Pineapple Preserves

Honeydukes was as lively as a little market, packed with Hogwarts students.

Row upon row of shelves were piled with the most delicious, juicy sweets: plump giant chocolate balls, Pepper Imps that made smoke billow from your mouth, gleaming pink Coconut Ice, barrel after barrel of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans...

After buying their things, Snape and Pandora wrapped their scarves tightly around their faces again, pulled on their gloves, and squeezed out of the warm, sweet-smelling shop with paper bags full of candy in their hands.

The biting wind lashed their faces again, sharp as knives.

Heads lowered against the howling gale, they struggled along the road toward Hogwarts.

Snape frowned, his heart heavy. Every step felt difficult.

All the way, he kept thinking about the news Mundungus had just told them.

Caractacus Bork, one of the co-founders of Borgin and Burkes, had lost all his memories last month and been sent to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Snape ran through everything he had done since arriving in this time, and he did not think anything he had done so far could have directly and significantly affected Mr. Bork's fate.

In the original story, Borgin seemed to have always been the one running the shop. Bork's only appearance had been in the Pensieve in the Headmaster's office, presented as a memory.

So when, according to the original timeline, had Dumbledore obtained Bork's memory?

The more he thought about it, the deeper his frown became.

Then, as if struck by lightning, Snape realized a crucial difference.

Of the memories Dumbledore showed Harry, only Caractacus Bork's had been recounted by Bork himself—

"Among those constantly swirling silvery objects appeared the figure of a little old man... pale as a ghost... his hair was so thick that it completely covered his eyes..."

All the other memories—Dumbledore's own, that of Bob Ogden, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's Special Squad, Voldemort's uncle Morfin Gaunt, the House-elf Hokey, and even Professor Slughorn's altered memory—had been experienced firsthand, with Dumbledore taking Harry into the Pensieve.

Could Dumbledore have already gone to obtain Bork's memory?

Or had Bork resisted too fiercely, possessed too much magical power, forcing Dumbledore to take harsh measures and damage Bork's mind?

Snape felt vaguely uneasy. The more he thought, the more possibilities came to him: aside from Professor Slughorn, his old colleague, why had all the other people or House-elves whose memories Dumbledore obtained died for one reason or another?

With the timeline moved so far forward, would they still leave one by one, as Dumbledore had told Harry in the original story, due to old age or injury and illness?

At that thought, Snape felt a chill run down his spine, and the wind seemed to grow even sharper. He was unwilling even to speculate further about the reason behind it.

But regardless, he knew he had to act more cautiously. He absolutely could not let Dumbledore discover his secret as a time traveler.

Even more troubling, Snape had to find a way to prevent Dumbledore from going alone to the Gaunt shack and putting on Peverell's ring.

If Dumbledore fell early, Snape felt he might have to do everything he could to coax and deceive a whole group of people into emigrating to Australia.

Lately, the Headmaster had indeed often been absent from the staff table at meals. Snape had no idea how far he had gotten.

And now, both the Elder Wand and the Invisibility Cloak were already in Dumbledore's hands.

If he added the Resurrection Stone and gathered all three Deathly Hallows, what would happen then...?

"Hey, Severus, what are you thinking about?"

Pandora's clear voice rang beside Snape's ear, and she waved her fingers before his eyes.

Without realizing it, they had reached the castle gates.

"Ah, nothing." Snape suddenly came back to himself. "Let's go in."

Looking at Pandora's concerned face, the worries in his heart only deepened.

All around them, there was nothing but the repeated howl of the wind.

Starting the next day, Snape found himself constantly searching the school grounds for a glimpse of Dumbledore, but he never saw the Headmaster.

Even at another Slug Club gathering, he still had no idea where Dumbledore had gone.

At every gathering, Snape brought Professor Slughorn a carefully prepared box of Pineapple Preserves. Old Sluggy had quite the taste for them, after all—something the clever, handsome Tom had personally vouched for.

"If you keep bringing me Pineapple Preserves, Severus, I believe you'll soon make a name for yourself at the Ministry of Magic."

Professor Slughorn said smugly, wagging a finger sticky with sugar frosting.

"Within twenty years—no, perhaps only fifteen—you could become head of one of the key departments. You should know, I have some very solid connections at the Ministry."

Snape merely smiled faintly and nodded as Professor Slughorn talked on grandly about old stories from the Wizarding World and all his connections, while silently waiting for time to pass.

At last, the little golden clock on Professor Slughorn's desk struck eleven.

"Good heavens, is it that time already?" Professor Slughorn said reluctantly. "Happy times are always short. Time to go, children. Black, don't focus only on Quidditch practice. Your essay is due tomorrow, or it'll be detention."

At that, the students rose one after another and filed out.

Professor Slughorn also slowly climbed out of his chair and carried the empty cups to the table.

But Snape remained standing in the office. He had a question for Professor Slughorn.

Snape knew he could not let the Sword of Damocles hang over his head forever. Even if he could not see Dumbledore for the moment, he still needed to prepare in advance. The moment the Headmaster returned, he would go see him.

He believed Dumbledore had not yet approached Professor Slughorn. Given the current situation, Dumbledore could not possibly have had the chance to infer from Riddle's Diary that Voldemort had made more than one Horcrux.

"Ahem." Snape made a faint sound.

The movement behind him made Professor Slughorn turn around, and he saw Snape.

"Hurry up, Severus. You don't want anyone knowing you're still out after lights-out, do you?"

Snape froze for a moment, feeling that there was something rather odd about the way that sounded.

But he had no time to dwell on it now. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Sir, I want to ask you something."

"Then ask quickly, my boy, quickly..."

"Sir, I want to ask whether you know about... Horcruxes."