She Is Ashamed to Be Near You

"In... Incendio!"

Seeing Moony make a move, the short boy also hurriedly raised his wand, casting a stream of sparks.

This stream of sparks was not slow, but it missed its target, instantly igniting the dry leaves around James.

The dry leaves caught fire quickly, and sparks immediately flared up around James.

"Aguamenti!"

Padfoot immediately shouted, and a stream of water shot out, instantly dousing the dry leaves while also soaking James's clothes.

"Wormtail! You idiot!" He glared fiercely at the short boy. "What are you trying to do? Kill Prongs?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Really..." Wormtail was in a panic, not daring to continue his attack.

He backed away as he spoke, flustered and waving his hands to explain, "I just wanted to help..."

Wormtail was too panicked to notice where he was going and bumped straight into Moony. Both of them tumbled to the ground, making the scene even more chaotic.

The teenage Snape curled his lip, also crouching down, his eyes narrowing slightly like a venomous snake about to hunt.

He first glanced at James, then scooped up a handful of mud from the ground and threw it straight at him.

As James dodged with a look of disgust, Snape raised his wand again and barked coldly, "Expelliarmus!"

A red light flashed, accurately hitting the dodging James.

The wand in James's hand flew into the air.

Snape raised his hand, caught it smoothly, and held James's wand.

He sneered, looking at the teeth-gritting James, his tone filled with mockery and sarcasm.

"How disgusting. Holding this is like holding a dry twig, just like you!"

His hands gripped both ends of James's wand, speaking with a hint of revulsion.

"Haha... Of course, a Tutankhamun is just like that."

Padfoot frowned and pointed his wand at Snape from a distance. "Put the wand down!"

"Do you know what Tutankhamun is?" Joy and mockery flashed in Snape's eyes. He applied pressure with his hands, and the wand made a slight creaking sound.

"Right! I almost forgot! Lily once complained to me... that during History of Magic, you always slumped on your desk, fast asleep..."

"She feels ashamed to be near you! She thinks you are the parasite of Gryffindor..." His eyes swept over the four of them. "No, I misspoke. All of you are parasites of Gryffindor..."

James gritted his teeth, his face flushed red. He desperately wanted to charge at Snape; even if he couldn't cast a spell, he could still teach Snape a lesson with his fists.

Padfoot and the others also looked extremely displeased. Padfoot's eyes narrowed slightly, a dangerous glint flashing within them.

Wormtail looked back and forth, sometimes at Padfoot and his friends, sometimes at Snape, his eyes seemingly filled with admiration.

Moony let out a sigh. "Snape, how about we leave it at that? Making a scene won't do any good..."

Even so, none of the four dared to act rashly—because Snape was bending the wand.

The moment James took a step forward, Snape bent the wand in his hand into a slight curve.

They didn't dare to bet on whether Snape would actually snap the wand.

Snape looked at Padfoot. "You, Black, don't you claim to be knowledgeable and fond of Muggles? Do you know why he is 'Tutankhamun'?"

"I don't know..." Hearing this nickname, Padfoot's expression turned extremely ugly. He gripped his wand tightly, sparks shooting from its tip.

"You say you like them, yet you know nothing. No wonder birds of a feather flock together," Snape sneered. "'Tutankhamun' is an Egyptian mummy..."

"You clearly learned about it in History of Magic, yet you are completely ignorant. Don't you think it's very fitting? James Potter! So flashy, always looking for trouble..."

"Just like 'Tutankhamun', on the outside is a golden coffin, but what's inside? A decaying corpse... Potter! What's inside you? A pile of dry leaves?"

Just as James was about to lose his temper, Hagrid's voice rang out, "What are you boys doing here?"

Not only did Hagrid arrive, but a red-haired girl also appeared.

The girl had thick, dark red hair and eyes like emeralds.

Wizette felt a sense of familiarity with those eyes—Harry had eyes that were extremely similar.

Clearly, this red-haired girl was Lily.

Lily first glanced at James and his friends, then looked at Snape. "Severus, what did they do to you?"

Padfoot noticed James's pleading look, stepped forward, and said, "Just playing around."

"Don't hang around them!" Lily looked at the wand in Snape's hand. "Whose wand is this?"

"Just a piece of trash." Snape sneered, casually tossing the wand to the ground. "Let's go!"

Lily frowned slightly, looked at the wand on the ground, then at the somewhat disheveled James. She pursed her lips but said nothing more, following Snape as they left.

Watching Snape and Lily's retreating figures, Hagrid asked with a puzzled look, "James, what's wrong with you? You didn't say a word, which isn't like you at all."

"Once the jinx wears off, he'll be able to speak," Padfoot chuckled. "Prongs, you look miserable!"

"We can still use the General Counter-Spell to lessen the effect," Moony sighed, pointing his wand at James. "Finite! Finite..."

After several Counter-Spells, James was finally able to speak. "I lost to Snivellus again?"

Hagrid advised, "James! Headmaster Dumbledore said no fighting like this!"

James corrected him, "I know... Hagrid, don't call me James, call me by my nickname! Prongs!"

He frowned and analyzed, "As expected, learning Animagus transformation took up too much of my time, which is why Snivellus got ahead of me."

"That Snivellus really is talented!" Padfoot said with disgust. "I've never heard of the Snape family."

"And who knows what he actually is... The curses and jinxes he knows are probably more than most seventh-years."

Hearing this, Wizette finally heard a sentence he agreed with. Professor Snape was indeed exceptionally knowledgeable.

Looking at the path Lily had taken, James sighed. "I really want to turn into a stag and ram Snivellus away from Lily's side!"

Wormtail picked up the wand from the ground and presented it to James with both hands. "Prongs... here is your wand."

"Hahaha! Wormtail, you really know how to be sarcastic," Padfoot burst out laughing. "You don't even have a wand, how were you planning to transform?"

"Didn't I have one just now?" James rolled his eyes. "I was planning to charge straight ahead, instantly turn into a stag, and give him a good scare!"

Padfoot clapped half-heartedly. "Right! Great plan, truly brilliant!"