If Snape had possessed Riddle's sa pitiless resolve… He might have beco nearly as powerful as Voldemort himself.
After all… To invent a spell as devastating as Sectumsempra and even design a counter-curse for it? That kind of genius was rare beyond words. Had fate been kinder… had Snape not fallen into bitterness and despair… and had he continued his research into both potions and spellcraft, he would undoubtedly have beco one of history's great Masters, celebrated for his brilliance in both disciplines.
Of course… Even the current, emotionally scarred Snape was no less impressive. That's just how monsters of talent are… they defy reason. No matter what personal tragedies they endure, their sheer strength still towers above the ordinary.
As of now, there were few in the wizarding world who could claim to defeat him outright. That, in fact, was the very reason Voldemort… on the original tiline… valued him so highly.
You could say that he was Ian's remarkable uncle.
He could completely be seen as the Kakashi of the wizarding world.
"We're dood!"
Ron let out a wail of pure despair, the sound strangled in his throat.
Neville's eyes rolled upward in terror, his body teetering right on the edge of a full blackout… but not quite gone yet. He was stuck in that dreadful, agonizing "about to faint" state.
Snape approached slowly, his cold, predatory gaze sweeping over the three little night-wandering wizards.
"If you dare to run again," He said, his voice cutting like glass, "The consequences will be far worse than this."
His warning was sharp and rciless. Then, with a casual flick of his wand, Snape lifted the complex spell that had frozen them in place.
Whether it was a spell of his own creation or a highly modified version of the Body-Bind Curse, none of the three had the knowledge to tell.
Thud!
All three collapsed onto the damp ground, their rear ends hitting the dirt with jarring force.
"Well, well," Snape hissed, his voice slithering out of the shadows like a venomous snake. The hem of his black robes swept across the cobblestones, stirring up a thin swirl of dust.
He held a battered kerosene lantern in one hand.
The dim, sickly yellow light outlined the sharp, cruel curve of his hooked nose, while the hollows beneath his eyes were swallowed by darkness...making his face look all the more nacing.
"Three little mice who think school rules don't apply to them," he sneered. "Out wandering the castle grounds in the middle of the night… Tell , are Hogwarts' rules nothing more than aningless scribbles on parchnt to you?"
"So this is Gryffindor courage? Reckless, thoughtless foolishness?" Snape's voice slid down their spines like a serpent's scales, dripping with venomous sarcasm.
Every word he spoke hung in the chilly night air like a razor-sharp blade suspended above their heads.
"N-no, sir, that's not it!"
Ron stamred, scrambling a foot or two backward… only to bump into the cold, rough stone wall behind him. Hermione and Neville both lowered their heads instantly, not daring to speak, much less argue.
After all… They had done sothing they shouldn't have, and they'd been caught red-handed. According to what the upper-year Gryffindors had told them, this was a shaful embarrassnt to their House, one that deserved a proper, blistering scolding.
Even Professor McGonagall would have reprimanded them.
Though she probably wouldn't have been quite as terrifyingly scathing as Snape.
"'Not it'? Still trying to spin pathetic excuses?" Snape's eyes flashed dangerously as he glared at Ron. He began to pace slowly around them, his billowing black robes seeming almost alive in the flickering light.
"Perhaps you enjoy this little thrill of breaking the rules," he said in a low, disdainful tone. "It makes you feel special… like you have privileges others don't, doesn't it?"
The cold, utterly expressionless look he gave them made all three shiver violently.
Ron swallowed hard, forcing out a strained smile that looked more like a pathetic grimace. "P-professor, we… we were just helping Neville look for his toad! You know how important pets are to wizards… they're our companions. We couldn't just abandon a friend in trouble. I think Hogwarts wouldn't want us to ignore a friend's hardship…"
It was a clumsy, desperate attempt at moral reasoning.
But Ron's "argunt" was unpolished, full of nervous cracks, and utterly transparent. His voice grew weaker with every word. Under Snape's piercing gaze… so sharp it felt like it could read his very soul… Ron himself began to realize just how flimsy and ridiculous his excuse sounded.
"Heh. Helping a friend look for a pet?" Snape's lips curled in mockery. "So, by your logic, I should comnd you, then?"
He paced around them again, the dry sound of his dragging robes whispering across the stones… Like the dreaded footsteps of Death itself.
Each step struck the three young wizards' hearts like a tolling bell, making their nerves tremble and their minds reel.
Almost involuntarily, their heads followed his circling motion.
Snape's expression was as cold and hard as ever. His wand rested loosely in his palm, and from its tip flickered faint, disturbing tendrils of dark light.
He was doing this deliberately… creating unbearable psychological pressure for the three of them. Neville's knees were trembling uncontrollably, Hermione was biting her lip so hard she nearly drew blood, and beads of cold sweat were forming on Ron's forehead.
They slid down his cheeks and disappeared into his collar.
Ron had always been an imaginative person, but right now that imagination was doing him no favors at all. His mind was flooded with the things his older brothers...and even his parents...had said about the Head of Slytherin House.
An utterly evil man.
A man who had once been a loyal follower of You-Know-Who.
A full-fledged dark wizard.
Ron couldn't understand how soone like that could even teach at a school like Hogwarts, let alone hold a position of authority as Head of House. But that didn't stop him from worrying that Snape might just kill them all right here to keep them quiet.
After all, the stories he'd heard as a child always said the sa thing… Dark wizards loved killing people.
And Snape wasn't just any dark wizard… he was the Head of the very House that had produced the darkest wizards in history. Maybe that made him even more inclined to kill?
"Mum!"
The thought alone made Ron's face turn ghostly pale. His teeth chattered uncontrollably.
He stared at Snape, who was still circling the three of them like a predator, his eyes full of bottomless dread. Sweat dripped steadily from his face as his imagination spiraled into panic… he could practically feel death drawing closer with every step.
Compared to him, though, Neville and Hermione weren't quite that far gone. They were terrified, yes… their faces pale and stiff… but at least they didn't think Snape was about to murder them on the spot.
Hermione, for instance, only knew Snape as a harsh and unpleasant professor… strict, sarcastic, and unfair, but not evil. In Potions class, even though he never praised her, he did give her the occasional begrudging extra point for her flawless work.
So, for Hermione… Her fear of Snape was a purely academic kind of fear.
Greater than her fear of any other professor, yes, but still within reason.
Of course… Ron had said plenty of terrible things about Snape.
But Hogwarts as a whole gave Hermione a profound sense of safety and structure. The teachers here, for all their quirks, were respected and trusted by students. So, unless there was clear evidence to the contrary, she had no reason to believe Ron's wild, exaggerated tales.
After all… As his friend, Hermione knew just how prone Ron was to overstatent.
As for Neville… though he, too, knew Snape had once been a Death Eater… his entire family were loyal supporters of Albus Dumbledore.
And since Dumbledore trusted Snape enough to keep him at Hogwarts, then… even if Snape was a bad man… Neville believed he wouldn't dare cause any serious trouble inside the school grounds.
"Heh."
Snape seed to pick up on the differences in their reactions. His cold eyes swept over the three of them...then stopped, at last, and settled on Ron's utterly terrified face.
It was obvious.
One of them was about to have a particularly bad night.
(End of Chapter)
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