Behind a wide desk, Dumbledore was leaning toward the candlelight, reading through documents.
He wore snow-white pajamas with a crimson velvet dressing gown over them, yet he looked full of vigor.
On a shelf behind him sat the ragged, wrinkled Sorting Hat, and beside it, inside a glass case, rested a gleaming silver sword.
Dumbledore lifted his head.
"Oh, it's you, Professor McGonagall. And James and Severus,so we meet again."
"Professor Dumbledore," Professor McGonagall said angrily, "these two were just dueling with magic in the girls' bathroom. Absolutely disgraceful!"
"It wasn't a duel," Snape immediately said. "It was self-defense."
Professor McGonagall looked back at Snape, frowning slightly.
"Was James injured?" Dumbledore asked.
"I was not!" James said quickly, his voice tinged with irritation and defiance.
Snape rolled his eyes inwardly. Who exactly was Dumbledore doubting here?
"Tell me what happened." Dumbledore set the documents aside, his sharp blue eyes flicking between Snape and James. "Who will speak first?"
"Oh, I don't mind." Snape shrugged.
James looked both resentful and a little uneasy. "Headmaster, I found him sneaking into the girls' bathroom on the second floor at midnight, so I wanted to see what he was doing in there."
"With a Stunner, sneaking around under cover?" Snape said scornfully.
He pulled from his robes something fluid-like, a shimmering silver cloak.
"Mr. Potter, do you know who this little trinket belongs to?"
"Give it back!" James snatched the Invisibility Cloak out of Snape's hand.
Dumbledore's eyes fell upon the silvery-grey cloak. His brow lifted slightly, and an almost imperceptible complexity flickered in his gaze.
"Professor," Snape said, "do you believe Potter has any need of an Invisibility Cloak on school grounds?"
"Of course not," Dumbledore said calmly. "I trust Professor McGonagall will see to the proper punishment."
He turned to McGonagall and asked, "Minerva, what do you propose?"
Professor McGonagall nodded, recounting what she had witnessed and how she intended to deal with it:
"Fifty points will be taken from both Gryffindor and Slytherin, and one week of detention, beginning tomorrow evening at six."
"Very good," Dumbledore said. "Magic is meant to protect, to explore, and to learn,not to be turned against fellow students. I hope you will both learn from this and not repeat the same mistake."
"Headmaster," Snape reminded him, "I've looked through Mr. Filch's list of banned items, and the Invisibility Cloak is listed as number one hundred and twenty-eight."
He certainly did not want James to keep such a cloak, immune to revealing charms. Otherwise, Snape would have to spend every day on edge.
"Severus, even as Headmaster, I cannot simply confiscate a student's treasured possession at will," Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "This Invisibility Cloak is an exceedingly rare and valuable artifact."
"You cannot maintain the authority of school rules only when ordinary students break them," Snape said discontentedly. "A valuable Invisibility Cloak is still an Invisibility Cloak, is it not?"
"Professor, he went to the girls' bathroom at midnight,he clearly had bad intentions," James said urgently. "I couldn't just let it go. I only used it to-"
James tried to explain, but Dumbledore raised his hand to cut him off.
"Young people are always full of curiosity and adventurous spirit." Dumbledore still smiled, his gaze gentle as he looked at Snape. "Severus, what was your purpose in going to the girls' bathroom?
"And please, don't tell me it was to chat with Moaning Myrtle. You and I both know you're not exactly close with her."
"I hope to tell you that privately later, Professor. I'm sure you'll find it of great interest," Snape replied without deference or timidity. "Of course, after the matter of Potter's Invisibility Cloak is dealt with properly."
"Headmaster, it was passed down to me from my father," James said anxiously, glancing at Dumbledore. "If I lose it, I can't explain it to him."
Snape ignored the angry, faintly threatening look James shot at him and said to Dumbledore, "You could keep the Invisibility Cloak in your custody until the end of term, and then return it to Potter."
"Hmm... a reasonable suggestion. Let's do it that way then, James." Dumbledore said. "I'll hold on to it for now and return it to you when you go home."
James hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly nodded and handed the cloak over to Dumbledore.
"It's late. You should return to your dormitories and rest." Dumbledore waved his hand. "Perhaps Severus still has something to tell me."
"Wait!" James suddenly burst out. "There's another thing,my parchment, he has it!"
"That blank parchment? Perhaps you heard,I flushed it down the toilet not long ago."
"What," James glared at Snape in shock. "What did you say?"
"Truly sorry, Potter. How about this: I'll buy you an entire bundle of parchment as compensation."
"That's not the same at all!"
"Oh, I know. A bundle is obviously more, but as an apology, don't be shy."
Snape's words seemed to drive James nearly to the point of frenzy. His cheeks flushed red, his lips trembled, and he was unable to speak.
"Enough. Professor McGonagall, take James back to the tower." Dumbledore dismissed them.
Professor McGonagall nodded respectfully to Dumbledore, then led a seething James out of the Headmaster's office.
"Muffliato." Before Snape could ask, Dumbledore cast the spell himself. "Now you can say whatever you wish."
Through the lenses of his half-moon spectacles, his pale blue eyes fixed intently on Snape.
Over this period of time, Snape had been thinking hard about how to break the deadlock.
On the one hand, he had no reason to ignore a figure like Dumbledore, a "White Dark Lord" who stood at the peak of both intellect and magical power. He needed Dumbledore's help.
On the other hand, it was difficult to carry out any extraordinary actions in Hogwarts without Dumbledore noticing,after all, every portrait in the castle served as his eyes.
Therefore, Snape decided to reveal part of his discoveries to Dumbledore, to gain his trust and support.
Of course, he had no intention of telling everything. Deep in his heart, he still held reservations.
"Professor," Snape sat in the chair opposite Dumbledore, "I went to the girls' bathroom to ask Moaning Myrtle about Tom Riddle. Do you know him?"
Dumbledore shot to his feet so fast it startled Snape.
He fixed Snape with eyes so piercingly sharp they seemed like icy arrows, as if to bore straight through his own.