Chapter 1025: Snape's Past

Sitting in his seat, James yawned loudly and rubbed his hair, making it even messier than before.

Then, after glancing at Professor Flitwick, he turned around in his seat and grinned at a boy sitting in the fourth row behind him. With another rush of excitement, Harry saw Sirius give James a thumbs up.

Sirius slouched in his chair, leaning back so that the chair rested on only two legs. He was very good-looking; his black hair fell down over his eyes with a casual elegance that neither James nor Harry could achieve. A girl sitting behind Sirius watched hopefully. He, although he didn't seem to notice at all. Two seats away from this girl - Harry's heart was racing with joy - sat Lupine. He looked rather pale and haggard (was it because he was almost full moon?)

Lupine was concentrating on the exam: as he checked his answers, he scratched his chin with the tip of his quill, frowning slightly.

So that meant Wormtail had to be somewhere nearby... Yes, Harry recognized him immediately: the little boy with mouse-like hair and a pointed nose.

Wormtail looked very worried; he was biting his fingernails, staring down at the paper, and scraping his toes on the ground. Every once in a while, I would glance hopefully at the test paper on the next table.

Harry stared at Wormtail for a moment, then turned his eyes to James, who was passing the time by doodling on a small piece of parchment. He had already drawn a snitch and was now tracing two letters: "l.e."

What does this mean?

"Put down your pen!" screamed Professor Flitwick. "And you too, Stubbins! Please stay seated while I collect the papers! Fly around!"

More than a hundred rolls of parchment suddenly flew into the air and flew into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backwards and falling to the ground. Someone burst out laughing. Several students in the front row stood up and took Professor Flitwick's elbows to help him up from the ground.

"Thank you..., thank you." Professor Flitwick gasped, "Very good, everyone, you can go!"

Harry looked down at his father, who hurriedly removed the letter he had just been polishing, jumped up from his seat, stuffed the quill and exam paper into his bag, threw it over his shoulder, and stood there waiting for Sirius Come and join him. Harry looked around and caught a glimpse of Snape not far away, moving between the tables towards the door to the porch, still looking intently at his exam paper.

He was slightly hunched over, his movements were stiff, and he walked with a convulsive twitch, reminiscent of a large spider. His greasy hair danced around his face. A group of chirping girls separated Snape from James, Sirius and Lupin. Harry let himself walk among them, determined to keep Snape within sight, and at the same time, he raised his ears to carefully capture James. The voices of Tom and his friends.

"Do you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked as they entered the porch.

"I love you so much," Lupine said enthusiastically. "Write down the five identifying signs of a werewolf. Great topic."

"Do you think you can write all those signs?" James asked pretentiously.

"I think I can," Lupine said seriously, as they joined the crowd gathered around the front door anxious to get out into the sunlit grounds. "One: He's sitting in my chair. Two: He Wearing my clothes. Three: His name is Lupin."

Wormtail was the only one not smiling.

"I answered the shape of a pig's snout, eye pupils and a tufted tail," he said worriedly, "but I couldn't think of the other two -"

"How stupid are you, Wormtail?" James said impatiently. "Once a month you follow a werewolf around -"

"Keep your voice down," Lupine begged.

Harry looked behind him again uneasily. Snape stayed nearby, still engrossed in looking at his exam papers - but this was Snape's memory. Harry was sure that if Snape chose to wander in the opposite direction as soon as he reached the outside field, he, Harry can no longer follow James.

As James and his three friends walked along the lawn toward the lake, Snape followed, still immersed in his papers and clearly undecided on where he was going, which, in any case, made Harry Deeply pleased.

Harry kept a distance in front of Snape, determined to get a closer look at James and the others.

"Oh, I thought this exam would be a piece of cake," he heard Sirius say. "I'd at least get an 'Outstanding', and it would be weird if I didn't."

"Me too," James said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a struggling Golden Snitch.

"Where did you get it?"

"Stolen," James said casually. He started playing with the Snitch, letting it fly at least a foot away before catching it back; his reflexes were excellent.

Wormtail looked on in awe.

They stopped in the shadow of a beech tree by the lake, under the same tree where a few of them would throw themselves down on the lawn to enjoy the sunshine after finishing their homework on Sundays before heading to Hagrid. cabin.

Harry looked back and, to his delight, saw Snape sitting in the thick shadow of a bush.

As before, he was still thinking hard about the Ordinary Wizarding Level Examination papers, so Harry could sit comfortably on the grass between the beech trees and bushes, looking at the foursome under the trees.

The sun reflected dazzling light on the calm lake. By the lake sat a group of girls who had just come out of the lobby. They were talking and laughing, taking off their shoes and socks, and dipping their feet in the water to cool off.

Lupine pulled out a book and began to read. Sirius just stared around at the students running around on the grass. He looked quite arrogant and bored, but he also looked very handsome because of it.

James was still playing with the Snitch. He let it run farther and farther away, almost letting it escape, but he always managed to catch it back at the last second.

Wormtail watched with his mouth agape. Whenever James made an extremely difficult capture, Wormtail gasped and clapped his hands and cheered.

After playing like this for five minutes, Harry wondered why James didn't let Wormtail catch him for once, but it seemed that James really enjoyed the attention.

Harry noticed that his father also had a habit of messing up his hair, as if he didn't want it to look too neat, and that he kept looking at the girl across the lake.

"Stop, please," Sirius finally said after James made a perfect catch and Wormtail let out a loud cheer, "or Wormtail will wet his pants with excitement."

Wormtail blushed slightly, but James grinned.

"If that bothers you," he said, stuffing the Snitch back into his pocket. Harry had a distinct feeling that Sirius was the only one who could get James to stop showing off.

"I'm bored," said Sirius. "I wish it was a full moon today."

