September 1
Time flew by, and September arrived, bringing the first day of school.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans drove their two daughters to King's Cross Station themselves. As Muggles, they could not enter Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. They could only stop outside the wall and watch their children set off for an unfamiliar world.
Lily hugged Mr. Evans tightly, her nose beginning to tingle. "Dad, I'll send owls home with letters often."
She hated to leave her gentle parents, her safe and lively home, and, even more, the Tales of Blossoms business empire she had built with her own hands. Fortunately, owls could carry messages to and from home, and her parents would take good care of the shops. Even separated by thousands of miles, they would not lose touch.
Petunia gently tightened her grip on Lily's hand and calmly said goodbye to their parents. Then she led her younger sister through the platform wall and onto a magical platform filled with steam and noise. The imposing Hogwarts Express stood quietly by the tracks, its red body gleaming.
"Come on, let's get aboard and find an empty compartment. The House-elves will collect everyone's luggage together and deliver it straight to our dormitories after the Sorting." As Petunia spoke softly, she looked from side to side for an empty compartment.
Lily obediently nodded and looked idly through the compartments. The next second, her gaze suddenly fixed on one, and she hurriedly pulled Petunia to a stop.
"Petunia, wait! I saw Severus. He's sitting alone. We can go sit with him!"
A flicker of reluctance crossed Petunia's eyes. She still felt a distance and lingering resentment toward Snape and did not want Lily to get too close to him. But she could not resist her sister's bright, expectant gaze. In the end, she reluctantly gave in and followed her over.
"Hi, Severus! Can we sit here? This is my sister Petunia. You know her too." Lily greeted him with a beaming smile.
Snape looked up and gave a slight nod without replying. His gaze rested for half a second on Petunia's eye-catching uniform in Gryffindor colors before he quickly looked away. The bold, flamboyant red and gold were colors he instinctively resisted and found deeply uncomfortable.
But wherever Lily was, there was never an awkward silence.
"I wonder which house I'll be sorted into? Oh, Severus, which house do you want to join?"
Snape slowly put down the old Potions book in his hands. When he looked up, his eyes were utterly resolute. Without the slightest hesitation, he answered clearly, word by word, "I want to go to Slytherin."
That brief sentence laid bare the ambition hidden deep in Snape's heart. He craved power, craved escape from the hardships of life at the bottom, and wanted to make something of himself. The power and glory Slytherin represented were precisely what he longed for. He looked up at Lily, his voice full of sincere hope. "You'd better come to Slytherin too."
Deep down, he hoped to be in the same house as Lily.
As it happened, James Potter and Sirius Black were passing the compartment together and heard every word. James's lips curled into a malicious smile. He turned and nudged his friend beside him. "Slytherin? Who'd want to go there? If it were me, I'd just drop out. Wouldn't you?"
Sirius's expression was indifferent, but his voice held a hint of rebellion against his family's tradition. "My whole family has been in Slytherin for generations."
James's face instantly filled with shock and disappointment. "Blimey, I thought you were all right before!"
Sirius chuckled. "Maybe I'll be the one to break the tradition. If you could choose, which house would you want?"
James puffed out his chest, brimming with pride. "Gryffindor, home of the brave, just like my father."
The two had pushed open the compartment door without permission and stood chatting in the corridor, completely ignoring the people inside. Lily frowned inwardly, thinking the two of them had no manners at all. Petunia instinctively tightened her grip and pulled Lily closer to her side.
Having already spent a year at school, she knew all about the tense situation in the wizarding world. The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters were running rampant, and the outside world had long regarded Slytherin as a training ground for Death Eaters. If Lily kept close company with the gloomy, solitary Snape, she would surely be ostracized at school in the future.
Listening to James lavish praise on Gryffindor and freely disparage Slytherin, Snape gave a contemptuous snort.
James immediately fixed his gaze on him, his eyes full of provocation. "Got a problem with that?"
Keeping his eyes lowered, Snape sneered back, his words striking straight at the superficial stereotype of Gryffindor. "Nothing, if you're content to rely on nothing but reckless courage and refuse to use your brain."
Sirius immediately stepped forward to back James up, his words dripping with mockery. "Oh? You sound sure you're going to Slytherin. That place full of dark wizards?"
The atmosphere in the corridor instantly grew tense. James and Sirius looked down at Snape, their eyes full of derision and disdain.
Caught in the middle, Lily felt especially uncomfortable and deeply resented James for targeting Snape for no reason. She vaguely recognized the boy as the person who had secretly watched her on the hillside in Godric's Hollow.
The moment James saw Snape, with his shabby appearance and gloomy expression, he took a dislike to him. Deep down, he was convinced Snape was born to become a Death Eater. What annoyed him even more was that the red-haired girl clearly wasn't a Muggle, yet she kept defending this gloomy, greasy bat. Why should she? He made up his mind to give Snape a hard time.
Irritated by the two of them and their noisy arguing, Snape rose to leave the compartment.
"Severus, where are you going?" Lily hurriedly called out, trying to stop him.
At that, James suddenly burst out laughing. Sirius immediately joined in, and the two of them roared with laughter without restraint.
"Snivellus? Hahahaha, who'd be a sniveling little snot!" James doubled over with laughter, while even the handsome Sirius wore an openly mocking expression.
Snape's knuckles clenched tightly around his wand. Forcing down the anger surging inside him, he strode toward the corridor. As he passed the two boys, James quietly stuck out a leg and tripped him hard and without warning.
Snape stumbled, nearly falling heavily onto the floor.
Lily immediately stood and hurried forward to help him. "Severus, are you all right?"