"A will?" Professor McGonagall stared at Snape in shock, but quickly recovered.
Since Headmaster Dumbledore knew he had little time left, he arranged everything in advance.
Realizing this, Sirius and the others relaxed a little.
The news of Dumbledore's death came so suddenly that they were overwhelmed, unsure what to do next and how to confront You-Know-Who.
Now that they had a will, at least they were no longer clueless.
However, this was not good news for Ivan, as he could not be certain what kind of message Dumbledore would leave in his will, whether it would be beneficial or harmful to him…
"How much more are you hiding from us, Severus?" Moody asked, looking at Snape unhappily.
"Actually, I don't know any more than you do…" Snape continued, shaking his head. "You'll know about the will in a few days, even if I don't say anything…"
… .
After using Dumbledore's will to reassure Moody and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, Ivan was able to get out of his predicament.
Given the unexpected amount of information Snape had divulged, Ivan gave up on the idea of leaving the school immediately. After bidding farewell to Sirius and the others, he gave Snape a look and headed for the top of the tower.
Ivan waited patiently on the balcony for about ten minutes before Snape came in.
"What brings you here, Harls?" Snape asked.
Yvonne did not reply immediately. Instead, she waved her wand gently, creating a barrier around her that kept out the noise.
"I can't believe you spoke up for me just now…"
"I didn't have a choice, did I? Black and Lupin the werewolf trusted you enough that they wouldn't want to believe anything I said," Snape explained slowly, his eyes narrowing.
More importantly, of course, he was well aware of the situation.
Despite the sheer number of members of the Order of the Phoenix, Snape was certain that all of them combined would be no match for Ivan Hals, and that the choice between life and death would not be so difficult…
"Sometimes not having a choice is the best choice… but you should have told me that you were speaking up for me. I would have been very grateful…" Ivan teased.
"I'm more of a believer in tangible bargains than in such ephemeral things…" Snape replied calmly.
"So you do have some interesting information?" Yvonne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Dark Lord… you want to find his hiding place, don't you?" Snape asked confidently. With Dumbledore dead, the only threat to the British wizarding community was Voldemort.
Yvonne didn't argue the point, simply nodding. "Right. Do you know where he's hiding? Or who the secret keeper is?"
Ivan had learned about Lord Voldemort from Lucius and the others two weeks earlier, and knew that the Dark Lord was under the protection of the Fidelius Charm.
However, due to the limitations of this spell, neither Lucius nor Crabbe were able to directly pinpoint the location.
"I don't know yet, but I might be able to find it… After all, there aren't many people the Dark Lord can trust right now…"
Snape was somewhat moved by this.
The infamous Dark Lord, the most powerful…oh, no, the second most powerful Dark Wizard in Britain, has fallen so low,
There are only twenty Death Eaters left, each with their own agendas…
"In other words, you intend to remain a Death Eater and pass information on to me about the Dark Lord, as you did to Headmaster Dumbledore?" Ivan asked, examining Snape critically.
"You may think so," Snape said, then paused and added pleadingly, "in exchange for killing the Dark Lord, I want you to clean my name…"
"Naturally!" Ivan agreed with a nod of his head. "You will be the greatest contributor to the defeat of the Dark Lord!"
"That won't be necessary. I just hope to live a normal life from now on without being disturbed…" Snape said noncommittally.
Yvonne smiled but did not respond, choosing instead to direct the question at him. "Since you work for me now, I have something I need you to answer truthfully."
Snape looked at Ivan in surprise, unsure what he meant.
"What exactly did Headmaster Dumbledore do during the months he was gone, and did he give you any special instructions?" Yvonne enunciated each word, her eyes following Snape's every move, as if trying to read his face.
Dumbledore's behaviour has been rather strange of late, especially since the Headmaster was nowhere to be found at Hogwarts, except on the first day of school.
With Dumbledore's disregard for the Ministry's attempt to impeach him, Ivan found it hard to imagine what could have caused the white wizard to put aside all his important work.
If this had happened in the original timeline, it might have been explained away by the discovery of the Horcrux's whereabouts, but now that Voldemort had been beaten nearly to autism, Ivan did not believe that Dumbledore would care so much about Horcruxes.
What puzzled Ivan the most was Dumbledore's performance in the duel yesterday.
Dumbledore was able to keep his head above water when he gave up his Elder Wand and was badly injured.
This is far beyond Ivan's wildest expectations of Dumbledore's power!
If the Strongest White Wizard really had such terrifying power, then when they met Voldemort at the end of last year, the two of them could have captured him alive and brought him to the Ministry of Magic for trial.
Ivan turned to Snape, the only one who might know the truth!
Under Ivan's vaguely menacing pressure, Snape struggled to speak. "Hales, as I have explained before, I do not know where Headmaster Dumbledore is, and he has not contacted me of his own accord!"
"Is that so?" Yvonne was dubious. She knew how much Dumbledore trusted Snape, and if he had something up his sleeve, he would know it.
Ivan's questioning gaze made Snape feel very helpless, and then he spoke again as if he had suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, there's one thing I can tell you. The potion I brew for Headmaster Dumbledore regularly wore off before the summer holidays of the school year, and he should never have lasted this long."