This can't go on, Harry thought to himself.
These days, he barely resisted Snape's prying eyes into his memories.
However, after two weeks of intense mental work, he had not been able to sleep for many days and was so exhausted that Harry could not guarantee that he would be able to hold on to Snape's Legilimency the next time he saw him.
Once the brain's defences were breached, Dumbledore's return of the Cloak of Invisibility would be revealed, and Snape would know what he was thinking…
Harry shuddered at the possibility and decided to break his promise to hold off on Occlumency for the night.
However, he knew very well that interrupting his studies for Occlumency was only a temporary solution, and it was likely that Snape would be alarmed. What he needed to do most now was to expose Snape's true colours as soon as possible, so that everyone would know that Snape had joined Voldemort.
The thought of Ivan and the others being fooled by Snape's pretence made Harry feel vaguely responsible, so he turned to Ron and asked,
"Ron, can you get me my class schedule… by the way, do you know if Snape has any classes today?"
Ron, who was trying to memorize a Transfiguration book, paused for a moment before replying, "I don't think so. I heard from George and the others that Professor Snape is on leave today… He asked Professor McGonagall to fill in for his morning Defence Against the Dark Arts class."
"He must have gone to see Lord Voldemort!" Harry said confidently, with a hint of excitement in his voice, indicating that Snape was not in his office and would not be returning any time soon.
He could have used the opportunity to sneak into that office and retrieve his wand, or even find evidence that Snape had betrayed them!
From his previous dreams, Harry learned that when Snape was busy, or found it difficult to communicate with Lord Voldemort through magical images, he would write the message he wanted to convey to Lord Voldemort on a piece of paper and place it inside the broken bell.
There is a specific magic within the ancient bell that allows it to deliver letters accurately to Lord Voldemort…
Similarly, Lord Voldemort was able to send orders to Snape by similar means, and it is likely that the letters of communication were all kept.
Harry guessed that they were most likely kept in the locked cupboard next to the wooden table.
Last night, when he was practising Occlumency, he tried to sound Snape out, and Snape was very fond of the broken bell and would never let him near the locked cupboard.
It all fits with what he saw in the dream…
"So you're going to sneak into Snape's office looking for evidence? If you ask me, Snape wouldn't have kept the letters…" Ron sounded dubious after listening to Harry's analysis; Snape wasn't stupid; any normal person would have destroyed them.
"That's not necessarily true! Why else would Snape lock up that cupboard? If he didn't have Voldemort's letters in there, there must be some other evidence," Harry said confidently, then added, "Besides, there should be something in the ancient clock…"
Ron thought for a moment that this might be the case, and decided not to try to convince Harry otherwise. Instead, he and Harry happily discussed their next move in preparation for the upcoming adventure.
After a short discussion, it was decided that Harry would bring the Cloak of Invisibility into Snape's office to search, while Ron would stand guard in the entrance hall and stall Professor Snape if he returned early…
Having come up with a plan, Harry did not want to waste any more time. He immediately went back to his room and retrieved the Invisibility Cloak from his suitcase.
The door to the room was locked.
Fortunately, this was not a difficult task for Harry, who was prepared for it. He fumbled in the pocket of his wizarding robe and found a strangely shaped key.
The office door swung open with an audible click, and Harry breathed a slow sigh of relief, thinking to himself that he would thank George and Fred for the lock picks they had made that were as useful as advertised.
Harry's heart was in his mouth as he quietly entered Snape's office, but, as expected, there was no one there.
Not daring to turn on the light or linger, Harry hurried to the locked cupboard and used the lock pick to break the lock, then yanked it open.
To his surprise, the drawer was empty.
Harry was struck dumb and at a loss as to what to do.
No, if there was nothing in this drawer, why was it locked?
With this in mind, Harry rallied; Snape had most likely just moved them somewhere else.
While there was still time, Harry searched the office, but soon found nothing but strange-smelling potion ingredients, and was forced to admit that the evidence he was looking for might not be in the room, or that Snape had destroyed it.
Harry was disappointed when the clock on the table caught his eye, and he was surprised to see that the time had changed to exactly twelve o'clock.
Several possibilities sprang to Harry's mind, changes in time that could indicate that Voldemort was summoning Snape — perhaps why Snape had applied to leave school today.
However, it was also possible that a new instruction had been delivered by Lord Voldemort, and that Snape had been too anxious to leave to notice.
With this last bit of hope, Harry cautiously moved forward and fumbled with the bell. When he touched the base of the bell with his index finger, he accidentally touched a bump, presumably a button.
Before he could take a closer look, Harry felt something tug at the back of his navel, lifting his feet off the ground and pulling him into a spatial vortex.
It was then that he realised that the ancient clock in front of him was not a magical object to deliver letters. It was… a Portkey!