Chapter 1

"Click."

The empty, dark room was illuminated by cold white light. Although small, it appeared unusually desolate.

Ever since his parents passed away, Wenxiu's world had lost all color. Every day consisted either of forced overtime or voluntary overtime, numbly repeating a two-point, one-line lifestyle.

He didn't want to go home, because the empty house held no trace of his parents; yet he longed to go home, because the empty house was filled with memories of him and his parents.

Ever since his graduation from university, when his parents discovered his sexual orientation, he simply could not accept the look in their eyes—a gaze filled with incomprehension, disappointment, self-reproach, and guilt.

That look nearly crushed Wenxiu. He desperately wanted to tell them that he was normal and that this was not a disease. But his parents were old, and with their age, their mindset remained locked in the previous century—an era when homosexuality was deemed intolerable by heaven and earth.

Unwilling to endure that look from his parents anymore, he completely cut off contact with his family.

He thought that with his older brother still by their side, as long as he left, the three of them could live happily.

Never did he expect that the next news he heard of them would be of their death.

By the time he rushed home, his brother had already handled everything. Standing bewildered and helpless before his parents' memorial hall, the blame and disgust in his brother's eyes only deepened his agony.

He knew that his last remaining family in this world was gone too.

In the end, amid his brother's hateful curses, he used all his savings accumulated over the years just to buy a chance to live in the old family home.

He found a grueling job in his hometown to numb himself. He had no time to grieve, no time to make friends, and certainly no time to rest.

A future that stretched on predictably to the end filled him with numbness and self-loathing—he despised his very life. Even in his dreams, he would question himself: If an accident had to happen, why couldn't it have been him? Why wasn't it you who died in that accident?

It was yet another day of working overtime until two in the morning. Dragging his exhausted body, Wenxiu collapsed onto the sofa.

For countless nights, only by pushing his body and mind to the absolute limit of exhaustion could he snatch a brief, nightmare-free sleep.

[Ding, host's negative emotions detected.] [...Villain system template loading...] [...Loading complete...] [The Villain System is at your service.]

In his hazy state of consciousness, Wenxiu Lord suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over his heavy, fatigued body. A series of buzzing, crackling electronic sounds echoed in his mind, making it impossible to distinguish what was being said.

Suddenly, countless blinding flashes of light pierced through his eyelids into Wenxiu Lord's eyes. Before he could even open them to assess the situation, a sharp, violent pain stabbed at his heart. Everything went pitch black, and he completely lost consciousness.

[Warning! Warning!] [Host death detected. Will to live is weak. Host is bound and cannot be unbound.] [Switching to another world...] [Searching host's consciousness for most cherished book: "Harry Potter".] [World locked: "Harry Potter".] [Transmitting host... Drip! Drip! Drip! Warning, warning! Insufficient energy! Insufficient energy! System entering hibernation!] [System entering hibernation. Transmission successful.] [Character binding: Wenxiu Lord.]

A biting cold wind poured through his clothes, and a persistent, tearing pain wracked his limbs, gradually pulling Wenxiu Lord back from unconsciousness.

Struggling, he opened his heavy eyelids. What met his gaze was a dilapidated ceiling, where a stained bulb emitted a faint, feeble glow.

The freezing wind, laden with snowflakes, whipped through the shattered window and landed on Wenxiu Lord's neck, making him sneeze. The movement sent fresh waves of pain rippling across his entire body, making even the act of sitting up an arduous task.

"Hiss..."

The moment Wenxiu Lord opened his mouth, it felt as though countless microscopic razor blades were slicing across his throat, causing agonizing pain.

Wincing, he tried to clutch his neck, only to find he lacked the strength to even raise his hand.

After resting for a good while, he finally mustered enough strength to prop himself up against the edge of the bed. Wenxiu Lord rolled his dull gaze around to survey his surroundings; calling it dilapidated was being generous.

*Where is this? Was I kidnapped? Why has the season even changed, and this wind is freezing.*

Wenxiu Lord gave a self-deprecating smile. "What's the point of kidnapping someone who has absolutely nothing?"

The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, and the cold wind whistled through the gaps of the broken window glass. Wenxiu Lord lifted a corner of the quilt draped over him; the bedding was so ragged its original color was indistinguishable, and the quilt was both filthy and paper-thin, leaving one unable to tell whether it was a blanket or an oversized rag.

Just then, a woman dressed in clothes washed to a faded white walked into the room upon hearing the noise.

