Hogwarts: I am Snape

The heavy wooden door couldn't block out the faint sounds of noise and figures moving inside the small bar. Snape and Grindelwald walked across the small square covered with the compacted snow.

He tilted his head slightly, gesturing for Grindelwald to follow, and then set off down a narrow street next to the bar. This path seemed to lead out of the village, in the opposite direction from where they had come from.

He took a couple of steps, his boots crunching softly on the hard snow, before realizing there were no footsteps following him. Turning around, he saw Grindelwald still standing at the bar entrance, a thin layer of snow already clinging to his shoulders.

Just then, a local resident wrapped in a thick wool scarf hunched his shoulders and hurried over. He was clearly in a hurry to get into the warm refuge, his steps so rapid that he almost bumped into Grindelwald, who was standing in the doorway.

He nimbly sidestepped, bypassing Grindelwald's tall figure, and reached out to push open the bar's wooden door.

The door was pushed open a crack, and in an instant, brighter light, the rich smell of tobacco, alcohol and food, and clearer laughter and the clatter of cups and plates rushed out like a heat wave.

The man had already stepped one foot into the doorway, but seemed drawn to the strange, silent stranger outside. He couldn't help but glance back and ask in a gruff voice:

"Sir? It's so cold outside, but it's warm inside. Why don't you come in for a drink?"

Grindelwald's grey eyes seemed to be stung by the light emanating from the doorway, and he narrowed slightly. His gaze pierced through the door, through the warm light, and was cast toward a distant and hazy time, where perhaps the same lights, voices, and the spirited silhouette of a young man once existed.

Seeing that he didn't react, the villagers shrugged, muttered something, and went into the bar, leaving the door closed to shut themselves out from the wind and snow outside.

Snape had already turned back and quietly stood beside Grindelwald.

"Want to go in for a drink?" he asked, glancing at the bar's facade.

Grindelwald still didn't answer. He seemed not to hear anything, but suddenly turned around and strode towards the dark street that Snape had been trying to take.

Snape followed. The two walked silently, one in front of the other, along the path leading out of the village.

The houses gradually thinned out, and the wind grew stronger and fiercer. Most of the windows of the low houses on both sides were dark, with only a few letting out a faint light.

Snape's gaze swept across the windows and landed at the end of the street, where the houses disappeared and the alley merged into the open field.

At the edge of that row of houses, where the wilderness meets the village, a dark shadow, thicker than the night, can be vaguely seen, standing alone.

He subtly adjusted the way he held the wand in his sleeve to make it more comfortable, and walked toward the damaged house.

Only when they got closer could they see more details.

Although the hedges in front of the mansion were partially knocked down and damaged by the explosion, the remaining parts still showed signs of careful trimming; the snow-covered lawn was also relatively flat and free of debris.

About half of the house still stands stubbornly, with dark black ivy struggling to peek out from the walls in the cold wind before being covered by thick white snow.

Its other half has vanished, leaving only jagged ruins; exposed wooden beams and bricks stand like scars under the gloomy sky, while the cold wind swirls snowflakes among the broken walls.

Snape and Grindelwald stood before the courtyard gate, half-hidden by snowflakes, briefly gazing upon the ruins.

A moment later, Snape carefully raised his wand, pushed open the crooked gate, and trudged through the thick snow toward the dark entrance.

It was colder indoors than outside, and the air seemed to be filled with a gloomy atmosphere that sent chills down one's spine.

The living room on the first floor was mostly covered with rubble and thick dust, and the furniture was overturned and broken.

A glow shone from the tip of Snape's wand. His gaze swept over the overturned sofa, the shattered ceramic shards, and the tipped mantel, finally settling on the crooked dining table.

On the wall there, an old toy flying broom hangs askew. Its model is long outdated, and the handle still bears the marks of children's play.

Beside the broom hung several framed photographs. One of them was of young James, who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old, his face still bearing a childlike innocence, excitedly standing beside the bright red carriage of the Hogwarts Express. In the steam of the train, his parents stood on either side, Mrs. Potter smiling gently, while Mr. Potter proudly placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

In another photo, besides the Potters and a noticeably older James, there is a serene Sirius Black. The four of them are sitting around a table laden with food. Mrs. Potter is smiling as she scoops a pie into Sirius's bowl, who looks flattered and a little embarrassed. James is grinning broadly beside him.

Snape's gaze lingered briefly on the photos before he looked away and turned to gesture for Grindelwald to go upstairs.

The two climbed the creaking, dusty, and splintered stairs to the second floor, then went straight up to the top floor.

They walked through a broken corridor exposed to the wind and snow to the far right end of the top floor of the house, which James described as the Potters' bedroom.

The damage here was even more complete. Most of the roof and one wall had disappeared, and the fierce wind poured in without any shelter, turning the entire room into a huge snowdrift. Its original outline was covered by thick snow and collapsed wooden beams and rubble.

