novelraw Chapter 976 [Chapter 5] 61
Chapter 976 [Chapter 5] 61
There is only such a paragraph written on the paper.But that's enough.
Snape squirmed his lips, but before he had time to subconsciously respond more, he felt his head spinning again.The vision brought by the Pensieve disappeared, and the short memory that Dumbledore wanted to show him ended here.He returned to the headmaster's room at Hogwarts. Dark blue velvet curtains were drawn on the wall, and the portraits stayed quietly without making a sound, and the room was completely silent.
Snape suddenly realized that he had been standing in front of the Pensieve for too long.He waved his wand, and the velvet curtain was pulled away soundlessly, and the pile of old man's portraits on the wall was once again seen in the sky.
Dumbledore asked him with a smile: "Have you read that memory, Severus?"
He ignored the old bee, put that memory back into the crystal bottle, then found a gap on the shelf, and stuffed the bottle back.
After receiving his cold reception, Dumbledore was not angry, but turned to Phineas Nigellus in another portrait, and chatted with him in a homely tone: "It's really a touching song. Good poem... Phineas, you know Hogwarts doesn't teach literature, it's a pity... Sometimes I wonder if it's burying some kind of talent in some of the students. Perhaps the new A literature class would be a good idea too?" He said to Phineas Nigellus with a wink, "If Lily is still around, maybe I can just hire her as a part-time professor for this class?"
That haughty Phineas Nigellus snorted and said, "That... Muggleborn?! Albus, don't tell me you plan to make Hogwarts like a Muggle school ——and plan to offer such an elective course that only Muggles would be interested in! Merlin, fortunately you are dead, I'm sure our new headmaster won't be interested in this proposal." He changed his tone and said meanly: "What's more, isn't the girl you mentioned already dead? Do you want a second ghost professor to appear in Hogwarts? Or hang a magical portrait on the classroom wall during class, and let her portrait teach? !"
Snape was now convinced that the big black dog's whole family were as annoying as he was.Regardless of whether the big dog has become a traitor to the family or not, there is no less disgusting factor flowing in his blood, just like his ancestor.
Gritting his teeth, he gave Dumbledore a sideways look, meaning that if he didn't care about this old man with a brain that seemed to be trampled by a troll, then he would do it himself.The solution to a portrait was much easier than dealing with the Death Eaters or You-Know-Who himself.Although the fact that Bigonia pretended to be Lily made him very angry, it didn't mean that she was guilty enough to be pointed at by these old monsters who had been dead for hundreds of years and still refused to settle down.
Dumbledore shut up sensibly along with that annoying old Blake.
Snape was satisfied that he didn't have to spend any more time managing the portraits of Hogwarts headmasters.He had serious business to discuss with Dumbledore.
"I intend to resign as headmaster," he said to Dumbledore, to the murmuring of all the portraits in the headmaster's office.
Everyone else looked very surprised, except for Dumbledore in the center frame.
The old wizard is still sitting in the soft chair in the picture frame, but the original leisurely posture has changed.He straightened his back from the chair, and just quietly stared at the current headmaster of Hogwarts outside the frame.His eyes were calm, apologetic and pitiful.
"I think I'm putting too much pressure on you... Severus," he said, "but none of those things can be done but you. And you've done it well... I gotta say, The whole thing is Harry, but you've done everything to ensure our success. For that, each of us must thank you—"
"Thanks are unnecessary," Snape said dryly. "I don't intend to get something in this kind of reward for merit... In fact, if you remember, the position of principal was originally for your so-called 'great plan', and I was the next .Now it's over, and it's time for Minerva to take over those nasty little trolls."
Dumbledore laughed twice, but selectively ignored Snape's last words.
He also looked as if he wanted to have a good discussion with Snape about the internal disagreement between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and how to bridge the divide that had almost divided Hogwarts after the war.
"Oh no, Severus, before this huge disagreement, as a war hero from Slytherin, you are the best candidate to be the headmaster of Hogwarts...Of course, Minerva is also very good Yes; but now that the situation is complicated and more flexible people are needed to deal with these tricky situations, a headmaster from Gryffindor is not our first choice at this stage. I believe Minerva is not-"
Snape interrupted him suddenly.
"It's so rare, I thought Gryffindor was flawless in your eyes." He said with a bit of resentment in a mocking tone. "So you decide at the critical moment that you can put the importance of Gryffindor on the back burner?"
Dumbledore paused slightly.Of course, his sensitivity was not enough to prevent him from hearing the emotions behind Snape's resentment, so he explained gently: "Oh no, Severus... I didn't mean to favor Gryffindor Yes. However, under the current situation, maintaining the stability and unity of Hogwarts can send a correct message to the wizarding world—"
"So with such a bigger and nobler goal, it's okay to temporarily sacrifice the preferential treatment for Gryffindor?" Snape asked sharply. "It's like...for the nobler goal of 'defeating the Dark Lord', you...and the Gryffindors you have taught, even if you put your own life on it, it doesn't matter?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment.Then, he nodded slightly.
