By the time his awareness returned to the corridor, Harry was still thinking about that question.
In fact, the answer had already surfaced in his heart long ago.
He just didn't want to believe it.
After shivering all over, Harry instinctively wanted to rush back into the Room of Requirement and tell Link everything he had just seen.
At this moment, he desperately needed Link to give him an answer, to tell him what he should do next.
Snape seemed to sense Harry's intention and immediately stepped in front of him.
That didn't make Harry give up.
Without hesitation, he raised his wand and pointed it at Snape, but before he could cast a spell, a blinding white light burst from the tip of Snape's wand.
BOOM!
Harry was blasted backward, his whole body flying through the air and sliding a long way across the floor before he groaned and struggled back to his feet.
"You should go back to sleep."
Snape looked at Harry as he spoke.
He was almost completely shrouded in darkness, but even so, Harry could still feel the chill spreading from Snape's gaze.
"You saw it too, didn't you?" Harry endured the intense pain surging through his chest and abdomen, he felt like his ribs might have been broken by the fall.
"What's inside the Department of Mysteries? Why would Voldemort and his Death Eaters..."
"Don't speak the Dark Lord's name!"
Snape roared, cutting Harry off. Under the glare of those furious eyes, Harry's scar began to burn again.
This time, though, he didn't pay it much attention.
Because he was shocked to realize that Snape seemed nervous, even as he tried hard to maintain a cold and indifferent facade.
The two stared at each other in silence for a long time before Snape finally continued, "There are many things inside the Department of Mysteries, Potter. Very few of them are things you could understand, and none of them have anything to do with you. Am I clear?"
"Perfectly clear, sir." Harry stared straight at Snape, his eyes bright.
"But now I'm even more curious about one thing. Why do you call Voldemort the Dark Lord? As far as I know, only Death Eaters address their master that way."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Snape's grip on his wand trembled slightly.
Even though the darkness concealed him and the movement was small, Harry still noticed the abnormality.
A surge of fury rushed to Harry's head. He ground his teeth until they creaked and said, slowly and clearly, "You're with them!"
Snape's hand finally stopped trembling.
The face hidden in the darkness returned to its usual cold calm.
This must be the forced calming effect of Occlumency, Harry thought, even as his body slowly retreated backward.
He felt that his situation was extremely dangerous. Having just exposed Snape's "spy" identity on the spot, he might very well be silenced.
And if he, the only person who knew the truth, died…
Then Link, Dumbledore, and everyone at Hogwarts would continue to suffer under the poison of this hungry wolf called Snape.
Under the cover of darkness, Harry's retreat grew faster and faster.
But Snape showed no intention of stopping him.
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke again, "You're already in too deep, Harry. Link is a far more brilliant manipulator than either the Dark Lord or Dumbledore, and the only person I've seen in all these years who can rival Grindelwald at his peak."
"He's like a devil disguised as Santa Claus. Anyone who approaches him receives beautiful gifts from him and naturally develops affection toward him."
"But once you truly open that exquisite gift box, you'll find that what's inside isn't a gift at all, it's chains, forged from emotion itself."
"Those chains will bind your heart tightly, making you submit to him without realizing it, acting according to his commands and his ideas."
"Harry! You must be careful of Link!"
"You must stay away from him!"
"He means you no good!"
Snape's voice gradually shifted from cold indifference to agitation.
By the end, it had turned into piercing, desperate roars.
At the same time, Harry's retreat turned into a full sprint. He finally turned around completely and ran wildly into the darkness.
From beginning to end, Snape made no move to stop him. He only watched Harry's retreating figure, concern flickering in his eyes.
He knew very well that Harry had heard everything he said.
But he also knew just as clearly, Harry wouldn't believe a single word of it.
That was what made Link truly terrifying.
If a few words from him were enough to wake Harry up, then Link wouldn't deserve to be called a devil disguised as Santa Claus.
Snape turned his head and looked at the wall where the Room of Requirement's doorway was hidden, his expression complicated.
He couldn't remember when his most prized student had become like this.
In his memory, Link had been clutching his mother's leg just moments ago, looking at him with fearful yet curious eyes.
Then, in the next moment, Link's figure had rapidly grown larger.
Until he grabbed Snape by the collar, slammed him against the wall, and roared at him to live on.
Thinking back to that scene, a bitter smile appeared on Snape's face.
Snape didn't believe Link's actions came from kindness.
Link was simply selfish.
Link himself had admitted that much.
He just didn't want to lose his teacher, so he wouldn't allow him to die casually.
If Link truly cared about him, he should have protected Harry and kept him as far away from this vortex as possible.
Snape believed that with Link's intelligence, he must have seen this clearly.
He just didn't want to do it.
With a long sigh, Snape didn't open the door to the Room of Requirement. Instead, he continued down the corridor until he reached the entrance to the headmaster's office.
The gargoyle hidden in the darkness didn't ask Snape for a password. It silently hopped aside, revealing the passage behind it.
Snape climbed the steps, passed through the door that had already opened for him, and entered the headmaster's office.
Even though it was already deep into the night, the office was brightly lit.
The portraits of past headmasters, well-rested from sleeping all day, were whispering excitedly among themselves. In the corner, Fawkes the phoenix had his head tucked under his wing, dozing.
Not far from him, Dumbledore, who should not have been at Hogwarts at this time, was sitting behind the eagle-legged desk, reviewing a thick stack of parchment.
Perhaps sensing Snape's gaze, Dumbledore set down his quill, looked up, and smiled at him.
