Betrayer: Draco Malfoy?

Just as Harry was subconsciously wondering what Percy and Ryan had in common, he didn't notice that Dumbledore had already disappeared from the teacher's desk.

This is a winding river that, many years ago, was crystal clear and nourished the life around it.

But with industrialization and the establishment of factories, everything changed.

The two sides of the river became overgrown with weeds and piled with garbage.

Not far away, a huge chimney stood tall and sinister, a relic of an abandoned mill, towering high and exuding an ominous aura.

There was no sound around, only the dark, wailing of the creature. There was no sign of life, except for a lean fox that sneaked down to the riverbank, sniffing hopefully at the wrappers of fried fish and potato chips hidden among the tall weeds.

At that moment, with a soft "plop," a slender figure wearing a hood appeared out of thin air on the riverbank.

The fox was stunned, its wary eyes fixed on the strange new figure.

The figure seemed to be figuring out its location. After a moment, it strode forward with light, quick steps, its long cloak rustling as it brushed against the grass.

The fox lay almost prone in the low bushes until the figure disappeared into the distance.

Then, it darted out of its hiding place and ran towards the shore. A flash of blue light, a shriek, and the fox fell to the ground, as if dead.

The figure suddenly appeared from the spot where he had just been.

"It was just a fox. I thought—" Dumbledore sighed.

Not long ago, Severus's identity as a spy was exposed to Voldemort.

He came here for this reason; he had assumed they were Death Eaters sent by Voldemort.

It all started with Harry's new dream.

In Harry's dream, Voldemort seemed to have changed his goals because of the construction of the new prison, "The Cage".

Fortunately, the victim turned out to be a Death Eaters —Walton Macnair, who had just taken a long leave of absence.

The Carroll siblings also rejoined his ranks.

Most importantly, there was a spy in Hogwarts.

In this situation, he was still willing to join Voldemort's spy team.

Moreover, Voldemort seems to have changed his methods; he no longer hides his existence.

He began to summon some Death Eaters who were still willing to return to him through the Dark Mark.

Severus was one of them; he wanted to know who the spy in Hogwarts was and what message he had passed to Voldemort.

However, for some reason, Voldemort learned of Severus's betrayal.

Severus's long-practiced rhetoric of waiting for Voldemort to be resurrected and return to his side seems to have no effect on the current Voldemort.

Fortunately, perhaps Voldemort wasn't at his peak at the time, allowing Severus to escape.

Under pursuit and interception, he had no choice but to return to his house in Spinner's End.

Climbing up the riverbank, passing through the Scabbers railings, I walked towards the rows of dilapidated brick houses.

He quickly crossed a narrow alley between the houses and turned into another almost identical street.

Several streetlights were broken, and his figure was sometimes illuminated by their light and sometimes shrouded in darkness.

And so he ventured deeper into those labyrinthine abandoned brick houses.

Finally, Dumbledore strode onto a street called Spinner's End, where the tall mill chimney stood against the sky like a giant, raised finger of warning.

He walked past dilapidated windows boarded up with wooden planks, his footsteps echoing on the cobblestones.

He came to the last house, where a dim light shone through the curtains of a room downstairs.

I could smell the stench of the Sewage River carried by the evening breeze.

A few seconds later, there was movement behind the door, and then the door was opened a crack. A man peered at them, his long, black hair draped like a curtain on both sides, with a sallow face and a pair of dark eyes in the middle.

"You've come, Dumbledore." The man opened the door, but the wand was still tightly gripped in his hand.

"Severus, thank goodness, you seem to be alright." Dumbledore looked the man up and down; he was still wearing his black wizard robes, spotless.

Even from a magical perspective, one could sense that his tranquil and profound magic remained like a lifeless swamp.

It seemed that the man in front of him had just woken up and showed no sign of escaping from Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

Snape noticed the confusion in Dumbledore's eyes. "He wants to make peace."

"A peace offer? Voldemort?" Dumbledore wondered if he had misheard.

"Yes, the little kid Voldemort mentioned in Harry's dream seemed to know very well that I was a spy."

"Voldemort has chosen to spare me—as long as I can escape the pursuit of those new faces under his command," Snape said, stepping aside to let Dumbledore in.

After Dumbledore entered, Snape slammed the door shut.

What came into Dumbledore's view was a small living room that felt like a dimly lit, soft-walled prison cell.

Several walls were lined with books, most of them with old black or brown leather covers; a lamp with a lit candle hung from the ceiling, casting a dim circle of light, within which a worn-out sofa, an old armchair, and a rickety table were crammed together.

The place has a desolate and deserted feel to it, as if no one lives there normally.

Snape gestured for Dumbledore to sit on the sofa.

Dumbledore took off his cloak and threw it aside, then sat down.

"Would you like something to drink?" Snape asked calmly.

"No need. But before I ask you about Voldemort, I want to ask you why you went to Voldemort's place without my permission." Dumbledore's eyes blazed with anger.

"You know why my life exists."

"Harry Potter's life is more important than anything else."

"There's a viper at Hogwarts, and that viper might be someone Harry knows, or even a friend of his," Snape's deep voice echoed in the room.

"You suspect Draco?" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"Yes, Harry Potter is his friend, but so are Crabbe and Goyle, and Pansy is his fiancée."

"Voldemort was a devil who was good at manipulating people's hearts."

"I highly doubt that Draco Malfoy would betray someone less important to him for someone important to him, just like Peter."

"Peter is from Gryffindor, the school of courage."

"And Draco Malfoy is a Slytherin, a standard Slytherin," Snape said with certainty.

"That child has a pure soul."

"I believe him," Dumbledore replied.

"No, I don't believe it." Snape frowned.

The two were now locked in a stalemate.