The Past (Fourth Update, 4,000 Words)

Harry's throat felt like it was being pricked with needles.

He considered countless possibilities, but what he never expected was that after opening the Map Chamber, he would find a portrait of the girl.

"Veratia..."

His voice was dry.

"I think we should leave now," Professor Rackham said irritably, standing beside the portrait of Verathea. "This Map Chamber is going to be..."

"Charles?" Headmaster Fitzgerald said softly, "Shut up and come with us."

Professor Rackham gave Harry a disgruntled look, then turned and followed the two professors away from the portrait.

"I've been waiting for you for so long..." Verathea's voice was gentle.

"I..." Harry's throat bobbed, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.

After a long pause, he finally asked a question, his voice tinged with bitterness.

"Are you... are you alright?"

"It should be... alright," Verathea said softly.

Harry plopped down on the ground.

He really couldn't accept this reality.

For him, Verathea was not only a close friend, but also a teacher and an older sister.

Although I haven't known her for long, Veratia is probably the person in the world who can unconditionally accept him the most.

"You..." Harry's tears welled up, "Is this what you call good? Leaving me like this in the portrait..."

"I think you've misunderstood, Harry," Verathea said with a slight smile, winking mischievously. "Actually, I'm not dead. I just left some clues for you in this Map Chamber so you wouldn't have trouble finding me... You know, Time Travel is an incredibly difficult adventure, and now that I see you, I know... I might still be trapped in Slytherin's Study."

"Slytherin's Study?!"

Harry's voice rose eight octaves as he abruptly stood up, saying anxiously, "I'm coming to get you right now!"

"Harry!"

Veratia called out to him.

"Let me finish."

Harry stopped, seemingly feeling that he was too far from Verathea while standing on the steps. He walked forward, trying to get as close to Veratia as possible.

"Since I haven't appeared, it means the Time Magic array is missing some materials," Verathea said gently. "You still need a few materials: Angel Feather, Dragon Heart, Phoenix Tears..."

"Dragon Heart are easy to find; Ron's brother Charlie raises dragons in Romania," Harry said impatiently. "As for Phoenix Tears, Professor Dumbledore owns a Phoenix, so that's not a problem... But what are Angel Feather? Are there angels in this world?"

"I have some Angel Feather stored in Gringotts ' vault," Verathea said softly. "In addition, there is a small sum of money in the vault, which is our joint property."

"I don't need money now, Veratia," Harry said quickly.

"Of course I know, you're from the famous Potter Family." Veratia smiled gently at him.

"Huh? How did you know?" Harry asked, puzzled.

A hundred years ago, the Potter Family did not look for him. After Muggle, there were quite a few Muggles with the surname Potter, and they simply assumed that Harry came from the Muggle side, so they did not take him seriously.

At the time, he didn't know that he belonged to the Potter Family in the Magical World, and always thought that he was born of Muggle-born.

How did Veratia know?

"Beyond that, I want to tell you about one last ingredient," Verathea interrupted Harry's train of thought.

"Oh... oh?" Harry scratched his head. "Is there another ingredient?"

"The last material is the Basilisk Fang," Verathea said.

"Basilisk?" Harry asked.

Verathea explained to Harry in detail, "The Basilisk is a giant venomous snake, a creature bred by Dark Wizard. Legend has it that the Herpo the Foul was the first to breed Basilisk; he placed an egg under the body of a toad to hatch it, and the result was this creature known as the Basilisk."

"Basilisk are extremely dangerous; their eyes can kill anyone or any animal that makes eye contact with them instantly... and their venom contains highly toxic substances that can kill the vast majority of living things..."

"Where can we find the Basilisk?" Harry shouted.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I don't know either," Veratia said softly.

Harry scratched his head, feeling somewhat frustrated.

They were so close, they even had the legendary Angel Feather, but they still couldn't find any trace of the Basilisk...

Are we going to hatch a Basilisk?

But how long will this take? Can Veratia still hold out in Slytherin's Study?

"Relax, Harry, there's always a way," Verathea comforted Harry gently, just as always.

Hearing the girl's gentle voice, Harry's mind gradually calmed down.

After a long pause, he looked up and asked, "Veratia, so... you said before that I come from the Potter Family... you are...?"

"Oh, this." Verathea's expression suddenly became somewhat unnatural.

She hesitated for a moment, then said to Harry, "This matter... is also related to the Ancient Charm on you. I... if you knew... well, if you knew all this, you might have a different opinion of me."

Harry suddenly tensed up.

"Why?" he asked.

"I'm sorry..." Verathea said, biting her lip, "You should see for yourself... It's over there, yes, the Pensieve behind you."

Harry looked in the direction she was pointing and sure enough, he saw a Pensieve.

"Those inside are your mother's memories," Verathea revealed a bombshell.

"My mother?!" Harry asked incredulously. "My mother, how did she get into the Map Chamber?!"

"Because she is also an inheritor of Ancient Magic, Harry," Verathea said softly and gently. "Go and look at your mother's memories; perhaps you'll understand the whole story... Of course, perhaps you'll blame me for it..."

"No, Veratia," Harry said firmly.

He walked up to the Pensieve.

"Take a look," Verathea said sadly, "Look at your mother's memories..."

Harry nodded and put his face into the Pensieve.

Then--

He spun rapidly downwards in the cold darkness, and then suddenly his vision brightened.

He found himself on the shore of Black Lake, and sitting next to him was a girl with a face covered in freckles who was crying.

Harry looked up, surveying the familiar Black Lake, and realized that this Black Lake was different from the one he remembered...

Before he could think any further, he heard a familiar voice, the voice he often heard in his dreams...

"Expelliarmus (Disarming Charm)!"

