Chapter 68 - Headmaster's Office 02.

[Chapter Size: 4500 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hogwarts.

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...

The conversation lasted about two hours as they drank tea. What might have seemed to anyone merely a casual conversation about various magical subjects between a headmaster who held the title of the greatest wizard of his time and a young and promising Slytherin student. Unfortunately for those same eyes, they would not have been able to reveal the battle unfolding at that table, bordering on politics between them throughout the entire conversation.

Severus was there on the other side, with a blue, long-tailed phoenix and a red phoenix that looked very much like Fawkes, one perched on each of his shoulders. At some point, Articuno and Solaris had appeared there during their conversation, while Fawkes also went to his companion's shoulder.

The portraits of the former headmasters quickly gossiped among themselves about what they were hearing as various subjects came up.

They had already discussed many subjects by that point, the structure of magical society, protective spells Severus wanted to know about, discovering many of them that he had never heard of, they had also covered the limits of transfiguration, wandless magic, elemental magic, and spell creation, while he gave the information the headmaster wanted to know, such as his own knowledge of many of the areas he was familiar with without compromising himself, he also told him how he had acquired each of his phoenixes and about the development of his telekinetic magic.

"I need to know exactly how and why electricity doesn't work in magical areas," Severus had raised his first question.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Well, magic interferes with electronic equipment."

"But not old Muggle equipment like steam engines, mechanical clocks, purely mechanical devices, firearms... among other things. Why not electrical energy? And how does magic directly interfere with equipment that uses that kind of energy? Do you know why?" Severus pressed for a moment, expectant.

He soon saw the headmaster's blank look, he might not have found it in any book, but he had expected the wizard before him to show some knowledge, at the very least. "You don't know?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To put it simply, no. It is not an area in which I am an expert. After all, no one has ever found a solution to it. Perhaps it is because wizards simply aren't very inclined to use Muggle equipment."

"But has no one ever tried to understand why?" Severus asked.

If people understood the problem, finding a solution would be much easier. But he was still on a quest to discover exactly how that interference occurred. That was precisely what he was doing, trying to solve the problem inside the Room of Requirement.

The headmaster merely shook his head, no one had ever asked that question.

Perhaps because wizards had truly never shown any interest, which Severus considered utter foolishness. He found innovation in the wizarding world rather shortsighted, to put it mildly. They were more focused on trying to develop new broom models than unraveling matters like that. New potions were rare, the runic alphabet continued to consist of the same ancient ones, without anyone managing any interaction with them...

"Why would you be so interested in Muggle electricity, Mr. Snape? I have certainly never seen any student ask that kind of question more than once after receiving the simple explanation that magic interferes with it. Everyone simply accepts that electronic devices don't work very well with magic."

"It's a shame that no one tries to understand exactly why that happens, Headmaster. It seems like a grave mistake to distance ourselves from the Muggle world in this way," Severus explained.

That certainly made Dumbledore raise an eyebrow. He had not expected to hear something like that. "Why do you say that?"

"At some point, Headmaster, technology and magic will have to go hand in hand. Muggles, from what I've noticed... And I say this having only a basic knowledge of them, though it still surpasses that of most wizards in Britain. Perhaps there are only a dozen people here who truly know what is happening in the Muggle world, but no one seems to even care about it," Severus said calmly.

He paused for a few seconds. "The Muggle world is evolving far too quickly, Headmaster, while the wizarding world is falling behind. That's why I think Voldemort's cause, if you want my honest opinion, is a lost cause from the very beginning."

That intrigued the headmaster. "Why do you think that? And you speak his name so casually... Even the bravest would be afraid to say that name," the headmaster said, impressed.

Severus shrugged and began to argue based on everything he knew about the Muggle world. In the event of a war between Muggles and wizards, it would only lead to the destruction of the wizards themselves. After all, they were a population of what? Two hundred thousand in the entire world, compared to 4 billion Muggles...

A witch hunt, with the magical world completely exposed, would lead to the ruin of wizarding society itself. Voldemort did not seem to understand how suicidal that was, and his followers even less so.

"I say all this because Muggles already possess enough weapons to fight the wizarding world, even if doing so would also lead to the destruction of many of them. Do you know what an atomic bomb can do, Dumbledore?" Severus asked.

