As soon as they stepped off the staircase, McGonagall immediately took her place beside Lily.
"Headmaster, I have brought him."
"Thank you, Minerva." He nodded.
Then, with a kind smile, he looked at the "nervous" Alan, slightly lowering his half-moon spectacles.
"Do not worry. I merely wish to ask you a few questions about the incident that occurred several days ago between you, Miss Evans, and her friends."
"Of course, Headmaster Dumbledore. Ask away."
"Good. Tell me what happened then, and do not hide anything."
"Yes... that day I..."
Over the next ten minutes, Alan recounted everything that had happened between him and Potter with his friends before the Potions exam.
He tried to behave as "calmly" as possible, overlaying the real Severus's personality fragment on himself.
He fully mimicked his manner of speech and habits.
At this moment, the Archmage could not afford a single mistake: it could cost him his life.
After all, defeating a Magister was still too difficult for him.
And besides the headmaster, two Masters stood in the office: further worsening Alan's position.
"...that's how it was..." The mage finished, lowering his eyes as if afraid to meet Dumbledore's gaze.
The old wizard had simply listened silently and nodded the whole time.
"I see. So you used a non-verbal Silencio. Then why did Mr. Potter say he could not breathe at that moment?"
"I... that was the first time I used the spell non-verbally. Perhaps I made a mistake in execution..."
"I understand. That could very well have happened. In the future, do not use such spells unless you are certain they will work as intended." The headmaster said sternly.
Alan nodded guiltily.
"Lily, do you have any questions?"
"Yes." Swallowing, the girl shifted her gaze to Snape.
"You remember what you said to me in fourth year that evening: the reason we fought?"
"I'm sorry. I forgot." Snape replied indifferently, looking at her.
"I-I see... I'm certain, Headmaster Dumbledore, this is not Severus... He is not like this..."
"And perhaps you simply never knew me well? You say I'm not like this: then what am I like? A dark wizard? A Death Eater? That's what you think, isn't it?!"
"Mr. Snape, please calm down!" Minerva exclaimed sternly, stepping in front of the startled girl.
"I...?!" Slughorn's hands settled on Alan's shoulders.
The young man froze.
Then, sighing and calming down, he shook his head.
"I apologize for my outburst, Headmaster. May we speak alone, without extra ears..."
"Hm... very well..."
Once everyone had left, the mage raised his eyes to the old man's thoughtful face.
Biting his lower lip, he lowered his collar.
Drawing his wand, he pointed the tip at his own throat.
A few seconds later, purple marks began appearing on it.
At the sight of them, the headmaster frowned, rose from behind the desk, and approached Alan closely.
"This..." Reaching out, he touched one of the purple bruises.
"Could it be that you...?"
In response, Snape nodded with a sad smile.
"I tried to end my life that day... but... it didn't work. The rope snapped."
"Why did you not come to me or speak with Professor Slughorn? Suicide is not the solution to problems. I hope you realize that?" The old wizard said sternly, looking into Alan's eyes.
"I do realize it... You know, when I almost died, I understood how precious life is... And I decided to change completely. It opened my eyes to many things..."
"I am glad to hear that, my boy..."
"James, whom I always feared and who bullied me: I stood up to him... Lily, whom I loved and who ultimately betrayed me: I decided to forget her... I chose to start everything anew, immersing myself in studies."
Touching his wand to his temple, he extracted a small strand of memories: slightly edited.
"This is what you wanted to see, isn't it?"
Though looking a bit surprised, the headmaster nodded.
He drew a small transparent vial and placed Snape's memories inside.
"And now my dream is to finish Hogwarts and begin traveling... I want to see the beauty of this world..." The wizard said with a dreamy smile, tucking his wand away.
"What do you think: is that a good dream?"
"Yes, it is a wonderful dream. Once upon a time, I thought about it myself... but it did not work out."
Straightening Alan's collar and covering the rope mark, the old wizard walked to the desk.
With nostalgia in his eyes, he touched a small steel globe.
"I see. But it is never too late to start."
"Of course... but definitely not anytime soon..." The old mage replied with a tired smile.
The Archmage merely shrugged.
"As for Lily's question: that day we fought again because of Avery and Mulciber..." The mage lowered his head embarrassedly under the headmaster's thoughtful gaze.
