Snape could only remain silent in response to Dumbledore's words.
Since he had chosen to take the path of an undercover agent, he naturally knew very well what he would face - he had to delay Voldemort's resurrection for as long as possible, while at the same time gaining Voldemort's trust.
This was already an extremely difficult task.
This time, it looked like he had gained Voldemort's trust. But Voldemort doesn't care about this, he will only urge Snape to start the next action as soon as possible.
If Snape failed one mission after another, Voldemort would think that Snape was an incompetent person.
At that time, Snape's undercover work would be meaningless.
Because Voldemort would not reuse an incompetent loser.
There was silence in the office for a few moments before Snape finally asked first, "How long do you need?"
Dumbledore looked at Snape and said slowly, "The longer, the better, three, four, four or five years ..."
Snape: "..."
"Too long!"
Snape frowned, "I can't drag it out that long. Two years at the most, that's my limit."
Dumbledore sighed slightly at that.
To eliminate Voldemort, his Horcruxes would have to be destroyed.
Dumbledore didn't know exactly how many Horcruxes Voldemort had made, nor did he know exactly where those Horcruxes were hidden.
In Dumbledore's plan, to defeat Voldemort, two pre-conditions must be fulfilled.
First, train Harry to become an excellent wizard.
Second, bring Voldemort back to life.
After getting Tom Riddle's diary, Dumbledore already had a few speculations.
In the prophecy, Voldemort's nemesis, who Voldemort will mark him as his equal - was most likely also Voldemort's Horcrux.
Yes, Dumbledore had thought of that.
Harry Potter ... is none other than one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
That's why Harry could be Voldemort's nemesis.
Because he could find all the Horcruxes and completely eliminate Voldemort. And the 'power the Dark Lord knows not' mentioned in the prophecy might be Lily's love for Harry.
It was because Dumbledore thought of this that he needed to delay Voldemort's resurrection as long as possible.
Voldemort should never be resurrected until Harry had grown.
Glancing at Snape, Dumbledore's eyes flickered slightly, feeling a little guilty inside, but he hid it well.
"Severus, I need some preparation to lay out a few plans ahead of time as well."
Dumbledore's tone was slightly more serious, "You have to try to delay Voldemort as much as possible, and if you fail ... Severus, you can give up the undercover plan."
In fact, Dumbledore disapproved of Snape's undercover plan from the beginning, only Snape insisted on it, so Dumbledore did not have any strong opinion of that plan.
Snape was a little annoyed.
He knew that Dumbledore must have withheld a lot of information, perhaps very important information.
In Snape's opinion, since Dumbledore had decided to personally take action, bringing Voldemort back to life, finding and destroying those Dark Magic items, and killing Voldemort ... should be the best plan.
Just do it straight away and be done with it.
But Dumbledore obviously had other plans.
... Harry Potter!
Snape knew in his heart that Dumbledore believed in that prophecy; and that he had not given up on training Harry.
"You're asking me to give up now?"
Snape's tone was a little less than favourable, "I've gained the Dark Lord's trust, and when he's resurrected, I'll be able to pry into the secret of his immortality - to find those damned dark magic items."
"You said it, it's the only way we can kill him."
Dumbledore spoke calmly, "Calm down, Severus. We can take our time discussing these things, and when the time comes, I will not hide anything from you."
"What we need to discuss now is your attitude when you face Voldemort next."
Snape gave Dumbledore a deep look.
But no matter what, Dumbledore was the only person he could count on right now.
"I will tell the Dark Lord that the Ministry of Magic has strengthened the security of Azkaban and that you, the greatest wizard of the twentieth century, ... have begun to suspect me."
Snape glanced at the newspaper on his desk, "Because of that woman's report."
Dumbledore nodded slightly.
That was a good reason.
Snape attacked Azkaban late at night, if I, the greatest wizard of the twentieth century, didn't suspect him, wouldn't that be a collapse of my persona?
It was necessary to be suspicious!
Snape continued, "This reason should be enough to make the Dark Lord lurk patiently for a while. As long as I remain loyal to him, he will not lose hope."
Dumbledore nodded slightly before slowly getting up and walking over to the window, "Severus ... it's been hard work."
Snape glanced at Dumbledore and said nothing as he got up and walked out of the Headmaster's office.
Harry ... Horcruxes ...
Dumbledore looked outside the castle, at the young wizards running around unrestrainedly, his gaze was slightly complicated.
Is this fate?
***
After eating lunch in the great hall, Andy took a walk outside the castle for a while and then found a bench with a shady background to sit down and rest.
In a few more days, the truth potion would be made successfully.
It was a pity that the current magic world was caught up in the Azkaban Incident, and the news of 'Lockhart is a watered-down liar' couldn't possibly make it to the headlines.
The only way to get attention was to delay it a bit.
Andy cupped his chin and had an idea in his mind.
Moreover, if Lockhart had committed a crime before, ... the Minister of Magic Fudge, who was eager to prove himself, would definitely review this case strictly.
It will be judged and sentenced harshly!
Andy already has a rough plan, now everything is ready, and all he needs is perfect timing.
Beside Andy, Hermione was seriously studying Old English.
There were dictionaries of Old English in the library of Hogwarts, and as long as she translated according to it, she could read any book written in Old English.
"Hermione, we have a dictionary now, even if we don't learn Old English, we can still translate those materials," Andy advised.
In Andy's opinion, Hermione learning this was completely useless!
"We can translate according to the dictionary this time, but what about next time? What if we don't have a dictionary in our hands?"
Hermione said in a serious tone, "It's always right to learn a little bit more knowledge, and we can use it sooner or later."
"Okay!"
Andy nodded, "I think we can go to the Chamber of Secrets again tonight."
Having found a copy of the Old English dictionary, Andy was now a little impatient.
"I think it would be better to go back on Friday."
Hermione said, "That way you can sleep until high noon on Saturday."
Andy shrugged, "If we do put it off until Friday, I won't sleep well all week."
Hermione gave Andy a helpless look and raised an eyebrow, "Fine, we'll go down together tonight. But we have to be back in our dormitory and bed by twelve."
----
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