes was watching him.
"Professor Snape, are you also here to admire the moon?" Adrian turned around, smiling awkwardly toward a dark corner.
Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, a figure slowly emerged from the corridor's shadows. His black robes nearly blended with the surrounding darkness, barely revealing his gloomy face.
Adrian inwardly thought, "Not good."
He hadn't detected Snape's presence nearby at all. Worse still, he didn't know when Snape had arrived. It was possible that his earlier conversation with Harry had been completely overheard.
Thinking about this, Adrian briefly recalled what he had said earlier.
Well, he probably hadn't stepped on any landmines. His words aligned with the impression junior students would have of two senior students from that time.
After all, back then everyone knew that Gryffindor's James Potter and Slytherin's Severus Snape frequently clashed.
As for Harry's mother, that was another matter entirely.
Adrian felt that if he had mentioned Harry's mother, he would have been met not with Snape's cold gaze, but with a Sectumsempra curse.
As that wasn't something he should know about.
"The moon, is it..." Snape looked out the window.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't clear today. Thick clouds covered the moon, allowing no light to penetrate.
Seeing this, Adrian tried to keep his smile natural, shrugged, and turned to walk toward the dining hall behind Snape. "I think I should go, before the house-elves clear away the food on my table..."
However, before he could finish, Snape abruptly spoke: "You seem to know a lot about the past, Professor Westeros."
Adrian turned his head to see Snape staring at him with a terrifying look.
Adrian's smile froze momentarily but quickly returned to normal. "Just heard some stories, that's all. After all, Hogwarts students always love to gossip, don't they?"
Snape didn't immediately respond. His knife-like gaze seemed intent on dissecting Adrian from the inside out, sending chills down one's spine.
Although Adrian didn't consider himself inferior to Snape in terms of ability.
In a confrontation, Snape wouldn't gain much advantage over him.
Two years after graduation, Snape had returned directly to Hogwarts to become the Potions professor. Undeniably, Snape's talent in potions was truly outstanding.
Adrian had even attended Snape's N.E.W.T. advanced class. As everyone knows, professors have a natural authority over students.
Adrian was no exception. He had been commonly targeted by Snape during classes.
Finally, Snape spoke. Though "warning" might be a more accurate description.
"Professor Westeros, knowing too much is not always a good thing," Snape gave Adrian a dangerous look, saying threateningly: "Don't talk too much, and don't do anything unnecessary. You only need to do what a professor should do."
Adrian unconsciously rubbed his sleeve cuff and showed a smile.
"What could I possibly know?" he said. "I really must go, Professor."
This time, Snape didn't stop Adrian. He narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning downward slightly. "I'll be watching you, Adrian... Professor."
Having said that, he coldly snorted, flicked his black robes, and left.
Watching Snape leave, Adrian sighed on the spot.
Great, it seemed he had attracted unwanted attention from something unpleasant.
Even worse, when Adrian returned to the dining hall, he discovered that all the plates had been cleared away, including those at his original seat.
He hadn't eaten a single bite!
Adrian stood before the empty table, staring at the spotlessly clean surface, feeling even worse than when Snape had been eyeing him.
It seemed he would have to employ the excellent traditional Hufflepuff skill.
Raid the kitchen for some food!
Adrian skillfully navigated the long corridors toward the kitchen.
Hogwarts' kitchen was near the Hufflepuff common room, and almost all Hufflepuff students knew its location perfectly.
Adrian was no exception. Without taking any wrong turns on the staircases, he arrived at the kitchen entrance.
At the entrance was a painting of a bowl filled with fruit.
One only needed to tickle the pear to transform it into a handle.
However, when Adrian arrived, the pear in the painting had already turned into a doorknob.
Obviously, someone had entered the kitchen before him.
However, Adrian wasn't surprised—it was perfectly normal for hungry people to visit the kitchen.
Pushing the door open, several house-elves quickly noticed him and paused their work to look his way.
One house-elf with ears so large they nearly dragged on the ground approached, asking somewhat nervously: "Professor, what can we do for you?"
"Hmm..." Adrian looked around, then said: "I'm just hungry and would like something to eat. Just a bit of food, please, Tata."
Hearing Adrian's response, Tata's eyes immediately brightened. "Professor remembers Tata's name, Tata is so honored!"
In fact, during his school days, Adrian could call almost all the house-elves by name, but time had passed, and he had forgotten most of them.
Tata was one of the few Adrian still remembered.
"The same flavor as before, Tata. I hope you still remember," Adrian gave Tata a smile.
Tata nodded excitedly and quickly got busy, soon returning with a plate of beef pie.
"Less onion! Professor, Tata hasn't forgotten."
Adrian accepted the plate with satisfaction.
House-elves were truly wonderful!
What excellent helpers!
This rekindled Adrian's desire to have a house-elf of his own.
"By the way," Adrian casually asked Tata before leaving: "Did anyone come here before me?"
Hearing Adrian's question, Tata blinked, responding almost without hesitation: "Yes, Professor Quirrell was here."
'Quirrell?'
Adrian found this strange, as he had seen Quirrell in the dining hall that evening.
Had Quirrell, like him, missed dinner for some reason?
"Professor Quirrell? What did he come for?" Adrian couldn't help asking.
Tata shook his head, furrowing his brow, "Hmm... When Professor Quirrell came to the kitchen, he didn't seem to want anything. He just said he was looking around, then walked through the kitchen and storeroom a few times."
Hearing Tata's words, Adrian nodded to him and smiled, saying: "Alright, thank you, Tata."
"Tata is happy to help you!"
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