Actually, Snape did not like to meddle in other people's business.
The reason he was willing to fight Voldemort was initially to keep Lily safe, and now it was to protect Lily's children.
It had nothing to do with his own good or evil, or faction.
Without Lily, Snape felt he would still be a Death Eater right now. Or imprisoned in Azkaban, or hiding somewhere in the wizarding world, waiting for Voldemort to make a comeback.
As for Andy Collins ...
Snape felt that whatever the boy ended up being had nothing to do with him.
So what if he became the Dark Lord?
As long as he didn't hurt Harry, Snape simply wouldn't bother with that stuff.
After saying those words, Snape himself was a little surprised.
He originally didn't want to say it.
'Maybe it's just from being a professor for so long?' Snape laughed at himself in his mind. When a professor has been a professor for a long time, they unconsciously develop a sense of responsibility towards their students.
But that was supposed to be Dumbledore's order as well!
Snape hated this sense of responsibility, and he gave himself a reason why he did it to make his heart feel a little better.
"I know!"
Dumbledore said in a calm tone, "We can't stop a student from pursuing magic - even if it's dangerous."
Snape looked at Dumbledore in surprise.
He hadn't expected Dumbledore to say that.
He had expected Dumbledore to stop Andy from continuing his research, or perhaps find Andy out and talk to him.
"That's not like you," Snape said lightly.
Dumbledore blinked and asked rhetorically, "Are the Hogwarts Headmasters and Professors meant to forbid their students from learning magic?"
"Magic Transfiguration, that's a very dangerous type of magic," Snape emphasized.
"I'm glad you said that."
Dumbledore seemed to be in a good mood, "Collins is a very cautious young wizard, I think he will make his own judgment."
Dumbledore had met many people in his life, and he had taught thousands of students already.
Andy Collins might be a tad bit more complicated, but Dumbledore trusted his judgment - he thought Andy was a very solitary person.
This solitude was not so much a fear of socializing with people, but rather a lack of interest in socializing in general.
Among the young wizards of his session, Dumbledore did not feel that anyone could be Andy's friend, except for Hermione, the equally very brilliant young witch.
Even Ron, who had known Andy since childhood.
Dumbledore even felt that Andy didn't even particularly care about the magic world.
He didn't care that much about power, wealth, and fame, he only had magic in his heart.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go back first." Snape did not dwell too much on the matter.
Dumbledore nodded slightly.
When Snape left, Dumbledore pulled open a desk drawer and took out a black notebook.
There was a clear hole in the centre of the notebook, and there were some burn marks around the hole - it was a hole that had been burned through by the Fiendfyre.
"Tom..."
Dumbledore flipped open the notebook, his pale fingers gently brushing over the charred areas.
After getting the notebook, Dumbledore tried to have a nice chat with the student Voldemort, it's just that young Tom doesn't want to talk to him.
The exchange had failed, and Dumbledore had no choice but to destroy the Horcrux.
"Where would you hide a few other Horcruxes?" Dumbledore muttered.
***.
Andy never thought that he would still be caught by Dumbledore after he got the Marauder's Map in his hand.
Towards the end of September, to obtain the last [Potential Point] as soon as possible, Andy spent most of his energy practising magic.
Not only Charms; even Transfiguration made a big breakthrough.
If there were no surprises, Andy felt that he would be able to save up seven [Potential Points] tonight and increase his [Charms] talent to level [7].
Seven was a magical number.
Andy felt that might be the limit of talent that a natural wizard could attain.
Before leaving the dormitory, Andy had clearly checked the Marauder's Map, Dumbledore had been circling around in his office, how could he suddenly appear in the corridor on the seventh floor?
Bloody hell!
"Good evening, Headmaster Dumbledore." Andy greeted first.
"Good evening, Mr. Collins." Dumbledore was standing by the window admiring the moonlight, he seemed to be disturbed by Andy and was surprised for a moment when he heard the voice, seemingly curious as to why Andy was there.
Andy silently complained, if I didn't have a Marauder's Map, I would have been fooled by you.
Andy could even imagine that the Headmaster, after knowing that he was on a night out, ran in front of him by some unknown means and then acted like a high-ranking figure here.
Andy stood beside Dumbledore and followed Dumbledore's gaze out the window.
The curved moon hung over the Forbidden Forest, and the water of the Black Lake reflected the moon and a few stars. From here, the Forbidden Forest in the dark seemed to have a strange charm.
"Quite beautiful," Andy said.
"It is! Even though it's been many years since I've seen it, the night view of Hogwarts is still mind-blowing." Dumbledore exclaimed.
This was true!
The night view of the modern city was equally beautiful, but the night view of Hogwarts had an ancient and mysterious atmosphere, that no lighting and colourful decorations could match.
Andy didn't say anything but accompanied Dumbledore to look at the stars and the moon quietly.
"Are you thinking about your little girlfriend? Accompanying an old man like me to watch the moon is quite boring, isn't it?" Dumbledore teased.
This one was also the truth!
"Watching the moon with you is more atmospheric." Andy laughed.
Andy felt that the atmosphere right now was quite weird.
Dumbledore laughed, "Ever thought about what to do after graduation?"
"Stay in school and become a professor!" Andy said.
"I thought you would want to do something bigger," Dumbledore said.
"Like what...?" Andy asked rhetorically.
Instead of answering the question, Dumbledore continued, "Collins, what do you think of Muggles?"
"Which aspect are you asking about?" Again, Andy did not answer directly.
Dumbledore glanced sideways at Andy, "Feel free to say whatever you want, just think of it as accompanying me, an old man, to chat."
Andy shrugged and said, "Muggles are just people who can't use magic, other than that they are no different from us. The technology they have at their disposal is no worse than magic."
Dumbledore nodded, "What about the wizarding world?"
Andy gave Dumbledore a strange look, this old man is a bit strange tonight, isn't he?
Is he really going to look at the moon and talk about life and ideals?
"Headmaster, you're a bit strange tonight," Andy said bluntly.
Dumbledore gazed into the distance, "Many people in the magic world are unable to think like you, they have been close-minded for too long and have been blind to the changes in the outside world."
"It's dangerous!"
----
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