Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 98 Crossing the Lake
"Shut up, Snape!"

Sirius Black placed the Daily Prophet on the table, jumped up, and stood in front of Snape.

The werewolf in the corner of the newspaper's front-page photo seemed startled by the sudden tremor, and nervously twitched its ears.

“Oh, our lovely big feet,” Snape stepped forward, leaned close to Sirius’s ear, and whispered, “I wonder if you still have that little crystal bottle I gave you before. I have a feeling you’ll have a chance to use it.”

“Stay away from me,” Sirius frowned and took a step back. “If you’re going to cause trouble, we’re ready to fight you to the end.”

“No, no, no, how could that be?” Snape waved his hand, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles on his robe with his other hand. “I’m the president of the student council, you know, maintaining order is my duty.”

"Then get out!" James finally snapped, pointing his wand directly at Snape.

“Look at you, still as hot-tempered as ever.” Snape gently brushed the wand away, keeping his eyes fixed on James’s lips to prevent a sudden attack. “I only overheard your conversation during my patrol.”

At that moment, Snape spotted Lupin at one end of the carriage.

Lupin had clearly seen Snape standing at the box door as well. He rushed in and stood between James and Snape.

“Calm down, James,” Lupin said, his voice weary.

Snape's gaze returned to the newspaper.

"Damocles invented something wonderful, and he absolutely deserves the Order of Merlin, doesn't he?"

He pointed with his finger to the newspaper photo of a wizard wearing exquisite medals and holding a tall wine glass that was emitting a slight white smoke.

“I think it will solve your friend’s ‘little hairy problem’ to a great extent.” Snape glanced meaningfully at Lupin.

“What does this have to do with you?” James said through gritted teeth, trying to get around Lupin.

“Yes, what does that have to do with me?” Snape pretended to think for a moment. “Potter, given your performance in Potions class, even if the furry problem is small, it will only continue to be a problem.”

He deliberately turned to leave, then looked back as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right, I'm going to meet up with the new president of the girls' student council. We'll have a good chat about this year's work in the private room."

He paused, looking at James's flushed face: "Oh dear, it's been almost half an hour since I last saw Miss Evans..."

A beam of red light suddenly broke through Lu Ping's obstruction.

Snape instinctively tilted his head. The curse grazed past his ear and exploded in the roof of the carriage, creating a small hole.

"Solitary confinement, Potter." Snape waved his wand lazily. "Restore to its original state!" The damaged carriage roof was instantly restored to its original condition.

He turned to face the private room: "Starting tomorrow, for a week, let me think about it—how about going to the Forbidden Forest?"

“No,” he shook his head, “Mr. Filch’s office would be more suitable for you. I think he would be happy to have an assistant. See you later, Potter. You better behave yourself, because I will be following you like a stag, to see if you dare to overstep the bounds.”

"Get out!" Sirius Black shoved Snape out of the box and slammed the door shut.

Just before the door closed, Snape saw James angrily slam his wand to the ground, and Lupin was pressing on his shoulder, saying something.

He turned and left, humming softly the melody of "That silly little Potter, he won't cast a single curse," and returned to the student council president's private box.

Pushing open the sliding door, Lily was already inside, holding a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Is everything going smoothly?" she asked, looking up at Snape.

“Very smoothly,” Snape said, pointing to the newspaper in Lily’s hand. “Oh, and there was an extra bonus: it carried a news item that Mr. Damocles has invented the wolfsbane potion…”

"Hmm?" Lily looked at him.

“Oh, you know,” Snape said, “we learned how to recognize werewolves in third grade. I’ve done some stupid things before, but now I want to be a good person. As two of the best students in Professor Slughorn’s class, perhaps we can do something for one of our classmates.”

“We can wait for the next issue of ‘Practical Potions Master,’ which will have the complete recipe.” Lily nodded gently. “There’s nothing to do until the train arrives at the station. Severus, you can go back to your friend.”

"Do you want to come with me, Lily?" Snape regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth.

Lily stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "No, I need to go find Mary. Remember to help Hagrid coordinate with the first-year students when we get there."

