September slowly passed by and as October stepped in, Rubeus Hagrid was, and still being puzzled at what he currently faced. And apparently, so did Albus Dumbledore who had joined him in his cabin to discuss the problem in hand.

All the chickens, roosters and chicks had lost their voices, even those that just hatched. Upon further medical inspection, they realized the birds' vocal cords were missing as if they hadn't been there at all. Hagrid ended up always waking in the late of the morning due to it.

"Since when did this happen, Rubeus?" the old headmaster asked as he stroked his bearded chin thoughtfully.

"Um, I think this was the second time," he gave his answer, absent-mindedly scratched his bushy cheek, "The first was around February, if I remember well. 'Cause a bit of problems too." He then watched as Dumbledore continued to ponder over the bizarre situation.

"I'm sure whoever did this had no real harmful intentions, Rubeus," the wizened wizard finally said after taking a sip of his tea. "If they really were, they would've killed your chickens instead of silencing them. Perhaps I will ask Horace to give them a look, see if there's a potion to restore their voice boxes. I do miss hearing their crowing in the morning."

As Hagrid walked the man to the door, his eyes lit up upon seeing a familiar figure was approaching his cabin.

"Mr. Snape?" the headmaster greeted with a curious look, to which the boy replied by nodding politely to them.

"He just wants to search for some potion ingredients, sir and had asked me to accompany him," Hagrid said cheerfully, "'sides, the Forest sure needs to be looked at on a regular basis."

Dumbledore nodded, "Then I trust you to take care of him?"

"Of course, sir." The half-giant put a reassuring hand on the Head Boy's shoulder.

"Be back before dinner, will you?" With that, the headmaster left to the castle while Hagrid and Snape went to the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid introduced the Head Boy to the various magical creatures in the dwelling, and much to his delight, Snape was especially curious about the Thestrals and being respectful to the herd of centaurs they encountered later. He in return, stood guard while Snape picked up the rare plants, letting the half-giant to get the few animals' important parts used in Potions.

"What else was in here?" the Slytherin boy asked, clutching his basket full of items closely.

Hagrid smiled when he saw the teen's black eyes twinkled in interest. Crouching himself down to the boy's eye level, he then whispered wistfully, "There's a nest of Acromantulas deep in the Forest. Gentle spiders, they were. Their leader, Aragog was my best friend before, well… before I got expelled. Still visit him sometimes."

When the two of them returned to Hogwarts near dinnertime, the jovial gamekeeper had missed the calculating, cold gaze Severus Snape gave as he looked back at the Forbidden Forest.

For Peter Pettigrew to think himself as a brave man was simply an understatement of the year. Or even his existence. He was an absolute coward and only wanted to find peers that wouldn't judge him of easily being frightened, those that would protect him. And he in return would revere such people, wondering how they could find immense courage within themselves.

When James Potter and Sirius Black had let him and Remus Lupin into their compartment after a shabby-looking boy and a pretty girl left in their first trip to Hogwarts, Peter had wished for them to stick together in sickness and in health.

But only the opposite had happened. Oh, they remained loyal alright, but for their own benefits. Even the one thing Peter could think about where James and Sirius were actually kind to him was when they taught him on how to be an Animagus.

Peter and Remus could only watch as James and Sirius terrorized the school with initially harmless pranks before moving to bigger scales, those that sometimes brought other students to the Hospital Wing. Remus was a bit braver, trying to rein them in but ultimately, he too had become their enabler.

And thus, Peter couldn't help but to admire Severus Snape, the only one (and a Slytherin!) who seemed to fight back against James and Sirius on a regular basis. He revered in the way Snape imposed himself to the public; that despite his poverty, he was his own person. His redheaded friend, Lily Evans was nice too, and Peter wondered on how lucky Snape was to meet her, until the event after their Defense against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exam.

As James and Sirius tormented Snape, Peter had hoped that the boy would easily find a way to escape just like he had done in the past. But James had been vicious (perhaps it was due to Snape knowing about Remus' condition: a question asked in the paper) and by the time Snape called his only friend 'Mudblood', even Peter had cringed in utter shock.

Standing in front of the library, Peter stared at his satchel and he bit his lower lip until it almost bled before entering the room.

As expected, Severus Snape was in his usual corner with a few books were on the table. Peter wondered how Snape managed to find time to do all his schoolwork, especially when he took ten N.E.W.T subjects. Even he had taken only five; the bare minimum to easily find jobs in the future.

"S- Snape," Peter mumbled out, his fingers were twiddling against each other in attempt to hide his nervousness.

The Head Boy stopped writing on his parchment and only quirked his eyebrow at him before held out an arm to the empty chair next to him. Gulping, Peter followed the silent order and took his seat.

He barely could mask his terror as he saw Snape's onyx eyes bore onto him, but the Slytherin boy's words were more frightening, "…This certainly was a surprise. What brings you here, Pettigrew?"

Peter summoned all his bravery in one deep inhale of breath before shakily pulling out the Marauders' Map from his satchel, already had chanted the sentence to unveil the Map's secrets.

"…It's, uh… J- Just see it for your own self," was all he managed to say. Actions do speak louder than words, after all. He involuntarily cowered when Snape gingerly took the slightly tattered piece of parchment and closely examined it.

