Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 305 Snape's Resolve
Levy and Snape's first joint teaching session was clearly a resounding success.

Professor McGonagall was finally relieved—if it hadn't been so rude, she would have really wanted to audit the first class.

Although I have great confidence in Levi, isn't there still Professor Snape?
Fortunately, Li Wei never disappoints her.

That's why Hogwarts has become so good.
With the last dangerous piece of the puzzle solved, Professor McGonagall couldn't think of anything else that could stop her students from pursuing their studies wholeheartedly.

"Achoo—!"

Snape sneezed suddenly, and his good mood turned sour.

As if embracing this terrible mood, when he returned to his gloomy, dimly lit office, a letter suddenly appeared beneath the door.
"Revelio"

Snape waved his wand, and a silvery light instantly spread, sweeping across the rough stone floor and revealing the original footprints.
The footprints were tiny and only remained near the doorway—they looked like those of a house-elf.

Moreover, it knows how to erase traces; the footprints at the door were deliberately exposed to it.

“Huh—?”

Snape's eyes showed great interest.

At this point in time, sending a message that is clearly not from a house-elf in the castle—which faction does the message represent?

And what was the purpose? Snape knew without a doubt that it was related to the rising star, Levi.

Thinking of this, Snape's lips curled into a pleased smile. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the letter on the ground, he snapped his fingers and picked it up directly from the ground—he hadn't done this habit before, but after seeing Levi do it a few times, he felt that this behavior did indeed have a certain style.

This is what he lacks.

"call out--"

The envelope, embroidered with gold thread, flew into Snape's hand, and at the same time, a 'snap' sound suddenly rang out from the corner.

Just now, someone Apparated away—no wizard could do that in the castle except for Dumbledore and the house-elves.

Snape looked at the letter in his hand—gold-embossed coat of arms, intricate calligraphy, and fragrant paper—typical pureblood behavior.

So, it was a pureblood who sent him the letter via a house-elf?
What's the matter that's so urgent and secretive?
Snape returned to his office, sat down, and, under the pale green light, unwrapped the sealing wax, opened the letter, and quietly read its contents.

Soon, his hands clenched tightly together, his knuckles turning white from the force.
The letter revealed deadly information that should absolutely never have been disclosed or known.
The Dark Lord is not dead yet.

How could someone from a pure-blood family know about this?

Instead of trying to find him, they wrote to themselves, instructing themselves, as 'loyal servants,' to fulfill their duties and welcome their great master back, even hinting at the possibility of being possessed by glory.
A chill ran down her spine, making Snape's mind even clearer.
In just a short while, he figured out many things.

During his student years, he was extremely enthusiastic about the glory of purebloods and once felt ashamed of his mixed-race identity—but after becoming a Death Eater, he gradually changed his mind.

These groups, arrogant because of their antiquity and corrupt because of their arrogance, are not worthy of his affection.

At the same time, in order to avoid revealing any flaws, he never showed much affection to these people.

To Snape's surprise, they were far more capable than he had imagined.
Snape recalled the group of Death Eaters trembling and kneeling before the Dark Lord, but he couldn't connect their current image with the memories in his mind.

Therefore, their fear and loyalty were all a facade—during the Second Wizarding War, weren't they not loyal to the Dark Lord, or even completely afraid of him, but merely using him to try to achieve pure-blood rule?
The thought that after the war, more than 70% of the staff in the Ministry of Magic were pure-blood families caused Snape to show surprise.

Now that these people have achieved their goals, why would they try to resurrect the Dark Lord?
Lee Wisner murmured the name softly.

Considering what the other party had done recently, and the fact that the old walrus was excited about Slughorn's praise of him, he clearly regarded him as the new Big Four.

Yes, it's because of Li Wei.
Snape thought of Levi's educational philosophy, which always challenged conventional wisdom, and his various 'reckless' educational practices. Yes, if the Pure Bloods weren't as foolish as he imagined, they would have foreseen what Levi was going to do.

