Chapter 11

Only in the evening, an hour before the start of the banquet, he finally finished with the transcript.

"*Hidden in the snake's mouth* - hmm ... nothing is clear ... " The Wizard concluded sullenly, exhaling and closing the book.

"What could this mean? On the surface, the heritage should be in the snake's mouth, and if you think logically, "snake" can mean something else, because "snakes" are called all Slytherins ... it could also be a statue or a picture, or maybe that -something else where a snake is depicted or Salazar himself, yet he was a rather narcissistic type and, most likely, his image should be the entrance, that's just what to do with the snake tongue, I didn't study it, but what if you need it to enter there ... it's worth looking for a person who knows this language later and learn it, yet this is kind of a rare gift." He thought in his mind.

Noting that the Archmage had left the room, the girl quickly returned the book to its place and ran out of the library, but as she turned the corner, she hit someone and fell to the floor.

 "Why are you following me?" Snape's voice sounded indifferent, with a hint of annoyance.

 "I… I am not chasing you! And even though the Headmaster believed you, you are not Sev! What did you do with him?!" Jumping up and snatching out her wand, she exclaimed as she pointed it at Snape's chest. 

"I ate him, and then used a potion that allowed me to take on his appearance," the Wizard said, moving the tip of her wand away from himself, with a terrible grin, at the sight of which Lily shuddered. 

"And what will you do? You yourself broke off all relations between us, so leave me alone and do not follow me, otherwise I will complain to the headmaster," and without paying any more attention to her, he turned around and headed towards the Great Hall. The girl herself Clutching the wand tighter, she looked at the back of the departing Snape with determination. Although it was easy to see how her hands were trembling. "I'll prove you're not Sev!"

"Hey Lily, what are you doing here?" Four guys approached the sorceress, one of whom kept a meter from the others and looked slightly saddened. 

"James..." As soon as she saw this young man, the former fear that the girl felt during the meeting with "Severus" instantly vanished.

"I was just thinking…" she answered with a smile, and then looked in bewilderment at the saddened Lupin walking behind.

"Did something happen to you?" Seeing where Lily's gaze was directed, the three guys flinched, and their faces instantly lost all color and, as if as one, reflexively reached for their asses. 

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The Great Hall is the place where all meals are held, as well as holidays, one of which is the beginning and end of the school year. There were four long tables in the hall, at which excited and joyfully chatting with each other Hogwarts students sat, at the end of the teacher's table, and behind it hung a huge green banner with the sign of the Slytherin faculty and smaller ones were located along the walls.

Once in the huge hall, Snape immediately went to the far table on the left, which belonged to his house. 

"That's not bad…" the young man thought with a smile, seeing a lot of dishes from which the tables simply burst, and the very festive mood that hovered in the air was quite contagious.

"I think today it's really possible to relax a little…" approaching the table, the Wizard watched with a smile the huge number of ghosts flying over the tables.

"Hm?" out of the corner of his eye in the corner, the wizard noticed one familiar ghost.

"And why is she standing there?" Tilting his head to the side, he thought as he walked towards her.

The ghost of a fourteen-year-old girl, sitting in a corner, only watched the students chatting with each other from a distance, feeling longing and a bit of envy.

"Myrtle, why are you standing here alone?" Hearing a familiar voice, she looked at the young man with mild surprise, rarely anyone spoke to her, and among the students she did not have the best reputation, and she simply had nothing to talk about with ghosts, because many of them are hundreds of years old.

"Severus... I'm glad you're all right, but you'd better leave..." Seeing the girl's sad face, he raised an eyebrow in bewilderment.

"Something is wrong? Or are you offended that I didn't visit you after I checked out?" Snape asked with a smile as he tried to touch the top of her head, but his hand went through, which made the young man a little embarrassed. "Ohh..sorry I forgot."

"No, that's not the point, it's just… you're from Slytherin, and they don't like Muggle-borns there, and if you talk to me, they will start to…"

"and I don't give a damn about their opinion, so do you mind if I stand here with you until the banquet begins?"

"…" The ghost was a little embarrassed at such a revelation. "That's nice," without waiting for an answer, he leaned against the wall and looked ahead, towards the teacher's table.

"By the way, since you've been living here for a long time, I'm sure you must know a lot of "interesting" stories. - Stories...?"

