After Harry and Victor's footsteps faded, the room settled into silence once more.
Dumbledore remained standing before the Mirror of Erised, hands folded behind his back.
A soft rustle of robes announced another presence.
"So, Severus," Dumbledore said mildly, still facing the mirror, "what do you make of Lucius eldest son?"
Snape's expression darkened slightly. "He is… different from his brother. Draco is obvious—loud, eager, predictable. Victor is none of those things."
He paused. "He keeps his distance. He doesn't attach himself to the other Slytherins of his year, and he wears that same composed expression as if it were a mask."
"A mask?" Dumbledore echoed.
"Yes," Snape said flatly. "Polite. Measured. Always watching. Children his age are careless with their emotions. He is not."
He had been watching Victor from the moment he became involved with Harry.
As the eldest son of Lucius Malfoy—a former Death Eater and devoted follower of the Dark Lord—Victor could not be treated as an ordinary student.
"So," Dumbledore asked mildly, fingers laced behind his back, "do you believe his association with Harry is his father's plan?"
Snape shook his head once. "It doesn't appear so. Their meetings seem coincidental, not orchestrated."
If anything, Victor seemed far closer to another Gryffindor girl than to Potter himself.
At times, watching the two of them together stirred memories Snape preferred to keep buried—echoes of his own school days, of quiet conversations and fleeting smiles that once involved Lily.
Dumbledore fell silent for a moment, gaze drifting back to the darkened mirror.
"Hm," he murmured, more to himself than to Snape. Then, thoughtfully, "There is something about the boy… something familiar."
Snape's expression tightened. "Familiar how?"
Dumbledore's eyes sharpened behind his half-moon spectacles, though his voice remained calm.
"An intelligence that observes rather than rushes," he said slowly. "A tendency to stand just to the side of events instead of charging into them. And an understanding of consequences that most children his age simply do not possess."
He paused, fingers tapping lightly against his wand.
"It reminds me of someone I taught long ago," Dumbledore continued, carefully not naming the thought that had crossed his mind. "Someone extraordinarily gifted… and extraordinarily dangerous, once ambition was left unchecked."
Snape gave a short, humourless breath. "You think the boy could follow the same path?"
Dumbledore shook his head slightly.
"No," he said. "I think he could choose many paths. That is precisely why he bears watching."
His gaze lifted toward the corridor where Victor had vanished moments earlier.
"Talent," Dumbledore added quietly, "is never the danger. Direction is."
***
The next day, after Charms class, Harry didn't even wait until they were fully out of the classroom.
"Snape is definitely trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone," he said in a rush. "I saw him last night—he was threatening Professor Quirrell."
Hermione stopped short. "Harry, we've been over this," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "Even if you're right, we don't have proof. We can't just accuse a professor."
She gestured vaguely down the corridor. "What do you expect to do—walk up to Professor McGonagall and say one of her colleagues is secretly stealing something Hogwarts is protecting?"
Harry scowled. "So we just do nothing?"
Before Hermione could answer, Ron brightened.
"Well… why don't we just follow Snape and spy on him and get evidence?"
There was very noticeable silence.
Victor slowly turned his head.
Hermione stared at Ron as though she was genuinely trying to work out how he had managed to say that out loud.
Harry blinked. Once. Then again.
"Ron," Hermione said slowly, "do you even hear yourself?"
Ron frowned. "What? I'm just saying—"
Victor didn't bother sounding gentle. "Following Snape isn't like following a student," he said. "He moves like a ghost."
"Before you even realise you're following him," he added calmly, "he'll already be standing behind you."
Ron opened his mouth.
"You'll be caught," Victor finished. "And you know what happens next."
The trio didn't need it spelled out.
They all pictured Snape's disapproving gaze—the one they already endured in Potions. If they were caught they wouldn't just get detention. They'd get an earful first.
Harry grimaced. "Yeah… when you put it like that."
"It is bad," Ron muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He suddenly looked very aware of how stupid the idea sounded out loud.
Harry sighed. "So what do we do, then?"
Victor answered without hesitation. "Nothing dramatic. We keep going to classes. We came to Hogwarts to learn magic, not spy on professors—so we study."
There was still plenty of time before Quirrell would even think about stealing the Philosopher's Stone. As long as Dumbledore remained at Hogwarts, Voldemort wouldn't dare make a reckless move.
So Victor decided to do the simplest—and most effective—thing.
He let the trio worry.
After all, sometimes the best strategy wasn't action or speeches or heroic nonsense. Sometimes it was sitting back, attending classes, and letting history unfold at its usual painfully slow pace—while making sure it didn't go too far off the rails.
*****
A/N : 🔥 On Patreon, the story has already been updated up to Chapter 50 🔥
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