The person Snape really came here to see was the mysterious Lord of the Living Corpses. As for Mr. John Stewart, who was hiding in the room and refused to show his face, he was just a small character who he grabbed and asked a few words when he couldn't see the real owner immediately.
If I had to make an analogy, it would be like grabbing a passerby on the platform after missing a subway train and asking about the scenic spots at the destination - the only connection between the two parties may be just that. The other person happened to have been to that place before.
Therefore, John was not wrong about one thing, that is, Snape did not have much interest in him. After asking two questions, and using John's answers to get some proof of some inferences in his mind, Snape stopped talking nonsense, turned around and left.
…
The weather outside Buckingham Palace is still the same as usual. The huge icicles reaching above the clouds draw the sun's rays from the top. After countless refraction and attenuation, they turn into the colorful afterglow during the day.
This was Snape's first time here. Compared with the shock he felt when he approached London and looked up at this amazing icicle from the outside, the experience of being inside the ice city was completely different. Feeling.
Standing in the huge square outside the main entrance, he crossed his arms and raised his chin slightly, looking expressionlessly into the distance along the huge gap in the ice wall. He seemed to be thinking about something, but also seemed to be thinking about nothing at all, just in a trance.
I don't know how long it took, but he suddenly seemed to notice something. He finally turned around and looked at the exit of the ice cave on the other side of the square.
"Mr. Severus Snape, is that right? Hello." A figure came out from there, walking straight towards this side at an unhurried pace, "Welcome to the City of Icicles, I hope I My companions have not done anything rude to you to offend you."
The person coming was a woman - of course, if the living zombies indeed retained their gender in life, then at least the living corpse coming towards Snape must be a female in terms of body shape.
Because in Snape's opinion, this person's appearance was much closer to that of a human being than the other living corpses he had seen so far. Even if it weren't for the overly gray and lifeless skin, he might actually treat the other party as a woman.
After sizing him up for a moment, Snape frowned slightly and said after the other person came closer and closer:
"Who are you?"
"Do you want to ask my name?" Perhaps sensing Snape's resistance to his constant approach, the other party finally stopped and stood still about thirty feet away from Snape. "The master gave my brother and I a common name called 'Swallow', but our clan itself doesn't really need a name. If you are willing to call me by 'Swallow', that would be the best - my brother and I are very fond of it. Thanks to the master for giving me the name, and I like it very much. But if you feel inconvenient, you can call me whatever you want."
The other party was indeed very detailed and behaved in a very polite and considerate manner. Through the gradual learning and adaptation during this period, this living corpse girl, one of the twins, has become more and more like a truly complete and even intelligent life with connotation.
Just like how Snape felt when he first looked at her, the person standing there seemed to be a human woman with outstanding temperament but restrained edge.
Is this a living corpse
During this period of time when the entire Old Britain area was nearly isolated from the outside world and could not be seen by others, what exactly happened here
Even Snape, who had already roughly understood some information from Bill, Lupin, Kingsley and others, as well as Granger just now, could not help but be overwhelmed by the words and deeds of the female living corpse in front of him. He was secretly surprised by the information - he had seen high-level zombies outside the city before, but although those high-level zombies all exuded extremely powerful and dangerous auras, they were far inferior to the zombie in front of him. The girl's temperament and self-cultivation that should only be possessed by humans had a huge impact on him.
Of course, no matter how surprised and horrified he was inside, Snape's Occlumency skills would not reveal anything strange at least on the surface. There was only a moment's pause before I heard him speak again:
"That's just right. Anyway, I'm not interested in your name. What I want to ask is, what is your status among your tribe? This will help me judge whether you want me to spend my time on The value in you.”
To be honest, if placed in human society - whether it is Muggle society or the wizarding world - Snape's words are already very provocative. Even if the other party happened to be a bad-tempered guy, it might even start a fight right away.
Fortunately, the person standing in front of Snape now was a living corpse.
Even though the zombie girl has already acquired the emotions that are unique to humans, the nature of the high-level zombie after awakening her will still makes her more inclined to treat people and things rationally. This way of thinking makes her behavior very similar to Snape's.
On the other hand, Snape's shrewdness was obviously keenly aware of this in a few words, so he said it so explicitly.
So the next moment, the living corpse girl nodded calmly and said politely:
"Your Excellency, please don't worry too much. In fact, every individual in our clan is the most loyal follower of our master. Even though we all have our own temperaments and habits, the general direction of our actions is the same. There is no difference between you and any of our tribesmen asking or making requests, so we can just treat us as a whole... Of course, this is limited to high-level tribesmen like me who can understand the expression of your will. .”
After saying this, the girl paused for a moment, and then suddenly changed the topic back to the question she originally asked, saying:
"But before listening to your question, I actually want to ask the question first - I don't know if my companions have done anything rude to you, so that you stand alone in this cold square. On? If so, please allow me to express my most sincere apology to you on behalf of my compatriots."
It wasn't until this moment that Snape realized that the politeness shown by the zombie girl was not just superficial politeness. She was really polite!