"I can only say that Snape didn't hate you because of your mother."
"On the contrary, he cares about you because he loved your mother," Ivan said. "Snape notices you, especially your eyes. They're exactly like hers."
Harry felt a bit speechless. Upon thinking it over, he realized that Snape's attitude towards him might indeed fit what Ivan was saying.
It seemed like Snape was targeting him, but in reality, it was a different kind of attention—something that made more sense now.
After understanding that Snape's treatment wasn't due to Harry's fame as the "Boy Who Lived," but rather because of his connection to his mother, Harry could accept it more easily.
Though, it was still very weird that Snape, of all people, had feelings for his mother... Gulp!
"Wait, something doesn't add up here," Hermione quickly pointed out. "If Snape liked Harry's mother, why would he treat Harry so badly?"
"Good question," Ivan said with a shrug and a smirk. "If Harry were a girl, I guarantee Snape wouldn't have this attitude."
"!!!"
Suddenly, Hermione understood. "It's because of Harry's father, isn't it?"
"My father?"
Harry, having never known his parents personally, only had a vague sense of who they were.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Hermione explained.
"Ivan said Snape loves your mother, but he only talked about your eyes being like hers. What about the rest of you?"
Yes, what about the rest?
Only Harry's eyes resembled his mother's, so naturally, the rest of his features must remind Snape of his ..father!
"Is that true?" Harry's eyes widened, looking at Ivan for some confirmation.
"Their relationship wasn't very good—or to put it bluntly, it was terrible," Ivan said directly. "When Snape looks at you, he sees your father."
"Just because of that?!" Harry was shocked.
He had never known the full story, and now he just wanted to call Snape unreasonable.
In Harry's view, his parents were a happy couple, and for Snape to take out his issues on him just because of that seemed insane.
"Everything has a cause and effect," Ivan said, feeling he had shared enough for now. But the result wasn't what he expected.
Harry, far from understanding, now disliked Snape even more!
Oops(?)
Knowing this backstory only made Harry feel more determined to oppose Snape. In his mind, Snape was not only a bitter old man but also someone who had held feelings for his mother—and for that, Harry felt it was now his duty to defend his father's honor.
Seeing Harry's growing desire to challenge Snape, Ivan smiled helplessly.
Ivan tried to say a few good words in Snape's defense, attempting to smooth things over. "He just doesn't like you, Harry. There's no deeper reason behind it."
"In this whole school, anyone can mess with you, but Snape won't actually hurt you," Ivan added, hoping Harry would understand.
"I get it," Harry replied. Even though he disliked Snape, he didn't consider him a true enemy—more like someone he was perpetually at odds with.
It wasn't just hatred; there were complicated feelings mixed in as well.
After finding out that Snape had loved his mother, Harry couldn't help but view him differently.
Snape now saw in Harry both the woman he loved and the man who had stolen her away. The result was an awkward mix of love, hate, and contempt.
This gave Harry the strange feeling that he wasn't being targeted simply as himself.
Unlike the Dursleys' outright hostility, Snape's treatment of him was more like constant nitpicking. Yet beneath the harshness, there seemed to be something else—a kind of twisted care.
Harry, always perceptive, picked up on these subtle undertones, leaving him feeling even more conflicted.
In the days that followed, whenever Harry encountered Snape, he couldn't help but give him strange looks, as if trying to figure out the enigma that was Snape.
"Well, targeting? Devaluing? Deducting points?"
"Haha, it's like a kid being denied candy," Harry joked.
"Snape's just like a shadow of my dad, no wonder he holds a grudge!" he added, smirking slightly to himself.
However, Harry's constant glances toward Snape didn't go unnoticed. The Potions Master, sharp as ever, quickly sensed that something was off.
His instincts told him that Harry had learned something—something Snape didn't want him to know.
This discovery left Snape deeply unsettled and furious. He wasn't sure who had been gossiping, but he knew it had to be someone close to Harry. Determined to get to the bottom of it, Snape confronted Harry, trying to pry information from him.
