"?"
Putting down Harry's arm, Riddle turned to look at the end of the corridor, "Seems like there's more than one rat?" Staring at the newly appeared white figure, he stood up, "Let me think, Severus Snape, my once most loyal subordinate—what a pity, you betrayed..."
"...you are not him."
Snape's voice was so calm, it even surprised himself.
When he first heard from William that they were going to infiltrate Harry's dream to "rescue someone," Snape's first reaction was—this guy was definitely talking nonsense again.
The relationship between him and William had never improved, they kept a state where they didn't know each other. Only when Dumbledore was present could they say a few meaningless words, mostly ending in William's sarcasm and someone's irritated glance.
Originally, Snape did not believe William's words, "Wait for the Mandrake to mature, the Mandrake Resurrection Potion will work on these symptoms." In the headmaster's office, he calmly stated while staring at the people in the room.
"Do you have a case?"
William retorted him with that.
"But it's better than your incoherent plan—"
The rebutted Snape was somewhat annoyed, and instinctively looked at Dumbledore, hoping for his judgment.
But, Dumbledore's inclination was obvious.
"You have to go in, too."
After a series of matching, William found Snape in the dim Potions Classroom, with only a few flames under the cauldrons emitting faint light.
"No."
Snape's refusal was concise.
"Dumbledore showed me the prophecy, I saw you in it, and roughly guessed the part you would play..."
William sat opposite the man's desk, legs crossed. He waved his hand, and two mugs of Butterbeer with froth appeared in the center of the desk, "I don't really want to pressure you with that old man, although you are indeed a jerk, but I can see, Harry is your someone?"
"Don't use Legilimency on me!"
Snape shouted angrily, tearing the paper he was grading into shreds, and pointed his wand at William's forehead.
"Learned from you."
William leisurely took a sip of beer, ignoring the wand almost poking his head.
"…"
Afterwards, Snape put down the wand. He remained silent for a long time, and finally, as William finished both mugs of Butterbeer, he spoke hoarsely, "I'll join you, but... you must promise me, Voldemort must die."
"Nonsense."
Really, Snape wanted to refuse.
But this time, the matter concerned Harry Potter... and Voldemort.
That shadow that oppressed his heart for decades—since the Dark Mark flared red that time, he had speculated countless times during midnight dreams about meeting Voldemort. He certainly had firm stance by now, but his whimsical former "master" was unpredictable according to common sense.
Years of focused research on the Dark Arts had greatly twisted Voldemort's psyche, so when Snape truly faced this "Voldemort" who controlled Harry, he recognized almost immediately that he wasn't the familiar "master" in his memory.
"No, of course I am not—"
Riddle squinted his eyes, scrutinized Snape's face for a moment, then smirked, "But I can't imagine, the future me would actually allow a Mudblood among my subordinates, and this Mudblood even betrayed 'me', it's truly a miracle that you are still alive in this world."
"Someone told me,"
Snape pulled the corners of his mouth, forcing a smile uglier than a sorrowful face, "If you call all Muggle-borns 'Mudblood', you should use this term to call yourself too, Tom Marvolo Riddle, you are a half-blood."
As he said this, a shred of triumphant smile surfaced on the man's face as he instinctively licked his chapped lips.
"…"
"…"
Just having caught her breath, Hermione felt suffocated again—she saw the pressure around Riddle visibly drop, his fingers twitched slightly until a straight slender piece of wood appeared in his grip.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The reddish-brown wand slashed downward in the air, and a streak of deep green lightning shot forth, the threat from death being so real even in a dream, Snape didn't know the outcome of getting hit by the Killing Curse in a dream, but he instinctively raised his hand—
In the next moment, a stone pillar suddenly stood at the corridor's center, then shattered by the green light.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The merciless Killing Curse shot this time from Snape's palm, but whether in color or thickness it seemed somewhat inferior compared to just moments ago.
"Damn!"
Always the good student, Hermione instinctively cursed, regaining mobility as she scrambled to the side, simultaneously dragging the seemingly unconscious Harry behind—it didn't matter to her now whether Harry might cast a Killing Curse too, surviving was paramount.
Originally thinking Snape came to save them from disaster, it now seemed he was here to set the fire.
Without a wand, casting the Killing Curse was a huge burden for Snape—upon realizing this, he immediately shifted strategy, pressing his palm downward, the originally intact ceiling collapsed instantly. Heavy stones fell toward Riddle, but swiftly, a faint black barrier rose and blocked those falling stones and lime aside—
"Is this all you've got?"
Playing with the wand in his palm, Riddle casually tidied his hair, his voice was mocking as he stared at Snape.
"Ha, what else? We Mudbloods are like this."
Frequently broken by William's venomous tongue, Snape laughed, and his experience these past six months had taught him a lot.
"...Very well."
Riddle's face darkened, forcing a bitter laugh and nodding repeatedly, his wand pointed downward—
"Boom—"
Dark green flames instantly swept through the corridor, rushing toward Snape like vengeful spirits.
Fiendfyre.
"Finite!"
First using a Summoning Charm to pull Hermione and Harry behind him, Snape immediately pushed his palm forward, a yellow barrier expanded. But in the face of those dark green Fiendfyre, the thin layer of light seemed entirely insufficient, nearly showing signs of being devoured in the blink of an eye—
"Woo, woo, woo—"
"?"
"Bang—"
Before the few could react to the noise, a small sedan with dark red coating suddenly charged out from the darkness, along with a broadcast of sirens, its red hood harshly collided with the unsuspecting Riddle's side.