Chapter 575: Night Talk

Dumbledore handed the muddled Umbridge over to the Aurors in the Hogsmeade village, she was very roughly treated by Voldemort when he explored her recent memories, her mind is not very coherent at the moment and there might even be some residual effects.

He then took a moment to reassure the frightened Hogsmeade residents, "It won't affect you, apart from being a bit sandy for a couple of days." Afterward, he went to the Hog's Head Inn.

Aberforth sat at the door of the Inn, looking tired and battered.

"You should have stayed inside, you are too badly wounded-"

"And you want me to lie in the middle of a pile of dead bodies?" Aberforth growled angrily, "Why don't you try?"

Dumbledore remained silent for a moment, "Alright then, I'll take you to St. Mungo's, you need to be treated."

" It's not a big deal, the bastard wanted to see me beg for mercy, but I didn't do as he wished," Aberforth said gruffly, spitting bloody spit on the ground, "You came quick, quicker than I thought."

But Dumbledore insisted on taking him to the hospital. At St Mungo's, Dumbledore took the time to talk to the portrait of Dilys Derwent. A former Headmistress of Hogwarts as well as a Healer at St Mungo's, Dilys Derwent was a well-known wizard and had left portraits at numerous wizarding institutions.

"The Ministry of Magic got their hands full, those dark wizards completely disregarded the Statute of Secrecy and blew a big hole straight through the visitor's entrance-" the old witch with long, silvery wavy hair rattled off.

"The red phone booth?" Dumbledore asked, interrupting her.

"Yeah, a lot of Muggles saw it," Dilys said under her breath, "and the Ministry of Magic is going to be busy with it for the next long while. I don't want this to hold up the Wizengamot trial, the Ministry has caught a lot of dark wizards." She added.

Dumbledore smiled, "It may not happen that quickly, the trials of the last war lasted a long time. But our new minister is doing well, she'll take care of it ... How are things in the school, Minerva sent the Patronus to tell me about the situation a bit, but I want to know the most recent developments."

"Oh, they're really getting more competent, those little ones!" Dilys said with great enthusiasm, " It really opened my eyes, they didn't seem to fancy waiting for the Ministry of Magic's support, and solved the problem on their own - they even formed a reinforcement team and went out of the school to help the nearby Hogsmeade village to deal with the Inferius and Dementors in the vicinity. How exhilarating!"

"Minerva agreed?" Dumbledore asked in amazement.

"Objections were futile, the students were very enthusiastic ..."

Ten minutes ago -

Felix, Harry, Sirius, and the rest returned to the school as Ron, Neville, and Fred trotted over.

"How did it go?" Ron looked at the returning men, "We found Avery on the way, he had a nasty fall, we didn't dare touch him, and left him where he was, waiting for the professionals to deal with him. Where's Umbridge?"

"She ran away." Harry said briefly. Ron stared as Harry added, "Her plot failed though, with Professor Hap showing up at the 'critical moment' -" he stole a glance at Felix, who smiled at him without rebuffing the remark.

This made Harry very depressed. He had hinted quite clearly, and the Professor still hadn't responded. Well, he planned to pull Ron and Hermione together to help him analyse it privately.

"Well, she's just a minor character on the run." Ron smacked his lips, then he said with some excitement, "Neville just brought up an idea that I think is pretty good. Do you guys wanna hear it?" He looked at Harry and then at everyone.

The group looked at Neville, who said shyly, "Many Inferius and Dementors are wandering outside right now, maybe some of them have run off to the Hogsmeade village beside us, and there are lots of wizard families living around there, and not everyone can deal with those things ..."

"You want to support Hogsmeade?" Harry quipped in surprise and Felix also looked over in surprise, Neville seemed to have grown up. Harry didn't mince his words, "Neville, your idea is a good one, we can certainly help them."

Neville shook his head, "I just suggested it, Ron, Luna, and the group helped to perfect the plan, especially Luna, she solved the problem of not having enough brooms-"

"She also came over?" Harry asked, he looked in the direction of Hagrid's hut and spotted Grawp easily -- he is too big and walking around the edge of the Forbidden Forest, with the help of Grawp as a position, Harry vaguely saw a few small dots around him, he tried his best to catch the yellow-haired one, and he found it, Luna is stroking a black-winged horse-shaped creature --.

"Thestral?" He was surprised and enlightened.

"We've been robbed of our broom, so we have to use our brains to find a replacement." Fred said with a grin and flinched nervously when Moody's magic eye looked over. "Just kidding, Professor Moody, don't take it seriously!"

