Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 107 This is even worse than the Dark Lord.

After making the unbreakable vow, Rika felt a burning sensation on the inside of her wrist.

She released Snape's hand, quickly rolled up her tattered sleeve, and discovered a new scar on the inside of her wrist.

Rika gently stroked the mark, her amber eyes filled with a mixture of hope and hatred.

"Now, can I have it?" she asked Snape eagerly.

Snape did not answer immediately. His dark eyes scrutinized the young werewolf girl—her chestnut-brown hair was stained with blood and dirt, and her face bore several fresh wounds, yet her gaze was terrifyingly resolute.

He suddenly realized that the person in front of him was not an ordinary werewolf, but a warrior driven to the brink of despair.

“Remember our agreement.” Snape reached inside his robes and took out the parchment and necklace, placing them in her hand.

Lika held the two items with a slight tremor. When her fingertips touched the canine tooth necklace, she suddenly flinched, as if pricked by something.

“There is very strong dark magic in this,” Dumbledore, who was standing to the side, suddenly said. “Using it requires extreme caution, Lyca.”

“I’ll be careful, Professor.” Rika took a deep breath and put the necklace around her neck.

Her blood-red canine teeth hung right in the center of her collarbone, contrasting sharply with her pale skin, making them look like a fresh wound.

Dumbledore hesitated, then finally sighed, "It's getting late, we should go back to Hogwarts. Lika, is there anything else you need?"

“We’re used to taking care of ourselves,” Rika shook her head, her fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of the parchment. “Now that we have this…” She looked at Snape, a complex glint in her eyes. “I think we’ll find a way.”

Snape nodded slightly, then looked around.

“Restore it to its original state—” He drew his wand, attempting to restore the ravaged camp.

"No!" Snape was stopped by Rika as he had just repaired a collapsed tent.

“I want to keep this place as it is.” Rika took a deep breath, her gaze sweeping over every inch of damage and every pool of blood. “I don’t want to pretend nothing happened… things can never be the same again.”

“And…” she pursed her chapped lips, “I hope to be able to do something for them myself.”

Snape said nothing, but simply put away his wand.

He and Dumbledore stood aside, watching Lyca busily working in the ruins.

Her movements were unusually gentle, as if she were afraid of disturbing something. She walked toward the corpses, knelt down, gently closed the eyes of the dead with her hands, and then carried them one by one to the open space in the center of the camp.

The other survivors, who were barely able to move, also got up and silently joined her.

No one spoke; only heavy breathing and occasional sobs broke the silence of the night.

Lika finally came to Mara's side. She knelt there for a long time, only gently combing her hair with trembling fingers.

In the moonlight, Snape saw some glistening water droplets shimmering on Lyca's face.

After all the bodies were neatly arranged, the survivors began to collect the scattered pieces of wood and pile them on top of the corpses.

"Do you need any help?" Snape asked softly.

Lika shook her head and continued her work.

Finally, Lika found the flint in the ruins of a crooked wooden house.

The flames gradually rose, crackling and popping.

The blazing firelight illuminated the faces of every survivor. Snape looked at Lyca's profile in the firelight—her taut jaw, her clenched lips, and the flames dancing in her amber eyes.

“There are still more than a dozen people missing…” The flames gradually diminished, and Lika turned around, her voice now calm. “They should have already gone with Greyback.” She paused, her voice becoming even lower. “Among them is my brother.”

After an unknown amount of time, the flames gradually diminished, and Rika turned around.

Snape glanced at Rika, then reached into a small pouch inside his robe and pulled out several tents enchanted with stretching charms, some food, and homemade potions, handing them to her.

“These should help you get through the toughest few days,” he said. “The medicine can treat wounds and relieve pain… I’ve written the instructions on the label.”

Rika looked at the items, a fleeting look of gratitude in her eyes.

Snape then produced a curved wand—the wand of the old witch who had previously owned the parchment and necklace.

“Professor,” Snape turned to the headmaster, “could you give this to them? I’ve been wondering why most werewolves don’t have wands?”

