At the sight of the familiar greasy hair and that gloomy face that never saw sunlight, Su Er put away his wand in relief.
Whatever Snape was like as a person, he was still a Hogwarts professor, trusted by Dumbledore, so Su Er could absolutely trust him too.
Besides, they were old acquaintances.
He had spent a long stretch of the second half of his second year with Snape.
How did that saying go again? You go ahead and be aloof, I'll go ahead and talk, and we're all good friends?
Unfortunately, Snape did not return his wave. Instead, he turned briskly away, and the window slammed shut.
Unbothered, Su Er jogged toward the last house in the alley.
With a creak, the old door made an unpleasant noise. Su Er stepped inside curiously and found himself looking at a narrow, pitch-black corridor.
Hmm... other people's entryways are spacious and bright, but Snape's is a gloomy horror movie set... A few empty cobwebs still hung in the corners of the corridor. Dust coated the dark red wall covering, and dark green stains clung to parts of it. Su Er would not have been surprised if a monster-no, a ghost-suddenly appeared here.
Without lingering, Su Er went straight through this space, which was impossible to distinguish as either a corridor or an entryway and would have earned a horror director's approval, and reached a cramped area-let us call it a living room.
Snape seemed to use this place as a study. A glance at the walls of books taking up much of the surrounding space made that clear.
Unlike the corridor outside, where chilly drafts rushed straight down his collar, this room had a light source-the candle lamp hanging from the ceiling, enclosed in glass that had become impossible to see