"I should warn you," Felix interjected, "your idea is lovely, but first you must get the school's approval ... The person in charge at the moment is Professor McGonagall." He nudged his eyes, and in the distance Professor McGonagall came scurrying over, with her hair draped behind her back, making her look imposing.

"Er ..." Harry froze and looked at Felix tentatively, "Will you speak for us, Professor?"

Felix winked, "I'd love to be on your side, but ... I have to maintain the relationship between colleagues, so it's up to you to convince her." Harry stared at him in disbelief.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall was convinced, but she strongly urged several professors to accompany them. Sirius, Flitwick, Sprout, Tonks, the Longbottoms, and Emmeline Vance led the way as three dozen students rushed high into the air on broomsticks and Thestrals.

The students who emerged from the castle looked at the group like heroes, applauding and cheering them enthusiastically.

Harry hovered in the sky on his Firebolt, watching in exhilaration as the students and professors set off from the brightly lit Hogwarts School and flew towards Hogsmeade. Turning back, he caught sight of Draco Malfoy in the crowd - he had stayed at the school, but his eyes were dead set on the sky. Harry saw reluctance and jealousy in Malfoy's eyes, a look he unexpectedly did not hate, as he suddenly realized that Malfoy wanted to be part of the support group travelling on broomsticks to Hogsmeade.

Reluctance and jealousy could also be, rephrased as envy.

Those left behind went about their own business.

Moody watched over the captured dark wizard, Madam Pomfrey treated the young wizard who had been scratched by an Inferius, or tripped over a stone, Kingsley returned to the Ministry of Magic, and Felix and Professor McGonagall stayed at the school, pacifying - ordering the students to return to the safety of the castle, to be precise - the students are overly excited tonight and seem to want to party all night outside.

"We could move the kitchen outside and wait for the men to return from Hogsmeade."

"Do you guys think they'll bring back some Honeydukes' candies along with them?"

Such thoughts were quickly quelled by the dark force within the school, which was headed by Professor McGonagall. Although the sky above Hogwarts was as bright as day, it wasn't exactly safe to be outside the castle. There might be Inferius or Dementors hiding around some corner.

They would have to check it out carefully.

Later in the night, Dumbledore returned to the school. He spoke with Moody, McGonagall, Felix, and Snape one by one to find out what had happened as the night deepened. When Snape relaxing in his office, he felt a burning pain in his arm and stood up with a blank face.

The Dark Lord is summoning him.

...

"So you came to see me empty-handed, Severus?"

"Dark Lord, I did all I could, and even nearly got myself exposed to make her escape." Snape bowed his head and said, "Allow me to explain. I dare not hide a thing." A ray of moonlight poured through the broken window and cast a pale light on his face.

Voldemort sat in the darkness, with no light around him, and his snakewood wand made a 'hissing' sound in his hand. He had seen bits and pieces of Umbridge's memories and knew what Snape had done, but he still burned with anger.

Snape waited for a moment, and when he saw Voldemort did not interrupt him, he spoke.

"You asked me to move when I saw the opportunity, and I did: I gave Umbridge the password to the Headmaster's office at a crucial moment, and then distracted Potter, who had rushed over there. After that, an army of Inferius broke in. Although Dumbledore was not there, McGonagall assumed the authorities of a Deputy Headmistress at the first opportunity: summoning all Heads as well as Professors. It would have been too suspicious if I didn't show up; as you know, I hadn't gained much trust in the Order of the Phoenix and there were too many eyes on me in the school.

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I have an enmity with Sirius Black; I don't have much of a friendship with Minerva McGonagall; Harry Potter and his friends are even more unabashedly hostile towards me, Potter has the Original Marauder's map in his hands, and even if you had taught me how to hide myself, I couldn't do it so easily, since it would have aroused even greater suspicion.

I have a student-teacher relationship with Felix Hap, but last time I risked it to pry information about the diadem, which may have consumed some of that trust, and as for Dumbledore, he never puts his secrets in one basket, as he did this time when he secretly arranged for the Order of the Phoenix to enter the school ... He must have sensed something, but I knew nothing about it.

I even faked a mistake to stop Potter when he tried to capture Umbridge, but Felix Hap suddenly appeared and foiled that plan.

Dumbledore came back and took the locket and the diadem straight away, leaving me no chance to interfere."

Snape related the story, at which point he suddenly frowned, "One thing is odd, I don't know if I've been exposed: I had hinted to Umbridge about my identity as a spy, but she was caught by Dumbledore. What if she confessed something-"

"Don't worry, I messed with her head." Voldemort's high-pitched, clear voice came through the darkness.