"Ah, you're here, Severus."
Snape nodded but didn't step farther into the office. He remained standing in the open doorway and said, "When did you get back?"
"Not long ago." Dumbledore spread his hands helplessly and nodded toward the mountain of paperwork on his desk.
"Time off always feels too short. I never imagined that after just a few days away, so much work would pile up."
Snape said nothing, continuing to stand alertly in place, as though ready to turn and flee at any moment.
After waiting a long time without a response, Dumbledore let the smile fade from his face. He clasped his hands under his chin and said, "You already know about Harry's situation, don't you?"
"Of course," Snape replied coldly. "But I don't understand why you pushed Harry toward Link to learn Occlumency. You know Link has ulterior motives!"
"Don't say that," Dumbledore sighed. "He's also your most outstanding and favored student, isn't he? There's an old saying in the East, you can't have both fish and bear's paw. You have to make a choice sooner or later."
"If you're too greedy and want both, then in the end you'll gain nothing at all."
Hearing this, a mocking smile suddenly appeared on Snape's face.
"Yes, you certainly have experience with that. A moment of greed back then cost you both the woman you loved and your family. After all these years, I wonder if you regret it."
The moment those words were spoken, Dumbledore's expression darkened.
He stared coldly at Snape, and Snape returned the gaze without backing down.
Their silent confrontation seemed to lower the temperature of the entire office.
Fawkes had already lifted his head and was glaring at this insolent man on behalf of his master.
The portraits of former headmasters on the walls also fell silent, closing their eyes one by one and pretending to be asleep.
After a long while, Snape finally couldn't withstand Dumbledore's hawk-like gaze. He looked away and spoke first, "You didn't summon me so suddenly just to say all this, did you?"
Dumbledore lowered his eyes as well, hiding his gaze, and nodded.
"The Dementors have completely defected to Voldemort. The successful escape of the imprisoned Death Eaters is very solid proof of that."
Snape glanced at the newspaper lying on the eagle-legged desk and said, "You found out from the paper too?"
Dumbledore ran his hand over the newspaper's rough surface and said in a dreamlike tone, "Yes. Such important intelligence, and I only learned of it through the Daily Prophet."
"You're suspecting me!"
Snape gritted his teeth. "If I say I knew nothing about this, would you believe me?"
What answered him was deathly silence.
Dumbledore simply stared at Snape expressionlessly, using his silence as his reply.
Snape's breathing grew rapid.
He took several deep breaths before stepping forward two paces.
"What do you plan to do next?"
Dumbledore's gaze flickered as he looked at Snape, and a trace of reluctance appeared on his face.
In the end, he sighed.
"Investigate the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry has been acting strangely lately. Something seems to be wrong internally. Coupled with what happened at Azkaban, I suspect that some high-ranking officials have already defected to Voldemort."
Snape nodded, then immediately asked, "Is that all?"
Dumbledore fell silent once more.
That sharp, hawk-like gaze reappeared, sweeping over Snape again and again, as though judging whether he was truly trustworthy.
This time, Snape didn't dodge it. Even though the piercing stare left his back soaked with sweat, he forced himself to meet Dumbledore's eyes.
After an unknown length of time, Dumbledore finally said, "We've received intelligence that a Horcrux of Voldemort is being kept inside the Department of Mysteries."
"Is that so? I understand."
Snape's words clearly carried a note of relief.
That last question had been his final test of Dumbledore.
If Dumbledore hadn't answered, it would have meant he had lost even the most basic trust in him.
Judging from the result, Dumbledore was merely dissatisfied with some of his actions, not yet to the point of complete distrust.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that this was all an act by Dumbledore.
Snape had never believed Dumbledore was a good man.
If this were deliberate misinformation meant to mislead both him and Voldemort, and he actually believed it, then he would truly lose everything.
So he had to be cautious, cautious again and again…
Snape stared at Dumbledore expressionlessly for a moment. He didn't tell him about the images he had seen in Harry's mind earlier, and silently withdrew from the office.
Bang!
The door closed on its own, and the headmaster's office returned to silence.
Dumbledore didn't resume reviewing the paperwork on his desk. Instead, he continued staring in the direction Snape had left, his eyes unfocused, as if lost in thought.
"Albus, you're far too indecisive." An aged voice suddenly echoed through the office.
The unfamiliar voice startled the portraits of past headmasters, who all opened their eyes and searched the room.
In the end, their gazes fell on a full-length standing mirror in the corner.
It was a mirror Dumbledore had only brought back that very night.
At first, it had looked no different from an ordinary mirror.
But now, its surface was shrouded in thick, swirling mist.
The mirror continued speaking, "If you thought that man wasn't trustworthy, you shouldn't have told him your real next step. You should have killed him outright."
"If you believed he was trustworthy, then you shouldn't have said all that suspicious nonsense in the first place. You should have trusted him completely."
"Now that you've handled it like this, I'd wager he's already become wary of you."
Dumbledore closed his eyes.
"It's fine. Severus won't betray us. I was just adding a bit of pressure and motivation, to make him work harder."
The mirror said, "Relationships are maintained through tangible benefits. If you think he's useful, then give him what he wants."
Dumbledore shook his head.
"I can't give it to him, Gellert. Just as I said before, he's too greedy. He wants both the fish and the bear's paw."
"Ha! Isn't that just like us when we were young?"
The aged voice in the mirror said cheerfully.
Hearing that, Dumbledore opened his eyes and said with a bitter smile, "Yes. Exactly like us when we were young."