Snakes at Hogwarts

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Severus Snape felt that he had been having a terrible few days.

To be honest, every day he spent at Hogwarts was unpleasant.

And this dissatisfaction became even more intense after Harry Potter entered school.

Whenever he saw Harry's emerald green eyes in Potions class or elsewhere, Snape would have some unpleasant memories in his mind.

He had very complicated emotions about these eyes.

Even after so many years, I still can't forget it, but I just never showed it.

As an excellent Occlumency Master, Snape had always believed that showing emotion was a shameful and weak act.

Originally, his life was already very difficult, but until not long ago, Snape angrily discovered that apart from his heavy teaching work and the special tasks assigned by Dumbledore, he had no other job to do.

Dumbledore actually arranged a new task for himself.

Does he really think of himself as an inferi that never gets tired?

Monitoring Andros

Spying on a little kid who is only 11 years old

Did he eat cockroaches and ruin his brain?

If possible, Snape would really like to ask Dumbledore what he really thinks.

But he couldn't, because the latter never seemed to tell what he was thinking.

Except for the ones Snape should know.

As time went by, Snape gradually discovered the things about Andros that were different from his peers.

Ever since he accepted Dumbledore's instructions and began to observe Andros consciously or unconsciously, an extremely awkward feeling of familiarity lingered in his heart.

Moreover, this feeling became more intense as he got to know more about Andros, so much so that he had to use Occlumency to suppress this inexplicable feeling.

This symptom lasted for a long time, and it was not until last night that he gradually understood why he felt like this.

Those smart-alecked brats would never have guessed that Snape had set up a clever detection trap outside his office after first catching them on their night out in the canteen.

It was an alchemy tool that could distinguish witches by identifying their different magic powers. It looked a lot like a surveillance camera in the Muggle world.

This was something he begged from Dumbledore and was used specifically to monitor Andros.

It seems that Lao Deng's interest in Andros is definitely not as simple as the interest and curiosity he said.

As to whether Dumbledore made it himself or if it was part of his personal collection, Snape didn't know.

Of course, he doesn't care about this, as long as this thing works.

As the most mysterious force in the world, magic can simply be understood as a spiritual power that comes from the depths of the wizard's soul.

Since this power comes from the soul, the magic power of each wizard must be different depending on the soul.

The magic power of wizards with violent personalities will also react violently, and the magic power of wizards with calm personalities will be easier to control.

Some skilled wizards can even determine the target's whereabouts by sensing the remnants of magic in the air, or, based on this principle, make such a small object for surveillance.

While observing Andros practicing magic spells at close range in an empty classroom, Snape easily used a special method to collect fragments of Andros' magic power, without the latter knowing about it.

Of course he doesn't know anything, and it would be really weird if Andros could realize this.

A first-year student actually saw through the invisibility magic of a former dark wizard who was very skilled in this art.

This is simply impossible.

Merlin wasn't this fierce even in his first year.

Yesterday evening, when he sensed the magical signal from the surveillance device, Snape immediately woke up.

He had been in a light sleep for a long time, and would wake up from his sleep at the slightest movement.

This is one of the side effects of maintaining Occlumency for many years, and it will be difficult for the caster to get a good night's sleep.

Another simple use of Occlumency is to immediately dispel the sleepiness in your mind and put yourself in a fully awake and absolutely sane state.

This may also be the wonderful thing about magic. The same spell may produce two completely different results.

Snape hurriedly climbed out of bed, then cast various spells to conceal his whereabouts and drank a bottle of unknown potion from the medicine box he carried with him. He gently opened the door and walked along Andros and others. He quickly followed in the direction of leaving.

Originally, Snape thought he had finally caught Andros' exposed little tail.

Yes, Snape always felt that something was wrong with this boy.

No new student could discover the cleverly hidden Hogwarts kitchen on the first day of school, and Andros's excuse seemed to Snape to be nothing more than a cover-up.

He's not that easy to fool

However, after Snape's observation, this damn kid was really cautious.

Apart from showing a high degree of self-discipline and a strong desire for knowledge for more than a month, he did not reveal much information at all.

He basically doesn't go out at night, and other than that, he seems completely unaware of the other secret rooms and secret passages in Hogwarts.

This made Snape quite unhappy.

Until tonight, things finally became different.

Following the little snakes groping in the darkness, the corners of Snape's mouth turned up slightly, and he felt that he finally touched Andros' exposed little tail.

