Hogwarts World

The wind stings my face, forcing me to check reality in panic. The child's hands, clumsy and small, feel as if they belong to someone else. Too small to prove this isn't a nightmare. I need someone grown up, someone confident, someone who can pinch me and dispel the delusion.

Running out of the compartment into the train corridor, I crash into a heavy, black robe with all my might. The smell of potions, dried herbs, old books, and all-encompassing contempt hits me like an icy shower. Professor Snape. Alive. Here. Now. At Hogwarts. Damn this Legilment. Remembering the spell to protect my consciousness, I manage to silently erect walls with Occlumency.

An icy terror pierces me, paralyzing my body. My face must reflect pure, primal fear. The corner of his lips twitched slightly in a grimace that could be read as either fleeting curiosity or mockery. The instinct for self-preservation screams, and I, as if scalded, rush back to the saving compartment.

Slamming the door, I frantically look around. My heart is pounding in my chest. The book, accidentally left on the shelf, now looks like a real crime, like irrefutable evidence against me. Hide it! Out of sight! And the book flies out the train window, falling into some lake under a bridge.

The main rule: no knowledge of the future. No predictions. No knowing, all-knowing glances. No revelations. Especially, under no circumstances – with him. Only a frightened, confused freshman. Play this role perfectly, flawlessly, to the point of fanaticism.

Otherwise, everything will go wrong. Time will change. Reality will be distorted. And who knows how this might end. The consequences could be catastrophic. For yourself. For others. You need to hide the truth. Survive, and maybe even let your beloved character survive.