"Whether you're trying to protect Harry, serve Dumbledore, or love someone else... you should at least know this."
She drew a steadying breath before continuing:
"Harry—he's one of Voldemort's Horcruxes."
"Horcrux?" Snape's instincts screamed that this was catastrophically bad news.
"Voldemort split his soul into fragments. One piece lodged itself in Harry during that night fifteen years ago."
Orli fought to keep her voice level.
"Think about Harry—no Slytherin heritage yet he speaks Parseltongue, he shares inexplicable connections with Voldemort, he can even see through the Dark Lord's eyes... Dumbledore must suspect this too."
"So... Potter and that monster are... symbiotically linked?" Snape's face turned ashen.
"Not exactly," Orli clarified.
"It's complicated. We've already begun hunting the other Horcruxes. Harry—if Voldemort used Harry's blood during his resurrection, we should have a way to save him."
"You've started hunting Horcruxes?" Snape demanded, staring at her in horror.
"You're involved in this madness?"
"Actually, I've destroyed two already. Dumbledore eliminated one, and he's tracking the next..."
Orli replied quietly.
"How could he allow you to do this!" Snape's voice erupted with barely contained fury.
"He promised me he wouldn't let you—"
"He promised you?" Orli pounced on his slip.
"What exactly did he promise? That as long as you played his spy, he'd keep me safely away from all this?"
Snape remained silent, but his expression confirmed everything.
She laughed bitterly, shaking her head.
"Do you remember Trelawney's prophecy? I'm destined to be dragged into this war. Rather than be swept along helplessly, I'd rather take control myself."
"Orli..." Snape gazed at her as though desperate to speak.
But Orli pushed open her door without another glance.
"Good night—Professor."
The soft words cut deeper than any curse before she closed the door with finality.
Snape's fingers trembled violently.
Professor. She'd returned to that cold formality.
This was exactly what he'd claimed to want—self-righteously pushing her away, rejecting her repeatedly, using cruel words to wound her, stubbornly maintaining their teacher-student boundaries, convinced this protected her...
But everything was catastrophically wrong.
He raised his wand, silently casting the Patronus Charm.
Brilliant silver mist erupted from the tip, coalescing into an enormous black panther. It stood in brooding silence, watching him with knowing eyes before dissolving into nothingness.
When had it transformed into this?
Even Snape couldn't pinpoint the moment.
Perhaps after that Christmas... perhaps the night they gathered Fluxweed... perhaps last summer... perhaps even earlier...
The wall sconces had mysteriously extinguished, abandoning him to absolute darkness. Something lurked beyond his vision, silently mocking his foolishness, his cowardice, his pathetic weakness.
He had never loathed himself more—or despised that madman across the Channel with greater venom.
Without Voldemort, his hopes wouldn't be shattered again and again!
But perhaps redemption remained possible. Once that lunatic was finally destroyed, once peace returned, when he'd cleared his name, when they were all safe...
If Orli could still accept him then, he would resign his position. They could be together openly... find somewhere they both loved, just the two of them, never to be separated again...
This time, he wove himself a beautiful dream. Only this fragile hope could prevent his sanity from crumbling completely in the suffocating darkness.
Author's Note:
Some readers have asked: since all Patronuses appear silver-white, how can we distinguish Snape's as a black panther?
Among all big cats, only black panthers lack visible spots or patterns—that's the primary identifier.
Similarly, Orli's cheetah is recognizable not as a leopard or snow leopard because only cheetahs possess those distinctive tear marks beneath their eyes.
Additionally, the official Pottermore Patronus test provides color-specific results (despite showing only silver-white images): black mare, ginger cat, dapple grey stallion, tabby cat, tuxedo cat, black swan, etc.
Technically, snake Patronuses would be nearly impossible to distinguish—except for cobras and pythons, who could identify other serpents in their silver-white state without expert knowledge?
So that explains the Patronus identification system in this story.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
🔥 Want to read the next 80chapters RIGHT NOW?
💎 Patreon members get instant access!
⚡ Limited-time offer currently running...
👉 [Join on Patreon - patreon.com/DarkGolds]