Chapter 760: I Don't Want to Talk to You!!
Snape remembered the moment he told Lily she was a witch.
Lily and Petunia didn't quite believe him, and the three of them quickly fell into an argument.
In the end, Lily and Petunia ran off.
---
The memory shifted.
This time, it was in a small grove.
Snape was talking to Lily.
They were practicing magic together.
It looked like Lily had begun to believe what Snape had said.
Snape took off his heavy coat, revealing the worn clothes underneath. He pushed back his long sleeves, trying to look more proper—but the whole thing still looked a bit awkward.
Lily didn't laugh at him.
Instead, she tried to help, offering small ideas—ways he might manage better at home.
But in the end, they were still children.
Most of what they talked about was magic.
They hadn't even received their Hogwarts letters yet, but they were already able to use small bits of magic.
Then Petunia appeared.
Lily clearly cared about her sister.
Snape… didn't.
He immediately assumed Petunia had been spying on them.
Petunia, on the other hand, mocked his clothes without holding back.
Snape snapped.
With a flick of magic, the branch above Petunia's head cracked and fell.
She burst into tears.
Lily jumped up, furious, arguing with Snape before running off with her sister.
---
The scene changed again.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Lily was pleading with Petunia.
She held her hand tightly.
"Don't be like this, Tuney… maybe when I get there, I can convince them—maybe they'll let you come too—"
"I don't want to go!" Petunia shouted. "It's a school… a freak school!"
"But you wrote to them!" Lily shot back. "You wanted to go!"
"How do you know?!"
Lily froze for a second.
Her eyes flicked toward Snape.
That was enough.
Petunia understood immediately.
Her anger flared even more.
"You're all freaks!" she shouted. "The lot of you! Sent there to learn how to hurt normal people!"
"Don't say that!" Lily said, her voice shaking. "That's horrible—"
---
The memory shifted again.
Now they were on the Hogwarts Express.
Snape hurried along the corridor, already changed into proper wizard robes. He pushed open a compartment door.
Inside, Lily was crying.
And there were boys inside too—messing around, half fighting.
Lily saw Snape.
Her expression hardened.
"I don't want to talk to you!"
"Why not?"
"Because you read Petunia's letter!"
"She's just a—"
Snape cut himself off.
Then continued quickly,
"It doesn't matter. We're leaving all that behind. We're going to Hogwarts now. You should come to Slytherin—it's the best place—"
"Slytherin?"
A boy turned his head.
James.
Even young, there was already something proud about him—his clothes neat, expensive-looking, like someone who had always been well taken care of.
Until now, he hadn't cared at all about Snape or Lily.
But now—
he looked at them with open dislike.
"Who'd want to go to Slytherin?" he said. Then he turned to the boy by the window. "Would you?"
That boy turned.
Sirius.
He grinned.
"My whole family's in Slytherin."
James looked disappointed.
"I thought you were alright."
"Maybe I'll break tradition," Sirius said lightly. "So what about you?"
"Gryffindor!"
James said it like he was already holding a sword, ready for battle.
Snape let out a sharp, mocking sound.
"Only people who think with their muscles go to Gryffindor."
Sirius shot back immediately.
"And I suppose you're the opposite? No muscles, no brains either?"
James burst out laughing.
Lily looked disgusted with both of them.
She stood up.
"Come on, Severus. Let's go somewhere else."
"Snivellus," someone muttered as they left.
---
The memory shifted again.
They stood behind Snape now.
The Sorting Ceremony.
Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Lily's head.
"Gryffindor!"
Lily went over, still clearly upset.
Sirius made space for her, but she sat stiffly, arms crossed, ignoring him completely.
One by one, names were called.
Lucius Malfoy.
Goyle.
And then—
Snape.
"Slytherin!"
Snape walked toward the Slytherin table.
Further.
Further away from Gryffindor.
---
Another shift.
The castle courtyard.
Lily and Snape were arguing again.
"I thought we were friends!" Snape said, his voice tight. "Best friends!"
Lily crossed her arms.
"Yes—best friends. But I hate your friends. Especially Avery and Mulciber. You have no idea what they're like when you're not around. They used Dark Magic on Mary!"
She leaned against a pillar, her face tense.
"That was just a joke—"
"That's Dark Magic!" Lily snapped. "If you think that's nothing—"
"And what about Potter?" Snape shot back. "Him and his friends? Sneaking off every month to the Whomping Willow—"
"He's ill—"
"He's not ill, he's just—"
"Enough!" Lily said sharply. "Why are you always obsessed with them?"
"I'm trying to show you what they're really like!" Snape said, almost desperate.
Lily's face flushed slightly.
Her voice dropped.
"I never said they were wonderful. James Potter is arrogant and annoying. And anyway… they said they saved your life."
"Saved me?" Snape scoffed. "I don't need saving from them. I just want you to stay away from Potter. He likes you. He wants to date you!"
"I don't like him," Lily said firmly. "But if you're going to talk about that, maybe you should take a look at your own friends first."
Snape fell silent for a moment.
Because she had said she didn't like James.
The tension eased—just slightly.
---
The scene shifted again.
Harry recognized this one immediately.
Snape's memory.
The O.W.L. exam.
He watched again—
James and Sirius.
Mocking.
Laughing.
Then—
Snape lifted into the air, upside down.
Helpless.
Humiliated.
Lily stepped forward, trying to help him—
And then Snape lashed out.
The word slipped out before he could stop it.
"Mudblood."