"Boom—"
Green flames lit up in the fireplace, and the next moment, an elderly man dressed in a bright purple robe bent down and emerged from the fire, still keeping a backward glance as if he were greeting someone. However, the next moment, his movements hesitated slightly—
"Back already?"
William, who was playing with Fawkes, turned his head from beside the Phoenix's perch.
"You all..."
Dumbledore's blue eyes glanced around the room at William and Snape, feeling a sense of déjà vu about the situation. He wondered... Hasn't this happened several times already in the last two semesters?
"Albus..."
But this time seemed different from before, Snape's expression, usually unfriendly, was now filled with hostility, something never seen before, "You promised me, you promised to protect him, so why did you give him, give the Dark Lord's items?"
Whoa, looks like you're really concerned about Harry Potter, huh?
Observing Snape's show of genuine emotion, William couldn't help raising his eyebrows. He originally planned to wait alone in the Headmaster's Office until this old man finished his meeting and then question him alone. However, after knowing of the situation, Snape insisted on joining, and though William couldn't initially understand why Snape was so emotional, it now seemed...
There's another story here...
But if he cares so much about Harry, why does Snape often want to expel him? And William noticed more than once that Snape looked at Harry as though he were an enemy.
What's this supposed to mean? Love so deep turns to hate?
These British folks are so awkward.
"He has this responsibility, Severus, you should know this better than I do."
Dumbledore's expression did not change due to Snape's behavior; he slowly settled behind his desk, "Would you like something to drink?" He looked at William, who's busy with Fawkes, "Let Fawkes be; it just underwent Nirvana."
At this time, Fawkes had just undergone Rebirth, returning once again to its fledgling state, with barely any feathers on its wrinkled pinkish-purple skin, looking rather unattractive.
"Cola." William placed Fawkes back in its nest and sat opposite Dumbledore, "No Pepsi."
"... Tea, perhaps?"
Dumbledore paused.
"Oh, that works too."
The next moment, a cup appeared in William's hand.
"But he's only a second-year, twelve years old; we can't hand over this responsibility so early—"
It was apparent that Snape hadn't finished speaking yet; Dumbledore's words hadn't convinced him. The man placed the tea cup appearing his hand aside and continued with a grim expression to watch the old man beginning to have tea with William.
"What responsibility?"
William was curious, placing the overly sweet tea aside.
"Twelve years is enough, Severus, you've seen Harry's excellence, just last year, he and his companions."
Dumbledore sighed, "We don't have as much time as we used to think; I can sense—" The elderly man's gaze seemed to surpass the two before him, extending into the distant horizon.
"… You're saying?"
Snape's breath slightly halted; he instinctively covered his left wrist under the man's gaze, as Dumbledore lightly nodded.
"If you two keep playing Riddler, I'm going to take action."
Ignored for quite a while, William chose to directly pull out his magic wand, pointing it at the old bat's temple.
Snape: "?"
Wait, the old man plays Riddler, but you point the wand at me?
What justice is there in this?
"Hold on, William, don't rush, this story is a bit long…"
"Then be brief, first explain clearly why you gave that diary to Harry—"
William furrowed his brows, his tone unfriendly, "You said you wanted to do some research, and the diary you said was 'borrowed' by you, you promised to keep it safe. Wait, you better not tell me..."
"Yes, William, this is my research." Dumbledore nodded, affirming William's guess.
"... Research what? The Savior and the Dark Lord's love-hate relationship?"
William spoke with no good humor but lowered the wand pointing at Snape's temple, "Is this a female channel or something?"
"Of course not," Dumbledore shook his head, "Savior… the title sounds good, but simultaneously, the responsibility behind it is unimaginable… Voldemort didn't really die, as soon as the war was won, I knew he'd return sooner or later…"
Standing to the side, Snape kept silent, whereas two years ago, he might have opposed saying Dumbledore was worrying excessively, since the British Magic Realm had been peaceful for over a decade, but last year's Philosopher's Stone incident and the resurgence of the Death Eaters' mark recently made him completely believe it.
"Return?"
William raised an eyebrow, not taking it seriously, "Even if that bastard came crawling out of the coffin, so what, just a Black Wizard. Plus, Harry Potter's a Savior because he rebounded Voldemort's Killing Curse at one year old, right? Does he need to save a second time? How, is he Jesus?"
Just a Black Wizard…
Snape's eyebrows twitched unconsciously, having the instinctive feeling that William was being too arrogant—then he remembered he couldn't defeat him, so Snape chose silence.
"No, Potter is called the Savior because of a prophecy—"
Dumbledore shook his head, and as he spoke these words, visible pain flashed through Snape's eyes.
"Prophecy?"
"... I'm going back."
Snape quickly stood up, didn't wait for the other two to speak, and walked straight out of the Headmaster's Office—until he was out the door, his farewell slowly drifted in from outside.
"... What happened to him?"
William was puzzled as he watched the hurriedly disappearing figure at the stairway.
"He made a mistake once and is now trying to atone—Severus is not what you imagine." Dumbledore adjusted his sitting posture, waved his hand, and both of their teacups refilled again.
"Alright, but what does it have to do with the prophecy?" William remained puzzled.
"Before that," Dumbledore seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then, he took a deep breath, "Senior…"
"?"
"Wait, what did you just call me?"
"Hey, kid, quit pretending; I'd recognize you even if you turned to ash—"
Not waiting for Dumbledore, a teasing voice suddenly echoed from behind William.