"Felix Hap is a Master of Memory ...," Snape reminded.

Voldemort sneered a few times.

"If they had investigated, they would have discovered a large group of spies that Umbridge will identify, and you are just one of them. You didn't tell Avery your identity, did you?"

"No. I've been very discreet." Snape said.

"That's not safe either," Voldemort stood up and paced the empty room, " Is he in St. Mungo's now?" Snape nodded and said, " Avery is badly wounded and seems to have hurt his head, he hasn't woken up yet."

"Then don't let him wake up again." Voldemort said with a murderous grin. The hiss of the snakewood wand grew louder as if there are hundreds of snakes hissing in the room.

"Lord? Do you still want me to go back to school?" Snape asked in a low voice, showing just the right hint of dissatisfaction.

"You don't want to, Severus?" Voldemort asked softly. He approached, bathed in the moonlight, his bare pale skin seemed to glow. On that snake-like face, his red eyes stared at Snape.

"No - of course - no -" Snape stammered. "I had thought - that I could - could come back - return to the ranks of the Death Eaters this time."

Voldemort looked at him silently for a moment.

"Have the years of undercover work bored you?" He spoke nonchalantly, twirling his fingers around his snakewood wand, "I still need you to do one last thing for me, Severus. After this is done, you can return to the ranks of the Death Eaters."

Snape glanced up excitedly before lowering his head again, "Thank you, Lord. I will serve you gladly, just as I did over a decade ago."

"Very well. Dumbledore and I agreed to have a duel, and it had to end with a death ... but I didn't finalize the specific time, do you know why?"

"I don't know, Dark Lord." Snape said.

"How is the injury on Dumbledore's hand?" Voldemort suddenly changed the subject.

"He is suppressing the curse to his right hand and needs to take potion at regular intervals. I've never seen a curse that powerful, stronger than most of the curses I know, a normal man would have died long ago-"

"I have faith in my magic." Voldemort said, and Snape shut up.

After a long moment, Voldemort spoke, "Weaken Dumbledore as much as you can, Severus, but do not kill him, I want to see him fall before me. Your talent for Potions is unrivalled, and I believe you can do it without anyone realizing it."

"But there is a chance that Dumbledore will notice ..."

"Then it will be too late, Severus. When you have finished your duty, I will return all the glory that belongs to you. So be bold, Severus, I await your good news."

...

"Voldemort is ready to give you up."

Dumbledore said in a deep voice and Snape stared at him. It is now early in the morning, but Dumbledore has shown no signs of falling asleep; he is fully dressed and sitting at his desk, playing with a black jeweled ring in his hand.

"He was uncertain if Umbridge would leak, those words were just to reassure you, and I assume he has other tasks for you? A highly time-sensitive one?"

"He told me to poison you," Snape said coldly, " The sooner the better."

Dumbledore flashed a smile.

"Ah, so that's it. That may be the biggest risk, he has given you tonight. Voldemort was grumpy when he left, and he hasn't been in the best of moods for a while now ... I was worried that he would take it out on you."

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[ Author Note:

[Explaining the issue of whether the Summoning Charm can work on Horcruxes here:]

Examples referred in the original story are as follows.

1. The original book never directly stated that 'Horcrux is immune against the Summoning Charm', and the several failed summonings by the trio were due to special environments; such as the cave where the locket was hidden (the Horcrux was even a fake), the Gringotts, and the Room of Requirement.

(The original book prefers to describe it by saying '(the Room of Requirement) refuses to hand over its collection easily' rather than directly saying that the Summoning Charm does not work on the Horcruxes).

2. The trio kept using the Summoning Charm to summon Horcrux from beginning to end, even after holding the locket for a while, they didn't discard using the Summoning Charm, which might indirectly indicate that it will work?

3. When the trio went to the Gringotts to find the Hufflepuff's Cup, Ron said 'that kind of magic won't work in here' not 'that kind of magic won't work on Horcrux'.

4. Apart from Voldemort and Slughorn, the two people who knew the Horcrux best in the original book are - Dumbledore and Hermione, but neither of them explicitly objected against using the Summoning Charm, and on several occasions, Hermione even attempted to summon the Horcrux with it.

[In summary, I believe that Horcruxes themselves do not have the property of being immune against the Summoning Charm, but one can use magic or ward to prevent it from being Summoned, but this additional magic can be lifted]. ]

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