"I understand they are not good people, but... I simply had no other friends. Few in Slytherin were willing to befriend a half-blood like me. I think you understand why. And Lily told me to stop talking to them! To give up the only people who considered me a friend! It is unfair! She had girlfriends to spend time with: was I supposed to be alone?!"
"Severus, my boy, Lily was simply worried about you. She wanted you to have good friends..."
"Headmaster, you may be right. But I consider her actions quite hypocritical. And I no longer intend to have any relations with her. Please, let us close this topic..."
Five minutes later, Alan left the office.
Without even glancing at Lily (who was hiding behind Minerva and looking at him warily), he approached Slughorn.
"Professor, the headmaster asked you to come in. And Professor McGonagall: to escort Miss Evans to Gryffindor tower."
"Are you alright?" Horace asked with concern.
"Yes. I spoke with the headmaster and explained everything."
"Good then. Good night, Mr. Snape."
"And to you, Professor."
Finally back in his room, Alan immediately rid himself of Severus's personality fragment.
"A Magister... That truly surprised me. And this old man is only one of the strongest wizards in the country. Which means there are others like him..."
Smiling, he thought as he fell onto the bed and closed his eyes.
"...And there are many countries. So there is a high chance several more Magisters exist in the world... Eh... Why did I almost never study spells that don't require massive magical expenditure?"
The weakest spells Alan knew required at least a peak Master's reserves.
And at the moment, his core was only at the initial stage of that rank.
"After returning to Hogwarts, I must obtain the Basilisk's blood and heart. And over the holidays: the same ingredients from a Dragon and a Phoenix... Though, remembering the size of this world's Basilisk and Dumbledore's Phoenix, I probably won't reach Archmage right away. At best: early-stage Magister, or mid-stage in the optimal case. It will mostly depend on ingredient quality... And this war between wizards... I have no desire to participate. Though I am already connected to Lucius..."
Snape did not know much about the war that flared stronger each day: only superficially.
But for Alan, with his vast life experience, it was not difficult to understand the current situation.
And it was extremely unstable.
The mere fact that information about the Dark Lord openly recruiting followers circulated freely in Slytherin house spoke volumes.
And the very cause of the war evoked only contempt in Alan.
Fine if it were simply world conquest: that was more or less acceptable.
But exterminating all non-purebloods: that was utter stupidity.
Even if he did join the dark wizards, he would almost certainly die.
After all, "non-purebloods" included not only Muggles (ordinary people without magic) but also Muggle-borns (wizards born to Muggle families) and half-bloods: which Snape was.
His mother, Eileen Prince, had been a witch from the pureblood Prince family.
His father, Tobias Snape: a Muggle.
Alan himself was honestly a bit surprised by Eileen's choice.
It was rare for a daughter from an aristocratic family to run away with a simple peasant.
So he immediately suspected something unclean: perhaps a love potion or similar.
After all, it was nothing new to him: seeing members of one aristocratic family fight for the head position or privileges.
He had even once worked as a mercenary in such a matter and witnessed a son plunging a dagger into his father's heart.
Therefore, Alan planned to investigate.
And if his suspicions proved correct, he would find the culprit and avenge Severus's mother: thereby repaying his debt for a second life.
After brief planning, Snape created five more cubes.
Transfiguring them into needles as well, he went to sleep.
The next day, right after breakfast (to waste no time), Alan headed to the library.
But as soon as he crossed the threshold, he immediately noticed a red-haired girl sitting at the very table he usually occupied.
Strangely, it was not her that caught his attention: but the book she was reading.
As soon as Snape saw the title, brief information about it surfaced in his head.
"Patronus... Now that's interesting... We had nothing like that in my world..."
The mage's eyes lit up at once: he had finally seen something he did not know.
"I can't wait to study this spell. But first, I need to finish deciphering Salazar's words. I can do this over the holidays."
Making a mental note, he turned away from the witch.
He "summoned" the books he had been studying yesterday and immediately resumed deciphering those words.
At the same time, the girl began watching him without taking her eyes off.
"Even though the headmaster said it's Sev, I'm certain it's not him! Someone has taken over his body! And I'll prove it!" Lily thought with determination in her eyes.