In the Headmaster's office, the conversation continued.
Dumbledore paused and said to Snape, "Voldemort restrained his temper, because he still needs you now. Well, that much I knew from the moment I discovered Umbridge's mind was messed up ... what's that saying? Anyone who asks for a favour will be polite. Obviously, Voldemort can't be an exception."
"I'm not interested in hearing some cheesy sayings that you share."
"Oh, Severus, those wise short phrases are thought-provoking and worth savouring over and over again ... you know, I've been trying to get you to fall in love with life again." Dumbledore said amiably.
Snape shook his head vigorously, as if he had gotten something dirty on it.
"Since Voldemort wants you to take the opportunity to poison me while you are healing me, surely he will wait a little longer. I think the duel time might be determined based on the state of my health?" Dumbledore said thoughtfully, " In this case, I would be able to influence his judgement. Just a few interviews at the right time and a few pictures of my pale face ... Well, I figured it out. Wizengamot, the dark wizard trials ... I need to talk to Ms. Bones."
"Severus, your role is too special, so special that even though Voldemort is suspicious of you, he won't make a move against you as long as you still have some value to offer. Aside from Umbridge, there's another loophole, and that's Harry. It's a good thing he practised Occlumency well, and Voldemort seems to have actively isolated the connection, but nothing is certain, so don't take it lightly." He concluded with a warning.
"Speaking of Potter," Snape suddenly seethed, "Dumbledore, you lied to me. Harry Potter ... he's one of it, one of the Horcruxes."
There was a brief moment of silence.
"When did you realize that?"
"So it's true?" Snape growled in a low voice as he stood up and stared at Dumbledore from across the table, "I spied for you, made up lies for you, risked my life for you. All of this is supposed to ensure the safety of Lily's son. Now you're telling me that his end was doomed from the very beginning? Like a pig to the slaughter-"
"How touching, Severus," Dumbledore said, " Is it possible that you have really come to like that boy?"
"Like him?" Snape shouted, "ex-PEK-toh pa-TRO-num!"
From the tip of his wand, a glowing silver doe emerged. It landed on the floor and with a slight leap made its way to the end of the office and flew out the window. Dumbledore watched it go away, until its silver light faded, then turned his face to look at Snape, whose eyes now filled with tears.
"Still like this after all this time?" He asked softly.
"It's always been like this." Snape said.
Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes, the only sound in the room was Snape's gasp as he muttered and repeated, "You lied to me, Dumbledore." After a few moments, Dumbledore opened his eyes, his eyes had regained their calm, and he gazed at Snape from the top of his half-moon shaped lenses.
"I don't want to justify myself, Severus. But I did prepare for the worst - for the point where, as a last resort, the boy had to die once, so I nurtured him, honed him, watched him, like a craftsman, carefully carving his special piece."
"Die once?" Snape looked up, "Dumbledore, get your words straight."
"On the night Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the killing curse rebounded on himself and a fragment of his soul was blown away and attached to the only living soul in the collapsed house, Harry Potter ..."
"A part of the Dark Lord was left ALIVE inside an infant? It later turned into a Horcrux?" Snape asked fervently, "So the Parseltongue, the connection to the Dark Lord's mind, is all because of that soul fragment?"
Dumbledore nodded slightly, " To be precise, Harry doesn't count as a complete Horcrux."
Snape looked a little unsure, his knowledge about Horcruxes is still at a very shallow state, he only knows the most basic information, some of which he even deduced on his own by combining multiple pieces of information. He didn't know how a Horcrux could be made, let alone many of its taboos, he was only able to link Harry to the Horcrux easily and uncover the truth due to a slip of that boy's tongue.
Right now, he pricked up his ears and listened carefully.
"... The steps involved in creating a real Horcrux are extremely complex and difficult beyond imagination. Maybe that's why Voldemort hadn't been able to connect Harry to the Horcrux yet - Harry isn't anywhere remotely comparable to that snake in terms of completeness. But again, he does serve the purpose of the Horcrux: as long as the shard remains inside Harry, Voldemort will never truly die in a sense."
"So, is it possible to separate the shard?" Snape racked his brain, "It was just unintentionally attached, wasn't it? Like a dirty spot on the wall, just find some way to remove the stain -" he held his breath as he looked at the old man in front of him, "Have you found it?"
Dumbledore slowly shook his head.
Snape's body shook for a moment, and he propped his hands on the table, looking at Dumbledore with a blank gaze.
"Any matter involving the soul must be approached with extreme caution," Dumbledore said softly, "We are not able to draw wisdom from the scrolls of those who came before us, so we must rely entirely on ourselves. And Harry's situation is much more dangerous: the fragments of Voldemort's soul which remained undisturbed, bonded directly to Harry's soul. After all these years, the connection between them is probably much stronger than you, or I can imagine. And this connection also becomes stronger and stronger as Harry ages, like a parasitic being."
"You should have been aware of Harry's exaggerated rate of progress this school year, right?" He asked.
Snape looked expressionlessly at Dumbledore, who looked back at Snape in an equally similar manner.
"I thought - it is the result of his diligent training."
"I do not deny the significance of that. But - apart from the gap in knowledge and experience - Harry is not much weaker than you are now. That's never normal, Severus."
"Is there no other solution?"
"Felix and I - both of us - are trying to find a solution. He found a line of thought in the books about Horcrux: repentance can reunite a fragmented soul. Felix is amazingly accomplished in the field of memory magic," Dumbledore said, "He wanted to capture Voldemort and soak him in a jar full of 'repentance' emotion for a day, or two, or even a year or two."
Snape was shocked by the sheer audacity of Felix's thinking.
"... But I don't hold out much hope for this method, the conditions are too demanding: you have to capture the living Voldemort first - a step that is surprisingly easy compared to the other steps. Second, you have to make Voldemort genuinely repent for what he had done, and frankly, I don't think he has an ounce of remorse in him; I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly showed me his Patronus ... Apart from that, even if Voldemort is forced to repent, what effect would drawing out the soul fragments will have on Harry? "
"No one knows."
Snape froze in place.
After a long pause, he asked, with difficulty, "You only mentioned Felix's attempts, what about you? What have you worked on?"
"Oh, I can't reveal that to you yet." Dumbledore said apologetically, "That method is probably more illusive and unbelievable ... than getting Voldemort to make a sincere confession, and I have no way of verifying it for the time being, so it would only add further trouble if I told you."
He tucked the black jeweled ring into a drawer and fiddled with the delicate silverware on the table, the conversation seemed to have ended there as Snape stood up and headed for the door. "Oh, by the way, Severus?" Snape turned his head and met the blue eyes beneath the half-moon shaped lenses.
"Put some sweet in the potion, will you?"
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