Partiality

Dumbledore had intended to remain silent, just as he had with Cyberlina before, but unfortunately, today's Cyberlina didn't seem inclined to let him off easily. He also couldn't just leave as they had during their argument decades ago—after all, this was his office, and there was a rat to deal with.

"Cyber..." Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps we can discuss this later. Severus should be bringing Harry soon—"

"How is Harry coming?" Cyberlina raised an eyebrow slightly, pleased to see Dumbledore's sudden stiffening expression. "He's in the Hospital Wing, with his arm still bandaged. I doubt Madam Pomfrey will let him go—I wasn't at the school the past two days, so I only found out about this today... What? Our all-knowing Headmaster doesn't even know about this yet?"

Dumbledore: "..."

Forgive him, he had been truly shocked by Snape's actions. Coupled with Cyberlina's death glare beside him, he had been preoccupied with how to explain—completely forgetting that Harry was still in the Hospital Wing.

And—

Dumbledore subtly glanced at Cyberlina.

How come Cyberlina's way of speaking was starting to sound more and more like Severus?

Dumbledore looked at Pettigrew, who was lying on the floor, seemingly wailing but making no sound. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Cyberlina flick her wand lightly—Pettigrew immediately stopped moving.

"Alright, that's temporarily dealt with. Can we talk now?" Cyberlina said with a smile.

Dumbledore was silent for a few seconds, then slowly sat back in his chair, steepling his fingers on the desk, and looked calmly at Cyberlina. "Cyber, you must understand, in that situation... using things that shouldn't be used was a last resort..."

Cyberlina raised an eyebrow slightly, gesturing for him to continue.

Dumbledore lowered his head, clasping his hands together.

"Some things, once started, must be continued. Even if it's inappropriate, it can't be stopped, for... "

"For the ultimate victory," Cyberlina added softly. She looked down at the aged Dumbledore before her, her smile fading.

Regret, self-blame, love—

When Albus used these things... was he truly alright himself?

Cyberlina knew Dumbledore trusted Snape because Snape was bound by these things. But she knew even better—the reason Dumbledore trusted Snape was because he himself was also tightly bound by these things, unable to escape for his entire life.

"That doesn't mean you were wrong," Cyberlina nodded, then smiled and shook her head. "But that's not what I'm talking about. I wasn't going to blame you for that, Albus."

Dumbledore thought: Cyberlina definitely hadn't noticed her own tone had softened.

He looked up, a hint of confusion in his eyes as he looked at Cyberlina. "Then what is it?"

Cyberlina glanced lightly at Pettigrew on the floor. "This rat's mind is too fragile. I saw many things from his school days." Cyberlina looked at Dumbledore, whose expression had become guilty. "I remember someone once told me that he didn't show too much favoritism towards Gryffindor..."

Dumbledore averted his gaze once more.

Just as Cyberlina thought she would stare a bit longer, Dumbledore suddenly turned his head, looking at Cyberlina, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Cyber... This is indeed my fault."

Cyberlina paused.

It was the first time the child had admitted fault so quickly, and she was a little unaccustomed to it. When they had discussed the same topic last time, he had tried to argue.

"I've been seriously considering what you said last time," Dumbledore looked directly into Cyberlina's smiling eyes without hiding anything. "I was indeed too biased, that's undeniable. I've also recognized my mistake, but... those things have already happened, I..."

Dumbledore didn't finish, but Cyberlina saw the strong emotions emanating from him and the genuine expression in his eyes.

He wasn't lying.

But it was a bit too self-righteous.

Cyberlina lowered her eyes slightly.

"Alright then, Albus. Since you've realized your mistake and everything has passed, let it all pass," Cyberlina sighed softly. "Who asked you to be my favorite student? The harm others suffered... forget it."

Dumbledore: "..." Something felt off.

Just as Dumbledore was about to explain further, Cyberlina suddenly changed the subject.

"Today's incident was also my oversight. I actually noticed something was wrong with the rat in young Weasley's pocket on the first day of school." Cyberlina looked down at the unconscious Pettigrew on the floor. "But after inquiring about this rat's situation, I thought it was a wizard who had made a mistake during their Animagus transformation, forgetting they were a wizard and had completely become an animal, so I didn't pay much more attention.

