Harry resisted the urge to take a step back when Snape whirled around and glared at him, his nostrils flaring and wand slightly raised at Harry.

“What did you do, Potter?” Snape hissed, fingers clenching around the wand.

“I didn’t do anything!” Harry insisted.

“You mean to tell me that we somehow ended up inside your snow globe and you had nothing to do with it?”

“That wasn’t mine! It was in Dumbledore’s office when I got there.”

“Why would Headmaster Dumbledore have a cursed object lying around in his office?” Snape asked.

“How would I know that? And how do you know it was cursed?” Harry replied, knowing very well that the globe was most likely cursed. He could clearly feel the dark energy around him.

Snape took a deep breath, loosened his grip on the wand and looked at Potter.

“Potter, tell me everything that happened since you walked into Headmaster’s office.” Snape said, much more calmer than before.

“Um ok. I got a letter from Dumbl- er Professor Dumbledore after breakfast, it said that he wanted me to come to his office.” He said taking out the letter from his robes and waving it a little in front of Snape.

Snape took the letter from him and flicked his eyes over it briefly and then returned it to Harry. “I received one as well.”

“When I got there he wasn’t there so I sat at his desk and the globe was right in front of me. I looked at it and then I couldn’t take my eyes off it.Then you came in and I couldn’t concentrate on what you were saying. It was like your voice was coming from far away. Then I had a really strong urge to hold the globe. But when I grabbed it, it started to glow and my hands started to burn and then we were here.” He concluded, showing his palms.

Snape came closer to take a look at his hands. The skin on his palms was inflamed like he had held them over an open flame.

Harry looked down at his outstretched hands while Snape raised his wand towards it. But then he looked up when Snape hesitated, lowering his wand to his side. Harry raised his eyebrows at him questioningly.

“I don’t think it is wise to use magic to treat your hands while we are in such an… unfamiliar environment. It could interfere with the dark magic that was used to trap people in here.” Snape said, almost apologetically.

Harry blinked at the man, lowering his hands. “Oh, that’s alright, it doesn’t even hurt that bad.”

Snape looked at Harry and then at his hands sceptically. Then he moved away from Harry and walked cautiously towards the brightly lit Christmas tree.

“We need to find a way to get out of here..” Snape cut himself short and raised his wand.

Suddenly, they were inside what looked like a dining room. There was a dinning table where there was the Christmas tree a second ago. There was water all over the table, some of it was dripping down on the floor. A jug was lying on the table.

“Get out of my way.” Shouted a man, trying to push past the woman in front of him.

“No, please darling don’t be like that, you know he didn’t mean it. He is just a child!” pleaded the woman, cupping the man’s face with her delicate hands.

The man showed her out of the way, not looking back where she had fallen on the floor away from the dining table.

Harry made his way towards the man when he heard a shriek from where the man was crouched by the table.

“Stop.” Harry shouted at the man. The man ignored him and proceeded to pull a small boy from under the table. The boy pumped his legs in the air trying to get away from the man.

Harry rushed to the man and tried to grab the boy. But felt his hands go right through the both of them.

“What?” he gasped.

“No, daddy no.” the dark haired boy cried.

The boy was now sitting on the ground, desperately clawing at the man’s hands to get him to let go.

The man just pushed the boy down, so he was lying down. He held the boy down with his left hand on the boy’s chest. Then he raised his other hand and slapped the small boy across the face twice.

Then the man left the room leaving the boy crying and gasping on the floor. The whole left side of his face was already turning red from the smacks.

Harry watched all this helplessly, rooted to his spot, unable to move. He gasped for breath clutching at his chest, mimicking the boy on the floor.

The dining room flickered and the Christmas tree was back in front of him.

Heart still beating too fast, he went around the tree to look for Snape, who he had forgotten was even there.

Snape was still standing in front of the tree, his whole body stiff and face drained of all colour.

“What was that? I couldn’t help the boy, m my my hand went right through him. Did you see that?” he asked, pointing his finger at the tree.

“Of course I saw that, Potter.” Snape snapped at him.

“I was just wondering, sir, since you didn’t even try to help that kid. What were you doing anyway, enjoying the view?” he said harshly, growing angry at the man.

“There was no point in doing anything, there was no way either one of us could have been able to save.. that boy.” Replied Snape just as harshly.

“You don’t know that!”
“Well, since you tried, what did you achieve?”

“At least I tried! How could you just..”

“Potter, there was nothing I could do, it was just a memory.” Snape interrupted.

“ A memory? How is that.. like in a pensive. But- but that’s not possible. I could smell the food on the table and I could feel the air blowing from the window, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did, but it was just a memory.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because, it was my memory!” Snape shouted.