Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 135 Of course I chose to forgive her

In the following days, an unusual excitement filled the castle.

In the corridor, students gathered in twos and threes, whispering about the hottest rumor in the school—Professor Albus Dumbledore had recently developed an unusual interest in the girls' washroom on the second floor.

Those in the know are all dedicated to spreading this "secret" that has shattered their understanding.

“I’m telling you, it’s absolutely true!” a young wizard said in a low voice, her eyes shining. She was surrounded by five or six students from different houses, each craning their necks, afraid of missing a single detail. “I saw it with my own eyes. Yesterday afternoon at 3:10, he walked straight in and stayed for at least twenty minutes!”

"Impossible, there must be some misunderstanding."

“Then go see for yourself,” the little girl said confidently. “He goes there every afternoon around three o’clock. I bet all my Chocolate Frog cards on it…”

So, in these days, the corridor outside Myrtle's former "sad old home" has become the liveliest place in Hogwarts.

Encouraged by busybodies, the students even skipped class to keep watch near the second-floor corridor. Some pretended to discuss homework, some pretended to be lost, and a few even hid behind armor with binoculars.

When that long, silvery-white beard appeared at the end of the corridor, the entire corridor fell silent instantly, with only gasps of astonishment rising and falling.

Professor Dumbledore, with his usual gentle smile, walked briskly toward the bathroom door with the "Out of Order" sign.

"What are you all doing here?" He turned to the students, looking at them with a puzzled expression. "Isn't it class time now?"

The students dispersed in a hurry.

They finally confirmed that Professor Dumbledore would appear there at a fixed time, enter the girls' washroom, and then disappear inside for half an hour.

Even more strangely, when the principal was inside, no matter how many unlocking spells were used, the door remained completely still.

The students had to accept the fact that their silver-bearded, highly respected principal had indeed gone into the women's restroom.

The news spread like wildfire, and when Snape learned of it from the junior wizards in the society, he couldn't help but feel a touch of admiration for the headmaster's dedication and perseverance. He was even willing to sacrifice his own reputation to investigate the fictitious Horcruxes in the Chamber of Secrets.

However, Snape had no intention of clearing Dumbledore's name. After all, keeping the secret was far more important than clearing the headmaster's name.

Moreover, if someone persists in spreading the rumor that Professor Dumbledore is mentally ill, and the rumor really gets out of control, he can simply write a book himself titled "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore".

I believe that after this book is published, no one will associate the principal's act of going into the women's restroom with anything sordid like "white arms".

However, Professor Dumbledore's insistence also reminded Snape. Since the headmaster was working so hard, he naturally had no excuse to slack off.

The two "bombs" he carried were clearly not a good choice for a peaceful night's sleep. Tom Riddle's diary was one thing, but the recently acquired golden box was of no use to him, yet its danger was no less.

Therefore, while Myrtle was out for some fresh air, Snape secretly slipped into the Room of Requirement, a place "suitable for handling dangerous dark magic items."

This time, the House of Requirement appeared as a circular, windowless stone chamber. As soon as he entered, the entrance behind him disappeared, and the walls merged back into one.

Looking around, the stone walls are covered with ancient runes, emitting a faint blue light.

In the center of the room stood a heavy oak table, surrounded by several glass cabinets containing various protective gear—dragon skin gloves, anti-curse cloaks, and even a device resembling anti-demon goggles. In a corner, a stone trough continuously oozed a clear liquid, which Snape guessed might be some kind of purification potion.

Snape took the lead box from his pocket and placed it on the wooden table.

He put on the dragon-skin gloves and gently tapped the lid of the box with his wand.

The lead box opened with a click, revealing the gold box inside.

The gold box, protected by the lead box, looked perfectly harmless, like an ordinary jewelry box, with exquisite snake patterns carved on the surface and emerald-set snake eyes that sparkled under the light.

Snape carefully took it out and placed it in the center of the table.