Of course, Harry wouldn't betray his friends. He remained tight-lipped, unwilling to reveal anything.
But how could a child, however determined, stand up to Snape, the master of deception, Legilimency, and one of the sharpest minds in the wizarding world?
Within minutes, Snape had picked up enough from Harry's surface thoughts to piece together the truth.
"Ivan Ambrosius!?"
Snape didn't need to delve deeply into Harry's mind. Just as Ivan had predicted, Snape would never harm the children of the woman he once loved. However, Harry's unguarded thoughts were enough for Snape to catch a name.
Ivan!
That was the answer he had been looking for.
"How does he know this?" Snape wondered, his mind racing. After all, Ivan was far too young to know about his past with Lily.
A little wizard who grew up in the Muggle world, with no access to magical knowledge, somehow knew such a closely guarded secret.
'Exclude all impossibilities, and whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.'
That's right—Dumbledore!
Snape thought furiously: You old fool, you broke your promise! How dare you betray me!
He clenched his fists. Of course, I shouldn't have trusted that insidious, cunning, and manipulative old bee!
Exposing my past? I can't let this slide!
"Severus?"
That same evening, Dumbledore was peacefully teaching Ivan advanced magic in his office when, suddenly, the door burst open.
In stormed Snape, eyes blazing with anger.
His voice dripped with sarcasm as he spat, "Wow, look at this—our great and noble white wizard, once again sharing other people's secrets without a care!"
"Eh???"
Both Dumbledore and Ivan exchanged a puzzled glance. Dumbledore, clearly confused, raised an eyebrow at Snape's sudden outburst.
However, as wise as ever, Dumbledore's instincts quickly kicked in.
He glanced toward Ivan, silently asking for an explanation.
"It seems that Mr. Ambrosius has stirred up a bit of trouble," Dumbledore said, with a twinkle in his eye, though his tone remained light.
After spending some time with Ivan, Dumbledore had come to understand his character well enough to know that he never meant any harm.
He winked playfully at Ivan, signaling that it was time for him to resolve this misunderstanding with Snape before things escalated further.
Cough.
Ivan cleared his throat, feeling slightly guilty. He realized that perhaps talking behind someone's back and revealing their past wasn't the most considerate thing to do.
"Sorry, Professor."
Ivan explained everything he had told Harry, keeping it straightforward.
"That's all you said?" Snape asked, eyeing Ivan carefully.
After hearing Ivan's explanation, Snape secretly let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, Ivan had some sense of discretion and hadn't shared all the intimate details of his past.
"Yes," Ivan confirmed, nodding. "I think Harry, as the person involved, deserves to know at least that much."
Snape couldn't really find fault in Ivan's reasoning. He begrudgingly realized that Ivan had actually shown some restraint.
After all, Ivan was Harry's friend, and being cautious with how much he revealed was a thoughtful decision on his part.
If it had been another hot-headed young wizard eager to boast or gossip, Snape's personal history could have easily become public knowledge by now.
"Prophecy..."
"To know the past and predict the future."
Snape realized he had seriously underestimated Ivan's talent.
This young wizard was terrifying!
Even the Dark Lord hadn't shown such abilities when he first entered school.
"Alright, Severus," Dumbledore interjected gently, directing a few calming words toward Ivan, reminding him not to reveal too much. "Ivan will keep your secrets safe."
"No."
Snape finally snapped back to reality, his gaze narrowing at Ivan. "How much do you really know?!"
At that moment, Snape grasped the true gravity of Ivan's words. His ability to "know the past" wasn't just a figure of speech.
This kid... could it be?
"As you're probably thinking, Professor," Ivan replied calmly, "I can see the past... and the future. Though it's often fragmented and incomplete, I do know a great deal."
Good grief, Snape thought. Ivan's abilities were absolutely terrifying.
The secrets Snape had spent years trying to bury suddenly felt exposed—laid bare in front of Ivan as if peeled away like layers from an onion.
"Absolutely!"