"Yes, like this one that a ghost told me: "One evening, a Gryffindor student, lingering on working out at Filch, ran in the direction of his living room in pitch darkness, but due to the fact that he forgot to have dinner, his stomach grumbled, and, slowing down a little, he began to rummage in his pockets in search of something to eat, but apart from lemon-flavored candy, which he really disliked, there was nothing, and as he cursed himself for it, his stomach growled again. And he looked at the candy again, and when the boy was about to eat it, the sound of footsteps sounded…"

At that moment, Snape's voice became lower and more gloomy, and the eavesdropping students of Ravenclaw swallowed, like Myrtle herself, "… the boy shuddered and with panic in his voice exclaimed: "Who is there ?!" - but the answer was approaching steps, he again exclaimed: "Who is this ?!" - but again only silence and the sound of footsteps, which grew louder every second ... The Gryffindor immediately backed away, he wanted to run away, but, stumbling over something, the boy fell to the ground and, curled up, closed his eyes, and the steps were getting closer, and at one moment ... it stopped right next to the student's ear …"

Hufflepuff's students joined the audience, each of the students was looking forward to the denouement of this story, "... the boy heard a strange rustling, after a chomping sound and a contented muttering: "Mmm ... with lemon ..." the student immediately recognized the voice and, opening his eyes, he saw ... " a dramatic pause, " Headmaster Dumbledore," from such a turn, the students opened their eyes in surprise, and some from the senior years only smiled, but Snape did not stop there, he only grinned even wider. "Stuttering, the boy whispered, "D-principal?" - as if not believing in what he saw, and then a candy wrapper fell on his face ... The Headmaster looked at him and, narrowing his eyes, which made the student again fearful, said quietly: "You will not prove anything ..." - and, looking up from the Gryffindor, he rushed into the darkness, and the boy, the next day they found him lying unconscious in the corridor ... Was it a real Headmaster or someone decided to play a trick on a first-year student, no one found out ... but you must remember that if you decide to linger after lights out and wander through the dark corridors of Hogwarts, then always should have a lemon-flavored candy in your pocket, because ... suddenly you are unlucky and you stumble upon ... "Headmaster?" - from the last word in an interrogative tone, the freshmen and sophomores shuddered and quickly began to rummage in their pockets, but the senior students could hardly contain their laughter.

"Such is the story. Ah…was it true?" stuttering a shaggy boy of about twelve asked Snape.

"Of course not, I just came up with it," Snape replied with a smile, and then, muffled his voice, added with a serious face: "But better carry the candy with you."

And, no longer holding back, the students laughed out loud, causing that boy to be embarrassed.

"Ahem! ~ Ahem! You told a rather entertaining story, Mr. Snape." At that moment, the laughter stopped. 

"Did you like it, Headmaster?" turning around, Snape asked the elderly man with a smile, who, stroking his long beard, smiled just as good-naturedly and nodded, but Minerva, standing behind him, frowned displeasedly.

 "Of course, but why did you choose me?" 

"Well… that day I saw a saucer with lemon slices on your table, and only you among the teachers like to indulge in sweets, so I chose you as the main character," the Wizard explained "embarrassedly". 

"I hope I didn't offend you?"

 "Of course not," rummaging in his sleeve, the Headmaster took out a candy with a painted lemon and, under the shocked looks of the students, threw it into his mouth and, lowering his glasses slightly, narrowed his eyes, looked at the pale audience and calmly walked to the teacher's table, smacking his lips contentedly. Walking behind, McGonagall just took a deep breath and shook her head. 

"The old man is still cheerful…" the Wizard thought with a smile, looking at the pale first-year students, and then shifting his gaze to Myrtle, who was embarrassed by this whole situation, continued: "Well, can you tell us something like that? I'm sure you must have many stories."

"Well …" from such a lot of attention from the students, the girl was embarrassed, but rather quickly pulled herself together. "I'll try…"

"Hey! Go get a chair from your faculty!" One of the sixth years exclaimed in displeasure, standing up and heading towards Snape with the intention of taking the chair away, this impulse of his was also supported by several more Gryffindors, who were also going to get up and follow him. 

"Have you forgotten where we are?" Seeing the impudent smile on the face of the Slytherin, he stopped abruptly and looked towards the teacher's table, from where the gloomy Head of Gryffindor house was watching him, scorching him with her gaze.

"Come on, take it by force, I don't mind taking five more points from Gryffindor." 

"To hell with you! But it's better not to wander alone through the corridors …"

"Are you threatening me? That also in the open? Apparently, you don't care about your faculty, or have you forgotten that Wizards, and especially powerful ones like our Headmaster, have much better hearing? Better sit down." and, no longer paying attention to him, the Wizard looked in the direction of the dumbfounded Myrtle and nodded. 

"Start... where were we?"

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