When they returned to the private room where Pandora and the others were, the food cart had already arrived, and the table was piled high with all sorts of food. The friends were busy exchanging Chocolate Frog pictures.

"Give me one." Snape said, grabbing a chocolate frog from the table and plopping down in the seat next to Pandora.

He tore open the wrapping paper, bit off the frog's head, and glanced at the picture in his hand: "Here you go, Albert, a picture of the astrologer Potolami. Isn't this the one you're missing?"

“Wow, Severus,” Abbott exclaimed excitedly as he took the picture card. “What incredible luck! Now I can go to Mr. Froome to claim my prize: a whole year's supply of new products from Honeydukes Candy Store, plus a free trip to France!”

“You’re welcome,” Snape said, picking up another pumpkin pie and mumbling, “You’re not short of money.”

“How can that be the same?” Abbott happily hid the cards in his robe. “I’m going to write to the Daily Prophet to tell them I’ve collected them all. Some people even said that Honey Duke didn’t actually make all the cards…”

The train continued northward, and the raindrops began to pound against the windows again.

As darkness fell, the lights in the private room automatically turned on, and the outline of Hogwarts appeared in the distance.

Finally, the train slowly slowed down, and the sound of hurried footsteps and luggage being dragged could be heard in the corridor.

Snape stood up and straightened his robes; as student council president, he needed to maintain order as people disembarked.

As they opened the car door, thunder rumbled in the air. In the pouring rain, he and Lily helped Hagrid comfort the first-year students.

“First-year students, come here…” Hagrid shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the pouring rain.

“Hagrid,” Snape said, pulling on his cloak and walking over to Hagrid, raising his wand and pointing it at Hagrid’s throat, “speak loudly!”

"First-year students—" Hagrid's voice suddenly grew louder, startling several nearby freshmen who nearly fell over. He quickly lowered his voice, "Oh, thank you, Severus."

After confirming that all the new students had arrived, Hagrid looked worriedly towards Black Lake: "Oh, damn weather. Could you keep an eye on a few boats for me?"

"Alright." Looking at the torrential rain pouring down like buckets of cold water, Snape and Lily exchanged a glance and agreed to Hagrid's request.

Lily took out her wand, gently tapped their clothes, and said, "Waterproof and moisture-proof!"

"Great!" Snape said, beckoning the freshmen to follow him to the nearest ship.

The poor freshmen were already disoriented by the rain, and some were even swaying and mouths agape in the downpour.

“If we don’t drown,” Snape called to Lily, “we’ll meet at the party!”

As the small boat entered the middle of the lake, the storm reached its peak. A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the churning waves ahead. Before Snape could warn them, a mountain-sized wave crashed down on the boat.

The wind ripped at the surface of the Black Lake, and behind Snape, four first-year students clung tightly to the gunwale, their faces contorted with terror. "Hold on tight!" he roared, his voice almost swallowed by the howling wind.

The small boat suddenly tilted upwards, almost perpendicular to the lake surface, and then fell heavily back down, splashing water onto everyone.

A young wizard let out a scream as his small body was flung toward the side of the boat.

"Help—" His cries were abruptly cut short as a giant wave crashed over him, sweeping him off the boat and disappearing into the dark lake.

“This—” Snape cursed, quickly pointing his wand at his face, “Bubble Head Shield!” He was quite familiar with this spell, it was just a pity that there was no Goblet of Fire for him to show off his skills.

A transparent bubble immediately enveloped his head. He took a deep breath and plunged into the surging lake.

The icy lake water instantly swallowed him. Snape waved his wand: "Fluorescence!"

The tip of the staff lit up, but the light could only shine a few feet into the murky water.

He struggled to dive down, the only sounds he could hear were his own rapid breathing and the gurgling of the lake water.

Suddenly, a blurry figure swept past the edge of my field of vision.

Snape whirled around, his wand pointing straight ahead.

In the dim fluorescent light, he saw some silvery-green scales shimmering in the darkness.

Mermaids, and not just one, but at least five or six, were swimming rapidly toward him, wielding spears and slapping the lake water with their thick, powerful silver tails.

Their skin was iron-gray, their long, dark green hair was disheveled; their eyes were yellow, and their broken teeth were also yellow; they wore pebbles strung together with thick ropes around their necks.

