n

n

nAn hour ago.

nSnape strode into the Headmaster’s office, his face looked tense, but it is easy to see that he is furious at the moment.

n“Headmaster! Headmaster Dumbledore!”

nDumbledore looked up from his desk, “Ah, Severus, what can I do for you?”

nSnape stood in front of him, he didn’t sit down but kicked the chair out of the way, and with only a table between them, he asked angrily, “You recruited Felix Hap as a professor in the school? What were you thinking?”

nDumbledore put down the book he was holding, “Severus, I see no problem with that, Mr. Hap is excellent, and his talents are widely recognized by the wizarding community and, of course, by me.”

nSnape is rather impatient, “I didn’t say he isn’t good enough! I have taught him, I know what he is like.”

n“Indeed, you once rated him, ‘a standard Slytherin’ – very high praise.” Dumbledore chuckled.

nSnape grimaced, “That was not a compliment from me.” — but a taunt.

nDumbledore nodded, “We all know Mr. Hap quite well, and I know what your concerns are, and since he’s going to be teaching at Hogwarts, this issue worth a little time, let’s sit down and talk about it.” He waved his hand and beckoned the chair back.

nSnape sat down stiffly, as if underneath his bottom is not a cushion, but a giant fire-breathing dragon.

n“Pumpkin juice? Tea? Or a butterbeer?” Dumbledore asked, a cup materializing out of thin air with each word he spoke.

n“I don’t need any.” Snape is very dismissive.

n“A cup of tea then, Mr. Hap, very fond of it.” Dumbledore placed a cup of tea in front of Snape,

nBut the way Snape looked, it appeared as if he had swallowed a fly.

nDumbledore said gently, “Let’s talk. I used to have the same misconceptions about Mr. Hap, but as he grew up, so did my opinion of him in general. It was only recently that I had an in-depth conversation with him and I finally made up my mind to hire him.”

n“I think you’re getting senile.” Snape taunted.

n“I’m getting older, but over the years, I’ve become soberer. We’re always more likely to make mistakes when we’re young, aren’t we?”

nSnape grunted and then said, “That Felix boy is up to no good, he’s got into so much trouble by doing whatever he wants at school because he’s strong!”

n“Do you know how I got through these years? Because of him, I’ve met almost half of the purebloods in Britain!”

n“I got letters of complaint from them almost every day!”

nDumbledore seemed to laugh a little, but he quickly concealed it with a large gulp of pumpkin juice. He agreed, “True, Mr. Hap was frantic for power in his junior years, but we all know there’s a reason for that, don’t we?”

nSnape pursed his lips and didn’t say anything.

nHe knew, of course, that Felix was in a rough spot, even worse than he had been back then, and at least his enemies were not from his own House.

nDumbledore said calmly, “Minerva once complained to me that the Sorting Hat did not accurately assign students to the right house, and she always thought Mr Hap should be in Gryffindor. What do you think?”

n“The boy is a standard Slytherin,” Snape said in the same mocking tone as he had back then.

n“I agree.” Dumbledore nodded, “Mr. Hap … he is a brilliant wizard, extremely brilliant, one of the most gifted person I have ever met in my life. He is always in search of power, I could see that clearly, even though he rarely showed it after the fifth year, he never stopped chasing it.”

n“Even after graduation, that was one of my biggest concerns at the time.”

nSnape listened quietly, he didn’t deny Dumbledore’s wisdom, the old man’s experiences were legendary, and he intended to hear what had made him change his mind in the first place.

n“He applied to stay here when he graduated and, frankly, he was more than capable, more than I ever was in charms alone. But I turned him down, not only because he was too young, but also because he had such ambition in his eyes that I was afraid he would go off the track.”

n“But fortunately he listened to my advice. After his first year of travel, he settled in the Muggle world and began to study them. It was at this time that he and I started to exchanging letters.”

nSnape listened quietly, not expecting such an experience between the two of them. You know, when he found out that Felix had become a Muggle researcher, his eyes almost bulged out!

n“Maybe he’s faking it.” Snape jabbed reluctantly.

n“No, no, Severus,” Dumbledore retorted, “I can still read people’s hearts and minds, living a long life has such advantages that I can tell what most people thought even without relying on magic.”

n“From the time he entered school until now, he has shown no discrimination against Muggles, on the contrary, he has studied the Muggle world very deeply, as this clearly evident through his books. He does not consider wizards superior; on the contrary, he draws a constant stream of wisdom from the Muggle world.”

nSnape retorted, “I didn’t say he discriminated against muggles, Dumbledore! But his ideas are just as dangerous, you know what he states in his book ‘How Muggles Think’?”

nAs if he were reciting a book, he spoke quickly, “Bloodline theory is also prevalent in the Muggle world, but unlike the wizarding world, more and more Muggle nations are abandoning it, thanks to the fact that they are hundreds or thousands of times more productive than ever before. The abundance of resources has provided them with a solid foundation to promote education, while the commoners, who are not of good blood, have shown an exaggerated potential to bring the Muggle world up at the speed of a flying broom.”

nWhen Dumbledore tried to interrupt, Snape continued, “In the Muggle world, if the proportion of nobles is one, the proportion of commoners is more than ten thousand. And when the rulers liberated the commoners, their efficiency in development overcame all obstacles with unstoppable force!”

nThe whole headmaster’s office fell silent.

nEven the portraits listening at the side of the office had their mouths agape. These words did not seem to mention the wizarding world, but simply described and analysed the development process of the Muggle world, but they implied the present-day wizarding world in every way.

nOne of the portraits shouted in rage, “This is betrayal! A rebellion against the glory of pure blood!”

nThe other portraits also began to chatter.

nSnape glanced at the portrait and said sarcastically, “Headmaster Black, that boy is not a pureblood!”

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