...and this move undoubtedly made Snape even more angry.His face was livid.
"So, what 'higher goal' do you want to achieve by letting me see these today?!" He asked sarcastically, his eyes swept over the Pensieve, and returned to the greatest figure in the picture frame. white wizard face.
"On the last day of your stay in the world, it looks like you really did a lot - except go to that cave, drink that horrible potion like suicide, and end up with a fake locket , There is still a trip to the office of your most trusted and proud student, just to find such a piece of paper with these specious stuff written on it?!..."
"I'm looking for the clues left by Lily, Severus." Dumbledore's face moved slightly, showing a rare embarrassment; he interrupted Snape's angry questioning with an unusually gentle but sure tone.
"I have to be honest, I still have my doubts about her...I was worried that she knew the whole thing and wasn't telling me the whole truth...so when I found out that day she disappeared, Hogwarts was nowhere to be found When she was there, my worries that I feared came true...I heard the portraits say she was alone in the office for a long time before disappearing, so I just wanted to go there and find out what she left behind... A clue, a hint, a note, a letter... for you, or for me - but, as you can see, I failed. All I found was that... oh, I was Say, that poem..."
Dumbledore can't use the memory bottle and Pensieve to convey the memories that are still in his head now, he can only recall them by himself.So he described it as he thought about it, speaking slowly, struggling to find the details that belonged to this incident in the memory full of his brain.
Feeling unbelievable, Snape asked back: "You doubt her?!..."
He stopped after only asking these four words.He felt that he was asking too much.This is very similar to Dumbledore's character, who always has a certain degree of vigilance against anyone, even though the other party is likely to believe him wholeheartedly and without reservation.
His trust does not come easily without reason.Maybe it's because he has experienced too many sinister things in his long life, deception, schemes and betrayals by friends, subordinates or close people... Therefore, his trust needs to be exchanged.You need to take out everything you have, or even more, in exchange for it.
Moreover, not to mention Dumbledore, even he himself sometimes felt that after revealing her true face as a counterfeit, the fake Lily became full of mysteries and was very difficult to understand.Sometimes she seemed to understand what was going to happen next, and other times she was so confused that she acted recklessly with Gryffindor-like silliness.In his instinct, such an elusive person is dangerous.He believes that Dumbledore, who must foresee all consequences in everything, will feel the same way.
But she was brave enough and loyal enough.Even he, who loathed her as an imposter, had to admit that she was acting as well as the real Lily was supposed to.She ultimately lived up to the name Lily Evans.She made the name the pride of Gryffindor and Hogwarts - with her own life.
The thought suddenly became unbearable to him.He frowned and changed the subject.
"Forget it, let's go back to the previous question-there's no reason why you showed me this scene today, Albus?" he asked blankly.
The old wizard in the picture frame rarely showed a guilty expression, touched his white beard tied with several colorful bows, and said a little embarrassedly: "Uh... I just... I think you should see look at this……"
Snape sneered ruthlessly: "And then? Let me go and apologize to her, say I'm sorry that we misunderstood you in the past, even if you are a fake, you have done well enough and deserve our approval?"
Dumbledore froze for a moment, a kind and sad expression slowly appeared on his face, looked at the mocking Snape, and said softly: "Severus, we do owe her an apology... When you find After her, please be sure to convey it to her for me."
Snape said sarcastically and bitterly: "Perhaps it would be more sincere if you said it to her in person after you met in the picture frame! And maybe this is the more direct way—"
"Oh, no, no." Dumbledore shook his head, looking at him with pity in his blue eyes. "Severus, don't give up hope. She's not here. We'll find her…"
"I don't know where she is." Snape said dryly, "Since you insist that she's not dead—then it's also possible that she's finished her mission and gone back to find that goddamn master alchemist to learn those damned alchemists." surgery!"
"Master alchemist? Alchemy? Quest?" Dumbledore showed a rare surprised expression, "You mean—Bigonia? Oh no, Severus, that's impossible—don't you Know? I mean, I thought she'd told you the truth..."
Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously for a moment.With a flick of his wand, the dark velvet curtains at both ends of the room swished shut again, covering the portraits of the other headmasters again, leaving only the portrait of Dumbledore in the center exposed.
Various curses and yells came from behind the curtain, obviously everyone was very curious about what was going on in the headmaster's room, and they were unwilling to be interrupted like this; but Snape ignored those long-dead Old Headmasters, he stared at Dumbledore's portrait and said bluntly: "The truth. I want the whole truth. Everything. Now, tell me right now!"
Dumbledore stared at him sadly, and asked worriedly: "...Everything?"
Snape leaned forward slowly, put his hands on the headmaster's desk, stared at the former headmaster in the picture frame, dragged out his voice, and said, syllable by syllable, "Everything."