Turns out... I was indeed too ignorant. I never expected a wizard with self-awareness could live as a rat for over ten years without guilt. I hope the Weasley children won't be too devastated when they find out about this."

Dumbledore nodded sympathetically, then said, "My mind hasn't changed. I want Harry to know the truth of what happened back then, and then I will take him to the Ministry of Magic to see Sirius come out—" Seeing Cyberlina's slightly questioning gaze, Dumbledore added, "Sirius Black, he is Harry's godfather. I believe Harry would be willing to see him exonerated."

"What if young Black doesn't want to?" Cyberlina offered her thoughts. "He's been in Azkaban for so long, he must be in a sorry state. Does he want his godson to see him in such a pathetic condition?"

Dumbledore paused. "Alright, that's something I hadn't considered. I will find a way to ask Sirius's opinion beforehand."

Then Cyberlina raised another question: "Since he was framed, why did he stay in Azkaban for so many years—I mean, he should have had a way to prove his innocence. Legilimency and Veritaserum should have been options. The Wizengamot wouldn't have rejected such evidence."

"Perhaps... he no longer had the spirit to defend himself..."

Dumbledore sighed. Cyberlina looked confused, stating she couldn't understand the Gryffindor mindset at all.

"Then he was truly living freely—I'm not prejudiced against his surname, I'm just stating facts." Cyberlina glanced at the wall, regretting that Black's portrait wasn't there. "Then you take Harry to the Ministry to clear young Black's name, Albus."

"Aren't you going?"

"I don't want to go to the Ministry again anytime soon," Cyberlina shrugged. "You know, I just met some people from the Ministry a couple of days ago."

Dumbledore nodded. He knew the Wizengamot had spoken with Cyberlina privately about this matter, and even knew the content—Voldemort's soul splitting.

But as far as he knew, Cyberlina hadn't revealed much, and... she had even played the victim, expressing her sadness over the break-in at the Department of Mysteries and proactively submitting an application to participate in strengthening its security.

And he had signed as her guarantor.

Dumbledore felt that sooner or later, he would be treated as an accomplice and brought to the interrogation room.

Before leaving the Headmaster's office, Cyberlina, with a look of disgust, put the transformed Pettigrew into a small cage, giving the reason: "What if the busy Headmaster, with one careless moment, lets this cunning, dirty rat escape?"

Dumbledore: "..." He truly felt Cyber had been led astray by Severus!

After Cyberlina left his office, Dumbledore began to ponder—he always felt Cyberlina had gone too easy on him this time.

He had, from the very beginning, known that Cyberlina was angry about his favoritism, yet he insisted on changing the subject to admit fault—because just as he couldn't refute Cyberlina's genuine emotions, Cyberlina also couldn't bear to be harsh with his self-inflicted wounds.

He was a bit biased, but wasn't Cyberlina biased too?

Cyberlina was his teacher as well as a Slytherin. Dumbledore was quite clear about his standing in Cyberlina's heart—compared to those younger Slytherins, she was definitely more partial to him.

Most importantly, he truly felt sorry about many things from the past, and he believed Cyberlina would sense his true thoughts.

Dumbledore thought that with this series of moves, Cyberlina wouldn't scold him too harshly even if she was angry, but he never expected—she hadn't even said a harsh word.

This made Dumbledore uneasy. He felt the issue hadn't passed with Cyberlina at all, but he couldn't guess her next move.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cyberlina went straight to the Potions Master's office after leaving the Headmaster's office, only to find it empty. After looking around and using Scourgify on a few cauldrons, she left the office. Then she headed straight to where the ghosts usually gathered, gave them a few instructions, conjured a chair and a lamp, and sat down comfortably, taking out a black book to read.

The ghosts: "..."

Thinking of the persecution they had suffered from Cyberlina over the years, they chose to get angry and turn away. Only Nick floated over with his head tilted precariously, asking if she could chop it off for him, only to be met with Cyberlina's smiling refusal and ruthless expulsion.

Three and a half hours later, Nick returned, but this time he brought the results of the matter Cyberlina had entrusted him with. So, with his head tilted, he floated righteously in front of Cyberlina—only to be thanked with a smile by Cyberlina, and his request to have his head chopped off was once again ignored.

Cyberlina slowly walked upstairs and happened to run into Snape at the door of the Potions office, just as he was about to enter.

"What a coincidence, Severus."