"Open it." Snape habitually held Tom's diary in front of him as a shield, staring at the emerald snake eyes on the box as he commanded.

The lid of the golden box slid open silently, and surprisingly, no curses or dark magic were triggered.

The item in the box was finally revealed—a heavy, large ring, seemingly made of gold, with rough craftsmanship, appearing to be hand-forged. Set in the ring was a heavy, black gemstone that seemed to hold hidden currents within.

Most strikingly, the black gemstone is engraved with the exquisite Peverell's emblem, the famous symbol of the Deathly Hallows, a triangle with circles and vertical lines inside, shimmering faintly in the dim light.

After taking the goblin-made dagger, soaked in basilisk venom, from inside his robes, Snape carefully approached the ring and thrust it out suddenly.

Just as the tip of the dagger was about to touch the gem, the black gem on the ring suddenly burst out with a dazzling light, and a strange color spread before his eyes, like spilled paint spreading in water.

The world begins to spin...

When he regained his sight, he found himself standing on the streets of Godric's Hollow, a place famous in magical history. This southwestern village was the birthplace of the great wizard Godric Gryffindor and the place where the wizarding goldsmith Bowman Wright crafted the first Golden Snitch.

Above us was a deep blue sky, and the first stars had begun to twinkle.

The night was bitterly cold.

Screams came from afar.

Although he had never been there in person, a kind of terrifying intuition told him what place he was standing on and what time it was.

He felt a strong fear and a desperate resistance to escape, but his body drifted uncontrollably toward the source of the sound, like a puppet being pulled by invisible strings.

Every step felt like walking on cotton, and everything around me had that distorted, nightmarish quality.

After turning a corner, a half-destroyed house came into view, its front door blown off and curtains fluttering in the night wind.

He saw her on the second floor.

She lay amidst the ruins, her red hair flowing like flames, her green eyes staring blankly upwards.

A baby was crying beside her, with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on its forehead.

His throat tightened, but he couldn't make a sound.

As he approached, she suddenly turned her head towards him, her eyes fixed on him, her lips moving: "Save me, Severus..."

He felt a pang of discomfort, his heart pounding, but a rational voice echoed in his mind: This isn't right, the timing is wrong, the place is wrong… and everything should have changed…

The scene suddenly changed, like water being stirred up.

When the scene stabilized, he was standing in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, surrounded by corpses. Lavender Brown, her body still trembling slightly after being mauled by a werewolf; Colin Creevey's stiff, young face, his gray hair covered in dust.

Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, pale and motionless, looked serene, as if they were sleeping peacefully under an enchanted, dark ceiling, but their hands were almost touching yet could never be joined.

One-eared George Weasley knelt beside Fred, Mrs. Weasley trembled and lay on Fred's chest, Mr. Weasley stroked her hair, tears streaming down his face.

Albus Dumbledore's twisted limbs from the fall lay in a pool of blood, his crescent-shaped glasses askew, his blue eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

All the dead turned their heads together.

“Too many people have died, Severus,” they whispered in unison. “You failed in your promise. How many men and women have you witnessed dying…”

Snape watched all this and suddenly felt a strong sense of absurdity.

"What does all this have to do with me? I didn't cause any of this." He stared at the illusion, thinking, "Next, are you going to show me a ring, so I'll understand that as long as I wear it, everything can be salvaged?"

As if in response to his thoughts, a gold ring appeared in the air, radiating an alluring light.

“Fine,” he said sarcastically, “anything else, Tom? Is that all the imagination you have?”

The illusion began to collapse, peeling away piece by piece like a shattered mirror.

Snape felt a wave of dizziness. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the Room of Requirement.

The fairy dagger was still firmly held in his hand, and the ring lay quietly in the box in front of him.

"That's it?" Snape said softly, a hint of disdain in his voice. "You might be able to read some of my desires and fears. But what you can't imagine is that none of that has happened yet." He gripped the dagger tighter. "And my existence is to prevent them from happening."

Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged the dagger fiercely into the ring.

The black gemstone let out a piercing shriek, and cracks spread across the golden ring like a spiderweb. A plume of black smoke billowed from the cracks, twisting in the air into a pained human face before vanishing without a trace.

Snape let out a long sigh, feeling a strange sense of relief. He tossed the broken ring into an ordinary parchment bag and casually stuffed it, along with the Resurrection Stone, into his pocket.

He has no one who needs to be resurrected.

"Two Horcruxes now," he muttered to himself. "Three more to go, maybe four in a while..."

As I left the Room of Requirement, the autumn sun shone through the high windows into the corridor, and the weather outside was exceptionally clear.

When Snape reached the fifth floor, he suddenly decided to go to the library to read about medieval love stories between knights and witches, just to kill some precious time on campus.

To his surprise, the usually stern Ms. Pince was not at her post. This was unusual; the strict librarian usually watched over everyone coming and going like a hawk.

The library was unusually quiet, with only a few students scattered around reading.

Snape raised an eyebrow and silently entered the bookshelf. Just as he passed near the literature section, a whisper caught his attention.

He tiptoed and followed the sound.

In a corner of the aisle between a row of bookshelves, he spotted Ms. Pins and Filch.

He carefully moved to a spot a row of bookshelves away from them, and through the gaps between the books, he saw Ms. Pins hand a small bag to the castle caretaker.

Filch, beaming, happily took an item from the bag, bent down, and tossed it on the ground. As he straightened up, he casually draped the bag over his arm.

"What are they doing?" Snape tried to see the contents of the bag, but the angle was too bad.

Just then, he felt something brush against his trouser leg.

Looking down, he saw Filch's beloved kitten, Mrs. Lorris.

She was clumsily hopping around, chasing a ball of yarn.

"Oh, good boy." Without thinking, Snape knelt down, gently stroked the kitten's head, and wiped away the eye discharge.

He skillfully scratched her chin and patted her bottom.

Mrs. Lorris became even more ecstatic and immediately stretched out her body in response, letting out a satisfied snoring sound.

Just as Snape was about to take out his usual dried fish from his pocket, he suddenly felt a chill.

He looked up and was met with Filch's pale face.

The librarian stood at the end of the bookshelf, his lips trembling and his eyes wide open.

“Ah, Mr. Filch…” Snape stood up awkwardly.

“You…” Filch pointed at him, then at Mrs. Lorris, “you…”

“Please don’t misunderstand…” Snape tried to explain.

Filch rushed over, scooped up Mrs. Lorris, slipped his hands under the kitten's armpits, and held her up to his face, staring incredulously into the kitten's eyes.

Mrs. Lorris opened her big, round eyes and meowed at Filch in a sweet, coquettish voice.

“Oh, my darling.” Filch hesitated for a moment, then cuddled the kitten. His expression immediately darkened when he turned to Snape. “The prize room needs a good dusting,” he said in a low voice. “Not a speck of dust tonight!”

“Yes, sir.” Snape replied obediently, reaching out to take out the dried fish and handing it to Filch. “Mrs. Lorris loves these. Eating more will make her fur even softer.”

Filch glared at him angrily, snatched the bag, muttered things like "the students these days" and "they don't even spare my cat," and strode away.

Snape shrugged, pulled out a fantasy edition of Tristan and Iser, and found a seat by the window.

Outside the window, the autumn sky was clear and cloudless.

The warm sunlight shone on the pages of the book, and Snape temporarily put Horcruxes and war aside, immersing himself in the fictional story.

A moment later, Ms. Pince emerged from the passageway and began surveying her territory, her expression more stern than usual.

　Thank you to Pig Can Fly, Xuanqing, EVA Lone Wolf, Chuanliuer, Refool, Yuexuan and Famous Pen, and reader 1377962097924120576 for the monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)