What Do You Know?

As everyone left and the Oak Door to the office closed, Dumbledore clapped his hands. A wandless, silent spell spread outward, and the portraits that had been chattering around them suddenly fell silent.

They closed their eyes and stopped moving, as though their magic had suddenly been drained away!

Vaughn looked at Dumbledore, and Dumbledore looked back at him.

After a moment, Dumbledore smiled and said, "Vaughn, I have to say, your abilities have surprised me greatly. I—"

Vaughn cut him off before he could finish. "I thought you kept me here to explain yourself."

Dumbledore fell silent.

"Explain why you put the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts. Why someone wanted to steal it. Why you hid it so carelessly on the Fourth Floor. And why..."

Vaughn stared at Dumbledore, his presence overwhelming. "...the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor you hired cast the Killing Curse on his own students? Why did you clean up the traces of the battle on the Fourth Floor and tell us not to let Professor McGonagall know? What exactly are you planning, Albus?"

To Vaughn, the final battle with Voldemort had been an accident.

Originally, he had only planned to follow Quirrell and see whether that incompetent fool could get past Fluffy, the Three-Headed Dog, and find the Philosopher's Stone.

Because he had previously seen the Mirror of Erised in Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore had yet to place the Philosopher's Stone inside the mirror. Once he did, it would be difficult for Vaughn to get near it again.

Even though he knew Dumbledore might have hidden the Philosopher's Stone somewhere else, with Quirrell and Voldemort leading the way, he did not mind secretly confirming it for himself.

But an accident had happened...

Vaughn had not expected that his and Ron's departure would lead Harry and Hermione to decide on their own to go looking for them.

Of course, that had only been a minor oversight.

At first, he had not thought much of it, until, while supporting Harry on the way to the Headmaster's Office, Harry whispered to him:

"Vaughn, I... I think I can hear that Black-robed Man's thoughts... They're intermittent, but when you hurt him, I knew all of his anger and hatred... And when Hermione and I went to the Fourth Floor, I think we were influenced by him too..."

Harry had wanted to ask Vaughn whether he had been afflicted by some kind of Dark Arts.

He had not noticed the strange expression on Vaughn's face.

What had caused the accident was not Harry and Hermione acting on their own, but the fact that Harry had received Voldemort's thoughts?

This should not have been too surprising, but the problem was that, a month ago, Vaughn had personally tested it. The connection between Harry and the Horcrux had not yet been established!

In the original story, it was only as Voldemort revived and the other Horcruxes gradually perished that the connection between them became closer and closer.

He was very curious. Why had such a change suddenly occurred?

Vaughn thought of a power that truly existed in this world—Destiny!

It was the power he found most incomprehensible, revered most deeply, and desired most fervently in this world.

This sudden accident made Vaughn feel that his previous decision to linger on the outskirts of the Fate Vortex surrounding the Savior and the Dark Lord, silently observing, needed to change.

So now, facing Dumbledore, he decided to strike first.

This string of questions greatly surprised Dumbledore. His bright blue eyes gleamed even more intensely. "You discovered his identity? You saw him? Did Harry see him?"

Occlumency continued to run as Vaughn met Dumbledore's gaze. He curled his lips coldly. "No, but that disgusting garlic smell is something I'll never forget for the rest of my life." Then he put on a suspicious expression. "You mentioned Harry? Is all this related to Harry?"

Dumbledore said nothing.

His Legilimency had not seen anything unusual. He saw only a Young Wizard's anger and doubts.

And his desire for the truth.

If the person before him had been an adult, he could have intimidated him.

If it had been a fool like Ron Weasley—Ron: ?—he could have played dumb and muddled through.

But his several encounters with Vaughn had made Dumbledore understand that he was not easy to deal with. After thinking for a moment, he sighed. "It is a long story, Vaughn. I can tell you, but I hope you can keep it secret."

"Don't worry. My lips are sealed!"

Vaughn kept a straight face. He had kept those secrets for eleven years already. Had anyone ever seen him reveal them?

Snape did not know how he had returned to his office.

His mind was in chaos.

Memories of the past clung to him once more like maggots burrowing into bone.

The fragrance of Medicinal Materials, which usually intoxicated him in his office, could not calm him today. Scene after scene flashed before his eyes.

Many, many years ago, he and a green-eyed girl lay beside a Pond.

Willow leaves swirled around them like birds in flight.

Then there was ten years ago. A woman with the same green eyes lay helplessly amid the ruins of the Potter home, and he held her cold body as he wept...

He had thought that was the end. Although Dumbledore had always said that the person who killed her was not dead, he had always believed it was merely Dumbledore's claim, the persecutory delusion of a senile old man.

But today, he had sensed it... the evil, filthy Magic Power of his former master!

Boom!

Lost in thought, he did not know what ingredient he had added. The Cauldron before him burst into flames, and a pot of Draught of Living Death was ruined just like that.

Yet Snape only stared blankly until a Blue Translucent Phoenix flew in through the window, landed on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

Upon hearing the message delivered by the Patronus Charm, the sorrow and panic in Snape's Inner Heart instantly vanished, replaced by surging anger. He hurried to the Headmaster's Office, pushed open the door, and immediately demanded in an icy, mocking voice:

"Dumbledore, great White Wizard, was ruining me not enough for you? Do you have to drag Vaughn into this too? What new trick have you come up with now? Are you preparing to cultivate a more useful lackey for our Savior? Or another double agent?"

The portraits in the office remained silent with their eyes closed, and the entire room seemed deathly still.

Dumbledore stood before the Pensieve, seemingly lost in thought. Hearing Snape's accusation, he came back to himself and revealed a helpless smile.

"Severus, you have spent more time with him than I have. You should know how intelligent he is."

Snape sneered. "So you told him about your plan? Did you also use Ron Weasley and Harry's friendship to get him to help you raise the Savior? Hah, after all these years, you really haven't changed at all!"

But his words only made Dumbledore look even more helpless.

Dumbledore thought for a moment before saying, "No, he offered on his own to help me raise Harry..."

Snape: "...What nonsense are you talking about?"

"He said it was a transaction..."