Hogwarts: I am Snape

Chapter 3 Pig Head Bar
Snape decided to go to the Hog's Head.

For no other reason than that Voldemort made a mess of the wizarding world.

In the original storyline, the casualty rate for their generation was far too high.

Lily, himself, Regulus Black, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Barty Crouch Jr., Bellatrix Lestrange... almost everyone on both sides died.

Even Gilderoy Lockhart, a mediocre junior, became a fellow patient at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Injuries and Sicknesses, alongside Frank and Alice Longbottom.

After much thought, it seemed that only the Malfoy family, who couldn't even scrape together a complete wand, had survived unscathed.

As a seasoned Harry Potter fan in his past life, he was unwilling to remain uninvolved. Why would he waste his trip if he didn't personally stir up trouble and plug his charger into a Tom's two-pronged socket?
Therefore, days without Voldemort are good days.

Now is not the time to completely sever ties with the Death Eaters. Apart from the ring buried in the ruins of Gaunt's old house and the crown hidden in the Room of Requirement, he knew nothing of the other Horcruxes.

Turning onto a side street next to the post office, Snape saw a small bar.

The bar's dilapidated wooden sign hangs on a rusty bracket above the door frame.

The sign depicts a severed wild boar head, with blood seeping through the white cloth wrapped around it.

Whenever the wind blows, the signboard creaks and groans.

Snape reached out and pushed open the door, and a thick, dusty ray of sunlight divided the room in two.

As the door creaked shut, the sunlight vanished in an instant.

His pupils dilated rapidly, struggling to adjust to the dim light:

It was a small, dark room with thick grime on the bay windows, allowing almost no light to penetrate. Some half-melted candle stubs burned on the rough wooden table.

The whole room was filled with a strong smell of mutton.

Apart from a few Hogwarts students sitting around the table furthest from the bar, most of the customers were wearing hoodies.

Avery, Moorselber, Regulus, Crouch Jr., and others were all there.

He once presented the earplugs to the Death Eaters as a gift, as if they were offering a spell to them.

In this way, even in the Pighead Bar, they don't need to worry about their conversations being eavesdropped on.

With Snape's arrival, the indistinct buzzing coming from the wooden table immediately stopped.

Surrounded by a crowd, a hooded woman with her chin slightly raised, leaned lazily against a worn-out armchair with an expression as if she were sitting on a throne.

"What are you here for?"

"I have come for a common purpose."

"You still dare to come here?"

The woman raised the corners of her mouth in disdain, her eyelids half-closed, her tone revealing a hint of contempt.

"How am I supposed to understand that, Bellatrix?"

How should I interpret these words?

Bellatrix suddenly chuckled and repeated Snape's words in a shrill voice.

She suddenly stood up, strode over to Snape, and met his gaze.

“Little Severus, your friends tell me that you seem to prefer the smelly little mud-bloods to them.”

"Compared to all the smelly things, including the two of them, of course."

Snape scrutinized Bella's delicate face with great interest.

"I seem to have only just realized that there are better, purer, and more desirable things in this world—"

A burst of laughter interrupted him; Bellatrix looked a little crazy, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight.

"Ah... Little Severus." She tucked a few strands of smooth, glossy black hair behind her ear and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.
"I really didn't expect that! Do you like your older sister? But you're a little late—"

“Yes, I’m very sorry. Lucius told me that you and Rodolphs got married a few months ago.”

Bellatrix snorted softly, a mocking smile playing on her lips, and said in an almost inaudible voice, "Why bring up that idiot?" "I'm glad we've reached a consensus on this."

Snape grinned and let out a short, low chuckle, speaking in a low voice:

"But I'm probably more envious of his good fortune than his stupidity."

“Is that so? Unfortunately, compared to Lestrange, you have more to be jealous of than just his luck, Snape.”

Bellatrix pronounced Snape's last name, word by word.

She licked her thin lips with the tip of her tongue while staring intently into Snape's eyes.

"Your transformation is truly astonishing..."

In an instant, Snape felt Bellatrix's cold gaze pierce his pupils like a venomous snake flicking its tongue as it searched for its prey.

However, at this moment he felt a strange sense of detachment—as if there was a transparent veil separating him from the venomous snake.

It seems I can choose which thoughts to show her.

Images flashed through his mind like a movie:
The raiders' attack, the suffocating humiliation, the girl's contemptuous gaze, a strand of hair falling in the mirror, Bellatrix's beautiful face, a hint of possessive desire...

"enough!"

Snape growled angrily in a low voice, staggering back a few steps and knocking over a chair.

"Bellatrix, that's enough!"

"How dare you... How could you..."

He took a deep breath and spoke in a low, trembling voice, while looking down and avoiding Bellatrix's gaze.

"Quiet, Severus."

Bellatrix sat back in her armchair, resuming her languid posture.

"Sit down and put away your filthy thoughts."

"Be loyal to your master, and you will naturally receive many rewards that wizards could never dream of."

She looked around and said, “You are the same; the master will not neglect any loyal servant.”

"In order to enable you to be more loyal to your master in the future, let's now return to today's topic."

"Now that you've finished fifth grade, let me help you build a foundation for sixth grade. Today we'll learn how to use the three Unforgivable Curses, and you can practice them on your own whenever you have the chance..."

The candle on the wooden table burned slowly downwards, the flame gradually turning from yellow to orange-red.

When the assembly ended, Snape deliberately lingered at the back for a while.

“As for the Dark Lord’s rewards, Bellatrix,” he wanted to confirm something, “I’ve heard that the Dark Lord bestows special rewards upon his most loyal servants.”

Snape asked in a tone that was a mixture of fear and greed:
Do you know exactly what the Dark Lord's special gift will be?

Bellatrix seemed to be stung by those words; the tips of her ears turned pink, and she said in a voice several octaves higher than when she was lecturing:
"My master will eventually see that I am his most loyal and reliable servant!"

"As an ancient and noble Blake, your loyalty is beyond question."

Snape quickly made a farewell gesture to her, then turned and left the bar.

Fortunately, Bellatrix's belief in the supremacy of purebloods was so deeply ingrained, otherwise he would have been in real danger today.

He'll make this crazy woman kneel at his feet sooner or later.

Unfortunately, the adventure didn't yield good news.

The Hufflepuff Cup is not currently hidden in the Lestrange family's vault.

After walking back to the castle and having dinner in the Great Hall, Snape returned to his dormitory.

The clean clothes were neatly folded at the foot of his bed.

(End of this chapter)