What Snape never expected was that the reason these guys stayed up most of the night was to have a duel with Potter and the others.

Are these guys’ heads filled with cow dung?

Seeing the extremely childish duel between these two groups in the prize showroom, he was really going to be pissed to death.

Did you come out at night just to watch this?

If it weren't for the purpose of not exposing his traces, he would definitely catch all these people, and then send them all to his office for severe criticism and education.

However, Snape's expression gradually became complicated when he saw Potter being knocked to the ground severely by Draco and being bullied wantonly by the latter.

It seems like it might be the joy of getting revenge.

Or, it’s confusion and heartache

It's hard to believe that one person's face can contain so many expressions.

For the first time, a fleeting confusion appeared in his deep, emotionless eyes that were as penetrating as black holes. It seemed that a long-lasting memory was flowing uncontrollably in his mind.

However, Snape quickly suppressed his inner emotions.

When Ron Weasley was tightly bound by Andros's magic spell, Snape's eyes had returned to their usual state, empty, cold, and emotionless.

He watched in silence what was happening in front of him. After Neville's shouts attracted Mrs. Norris, the little devils began to flee.

Snape gave up tracking Andros without any hesitation.

He followed Potter all the way until they finally rejoined Slytherin's little snake and entered the closed restricted door.

Looking at the closed door, Snape wanted to rush in and save that stupid Gryffindor idiot several times.

But he finally restrained himself.

After seeing these guys escape from the restricted area safely, Snape walked to the principal's office with a sullen face and reported to Dumbledore.

I think we all have a pretty good idea of ​​what happened next.

When Snape came out of the principal's office on the eighth floor and returned to his lounge, it was already two o'clock in the morning.

Dumbledore's words, coupled with what happened tonight, and those long-lost memories, finally made Snape realize the origin of the strange feeling he had when observing Andros.

It was an extremely strange feeling of similarity.

Andros looks the same now as he did when he was a student at Hogwarts.

The same hard work, the same love and obsession with magic.

Just as talented.

There was even a female companion whom I knew very well before school started, but who was not assigned to the same college.

Sitting on the bed, Snape thought dreamily.

His memories began to surge, and this time, he no longer chose to restrain himself.

Perhaps, only in this room with a powerful anti-reconnaissance spell, in this little corner of his own, would he reveal those human emotions.

After a long time, Snape gently opened the drawer of the bedside table and fumbled for a small object.

It was a wooden password box that was very common in the Muggle world, but in terms of style it was already a product many years ago.

Without using the unlocking spell, Snape gently turned the numbers above in the dim light.

1

click.

Snape stretched out his hand to open the wooden box. His hands were trembling so much that he did not look like a potion master who had prepared countless potions.

Along with a burst of mechanical sound, a piece of soothing music sounded in this exquisite cipher box.

This is actually a music box

Snape was trembling all over as he stared at the contents of the box.

He seemed to be sobbing

It was an old, yellowed Muggle photo. On it, two children stood together carefree.

Their smiles look sweet.

Muddy tears overflowed from Snape's eyes. They were like two transparent thin lines, slowly sliding across his pale cheeks, finally converging on his chin, and dripping into the music box that was still playing music.

Under the photo, there is a piece of letter paper that is also yellowed, and the writing on it wet with tears is still clearly visible:

Happy birthday, Lily.

I sincerely beg you to forgive me, no matter what it costs me.

Your ever loyal Snape.

1977 1 Month 9 Day.

After all, Snape is also a pathetic person.

One of countless poor people.

Who doesn’t have some bitter memories that they don’t want to recall?

As strong as Dumbledore, isn't he a pathetic person?

It's just that they deliberately chose to forget.

The night is long, do you still have the heart to sleep?

Faced with Andros' magic, Snape, who had not slept all night, did not react for a moment.

Andros, the little guy who was concentrating on controlling the air balloon, was also startled by the sudden appearance of Snape. His body trembled and he subconsciously interrupted the delivery of magic power.

This means that he can no longer control this magical wind mixed with magic power.

The stinky wind caused by the mixture of countless potions whizzed past him, and Snape didn't even have time to cast a simple head soaking spell.

The smell is probably far better than any kind of feces or eggs or a dirty public toilet.

Time seemed to have stopped at this moment. After a long time, a roar loud enough to reach the castle auditorium sounded from the door of the underground classroom.

"Lobach, what are you doing?"