"Tell anyone, AND you WILL regret it!" Snape stood inches from Ivan, barely restraining himself from lashing out. His voice was tense, his teeth gritted in frustration.
"Okay, okay, professor, I promise," Ivan replied with a calm smile, as if the whole situation was merely a friendly negotiation.
He wasn't at all embarrassed about the fact that he'd been speaking behind Snape's back.
Knowing something was one thing, but sharing it recklessly was another.
"I hope you can give me a little... assistance, professor," Ivan added, with a sly smile.
"Assistance?" Snape repeated, momentarily caught off guard. His lips twitched as he quickly understood what Ivan meant. It wasn't "assistance"—this was a threat, plain and simple.
Ivan's unspoken message was clear: Professor, you don't want Harry to find out everything about the past, do you?
"What do you want?!" Snape demanded, incredulous that a first-year student would dare to threaten him—and in front of Dumbledore, no less.
Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard in the world, and Snape, the formidable Head of Slytherin, both now faced a young wizard who had just started his Hogwarts education but was already playing games most wouldn't dare.
In the wizarding world, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Dumbledore stands at the pinnacle of power.
As for Snape?
He was the Dark Lord's most trusted confidant, the White Wizard's right-hand man, and a master of double-dealing—essentially the wizarding world's ultimate undercover agent in Harry Potter's "Infernal Affairs."
And yet... you dare to threaten me?!
Clearly, Ivan had no idea what it meant to tempt fate.
Snape's gaze shot to Dumbledore, eyes practically screaming, Are you seriously going to let this happen?
But Dumbledore, in his usual fashion of strategic absentmindedness, pretended not to notice.
With an almost childlike delight, he opened the sugar jar on his desk, grabbed a cockroach cluster, and began munching away, completely unfazed.
"Mmm... I do love this flavor," he murmured between bites.
Snape's eye twitched.
He resisted the very strong urge to hex both the headmaster and Ivan on the spot.
What happened to keeping secrets?
And Dumbledore—really—acting like this was no big deal? Meanwhile, Ivan had just casually dropped Snape's secrets like he was reading a plot summary!
"Fine," Snape growled.
"I want to ask the professor to teach me how to duel wizards," Ivan said suddenly, breaking Snape's train of thought.
"What did you say?" Snape blinked, completely thrown off by the unexpected request.
What's going on? Is my dark magic not sinister enough, or are you, Ivan, just too full of yourself? Snape's mind reeled.
A first-year wizard, barely half a month into school, with only a month of experience with a wand—and he wants to duel me?!
"Are you serious?" Snape couldn't find the right words to express his bewilderment. Was this bravery or sheer stupidity?
"Yes," Ivan replied confidently, glancing at Dumbledore, who sat quietly beside them.
Ivan had initially considered asking Dumbledore for instruction.
However, his instincts told him he was far from being able to challenge the legendary headmaster.
He couldn't forget the duel scene from Fantastic Beasts 3, where a much younger Dumbledore effortlessly overpowered Credence, as if disciplining a child.
Compared to Credence, who was in his twenties, Ivan estimated that his own magic power might be on a similar level. And with the advantage of wielding the Fenix Wand, Ivan felt he might even surpass Credence.
But going up against Dumbledore, who had spent sixty or seventy years honing his magical abilities and now stood at the pinnacle of wizardry, was a different matter entirely. Ivan knew he was simply no match for him... yet.
"Originally, I should have been the one to teach him how to duel," Dumbledore finally intervened, just as Snape was about to reject Ivan's request.
"What?" Snape blinked, unsure if he'd heard correctly.
Dumbledore? The greatest wizard of the age, someone even He Who Must Not Be Named feared.
Snape had spent years alongside Dumbledore, and despite his own impressive magical skills, he knew he could never fully grasp Dumbledore's depth of power.
As for anyone challenging Dumbledore one-on-one? Ridiculous.
"Please, Severus," Dumbledore said kindly.
His plan was simple: to help Ivan better control his Obscurus by teaching him through a wizard duel.
