Snape watched Vaughn and Dumbledore's "deal" with cold eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching into a sneer.
One old fox and one young fox. Neither was any good.
"Don't look at us like that, Severus. You'll break your favorite student's heart. He's doing all this for you." Dumbledore tried to lighten the atmosphere that way.
"What you're discussing had better concern me," Snape said, staring coldly at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore smiled and looked at Vaughn.
Vaughn, however, showed no intention of explaining. He merely took out a sheet of parchment and waved it between his fingers. "Albus, the answer you want is right here."
Dumbledore paused, then took the parchment from Vaughn and peered at it through his half-moon spectacles.
The parchment was completely blank. Dumbledbleore frowned slightly, glanced at Vaughn, and an invisible magical gleam lit his eyes.
"What an interesting little invention."
Dumbledore murmured his praise. Then he suddenly spotted something and slapped his forehead. "Oh, I remember now! Gryffindor's quartet of troublemakers!"
Vaughn looked up at Snape and noticed the corners of the professor's eyes tighten slightly, his expression growing even darker.
The "Gryffindor quartet of troublemakers" Dumbledore mentioned was undoubtedly the "Marau-
ders" group led by James Potter.
Vaughn nodded with a smile. "Albus, I find the magic on it fascinating too, but you should pay more attention to the names on the map."
"All right-let me see-" Dumbledore's blue eyes flickered constantly as his gaze moved across the Marauder's Map.
Before long, his aged hand trembled slightly, and his pupils contracted sharply, as though he had seen something impossible.
The moment Snape heard the name "James Potter," he had already begun losing control of his emotions.
But when he saw the sudden change in Dumbledore's expression, he froze.
He could scarcely imagine what sort of