Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 125 You're testing me with this?

At the edge of the forbidden forest, the last rays of the setting sun melted and seeped into the gaps between the tree canopies.

Snape stopped and looked around.

After confirming that no living being—neither human nor magical creature—was lingering nearby, he brandished his wand and cast a high-level warning spell.

The surrounding air trembled slightly.

He then took out a square object tightly wrapped in multiple layers of parchment from his pocket.

With a light tap of the wand, the layers of protective charms broke free, revealing a black-covered diary. It looked unremarkable, yet it seemed to be devouring the remaining light around it.

Then, under Snape's command, the nearby dead branches and leaves, as if pulled by an invisible hand, twisted and deformed, assembling in front of him into a rough wooden table and a chair.

"Fluorescence."

The tip of the wand glowed with a cold, white light. Snape sat down, opened his journal, and looked at the blank pages illuminated by the fluorescent light.

He dipped the quill pen in the ink he carried with him, hovered the tip above the paper, hesitated for a moment, and then dropped it.

"Are you still there, Riddle?" The ink spread rapidly across the paper.

The reply came almost instantly. Those flowing italicized words not only appeared on the page, but seemed to echo in Snape's mind as if they were spoken:

"Of course, Snape. I've been thinking about how to help your special friend."

"So, have you made any progress?" Snape wrote quickly. Nagini wriggled slightly inside his robes, the cool scales sending a subtle sensation through him.

“If your friend could occasionally revert to human form,” the ink on the page writhed and reformed, “things would be much simpler.” The handwriting paused here before continuing to flow, “but since she is now ‘permanently’ trapped in the form of a snake, it’s not so easy.”

"So, do you have any other ideas?" Snape wrote calmly.

This time, the reply came a little slower, but the handwriting seemed more thoughtful: "I can help you absorb the curse in her soul, but it will take a long time."

“You’re not just a simple memory, are you?” Snape narrowed his eyes, probing directly. “A portrait can’t do that.”

“You should be glad I’m not,” the handwriting in the diary suddenly turned sharp, “otherwise, how would you have saved your precious friend?”

"Then what are you?" Snape wrote slowly, wanting to know just how much information Tom was willing to reveal.

“I am someone who can help you,” Tom replied. “That’s enough, isn’t it, Severus?”

Silence spread among them. The hooting of an owl echoed in the distance, and the shadows of the Forbidden Forest gradually faded into twilight.

Snape felt Nagini wriggling uncomfortably against his chest, as if sensing his emotional fluctuations.

Finally, he wrote: "Okay, what do we need to do next?"

"Have your snake friend write in my diary."

“Oh,” Snape wrote, almost able to picture the other’s domineering, condescending expression, “don’t you think this is asking the impossible? How could a snake do that?”

“I don’t mean for her to write,” Tom responded with obvious impatience. “Think of something, just write something, even doodles, to get her to trust me.”

"Trust you?" Snape continued. He sensed a danger: Riddle possessed an extraordinary ability to bewitch, especially women. But for now, the diary was merely an object; it shouldn't exert its charm like the succubus of Hogwarts had. At least, that's what he hoped for.

The diary seemed even more impatient with his hesitation: "Find a solution yourself, talk to her, or just let it go."

Snape stared at the words for a long time before slowly putting pen to paper: "Wait a moment."

After writing this sentence, he put the quill aside, gently touched Nagini's body, and called out, "Nagini, come out."

A small, emerald-green snake peeked out from his collar, slid down his arm to the wooden table, and looked up at him. Her eyes glowed an almost transparent green in the fluorescent light.

“Next, Nagini, you need to leave your mark on this notebook,” Snape whispered in his Parseltongue, “like this.” He picked up a quill and ran it lightly along the edge of the journal. “Scribble however you like, but you need to trust that it won’t hurt you—at least not while you’re scribbling.”

Nagini tilted her head, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes, her forked tongue twitching rapidly as she tried to catch any information in the air. Snape patiently repeated himself several times, using the simplest words to ensure she understood as much as possible.

