The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

"As for evidence, it's Quidditch's curse on Harry's broom during the last Quidditch match."

“He doesn’t like Quidditch, he’s not the head of any house, and on the surface, he doesn’t seem to have any conflict with Harry.”

"For a professor to suddenly do this to a student, something must have happened that goes beyond the realm of common sense, causing him to defy human morality and the laws of the Ministry of Magic."

“You know Quirrell’s personality better than I do. For him to have changed so much, it’s either because he’s been controlled by dark magic, or he might have sided with some dark wizard who hates Harry.”

"Only in this way can everything that happened before be explained."

Snape listened calmly, even touching his chin, clearly taking Dolly's words to heart.

Snape was still not entirely clear about Quirrell's motives and secrets.

All he knew was that Quirrell had tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone, nearly killed Dolly, and had also attacked Harry.

But what is the motivation behind all of this?

If that guy, or the guy behind him, was targeting Harry from the very beginning, then everything makes sense.

He wanted the Philosopher's Stone to create chaos and then find an opportunity to harm Harry.

Unable to find Harry, they decided to target Dolly, figuring that killing Harry's sister would also cause him pain and heartache.

He has been silent for several months now, not because he has given up, but because he is looking for a better opportunity.

Once this opportunity arises, both Harry and Dolly will be in danger.

Having figured all this out, Snape's gaze towards Dolly changed slightly.

If Dolly previously demonstrated maturity in coping mechanisms, now she is showing maturity in her thinking.

At least in Harry, Snape showed absolutely no similar signs.

Could it be that Dolly unintentionally enhanced her intelligence with her strange magical abilities?

That's not entirely impossible.

"It seems the professor believes me now, so I can reveal the purpose of my visit."

"This potion should help you detoxify your body, so that once you recover, you can keep a closer eye on Quirrell."

"At the same time, I also hope to learn more potion-making skills from you in order to prepare for possible dangers."

Dolly smiled slightly and said, "Of course, I wouldn't let you, Professor, waste your efforts for me and Harry."

"In return, if you need anything, such as some potions that you need me to process, I will certainly not refuse."

“You can think of this as a collaboration. Harry and I are doing this to protect ourselves, while you are doing it to protect Hogwarts and punish villains like Quirrell. How about that?”

120 Selfish Dolly

Snape looked at Dolly calmly, his gaze somewhat strange.

He seemed neither surprised nor delighted, and his attention was not on Dolly's potion.

If it truly was the creation of a powerful potion master, Snape would likely be very excited and try to structure and study the potion, ultimately achieving a result that would improve his own potion-making skills.

Unfortunately, this potion was a miracle caused by magic.

That wasn't that important to Snape.

Because what he likes and loves is the study of potions itself, and the potion he brews is just a result. He doesn't feel sorry if there is no result, just like the process of failing to brew a potion.

Therefore, Snape initially wanted to refuse Dolly's suggestion.

His injuries will heal in a while, after all, it's just a three-headed dog, which is relatively rare, and he needs to spend time preparing materials to brew the potion.

If Snape couldn't even handle the bite from a three-headed dog, his potions skills were far too weak.

As for Dolly's mature thinking, that was no secret to him.

Dolly's magical talent was no secret either, but neither he nor the other professors had inquired about it.

But Snape is still silent. What exactly moved him?

Harry and Dolly's safety is one aspect, of course, but cooperating with Dolly to make her stronger is another, outside of the Hogwarts campus.

Harry now has a powerful protector, which is undoubtedly something that motivates Snape to do.

But Snape was most concerned with something else entirely.

He finally spoke slowly, saying, "Miss Dursley, I understand everything you have said, and I do think there is indeed a need for cooperation."

"But there's one thing I need your honest answer to."

Why did you choose to study Potions?

Dolly's pupils contracted slightly for a moment, then she regained her composure and said, "Of course, it's for safety reasons later..."

"Then why not consider learning spells?"

"Well... actually, my spellcasting skills are already quite good. Perhaps I could demonstrate them to you, Professor?"

Snape raised his hand to refuse, saying, "No need, Miss Dursley. I believe your level of Charms is already among the best of your peers."

"You can even kill giants with brute force, and it's unlikely that an ordinary wizard could harm you."

"But none of this is a reason for you to learn potion-making. You can't be seriously injured and dying after a battle and then go and brew potions. You'd be better off using that time and energy to seek help from a Muggle hospital or St. Mungo's."

