Volume 6: Summer at Spider's End Alley Chapter 429: Fight to the Death
"Is this the position you gave me?"
Lily clenched her wand, as if she was not satisfied with Snape's broad answer.
Snape said nonchalantly.
"So I told you that I would not leave the UK after asking three questions. This is my greatest sincerity. What else do you think? Do you want me to walk into a trap like this?"
Lily just stared at him quietly, as if she had no further rebuttal to Snape's words, but was waiting for him to ask the second question.
Snape showed only a face in the flames, but Jon looked at that expressionless face. For some reason he always felt that he must be twisting his fingers nervously and uneasily.
"I really want to know, do you know what James did to me? And when did you two get together?"
Jon secretly covered his face.
Snape's two questions made all his previous sarcasm . Any normal person would understand that if he really hated or resented Lily, he would not ask these questions or care about them.
I don't know if Lily had thought of this, but when Snape asked the question, the expression on her face did not change at all. She just stared indifferently at the human face made up of green flames.
"You still care about this? That's why I said that you never listened to others and never changed. I knew what James had done to you, so I always had a bad impression of him at that time. No matter how much he wanted to attract my attention and pursue me, I never thought about what kind of future I would have with him."
When Snape heard this, he seemed to subconsciously clench his teeth and spoke in a voice that tried to sound calm.
"Then why is it later..."
"The strongest point about him compared to you is that he knows how to change. No one is perfect, but when you make a mistake, especially when it is pointed out by others, you have to know how to change it. James changed, not only because he knew I didn't like it, but because he realized that what he did before was wrong. He apologized sincerely and was willing to correct it. It was because of this that I accepted him at that time. Is my answer clear enough?"
Snape lowered his head, and the flame formed by the Floo powder became a little blurry, making it impossible to see the expression on his face at the moment.
But what Jon was certain of was that the expression on his face would not be very good for the vice-headmaster of Hogwarts, who was once second to none in the UK.
No one would be in a good mood when his sweetheart so decisively and directly reveals the gap between him and his enemy.
After a long time, he raised his head again. There was no special emotion on his face. He just calmly completed the second transaction he had agreed to.
"If you want to find me, I suggest you hurry up, because my previous master hasn't discovered my importance yet. If he does, you won't be the only ones looking for me."
After hearing this information, Lily's face darkened.
“Is this also considered a message?”
Snape held his head high.
"Why not? How long do you think you can keep my escape a secret? Once this gets out, you won't be the only ones looking for me. Isn't it important to know in advance what kind of competitors you'll have?"
Lily took a deep breath. She didn't dwell on this matter for long, but continued to ask.
"What about the third question?"
Snape did not remain silent either. He quietly asked a question that sounded very simple.
"We are destined to fight to the death, right?"
Lily didn't answer immediately. She just stared into those eyes and asked coldly.
"What do you think?"
The answer had already been given, and Snape didn't need to ask any more questions.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again two seconds later.
"Come on, then."
He seemed to stand up from his chair and did not give the location information of Lily's third transaction as agreed.
But the picture presented by the Floo powder was constantly expanding, revealing not only Snape's face, but also several things around him and the background.
Then the flames suddenly went out, and the whole room became quiet, leaving only the dust from the fireplace still floating in the air.
Jon stood up from his chair consciously. He knew that the time for watching melons was over and it was time to get back to work.
"It's really abominable. He actually broke his promise. He agreed to ask three questions and get three pieces of information, but he just left without saying anything about the last one!"
He said this on purpose. He just wanted to test Lily's current mood and whether she needed some relief.
Lily just walked back toward the fireplace.
"He has not defaulted. The last message has been given to us. I know where he is now."
Jon blinked and followed Lily's steps. This time they disappeared into the fire of the fireplace again, and when they reappeared, they were already in a magic joke shop on a busy magical street.
Diagon Alley is the most prosperous street in the British wizarding world. Even in the era when Voldemort ruled Britain, there was no way to change its status among wizards.
After Jon and Lily walked out of the fireplace, they found that this was the store's storage room. The fireplace used for receiving was hidden behind a pile of wooden barrels and wooden boxes.
This is exactly the place Dumbledore told Lily before she left, where she can obtain legal status in the UK.
"If we waste time here, then when we go to look for Snape, won't he definitely run away?"
Jon asked quietly.
Lily did not disturb the busy clerks and the owner outside, but searched in this storage room. Soon she opened a hidden compartment under a tiny phoenix mark, in which were hidden a few simple parchments.
"Just like he said, he would not fall into the trap after escaping from prison. Since he dared to reveal his location to us so confidently, it means he is not afraid of us finding him next."
Lily handed Jon one of the parchments, which contained the legal and traceable identity information of half-blood wizards in the British wizarding world.
Dumbledore had made thorough preparations. Jon even suspected that he had already decided to have him come to England with Lily. Even the identity information they had obtained showed that they were a mother and son.
Jon memorized the contents of the parchment and then asked.
"So we have to prepare for a protracted war?"