Seeing Wenxiu Lord sitting on the bed looking bewildered, the woman affectionately handed him a cup of warm water, gently stroking his head with a tender tone.

"Child, you're finally awake."

Wenxiu Lord took the water handed to him by the woman and drank it in one go. Forgive him—he was simply too thirsty, his throat hurt terribly, and he was in no condition to maintain any wariness.

Feeling his parched vocal cords finally receive some moisture, Wenxiu Lord was at last able to voice the question lingering in his heart.

"Excuse me, Madam, where is this?"

As soon as he spoke, a fluent British-accented youthful voice startled Wenxiu Lord himself. In all his twenty-odd years of living, his spoken English had never sounded as authentic as the single sentence he had just uttered upon waking.

*Good heavens, did I wake up and instantly unlock a linguistic talent?*

"I am Eileen Prince Snape. You passed out at my doorstep a few days ago. It was so freezing outside, so I brought you in. Good thing you pulled through."

"Eileen Prince Snape..." Wenxiu Lord muttered to himself. The name felt strangely familiar, yet he couldn't quite place where he had heard it.

After pondering for a long while, Wenxiu Lord finally recalled from the deepest recesses of his memory why that name sounded so familiar, followed immediately by a fit of unstoppable coughing.

*Eileen Prince Snape? That surname, that name... No way, right?*

Seeing the teenager react so strongly upon hearing her name, Eileen Snape patted his back to help him catch his breath and voiced the question in her mind.

"What's wrong, child? Do you know me?"

Wenxiu Lord hastily shook his head. "No, no, I don't. I just didn't expect to be rescued by you. Thank you so very much."

At that moment, a boy with black hair and dark eyes, a sallow, pale complexion, and slightly chapped lips walked in carrying a small plate of dry, shriveled bread.

Seeing Eileen Snape treat this unknown teenager with such gentleness, the dark-haired boy set down the tray, let out a cold snort, and turned around to leave.

Watching her son radiate a freezing aura ever since he walked in—especially after he had worried so incessantly during the boy's coma days before, only to put on this frosty attitude now that he was awake—Eileen Snape offered Wenxiu Lord a look tinged with helplessness and apology.

"Forgive him, child. That is my son, Severus Snape. He actually cares about you quite a bit; he's just not very good at expressing it."When Wenxiu Lord heard that black-haired boy called Severus Snape, combined with his current physical condition and his inexplicably acquired linguistic talent, he finally confirmed that he had truly transmigrated into the world of Harry Potter.

Thinking that the youth he had just seen was none other than Severus Snape, Wenxiu Lord's originally vacant and numb eyes regained a glimmer of the light of life, much like a sinner in hell grasping a spider's thread let down from heaven.

Perhaps heaven had simply found his state of being unable to live yet unable to die too distressing and thus transported him here. He just wondered what purpose they had in sending him over; surely it couldn't be to simply give him a ray of light to live by?

Still, anything was fine. Even if the force that brought him to this world hadn't intended to give him hope for survival, Wenxiu Lord had only this single spider's thread to grasp.

As long as he could help them live happily, Wenxiu Lord was willing to give everything, including his worthless life.

"I wonder if I can even become a wizard."

Wenxiu Lord muttered chaotic complaints in his heart while keeping his expression completely calm. He forced a smile at Eileen Snape and shook his head. "It's nothing, Mrs. Snape. I should be thanking you for taking me in and preparing food for me now, otherwise I might have frozen to death in this winter."

Hearing this, Eileen Snape looked at Wenxiu Lord with even greater affection. She gently stroked Wenxiu Lord's head, picked up the tray from the table nearby, and handed it to him. "Then eat something first and get a good rest. I'll step out now; if you recover a bit later, you can come downstairs and sit for a while."

"Alright, thank you, Mrs. Snape." Although Wenxiu Lord actually needed Eileen Snape to leave so he could sort out his current situation, the genuine care in the woman's tone and her gentle actions still made his eyes turn red.

Watching Eileen Snape leave and listening to her footsteps gradually fade away until they disappeared, Wenxiu Lord finally picked up the dry bread from the tray and ate it bit by bit with some warm water. Food was the staff of life; regardless of how he had ended up here, filling his stomach was the priority.

After forcing himself to eat enough to line his stomach, he lay back down on the bed and stared at the shabby ceiling, beginning to ponder the series of events that had occurred since he woke up.

He never expected that a single sleep would transport him into the world of Harry Potter, and that he would even wake up directly in the home of a young Severus Snape.