At school, he used his position as a professor to directly break down prejudices based on lineage; outside, he used his expertise to overcome information asymmetry and knowledge blockades.
Levi's idea was indeed quite easy to understand—although Snape didn't even understand why he did it.
If we're talking about ambition, through the combination of signal base stations and the Bible, he has already skipped the grassroots level and had the Ministry of Magic set up a separate department for him, making him the director.

As for the Minister of Magic, Snape, who was above him, he could see that Levi lacked interest in power, as could be seen from his attitude towards Horace.

If Li Wei truly harbored ambitions, that old fox would have already paved the red carpet to the ministerial seat.

So, what is Dumbledore weighing at this moment?
In the dimly lit basement, Snape pondered this information alone, his mind growing increasingly heavy.
He thought of the suggestion Levi had made earlier. "Snape, have you ever considered that you don't actually have to endure all this anymore?"

From that day on, Snape kept thinking about this question, but the more he thought about it, the more his chaotic thoughts became tangled together like a ball of yarn, turning into knots he couldn't break free of.

Does someone like him, who has committed an unforgivable mistake, truly deserve to be redeemed?

Snape had no answer in his heart, only a heavy pressure, like the arrival of a dragon, crushing his mind.

"boom."

The office door opened and then closed again—locking itself into the dark, claustrophobic basement room along with a heavy sigh.

Half an hour later, in Dumbledore's headmaster's office.

Snape and Levi sat on either side, opposite Dumbledore, who had a serious expression.

The scent of Lemon Olaf couldn't dispel the heaviness in the air.

The letter lay open on the clean table, and Dumbledore's aged fingers gently pressed it, his deep blue eyes appearing exceptionally profound behind his half-moon spectacles.

"What are your thoughts on this? I'd like to hear your opinions first."

Li Wei frowned and remained silent.

He wasn't some bloodthirsty devil; if they were Death Eaters imprisoned in Azkaban, each of them would have taken multiple innocent lives.

To prevent them from escaping and committing evil in the future, Li Wei had no qualms about executing them directly.

However, while these purebloods do disgusting and repulsive things, it would be too extreme to find and kill them all just to resurrect Voldemort, and that would cause countless new problems.

But if left unattended, this matter will undoubtedly become extremely troublesome—it's unrealistic for him and Dumbledore to each have someone constantly monitoring the Albanian forests.

If the area were cordoned off, it would only attract the attention of those with ulterior motives—in any case, the fact that Voldemort is not dead should be a top secret; otherwise, there would always be Death Eaters still loyal to him searching for him.

Moreover, it is impossible to avoid the possibility that some wizards might be bewitched by Voldemort during the lockdown.

Seeing that Livy did not answer immediately, Dumbledore was not dissatisfied at all. Instead, he let out a soft sigh and looked at Snape:
"Severus?"

Snape felt his throat go dry.

He always felt that Dumbledore was hinting at something—about that promise from the past.
He met Dumbledore's gaze, then quickly glanced at Livy.

The warmth that had been painstakingly cultivated in the comfort of life was now clashing once again with the coldness of thought.
Finally, Snape heard his own dry voice, each word seemingly squeezed out with difficulty from a crack in the rock:

“I believe there is only one most effective way to handle this.” He paused, each syllable heavy with weight, “I will feign cooperation and make them believe that I—Severus Snape—am still the Dark Lord’s most loyal servant.”

I can be your inside man.

"Severus."

Dumbledore let out a sigh, his voice a mixture of complex emotions—perhaps pity, perhaps satisfaction, perhaps weariness, or perhaps guilt.
To make someone who has decided to crawl out of hell turn back at the exit of the passage, only to once again face that inhuman suffering—

In any case, this cannot be considered a benevolent act.

However, the enemy they faced was no ordinary foe—he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice even Dumbledore's own soul, let alone Snape's.
The atmosphere became somewhat somber.
Neither Dumbledore nor Snape spoke.