“Werewolves transformed from wizards are not deprived of the right to possess wands,” Dumbledore sighed. “It’s just that because they transform once a month, they are prone to losing or destroying their wands in their nomadic lives.”

“If they are on the werewolf register, they can never buy another wand,” he said. “Moreover, some werewolves may lose their connection with the wand, and the wand will no longer choose them.”

Snape nodded: "And these werewolves living in the Forbidden Forest..."

"One of the conditions I allowed them to stay inside was that they would no longer possess wands, so as not to pose a danger to the school," Dumbledore said candidly.

Silence spread among the three of them.

Finally, Dumbledore nodded: "But I think... these are special times. The wand can be given to Lyca."

Lika's fingers trembled slightly as she took the wand. She held it up to her eyes, examining every bend and wear.

“Thank you, Mr. Snape.” She suddenly turned to Snape and bowed deeply, her long chestnut-brown hair falling down to obscure her face. “For all of this.”

“If the experiment makes any progress, you can go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and find Hagrid,” Snape said, looking at her. He then pulled up one sleeve, revealing a small snake coiled around his arm. “Also, if you encounter this snake in the Forbidden Forest in the future, do not harm her. Of course, she might be much bigger by then.”

Lika looked up at Nagini in surprise, but quickly nodded.

“Let’s go, Severus,” Dumbledore said.

As they turned to leave, Snape glanced at Lyca one last time; the girl had already turned to tend to the other wounded werewolves.

Snape was taking out his wand, preparing to Apparate away, when Dumbledore called him back.

"Walk with me for a bit," the principal said.

The two left the werewolf camp and walked slowly along a nearly non-existent path deep in the Forbidden Forest. The night wind rustled the leaves, and the chirping of insects rose and fell.

“An unbreakable oath…” Dumbledore finally spoke, “Severus, you’re asking Lyca to pledge allegiance to you to a certain degree. What do you want in return?”

“You know what I want to do, Professor.” Snape’s steps didn’t falter. “What I want to do is what Tom is doing—build an army of werewolves on my side.” “I won’t pin my hopes on sending one or two spies among the werewolves,” he said, “or trying to win them over with gifts or sweet talk. If we don’t do something, I believe almost all the werewolves will side with Tom.”

“I’m just giving them a choice,” Snape continued walking. “I never place my hopes solely on the goodwill of other species. Besides, if I do nothing, the end result will simply be that all the werewolves who are close to wizards will be left to languish in a corner with nothing to do, leaving their fate entirely in the hands of others.”

“That’s not even as good as the Dark Lord,” he stopped and turned to Dumbledore. “After all, for the ‘Greybourne’s, at least the Dark Lord gives them the opportunity to strive toward their goals.”

Snape noticed that Dumbledore's gaze held an emotion he couldn't decipher—not anger, not disappointment, but something unfathomable.

“Severus,” Dumbledore said softly, his voice almost carried away by the night wind, “I want you to know what you’re doing.”

“Of course, Professor,” Snape replied calmly, looking directly at Dumbledore. “I am simply helping those who need help to take control of their own destiny and to help us.”

Dumbledore gave him a deep look, then nodded.

The two of them teleported away, disappearing into the night with a soft cracking sound.

On the other side of the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid was warily aiming his giant crossbow at the bound werewolf Victor, while Dobby stood to the side, pointing his finger.

With a soft Apparition sound, Hagrid noticed the arrival of Dumbledore and Snape.

"Professor!" He lowered the giant crossbow, his voice noticeably relaxed. "How's it going over there?"

“The casualties were heavy,” Dumbledore shook his head, “and a dozen or so men went with Greyback.”

Hagrid kicked Victor in anger. The werewolf let out a whimper and curled up on the ground, trembling.

“Professor,” Snape asked, “is the next step to hand him over to the Ministry of Magic?”

“Otherwise?” Dumbledore retorted.

“He got off too easy.” Snape scoffed, his eyes sweeping over the other three werewolves lying on the ground. “But… is this appropriate?”