He remembered that book had been his only extracurricular reading material back in his youth. His parents had been strict, arranging extra tutoring for him since elementary school, and he had spent most of his time at school. It was only in middle school that his deskmate had lent him those volumes.

Wenxiu Lord raised his arm to block the dim, yellowish light, looking at this noticeably fair and skinny arm, and then picked up a small lock of hair from his forehead. The silvery-gray strands gleamed like silk under the light.

"My body didn't just shrink; I've directly swapped shells."

His fingers kept waving in the light, and the flickering radiance stung the youth's silvery-gray eyes. At that moment, something in the top-left corner of his vision suddenly caught Wenxiu Lord's attention.

Wenxiu Lord fixed his gaze on the faint, glowing, translucent speck of light in the top left, recalling the countless novels he had binge-read during the break after graduating from high school. "It seems I even have a system?"

Mimicking the descriptions in those novels, he tried thinking about opening the light dot in his mind, and a translucent panel resembling a video game character interface materialized right before his eyes.

[Name: Wenxiu Lord] [Age: 11] [Identity: Unenrolled Wizard, Orphan]Aside from the basic name, age, identity information, and the photograph on the right, there was a glowing gift box icon on the far left. Wenxiu Lord's gaze fell on the photograph on the right, which presumably showed what he looked like now. Overall, he appeared rather thin and pale, with delicate yet not effeminate features. His shoulder-length hair fell loosely around his neck and collarbones, and his eyes matched his hair in a striking silver-gray. The person in the photo was smiling brightly. He stared at it for a long time, then picked up a palm-sized mirror shard resting on the bedside table. Though identical in appearance, Wenxiu Lord's eyes lacked the radiance seen in the photograph. He reached out a finger to press against the corners of his mouth, adjusting the curve to mimic the smile in the picture, and finally nodded with satisfaction. He tapped the glowing gift box icon, and a cheerful tune played in his mind, loud enough to give Wenxiu Lord a slight headache. As the music ended, clusters of fireworks burst across the system interface. The gift box icon rapidly expanded to fill the entire panel before bursting apart. In addition to a large quantity of items deposited directly into the system inventory, several physical objects materialized and dropped onto the bed beside Wenxiu Lord. A thirteen-and-a-quarter-inch silver-white wand, three sets of exquisitely tailored yet understated clothing, a golden key, a ring, and an ancient scroll. The moment Wenxiu Lord picked up the wand, the entire shaft trembled slightly, and he could clearly feel the wand in his hand vibrating with excitement at finally meeting him. Suppressing the thrill in his heart, Wenxiu Lord set the wand aside and tried putting the remaining items into the system inventory, then opened the inventory. [Item Name: Gringotts Vault Key × 1 Exquisite Clothing Set × 3 Concentrated Dittany Essence × ∞ Lorde Family Portkey × 1 (Family estate, relevant background, and House-elf servants are currently being generated and finalized) Omni-Magic Scroll × 1 Lorde Family Head Ring × 1] At the same time, the character identity on the panel shifted. [Identity: Unenrolled wizard Reclusive pure-blood aristocrat, last head of the Lorde Family] Upon seeing the name of the scroll, Wenxiu Lord pulled it out and unfurled it immediately. The moment it opened, a brilliant light flared, and his mind was instantly flooded with a vast amount of knowledge regarding charms, potions, and potion ingredients. Picking up the wand from beside him, he muttered an incantation in accordance with the memories that had just surfaced in his mind and flicked his wrist. The dinner plate on the bedside table instantly became spotlessly clean. Wenxiu Lord looked in pleasant surprise at the hand with which he had just cast Scourgify. He never expected that the knowledge within the scroll required no practice whatsoever, allowing him to cast the spell with such effortless mastery on the very first try. "System? System?" After calling out to the system in his mind several times with no response, Wenxiu Lord let out a sigh of relief. "So this is an offline system. An offline one is great—no need to worry about being plotted against." The dormant system: *How do you think I ended up offline? And you're actually worried I'd plot against you!* Casting Scourgify on himself, Wenxiu Lord retrieved a set of clothes from the system inventory and changed. His current outfit was too tattered beyond repair and filthy besides; he couldn't possibly go meet Severus Snape looking like this. Stowing his wand away, Wenxiu Lord picked up the dinner plate beside him and walked out. The house provided by the system hadn't been built yet, so it seemed he would have to find a way to stay here temporarily for the time being. The thought of living under the same roof as Severus Snape brought an expression of fanatical excitement to Wenxiu Lord's face, flushing his cheeks with a faint red from anticipation.