We didn't talk much on the way. From time to time, Granger threw friendly glances at me, but I responded with a distant, uneasy stare. She was trying to be friends with me, but I had no intention of returning the favor. Unlike me, she had grown up in a loving family—even if they were Muggles, they truly cared for each other. If my parents could hear these thoughts, they'd punish me immediately, because I was never allowed to sympathize with Muggles or Muggle-borns. That's why I was surrounded by a wall of Death Eater children.
They never really wanted me around. Because I was different.
I was the normal one. I didn't care about blood purity like they did, and whenever I got close enough to someone to share secrets... I would talk about blood equality. And they would immediately distance themselves from me.
No one around me—my family included—had ever truly cared about me. I was just a pawn in their game… I knew this. But in that moment, I made a sudden decision. I decided to befriend that Muggle-born girl, Granger. After all, I was already being excluded, and now I was thirteen. I was tired of being my family's puppet.
I wanted to stand against my family's twisted obsession with blood purity—and this felt like my chance, didn't it?
So, as the train neared the village by Hogwarts, I smiled warmly at Granger and thanked her for trusting me. I didn't get in the carriage with Potter and Weasley—partly because they annoyed me.
Instead, I got into the carriage with Luna Lovegood, a second-year Ravenclaw. The whole school made fun of her. Apparently for thinking differently, or behaving oddly... I'm not sure. But like me, she was also bullied. Since I had decided to rebel against my family's sick ideals this year, I decided to befriend her as well. She seemed like a good person.
I tried to talk to her—or rather, I didn't make any move at all, because I had never started a conversation with anyone before. Eventually, she must have noticed my silence, because she was the first to speak.
"Can you see them?" she asked, in her usual dreamy voice.
I knew what she meant. She was talking about the thestrals pulling the carriages to Hogwarts. A shiver ran down my spine... because yes, I could see them.
And remembering why I could see them made my skin crawl... I was young, maybe eight or nine. I had found the most beautiful cat in the street. Its fur was snow white and so soft. It looked like it had fallen from the clouds. But when I brought it home, my father said a cat from the lion family—the Gryffindor symbol—could never live in a pure Slytherin household like ours. Without giving me a chance to protect it, he cast the Killing Curse on the poor creature right in front of me. I still remember how much I cried that day.
While I was lost in that memory, Luna gently called out to me.
"Hey, are you okay? Did you remember why you can see the thestrals? … We can talk about something else if you'd like," she offered kindly.
Then her eyes fell on the Gryffindor crest on my robes.
"Wow, you're in Gryffindor?! That's amazing!" she said, then looked into my eyes—eyes as black as my father's.
And then she asked, a little surprised,
"Wait… are you Snape's daughter?"
Then she apologized right away, saying she didn't mean it like that.
But something else stuck in my mind.
"Why are you so surprised that I'm a Snape?" I asked, curious.
Luna replied,
"Because you're nothing like your father. You never looked down on me, or tried to bully me at all during the time we walked together."
"Thank you, Luna." I paused for a moment. "Do you think I'm a good person?"
"I don't know… but the fact that you're wondering about it means you probably are."
I gave her a grateful smile. Then we spent the rest of the ride watching the scenery go by.
When the carriage stopped, I sat at the far end of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Dumbledore gave his usual speeches, warned us about Dementors, and introduced Professor Lupin. Finally, dinner began. At one point, my eyes wandered to the staff table and met Lupin's gaze. He was looking at me with curious eyes. I wondered why, but turned back to my food. I didn't eat much, and soon after, I got up and headed to my dormitory, where I reunited with the bed I had missed all summer.