[HP Comprehensive UK and US] Platinum Stark

"You clearly know..." Snape's sharp eyes were like a knife, fixed on Dumbledore's face. Just when his emotions were getting excited and his tone was high, his words stopped abruptly.

Dumbledore knew what he was going to say.

Severus must be thinking: You knew how dangerous Quirrell was and you were almost certain that he was a Death Eater, so why did you allow him to get close to Alicia?

He also knew the reason why Severus stopped questioning.

They all know.

This is bound to be a question that has no answer.

Dumbledore's emotions were very complicated and he sighed deeply.

Snape rarely saw him with this expression, and his face became more serious. He turned the question into a statement: "Are you hiding something from me?"

The matter that made Dumbledore at a loss for words must not be a trivial matter.

The surroundings fell into deathly silence again, but the stagnant atmosphere did not last more than ten seconds.

"Dumbledore."

"Hagrid told me..."

The two spoke at the same time. Snape stopped talking and waited for Dumbledore's next words.

The latter paused and said again: "Hagrid told me that several unicorns died in the Forbidden Forest."

"Unicorn blood can extend life. There is only one person in existence who is capable of sneaking into Hogwarts and needs to stay alive in this way."

Snape's left forearm trembled slightly, so slightly that it was almost imperceptible.

The color of the Dark Mark is gradually deepening, indicating that the owner of this magic power is showing signs of revival.

For a moment, his mood was mixed, with overwhelming hatred and countless worries mixed together, as well as anger and powerlessness caused by the person in front of him.

Dumbledore tried his best, but the Dark Lord's return was unstoppable and this was the inevitable outcome.

The only thing they could do was to find the Dark Lord before he set out to find the Philosopher's Stone himself - a level prepared for Harry and a trap for Quirrell.

At first, no one expected that the Dark Lord himself would appear in Hogwarts, and Snape believed that Dumbledore knew nothing about it.

There was no way Dumbledore would risk Harry's life by bringing Voldemort to the school, at least not now.

How were they going to find Voldemort?

Do I have to wait for him to show up?

It is undeniable that Alicia is the one who is most likely to come into contact with him - everything Quirrell did was definitely in accordance with his orders.

In more serious cases, Thea might have already met the Dark Lord.

Dumbledore knew what Snape was thinking as soon as he looked up. His tone remained calm: "The worst assumption I can make is that Tom is personally interacting with Alicia. Severus, she is learning the dark arts."

Snape felt like he was falling into an icy cave. He was like a drowning fish and had to open his mouth slightly to get more oxygen.

Few people understood what Dumbledore meant better than him - he had been dealing with the latter for decades.

Dumbledore's words meant that he was only one piece of evidence away from the truth.

"Tom won't put her life in danger. She is a Malfoy." Dumbledore saw that the man in black robes looked too pale, so he said, "As for Alicia herself - I think you know your goddaughter better than I do. She is a good child."

Although the Dark Lord had become alarmingly violent and suspicious before he disappeared, he still retained a trace of rationality when it came to things other than Harry Potter - this was what the Death Eaters thought after Voldemort learned of the prophecy.

After he lost power, Lucius quickly turned against him, used the Imperius Curse as an excuse, and paid a large sum of gold Galleons to escape the charges. Voldemort would not have had a good face for him after knowing this, but his plan to make a comeback could not be separated from Malfoy's funding.

Given Voldemort's temperament, torturing the Malfoy family's youngest daughter was already the most merciful thing he could do.

After all, Draco was the unspoken next head of the Malfoy family. In his opinion, teaching Draco a lesson was like giving the Malfoy family a slap in the face, while teaching Alicia a lesson was just a reminder to Lucius.

Voldemort didn't think that Lucius would fight him to the death for a child. Is there any love in the world that transcends life and death?

Under the threat of death and the temptation of interests, no matter how angry the future Lucius is, he will have to greet him with a smile.

"I'm going to follow Quirrell," Snape said firmly after a moment of silence.

Although Dumbledore understood his feelings, he could not support Snape's idea: "Tom must have doubted you. We can't take this risk again."

The entire process of Snape's argument with Quirrell today would definitely be presented to Voldemort in detail. If he continued to stare at Quirrell, Voldemort's suspicion of him would only increase.

He wanted to say something else, but Dumbledore didn't give him the chance and stopped him with one sentence: "Severus, this is an order."

The man's body swayed, and he involuntarily took a small step back.

Anger, worry, powerlessness, guilt, compromise.

Snape was in great torment. After a while, he returned to his usual cold expression with empty and cold eyes.

Dumbledore stared at the man who had lost his beloved and could not protect his goddaughter in person at this moment. He was not as calm as he appeared.

A hawk flew past the window, and the moonlight shone directly onto the Mirror of Erised through the glass. The dazzling light was reflected behind Dumbledore's lens.

"I will always protect Alicia, just like I protected Harry." He made a heavy and incredible promise.

Snape, who was using the brain-occlusion technique to calm himself, flashed his eyes for a moment, and the two of them stood facing each other in silence, and no one spoke again.

After an unknown amount of time, Snape's deep voice finally sounded. He said slowly, word by word, "You'd better."

"I assure you." Dumbledore's answer was still firm.

youhavemyword.