Magical Studies at Hogwarts

Dumbledore watched Harry leave the principal's office and walk towards the Gryffindor Tower. After confirming through the portrait that he had returned to the dormitory, he turned and returned to his desk.

With two taps of the wand, two cups appeared on the table. With another tap, the cups were automatically filled with butterbeer.

"I thought you would be later, Severus." Dumbledore pushed one of the cups of butterbeer forward, raised his head, and looked at Snape who appeared in front of him with a smile.

"The rest, Dumbledore." Snape's tone was cold, and he ignored the glass of butterbeer. He lifted up his clothes and sat directly opposite Dumbledore, looking at his intact body.

Right hand.

"Strade did it?" he asked.

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded, picked up the cup in front of him and took a sip, accidentally getting some foam on his white beard.

"Hmph!" Snape snorted disdainfully, "He just likes to do some flashy things, just like his flashy magic!"

"Severus, you have to admit that sometimes these flashy things are very useful." Dumbledore put down the cup and said indifferently.

"Besides, those are not flashy. Ajinbad was made extremely embarrassed and almost lost his life."

"I don't want to get hit." Dumbledore shook his head, looking very scared.

Snape quietly watched Dumbledore perform in front of him, and suddenly his eyes glanced at the ring on his left hand, and his expression couldn't help but become a little colder.

"Don't you think it's too early to tell Potter those things? His impulsive character cannot keep secrets at all," Snape said, "Just like his stupid father."

"Harry is no longer a child, Severus. I believe he can distinguish what can be said and what cannot be said." Dumbledore pushed up his glasses.

"You still believe he can defeat the Dark Lord?"

"Only by him?" Snape said disdainfully, "You are stupid, Dumbledore."

"Maybe." Dumbledore shook his head slightly. He was not prepared to continue this topic with Snape.

He took a sip of butterbeer and asked, "How are you thinking about the matter I asked you to ask you before, Severus?"

Snape did not answer, but unnaturally moved his eyes away and lowered his head slightly. After a while, he asked in a low voice: "Have you decided yet?"

"You know, I only have one year left." Dumbledore sighed and said, "The curse that Tom left on Gaunt's ring cannot be removed, and my time may be even less.

maybe."

He was silent for a while before slowly uttering a sentence.

"Draco is a good boy, he still has a conscience in his heart."

"Do you mean that I no longer have a conscience?"

"You know that's not what I meant, Severus." Dumbledore shook his head, "The child has not completely fallen into darkness, and we can still save his soul... Besides, Narcissa is not asking for help from you.

?”

"Humph!" Snape stared at Dumbledore coldly and said, "You can also find other people. Don't you have a tacit understanding?"

"Strider is not suitable." Dumbledore said, "He has more important things to do."

"What? Keep killing your followers?"

"I would be very happy if he killed that stupid dog." Snape's tone was full of disgust.

"But he won't, he will keep that stupid dog alive! Just because you don't allow that stupid dog to die!"

"None of us can escape death, Severus. The only difference is whether our death is valuable." Dumbledore said calmly.

"You mean, that smuggler Fletcher's death was valuable?"

Dumbledore was silent, but Snape sneered sarcastically. He picked up the cup in front of him, raised his head and drank half of it.

"It's really ugly, Dumbledore." He said coldly, "The person who believes in you will never believe it until his death. His fate has long been used as a bargaining chip by you..."

"Everything is for the final victory, Severus. For it, no one is unsacrificial."

"Like Lily?"

"That was an accident..."

The office fell into silence. Both Dumbledore and Snape just stared at each other and said nothing.

"Why……"

After a long while, Dumbledore sighed and said: "Severus, you didn't come here today to quarrel with me and talk about things that have passed, right?"

Snape raised his head, his eyes filled with bright red bloodshot eyes. He closed them slightly, and when he opened them again, he had regained his composure.

"According to your instructions, I told Granger some things and temporarily stabilized her."

"Very good." Dumbledore nodded, "We are a little more confident."

"You don't really think she will keep helping that idiot Potter, do you? We all know that sooner or later she will leave to pursue Stride." Snape said, "Besides, I think that with Stride's gloomy

With his character, the probability of the Dark Lord dying in his hands is far greater than that idiot defeating him."

"Strade's pursuit is different from ours." Dumbledore shook his head slightly, "His obsession with magic has a very strong purpose. For that goal, he can clear away anyone who stands in front of him.

.”

"Yes, we can indeed place our hope on him, hoping that Tom will become the person blocking his way, hoping that he will kill Tom completely before us... But Severus, we

No one can guarantee that things will happen as we expect."

"So in the final analysis, we still have to follow the original plan?"

"I'm afraid that's the case, because we have no choice." Dumbledore said, "Besides, we have to be prepared for more dangerous things to happen..."

"You think Strider will stop us?"

"We cannot rule out this possibility... I know that he has made an unbreakable oath to never hurt those who truly regard him as his friends, and never to hurt Hogwarts, but at some point, he doesn't need to

If you do something that violates your oath, just blocking it is enough..."

"As long as doing something like this can bring him closer to his goal..."

Snape looked directly into Dumbledore's calm eyes, and the seriousness in them made his heart palpitate. Inexplicably, he felt a trace of fear.

"Granger..."

"I'm afraid, Miss Granger is the last guarantee, Severus..."

Hearing this, Snape was silent for a long time. He suddenly stood up, lifted up his robe and turned around to leave, leaving only one sentence that echoed in the principal's office.

"You are wrong, Dumbledore, I won't let that happen..."

Watching Snape's figure disappear at the door, Dumbledore's eyes remained calm. He looked at the butterbeer in the cup and turned it into honey water with a flick of the wand.

After drinking it in one gulp, the sweet taste made him narrow his eyes unconsciously. He looked at the bottom of the empty cup and murmured:

"Forgive me, Severus..."