Chapter 267 Cynthia's Start of School
On the night of September 9st, the weather was terrible and it was raining heavily. The freshmen had to take a boat across the bottomless Black Lake in such a scene. If any Muggle school held such an event in such weather, they would definitely be charged with murder.
This year, the freshmen not only have to face the physically difficult road to study, but also have to endure great psychological pressure, because the kind giant Hagrid who used to lead the freshmen had swollen joints for some reason yesterday, and is now being taken care of by Madam Pomfrey. He definitely can't go out in such a cold weather, and the person who enthusiastically takes over his job is Severus Snape.
What is Professor Snape like to the new students?
Think of his face, which was so serious that it could leave a mark and only forced a smile when he was mocking, and then pray for these freshmen.
Moreover, he now has another kind of pressure. Everyone knows that he is the adoptive father of the famous Della Riddle, and everyone is terrified of this identity.
The freshmen stepped into the wobbly boat in the heavy rain. They were soaked through. Some of the children were twitching. They started crying when they saw Snape, but the heavy rain washed away their tears.
Cynthia White, who was a freshman at Hogwarts at the age of sixteen, stood out among this group of immature children. Her height and appearance were one reason, and Snape standing next to her and the rain-proof spell "happened" to radiate to Cynthia, making her less embarrassed.
Snape looked at Cynthia's hair, which was left with only dark shadows in the dim night. His face was still serious and calm, but his mind was wandering. In his eyes, Cynthia's silver hair turned into red hair.
And when this girl turns around, she will have a pair of emerald green eyes like Lily...
Cynthia stood at the end of the queue to board the boat. She felt Snape's gaze, but did not want to express anything. She just stood there with a cold expression until Snape got on the same boat with her. Then Cynthia said distantly, "You really take care of me, Professor."
Her lukewarm tone was sarcastic.
When Cynthia was speaking, Snape sobered up for a moment, because that voice was very unlike Lily's. Lily's voice was full of life and power, while Cynthia's voice was too soft. However, Cynthia's face was too similar to Lily's. Snape's expression was much better than usual. "There are only so many boats, and those children are too timid. They don't dare to sit with me, nor with you."
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to sit with you, Professor," Cynthia raised her head slightly, and she said bluntly, "I don't like being looked at the same way I look at others."
The funny thing is, when Cynthia said this, Snape saw Lily's shadow in the self-esteem and arrogance that were exactly the same as in his memory. He couldn't help but ask again, "Have you really lost your memory, White?"
"Professor, according to the doctor's orders from St. Mungo's, you shouldn't have provoked me like this." Cynthia's green eyes gleamed in the darkness. "Also, the Ministry of Magic has already made a final decision on this matter. I hope you can understand my status as a victim."
"..." The pouring rain bypassed the two of them and fell into the Black Lake. The crying and shouting of students were in his ears. Snape looked at Cynthia with a complicated expression and recalled the morning when she was found.
On the morning when Cynthia White was discovered by the residents of Hogsmeade, the people from the Ministry of Magic who had arrived the day before and had not yet retreated quickly rushed out and brought her back to Hogwarts. They originally linked this suddenly appearing silver-haired girl with the escaped Sirius Black, hoping to get some clues from her.
And when Madam Pomfrey pushed aside Cynthia White's silver hair, she screamed because she saw the face of her former student Lily Evans.
Then a group of professors came and said that this was what their former students looked like, just that they had become too young. They unanimously condemned the mastermind who made fun of the appearance of a dead person.
Snape was among them. He listened to the noisy discussions and sighs of his colleagues without saying a word. Suddenly, he used an active spell on Cynthia White on the hospital bed that could break the disguise of a wizard. Cynthia, who was still in a coma, bounced under the impact of the spell. She still did not wake up, but frowned and whimpered in pain.
The professors around her didn't react. McGonagall subconsciously looked at Cynthia, and was shocked that her appearance didn't change at all under the current spell. Then she saw the girl's body bouncing even more violently. She turned her head and saw Snape still casting the spell like crazy.
McGonagall reacted and quickly took away Snape's weapon. She and Madam Pomfrey rushed over to stop Snape and told him to calm down.
Snape struggled with his eyes bare, dark color seeped out of his clothes, and the wounds on his body burst open again. Cynthia White finally opened her eyes under the pain of the continuous impact of the spell on her body.
The moment he saw the same emerald green eyes as in his memory, Snape lost all his strength and collapsed to the ground.
