The gathering soon ended amid this mixture of pleasure and displeasure.
Voldemort really could not stand these two gluttons. Apart from saying a few things midway through to provoke him, seemingly testing whether Snape had approached him, they spent the rest of the time eating all sorts of things without saying anything of substance. He had gone to all that trouble to infiltrate Hogwarts, not for a pile of food.
"I still have a cauldron of potion to tend to. I'll take my leave!"
He slowly stood, picked up his insulated cup, and headed straight for the stairwell.
Voldemort's footsteps faded down the spiral staircase. Only once the sound had completely disappeared did Douglas stand and take a look, then walk to the edge of the Astronomy Tower, his hands in his pockets and his back to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore said nothing. He removed his half-moon glasses, took out a handkerchief, and slowly wiped the lenses.
His gaze remained on Douglas's back.
The silence lingered between them for a long time.
Long enough for the last piece of dragon meat in the pot to sink right to the bottom of the broth. Only after Dumbledore leisurely fished it out did he speak:
"Your assessment of Tom tonight was more cutting than ever!"
Douglas turned to look at Dumbledore and smiled. "So, were you really repenting?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "Of course not. I'm over a hundred, not a child. If repentance did any good, so many people wouldn't have died."
"Douglas," the old man's tone grew serious, "I need to ask you something."
Douglas said nothing, which served as his response.
"The students' safety-as long as Tom is in this castle, can you guarantee they won't be threatened?"
The night wind abruptly stopped.
Douglas turned his face slightly and answered casually, "I can