Sorcerer Supreme at Hogwarts (English Versión)-Chapter 176: A Thousand Lives to See You Smile

A Thousand Lives to See You Smile

Severus Snape.

Hogwarts Potions Master.

Head of Slytherin House.

In charge of the recreation room for rest and leisure... ironically.

At first, many opposed the creation of that room. Snape was one of the most vocal.

Games and entertainment in a magical school? Encouraging laziness? A waste of time!

But over the years, what began as an objection became a routine... then, a refuge.

Some used the machines for fun, yes, but many more found in them a haven to study, to relax... or simply to escape.

And Snape, who never imagined surrendering to such illusions, discovered that he himself had become addicted.

Because in that unreal world, he could see her.

Over and over again.

Lily.

He could relive that cursed day, a thousand times, trying to change the ending...

Trying to save her.

But it always hurt.

Always.

Being in charge of those machines had been a mistake.

A mistake that dragged him down like a drug. A curse that consumes you and from which there is no escape.

And it all started with that boy.

Stephen.

At first, Snape thought he was just another insolent Gryffindor, yet another copy of the legacy of self-centered fools.

And he wasn't wrong... at least on the first day.

But something changed.

Stephen seemed to enjoy challenging him. He mocked him, provoked him, spoke to him as if they were old friends...

He even called him "best friend" with a stupid smile.

And then there was his twin sister. Another airhead who followed him around like two annoying little pixies flitting about.

Snape began to be seen differently. He was no longer just the feared Potions Master. Now, he was a central figure in the stories of those two annoying siblings.

And they weren't the only ones.

James also joined that chaotic family.

Snape, at first, felt the natural rejection... but every time he looked at him, he couldn't ignore those eyes.

Her eyes.

Then more Flamels came. Thankfully, those were calmer.

The eldest earned his respect the moment she punished Sirius Black in public.

And among the youngest, one even ended up in his own House. A boy whom, despite his jokes, he couldn't hate.

Because, unlike himself in his youth... that boy had a family.

Snape reflected on all this as he stood before the most dangerous machine of all:

The Mental Immersive Virtual Reality.

A MagicTech invention that was never officially released due to a fatal flaw: users couldn't leave.

Or rather... they didn't want to leave.

Some lived entire lifetimes inside it. Decades, perhaps centuries, while only days or weeks passed in the real world.

And when they finally died of old age in their artificial world, their bodies collapsed in reality.

Empty.

Snape knew it.

He knew that machine was calling to him.

He knew he could lose his mind...

But he also knew that, inside that world, he could see what life he might've had if everything had been different.

He didn't think twice.

He lay in the capsule.

Activated the sequence.

And let himself be consumed by his final chance at redemption.

...

He opened his eyes.

His heart pounded in his chest.

He recognized the place instantly.

He was at Hogwarts.

More precisely... in the Great Hall.

The moment of the Sorting.

And there she was.

Sitting on the stool with the Sorting Hat on her head.

Lily.

His Lily.

The one who left him. The one who died without knowing how much he loved her.

The one he could only see through the eyes of the man he hated most.

Severus swallowed hard.

"Lily..." he murmured, barely holding back the tears. "Lily..."

She was alive.

So perfect. So real.

That was the danger of this virtual reality.

So perfect that it could make you forget it wasn't yours.

The Hat shouted its decision:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily ran down, radiant, and when her eyes met Snape's, she gave him a smile that nearly made him stumble.

Then, a notably younger Minerva McGonagall read his name:

"Severus Snape."

The young Snape walked forward with firm steps, determined, while curious gazes settled on him.

He sat on the stool, the Hat covered his head and whispered:

"Oh... what do we have here? Your memories are... confused. I see much cunning, a soul marked by darkness and pain... clearly Slyth""

"Gryffindor!" Severus interrupted with a firm, authoritative voice.

"Are you sure? There's a strong inclination toward protection, traits proper of Slytherin... and so much anger."

"Gryffindor!" he repeated without hesitation.

"Well, if that's what you wish... GRYFFINDOR!"

Applause erupted from the red and gold table, and Lily smiled at him again, happy to have him by her side.

They studied together. Day and night.

The Marauders were still there, of course.

But Snape was no longer the same.

He ignored them. They were just idiotic, arrogant kids seeking attention.

After years of teaching the Flamels, his patience with the immature was immense.

Outside Hogwarts, the war grew.

Voldemort gathered the Slytherins to his cause, spreading his shadow.

But this time, Snape stayed on the sidelines.

There was no flirting with darkness.

Just a... normal life.

In time, he joined the Order of the Phoenix alongside Lily.

He even forged a fragile peace with the Marauders.

And when James tried to court her... this time, it was Severus who won her heart.

They married.

The happiest day of his life.

But that day...

Fate came to collect its debt.

A deadly attack.

Death Eaters.

Lord Voldemort himself leading them.

They fought together.

Side by side.

And when death came...

Severus and Lily went together, hand in hand.

One last smile.

One last look.

And a goodbye...

That had never hurt so much.

......

Severus, in an abyss of absolute darkness, regained consciousness.

He remembered.

His life...

It had only been a simulation.

And with a voice cracked by madness, he said:

"Again."

......

This time was different.

Severus was sorted into Gryffindor. He joined the Order of the Phoenix.

And he saw Lily marry James.

He was even the godfather of their child.

When the prophecy was spoken, fate didn't change.

James and Lily died.

So Snape took a place he never thought he'd occupy.

He raised Harry as if he were his own son.

