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Chapter 275: Anger and Helplessness
🕑 Added 2025-01-22 16:47:07 +0000 UTCHogsmeade, a small cottage.
Snape appeared to walk into the room with an indifferent air, but no one knew the turmoil in his heart.
Last night, or rather just before dawn, he met an old acquaintance from his childhood, a person whose jealousy had once made him quite loathsome. However, after hearing Petunia's description, he realized that the situation was far from simple.
Protected by the sacrificial and loving magic, theoretically, no curse should easily harm Harry. But those scarlet eyes and the crazed expression...
The first thing Snape thought of was a figure from his memories. Thus, after writing a letter to Dumbledore, he hurried over.
A blue, icy room, clear green eyes.
For some reason, seeing Harry sitting alone, helpless and pitiable in the frozen cottage, Snape felt a surge of flames within him, an inexplicable rage.
He looked around and first excluded Harry. Then he saw a boy drinking butterbeer in the distance. Although the boy's face clearly showed he was enjoying the show, he was also Snape's student.
Finally...
Snape's gaze locked onto the old man opposite him.
"I thought he would be safe. I even foolishly believed those ridiculous claims, believed that Hogwarts was the safest place, believed someone was the greatest white wizard..."
Usually sparing with words, Snape now spoke rapidly.
Snape's change surprised Harry.
Although he had heard stories about his father's generation on the train last year, he did not expect Snape to react this way now.
Having lived cautiously since childhood, Harry had developed a keen sense of emotional perception. He knew who was genuinely good to him and who truly disliked him. But precisely because of this, he felt Snape's reaction was a bit over the top.
Not far away, Ino took a sip of butterbeer. He noticed the change in Harry but wasn't surprised.
As the storyteller on the train last year and the instigator of the entire incident, he only told Harry about the grievances of the previous generation without mentioning their romances, as Snape was not the protagonist in those stories.
Ino could sense Harry's change, and naturally, the other two could see it clearly as well.
"Muffliato!"
Snape waved his hand, casting the spell without a wand and blocking Harry's ears.
To prevent him from eavesdropping on the professors' conversation.
After doing all this, Snape subconsciously turned his head because there was another student eavesdropping on the professors.
Noticing the gaze, Ino put down his drink and pretended to cover his ears, signaling that he wouldn't eavesdrop.
Seeing this, Snape gave up on casting more spells.
It wasn't because Ino's gesture was convincing, but because after this meeting, Snape felt a different kind of pressure from Ino, even just standing there.
Because of this, Snape let it slide after Ino's gesture, giving them both a way out.
All this happened within a few seconds.
Dumbledore didn't pay attention to the interaction between the teacher and student. He needed to organize his thoughts to tell Snape the truth exactly as it was.
He knew Snape, his former student. Though Snape seemed angry, it was all harmless, controllable.
But the words Dumbledore was about to say might make Snape lose control of his anger.
"Severus, there are some things you need to know! Although it's the last thing I want to see, the fact is it has happened..."
Understanding is mutual; Dumbledore understood Snape, and Snape understood Dumbledore just as well.
Hearing this tone and seeing his demeanor, the anger on Snape's face disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression.
"This involves the secret that Tom cannot be killed..."
From the orphanage half a century ago to the tragedy of Moaning Myrtle, and then the familiar story of the Defense Against the Dark Arts position...
Dumbledore spoke in detail, seemingly with a purpose.
Of the four people present, only Harry seemed a bit pitiful, sitting in the ice house. He saw their mouths moving but couldn't hear any sound.
His hearing was blocked, but his vision was not.
Through the translucent ice, Harry clearly saw their changing expressions.
Dumbledore's guilt, Ino's thoughtful look, Snape's extreme coldness...
The scene before him, combined with his childhood skill in reading people, made Harry feel a sudden discomfort.
He felt he wouldn't live much longer because their expressions were too clear, especially Dumbledore's, which mixed guilt with a hint of helplessness.
A typical Gryffindor, unafraid of death, but Harry felt he hadn't lived enough, his exciting life had just begun...
If possible, he hoped to die after graduation. The castle life had brought him too much joy; even the eleven years on Privet Drive couldn't compare to every moment at Hogwarts.
It seems human nature always cherishes what it loses.
At this moment, Harry felt he had wasted previous time, full of regrets...
He wanted to say goodbye to his friends, play another Quidditch match with the beautiful Ravenclaw Seeker, and even confess to Professor McGonagall that he copied his Transfiguration homework...
As he thought, Harry felt his eyes sting as if dust had entered them, making them inexplicably sore.
And at that moment, a line of words suddenly appeared on the icy wall in front of him:
"Don't overthink! Just two professors having a private conversation, afraid of students eavesdropping!"
Though it was a joke, Harry felt a bit of warmth.
Someone in the room still cared about him.
...
As the words on the ice wall faded.
At the same time.
Dumbledore finally revealed the ultimate truth, that Harry had unintentionally become a Horcrux for Voldemort.
Snape closed his eyes; he no longer had the energy to be angry.
After a moment.
Snape reopened his eyes, his gaze calm like a still pond.
"Is there no way?"
An extremely indifferent and emotionless voice echoed, seemingly lowering the room's temperature.
Seeing Snape in this state, Dumbledore sighed wearily.
Actually, whether it was Harry or Severus, in his eyes they were the same, or rather everyone was the same.
"I can only think of one possibility..."
To prevent Snape from falling back into darkness and to save Harry's life as much as possible, Dumbledore revealed his inner thoughts.
A seemingly unreliable but the only feasible solution.
"Horcruxes cannot be undone. The moment it was made, Harry and Tom were bound together, their lives linked. There's only one possible way to sever this connection, but it must be done by Tom himself..."
As Dumbledore spoke, Ino suddenly noticed a hidden detail in the original story.
Perhaps in the Goblet of Fire story, all the changes happened under the headmaster's nose, including Voldemort's resurrection.
The only variable in the story might have been Cedric.
No one expected a Hufflepuff to suddenly show Gryffindor's courage.
Cedric's bravery, Pettigrew's split-second Killing Curse...
This series of accidents led to an irreversible tragedy.
Eventually, Dumbledore chose to jump from the tower, dying in the castle he loved deeply.
Whether there was an element of redemption in this, no one knew.
But one thing was certain, Dumbledore's affection for Hogwarts and for all the young wizards living in the castle was perhaps no less than anyone else's.
