"What?"
Even though Snape had already sensed that Murphy was somewhat insane, this statement still took him aback.
"How so?" Murphy looked at him. "Do you like Hogwarts that much?"
"Are you serious?" Snape's drunkenness was almost scared away. He knew Quirrell just wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but did Murphy want to blow up the entire school? Is he the real dangerous dark wizard here?
"To be honest, does Hogwarts really need to continue existing?" Murphy said.
"I had almost forgotten what Hogwarts was really like after being away for a few years, but now I remember."
"This school..." Murphy's voice deepened, "is a lifeless cage, a testing ground, a puppet show stage..."
"All the professors are stern, hoping students become fools who can only recite a few spells. No questioning, no doubts, spells must be pronounced perfectly, potions must follow the same steps."
"Curiosity? That's poison."
"Exploration? That's a path to death."
"Invention, that's a prank."
"Innovation? Oh, that's a joke!"
"If you ask, why is it so? Why must this spell be recited this way? Why must this potion be made with these steps?" Murphy sneered, "You only get one answer: because it has always been so."
"But, just because it has always been so, is it right?"
"If it is right, why is it so?"
"Professors would say: that's magic."
"But, what the hell is magic?"
"Some told me, belief is the essence of magic."
"But what the hell is belief?"
"You can believe in a person, in an emotion, in a creed, but how can you believe in an objective reality? Who do you think you are?"
"Belief should come after doubt."
"You must question first, question magic, question science, question all truths, and even doubt the questioning itself. Analyze, reanalyze, refine, and refine again, find that one true thing, then you can truly believe in it."
"Isn't the so-called belief before that self-deception?"
"However... guess what, those who speak of belief are precisely the ones who doubt human nature the most."
"Are you talking about the Headmaster?" Snape still had a trace of sobriety.
Murphy paused for a moment and then exhaled, "Yes, I'm talking about Dumbledore."
He and Dumbledore are entirely different. Dumbledore believes in magic but doubts the human heart, while he doubts magic but believes more in the power of the human spirit.
Before, he felt that besides the Philosopher's Stone, there was probably no inevitable conflict with Dumbledore, hence he always thought of coexistence and cooperation.
But now, it seems that the idea of coexisting with Dumbledore might have been impossible from the start.
As long as Dumbledore is there, Hogwarts can never become what Murphy envisions.
The future of the wizarding world he wants is reformative, progressive, and developing, while Dumbledore only wants to maintain the status quo and traditions. Their ideals are so different.
Dumbledore is like a cloud of gloom, always looming over Murphy, making him feel suffocated.
"Snape, do you want to be Headmaster?" Murphy suddenly asked.
"What?"
"I'm on the Board of Governors, and I have some friends there. If you want to be Headmaster, I can help you," Murphy said.
"..." Snape was shocked, "Why me?"
Murphy thought for a moment, then raised a finger to the empty bottle on the table, "Sectumsempra!"
With a hiss, the neck of the bottle slid off smoothly.
"When I was a student, I was quite poor, so I often used old textbooks. Fortunately, I once got some books from a senior and learned a lot from them," Murphy said. "I was amazed by that senior's talent. Honestly, I wasn't anywhere near his level when I was in school."
"If we talk about who among Hogwarts students had both a smart mind and a spirit of exploration, that senior should be among the top."
Wanting Snape to be Headmaster wasn't just a lie to get him to drink.
Compared to Dumbledore, who was utterly uncontrollable, Snape was much easier to manipulate, and he was indeed talented.
"You..." Snape was surprised, "You had my textbook?"
Then he shook his head, slightly drunk, "No, I wasn't the best. You haven't seen her. Lily, she was the one with the most ideas."
"Lily Evans?" Murphy said, "I did a background check on all the professors before I came. I asked some of your acquaintances."
"I've heard a bit about Lily Evans. But that was nearly twenty years ago. Lily has long been married, had children, and even died more than ten years ago..."
"You... you don't understand..." Snape said.
"OK." Murphy raised an eyebrow and didn't pursue it, picked up his glass, clinked it with Snape's, and both of them drank several large gulps again.
"Duang!" As they put the glasses back on the table, Snape began to drift.
Drinking like this, even ordinary wine would make one drunk, let alone Murphy's spiked drink.
As for Murphy himself, since he dared to bring Snape, he was prepared. The moment his finger touched the glass, he turned the contents into water.
He wasn't as straightforward as Snape.
"So, you haven't forgotten, have you?" Murphy deliberately continued the topic, "Do you love her? Do you love Lily Evans?"
There was a crash outside the partition, and it seemed something heavy had fallen. Murphy's sharp hearing caught whispers from a few people.
You should have used a silencing charm, Harry.
However, Snape didn't notice the sounds outside at all.
His gaze was distant, and after hearing Murphy's words, he was silent for a long time, not denying it.
Under the dual assault of alcohol and Veritaserum, the fact that he didn't break down crying was already beyond Murphy's expectation.
"Even though she had been married? Even though she had children? Even though she's dead?"
"Death... can't," Snape slurred, "Death can't make one forget, but rather... makes one miss..."
"Death is... a pause," the greatest romantic of Hogwarts said, "It's an anchor, a moment frozen in time. Since her... departure, my time has stopped moving..."
"My body... wanders this world..."
"But my... heart, my soul, remain in that time..."
"I only have... the past..."
As Snape spoke, he suddenly picked up his glass again and poured the remaining wine into his stomach.
From a different perspective, Snape was like a super lovesick puppy, the hopeless kind.
But at that moment, listening to a middle-aged man confess so heavily, Murphy found it hard to feel any scorn. Whether called love-struck or foolish, a man so deeply in love was indeed moving.
However, being stuck in the past is not a good thing, both for him and for Murphy.
A walking dead stuck in the past, what use is he?
"But time still rolls forward, Professor Snape, no one can truly stay in the past."
"If you say you can't let go, that's one thing," Murphy looked at him. "But have you ever thought of creating a future where Lily exists?"
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