That made even the old man shrink back slightly. It was obvious that he knew what an atomic bomb was. He should also know its deadly power. There had even been many Japanese wizards among the victims caught in the Hiroshima explosion, which had devastated an entire large area and killed more than 70,000 people, some wizards had been among the victims as well...

"At this very moment, we are in the middle of a Cold War that could cause a war across the entire world. Although the greatest tension is between the Soviet Union and the United States, there is an enormous number of atomic bombs stockpiled by those nations. Imagine those leaders discovering that there are people out there capable of doing everything we can do. Of controlling their minds, torturing them. And then discovering that there is a wizard trying, somehow, to feed the illusion that he could simply exterminate the Muggles and rule the world."

He paused, staring directly at Dumbledore.

"What Voldemort will find at the end of a war against the Muggles will be nothing but ashes. He would merely be a king of ashes and destruction, if by some miracle, he survived that war..."

Dumbledore kept staring at Severus, who still had not finished. He picked up a cup and quickly began transfiguring it into several pieces, impressing Dumbledore. Each of those metal pieces began fitting together until, finally, they formed something the headmaster quickly realized was a Muggle weapon.

He was impressed, but remained silent to see what Severus would do.

Severus made the Muggle weapon fly into his hand. "Everyone had better cover their ears," he said.

Then he pointed the pistol at the window and fired.

All the portraits screamed in horror and covered their ears. Even Dumbledore flinched slightly as he watched one of his windowpanes shatter from the bullet fired into the air.

"Tell me, Dumbledore, how many wizards can defend themselves against a gun? Most don't have the power, and their shields would be penetrated by these bullets. The force of the impact, due to the speed, is far too great. It's faster than any spell," Severus said, placing the weapon on the table.

"You... how did you do that?" was the only thing Dumbledore managed to say, impressed.

"I'm not that ignorant about the Muggle world, Dumbledore. I wanted to know how they worked, how they used their weapons, and this is only one of their most basic weapons. We're only talking about ordinary weaponry. There are weapons of war, aircraft that could simply come to Hogwarts, launch missiles, and leave before anyone could even notice them."

"I'm not saying this because I want a war against the Muggles. I'm saying exactly the opposite. A war against the Muggles would only turn everything we know in the wizarding world into ashes. And they are advancing with each passing year."

Dumbledore certainly listened carefully to every one of those words, he simply did not know exactly where Severus was going with all of it. On one hand, he said that he did not want a war against the Muggles; on the other, he emphasized the importance of recognizing that they were becoming stronger and more powerful.

"A few years ago, there were only black-and-white televisions. Today, televisions are already in color. They film scenes and make movies. I wonder how far this technology will advance. The further it advances, the harder it will become to hide wizarding activities, Dumbledore. I'm not very optimistic about the future, if I'm being quite sincere. The world will naturally discover the wizarding world at some point, and I don't know what will happen when that time comes. That's one of my predictions, and I truly hope I'm wrong."

Severus continued.

"There are already far too many inventions in the Muggle world. They've achieved things wizards have only dreamed of, such as reaching the Moon and reaching the limits of the planet. I don't doubt that, before long, things like those that appear in a movie that's about to come out, Star Wars... I don't know if you keep up with these things," Severus said, breaking into a smile.

He had seen the poster and also watched a trailer when he went to the cinema, the movie would be released next year. Obviously, he had wanted to find out what a cinema was like and could not help but be fascinated as he watched his first movie, something that, in his old world, could only be compared to a more basic form of entertainment, closer to theater. But now there were filmed scenes, people acting, and special effects.

Ideas like the premise of Star Wars, or even productions such as Star Trek, about traveling in spaceships from one planet to another, might perhaps be achieved by Muggles in the future.

Meanwhile, wizards still lived by candlelight.

"Well, certainly what you have said has many valid points. I cannot say that I have ever thought deeply about these things. You intrigue me with all of this, and I am glad that you do not seem to share the same ideas Voldemort is spreading throughout the wizarding world."

