"I'll come up with a safe way, Harry, and Dudley too. I promise you both!" Dumbledore said earnestly after a moment of silence.
"You'd better give an extra guarantee, Dumbledore!" Dudley said with a cold face. "If you come up with any ideas, I hope you can be as straightforward as I was just now and tell us directly. Discuss it with us instead of acting on your own without consulting us.
You can evaluate my methods, and I need to evaluate yours. Do you understand?"
"I'll discuss it with you, Dudley. I promise!" Dumbledore replied promptly.
"Go ahead and ask!" Dudley leaned back against the seat back and got into a more comfortable position.
"I don't have any other questions. Knowing your intentions and capabilities, and unexpectedly learning the crucial information to defeat Voldemort, other questions aren't important."
Dumbledore also adjusted his sitting position, looking compassionate and sorrowful. "Now it's your turn to ask me questions."
"Alright!"
Dudley waved Diggory's wand and summoned three bottles of fruit juice from the refrigerator. The caps of the glass-bottled drinks popped open by themselves and flew to the hands of Dumbledore, Harry, and himself respectively.
Dudley picked up the fruit juice and took a big gulp. After quenching his thirst and soothing his mood a bit, he continued,
"The questions we want to ask are very simple. There are only two main aspects, one about the past and one about the future.
Let's start with the question about the past. Mr. Dumbledore, Harry and I need to know the ins and outs of how Voldemort murdered Aunt Lily and Uncle James.
Why did Voldemort target the Potter family? What was his motive?"
"Because of a prophecy, a prophecy about Voldemort's nemesis." Dumbledore answered without hesitation.
"What's the content of the prophecy?"
"Voldemort's nemesis will be born into a family that has defied Voldemort three times, born on the last day of July, and possess mysterious powers that Voldemort doesn't understand."
"Who delivered this prophecy?"
"Professor Trelawney. At that time, she was applying to become a Divination professor at Hogwarts when she delivered this prophecy."
Dudley and Dumbledore quickly exchanged three questions and answers, and Dumbledore answered them all very promptly and candidly. Until the next question...
"How did Voldemort know about this prophecy? Who told him? Could it be that this Professor Trelawney couldn't hold back her desire to show off and spread it everywhere?"
As Dudley asked the question, his eyes stared fixedly at Dumbledore, carefully observing his microexpressions and body language.
"Well... no. After delivering the prophecy, Professor Trelawney came to tell me right away. At the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade, she told me everything she had prophesied..."
Dumbledore's answer was no longer straightforward but a slow, circumlocutory answer.
"Dumbledore!"
Dudley suddenly roared, scaring Dumbledore out of his wits and interrupting his hesitant thoughts he was about to say.
Then, Dudley stared directly at Dumbledore with a sharp look and reminded him,
"Please answer truthfully, Mr. Dumbledore!"
When you paused just now, your upper and lower lips pursed into a straight line. This is a sign that you're trying to hide something.
Also, when you were answering just now, your eyes focused on the lower left corner for a while and then turned to the upper right corner. This means your thoughts were shifting back and forth between the memory and imagination areas of your brain.
You're trying to make up some nonsense to cover up someone's guilt, aren't you?!"
"This... You... I..."
Dumbledore was a bit flustered. He didn't dare to look into Dudley's aggressive eyes. He averted his gaze and then saw the disappointed expression on Harry's face beside him. His heart suddenly ached.
"I'm sorry, Dudley and Harry. I just didn't want you to preconceive an irreversible and bad impression of someone."
Dumbledore let out a long sigh and said, "Dudley, you're really too perceptive. I've never heard such a... professional explanation for those signs you mentioned just now."
"This is the Muggle version of Legilimency magic, a science called psychology, Mr. Dumbledore!"
So, please don't lie or play tricks in front of me! It's not smart and it's not fair!
Just now, Harry and I answered your questions truthfully!"
Dudley glared fiercely at Dumbledore, his eyes full of warnings. "Also, please refrain from your ingrained habit of making decisions for others. You just need to reveal the truth. How we understand it is up to Harry and me!"
Now, tell us, who told Voldemort the prophecy?!"
"Severus Snape. He overheard my conversation with Professor Trelawney at the Hog's Head Inn. He heard the first two parts of the prophecy and told this secret to Voldemort."
Dumbledore still told the truth, but he immediately added an explanation. "At that time, Snape was obsessed with dark magic, chasing after powerful forces and organizations. So he joined the Death Eaters and became Voldemort's subordinate.
After learning this news, Voldemort conducted a thorough investigation in the wizarding world. Eventually, he identified two targets who fit the prophecy. One is Harry, and the other is Neville of the Longbottom family.
Snape and Harry's mother, Lily, knew each other when they were young and had a... emotional entanglement.
Snape has always been deeply in love with Lily. So when Snape learned that his informants had put Harry's family on Voldemort's kill list, he regretted it deeply.
He defected from the dark side and secretly came to me to explain the situation, asking me to protect Harry's family, and I agreed..."
"Hold on a moment, Mr. Dumbledore."
Dudley suddenly interrupted Dumbledore's long-winded explanation. "The situation is already very clear. This Snape is just an accomplice of Voldemort. It's just that he has a bit more of a lovesick brain than a pure accomplice and has the circumstance of turning himself in.
According to the judgment criteria of Muggle law, he should be sentenced to at least ten years in prison!
Mr. Dumbledore, you can't defend and absolve him just because he became your informant.
Your casual statement 'Voldemort conducted a thorough investigation after hearing the prophecy' represents the demise of a group of wizarding families!"
Hagrid told Harry and me yesterday that Voldemort and his Death Eaters killed many outstanding wizards couples. Hagrid could give quite a few examples!
These people didn't have to die. It was all because Snape snitched on them!
Moreover, just from what you said, one can tell that this Snape didn't realize his mistake at all. He was just completely obsessed with bugging my Aunt Lily!
If Harry didn't meet the criteria of the prophecy and Voldemort didn't intend to persecute Harry's family, would Snape have switched sides? Huh? Ask yourself the most honest thought in your heart and tell me, would he?!"
Dumbledore fell silent. After a moment, he replied with difficulty:
"He probably... wouldn't."