Late at night, there was a snowstorm outside, but the lights were still on in the window of the principal's office. Dumbledore, wearing snow-white pajamas and a purple-bottomed gold-inlaid robe, was sitting on a high-backed chair behind his desk, reading the latest issue by candlelight.
's Defense Guide.
"What a surprise. I didn't expect that my useless great-great-grandson would actually open a magazine, and the reviews seemed to be pretty good." Phineas' lazy voice came from the portrait.
"Sirius is much more mature than before, and he knows how to take care of his friends better." Dumbledore said gently.
"It's not that I look down on him. With that guy's character, he can't do this. Most likely someone will help him." Phineas narrowed his eyes and asked Dumbledore, "What do you think Anderson wants to do?"
"Not sure."
Dumbledore's eyes lingered on the page where Karkaroff was a Death Eater for a long time, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
"You seem to trust him very much." Phineas continued without waiting for Dumbledore to answer: "To be honest, I have always thought that his character should be in Slytherin. He is not as simple as you think. I always
I think Anderson is planning something."
"I never ignored him."
Dumbledore continued to flip through the magazine in his hand and chatted with Phineas casually, "It is too hasty to characterize a person by his sorting. People are always complicated, and everyone has their own thoughts."
"Sowing discord Phineas, you are just worried about the galleons you paid last time. Don't forget, the other party saved your great-great-grandson." A fat wizard with a red nose roared loudly.
"I'm telling the truth. That guy is very greedy, very greedy for money, and very insidious. My poor great-great-grandson is just a tool he can use, but he doesn't realize it at all." Phineas
I want to find out what Albert Anderson wants to do, so that Sirius will not fall into the trap one day.
Phineas knew many people, and guys like Albert Anderson were definitely among the most difficult and dangerous.
Ever since Sirius Black met Anderson, the wealth in the Black family coffers has been drained at an alarming rate.
This makes it difficult for Phineas not to suspect that Albert wants to seize the Black family's property.
"With all due respect, Mr. Anderson is not greedy. He is even more generous than most wizards." Dumbledore raised his head and corrected, "Phineas, you probably don't know that Mr. Anderson is actually richer than the Black family."
"That's impossible." Phineas immediately denied the matter.
"It's not impossible, it's just that you don't know it." Dumbledore closed the "Defense Guide" and said gently. "In Mr. Anderson's heart, there is a scale used to weigh everything, everything he does.
Everything has its own considerations.”
"Just like he borrowed the magazine in your hand to easily reveal the secret called Karkaroff, making him look like a lost dog, and used it to retaliate against Karkaroff for giving him a 1 point?" Finia
Si couldn't help but sarcastically said, "That guy looks more like a Slytherin student than a Slytherin student."
This is what Phineas is most worried about. Mr. Anderson is more insidious and cunning than expected.
"We are already dead, Phineas." the fat wizard with a red nose reminded, "and now you are actually worried about the living?"
Before Dumbledore could answer, there was a knock on the door of the principal's office.
The portraits also stopped communicating and began to pretend to be asleep.
"Come in," said Dumbledore.
The wooden door of the principal's office was pushed open, and Snape walked in and said straight to the point: "Karkaroff has left!"
"I know about this." Dumbledore had already predicted that Karkaroff was now boycotted by the entire British wizarding community. Not many people originally knew about this matter, but this matter was revealed by the "Defense Guide"
After the publication of "The Dark Mark" in the Quidditch World Cup, Karkaroff has indeed not been having a good time recently, and has been bombarded with shouting letters.
Snape moved his lips, as if he wanted to say something, but seemed to be hesitating. After some struggle, he finally said: "Karkaroff's mark began to turn black. In recent months, it has become darker."
It’s becoming more and more obvious.”
With that said, Snape opened his sleeves and showed Dumbledore the Dark Mark on his arm. Originally, when Voldemort lost his strength, the Dark Mark looked like a scar, but after Voldemort gradually regained his strength,
, the Dark Mark begins to recover.
"The Dark Lord is still alive and gathering power."
Snape looked at the shadow on Dumbledore's face and continued: "Karkaroff knew this very well, so he was very nervous and worried about being punished. You know that after the fall of the Dark Lord, he gave the Ministry of Magic a lot of help
, the Dark Lord obviously would not let the betrayer go easily, so he took advantage of this incident to escape and prepared to find a place to hide."
"Really?" Dumbledore said softly, "You also want to find a place to hide with him?"
"I'm not such a coward." Snape laughed at himself: "Besides, I don't think Karkaroff can escape. With the character of the Dark Lord, he will never let the betrayer go easily."
"You are much braver than Igor Karkaroff." Dumbledore comforted: "Don't worry, the situation is not as bad as you think, it is still within our expectations."
"Expected?" Snape expressed doubts, "Did you already know that he would return?"
"Already known? No, no one knows." Dumbledore said calmly, "But I know that Voldemort is not dead yet, and it will be a matter of time before he comes back. Many things have foreshadowed this."
"You just watch this happen." Snape stared at Dumbledore in disbelief with his eyes wide open.
"Some things, even if they are known, cannot be stopped. As the saying goes: Instead of trying to stop it, it is better to think about how to solve it after it happens." Dumbledore intertwined his hands.
Looking up at Snape, he said: "And the biggest problem is that we don't know how he did it."
"Even you don't know?"
"I'm just an ordinary person, Severus." Dumbledore said helplessly. "By the way, I hope you can pay attention to Moody for me."
"I thought you trusted him." Snape's tone was filled with concealed sarcasm. He hated Moody.
"Yes, I trust him, but someone reminded me that I should be wary of him." Dumbledore didn't pay attention to Snape's surprised expression.
"You actually believe it." Snape felt incredible. He was very aware of Dumbledore's friendship with Mad-Eye Moody. "Did you find anything wrong?"
"Not so far, but I think it's always right to be cautious." Dumbledore lowered his eyes and said, "I hope you can help me prepare a veritaserum, the most powerful veritaserum."
"He searched my office," Snape said sullenly, "in your name."
"I suspect someone has infiltrated Hogwarts." Dumbledore whispered, "I asked Moody to check all the professors' offices."
"He searched everyone, but he was an exception?" Snape felt that he was following Dumbledore's thoughts, but he was actually more curious about who alerted Dumbledore that Mad-Eye Moody had a problem, and that
Dumbledore actually became suspicious of his old friend.
"No, that's not the reason. Anyway, help me pay attention to him."