The green snake straightened up, nuzzled his chin, and licked his cheek with her wet tongue, leaving a cool sensation—this was her way of expressing understanding.

Snape observed Nagini's mouth structure and realized that she couldn't hold the quill pen. His gaze then fell on her tail, and suddenly an idea struck him.

“Got it,” he said softly, pulling a unicorn hair that shimmered with a pearly luster from his inner pocket.

The unicorn's tail hair was exceptionally strong, and he skillfully used it to tie the quill to the tip of Nagini's tail. Nagini watched his actions quietly, offering no resistance.

After it was fixed in place, she curiously twisted her body, and the pen tip drew meaningless trajectories in the air.

“That’s good.” Snape guided her tail, hovering it above the open journal. “Now, try moving your tail.”

At first, Nagini's movements were clumsy and uncoordinated, leaving broken ink marks on the pages. Snape patiently held her tail, helping her control her strength, while gently correcting her.

As she moved, the ink spread across the paper, only to be absorbed immediately upon contact with the surface, disappearing without a trace, as if swallowed up by some unseen force.

The crescent moon rose quietly, its silvery light replacing the last vestiges of dark red on the horizon.

Nagini seemed unchanged, and Snape scanned the diary suspiciously. But he didn't stop, continuing to instruct Nagini on how to scribble on the pages, occasionally refilling her ink.

The concept of time became blurred. Perhaps an hour had passed, perhaps longer, Nagini's movements gradually slowed, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

Noticing her exhaustion, Snape gently stroked her head and untied the quill from her tail.

“That’s enough, rest now,” he said softly. Nagini obediently slid back into his inner pocket, curled up, and fell silent almost immediately.

Snape picked up the quill pen again, ready to ask Riddle how things were going.

Suddenly, the pages began to shake violently. Thick, black liquid seeped from the clean white pages, like poisonous blood gushing from a wound, flowing down the edges of the diary onto the wooden table.

A chilling hissing sound accompanied by acrid smoke filled the air.

Snape abruptly stepped back, watching the black liquid corrode the surface of the wooden table, leaving honeycomb-like holes.

The liquid flowed onto the ground, and the surrounding grass instantly withered and turned black, emitting a putrid smell.

Only after the last drop of black liquid had flowed out did Snape cautiously approach the wooden table.

The diary remains undamaged, its pages still pristine white.

“What was that just now, Riddle?” He took out a new quill and wrote carefully.

“Blood curse,” Tom replied curtly, his handwriting more illegible than usual, ink splattered everywhere, as if the recent events had affected him as well.

"So it's working?" Snape's eyes lit up, and he eagerly wrote down his question, "How many more times will it take for her to return to human form?" "What did you say, how many times?" The words on the diary suddenly became frantic. "Tell me, Snape, how long has it been since your friend turned into a snake? I never imagined she had such a powerful curse!"

“It’s been a while,” Snape wrote hesitantly.

"How long exactly?" Tom's handwriting almost pierced through the pages.

"Uh, probably around fifty years ago."

“What—” A lone question mark appeared on the page, followed by a long blank, as if the person on the other end of the diary was holding their breath, needing time to process the information.

When the reply finally appeared, the handwriting was unusually neat, with a hint of coldness:
“I’ve suffered a huge loss this time. If things continue like this, my abilities are insufficient to guarantee the removal of the curse from her.”

"Then how can we do that?"

“You need to have more open communication with me,” Tom wrote. “Less pretense, more sincerity.”

Snape held the quill pen between his fingers, not writing for a long time. He understood what Tom wanted.

"Are you also interested in my soul?" he wrote clearly.

"I need energy," the diary said without hiding its purpose. "What's your answer?"

"Let me think about it." After writing this, Snape quickly closed the diary, carefully wrapped it in three layers of parchment, sealed it, and then put it away again.

