Decision

After the dinner ended, Snape did not leave. He stayed in the Great Hall—after all, Dumbledore's meaning about discussing things in detail after the feast had been obvious, and Cyberlina and Dumbledore's attitudes toward that cat had been far too subtle, making him unable to stop thinking about it.

"So, it isn't an ordinary cat, is it?" Snape rested one arm on the table and leaned forward, looking at Dumbledore and Cyberlina, who were sitting beside him.

"Perhaps...?" Cyberlina tilted her head toward Snape.

Dumbledore looked kindly at Snape. "I think, Severus, perhaps you could describe to us how he stopped you from leaving."

"Oh, 'he.'" Snape pursed his lips and cast a sinister look at Cyberlina. Then he sat up straight and began explaining to Dumbledore. "That cat... Sekerei brought him over the afternoon before yesterday. He was quiet the whole time. It was only when I was putting on his bow tie today that he made a little fuss, and then—"

"Bow tie?" Dumbledore interrupted, looking puzzled.

Cyberlina promptly explained, "A Christmas present. Cats need presents too."

Dumbledore gave Cyberlina a complicated look. Why did it feel as though she really was treating him like a cat?

"He only made a little fuss?" Cyberlina continued questioning him. "And he didn't take it off after you put it on?"

"...No." Snape gritted his teeth. "So you never expected that cat to wear it properly in the first place. You were only waiting for him—him—to cause trouble in my office, weren't you?"

"Of course not." Cyberlina smiled sweetly.

"In other words, he made a little fuss and then became quiet again." Considering that person's personality, Dumbledore realized something was wrong. "But later, he started acting up again to stop you from leaving."

"Yes. At first, I thought he wanted to come with me, but when I tried to bring—" Snape paused. At the thought that it was not merely an ordinary cat, his expression darkened. "In short, he didn't seem to intend to come along. He only wanted to stop me from leaving."

Cyberlina suddenly laughed.

"...All right." Dumbledore stared at Snape. "Then, Severus, what were you planning to do after the dinner?"

Snape furrowed his brows in confusion before saying, "Other than returning directly to my office, I don't think I had any other choice."

"I don't think he would have stopped you because of Severus, Albus." Cyberlina stood up and looked down at Dumbledore with a beaming smile. "I think the question should be—have you recently been planning to take Severus somewhere?"

Dumbledore was silent for several seconds. Under Cyberlina's gaze, he slowly said, "I haven't... finalized that itinerary."

"Then, as things stand, you'll soon be making a decision about it." Cyberlina left the bench and walked toward the entrance of the Great Hall. "And it'll be a dangerous journey."

"Where are you going?" Dumbledore reached out and caught Cyberlina by the arm.

"Obviously, I'm going to ask the kitty what scene he saw." Cyberlina said it as though it were only natural.

But Dumbledore did not release her.

"Albus..." Cyberlina sighed, taking Dumbledore's hand and speaking gently. "I know you definitely won't give up on making this trip just because it's dangerous. So wouldn't it be better to learn about some of the dangers in advance and take precautions?"

"Once we know, it's very likely that other dangers will arise, and besides..." Dumbledore looked calmly at Cyberlina. "How can you be sure he didn't do it on purpose?"

"On purpose?"

"Deliberately stopping Severus so that you'd become suspicious. Deliberately exaggerating that fragment of the future. Deliberately luring you into investigating. Deliberately showing you a false prophecy—anything is possible." Dumbledore's gaze grew serious. "You know this, Cyber. He is very good at exploiting everything he can."

Cyberlina met Dumbledore's gaze for several seconds. Slowly, she removed Dumbledore's hand from her arm, lowered her eyes, and smiled as she looked at the wrinkled hand in her own and the ring on it. In a soft voice, she said, "Albus, I know what you're worried about, but I still think it would be better to confirm it... Don't worry. He isn't capable of hiding it from me."

With that, Cyberlina released Dumbledore's hand and turned to leave the Great Hall.

Watching the silent Dumbledore beside him, Snape's already tightly pursed lips grew even thinner. The two of them had already said this much. If he still failed to realize who that cat was, it would be truly ridiculous.

Damn it! He should have figured it out sooner! How could there possibly have been a cat in such a remote place? And one that was so intelligent, at that!

At the thought that he had forcibly put a bow tie on him that very day, Snape's expression became unbearably grim.

Moreover, he could not return to his office yet. Cyberlina was certainly asking that person about the details of the prophecy, so he could only sit here blankly with Dumbledore—spacing out.