"You will," Lupine said gloomily from behind the book, "We still have a test on Transfiguration. If you feel bored, you can come and test me. Here you go..."

He handed Sirius his book. But Sirius snorted, "I don't need to see that rubbish, I know it all."

"That'll cheer you up, Padfoot," James said quietly. "Look who that is..."

Sirius turned his head. He suddenly went motionless, like a dog sniffing out a rabbit. "Excellent," he said softly, "Snape the Slug."

Harry turned to see what Sirius was looking at. Snape stood up again and was stuffing the ordinary wizard level exam papers into his bag. As he emerged from the shadows of the bushes and began to cross the lawn, Sirius and James stood up.

Both Lupine and Wormtail sat motionless: Lupine still lowered his head and stared at his book, but his eyes did not move at all, and there was a shallow wrinkle at the tip of his eyebrows; Wormtail's eyes took turns from Sirius, James and Snape passed over him, a look of longing for something to happen.

"Okay, Slug?" James shouted. Snape reacted as fiercely as if he expected an attack: he threw off his bag and put his hand into his robes, but as soon as he raised his wand halfway, he heard James shout: "Expelliarmus!"

Snape's wand flew a foot into the air and landed with a soft thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a raucous laugh.

"There are many obstacles!" he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who just rushed towards the wand he had dropped, but was knocked to the ground halfway. The surrounding students turned to watch. Some of them stood up and gathered around. Some showed understanding, others were amused.

Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius walked towards him, wands in hand. James turned to glance at the girls by the lake as they walked.

Wormtail stood now, watching hungrily, stepping away from Lupin to get a better look.

"How was the exam, Slug?" James said.

"I was watching him wiping his nose across the parchment," said Sirius viciously. "There must be big grease stains all over it. They can't make out a word."

Several onlookers laughed; it was clear that Snape was not welcome. Wormtail scoffed sharply. Snape struggled to get up, but the spell was still working on him; he struggled as if bound by invisible ropes.

"You--wait," he gasped, staring at James with pure disgust on his face, "you--wait!"

"What are you waiting for?" said Sirius coldly. "What are you going to do, Snape the slug, rub your noses on us?"

Snape cursed loudly, but his wand fell ten feet away, so nothing happened.

"Wash your mouth clean." James said coldly, "sify!"

Pink soap suds immediately erupted from Snape's mouth; his lips were covered with suds, causing him to gag and choke—

"Don't mess with him!" James and Sirius turned to check. James' free hand suddenly jumped to his hair. That was one of the girls walking by the lake. She had thick, dark red, shoulder-length hair, and strikingly green, almond-shaped eyes - Harry's eyes.

Harry's mother.

"Okay, Evans?" James said, his tone suddenly becoming pleasantly deeper, more mature.

"Don't mess with him," Lily repeated. She looked at James with every expression showing great disgust, "What did he do to you?"

"Well," James said, pretending to be considering the point, "mostly because of his presence, actually, if you know what I mean..."

Most of the students watching burst into laughter, including Sirius and Wormtail, except for Lupine, who was obviously determined to bury his head in his textbooks. He didn't laugh, and neither did Lily.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly, "but you're just an arrogant, bullying fool, Potter. Don't mess with him."

"I'll do it if you come out with me, Evans," James said quickly. "Come... out with me, and I'll never point my wand at the old slug again."

Behind him, the effect of the barrier spell disappeared. Snape began to crawl inch by inch toward his dropped wand, soap suds still spraying from his mouth as he crawled.

"Even if I had to choose between you and the giant squid, I wouldn't go out with you." Lily said.

"Unlucky, Prongs," Sirius said happily, then turned to Snape, "Oh!"

But it was too late; Snape had pointed his wand directly at James; there was a flash of light and a deep gash appeared on one side of James' face, and blood sprayed on his robes. James turned around quickly: there was a second flash of light a moment later, and Snape was suspended head-down in the air. His robe fell down and covered his head, revealing his pale and thin legs and a pair of inky black legs. shorts.

Most of the small group of people watching burst into cheers; Sirius, James and Wormtail were laughing wildly.

The furious expression on Lily's face twisted for a moment, as if she was about to smile, and she said, "Put him down!"

"Of course," James said, jerking his wand up; Snape curled into a ball and fell heavily to the ground. He struggled out of his robes and stood immediately, raising his wand, but Sirius said, "Petrify them all!"

Snape fell onto his back again, as stiff as a board.

"Don't mess with him!" Lily yelled. Now she drew her wand. James and Sirius looked at her warily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me use a spell on you." James said seriously.

"Then break the spell on him!" James sighed greatly, and then whispered the breaking spell to Snape.

"Come on," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. "Lucky for you, Evans is here, Slug—"

"I don't need help from a dirty little Mudblood like her!"

Lily blinked. "Okay," she said calmly, "then I won't worry about it anymore. If I were you, I'd wash your shorts, slug."

"Apologise, Evans!" James growled at Snape, pointing his wand threateningly at Snape.

"I don't want you to make him apologize to me," Lily shouted, turning to James, "You're just as bad as him."

"What?" James screamed, "I never said you were - you know what!"

“Getting your hair messy because you think it’ll look cool to look like you just stepped off a broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking up and down the hallways looking for someone who doesn’t like it Just because you can do that - I'm surprised your broom can still land with a big head like yours on it. You make me sick."

She turned and walked away quickly.

"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hi, Evans!"

But she didn't even look back.

"What's the matter with her?" James said, trying in vain to sound like he was asking a question that was optional to him.

"From what she said, I'd say she thinks you're a bit arrogant, mate," Sirius said.

"Okay," said James, who looked truly furious now, "Okay—" There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again suspended headfirst in the air. "Who wants to see me peel off a slug's pants?" (To be continued)