Not out of obligation.

But because the love he felt for Lily demanded he protect what was left of her.

They lived together until Harry turned seventeen... and the war returned.

Snape died at the hands of Lord Voldemort.

Again.

To cause Harry pain.

To close the circle of tragedy.

......

"Again," he said, like an echo in the void.

......

In another life, he convinced Lily to run away.

But fate, cruel and inevitable, struck again.

Voldemort appeared just as they were about to board a ship and massacred all the Muggles present...

And Lily.

...

"Again."

...

Hundreds of repetitions.

Thousands of lives.

Different paths.

Different choices.

Different deaths.

But in none"none"was he able to grow old with Lily.

Not once did he see her hair turn white beside his.

Not once did he hold her under the rain as two elderly lovers.

It was as if the very world he had created refused to allow it.

As if even his subconscious knew she wasn't meant to survive.

He tried everything.

He even despised her, hoping it would save her.

But it didn't work.

He killed James.

He killed the Marauders.

He became the Dark Lord.

And still... Lily died.

Always.

......

Snape, standing in a dimension without shape or color, stared into nothingness.

His eyes were unfocused, lost.

His face... was that of a man who had lived a thousand lives, a thousand tragedies.

And his sanity hung by an invisible thread.

"Again..." he whispered.

And the setting changed.

He was at Hogwarts once more.

The Sorting.

The Hat.

And Lily...

"I think that's enough," said a voice from the darkness.

Time stopped.

A figure approached slowly from behind Snape.

Their presence was calm but firm.

"Shut up! I have to... I have to...!"

Snap.

The snap echoed like a silent thunderclap.

A wave of magic surged into Severus' mind.

His eyes, clouded by obsession, began to clear.

The memories of those thousand false lives compressed like films in his mind.

They were no longer his life.

They were just dreams...

Painful, beautiful, cruel dreams.

And the true memories, buried beneath centuries of fiction, began to bloom.

Snape gasped.

He opened his eyes wide.

"That's right... I'm in a simulation..." he murmured, as his gaze fell once more on Lily, seated on the stool.

"She's pretty," said the voice behind him, contemplating the redheaded girl.

Snape glanced at him.

And replied, with a nearly reverent sigh:

"Yes. She's a flower that lights the forest with her smile."

He turned completely.

"What are you doing here, Flamel? Did you make it so she couldn't live? So I wouldn't remain trapped?"

The man's face was familiar... but older.

Wiser.

Stephen.

"No one adjusted anything," Stephen answered calmly. "Once inside, you alone control this world. And no matter how many times you tried to save her... you know that if she lives, the magical world... falls. Don't you?"

Snape clenched his fists.

"Are you saying... that every one of her deaths happened because I wanted her to die?"

Stephen looked at him with compassion.

"No. You love her with every fragment of your soul.

But your conscience... knows that if she lives, you'll never want to leave."

"And what if I want to stay here forever?" Snape growled, voice trembling.

Stephen observed him for a few seconds.

"You know, I've heard that stupid saying: 'If you love her, let her go...'"

Snape reacted immediately:

"That's impossible."

"I know. I've always thought it was nonsense. Why let go of someone who's your everything? Losing her... is losing yourself.

But I'm not the one to judge that."

Stephen turned his gaze to Lily.

"Sometimes, by clinging to the past, we doom the future.

It's okay to love her, Severus.

But maybe, because of that love, you could be a better teacher...

For the memory she left in the world."

Stephen smiled with melancholy.

"I never had that chance. You do. Make the most of it.

And when, in the afterlife, you see her again...

Tell her everything.

Tell her how you took care of what she left behind."

Then, a door black as night appeared behind him.

Stephen walked toward it. Before stepping through, he turned one last time.

"Oh, and give a message to Stephen... the real one. Tell him he's about to start moving."

With that, he vanished.

The darkness dissolved like mist at dawn.

Snape stood still.

Then turned to Lily, still seated, smiling unaware.

He looked at her with infinite tenderness.

"Goodbye, Lily... It was good to see you. To feel you.

To be by your side... one more time."

And he closed his eyes.

......

"How should we wake him?" asked Wanda, pacing nervously around the machine.

"Maybe we bring him an emo girl... tempt him," Tony joked.

"Be serious! Why did you even leave one of these things here?" Stephen exclaimed.

"I wanted to see if I could fix it so no one else would get trapped... or, I don't know, add an eject button," Tony replied, scratching his head.

"And if he doesn't wake up, we won't have a Potions teacher again," said Harry seriously... though a mischievous spark danced in his eyes. freёwebnoѵel.com

"That's what you'd like, isn't it, Potter?" said a harsh voice.

Everyone went silent.

Snape had opened his eyes.

And he was staring at them.

"Run! The demon has returned!" Wanda shouted before vanishing with a pop.

"Goodbye, Professor! Glad to see you're okay. I'll take this," Tony said, stuffing the whole booth into a magic bag and rushing out.

"It's good to have you back, Severus. You were in there... two weeks," Stephen commented with a calm smile before walking off.

Harry, trying to sneak away as if nothing had happened, froze when he heard:

"Stop."

Young Potter froze.

He expected a lecture.

A punishment.

Some insult disguised as sarcasm.

Snape looked him straight in the eyes... and simply said:

"You may go."

And he began to walk toward his office.

But this time...

His steps didn't sound heavy.

They didn't echo like whips on the ground.

This time, he walked... lightly.

Like someone who, finally, had let something go.

His grudge.