Snape's expression was tense; even the wrinkles on his skin that hadn't appeared since he started losing weight and taking care of his skin seemed to be reappearing on his face.
A sorrowful soul not only shrouds words, but also reveals itself in body and mind without any concealment.

Perhaps, with his current level of Occlumency, he cannot deceive the Dark Lord. Therefore, he must close his heart again and once more become that old Potions bat, wary and malevolent, vigilant as ever.
"Tap-tap-tap-"

The steady tapping of fingers on the table rang out, blending with the owner's calm voice to form an undeniable will:

"First, I must state one thing."

Li Wei glanced at Dumbledore, then turned to look at Snape.

“Snape, I will not allow you to return to the Dark Lord as a spy.”

The oppressive atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Dumbledore leaned back silently, as if trying to hide his body in the chair.

Snape's body jolted violently, as if struck by an invisible spell.

He looked at Li Wei, his eyes filled with astonishment and confusion, while he tried his best to hide the inappropriate emotion in his heart.

To conceal his emotions, Snape had to frown and feign anger as he spoke to Levi:

"why?"

His voice trembled with suppressed emotion.

"why?"

Li Wei repeated it, as if he felt the question was superfluous, or perhaps—he had never thought of a reason.

“There’s no particular reason—if I had to give one, it’s simply because I don’t want you to suffer that kind of danger and pain.”

"Don't joke around!" Snape almost shouted, his pale cheeks flushing an unnatural red.

This time he was truly furious—what did Li Wei take his resolve for? Did he know how much determination it took for him to make this decision?

As a result, the other party didn't even offer a decent reason before easily trampling on his determination!

"I am a master of Occlumency! I am confident that I can handle even the Dark Lord himself! This is the most effective way!"
Don't you still have three Horcruxes missing? Do you naively think victory is assured?

The fewer Horcruxes you need to find, the harder it is to find them. Do I really need to remind you of that?
This is war! A brutal war that will decide the life and death of the magical world! Didn't you say in class that justice will always prevail over evil? How can you guarantee that? Or are you just all talk?

To win this war, this is the most direct and correct method. You and Dumbledore both understand this, don't you? You just don't want to admit it, don't want to admit that you are hypocritical, despicable people who can only build your success on the sacrifices of others!

"Dumbledore—" He turned sharply to the silent old man, his voice sharp and trembling with hysterical despair, "You think so too, don't you? Speak! Don't keep your damn silence at a time like this!"

Dumbledore blinked sharply, but remained silent—Snape's problem was easy to solve; what was difficult for him was...
"According to Severus's statement, I am quite curious."

Levi didn't look at Snape, who was overwhelmed by the pressure, but only at Dumbledore.

But the change in how he addressed her was still precisely noticed by the two of them—Snape's shoulders twitched, he lowered his head, and remained silent.

This posture is so pathetic.
He'd rather be seen by that idiot Sirius than show it to Levi.
"Dumbledore——"

Under Livy's gaze, Dumbledore's entire back straightened up, as straight as a sword.

"In that cave, you once said that you were fighting Voldemort not only to eliminate an evil dark wizard, but also to defend the right to life. Life itself has value, and everyone has the right to choose for themselves."

Voldemort arbitrarily deprives other wizards of these things based solely on his own whims, so you must stop him.

"That's why you stopped me from sacrificing a death row inmate to destroy a Horcrux, remember?"

“Of course I remember—” Dumbledore’s voice sounded very serious; he already knew what Li Wei was trying to say.

When it comes to fighting Voldemort, you would still defend the right of a condemned prisoner to choose his own life, so why did your attitude change when it came to Snape?
Dumbledore pursed his lips, the words stuck in his throat, unable to escape his lips—

Snape sacrificed himself voluntarily.

He couldn't bring himself to say such a thing.

Because he knew that this wouldn't convince Li Wei.

(End of this chapter)