Snape's Letters

Rumor has it that Snape's most prized possession was his medicine storage room.

No one was allowed to enter. The professor had even placed the hut under the most stringent spells to prevent students from breaking in.

Someone once attacked the cabin at night and stole some Potions. At the time, William and Cedric were moving Fluffy.

Professor Snape added several spells to the hut after returning from Azkaban, but it was attacked again today.

William knew about this. On the day he first fell into the loop, he saw Dumbledore's memories in the Pensieve, Professor Snape said he was fighting against "himself".

The professor must have discovered that someone was trying to enter his cabin, which led to the fight.

The wooden door was closed, bearing the marks of flames. When William approached, he did not trigger any magic.

The attackers must have breached the defenses, but Professor Snape was taken away by the Ministry of Magic before he could redo the magic on the hut.

William glanced around; the corridor was deserted. He pushed open the door and went inside.

It was a dimly lit room with hundreds of glass bottles on the shelves, containing sticky plant and animal specimens floating in colorful solutions. A cabinet in the corner was filled with medicinal herbs.

"Incendio."

William casually flicked his wand a few times, lighting the kerosene lamp on the table.

The room contained only common herbs and the corpses of Magical Creatures; it was indeed a treasure trove for brewing Potions, but not as precious as William had imagined.

He was slightly disappointed.

William's attention was quickly drawn to the desk, where there was a set of keys.

"The office keys?" William for a moment and picked up the keys.

There was also a note under the key, which read in a hasty handwriting, "Professor Dumbledore, please keep this safe for me."

If it were a particularly valuable key, Professor Snape would indeed find it difficult to take it to Azkaban.

William searched around and found an old box in a corner.

The box had a large padlock on it, and William compared it to the keyhole and found that it was the one with the key.

While secretly opening someone else's box isn't a good habit, William is currently in a time loop, so no one will notice.

Soon, his curiosity overwhelmed his sense of propriety.

Actually, it doesn't matter if there's a curse on the box, since William is seriously injured but will Reparo by tomorrow.

William walked up to the box with seven locks, inserted the first key into the lock, opened the box, and found a pile of clothes inside.

He closed the box, inserted the second key into the second lock, and opened it again. Inside the box were no longer clothes, but various Potions Class, some parchment, and quills.

William quickly inserted the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys into the lock, opened the box, and each time a different thing appeared.

Finally, he inserted the seventh key into the lock, opened the box, and William's pupils contracted slightly.

The bottom of the box turned out to be a room, like a basement, with a ladder hanging at a height of about three meters.

William climbed down the ladder.

This is a huge room, laid out almost exactly like the outside. There is a long corridor on the far right, but it is too dark to see clearly.

There was a kerosene lamp on the table. William lit it, and the room was suddenly brightly lit.

To his left was a pearwood wooden table with a chair in front of it. On the table was a group photo and a bouquet of lilies.

William picked up the photograph; it was immobile, and he knew it was Muggle- style photograph.

In other words, the photo was taken by Muggle, but for some reason, Professor Snape did not use developing chemicals on it, thus preserving its original style.

The photograph is from a long time ago and has a sense of historical vicissitude: it shows a boy and a girl, both around ten years old, in a nearly deserted amusement park. A large chimney stands prominently in the distance.

The girl was swinging on a swing, and a thin boy was pushing the swing from behind her.

The boy had long black hair, and his clothes were extremely mismatched, as if he had dressed deliberately: a pair of jeans that were too short, a big, long, worn-out coat that looked like an adult's, and a strangely shaped shirt that resembled a maternity dress.

There should have been another person in one corner of the photo, but they were torn off.

The boy smiled happily.

Or perhaps, this was the first and only time he had ever laughed so happily.

William recognized them as Professor Snape and the girl named Lily. They were the same two from the scene on the train in Dumbledore's Pensieve.

William guessed that it was taken by Lily's parents, because Snape's childhood attire didn't seem like that of a family that could afford a camera.

On the table, there was also an envelope dated April 20th, which is today.

There was no stamp or other markings on the envelope, only the words: "Three thousand nine hundred and fifteen days of missing Lily, sent to the girl I love most."

There was another piece of paper under the envelope, but because it was obscured, William could only see the last few lines.

"Lily, Dumbledore told me, 'We're all the same. We all feel pain. Our lives are all messed up. Life is just that incomprehensible.'"

But I... I'm already fed up. I have nothing left but awareness of the world's malice.

This isn't the life I want, I can't take it anymore...

Professor Snape was probably writing a letter here before he left. He didn't finish writing it when he heard the sound of an attack at the door, and then he left in a hurry.

William opened the drawer of his desk and froze. The entire drawer was filled with envelopes!

Each one was signed "For Lily".

However, not a single one was sent.

Because Lily died eleven years ago.

Snape probably really... loved Harry's mother, and these letters are the best evidence of that.

In that instant, William was so overcome with such intense emotion that he couldn't bring himself to open the letters and read their contents.

He sighed softly, turned and walked out of the room, heading towards the right-hand corridor.

(Second update, please vote! There will be a third update this afternoon)