"Where is this? Who are you?" This was the first sentence Cynthia White said after opening her eyes. Then she raised her hand and looked at the strands of silver hair hanging between her fingers. "Who am I?"
Dumbledore and Fudge arrived at this time. McGonagall dragged Snape and other professors to make way. When they approached the bewildered Cynthia, Fudge began to make a "beep-beep-beep" sound.
Fudge's expression suddenly became nervous. He took out a spyglass from his pocket that could detect dark magic and looked at Dumbledore for help.
"Are you feeling unwell, young lady?" Dumbledore said gently. He took the guilt from Fudge's hand and put the hand holding the peephole to the black snake mark on Cynthia's neck. The peephole screamed even louder. "Do you know why you screamed on the roof of the Shrieking Shack?"
"The Shrieking Shack?" Cynthia asked doubtfully, subconsciously avoiding the thing that kept screaming beside her. She looked confused and embarrassed. "I don't know... I don't know anything... I don't remember..."
"Ah... there is another name, Cynthia White... that seems to be my name..." Cynthia shook her head painfully, "Otherwise... I don't know anything..."
"Don't think too hard, Miss White." Madam Pomfrey, a doctor, went over to comfort her. She gently pressed Cynthia's shoulders. "It's safe here. We will also investigate everything that happened to you. You should rest first."
After Madam Pomfrey calmed Cynthia down, she drove out everyone who started discussing disrupting the quiet of the infirmary, including the distraught Snape, the thoughtful Dumbledore, and the terrified Fudge.
"The irreversible mark on her neck was left by black magic, but her soul is pure and has never been touched by black magic... She must be a victim..."
Snape was listening to Dumbledore and Fudge in a daze at the time, feeling disgusted and happy at the same time. The negative and passionate emotions mixed together almost overwhelmed his will.
Afterwards, several red hairs were found on Cynthia's body. After drinking the Polyjuice Potion made from these hairs, the Ministry members turned into 16-year-old Lily, but Cynthia said she was completely unaware of this. The sneak peek that could detect lies was useless under the mark on her neck that was related to dark magic. With the experience of Della Riddle before, no one dared to use the truth serum.
In the end, Sirius Black was charged with one more crime - using dark magic to maliciously distort other people's appearance and memory. Cynthia White, the victim, was assigned a guardian, Remus Lupin, recommended by Dumbledore, and received an admission notice from Hogwarts.
"Oh my God! Someone fell into the water!"
The children's shrill screams interrupted Snape's memories. Snape turned around and saw a thin boy struggling in the water. His face turned gloomy, and he waved his wand impatiently and threw him back into the boat.
Cynthia glanced coldly at the chaotic lake and turned to look towards Hogwarts. Although there was an annoying person sitting opposite her, she was still very happy because she had just left another annoying person.
Like Severus Snape, Remus Lupin looked at her the same way he looked at others, and Cynthia White hated such people equally.
It was just because of Dumbledore, who seemed to be able to see through people at a glance, that Cynthia was usually very polite to Lupin.
Amid the sound of pattering rain and the screams of children, Cynthia stepped onto the grounds of Hogwarts. The ginger light shone on her soft silver hair, and dots of light scattered around her, as if fairies had scattered magic sequins around her, making her even more radiant.
She followed Snape into the hall with great anticipation, imagining the wonderful campus life in her heart. But when she stepped into the hall, she was surrounded by astonished glances and exclamations of surprise at her beauty, but among them, a cold gaze with murderous intent stood out.
Cynthia subconsciously looked towards the end of the Slytherin table, where a young man with a silver mask covering half of his face was looking at her sideways.
"You look fine, Miss White," Dumbledore said kindly to Cynthia, who was not wet at all, at the front of the hall. "It's raining so hard outside. I was really worried about you children."
Cynthia turned her lifeless eyes to Dumbledore, still thinking about the young man who was still staring at her. She replied to Dumbledore blankly, "Thank you for your concern, Headmaster..."
Suddenly, the young man's gaze became colder. Cynthia felt the familiar coldness and instantly realized who it was. Her body trembled slightly.
Cynthia White, who used amnesia as an excuse to obtain a legitimate identity, suddenly remembered one thing at this moment. Her current appearance had a source, and her current voice, which was different from Lily's, also had a source.
Maybe it was because of her inner expectation that what Cynthia finally had was the sound of her first communication with Sirius.
And that beautiful, gentle voice belonged to Ximena.