After a while, Dumbledore let out a soft sigh and slowly rose. "Severus, come with me to my office."

"...So you're still planning to undertake that dangerous task." Snape looked up at him and stated it with certainty.

"Not entirely." Dumbledore smiled. "Cyber will definitely be going along. Perhaps there won't be any danger after all."

Snape was unimpressed by his optimism. In his opinion, anything that could make that Grindelwald prepare so seriously was certainly no simple matter.

But this was not something he should be considering at all. What mattered to him now was—

"You've already let me learn far too much." Snape walked with Dumbledore through the empty, dim corridor and finally voiced the matter he had been thinking about for two months.

"It's all right. You can know everything now." Dumbledore's tone was light, but his words were firm. "I'm missing someone to search for Tom's Horcruxes with me, Severus. I think you're the most suitable person."

Snape clenched his hands. "You mean—"

"I don't think there's any need for you to return there." Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "Cyber probably won't give you the chance to go back, either."

Though he had anticipated this and Cyberlina had hinted at it before, hearing Dumbledore say it explicitly still made Snape's heart stop for an instant. When he spoke, his voice unconsciously carried a hint of hoarseness. "You mean there's absolutely no chance of him being resurrected, is that it?"

"That depends on whether we can find all his Horcruxes..." Dumbledore's tone was calm. "It also depends on what Cyber thinks. After all, she's the person among us who understands souls best. You could say she's the leader of our current plan."

"When was this plan decided?" Snape asked in confusion. "Did you discuss it with Sekerei?"

Dumbledore turned his head, winked with his right eye at Snape, and said with a slightly mischievous smile, "There was no discussion. We simply understood each other without speaking."

"...I really hope Sekerei also feels that she and you 'understand each other.'" Judging from Cyberlina's behavior that day, Snape felt that between them there had only been the unspoken part, with not the slightest trace of mutual understanding.

Dumbledore laughed but did not answer Snape. He believed he was right, after all. He and Cyberlina were both searching for Horcruxes. The only difference was that Cyberlina was relying on information from the Ministry of Magic and the Death Eaters, while he was relying on memories—certain memories he had obtained while investigating Tom many years ago.

In the dim office of the Potions professor, a white cat lay sprawled across the desk, its sky-blue eyes gleaming with a ghostly light. Sensing someone opening the office door, the cat turned around and let out a muffled grunt.

"All right, all right..." Cyberlina waved her hand and turned on the office lights. Then she raised her hand and pressed it down on the cat's head with slightly brutal force. Bending over, she smiled at those cat eyes, her own eyes curving into crescents. "You get angry so easily."

Looking at those pale golden-brown eyes, Grindelwald immediately sensed her Legilimency.

The chain Cyberlina had placed on him restricted his body and his ability to use magic, but it did not restrict his mind or the magic within him. He could resist, but he did not. Instead, he voluntarily recalled what he had seen that day.

—At the instant Snape turned around, two illusory figures appeared before him. One was Dumbledore, kneeling on the ground, and the other was Snape, crouching on one knee before him. Behind them was a stone basin resembling a Pensieve, faintly glowing green. Dumbledore's face was contorted with pain, while Snape looked no better, his face deathly pale as he trembled while bringing a goblet filled with green liquid to Dumbledore's lips—

Cyberlina withdrew from Grindelwald's mind and also pulled away from those furious, anguished emotions, but she continued looking into the pair of eyes she had transformed into sky-blue cat eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, Cyberlina straightened and took two steps back. She drew her wand and poked at the silver chain around the cat's neck. Grindelwald returned to human form, but the chain still hung from his shirt, while the bow tie was tucked into the left breast pocket of his waistcoat.

Grindelwald leaned against Snape's desk, lowered his eyes, and lifted the silver chain, which no longer restricted him in any way. He smiled and said, "I thought you wouldn't let me transform back inside Hogwarts."

"I don't understand cat language." Cyberlina clasped her hands behind her back and looked at Grindelwald. "So, what do you think?"

"What?" Grindelwald raised his eyes and lifted his brows in apparent surprise. "I still have a say?"

"Of course you do, Gellert. This is your prophecy." Cyberlina smiled.

"But I don't know whether my prophecy will still come true after someone else has seen it." Grindelwald spread his hands helplessly and sighed. "For all we know, this prophecy has already been invalidated."

"But established facts won't change." Cyberlina's tone was certain. "The effect of that liquid is still to make people suffer."

"Then what should we do? Destroy the liquid?"

Cyberlina shook her head helplessly. "Gellert, Albus chose to drink it directly. What other choice could there be?"

