Snape pulled out of Harry's mind and lowered his wand. "I must say that I am impressed, Potter. You not only botched a perfectly good story, but you also didn't finish it. You definitely lived up to my standards."
"Snape, I did exactly as you asked. My story followed the original quite nicely. The only reason that my story didn't have an ending was because I didn't know how to end it!"
"Potter, how many times do I have to tell you to either address me by my title or call me sir? Honestly, Potter, you're worse than your father."
"What does my father even have to do with this? You're just upset that I didn't finish the story, sir. Well, you know what happens at the end of that story? Beowulf dies, which means that I also die, and for the record, I don't want to die!" Harry was panting by the time he finished his rant. He then paled when he realized what he had just said.
Snape went to sit behind his desk and folded his hands together. "No one said that you had die, Potter."
"You wanted me to make it just like the story. In the end, Beowulf dies, the people build him a statue, and he lives on forever in history. What if I don't want any of that?"
"You don't want to be the hero then, Potter? You don't want the eternal glory that would come with your death? You will most likely die trying to defeat the Dark Lord. How would you feel if you had to die to defeat him?"
Harry paused to consider it for a minute. "I would die if I had to defeat him, but that's not to say that I want to die." Harry said slowly. "I also wouldn't die for the eternal glory that would come with it. I would do it because it was the right thing to do."
"Does that make you different than Beowulf, Potter?" Snape asked. "Does that make him less of a hero because he died needlessly?"
Harry looked down at his lap and quietly asked, "What game are you playing at, Snape? I don't understand what you want from me."
"Believe me, Potter, I want nothing from you. I want you to learn Occlumency, but you fail at the miserably. I just asked your opinion."
"I think he was a hero up to the end. His death did nothing. I hope that I'm different than him." Harry looked back up at the man, his green eyes burning into Snape's black ones. "I don't want to die, Snape, but if I did, my death would mean something."
"Good, I'm glad that you have your priorities straight," Snape said as he picked up his quill and made to start marking his essays again. "Practice occluding your mind every night, Potter. I now know that you are capable of some sort of Occlumency. I shall see you next week."
Harry stood up. "Yes, sir."
"I will be expecting more from you, Potter, just know that. If you wish to be successful against the Dark Lord, you must learn this. Am I clear?"
Harry nodded. "Crystal, sir."
"You have no idea how serious I am, Potter. You could be just as great as Beowulf, Potter."
Harry's face brightened. "Do you really believe that?"
"Of course. I'm sure that they will write stories about you just like Beowulf. Just know that I will be the first to write about how horrible you are in potions. Never fear, Potter."
"Believe me, Snape, I wouldn't expect anything else." Harry said with a smile as he walked out of Snape's office.
There's my interpretation of Beowulf. I hope you all enjoyed! If you could just leave a review before you leave, that would be great! Thanks for reading!