Recalling James's description of the hidden compartment's location, Snape stopped abruptly as he stepped into the newly fallen snow. It's not needed anymore.

The original location of the fireplace is now just a pile of blackened brick ruins; the carefully hidden niche has been brutally blown open and exposed, its secret compartments empty except for a small amount of ice and snow blown in by the wind.

His gaze lingered on the empty, hidden compartment for several seconds. It seemed Tom had not only murdered the Potters but also found what he wanted. This trip, aside from confirming the Invisibility Cloak had been stolen and Voldemort now possessing a Deathly Hallow that had likely been turned into a Horcrux, yielded no other gains.

“The Invisibility Cloak is gone. We’ve made a wasted trip. Let’s go back.” Snape turned to Grindelwald, who stood in the doorway, seemingly indifferent to the state of the room.

Grindelwald gave a soft snort: "You're done with your business? So fast?"

“The Mysterious Man obviously wouldn’t leave his Horcruxes here for us to find,” Snape explained. “There’s nothing of value here except ruins and memories.”

Grindelwald looked up, peering through the swirling snowflakes outside. He didn't continue the discussion about the Invisibility Cloak, but instead calmly said, "Since you're here, come walk with me around the village."

Snape paused slightly. He knew what Godric's Hollow meant to the old man before him—that summer, the beginning of an era, and the end of a relationship. He nodded, without asking further questions: "Alright."

After leaving the ruins of the Potter family home, the two returned to the village.

This time, Grindelwald walked ahead. His tall figure moved through the quiet street, while Snape quietly followed a few steps behind, maintaining a proper distance.

In the snowstorm, Snape saw Grindelwald pause briefly in front of some houses that were closed and unusually quiet. Sometimes for a few seconds, sometimes longer. The old man's gray gaze would fall on the tightly shut doors and windows, or on the snow-covered fences, his expression inscrutable.

Snape wisely kept his distance, not wanting to disturb an old man reminiscing about his youth and past.

As he passed a house that looked fairly tidy but also deserted, he noticed a small wooden sign hanging by the door that read: Bashida Bashat.

Grindelwald did not linger here for long.

They continued on their journey, eventually stopping outside an extremely desolate and dilapidated house. Unlike the ruins of the Potter family home, this place was not destroyed by violence, but rather eroded by the passage of time and utter abandonment.

The hedges grew wildly and unruly, completely losing their shape, pointing haphazardly towards the sky; waist-high withered yellow grass stubbornly poked its head out from under the snow, with scattered rubble half-buried among them.

Grindelwald stood before this desolate place for a very long time.

After waiting for a long time, Snape hesitated for a moment, but finally stepped forward.

As he drew closer to the low iron gate, which was almost completely rusted and blended into the overgrown weeds, a faint magical fluctuation quietly rippled outwards.

With a soft "plop," a weathered, decaying wooden sign emerged from the tangled nettles and deep weeds in front of them. It rose like some strange, rapidly growing flower, its faded, mottled writing barely legible in the dim light of the snow:

Dumbledore's.

Snape wisely stepped back to Grindelwald's side and simply watched the suddenly appearing, broken signboard.

Grindelwald didn't seem to look at the sign. A few seconds later, he abruptly turned around, strode off, and continued walking back the way he came without looking back.

The two returned to the small square in the center of the village. This time, Grindelwald's gaze fell on the solemn little church on the other side of the square.

Instead of heading towards the main entrance of the church, he went around to the back, where the Godric Valley cemetery lay.

The entrance to the cemetery was a narrow door. As Grindelwald approached, the door was pushed open by an unseen force. Snow slid down, revealing the entrance. Snape followed closely behind.

The path leading to the cemetery was slippery, covered in deep, untrodden snow. They traversed the snow, skirting the shadows cast by the bright windows on the side of the church as they circled around to the back, leaving deep furrows behind them.

Behind the church lies the true resting place. Rows of tombstones of various shapes and sizes, some black and some white, stand on a light blue silver carpet, forming a stone forest.

The two trudged through the knee-deep snow, making their way deeper into the cemetery. Their two dark tracks were slowly filled in by the newly fallen white snow.

Snape's gaze swept over the ancient tombstones passing by, trying to decipher the faded inscriptions. He recognized some names, others were completely unfamiliar. Perhaps Muggle families from the village were buried here, he thought.

After passing the tombstone of some unknown "Eibo," Grindelwald seemed to have a clear purpose. He walked to a somewhat sparse area and stopped.

Separated by two rows of tombstones, Snape spotted a dark, unsightly stone. He took a few steps closer.

Carved on the frozen, moss-covered granite is the name of Kendra Dumbledore, followed by his birth and death dates and his daughter Ariana. There is also a motto:

Where the treasure is, there the heart is also.

