double agent
Harry felt intense anger.
He meant that he was initially angry because Sirius inexplicably refused to tell him anything, was taken back to the old house, told to witness the destruction of the Horcrux, and then taken to another room to "witness"—he hated this the most, being kept in the dark, knowing nothing, and having to listen to someone say it was for his own good—but Sirius didn't say that. He even showed a sad expression. If it weren't for the inappropriate setting, Harry would have almost wondered if he had some incurable disease that even potions couldn't cure, which was why Sirius looked like that.
"You've been using Occlumency, haven't you?" These were Sirius's first words.
Ha used indifference to express his dissatisfaction, only responding with a curt "hmm".
“I need you to temporarily remove it.” Sirius frowned, his expression worried.
Why not say it if you're so worried? Since it concerns him, he has the right to know!
Harry hummed in agreement again, but decided against it.
Time ticked by, and six minutes passed without Harry noticing anything.
Sirius stared intently at the time, "To entrust such an important task to a snotty-nosed devil..."
Harry resisted the urge to ask them about their plans.
Suddenly, a violent, all-consuming rage erupted from his brain, instantly engulfing his entire body—a connection and resonance from the soul that his mind-blocking technique could not resist. He slumped off the chair, curling up in pain with his hands over his head, groaning. Sirius rushed over in terror and embraced him.
Harry saw Snape, whose movements were similar to his own. He had never heard Snape's voice so humble and trembling, "Master... Master..."
Harry saw "himself" raise his hand, the tip of his yew wand pointing at the figure on the ground, his voice hoarse and cold, "Crunch in the Heart—"
"No--!"
The appointed time had arrived. Dumbledore remained calm as he raised the Elder Wand and cast Fiendfyre on the four Horcruxes floating in mid-air.
The locket and ring sensed the threat of death and tried to lure Dumbledore into wearing them.
Dumbledore watched silently as Ariana's face changed from harmless to fierce, and finally disappeared into the Fiendfire. He sighed, put away the Horcrux, and went next door.
Sirius panicked. "Dumbledore! Look at Harry!"
Dumbledore had clearly anticipated this; he reached out and brushed Harry's hair away from his forehead. "Sirius, calm down."
"I can't calm down! How can I calm down! Tell me, how can I calm down when Harry is like this!"
Dumbledore looked at Sirius, who was even more frantic than Harry, and began to consider whether to just knock him unconscious.
Harry's attempts to stop him were completely ineffective. Voldemort had punished Snape enough, or rather, he believed that Snape was no longer able to resist Legilimency. He drilled into Snape's brain through those black eyes, searching for the information he wanted like flipping through a book.
Hiding behind the dining room door, Snape overheard several core members of the Order of the Phoenix discussing Voldemort's Horcruxes. A familiar, disgusting smile appeared on Dumbledore's hateful, aged face. "Alastor and the others found Gaunt's ring in Great Hangleton. Add the locket and the diary, and we've got three Horcruxes. You say there are seven in total, right, Horace?"
Slughorn sat opposite Dumbledore. "I think so, Tom—he said so, didn't you see my memories?" A hint of fear flickered across his uneasy face. "If you hadn't known the secret of the Horcruxes, I would never have..."
Dumbledore sighed and said, "I never expected that it was Mr. Black of Slytherin who discovered the secret of the Horcruxes and secretly moved the real Horcruxes."
Someone came running downstairs, and Snape turned and Apparated away.
Voldemort's expression was ferocious. Look at what he saw! Leaving aside Slughorn, that opportunist, his loyal servants were one who outwardly obeyed but inwardly defied him, and the other who dared to lose what he had given him.
He knew it was all true; he had just sensed that one of his Horcruxes had disappeared.
Enraged, Voldemort was about to unleash a few more Crucifixion Curses to vent his anger, but there was only a half-dead, disoriented Snape in the room. Voldemort took a deep breath and personally helped the man up from the ground. "Very good, Severus, very good, just as you did back then... The Dark Lord will not forget your contribution... Now, go and call Bellatrix and Lucius to me."
Snape tried his best to control his trembling voice, "Yes, Master."
Harry snapped out of his headache, momentarily dazed. When he recognized the person beside him, he cried out, "Professor Dumbledore, Snape is a spy! He really is a Death Eater!"
Sirius was pale, but Harry didn't notice. His mind was focused on Dumbledore, and he just wanted to tell everything he had seen as soon as possible.
Dumbledore's tone was reassuring. "Harry, what did you see?"
Harry rambled on, finally saying hesitantly, "Snape endured many of Voldemort's Crucifixion Curses, could he...?" He knew what had happened to Neville's parents; the Crucifixion Curse could drive a person insane or cause death.
“Severus knows what he's doing.”
Harry pursed his lips. "He overheard your conversation in the dining room. Voldemort found out about the Order of the Phoenix searching for Horcruxes, and he saw it all!"
“I instructed Severus to do it, Harry.”
"……"ah?
Harry felt his head spinning again.
Dumbledore handed him a piece of chocolate. "Severus is a spy planted by the Order of the Phoenix among the Death Eaters."
"...Are you sure? Voldemort was absolutely certain that he was a spy he had sent to infiltrate the Order of the Phoenix."
“I don’t deny it, because that was Severus’s first identity,” Dumbledore explained. “The scene Tom saw—or rather, the scene Severus made him see—was Horace sitting across from me? But have you ever seen Horace here even once?”
Harry honestly shook his head.
"So we've destroyed his five Horcruxes, and what information did Tom receive?"
"Three."
“Excellent.” Dumbledore nodded slightly. “Next, Tom will probably check if the remaining Horcruxes are safe, and then he will discover that the Golden Cup has also been stolen.”
"Then why not just let him 'see' that all five Horcruxes are gone?"
“Because I want him to come to Hogwarts in person to confirm.” Dumbledore looked at Harry’s scar through his half-moon spectacles, “to confirm whether the crown is intact.”
Harry took a breath. "You want to use Hogwarts as a battlefield."
"Severus will still need to intervene to get Tom to Hogwarts smoothly."
Did Dumbledore really trust Snape that much?
Harry murmured, “But Professor, you said Snape was a master of Occlumency. If he could fool Voldemort, why couldn’t he—” fool you too?
“Harry, you may not understand, but believe me, Severus would never betray the Order of the Phoenix.” Dumbledore’s gaze became unusually profound. “He must protect you.”
"……"ah?
Another bombshell dropped! Harry thought, "Professor, do you want to hear what you're saying?" Snape's relationship with him didn't seem like that of protector and protected at all; it was more like a relationship with Malfoy!
Sirius's face turned ugly, and he said through gritted teeth, "Because that filthy thing is infatuated with Lily."
"……"ah?
Dumbledore seemed not to have heard Sirius's words. He stared at Harry and said, "Harry, if I were not here—I mean, if—would you be willing to take on the mission of the savior, to face Voldemort, and to do what you must do?"
The topic shifted so quickly that Harry didn't catch on for a moment, but even if Dumbledore hadn't asked, his answer would always have been firm and unwavering—
"I do."
Sirius's expression darkened further.
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