Chapter 49: How Much Do You Know?
As everyone left and the oak door of the office closed, Dumbledore clapped his hands. A wandless, silent spell spread, and the portraits around, which had been chattering, suddenly fell silent.
They closed their eyes and stopped moving, as if their magic had been suddenly withdrawn!
Vaughn looked at Dumbledore, and Dumbledore looked back at him.
After a moment’s pause, Dumbledore smiled and said, “Vaughn, I must say, your strength has surprised me greatly. I…”
Before Vaughn could finish, he interrupted, “I thought you kept me here to explain things.”
Dumbledore was silent.
“Explain why the Philosopher’s Stone was placed at Hogwarts? Why would someone want to steal the Philosopher’s Stone? Why was it so carelessly hidden on the fourth floor? And, why…”
Vaughn stared at Dumbledore, his aura intimidating. “…why did the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor you hired cast the Killing Curse on his own student? Why did you clean up the traces of battle on the fourth floor and tell us not to let Professor McGonagall know? What exactly are you planning, Albus?”
For Vaughn, the final battle with Voldemort was an accident.
Originally, he had only intended to follow Quirrell, to see if that incompetent fellow could get past the three-headed dog, Fluffy, and find the Philosopher’s Stone.
This was because he had previously seen the Mirror of Erised in Dumbledore’s office.
The Philosopher’s Stone had not yet been placed in the mirror by Dumbledore, and once it was, he would have difficulty accessing it again.
Even though he knew Dumbledore might have hidden the Philosopher’s Stone elsewhere, with Quirrell and Voldemort leading the way, he didn’t mind sneaking in to confirm.
It was just that an accident happened…
Vaughn hadn’t expected that his and Ron’s departure would cause Harry and Hermione to decide to go look for them on their own.
Of course, that was just a small oversight.
He hadn’t thought much of it until he was on his way to the Headmaster’s office, helping Harry walk. Harry had said to him in a low voice:
“Vaughn, I… I think I can hear that man in black’s thoughts… it’s broken and intermittent, but when you hurt him, I knew all his anger, his hatred… and Hermione and I going to the fourth floor was probably influenced by him…”
Harry wanted to ask Vaughn if he had been hit with some kind of Dark Arts.
He didn’t notice Vaughn’s strange expression.
What caused the accident wasn’t Harry and Hermione acting on their own, but rather, Harry had received Voldemort’s thoughts?
This wasn’t too surprising in itself, but the problem was, a month prior, Vaughn had personally tested it, and Harry’s connection to the Horcrux had not been established!
In the original story, it was only as Voldemort revived and the other Horcruxes were destroyed that the connection between them became increasingly strong.
He was very curious as to why this change had suddenly occurred.
Vaughn thought of the power that truly existed in this world—Destiny!
It was the power in this world that he found most incomprehensible, most revered, and most desired.
This sudden accident made Vaughn feel that his previous decision to linger on the periphery of the destinies of the Boy Who Lived and the Dark Lord, observing silently, needed to change.
Therefore, at this moment, facing Dumbledore, he decided to strike first.
This barrage of questions surprised Dumbledore, and the blue of his eyes brightened. “You discovered his identity? You saw him? Did Harry see him?”
Legilimency continued to work. Vaughn looked directly into Dumbledore’s eyes and pulled at the corner of his mouth coldly. “No, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget that disgusting smell of garlic.” After saying that, he feigned suspicion. “You mentioned Harry? Does this have something to do with Harry?”
Dumbledore was silent.
His Legilimency showed no abnormality; he only saw the anger and suspicion in a young wizard’s heart.
And a longing for the truth.
If the person before him were an adult, he could intimidate them.
If it were a silly boy like Ron 【 Ron: ? ）, he could play dumb.
But his interactions with Vaughn over the past few times had made Dumbledore realize that the young man was not easy to deal with. After thinking for a moment, he sighed. “It’s a very long story, Vaughn. I can tell you, but I hope you can keep it a secret.”
“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed!”
Vaughn’s expression was wooden. He had kept those secrets for 11 years; had anyone heard him speak of them?
…
Snape didn’t know how he had returned to his office.
His mind was a mess.
Memories of the past, like leeches, clung to him once more.
The usual fragrant scent of medicinal herbs in his office, which usually calmed him, could not soothe his mind today. Images flashed before his eyes.
Many, many years ago, he and a girl with green eyes lay by a pond.
Willow branches circled them like birds.
And then, 10 years ago, the same woman with green eyes lay lifeless in the ruins of the Potter house, and he had held her cold body, weeping…
He had thought that was the end. Although Dumbledore always said that the person who killed her was not dead, he had always believed it was just Dumbledore’s talk, the paranoia of a senile old man.
But today, he had sensed… the evil, dirty magic of his former master!
“Boom!”
Distracted, he had thrown in some unknown material, and the cauldron before him burst into flames, ruining a batch of the Draught of Living Death.
Snape, however, just stared blankly until a blue, semi-transparent phoenix flew in through the window, landed on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear.
Upon hearing the words conveyed by his Guardian Spirit, Snape’s inner sorrow and fear immediately vanished, replaced by a surge of anger. He hurried to the Headmaster’s office, pushed open the door, and with a cold, mocking voice, questioned:
“Dumbledore, the great white wizard, am I not enough for you to torment? Must you drag Vaughn down with us too? What new trick do you have up your sleeve? Are you preparing to train a more useful lackey for our savior? Or another double agent?”
In the office, the portraits remained silent with their eyes closed, and the entire room was deathly still.
Dumbledore stood before the Pensieve, seemingly lost in thought. Hearing Snape’s accusation, he came back to himself and offered a helpless smile.
“Severus, you have spent more time with him than I have. You should know how intelligent he is.”
Snape scoffed. “So, you told him your plan? Did you also use Ron Weasley and Harry’s friendship to get him to help you train the savior? Ha, after all these years, you haven’t changed one bit!”
However, his words only made Dumbledore’s expression more helpless.
Dumbledore pondered and said, “No, he voluntarily offered to help me train Harry…”
Snape: “…What nonsense are you spouting?”
“He said it was a transaction…”
