"Well, as you say, we don't have to worry about anyone else's safety, but you still haven't explained to me why you want me to heal the Dark Lord…" Snape demanded, his expression grim.
"You are too impatient, Severus!" Dumbledore sighed with disappointment as he looked at Snape.
"Impatient? I want you to understand that you don't have long to live. Once you're dead, who will fight the Dark Lord? Who will keep Potter safe?" Snape asked, exasperated.
He could not understand how Dumbledore could remain so optimistic in such a critical situation.
"So we must plan accordingly, which will require time and patience!" Dumbledore continued, soothing Snape.
"Voldemort has always been very suspicious. Now that you have cured him, he will trust you more in the future…"
"You and I both know that the Dark Lord never trusts anyone!" Snape muttered mockingly to himself, thinking about how Voldemort had praised him the night before.
"Or do you expect me to take the Dark Lord by surprise after gaining his trust?"
If Dumbledore were alive, he would be useful as an undercover agent, but if he were dead, what good would all the effort he had put into convincing Voldemort to work for him?
"No, I do not expect you to kill Tom, as you would never be able to do such a thing!" Dumbledore insisted.
Snape's face twitched slightly at this.
"That is why I want you to do something for me when the time is right!" Dumbledore's face grew serious, and he took an object from his drawer and placed it on the table. "Give this to him!"
Snape stared at the object on the table, then quickly looked up at Dumbledore, his face full of shock and confusion, and almost wondered if Dumbledore had the wrong thing.
"Are you sure you want me to give this to the Dark Lord?"
Snape looked at Dumbledore as if he were suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease.
What did he take the Dark Lord for? A baby in a cradle? An ignorant toddler?
He might have been before, but unfortunately, the Dark Lord had grown up…
"That's right! I need you to hand-deliver it to Lord Voldemort, and that's crucial…" Dumbledore nodded, looking extra grave and not at all amused.
Snape looked at him for a long moment, then took the object from the table and asked, "Then can you tell me what it does?"
"When the time is right, you and he will understand!" Dumbledore replied.
Snape's brow was furrowed in displeasure at Dumbledore's cryptic words, and it took him a while to get the words out. "And how do I know when is the right time?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, thinking of Trelawney's prophecy, and then his eyes began to shine with blue light.
"After my death, if ever the day comes when Lord Voldemort is overcome with terror and panic, it will be the time!"
Snape remained silent, then swiftly turned and walked away.
He intended to go back and carefully study whether the potion he brewed would cause any irreversible damage to a wizard's brain, affecting one's intelligence…
Why else would Dumbledore suddenly be so whimsical…
… .
Meanwhile, at Wizard's Station in London
The Hogwarts train rolled to a halt on the platform in a cloud of smoke.
Ivan and the others had packed their bags early in the morning and were waiting at the train doors. When the Hogwarts train stopped, they got off the train and waved goodbye to each other at the nine and three-quarters station.
"Good-bye, Harry and Ron, and don't forget to worry about you during the summer!" Hermione said, looking longingly at the two of them before turning to Ivan.
"Understood, I'll remember to write!" Yvonne replied before Hermione could reply.
Hermione, however, shook her head and said with a smile, "I was going to say I'd come to see you when I'm free in the summer!"
"Don't! Don't ever come!" Ivan protested, his scalp tingling at Hermione's intention to come to Knockturn Alley.
As soon as he said it, Ivan regretted it.
As he expected, Hermione's smile vanished and she scowled at him, her lips pursed.
"It's not that I don't welcome you, Hermione, it's just that I'm afraid it's not very safe there this year…for reasons you should know!" Ivan threw up his hands in exasperation.
The already chaotic Knockturn Alley, coupled with the effects of Lord Voldemort's return, had left him too busy to entertain Hermione.
"Because of You-Know-Who? You're worried he's going to try to get back at you?" Hermione's mild anger vanished as the thought occurred to her, and she spoke up urgently. "What then? You could hide at Hogwarts during the summer holidays, and You-Know-Who wouldn't dare go there!"
Harry and Ron turned to Ivan with concern.
Ivan didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he watched the young witch come up with a blind idea and Harry and the others agree.
At this moment, a voice sounded behind them.
"You don't have to go to all that trouble, Hermione. I'm sure that in a few days, Professor Dumbledore will invite you all to come to my house…"
They all turned to see Sirius emerging from the passageway leading to Platform Nine and Three-quarters with a large suitcase.
Harry was delighted that he would not have to be at the Dursleys' all summer and would be able to see his friends.
"Then why didn't you tell us this morning?" Harry asked curiously.
"Professor Dumbledore wanted me to keep it from you for a while, so that he could surprise you!" Sirius smiled, then turned to Ivan and tried to comfort him.
"Ivan, when you get back, try to talk some sense into your mother and get her to let go of her prejudices. The whole wizarding world is unsafe now that You-Know-Who is back, and Knockturn Alley will only get more dangerous…"
"Sirius, as I recall, you and my mother never got along, did you not? Why are you suddenly so concerned about her?" Ivan asked, puzzled.
"This is not a time to be concerned about petty squabbles," Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. He didn't like Alicia very much, but he didn't want anything to happen to her because of Ivan and his deceased comrade.