Snape slowed his pace involuntarily. Grindelwald also stopped, standing in front of the tombstone with his back to Snape.

The cold wind whipped up the snowflakes on the ground, swirling them around. Snape could see his breath condense into tiny white mists in the frigid air, only to vanish in an instant.

After a long while, a deep voice finally rang out in the open space: "Let's go."

After saying that, Grindelwald started walking, preparing to leave the cemetery.

However, he had only taken less than ten steps when he suddenly stopped.

Grindelwald stopped abruptly, turned around almost simultaneously, raised his hand, and pointed his wand at a corner to the side.

Snape's heart skipped a beat. Although he didn't understand why, his long-standing combat experience made him instantly grip the wand in his sleeve, his whole body on high alert.

He moved quickly, his gaze following the direction Grindelwald's wand pointed: there were many tombstones there as well, but they looked particularly old, some even crooked.

Grindelwald offered no explanation. He gestured for Snape to keep his distance, then cautiously moved toward the area of ​​gravestones, each step making a chilling, subtle crunch in the thick snow.

Along the way, Snape observed the tombstones lining both sides of the path. He noticed that the deceased buried in this area almost all pointed to the same ancient family. He saw the names of Rolston Potter, Hardwin Potter, and other Potter ancestors.

After walking a short distance, Grindelwald stopped in front of a badly weathered tombstone. The top of the tombstone was broken, the stone surface was rough and peeling, and it was covered with deep cracks.

Snape stopped slightly behind Grindelwald, squinting as he tried to decipher the inscription on the tombstone by the light from the tip of his wand: Hadwin Potter, Iorans Potter.

Below their names is a faint scratch, a simple triangle mark.

The surrounding darkness and silence seemed to deepen suddenly; in the church not far away, someone had just turned off the last lamp.

Grindelwald lowered his wand, almost touching the cold, ancient stone surface, as if trying to feel the pulse within it.

He began to mutter something in a language with obscure syllables. Snape recognized it as some variant of ancient runes.

As Grindelwald chanted, the light at the tip of his wand flickered. At the same time, his other hand rapidly traced several complex and subtle runes in the air.

An invisible magical wave spread out from him, like a transparent dome, enveloping him, Snape, and a small area around the tombstone.

Having done all this, Grindelwald took a deep breath, and his wand unleashed a dazzling, pure white beam of light, slamming it into the center of the stone monument.

With a hissing sound, thick, inky black gas, carrying an ominous and malicious aura, suddenly rose from the snow-covered ground and burst forth from the cracks and markings on the stone tablet.

The black mist churned and twisted, intertwining and roaring in mid-air, vaguely forming several humanoid faces that were connected end to end, howling in pain, twisted and grotesque, and filled with hatred and malice.

They frantically tried to break through the white light released by Grindelwald in order to devour the two of them.

As the black energy erupted, the triangular mark on the tombstone glowed red. Several malevolent curses shot out silently from different angles, aiming directly at Grindelwald's vital points.

Snape's expression changed, and he joined the defense. Magical barriers formed, shattered, and regenerated before them. He would sometimes swing his staff to parry and deflect incoming curses, and at other times he would unleash powerful counterspells to neutralize even more troublesome dark magic.

The shattered magical light scattered, striking the surrounding snow and corroding it into patches of smoking black marks.

After a stalemate lasting three to five minutes, the surging black energy finally lost its support and, after letting out a mournful shriek, suddenly dissipated. The red light of the triangular mark on the tombstone also dimmed.

The danger was over, and the surroundings became quiet.

Grindelwald wiped the sweat from his brow, turned back to Snape and nodded approvingly, then turned back again, raising his wand and pointing it at the tombstone and the ground in front of it.

As he chanted the incantation, the heavy stone hummed and levitated into the air under the influence of magic.

Immediately afterwards, the frozen soil and snow beneath the monument began to churn and peel away. Soil mixed with snow chunks surged to both sides, revealing a deep pit.

At the bottom of the pit, the remains of a coffin, almost completely rotten and only a few pieces of wood remaining, were exposed to the air.

Among the broken pieces of wood that had become one with the soil, Snape saw a small golden box reflecting a faint light in the glow of his wand.

The small golden box slowly rose from the mud coffin and landed in Grindelwald's other hand, which was already waiting there.

Without the slightest delay, he waved his wand with his other hand, and the turned-up soil was quickly filled in as if time had reversed, the tombstone fell back into place, and the snowflakes were guided to cover it again.

The powerful healing spell erased all traces of the magical confrontation, restoring the entire area to its original state.

Then, Grindelwald took the box and performed the necessary checks and cleansing. Once he was sure it was safe, he breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and casually tossed the small, mud-covered golden box over.

“Look,” he said casually to Snape, “is this what you wanted?” (End of Chapter)