Theodore walked into the office and saw Professor Snape behind the desk looking up at him.

"Sit down. I thought you were coming too." Snape glanced at him calmly, put the paper he had just graded aside, and rubbed his brow. "What do you want to ask?" Although he knew the answer, he still asked.

"I... do you know about my mother?" Theodore hesitated. He wanted to ask if there was any agreement between you and my father. Why did you put Blaise and I together? Did you want me to be friends with Malfoy? But when the words came to his lips, he changed them to this.

"You mean, do I know that Cantankerus killed your mother?" Snape looked at Theodore. He didn't know how to tell the child.

"You, you know?" He opened his mouth only to realize his voice was incredibly hoarse. His mother, the one who had been with him tenderly, the one who had given him so much love... Sure enough... he hadn't heard wrongly.

"Do you know why he did this?" Theodore was surprised that he could still remain calm when asking the question. His soul seemed to be separated from his body. In one moment he asked the question calmly, and in another moment he was roaring hysterically.

He couldn't help but think of that night when he was awakened by a nightmare and wanted to sleep with his parents. When he got to the door, he heard them arguing fiercely. He leaned against the door and couldn't hear clearly.

"Cantankerus... Theodore... is sick... I..." Was this shrill female voice his mother's? Theodore had never heard his mother speak like this before. She had always been gentle and beautiful.

"I can't...lose...you to death...Theodore...raise..." Dad's voice was muffled. Theodore had never heard his father speak like this before. He was always full of authority and bad temper. Did Dad want Mom to die? Why?

"Cantankerus! Please...I...take care of...Theodore..." Mom...Mom...why is her voice getting softer and softer?

"Okay... Avada..." Theodore didn't hear clearly. He saw a flash of green light through the crack of the door. After that, he didn't hear his parents' voices.

They've made up, right? Is Dad performing some magic trick for Mom? Hopefully, when I wake up tomorrow morning, Mom and Dad will be reconciled... Not wanting to disturb Mom and Dad, Theodore returned to his room and fell asleep with hope in his heart.

It's great, I didn't cough when I slept tonight...

It's terrible, what are they asking me to mourn for? Theodore looked numb and hid behind the bushes in the garden.

Why hasn't mom come to find him yet? She always finds him quickly...

The footsteps came closer and closer, finally stopping beside him. Theodore looked up in surprise. "Mom! Why did you just..."

"Theodore! Why are you so willful! Could you please be a good boy and not cause me any trouble?" His father, Cantankerusnot, stood there. The gloomy weather was not as scary as the expression on his face.

He picked up Theodore, but Theodore struggled violently. "Let me go! You bad guy, did you kill my mother? Did you?" He punched and kicked Cantankerus, biting his shoulder hard. Tears mixed with blood flowed into his mouth, so bitter... so astringent...

"All for the glory of the Nott family." That was the last thing he heard his father say.

"You know what? There's no such thing as premature birth among wizards." Snape didn't answer him, but instead said something irrelevant.

Theodore subconsciously retorted, "I can't be that I was born prematurely, so my health is so poor..." His voice gradually faded until it was almost inaudible. Was he in such poor health? He hadn't been sick in a long time, hadn't he?

"You are a clever boy, Theodore." Snape said, his voice calm, not as venomous as usual, but it made Theodore feel as if he was falling into an ice cave.

He didn't know how he escaped from the suffocating office in such a mess. When he came to his senses, he had run into an abandoned classroom.

He finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the ground, burying his head between his bent knees.

"Hahahaha, hahahaha!" After a moment's silence, Theodore let out a low laugh. Yeah, yeah, how could a wizard be born prematurely? He was often sick when he was little, so why did he only look frail now, but he had never actually been sick?

He was in tears. Was it because of him? What had he selectively forgotten? Remember it quickly! He clearly...

He had clearly heard it that night! He had heard it, his mother, asking his father to kill her!

She said, "Please kill me."

He thought of his mother's increasingly thin body, of his father crying so sadly at his mother's funeral, and of the look in his father's eyes when he found him.

In the final analysis, he was nothing more than a cowardly, selfish guy! He pretended not to see his father holding him tightly in his arms with extremely gentle movements; he pretended not to see his father's tears rolling down his face like a flood after he was accused; he pretended not to hear the words "Then hate me..."

He deliberately ignored all of this.

He thought of his increasingly frail body as a child, of his father and mother sitting by his bed late at night, looking at him with worry on their faces, and of his mother saying to him with deep affection, "Theodore, you are a precious gift from God."

And there was his father, who had held him high, praised his intelligence, and proudly declared him... the glory of the Nott family!

He lost himself in his own world, pretending his memory of that day was already hazy. He told himself, Dad killed Mom. Yes, Dad killed Mom! Not him! It was all Dad's fault!

Theodore stared at the ground blankly, his eyes unfocused, as if he had lost his soul.

He pondered silently, wondering how long it had been since he had called out "Dad"? This simple and intimate name had become so unfamiliar to him.

Deep in his memory, he was filled with the cold and distant words "father." There might have been warmth and intimacy between them once, but now there was only endless alienation and indifference.

"Your father and mother love you very much." Professor Snape told him before he escaped. "Always."

Theodore's mind was in a state of confusion. How should he face his father now that he had guessed part of the truth? His mother was like this because of him, because of his body... The dean seemed to know something, but he probably wouldn't tell him...

What kind of deal did Dad make with the Headmaster? Dad was ostensibly a loyal Death Eater, but he pushed him towards the Malfoy family, who openly sided with Dumbledore. What did he pay for it...

His father didn't want him to grow up burdened by his mother's death, so he carefully protected him and even arranged everything for him even though he treated him coldly...

A tangled web of thoughts plagued him. He wanted to go back and see his father. But what should he say? "Dad, I know Mom died because of me"? And then what? He hadn't spoken to his father in so long...

Yes, the library! The Hogwarts library must have information about why his mother died. He wouldn't be the only one who was born prematurely!

"I want to find the answer, yes, I want to find the answer, and then..." Then go home and say sorry to my father.

He didn't bother to wipe away his tears or care about his messy appearance. He wanted to get up anxiously, but he didn't realize that his legs were numb. The moment he stood up, he fell forward.

A figure appeared beside him and caught him. "Are you okay, classmate?"

"Thank you." He looked up. He knew this man, Cedric Diggory, a third-year Hufflepuff and a big shot on campus.

"Wipe it off! Aren't you Slytherins very concerned about your image?" Cedric took out a handkerchief and handed it to Theodore, his expression filled with worry. "Did someone bully you?"

Theodore paused as he took the handkerchief, then suddenly tightened his grip around it. "When did you come here?"

"Sorry, I've been here since the beginning. It's quiet here, perfect for studying, isn't it? I mean, I didn't mean to see you in such a mess... Oh well, I'm so sorry."

Cedric wanted to explain, but he didn't know how to say it. In the end, he apologized to Theodore in disappointment.

"No, it's nothing. You were here first." Theodore looked away. He was not good at dealing with such sincere people.

Besides, he had come uninvited, so he couldn't blame anyone else. "Please keep it a secret for me, thank you." He thanked him awkwardly, hurriedly passing Cedric and ran to the library.

"Hey! I..." Cedric watched the bunny-like boy run away without looking back. "...It's Cedric, what about you?"

Well, Cedric was a little disappointed because he didn't know the other person's name.

Was he bullied? He was crying so hard... and he even said something... and no one asked if he needed help... Harry should know the Slytherin, right? We need to talk about it. Bullying in school is wrong...

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