Hogwarts i am snape

late in the evening.

After Professor Grapland finished giving out homework essays, and as the students were gathering their things to leave, he called out to Snape and handed him a rolled-up piece of parchment.

Snape unrolled the parchment as he walked out, recognizing the familiar, long, slanted handwriting. It read:

"Dear Severus,

If you have no other plans for this evening, please come to my office at seven o'clock.

Your faithful,

Albus Dumbledore

P.S. I do not care for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans."

"He doesn't like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Abbot asked, leaning in to read Dumbledore's note with a bewildered expression.

"Some things are best left unknown to good little boys," Snape retorted, ignoring Abbot's protests as he tucked the parchment away.

That evening, he found himself once again outside the Headmaster's office, along the familiar corridor.

"Haha, of course I know you! Those stone gargoyles at the staffroom entrance are my brothers," the gargoyle guarding the office rumbled in a deep voice.

"Ah yes, yes, we've been separated, bone and stone, for centuries now."

After a brief exchange with the stone beast at the entrance, Snape ascended the spiraling staircase behind it, arriving at Dumbledore's office door. He raised a hand and gently rapped his knuckles on the door.

"Come in," Dumbledore's cheerful voice immediately called from inside, as if he'd been expecting Snape all along.

"Good evening, Professor," Snape said, pushing the door open and stepping into the Headmaster's office. "Did you wish to see me about something?"

"Ah, good evening, Severus. Do sit down," Dumbledore said with a warm smile, gesturing to a nearby chair. "How has your first week of the new term been?"

"Quite good, Professor," Snape replied, taking a seat. He cut straight to the point. "Are we to depart now?"

"Not yet," Dumbledore shook his head. "I believe we have some preparations to make before we set off."

"Dumbledore, your choice this time is exceptionally wise," an old Headmaster in a framed portrait on the wall, who had been sleeping, suddenly yawned widely and opened his eyes. "You simply cannot solve problems without someone from Slytherin House."

This was a shrewd-looking wizard with a goatee, clad in silver and green Slytherin robes.

"Phineas," Dumbledore addressed the shrewd-looking wizard by name, "Slytherin has always been a part of Hogwarts."

"Are you the legendary Headmaster who earned such 'high praise' from all four houses?" Snape looked up at Phineas, a hint of curiosity in his tone, emphasizing the words "high praise."

"Oh, good boy," Phineas said, seemingly missing the sarcasm, looking quite pleased. "Sometimes, the young people of Slytherin are indeed quite right."

"You are correct, Phineas," Dumbledore turned back, smiling at Snape. "I called you here because, since you already know Voldemort is Tom Riddle, and he chose the Diadem of Ravenclaw as one of his Horcruxes, it's time you learned more."

Dumbledore paused for a moment after speaking before continuing.

"Last term, through your research into history, you deduced Tom's identity. Inspired by you, I further realized the importance of understanding Tom's past, so I conducted some investigations of my own. I went to Borgin and Burkes and had a... 'friendly' chat with Caractacus Burke."

"Friendly enough to send him to St. Mungo's?" Snape's lips curled slightly.

"Oh, that was an accident. You know, Burke isn't always the most cooperative."

As Dumbledore spoke, he rose, walked around his desk, and passed Snape. Snape turned in his chair, watching Dumbledore approach the cabinet by the door, where books on Horcruxes were kept. Dumbledore bent down and opened the cabinet door.

When Dumbledore straightened up, he held a shallow stone basin, one Snape had seen before when he was with Slughorn. Strange runes were carved around its rim. Dumbledore placed the Pensieve on the table in front of Snape.

"Are we going into Burke's memory, Professor?" Snape asked.

"No," Dumbledore shook his head. "For now, we shall enter my memory first. You go ahead, Severus..."

Snape leaned over the Pensieve, his face plunging into the cold memory within, and once again, he fell uncontrollably through the darkness... A few seconds later, his feet touched solid ground.

He opened his eyes to find himself and Dumbledore standing on a busy, old-fashioned street in London. They leisurely followed a younger Albus Dumbledore, impeccably dressed in a rich, plum-colored velvet suit, across the road and all the way to a square building with a plaque that read "Wool's Orphanage" on its wall.

After passing through a large iron gate, they entered a bare yard. Behind the yard stood a square, grim, and ancient-looking building, surrounded by tall iron railings.

"Is this the orphanage where Tom lived as a child?" Snape asked.

At that moment, the younger Dumbledore was speaking to a scruffy girl in an apron.

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded, a faraway look in his eyes. "Let's follow them."

A worried-looking Mrs. Cole led them into a small room that seemed half-sitting room, half-office. The room was as stark and shabby as the entryway, with old, mismatched furniture.

"You personally invited Tom to Hogwarts back then?" Snape asked, though he already knew the answer. "How will this help us find the Horcruxes?"

"Patience, Severus," Dumbledore said, pointing to Mrs. Cole.

Mrs. Cole, holding a glass of gin, calmly recounted a story from many years ago: "I remember it perfectly, because I had just started working here. It was New Year's Eve, snowing outside, terribly cold... That girl, not much older than I was at the time, stumbled up the front steps... Less than an hour later, she gave birth to the child. And less than an hour after that, she died..."

Mrs. Cole nodded meaningfully, taking another large gulp of gin.

"But no one ever came looking for him, no Tom, no Marvolo, no one from the Riddle family, nor any other relatives..." Mrs. Cole almost absently poured herself another full glass of gin, two red spots appearing on her cheekbones.

"What was Voldemort's mother's name, Professor?" Snape asked.

"Merope Gaunt, or rather, Merope Riddle," Dumbledore replied. "Come, Severus, let us meet eleven-year-old Tom."

---