"Oh, that certainly is..." Grindelwald stepped away from the desk and walked toward Cyberlina. With his hands behind his back like hers, he lowered his eyes slightly to look at Cyberlina, who was half a head shorter than him. In a low voice, he said, "I think you, like me, don't want to see Albus drink it, do you?"

"So isn't that why I asked, 'What do you think?'" Cyberlina smiled sweetly as she met his gaze.

"If I tell you, will you take my suggestion?"

"I don't know." Cyberlina's tone was sincere. "You have to tell me before I can know whether I'll accept it."

"Then wouldn't the outcome still end up matching what you wanted?" Grindelwald laughed. "That's a little dictatorial, Cyberlina."

"Coincidentally, Albus has said something similar." Cyberlina tilted her head slightly. "The result that time seemed to suit him rather well... So you still have a chance of making me listen to you."

"Then I'm afraid the hope is slim." Grindelwald lowered his eyes slightly. "You seem to rather like that little black bastard."

Cyberlina smiled. "You want Severus to drink that liquid?"

Grindelwald turned his head away and pouted slightly as he muttered, "Who told him to force Albus to drink it?"

"But I think that was probably an order from Albus himself."

"But the fact remains that he was the one who forced Albus to drink it."

Hearing his unreasonable argument, Cyberlina's smile deepened. "It's only a future you saw, Gellert. It hasn't become reality yet."

"You love Albus most of all, Cyberlina..." Grindelwald's voice was soft, and there was a faint plea in his tone. "Don't let that become reality."

Cyberlina sighed softly and raised her hand to caress Grindelwald's face, making him meet her gaze.

"Of course I won't let that become reality. I certainly like Severus far less than I like Albus—much, much less—much."

Looking at those pale golden-brown eyes that were almost devoid of a smile, Grindelwald said nothing. He knew that Cyberlina rarely stopped smiling when she was mentally well, but every time she did, it meant she was wrestling with an extremely difficult decision—as when she had been young and angry at Albus's actions but unwilling to scold him too harshly.

So she was already considering sending that little black bastard.

Grindelwald revealed a somewhat relieved smile, though he still looked rather pitiful.

"But, Gellert." Cyberlina moved her hand away from Gellert's face and began straightening his shirt collar. "Why is Severus the only option?"

A flicker of regret passed through Grindelwald's heart, but he maintained that slightly pitiful smile as he said, "Naturally, he isn't, Cyberlina. Anyone will do as long as it isn't Albus."

"Anyone will do..." Cyberlina lowered her eyes slightly, her voice soft. "You would do too, wouldn't you?"

Grindelwald froze.

"Oh, you wouldn't." Cyberlina sounded full of disappointment. "I thought that after taking such a long detour, you wanted to replace Albus yourself... So your feelings for Albus are only... All right, that was within expectations too. Then—"

"Cyberlina." Grindelwald interrupted her in a low voice. The pitiful expression had vanished from his face. "I didn't refuse." His mismatched eyes fixed on Cyberlina at the same time, his gaze utterly serious. "I never said I wouldn't."

Cyberlina's fingers had already stopped on the silver chain. She carefully observed Grindelwald's expression and sensed the emotions radiating from him. Then she suddenly smiled.

"Silly child." Cyberlina raised her hand and patted Grindelwald's cheek, smiling brightly. "If I don't let either of them go, do you think that means I'll let you go drink that stuff?"

Grindelwald was stunned.

"Transform back, Gellert. It really is better for you to be a kitty while you're in Hogwarts." Cyberlina flicked her wand lightly, and Grindelwald once again became a white, sky-eyed cat.

Cyberlina placed Grindelwald back on the desk. He quietly watched her leave the Potions office, but his heart was anything but calm.

He was not Dumbledore. He had seen Cyberlina reveal her malice far too many times, so he was certain that from the moment she entered that night, she had been carrying a subtle displeasure toward him. He would even have bet that after seeing his prophecy, she had absolutely wanted him to drink that stuff.

He had repeatedly brought up Snape not only because he was genuinely angry at that scene and wanted Snape to suffer, but also because he wanted to divert Cyberlina's negative emotions away from himself. And in the end, those emotions really had disappeared—after he had clearly revealed his feelings for Albus.

So she was displeased with him because of the relationship between him and Albus.

Just as she had traveled thousands of miles to beat him up many years ago.

Therefore, Albus must have expressed his dislike of him to her.

Grindelwald closed his eyes and tilted his cat's head, resting it on his paws.

Actually, this had been entirely within his expectations. After all, far too many things now stood between them.