All of Hogwarts knew that Snape favored Slytherin students, but it was only favoritism, nothing more.
Ever since receiving his grandfather's second letter, Sorimus had been thinking about how to persuade a Potions master like Snape to help him research and develop a potion. If Filch and Silna, Squibs whose bodies contained a great deal of dormant magic, were ever to use magic again, then there had to be a potion capable of restoring life to that lifeless magical power.
Sorimus had searched through books himself and found no potion with such an effect.
Left with no better option, he had gone to trouble his grandfather. But his grandfather was not skilled in Potions, so all he could do was turn to his colleagues. Unfortunately, those so-called colleagues were all occupied and had no spare time to help. After all that circling around, Sorimus had no choice in the end but to come to Snape and try his luck.
The refusal came exactly as expected.
Sorimus had already been prepared for Snape to reject him. As for Snape, Sorimus could say he understood him very well. He knew exactly how to handle this man who was cold on the outside and burning within.
"The Killing Curse is an extraordinary spell, Professor Snape."
Sorimus saw Snape's face grow colder, but went on anyway.
"It's one thing for me, but Potter was hit directly and still didn't die. The blood protection Lily Evans cast saved Potter from death. But…." Sorimus pointed at Snape's arm. "The one who left that mark on you. Well, let us call him a person for now. Why didn't he die either? Professor Snape, do you know why?"
"And what does that have to do with me?"
The look Snape gave Sorimus was empty and numb. Sorimus knew that the moment he heard Harry's mother's name, he had put up Occlumency.
"Of course it has something to do with you, Professor. Of course it does. Do you know what a Horcrux is?"
Without paying any mind to Snape's reaction at hearing the word, Sorimus continued.
"A wizard who has made a Horcrux cannot be killed unless the Horcrux is destroyed first. So..."
Sorimus smiled and did not continue.
Snape's hand moved instinctively to his left forearm, the place where Voldemort had branded him with the Dark Mark.
"That's right. He will return, without question. I imagine the Headmaster never told you any of this."
Sorimus glanced around the office, trying to find somewhere to sit. There was nowhere suitable, except perhaps Snape's lap.
"Do you think an aging Dumbledore can stop Voldemort? Can he truly protect Potter? Can he destroy theHorcruxes and send him to his death in the end?"
Sorimus still hoped to find something in Snape's office that could serve as a Transfiguration target, something that could be turned into a chair. Sadly, he failed. He would have to go on standing.
"And you mean to say you can do it? I find that difficult to believe."
"I don't need to deal with that madman, nor do I need to destroy his Horcruxes. Those are things the Headmaster ought to worry about. What I am saying is that I can help you keep Potter safe. Potter hates you, and you hate him. Anyone with functioning eyes can see that. But Potter and I have no conflict. Even if I am a Slytherin, even if that red-haired Weasley stirs things up from the side, I still have plenty of reasons to approach Potter. After all, my foolish little cousin is in Gryffindor, which means I can openly involve myself in Neville's affairs."
"How absurd."
Snape watched Sorimus as he wandered about the office, looking here and there.
"What makes you think I care whether Potter lives or dies?"
"Professor," Sorimus said, turning to look at him, "now that is just tiresome. I came here in good faith."
He walked to Snape's desk and braced his hands against it, looking straight into Snape's eyes.
"Do not lump me together with ordinary wizards. I know far more than you imagine."
Snape remained unmoved.
"All right then, Professor Snape. My final offer. You help me solve the potion problem, and I will arrange for you to meet someone."
Sorimus smiled.
"Lily Evans."
Snape shot to his feet, his eyes locked directly onto Sorimus's.
"Professor, you really are reckless."
Sorimus averted his gaze.
"Using Legilimency that crudely, aren't you afraid you might turn me into an idiot?"
"She is dead."
Snape's voice sounded steady, but it could not quite conceal the tremor underneath. Sorimus could feel it.
"Oh, certainly. Of course she is dead."
Sorimus gestured for Snape to sit back down.
"Anyone who uses such magic and still lives afterward would be even rarer than someone surviving the Killing Curse."
Motioning for Snape to calm himself, Sorimus continued.
"Potter's mother used that sacrificial protection. I do not know how she learned such magic, but she did use it. A wizard who casts such a spell has absolutely no chance of surviving."
"Let us set magic aside for a moment and talk about life instead."
He glanced around the room again, then said awkwardly,
"Before that, Professor, could you conjure a chair for me? Your office is full of jars and bottles. I cannot even find a suitable target for a spell."
At Sorimus's current level, his Transfiguration could only convert existing material. He could not yet conjure things from nothing the way truly powerful Transfigurists could.
Snape drew out his wand.
"Ah, Professor, preferably one with a backrest."
Since he had already asked, Sorimus saw no harm in making one more request. And for Snape, whether the chair had a back or not was hardly any extra trouble.
"Thank you."
Sorimus dropped into the newly created chair.
"Then let us continue. The subject of life."
For the vast majority of wizards, life as a topic of study would never even enter their field of vision. And among the small number who did study it, most limited themselves to the body and the soul. But through the notes of a wizard named Lalder, Sorimus had learned of the three essential elements of a complete life: the body, the soul, and consciousness.
The body encloses the soul.
The soul encloses consciousness.
Only when all three are present can something be called a complete life.
The ghosts of Hogwarts were not souls, but remnants of consciousness. Though most wizards mistook them for souls.
Ordinarily, when the body can no longer support the soul, that means death.
But the soul does not vanish immediately.
Like the body, the soul can also age.
Once the soul grows old enough, or the will grows weak enough, a person's existence is extinguished completely. Gone, and no longer there at all.
Potter's mother had indeed lost her body. That was the price of casting that sacrificial protection, a magic that prevented Voldemort from harming Potter.
And that, in itself, was the manifestation of Lily Evans's will.
Ordinary conversation between people is carried out through bodily organs such as the vocal cords, the mouth, and the tongue. But that is only the surface of it. In essence, it is an exchange between two consciousnesses. The method is secondary. You can communicate through writing. You can communicate through a look. So long as Lily Evans's will still exists, then communication remains possible. The problem is simply that, lacking a visible body, ordinary means cannot establish contact between the living and the dead.
"So, Professor Snape."
Sorimus drew a sheet of parchment from inside his robes and placed it in front of him.
"You help me complete a potion like this and ensure its effect, and I will let you see Lily Evans."
He rose to his feet and looked at Snape, whose face was no longer numb.
"Professor, when you get to see her depends entirely on when you give me that potion."