Snape's lips were pressed tightly together. After staring at Cyberlina for a few seconds, he slowly spoke, "Ms. Sekerei, next time you ask those ghosts to spy, please teach them first how not to run back while shouting."

"Oh, perhaps they're just a few unruly ghosts." Cyberlina showed no guilt at being exposed and made an invitation that Snape found familiar yet alarming, "Would you like to go for a night walk, Severus—though there's still a long time until curfew."

Snape felt he shouldn't agree, but unfortunately, Cyberlina didn't give him a chance to answer this time—as she took a step forward to question him, a floating blue castle lit up beside her. Then, smiling, she grabbed Snape's arm and pointed her other hand at the map beside them. The next second—Snape found himself in a different environment.

It was the Forbidden Forest.

Snape could only vaguely guess this from his surroundings.

"Relax, Severus." Cyberlina glanced at Snape's hand, which was gripping his wand tightly, and smiled as she put away the Marauder's Map. "We're just changing to a place without any portraits, ghosts, or house-elves."

"...Sounds like something bad is about to happen to me."

Snape glanced subtly at the map in her hand. Although Cyberlina was hard to fathom, he couldn't help but marvel at her power and talent—using something akin to Apparition within Hogwarts? He hadn't even considered it!

"Then Albus will definitely come looking for me to settle the score." Cyberlina chuckled and turned to walk north.

Seeing that she didn't give him any chance to refuse, Snape closed his eyes and resignedly followed.

A cold wind swept through the branches, howling from high above. All that fell to the ground was a cool breeze, rustling the grass and making the fluorescent moss shimmer.

"This is the north side of the West Forbidden Forest." Cyberlina walked slowly by the stream with her hands behind her back, surrounded by green fluorescent light. "I used to love coming here when I was a student and a professor."

Snape vaguely sensed what she was up to and stopped, resisting with a cold sneer, "If you're planning some ridiculous heart-to-heart, that's completely unnecessary. You might as well go counsel your favorite student who loves sweets."

"I know, of course, that you don't need that." Cyberlina looked back at him. "Just consider it a good deed and listen to an old woman tell a story."

Snape frowned and narrowed his eyes, looking at Cyberlina as if she were a rare specimen. "Did you catch Dumbledore's madness disease and start acting crazy late at night?"

Cyberlina chuckled, "It seems Albus often seeks you out in the middle of the night."

Snape snorted coldly, implicitly acknowledging the statement.

Cyberlina lowered her eyes, looking at her school robe fluttering in the wind, and said softly, "I'll say it again, Severus, Albus trusts you very much."

"Heh..." Snape found it ridiculous. This pair of teacher and student, one telling him to be wary of the other, the other telling him to trust the other. And the key was, they seemed to trust each other implicitly, making him feel like some kind of plaything.

Cyberlina ignored his silent mockery and asked, "Why didn't you return to the Headmaster's office today?"

"Mr. Savior is in the hospital wing, and Dumbledore didn't say much, so I—" Snape's voice trailed off.

"See, you understand each other perfectly."

"That doesn't mean trust—"

"Mmm, I understand. It's just a habit developed from years of work." Cyberlina looked up and smiled at Snape. "Besides, I'm not here to persuade you to trust him. I just want to tell you something."

"Something Dumbledore can't hear?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"At least, something that's not suitable for him to hear." Cyberlina chuckled. "I imagine the Potions Master has quite a few connections and already knows what I did at the Ministry of Magic before."

Snape nodded. Not only did he know, but he was so bombarded with letters from Lucius that he had to visit Malfoy Manor to explain things about Voldemort—and he claimed he wasn't too sure either.

"I wonder if you noticed, I specifically emphasized one thing."

Snape looked thoughtful, then confused.

"Using Riddle's memories, I've mentioned many times... Gaunt."

Snape paused, looking at Cyberlina with a blank expression. "Are you going to tell a love story?"

His tone and demeanor suggested that if Cyberlina nodded, he would immediately fly back.

"No, it's a terrifying murder story."

Cyberlina looked at Snape with her usual smiling expression, her light golden-brown eyes appearing somewhat eerie under the green fluorescent light. A cold wind swept past her feet, and an inexplicable chill rose from the base of his spine. Snape still felt that the possibility of something bad happening to him tonight was quite high.