"As I said, Headmaster, things certainly aren't that simple. The wizarding world may end up being discovered in the future without anyone being able to do anything about it, but at the same time, I wouldn't want it to be discovered now. Not when there is so much military weaponry in Eurasia and the United States at this moment. Imagine if they simply discovered our world and became desperate enough to start bombing us when there's a madman like Voldemort wanting to exterminate Muggles. So no, Headmaster, obviously I have no desire for war. I'm not part of this madness Voldemort wants. I don't even understand how he can be so foolish that he can't see things from this perspective."

Dumbledore nodded. Severus had given him much to think about. It was a point of view he had never heard from any student, not even among Muggle-borns, but Severus seemed quite aware of what he was saying.

His eyes were still on that weapon. "Do you have any suggestion for a solution?" he asked.

Severus thought for a moment. "Well, I believe the wizarding world should first embrace Muggle technology. But it seems no one has yet managed to solve the problem of magical interference with equipment. I'm already working on it myself."

"You are?" Dumbledore immediately asked in surprise.

"Yes. I'm trying to eliminate the interference that magic causes directly in the conduction of energy. You must already know that I keep many Muggle books with me," Severus said.

He took a book from his ring, revealing a work by Nikola Tesla on the generation and transmission of electricity, before placing it on the table.

But Dumbledore's eyes quickly went to the ring. "You took that out of the ring? I've heard some comments from professors who noticed it, but could you first explain what exactly that ring is?"

He immediately became interested when he saw the book being taken from it in a miniature form, rapidly growing before Severus almost like a transfiguration.

"They're dimensional rings, I created them myself. Instead of carrying bags around, it's much easier to keep everything compact," he explained.

Dumbledore's eyes lit up. "Could you leave one with me? I've never seen anything like it."

Severus merely shook his head. "Sorry, Headmaster. I don't intend to hand over any of my belongings that are inside here, and I can't share one right now," he said as he displayed the three rings. "But I can sell you one. I can make a ring with five meters of internal space."

"And how much would that be?" Dumbledore asked.

"Ten thousand Galleons," Severus replied immediately.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It may not compare to those two- or three-thousand-Galleon trunks that practically have an entire house inside them, but you would have the first revolutionary ring with a new type of runic combination, one that doesn't exist anywhere else," Severus explained.

Obviously, he couldn't simply show how those rings worked now. The runes engraved on them belonged to his other world and were an unknown alphabet.

He would need to reconstruct the same runic system using the alphabets employed in that world so as not to arouse too much suspicion.

And Severus was only offering it to Dumbledore because he was certain he could simply refuse any more invasive request the headmaster might make.

Dumbledore stared at him. "Very well, I'll do it," he said.

"Excellent, Headmaster. You'll have the first dimensional ring in a few days, as I've named them. It hasn't even been authenticated yet, but I plan to do that," Severus said.

The headmaster nodded. Although it seemed he was losing out a little in that deal, he had no choice. He would have another opportunity to learn about the young man before him through that ring and understand how he had constructed his runes.

Dumbledore questioned how the ring worked and how it was constructed. Severus gave explanations as far as possible, telling him that he had spent a good deal of money on many rings that had been discarded, until he finally managed to apply the correct runes. When questioned about how he knew so much about runes, since he had practically only studied the subject since his fourth year, Severus simply said that he had studied on his own during the holidays.

Dumbledore also asked about the dragons and their unique language. Severus had no problem talking about it, giving practically the same information he had given Scamander.

The phoenix itself was also another subject, while Severus mentioned that the man might come by any day to see the blue phoenix on his shoulder. She was always watching curiously, like any other phoenix, which seemed to understand their conversation quite well, while unbeknownst to Dumbledore, Severus and she maintained a conversation through their thoughts.

"I heard that you and Slughorn are going to the Ministry on Saturday. He asked me for permission. You intend to authenticate the perfume he mentioned, correct?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

Severus nodded. "Let's just say I found a new plant and it has a kind of powerful and magical fragrant oil..." he said with a small smile.

That made Dumbledore stare at him, but without knowing that it was Severus himself who had reconstructed that plant from his other world. For someone like him, it had not been difficult, and he could even alter the scent and dosage directly within the seed before the plants grew. It was a species that did not exist in that world, so all the material supplied would belong exclusively to him. He would earn royalties from the sales and could also sell the resources himself without worrying about the sale.

