The Insights of the Gods, Deducing the Forbidden Spells at Hogwarts

"Ridiculous."

Snape was growing irritated.

What was going on?

First, he had to endure Charlie's arrogant nonsense.

And now even Sprout was spouting madness.

Claiming that he had pointed out errors in her potions textbook.

That his insights were ahead of their time.

Did he look like someone with the leisure to entertain such absurdities?

The more Snape thought about it, the angrier he became.

His face was even turning slightly red.

Finally

Snape returned to his office.

He set down his classroom materials and let out a long breath.

Finally, he could rest.

Rubbing his temples, Snape tried to clear his mind.

Lately, everything had been far too bizarre.

Time passed.

Hours slipped away.

It seemed Snape had rested enough.

Slowly, he recalled Sprout's words.

"Pointed out errors in The Basics of Potioneering?"

"Insights ahead of their time?"

That didn't seem right.

Now that he was calm, Snape thought it through.

Sprout, despite her age and somewhat careless demeanor

Was never sloppy when it came to Herbology.

Never.

And she certainly had no reason to prank him.

Could it be true?

Impossible. Charlie wrote that.

How could that be?

If Charlie had somehow skimmed through all those books in a single day, fine, he'd accept that.

But how could he also identify errors in them?

And even gain Sprout's approval?

This was madness.

Snape let out a small chuckle.

Amused at his own ridiculous thoughts.

But that amusement barely lasted a few minutes before his expression changed.

Almost compulsively,

He reached for the remaining papers from yesterday, the ones he hadn't thrown away.

They were already torn in half.

Snape picked up one piece.

It contained Charlie's summary of the principles of magical condensation.

The letter had originally been meant for Snape, to request more advanced books to verify Charlie's theories.

Snape narrowed his eyes.

Perhaps he simply wanted to crush his own unrealistic fantasies.

One minute passed.

A faint smirk appeared at the corner of Snape's lips.

Five minutes later

Snape furrowed his brows.

Ten minutes later.

Suddenly, Snape took a deep breath.

Something wasn't right.

The theories and summaries Charlie had written weren't baseless nonsense.

How could such a sharp perspective exist?

No, I have to try it myself.

With that thought, Snape entered a meditative state.

Following Charlie's described method and angle, he attempted magical condensation.

As time went on

Snape's expression grew more and more serious.

It actually

Worked!

Charlie's self-developed method was astonishingly efficient!

Oh, Merlin!

What have I done?

I actually wrote a thousand-word letter, full of scolding and rebuke…

He's just a child, yet I did something so terrible.

I deserve to be damned!

Snape was utterly shocked.

He snapped out of his meditation.

Then immediately began searching, on his desk, on the floor.

Yesterday, after tearing Charlie's letter apart, he had simply discarded the pieces.

Now, he had to find them.

Finally, after half an hour

Snape, covered in dust, managed to retrieve the remaining fragments.

Of course, some pieces were completely lost.

"My notes… I was wrong here?"

"There's no need for this step in potion cultivation?"

"..."

Snape muttered to himself.

Then, he gathered some potion-making equipment and started experimenting.

A few hours later

Snape finally let out a long breath.

He collapsed into his chair.

Staring at the ceiling, silent for a long time.

Everything Charlie had written in that letter

Was true.

He was right about everything!

Fate must be playing a massive joke on me.

And yet, I still wrote him that scathing letter.

Calling him an idiot…

An idiot?

The real idiot here… is me.

"Haah…"

Snape felt exhausted.

The letter had already been sent.

Even though it would take a few days to reach Charlie

It was already too late to intercept the owl.

Snape recalled everything that had transpired.

A shiver ran down his spine.

What kind of existence is this child?

His talent was utterly terrifying.

This was a born wizard.

Never had he heard of anyone with such an innate gift.

He was only ten years old.

Even at that age, Dumbledore himself would have been left in the dust.

"Albus, your standing in the wizarding world is about to be surpassed."

Snape shook his head with a bitter smile.

Then, he slowly pulled himself together.

He couldn't dwell on this any longer.

The only thing he could do now

Was fulfill Charlie's request in the letter.

Help him gather those books.

Deliver them in person.

Apologize face-to-face?

…That might be too difficult.

Forget it.

I'll deal with it when the time comes.

Apologizing to Lily's child, a genius wizard, there's no shame in that, right?

Snape convinced himself.

Then, he straightened his robes and left his office.

Inside the Hogwarts library

A figure in black robes could be seen.

Holding onto the staircase railing, searching for books one by one.

Charlie was bewildered.

He had just received Snape's reply.

A thousand-word letter, filled entirely with reprimands about his arrogance.

Thankfully

Snape had at least some restraint.

He hadn't used a Howler.

Otherwise, if he had accidentally opened it in front of others

It would have been social suicide.

"If you don't want to help, just say so. Did you really have to write a thousand words to scold me?"

Charlie shook his head helplessly.

Of course, he wasn't planning to give up.

He would wait a few days

Once Snape had cooled down, he'd write another letter to explain.

That was his plan.

Time flew by.

Charlie estimated that by now, Snape should no longer be that angry.

He picked up his quill to start writing

He had just finished the opening lines when a nun called out to him.

"Dear Charlie, someone's looking for you."