Dumbledore approached the three werewolves and bent down to examine them.

After a moment, he straightened up: "They are dead." His voice was devoid of emotion, simply stating the facts.

Then, Dumbledore waved his wand.

With a snap, a tree branch above Snape's head broke off and hit his shoulder.

He staggered back two steps, rubbing his aching shoulder, and asked in confusion, "What are you doing, Professor?"

"I'll take care of your worries, Severus," Dumbledore said irritably.

With another wave of the wand, the three werewolf corpses were transformed into several ordinary rocks by the Transfiguration Charm. The soil in the forest automatically turned over, swallowing the "rocks" deep underground.

More branches and leaves fell like rain, covering all traces.

Viktor was stunned by what he saw and desperately banged his head against the ground, begging for mercy.

But Dumbledore's wand was already pointed at him.

A flash of white light appeared, and Viktor's eyes immediately revealed a strange look, appearing very confused.

“I need you to keep the specifics of what happened tonight a secret.” Dumbledore turned to Hagrid and Dobby. “Nothing else happened except for Greyback and one of his associates coming to attack, and us capturing Victor. Is that alright?”

Hagrid nodded heavily; Dobby assured him in a high-pitched voice, "Dobby will keep the secret, sir!"

“Very good.” Dumbledore’s voice returned to its usual gentle tone. “Hagrid, take Victor back to the castle and hand him over to Minerva. I will contact the Ministry of Magic tomorrow.”

Hagrid nodded, roughly grabbed the bewildered Victor, and strode toward the castle.

Just as Dumbledore was about to turn around, Snape suddenly spoke up: "Wait, Professor. Dobby and I have something to discuss."

The principal raised an eyebrow, stepped aside, and did not object.

Snape let Nagini pop out from his sleeve.

"Grow bigger quickly!" he said, pointing at the little snake.

Nagini's body quickly swelled up, returning to its original twelve-foot length. She raised her head and rested it on Snape's shoulder, her forked tongue lightly touching his cheek.

"Dobby," Snape beckoned to the house-elf, "come here."

Dobby looked at Nagini with fear in his tennis ball-sized eyes, but he still approached her tremblingly.

“Your job is to take care of Nagini, this snake,” Snape said directly. “She’s my friend. You need to bring her food from the Hogwarts kitchens—” He glanced at Dumbledore as he spoke, and the headmaster nodded slightly in agreement.

"—And you need to talk to her more, about anything, just chat," he said. "Also, if Nagini does anything wrong, you need to tell me immediately, understand?"

“Dobby, I understand, sir.” Dobby nodded nervously, his eyes darting between Nagini and Snape. “But… why can’t Miss Snake stay in the castle?”

“The forest is more suitable for her,” Snape said, gently stroking Nagini’s head.

Then he turned to Nagini and hissed.

Nagini responded, her snake head bobbing up and down. Dumbledore observed quietly, a thoughtful glint in his blue eyes.

“She agreed, and I think she likes the place,” Snape said to Dobby. “You can move closer and let Nagini get used to your scent; she won’t hurt you.”

Dobby trembled as he extended his slender fingers and gently touched Nagini's scales. The little elf visibly relaxed when he realized the giant snake hadn't attacked him.

“Very good.” Snape nodded and smiled. “Dobby, are Galleons hard to earn?”

“It’s nothing,” Dobby shook his head, patting his big ears. “Dobby is willing to serve Mr. Snape.”

“You don’t have to be with Nagini all day,” Snape added. “You can have your own time.”

Dobby nodded again, this time looking much more relaxed. He cautiously approached Nagini and began to introduce himself in a high-pitched voice. Nagini tilted his head curiously, seemingly very interested in this talking little creature.

Snape glanced at Nagini one last time before walking toward the castle with Dumbledore.

　Thank you to Ma Yang, Xiyangshanxiang, I will always love Ximo-chan, terrifying zombie Brand, and Anyi Sendai for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)