"Don't come any closer!" Snape tried to shout, but his voice turned into a muffled murmur within the bubbles.

He gripped his wand, preparing to cast a spell—but just then, the leader, a male mermaid with a long green beard and a short necklace made of shark teeth, suddenly changed direction and dived downwards.

Snape followed his gaze and saw a small, thin figure slowly sinking in the deeper water.

The boy had stopped struggling; his limbs were limp and open, and a string of thin bubbles kept coming out of his mouth.

The mermaids quickly surrounded the sinking boy, lifted him up with their strong arms, and pushed him toward Snape.

Snape took the boy—who was pale and had purple lips—and immediately cast a Bubble Head Charm on him, followed by a Resurrection Charm.

The boy coughed violently inside the bubble, spitting out a stream of water, and then began to breathe weakly.

Snape turned to the mermaids, pressed his wand to his chest, and made a gesture he had learned from the complete edition of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them": he drew a circle with his right hand over his heart and then spread it outwards—this was the mermaid's way of saying "thank you."

The mermaid leader tilted his head, revealing sharp teeth, and then led his companions into the depths of darkness.

Snape held the boy with one arm and swam vigorously towards the surface with the other.

"Splash!" The moment the two broke through the lake's surface, another bolt of lightning illuminated the entire lake.

Snape gasped for breath, looked around, and found the nearest boat just a few yards away.

Lily stood at the bow of the ship, her wand raised high, the light from its tip illuminating the surrounding waters.

“Severus! Here!” she called out.

Snape swam with all his might toward the small boat.

The other students on the boat hurriedly pulled them aboard.

"Is he alright?" Lily asked anxiously, immediately checking on the boy's condition.

“I swallowed some water,” Snape said, panting as he removed the bubbles from his head. “And the mermaids…they were a great help.”

The fleet continued onward. Finally, the outline of Hogwarts Castle came into view ahead.

As they stumbled ashore, Hagrid's massive figure burst forth from the rain, his beard glistening with water droplets, his beetle-like black eyes filled with worry.

"Thank you, Merlin, you're all alright!" he said, slapping Snape on the back with his huge hand, almost shoving him into the mud. "How's that little guy?"

The little wizard has woken up; although he is still trembling, his complexion has improved a lot.

"Alright, kids, come inside and warm up!" Hagrid helped the remaining students ashore. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

Their footsteps splashed water as they rushed up the stone steps.

“Oh, I can’t imagine crossing the lake in this weather,” Snape said, using magic to dry the young wizards’ robes. “Old traditions and strange insistence.”

"Ouch!" A large red balloon filled with water fell from the ceiling and exploded above the freshmen's heads.

The young wizards, soaked to the bone, stumbled and fell to the ground. The people around them screamed and jostled each other.

Snape looked up and saw Peeves, the prankster, floating about ten feet above them. He was wearing a hat with bells, an orange bow tie, and holding another water balloon.

"Peeves!" Snape shouted angrily, drawing his wand. "Get down here!"

Mischievous Ghost chuckled and held up another water balloon: "They're already soaking wet, right? Hey, kid! Take this!"

Snape immediately raised his wand, pointing it at Peeves: "Vadivese! Tongue Lock Throat!"

With a whoosh, the burst balloon flew up from the ground like a bullet and pierced Pippi's nostril; then, he choked on it.

Pipi Ghost choked, somersaulted into the air, dropped the balloon, waved his arms, and flew away.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall hurried over from the side, gave Peeves a disgusted look, and led the new students through the foyer into the auditorium.

The auditorium was as magnificent as ever, and it had been specially decorated for the new semester banquet. Hundreds of candles floated in the air, illuminating the four crowded college tables.

Snape looked toward the faculty desks. Apart from Professor McGonagall and the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, whose seats were empty, all the other teachers were already seated.

Dumbledore sat in the central chair. When his gaze met Snape's, he nodded slightly.

　Thank you to 默默无闻1111 for the monthly pass.

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　　The scene of the new students crossing the lake in the rain is a scene outside Harry's perspective in the Goblet of Fire.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)