"He told us that his former master will soon discover his importance and come looking for him, so we'd better not expose our actions next, otherwise it will only cause us more trouble later."
Her words completely put Jon's mind at ease. At least Lily's mind was not clouded by hatred. She always knew what she wanted to do and how to do it.
This way, John wouldn't have to interfere with the decisions she made. He just had to do as Dumbledore said and rescue Lily when she encountered an absolutely dangerous situation. The rest of the time, he could just be a spectator and at most act as a thug.
After obtaining the legal certificate that allowed them to move around in the UK at this magic joke shop, they left Diagon Alley without stopping and arrived in a gray city through Apparition.
No matter where you are in the city, you can see several large chimneys, which make people feel that black smoke is constantly billowing out all the time.
The city was located on the banks of a dirty river, with fish and chip wrappers scattered about the banks, and the water was so black that no sign of life could be seen in it.
It is a typical industrial city with extremely poor living environment. Just living here, I guess you won’t be in a good mood every day.
"Where is this place? Professor Potter?" Jon couldn't help but ask as he breathed in the tar-filled air.
"Cockworth, my former home."
After hearing this answer, Jon raised his eyebrows and didn't ask any more questions.
Then, with Lily leading the way, the two soon arrived at a shabby Muggle alley called Spider's End.
There are rows of dilapidated brick houses in the alley, and the windows of the houses appear dark and lifeless during the day.
The dirty river was right next to Spider's Tail Alley. The stench from the river was not very strong because the alley itself was smelly enough.
Lily took Jon to the last two-story house at the end of the alley and they stopped there.
Compared with the surrounding buildings, this house doesn't look anything special. The door is not locked and you can walk in with just a slight push.
Noticing Jon observing his surroundings, Lily took the initiative to speak.
"This is Snape's home."
Jon couldn't help but subconsciously think about the meaning of this sentence. Although Snape's home sounded very incongruous, he was not born out of a stone after all. This so-called home was the place where his parents gave birth to him and raised him.
Taking another look at the dingy alley where the house was located, relevant information about Lily and Snape came flooding back to Jon's mind.
If he remembered correctly, Lily and Snape should have lived in the same alley and grew up together as childhood sweethearts.
But soon he had no time to think about it, because Lily had already walked into the room without any protective measures, and Jon could only quicken his pace and follow her.
The house was in a mess. It was obvious that all the furniture had been deliberately rummaged through by someone and thrown everywhere. Even the murals on the wall seemed to have been checked by someone and were hanging crookedly.
"Has this place been searched by Death Eaters?" It was easy for Jon to guess what had happened before this. "Snape was taken away by us, so it's normal for the Death Eaters to thoroughly search the place where he used to live. But if that's the case, is it possible that they would leave Aurors nearby to monitor this place?"
While Jon was looking for some hidden spot in the alley that might be suitable for hiding and observing, Lily had finished checking the fireplace, which was filled with half-burned wood.
"He met us here before." Lily looked in the direction opposite the fireplace, which was the background that Snape appeared in at the end before the Floo powder transmission ended .
"If he dares to come back here and does not return to the master who abandoned him, it means there are no Aurors around to monitor him."
As she spoke, Lily picked up and dropped it next to the fireplace, a copy of the Daily Prophet with a new date.
The front page of the news has long stopped reporting on the Triwizard Tournament. As the ultimate loser, Britain naturally wants to downplay the impact of losing the Triwizard Tournament on British wizards. The easiest way to do this is to try not to mention it. That way, one day, people will be attracted by other things and will take the initiative to turn the page.
The recent news is basically about job changes within the Ministry of Magic.
The first thing was that the office director of the Auror Command was replaced. Everyone speculated that Draco's terrible performance in the Triwizard Tournament must have angered that gentleman, and Lucius was also the target of the anger. He lost his position in the Ministry of Magic and now sits at home doing nothing all day.
Then there were other important departments, which were basically all replaced. Even Slughorn, who had been working "diligently" as the Director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the past two years, was "transferred" from the position of Director to the secretariat of the Office of the Minister of Magic.
These are very unusual signals, and what is even more unusual is that the sub-edition of the Prophet's Daily Edition vaguely reveals that the great gentleman seems to want to establish a new magic school in the UK recently.
The newspaper reported the incident with such confidence that it seemed as if the reporter who wrote the article had seen the new magic school being built with his own eyes.
But when Jon saw the news, he didn't believe a single word of what was written there.
The fact that Voldemort wanted to establish a new magic school was sheer nonsense. At most, it was just an excuse to appease the emotions of wizards in Britain.
Let’s not talk about whether he has the energy to build a magic school now. Even if he really built it, what about the students?
All the pure-blood and half-blood wizards who were suitable for admission to the school were brought to France by Dumbledore!
Now does Voldemort have to start all over again by recruiting first-year students for the newly established magic school?
This is obviously impossible. The so-called establishment of a new magic school sounds exciting for a while, but wizards are not fools. They can quickly realize that this rumor is a joke.