And all he needed to do was simply cast his magic and make a practically unlimited quantity of those plants grow in just a few seconds.

Basically, that would be another source that would easily make him rich. He could have done that from the beginning, but he had limited himself to selling a few plants in Diagon Alley while spending most of his time studying and buying his books and school supplies.

Now, however, he could simply raise a good amount of money to go much further.

The headmaster was also curious about his light spell, the one with which he created a glowing tree.

Severus did not fail to ask whether there was any spell capable of destroying a Dementor, knowing that the Patronus was the closest thing to it according to his own knowledge, but Dumbledore merely confirmed what Severus had already suspected, leaving him to think that his spell seemed to be unique.

This made Severus wonder how his plant had managed to annihilate three Dementors inside that lake.

He had seen them burn until they turned to dust, but he did not tell that to the wizard before him... Perhaps because it generated an avatar of a sacred tree from the other world, it could do things that no other Patronus could, even though that was not his Patronus...

Severus then had to give a demonstration. Even with the cramped space, the tree appeared, growing inside the office, and anyone outside Hogwarts or looking in that direction from the windows could also see part of the headmaster's tower glowing, with half of that tree projecting outside.

And the headmaster, although intrigued, could only say that it certainly was not a Patronus.

Severus also mentioned that he was having difficulty casting a Patronus with his wand. There was some problem occurring, but he was already speaking directly with Ollivander to try to replace his current one, unable to draw out its full potential.

Dumbledore also asked what career Severus hoped to pursue. He even suggested becoming a magizoologist, since his friend Scamander had said that Severus had a great talent for it. Well, that was quite obvious, given the way the dragons and even the phoenixes behaved around him.

When Severus wanted to ask a few things, among all those questions, he ended up entering a somewhat darker area.

"Tell me, Headmaster Dumbledore, why are the Unforgivable Curses what they are? Is it simply because there is no way to defend against them?" Severus asked.

The headmaster could not help but frown for a moment and stare at him as though trying to determine his intentions.

Severus already found it irritating how the headmaster seemed to suspect that any conversation of that sort meant he was becoming a dark wizard, but he did not even throw that in his face as Dumbledore began to speak.

"They are unforgivable because of that, but there is another, even worse reason: their ability to corrupt the soul itself. There is no greater sin than taking a person's life," Dumbledore said with a certain sadness.

Severus seemed thoughtful. "Then tell me something, Headmaster. If I use Avada Kedavra to save someone, will I also be corrupting my soul?" Severus asked.

The headmaster seemed somewhat intrigued by the question before shaking his head. "If your intention is to protect someone, I believe it would not affect you in quite the same way."

"But does that apply only to the Unforgivables? If I killed someone with another spell, even a simple spell, let's say I hung someone upside down and left them suffocating with a soap spell until I killed them, would I also be corrupting my soul?" Severus asked.

Of course, the insinuation did not go unnoticed by the headmaster. Potter had done that to him and could even have suffocated him.

Severus's real question was whether there was something exclusive to dark curses that was capable of corrupting the soul.

"Killing involves intent, Mr. Snape. Avada Kedavra may be a cruel curse, of course, perhaps the cruelest of all. But there are other ways of doing so..."

Severus had much to disagree with. There were other curses capable of killing a person slowly, making them suffer terribly. Avada Kedavra, on the other hand, could even provide a clean and painless execution in many situations.

Severus believed that a Dementor's Kiss was far worse than executing someone with Avada Kedavra. But Severus did not want to have that kind of conversation tonight.

Even the Killing Curse could perhaps help people with illnesses related to the soul. If it were possible to remove a soul for a moment without destroying it, causing it to disconnect from the body in the same way Avada Kedavra seemed to do, but without destroying the bond, perhaps it would be possible to analyze a soul and even cure possible illnesses.

"The intent to kill is the main point. I believe that if you truly wish to take a life without trying to protect someone, it would affect your own soul," Dumbledore said.

Severus thought for a few seconds. "Then would a Muggle also corrupt their soul by killing someone with a firearm? Without any magical energy involved?" came another question from Severus.