Snape, as if seeing through everything, said, "Miss Dursley, you brew potions to better utilize your magical talents, don't you?"

Dolly sighed softly, but Snape still found out.

Dolly had already considered this possibility, after all, Snape was the highest-level expert in Legilimency and Occlumency, second only to Voldemort and Dumbledore.

It's fair to say that if Snape had been given a few more decades, his skill in this area might have been no less than that of Dumbledore and Snape.

So even though Dolly had a strong will and was mentally prepared to confront Snape, he still managed to discover her secrets.

He didn't need to find out the truth; he only needed to notice the subtle differences in Dolly's attitude.

This is actually why Dolly didn't want to have too much contact with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore could also easily see through a person. If he had regarded Dolly as someone who would do anything to pursue power, then Dolly would have faced even greater pressure.

After all, people who are single-mindedly pursuing power have never left a good impression on Dumbledore.

Grindelwald, Voldemort, and his younger self.

If Dolly were to actually reveal her thoughts to Dumbledore, it might just trigger Dumbledore's PTSD.

But Snape was different.

Although Snape is now Dumbledore's most loyal subordinate, as a Slytherin, the two are very different in their methods and behaviors.

Therefore, Dolly felt that Snape might actually understand her current situation better.

So Dolly didn't answer Snape's question directly, but instead asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Professor, if I don't have the power, how can I protect my brother, family, and friends?"

"Am I supposed to wait until their bodies grow cold, then hold them and weep bitterly, lamenting my own powerlessness?"

Snape slightly raised his chin, feeling a bit agitated.

Looking at the face in front of him that was exactly like Lily's, he always felt that Lily was using Dolly's body to question him from the depths of her soul.

It wasn't until Lily died that Snape realized what he had been doing all along.

Did Snape feel no remorse whatsoever when Voldemort slaughtered others, except for Lily?

This was undoubtedly a soul-searching question for Snape, a judgment that forced him to confront his own terrible past.

Did he ever regret it?

Although Snape had countless reasons to cover up his actions, such as having no possibility of regret after joining the Death Eaters, and that if he had any mental wavering, he would be killed by Voldemort.

But Snape couldn't deny that at that time he did choose to follow Voldemort and idolize him.

After hearing the prophecy of a boy who could kill Voldemort, his choice was not to find an opportunity to betray Voldemort, but to tell Voldemort the boy's secret.

At this moment, Snape was undoubtedly a Death Eater loyal to Voldemort.

Because by this time, more than one Death Eater had betrayed Voldemort, even though they paid the price with their lives.

There were more than one Dead Apostle who outwardly obeyed Voldemort but inwardly defied him. Although Voldemort was very unhappy about this and would torture and control them, they all survived.

For example, Malfoy's father, Lucius.

He was subjected to the Imperius Curse by Voldemort because he outwardly complied but inwardly defied him, which became the opportunity for him to be exonerated later.

So when exactly did Snape change?

The answer is undoubtedly Lily's death.

Lily's death filled him with remorse; at that time, his only regret was that his choices had led to Lily's death.

Does he now feel remorse for the others who died because of Voldemort, such as James and Lily's son?

This is a crucial question, and the most critical one for analyzing and judging Snape.

If from beginning to end, Snape only cared about Lily and only regretted Lily's death.

The life or death of the rest of the people, whether it was Harry or Malfoy dying in front of him, didn't matter to him. So, Snape was ultimately an extremely selfish person.

His love for Lily was also a form of self-love, a manifestation of extreme selfishness.

If, after Lily's death, he became like a human being in every other way, besides his remorse for Lily.

That means he has truly changed, no longer just living in the shadow of Lily's death and being a puppet controlled by Dumbledore.

Instead, he has developed his own thoughts and awareness, becoming a reliable comrade-in-arms who, though unpopular, will not hesitate on crucial issues.

Even Dolly struggled to provide an answer to this question, which was a subject of much debate in her previous life.

However, judging from the results, Snape succeeded.

Especially after Dumbledore's death, Snape took on the blame for killing Dumbledore and also raised the banner of resistance against Voldemort.

To maintain Hogwarts under Voldemort's influence, to do everything possible to protect the students from certain deaths, and to continue Dumbledore's wildly imaginative yet fragile plans.

If Snape's only motivation was revenge, he obviously couldn't have been so thorough. After all, the death of a few students was nothing to him, was it?

"Power, in order to gain power, chose sacrifice."