Dumbledore had taken quite the interest in Ivan, treating him almost like a favored pupil.
It reminded Dumbledore of the days when he taught Transfiguration and even substituted in Defense Against the Dark Arts—back when his life was filled with teaching bright young minds.
But Snape? Snape felt a sharp pang in his temple. This was absurd.
"Do you even realize what you're asking?" Snape shot a sharp glance at Dumbledore.
It was bad enough that Ivan had just threatened him a moment ago, but now the boy expected him to teach him how to duel?
This was some twisted joke, surely.
Snape even wondered if Dumbledore had lost his grip on reality, or worse—come down with actual Alzheimer's.
"Alright, fine," Snape sighed in resignation, his voice cold and calculated.
He fixed his intense gaze on Ivan, enunciating each word slowly and deliberately. "But don't expect me to go easy on you."
And with those words, Snape had obviously agreed.
"Don't worry, I, Ivan, will keep my mouth shut!" Ivan said with a slight smile. He had only been testing the waters, trying to see if he could reach Snape through Harry.
Unexpectedly, it actually worked.
'Just as I thought,' Ivan mused, 'Harry is the key to reaching Snape.'
There was no doubt that Snape was a valuable asset.
He was a master of potions, an expert in dark magic, and formidable in both practical combat and mental abilities.
It would be a tragedy to let someone like him die as he did in the original timeline, falling to Nagini's fangs. If it was within Ivan's power, he would gladly lend a hand and change that fate.
"Now, let's return to our earlier discussion."
After Snape had left, only Ivan and Dumbledore remained in the headmaster's office.
"Alright, Professor," Ivan replied calmly, sitting before Dumbledore. "You understand better than anyone just how powerful the force of fate truly is."
Before Snape had arrived, Dumbledore had been seeking Ivan's insight into the prophecy.
Dumbledore wanted to uncover the secret behind Voldemort's immortality.
"I can only tell you that the prophecy is true," Ivan began, referring to the prophecy that linked Harry and Voldemort. "One must die at the hands of the other, and only one can survive."
The conclusion had been decided, but the path to that end was still theirs to shape.
Was Voldemort powerful?
Many people assumed he was weak simply because his nemesis was a young wizard still in school. But the truth was that Voldemort was terrifyingly strong.
Remember, Grindelwald was only defeated by Dumbledore, yet Voldemort was destined to die in the narrative.
His death had too many coincidental elements.
With seven Horcruxes, Voldemort had made himself nearly invincible—no ordinary wizard, not even Dumbledore, could destroy him completely.
If it hadn't been for Harry and the prophecy leading to Voldemort's inevitable defeat, who in the entire wizarding world could have ended him?
In simple terms, with the Horcruxes, Voldemort could afford to lose repeatedly, but his opponents had to win every single time.
"Also, the prophecy is not as omnipotent as you might think," Ivan added.
Before Snape had interrupted, Dumbledore had been asking Ivan whether divination or a glimpse into the past could help them discover Voldemort's secret to immortality.
Of course, Ivan already knew that Voldemort's secret lay in the Horcruxes.
But the problem is that there are certain limitations to divining the past.
For example, when Ivan attempted to look into the pasts of Voldemort and Dumbledore, there were some things he simply could not see.
Divination and prophecy are magical in nature. And like all magic, there are means to resist or obscure them.
The gifts of fate seem to come without consequence, but in truth, the price is often hidden.
Who really killed Ariana?
Why did Voldemort survive, despite so many attempts to kill him?
He created multiple Horcruxes—where were they hidden?
And there are other barriers too: targets protected by the Fidelius Charm, certain forbidden magical knowledge—all of these remain shrouded, even to someone with Ivan's abilities.
Even though Ivan knew the original plot from his world, there were still some things he couldn't reveal casually.
"You're right," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, removing his glasses as he considered Ivan's words.
Voldemort, at this moment, may not seem like an immediate threat. His fate is sealed.
However, if they interfere too much, and Voldemort somehow becomes aware of the workings of fate itself, that would be an enormous problem.
__________
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