Just as he raised his wand, preparing to clear away the remaining wooden tables and chairs, a soft footstep made him shudder.

He turned around instantly, reflexively raising his wand to point at the source of the sound, but quickly lowered it after seeing who it was:
"Ah—what a beautiful night! Professor, when did you arrive?"

“It’s been a while,” Dumbledore said calmly, a kind smile in his blue eyes that couldn’t hide the sharpness beneath.

"You saw it all?" Snape asked.

“Yes, the werewolves’ new camp is well-built.” Dumbledore walked slowly closer, his gaze falling on the battered wooden table. “It seems that the diary really is a Horcrux.”

“Yes, as I said before.” Snape’s shoulders relaxed slightly as he took the sleeping Nagini from his inner pouch. The little snake was exhausted, its body curled into a small circle in his palm, its scales having lost their former luster. “Look, did the process just now achieve the desired effect?”

Dumbledore extended his long, slender fingers and gently stroked Nagini's head. His expression turned serious, and he nodded slowly.

“It has some effect,” the principal said softly, “but you still need to be careful.”

“I know,” Snape replied, carefully placing Nagini back in her place.

“You should also be careful about Nagini’s condition.” Dumbledore’s gaze pierced through his glasses as he looked at him with concern.

“I understand,” Snape said. “Shall we go back?”

They walked silently out of the woods and across the field.

As they approached the stone steps leading to the castle, Dumbledore suddenly pulled two crystal bottles from his robes, filled with a silvery-blue liquid.

“This is from Mr. McKinnon,” he said. “After I told him you needed a soul-nourishing potion, he made it for you using the most effective formula.”

Snape took the crystal bottle. The potion inside shimmered faintly, as if starlight had been condensed into liquid.

"Are the McKinnons alright?" he asked, rubbing his thumb against the smooth surface of the bottle.

“Not bad,” Dumbledore said with a hint of a smile in his eyes. “Because of their limited range of movement, the couple has even gained quite a bit of weight.”

"Please thank them for me," Snape said with a smile as he put away the potion.

Back in Slytherin dormitory, he lay on his four-poster bed, staring at the hanging green curtains.

The ripples of the Black Lake cast shimmering light and shadows onto the ceiling. A giant squid's tentacle slowly glided past the window, casting a brief shadow.

After taking the potion given to him by Mr. McKinnon, Nagini sat on his pillow, resting with steady breathing.

Snape closed his eyes and saw a silvery-white dreamscape.

In the hazy light, a green snake was slithering across the grass, then slowly straightened up and transformed into a girl with gentle black eyes.

Her steps were light, drifting like a thin mist blown away by the wind, the only trace being the rustling of her toes touching the grass.

But the soft sound still drew his attention.

In a state between dreaming and waking, he seemed to be traveling through the gentle waves of a black lake, suspended between the dark water and the shimmering sunlight, surrounded by a soft, spreading seaweed.

He made no move, but his gaze remained fixed on her.

She approached lightly, completely naked, the moonlight streaming down her skin.

As her cool fingertips touched his wrist, he gazed at her through his lowered eyes.

She suddenly exerted her strength and pushed him down onto the soft meadow, coiling around his limbs like a snake.

She stretched out her arms to support her upper body, her fragrant hair playfully brushing against his neck.

He smiled and tightened his arms around her, his movements slow but skillful. But she straightened up and broke free from his grasp.

In the hazy light, her body radiated a soft glow.

Her head was tilted back, and her long black hair flew in the air.

Her skin was as cold as snow and as smooth as satin.

Her eyes were large and dark, reminiscent of a water sprite.

As he swayed, he fell into a sea of ​​jasmine.

There, the waves surged and the undercurrents were turbulent.

……

Snape jolted awake and looked to his side. The small blue snake was still quietly curled up beside him.

“Tom, Tom,” he sat up, took out his diary, and stared at the parchment cover in the dim light, “you’re testing me with this?”

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(End of this chapter)