Harry looked up and saw a red-haired witch holding a wand in each hand.

It was his mother, Lily.

"Mom?" he asked instinctively.

Lily did not respond to him, but instead glared at the Slytherin student in front of her like a lioness.

"I demand an apology from you, Mulciber!"

"Stinky Mudblood..."

Before the Slytherin student Mulciber Mulceber could finish speaking, he was struck by Lily's Charms, and a large patch of greenish-blue pustules immediately appeared on his face.

The two Slytherin students accompanying Mulciber drew their wands, but the girl who had just been crying was now standing next to Lily with another girl.

Mulciber, on the Slytherin side, was rendered unable to fight. Soon, in the righteous three-on-two situation, the other two Slytherin students were also struck by the curse—one had his front teeth grown so long that he couldn't utter Charms at all; the other's mouth was sealed shut and his legs were locked.

"Useless..." Lily disdainfully threw Mulciber's wand into the lake.

The three Slytherin students slunk away.

"Mary, I'm sorry..." Lily looked at the girl next to her with a pang of sympathy. Her face was covered with freckles.

"I'm fine, Lily." Mary gave Lily a forced smile. "You taught them a lesson for me, didn't you?"

But the girl next to her suddenly said, "You should apologize. These two are friends of your slick-haired Slytherin friend, right? It's a shame you still associate with people like that. Look, they're Death Eater. Do you think you'll...?"

"Marlene!" Mary whispered, stopping Marlene McKinnon.

"Oh, sorry." Marlene realized she had said the wrong thing and smiled apologetically at Lily.

Lily stood there, bewildered. Of course, she knew those two men were Severus Snape's friends...

But Severus was her childhood friend.

She knew that Severus had always been committed to joining the Death Eater —the blood-based organization—but she still missed her childhood relationship with Severus and wanted to persuade him to turn back.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain. Severus seemed determined, his eyes bloodshot as he infiltrated the Death Eater ' ranks, even researching Dark Arts and inviting her to join him...

She stood there, stunned, until Mary and Marlene were gone.

Lily raised her head, glanced at the sun hanging in the sky, and took a deep sniff.

He sighed and walked forward.

Harry quickly followed, wanting to spend more time with his mother.

Following the lake, Harry and his mother came to a tall beech tree where a group of people were gathered.

To his surprise, after he and his mother squeezed in, he found several people he had seen in photos standing in front of him.

One of them looked a lot like him, except for the difference in eye color; he was almost a carbon copy of him in fifth grade.

It was his father, James Potter.

Lying opposite James was someone even more unforgettable—

Severus Snape, Professor of Potions.

Snape's mouth was full of soap bubbles, and he kept S.P.E.W., spewing out pink soap bubbles— Harry understood almost instantly why Professor McGonagall had said, "If Professor Snape catches you, it will be a different story," when she cleaned Draco's mouth with Clean-up.

"Let him go!" Lily shouted.

Upon hearing Lily's voice, James suddenly turned around, his expression turning somber and melancholic. He greeted her in a steady, bubbly voice, "Oh, Evans —how are you?"

"Let him go," Lily repeated. She looked at James with utter disgust. "What did he do to you?"

"Well..." James feigned deep thought, "It's mainly because of his existence, you know what I mean..."

Many of the students watching burst into laughter. A tall, handsome boy next to James also laughed, and a short boy behind him joined in the laughter, but Lily did not laugh.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly, "But you're nothing but an arrogant, bullying scoundrel, Potter... I said, let him go!"

"If you're willing to come out with me, I'll let him go, Evans," James said immediately. "If you come out with me, I'll never lay a finger on that old Snivellus again..."

Behind him, the effects of the Impediment Jinx were gradually waning.

Snape began to slowly move toward his fallen wand, S.P.E.W. bubbly soapy water as he crawled.

"Even if I had to choose between you and the Giant Squid, I wouldn't go out with you!" Lily said with disgust.

"Bad luck, huh, Prongs?" the handsome boy said cheerfully, turning to Snape. "Oops!"

But it was too late. Snape had already pointed his wand straight at James. A flash of light appeared, and a deep wound appeared on James's cheek, splattering blood onto his robes.

James whirled around, and after the second flash, Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes hanging over his head, revealing his thin, pale legs and a pair of underwear that were turning black.

Among the small group of people around, many were cheering; James and his two friends were also laughing loudly.

Lily's cheek twitched, and from Harry's perspective, it seemed like Lily gave a cold snort.

but...

Seeing Snape's miserable state, Harry really couldn't laugh.

(JK J. K. Rowling's X, @jk_rowling, don't take your anger out on me if you have any complaints)

Snape's experience reminded him of the time when Dudley and a group of people bullied him back in his Muggle School days.

He was the same, helplessly huddled in the middle of the crowd.

The hardest thing in this world is to truly empathize.

"Put him down!" Lily shouted again, drawing her wand.

"Hey, don't force me to use a curse on you, Evans!"

James warned, but then turned back to give Snape the antidote.

"Go away, Snivellus." James sighed. "You're lucky Evans's here..."

However, Snape suddenly spoke, interrupting James's next words.

"I don't need her stinky Mudblood to help me!"

Harry slapped his forehead.

He understood; he understood everything.

Why did the story I made up when I first enrolled cause such a strong reaction from Professor Snape, even to the point of deducting twenty points from my house's score?

Professor Snape's angry face then overlapped with Snape current somber expression.

It seems... he was repenting for saying those words back then...

(If you don't understand the destructive power of Snape's words, let me give you an example—when you help a half-Japanese, half-Chinese guy being Half-blood by Japan, and that guy says, "I don't need your stinky little Chinese pig helping me," you can only say that Lily's character is too high, and she didn't give him a Cruciatus Curse.)