After seeing Harry off, Dumbledore reached out and touched Fawkes, who had just been reborn from the ashes.

"He's not telling the truth."

Snape came over and said, "I can tell that he has been hiding a lot of things... and he has known for a long time that he is a Parseltongue, but he has never told anyone."

He was also in the Headmaster's office when Harry came over.

"Severus, that child knew nothing about the wizarding world before."

Dumbledore put the wrinkled Fawkes on the perch, turned his head and said: "Perhaps in Harry's opinion, being able to talk to snakes is nothing strange, many wizards can do it.

If he wanted to hide this, he wouldn't have shown it at the Duel Club."

"As for other things..." Dumbledore glanced at him, "Everyone has secrets that they don't want others to know, Severus...including you and me."

Snape turned his head away, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes.

"Tell me what you know."

Dumbledore walked sideways to the table, picked up the tea and took a sip. "About the Chamber of Secrets."

"I have no idea."

Snape walked over to where Dumbledore had been, "The Dark Lord never mentioned this. You should know that he never discusses the past."

As he spoke, Snape bent down and naturally put the ashes under the branch into a bottle, with a calm expression as if he was cleaning his own shelf.

Dumbledore's eyes twitched slightly.

Whether it's alchemy or potions, Phoenix's Nirvana Ashes are one of the rarest materials.

He had wanted to use these ashes to upgrade the Mirror of Erised, but when he wasn't paying attention, half of them were taken away by Snape.

Moreover, if Fox hadn't pecked him, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep the remaining half.

"Severus, you..."

Dumbledore was about to say something, but Snape had already swiftly put the bottle into his pocket, patted his robes, and looked up as if nothing had happened.

"Principal, what did you just say?"

"It's okay..." Dumbledore sighed, "Would you like to try some black tea? This was given to me by Madam Maxime of Beauxbatons. It tastes very good."

"Then have a drink." Snape walked over.

A new cup of black tea and a plate of sugar cubes immediately appeared on the table.

Snape picked up the cup and took a sip.

"You could try adding some sugar," Dumbledore said. "It would taste better."

"No, I never add that stuff."

Snape put down the cup and said, "There is one more thing..."

"What."

"I need to use the Pensieve," Snape said. "I saw a man in that corridor the day Charity Burbage was attacked."

"Who is it?" Dumbledore asked.

"It was too short," Snape said. "I couldn't see clearly."

"Well then..." Dumbledore pointed to a cabinet in the corner, "You know how to use it."

Snape stood up, walked over and opened the cabinet door.

There was a shallow stone basin in the cabinet, with some strange letters and symbols on the rim of the basin.

Snape placed the wand against his head and pulled out a stream of silver substance... It was like light turning into liquid, or like wind condensing into solid.

“I thought I wouldn’t do it again.”

Snape put his memories into the Pensieve with a complicated expression.

"Come and see for yourself, I know you can..."

After saying that, he put his head into the meditation basin.

The next second, Snape appeared in a corridor... and then Dumbledore appeared.

Their eyes kept moving forward, as if they were walking.

When they reached the end of the corridor, their sight suddenly changed direction... They saw a figure flash by at the corner ahead.

But the time was too short. When they turned their eyes, the other party had almost left the passage. They only saw a vague silhouette.

Dumbledore's expression changed slightly and he turned to look at a door not far away.

"This is the room where Keridi was attacked."

Snape nodded.

Afterwards, the two returned to the principal's office.

"What do you want to say..." Dumbledore asked.

Snape recalled his memory, closed the door of the cabinet containing the Pensieve again, and then asked meaningfully, "Do you think that silhouette looks like a person?"

"I think I see what you mean, Severus."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment before continuing, "But this is impossible. The time in your memory was in the morning. Almost everyone can prove that Kyle was watching the game at the Quidditch field at that time, and he never left... It was impossible for him to be there."

"Is it possible...a time-turner?"

"No."

Dumbledore shook his head. "The more you know, the more you understand how terrible the consequences of fooling with time are... She will not allow Kyle to touch the time converter, even if the impact is only minimal."

Dumbledore did not say a name, but Snape knew who he was talking about.

"So, the two previous applications..."

"Yes, it was Diana who refused." Dumbledore joked: "After two consecutive rejections, I thought I was looking for a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Dumbledore thought he had told a good joke, but Snape obviously didn't think so.

Instead of smiling, his expression became even more serious.

“That’s something I can’t figure out.”

"If there's no Time-Turner, why is he in two places at once... Polyjuice Potion?"

Snape frowned.

Some time ago, someone broke into his private storage room and stole a lot of potion materials, including the skin of African tree snake and the horn of two-horned beast, which is also the key to making compound potion.

But the timelines didn’t match…the theft in his private storeroom happened a few days ago, while the attack on Kheridibbaji happened a month ago.

"Don't overthink it, Severus."

Dumbledore poured him a fresh cup of tea.

"It's just a silhouette. It doesn't prove anything. Maybe it's another person, but you just made a preconceived notion."

"So Dumbledore, do you think so? You and I have recognized the wrong person?" Snape raised his head. "Don't forget, I didn't say who the silhouette looked like."

"I trust Kell." Dumbledore looked out the window, "just as I trust Harry and you."

"Ha, I am truly honored." Snape sneered, "To be compared with the great savior and the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin..."

"The savior is just a shackle, not an honor, but the Order of Merlin..." Dumbledore suddenly shook his head, "You really don't have it, Severus."

Snape was stunned at first, then his face darkened instantly, "Do you think I care about that kind of thing?"

"If you cared, you would have received the first-class medal long ago." Dumbledore said with a smile, "But others obviously don't think so. When it comes to personal honors, people think you are not as good as Kyle."

"Just because of a gold-plated plate?" Snape's face became even more sour.

"Level 2 is pure gold..."

"Is that what I mean?" sputtered Snape.

When he thought of what Dumbledore had just said, he felt a surge of anger in his heart, and he didn't even notice that the topic had changed.

Snape never cared about anything other than potions, nor did he value fame, honor or anything like that.

He could accept that others said Lockhart was better than him, and he could also accept that Harry Potter was more famous than him...it didn't matter, he didn't care about it anyway.

But somehow, he felt unhappy when he heard Dumbledore say that he was not as good as Kyle.

I have never felt this way before, as if the potion I worked so hard to make was taken away by someone else.

"Severus, if you are willing to publish your own little tricks for brewing potions, I can be your nominee."

Dumbledore couldn't help laughing at his expression and said, "I promise that you will also be awarded the Order of the Knights next time."

"Level one?" Snape was a little tempted.

"No, level three... level two at most..." Dumbledore shook his head. "This needs to be judged based on the specific effects of those skills."

A third-level medal...what's the use of that?

"No, I'm not interested in this and don't want to waste time on it." Snape refused decisively.

"That's a pity." Dumbledore blinked. "If you change your mind, you can always come to me."

(End of this chapter)