The wizard was intrigued for a few seconds. "Well, I believe so. The intention would still be the same, regardless of the weapon used, although I don't know exactly how Muggle souls work."

"They shouldn't be any different from wizards' souls. What else accounts for the difference between wizards, I believe, is more than just the soul, but genetics. All the pure-blood families are desperate over the weakening of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families over the years, even though they already control all of magical society, but the fear is enough to make a large number of fools follow Voldemort..." he said.

Severus could not help but give a short speech about genetics and how the fact that they always married among themselves would mean that, at some point, everyone would be cousins to some degree marrying one another. That weakened their DNA, while everyone tried to keep the number of miscarriages secret. Perhaps they were incapable of seeing that the prejudice against bringing new genetics into the families was destroying them...

In any case, Severus continued asking about the Unforgivables.

"Another situation I wanted to discuss regarding the destruction of the soul, in a war where people have no choice but to fight, especially in medieval battles, did they also lose part of their souls while defending their homes and their lands?"

Dumbledore began to grow somewhat wary of Severus. He asked questions that no one had ever asked him before. Not even Dumbledore knew how to answer some of them. How would he know whether a soldier in the middle of a medieval war was corrupting his own soul by cutting down an enemy when he had no other choice? After all, if he did not kill the enemy and his side lost, his sons could be killed, his wives and daughters raped.

It was a cruel way for Severus to frame the question, but it was reality. Severus did not like painting the world with deceptive flowers, and Dumbledore seemed far too attached to doing so, even ignoring its darker aspects that humans naturally possessed. That irritated Severus somewhat, so he continued with his questions, even going so far as to back the headmaster into a corner until he was forced to admit that he did not know how to answer some of them.

In any case, Severus left the headmaster's office close to midnight. He had received a piece of paper from Dumbledore and left the office. He could even have used his two phoenixes to Apparate directly, but he did not do so and continued walking through the school toward the dungeons.

In one of the corridors, he found Lily Evans alongside a Ravenclaw student patrolling as prefects.

Severus could not help but observe that with a grimace. Not because of Lily, but because, truthfully, he was thinking about the position of prefect. It was a respected position of authority, something that would certainly add a positive point to any student's school record for any job they might try to obtain in the future.

But he could not help grimacing when he thought about how considerable the demands were as well, full of responsibilities. For him, it simply was not worth it.

"Mr. Snape," said the student, who appeared to be in his seventh year, looking up at Severus as though he had just caught him doing something illegal and seemed to take pleasure in it.

He spoke as though Severus were not simply walking calmly down the corridor toward the two of them, since they were in the middle of the path he needed to take.

"You are aware that curfew has already passed, correct?" the prefect continued with a certain arrogance.

He seemed quite accustomed to using that tone whenever he caught a student out after hours and certainly could not help but feel powerful upon finding precisely the most talked-about student in the school lately, committing a possible infraction of the rules.

Lily merely stared at him in silence. And Severus simply pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and handed it to the Ravenclaw, who raised an eyebrow before beginning to read.

"Well, it seems you may return to the dungeons. I hope you don't stray from your path," he said, wanting to have the last word.

"Of course." Severus could not help but roll his eyes. He turned to Lily with only a brief glance and a greeting before walking past the two of them, with the two phoenixes still perched on his shoulders.

"I remember when he was just a greasy git. Now he thinks he owns the school," the Ravenclaw student muttered.

Lily merely watched Severus's back as he continued toward the end of the corridor before turning the corner, ignoring the Ravenclaw's comment.

"He was your friend, wasn't he?" he said, finally making Lily look at him.

"What? What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm saying that Snape used to be your little lapdog. Now he thinks he owns the place. He didn't even greet you. I'm telling you, you deserve much better than him," the student said.

That made Lily recoil at the "lapdog" part, but she soon frowned at those comments.

Severus paid no attention to whatever that student was saying and simply continued on his way. He stopped again before a corridor when a door opened, with strange symbols engraved along its arch.

He stared at the entrance, but soon shook his head. "Not today."

It had seemed like a good adventure when it had first appeared, but Severus merely shook his head as he continued toward his dormitory in Slytherin.

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