"…So this was how you lot sneaked on me," Snape hissed darkly after a few minutes passed and Peter gripped his chair to stop himself from running away. "Must had been a fun thing to watch, hmm? Spying on other people… invading their privacy… just what else had you lot done over the years, I wonder…! Is this your funny idea of a peace offering?!"

"I- I'm here to give you that, yes, b- but that's all!" Peter blubbered, "I… I came here on my own accord, Snape! Believe me!" He wondered why no one bothered to interrupt them until he remembered one of the spells Snape had created; the muffling spell. He must had casted it as soon as Peter joined him.

The Head Boy's onyx eyes continued to stare at him with such intensity that Peter really wished he hadn't come to the library in the first place.

"And then… what will you do?" Snape asked quietly, carefully rolling the Marauders' Map and sealed it with a rubber band before putting it in his satchel. "Forgive me for being… blunt, but I just can't help wondering why a sneaky rat would deem it necessary to hand in an important item to his enemy."

"Don't tell me… you're planning on leaving them?"

Peter gulped and gave the boy next to him a jerky nod.

Snape leant backward on his chair, "What ways you're going to do that?"

"A- A re-Sorting," Peter answered, "R- Remus… he hadn't been with us a lot these days." He remained averting his gaze onto Snape. Yes, he had wished for a re-Sorting but he also didn't want to leave the safety that James and Sirius gave toward him.

Much to his surprise, Snape only exhaled his breath in a calm manner. "I will see what I can do," he said, "But in the meantime; feel free to come here whenever you want. The Ravens and Badgers won't be a trouble." He discreetly pointed to the group of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Prefects a few tables away.

Peter's eyes went wide in disbelief, "Really?" He immediately shut himself up when seeing Snape's piercing gaze and pursed lips. He then nodded to the Head Boy in gratitude before leaving the library in haste.

If Peter Pettigrew had known Severus Snape was a nice person just like Lily Evans had told the Marauders before their friendship broke up, he would have befriended the Slytherin boy a long time ago.

Horace Slughorn impatiently waited for the day Severus Snape would begin brewing the new batches of healing potions, salves and anything else that deemed important to the Hospital Wing. Oh no, he certainly had no ulterior motives to the boy, it's just… he really wanted to know more of his student's project.

The old Potions Professor had no doubt that Mr. Snape would be his perfect successor, and he really wished he get to learn about the boy – the exceptionally talented young man's carefully guarded potion recipes' secrets – before leaving Hogwarts for a break.

Perhaps even taking him under his tutelage? It certainly was a thought to ponder on, and by the time 30th October came by, he knocked on the door of the empty Potions classroom, entering the place as soon as the person inside gave his permission.

"Ah, Severus!" he greeted jovially before approaching the table Snape was working, "How's the potion?"

The Head Boy only smiled, but the Potions Professor wasn't offended by it. He knew Severus Snape was a student with few words and acquaintances; he didn't even join the rest of his Housemates going on the trip to Hogsmeade. Horace then watched contently from his desk as the boy put the finished concoctions carefully into their respective jars, preparing himself for the inevitable.

"I…" Horace began, fiddling with his fingers nervously, "Ah… I- I hope you won't take this the wrong way, Mr. Snape but, uh… how's your… memory book project?"

Snape only blinked before breaking into soft laughter as he cleaned up his workstation, "Oh, it went great, Professor. I'd say it worked a bit too well, but who wouldn't want perfection, eh?"

Horace's mouth almost fell agape in utmost disbelief, "Really?" He felt a rush of joy when the boy nodded to which it dwindled as soon as he asked, "Is… something wrong, sir?"

The professor swallowed his terrified gulp of breath.

"I…" he started, "If you won't mind, can I have your notes about it?" Upon seeing Snape's unreadable expression, he went on, "Oh, I assure you I won't do anything with it… it's just…"

The Head Boy narrowed his eyes. "I'm afraid I do have the right to know what you will do with them, sir."

Horace stared at the teen's fathomless dark eyes before sighing; Slytherins do be playing each other well. "I… I want to get rid of this particular memory," the professor finally confessed, "To this day, I'm not sure if I did the right thing and well… Care to tell me how your book works?"

Snape's eyes seemed to soften slightly as he explained, "Think of the book you will use as your other brain. The memory you put in the book won't be in your head anymore. And if you were to destroy the book with the memory inside… it will be erased. At least that's… how I thought of it." The boy then gave him a weak grin and Horace smiled.

"…I can create you one, if you want," Snape continued after he put his pewter cauldron aside and Horace blinked before shaking his head urgently; he certainly didn't want to keep such recollections of his mind in person!

And, oh, Albus! Horace Slughorn was not a confrontational man; and when he was given the ticket to escape? He immediately seized it greedily, already planning to hide himself before the damned upcoming war would erupt.

Was he a coward? No, but it's every man for himself.

He put his wand's tip to the temple of his head and recalled the accursed memory before putting the silver strand in a glass vial. "Take it, boy," he panted. All the sudden, he felt weary as his actual age. "I- If… If you were to review that thing… please, don't think too badly of me. I- I won't blame you for being curious. That kid… he surely had got me under his thumbs."

The thunder outside the castle seemed to rumble prophetically as Snape frowned, although ultimately he took the offered vial with narrowed onyx eyes.

And just like that, Horace Slughorn had handed down the secrets of supposed immortality to Severus Snape.