In the Headmaster's office, silver instrumeed wisps of smoke, obsg Dumbledore's expressio in the chair behind his desk, his long fingers sifting through a pile of dies, yet he chose none.

  The precise time of the attack was still uermined by Dumbledore. Despite being the headmaster of this magical school, holding many privileges within the campus, he couldn't know the whereabouts of everyohin its walls.

  Even the four founders who created the sight not have achieved such ht.

  Professor Sprout had just left the office after inf Dumbledore about what she knew regarding Daniel. After leaving the underground , Dumbledore had immediately goo inquire with the ghosts roaming the school.

  The Hufflepuff ghost, the Fat Friar, told Dumbledore that he had seen Daniel after lunch. Daniel, looking fused, had returo the on room, but the Fat Friar hadn't noticed when Daniel left again. After that, none of the ghosts had seen him.

  Corroborating the students' and ghosts' ats, it was firmed that Daniel Bell had gone missing iernoon.

  From the moment he "disappeared" to the time he was discovered by Filch, any point during that period could have beeime of the attack.

  In that secluded underground , seldom frequented, Daniel might have been lying there from the moment he went missing.

  If not for Filch's actal discovery, he might have remaihere for some time.

  Thud! Thud! Thud!

  A knock sou the door.

  It opened, and Snape walked in.

  "How did it go, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.

  Snape shook his head and said, "Fawley looks normal. All of Fawley's behaviors are sistent with his identity as a professor."

  "If anything were immediately obvious, it would only show that Fawley is far less clever than he appears," Dumbledore remarked. "What did he say?"

  "He naturally denied everything. Who would admit to such a thing?" Snape replied. "Fawley cimed he had no reason to do something like this. He said he was just looking for something."

  "I've been watg him closely since I learned about this i," Snape tinued. Refleg ouation, he added, "His behavior was so normal that it seemed abnormal."

  "It seems that our Professor Fawley has a strong talent for ag, and his desire to perform is also very strong."

  "Indeed, his performance is like an alchemical product set up in advance, as if everything is within his expectations, which makes people more suspicious of him," Snape said.

  "If we weren't already watg him closely, his aight seem fwless and beyond reproach," Dumbledore analyzed. "But given that we've been him for some time, his behavior noears somewhat trived."

  Snape agreed with this assessment.

  When you pay special attention to someone, everything they do take on new meanings. He tinued, "After leaving the underground , he went straight back to his offid hasn't left since."

  "The school has been attacked. I will definitely pay more attention to the situation in the school. The professors will also increase patrols. He won't get any good opportu this time. He o wait for a better time."

  "Maybe he is trying to fish in troubled waters. He first muddies the water and diverts your attention. In this way, it may be easier for him to do things." Snape expressed his opinion.

  "What you say makes sense," Dumbledreed, tinuing, "That way, he join the professors in their patrols and search the castle openly. However, this would also lower his efficy."

  "Indeed," Snape mused. "He would be assigned a specific area to patrol and wouldn't have the freedom to move about as he pleases."

  "Yet, all of this is merely our specution," Dumbledore cluded, finally choosing a dy. "We y crete evidence linking Be Fawley to this i. We 't send him to Azkaban based on suspi alone."

  "If he's irying to create fusion, then he's succeeded," Snape admitted. "We 't do much about him at the moment."

  Rushing up to Be Fawley and hitting him with an "Avada Kedavra" might be satisfying, but Dumbledore's principles wouldn't allow su a.

  The two fell silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

  "Oh, by the way, have you found out what exactly he's looking for?" Dumbledore asked.

  "Not yet," Snape replied. "Although he sought my help, he hasn't been fully ho with me. He's hiding many things."

  "He's uo trust you?" Dumbledore asked, clearly puzzled, knowing Snape's capabilities well.

  Snape g Dumbledore, a hint of dissatisfa in his eyes. "It's not about trust or distrust. I feel he's afraid I might seize this item. On one hand, he wants my help, but oher, he's wary of me."

  "A tradictory person," Dumbledore sighed softly.

  "I think there's something wrong with his head," Snape said.

  "Oh?" Dumbledore inquired, curious about Snape's reasoning. "What do you mean?"

  "I'm not saying he's literally mentally ill, but his obsession with finding this item seems abnormal."

  Snape paused to sider his words carefully before tinuing, aiming to be as objective as possible. "In his mind, this item is supposed to have the power to ge the world. However, he himself isn't even sure what it is exactly. He's just vihat it must be hidden somewhere in Hogwarts."

  Over the past few days, Dumbledore had already begun to suspect what this "item" might be. Given this, he couldn't let someoh pure-bloins like Fawley find it.

  "No object ge the world; it's aleople who do," Dumbledore remarked thoughtfully.

  "*Snort* No one ge the world," Snape said. "Oh, except for people like you, who selfishly try to ge the world acc to your own ideas."

  Snape's eyes turned vat, as if recalling memories he preferred tet.

  "A 'thing' that make a petent wizard so obsessed—I would genuinely like to see it," Dumbledore tinued, ign Snape's remark.

  "Fawley himself seems like a headless fly, just aimlessly bumping around. Your wish to see something spectacur might be in vain."

  "Severus, people o hold onto some hope and vision in life," Dumbledore said early.

  "Those are just foolish words spouted by clever tricksters when maniputing idiots," Sorted with disdain, his gaze sharp as it fixed on Dumbledore.

  "Hope is one of the greatest gifts in this world. Even in the darkest times, it lights up our path and fills us with a longing for the light," Dumbledore said with a smile. "It is through love and hope that humanity tio move forward. Isn't that right, Severus?"

  Surned his head away disdainfully, tired of Dumbledore's grand speeches about love and hope.

  "Have you found the child who overheard your versation that day?" Seeing that Snape didn't want to tihe current topic, Dumbledore decided to ge the subject.

  "A first-year brat, an annoying, self-righteous little brat," Snape's expression soured, but he answered Dumbledore's question.

  "Ah, let me guess, this 'self-righteous' and 'annoying' brat wouldn't happen to be Miss Esmeralda Twist, would she?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, easily imagining Snape's expression when dealing with Eda.

  Sihe start of the school year, Dumbledore had been keeping an eye on Eda. Aside from some "exquisite mischief," he was quite pleased with her and was even sidering incorporating her into his pns.

  Snape didn't seem particurly surprised to hear Eda's name; he would have been more surprised if Dumbledore didn't know.

  When fag Dumbledore, many people had the illusion that they uood him well enough. However, what they saw was often just the tip of the iceberg; you only ever saw what Dumbledore wanted you to see.

  No one in this world could fully prehend Dumbledore's thoughts. Perhaps such a person oed—

  "Do me a favor, Severus, and look after that child for me."

  "She's in Gryffindor," Snape began but was quickly interrupted.

  "I have also asked Professonagall," Dumbledore tinued.

  Snape looked at Dumbledore bnkly, and Dumbledore knew what he meant: You have already found Professonagall for this task, so why are you looking for me? What's more, it's a little Gryffindor who is extremely annoying.

  "It's not the same thing. If Miss Twist actally gets involved in Be Fawley's affairs, she will be left to you." Dumbledore expined.

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