Harry held his breath, staring intently at Dumbledore's face with hope, expecting to see shock written across, or anger, or at the very least a grave, troubled expression.
However, Dumbledore merely sighed softly, a sound of weariness or perhaps resignation, leaned back in his chair with a slight creak, pressed his fingertips together, and fell into what appeared to be deep thought.
His blue eyes seem to gaze at something far beyond the walls of his office.
The silence stretched on.
"Professor?" Harry couldn't help but speak up, his voice breaking the silence, unable to bear the lack of reaction any longer.
"Did you hear that? Snape—he said clearly that he's not your man! He said 'no' when Malfoy asked! And he's in contact with Lucius Malfoy, who's actively working for Voldemort right now!"
"No one belongs to me, Harry," Dumbledore said gently, shaking his head with what might have been sadness.
"People make their own choices. They choose their own.… devotions. And as for young Draco Malfoy's father's involvement with Voldemort, well... we could all have predicted that."
Watching Dumbledore's seemingly nonchalant manner, his complete lack of alarm or urgency, Harry felt somewhat at a loss, frustrated and confused.
This was Hogwarts' Potions professor they were discussing!
He had personally admitted, in his own words, that he wasn't Dumbledore's man and was still in contact with known Death Eaters!
"That's it?" Harry's voice trembled. "Professor, you... aren't you going to do something about this? Anything? At least... at least confront him? Ask him to explain?"
Dumbledore placed both hands flat on the desk, leaned forward slightly in his chair, and gazed calmly at Harry.
That look could almost see completely through a person, piercing through all defenses to the soul beneath.
"Yes, Harry, that's it," Dumbledore said simply, his voice remaining gentle yet carrying a tone of absolute conclusiveness that seemed to conclude the topic. "Professor Severus Snape is worthy of my complete trust. That's enough."
"But—" Harry started desperately.
"No buts, Harry,"
Before Harry could finish his protest, Dumbledore gently interrupted him.
"This is a judgment I've made based on many years of understanding, of working closely with Severus, and numerous... facts that you are not yet privy to. Information I cannot share, even with you. And this conversation,"
He gestured toward the crystal ball still glowing faintly on his desk, "may seem like irrefutable evidence to you three, but within the full picture that I know, within the larger context of events, it might just be a necessary, seemingly dangerous move on a very complex chessboard."
'Chessboard? Move?' Harry thought with frustration and confusion.
What chessboard?
Harry couldn't understand it at all. None of it made sense.
However, he knew with sinking certainty that he couldn't change Dumbledore's mind on this matter.
"...All right, Professor," He finally said reluctantly, his shoulders seeming slumping in defeat.
He could only accept it, however unwillingly. Regardless of this incomprehensible decision, in his mind, their Headmaster was still worthy of trust in general.
And moreover... Professor Westeros earlier had also seemed rather unconcerned about the recording, almost dismissive. Perhaps they both had different views of Snape, saw something he couldn't see.
Wait a moment!
A sudden thought struck Harry like a buldger.
Could it be that he was really wrong about this entire situation? About Snape?
No, he still needed to investigate this himself.
"Excellent," Dumbledore's tone became more cheerful. "Now then, would you three like some chocolate? I have some excellent Honeydukes chocolate in my drawer somewhere."
"As long as it's not Cockroach Clusters," Ron muttered.
"What a pity," Dumbledore said with twinkling eyes. "They're really quite good once you get past the appearance."
The three left shortly after, still confused but somewhat reassured.
The matter of Snape's suspicious conversation didn't cause any significant ripples in the school's daily routine.
The only tangible, visible impact was that Gryffindor's house point hourglass in the entrance hall suddenly dropped by a large portion—Snape's fifty-point deduction remained fully in effect.
Because of this point loss incident, Hermione worked especially hard this month and finally managed to make up those fifty points by the end of May.
Time quietly entered June, bringing with it warmer weather and increasing anxiety.
With just over half a month remaining until the Triwizard Tournament's final task, the students were also about to face their dreaded final examinations.
The entire Hogwarts was shrouded in a thick atmosphere of tension and stress. Students could be seen studying at all hours in the library, the common rooms, even outside on the grounds with textbooks spread around them.
Adrian was also conducting intensive final review sessions for students who needed to take their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T. examinations, going over the most important material and likely exam questions.
However, at this busy time, an unexpected incident occurred.
That day, after Adrian went to the Forbidden Forest as usual in the late afternoon to check on the growth and development of the Treants, he was returning to the castle along the path through the grounds.
Passing by the Triwizard Tournament maze, he noticed two figures standing outside the maze entrance, conversing in low voices that didn't transmit clearly.
At first, from a distance, he thought they were just a few students interested in examining the maze, perhaps champions' friends scouting it out. But as he approached closer, walking across the grass, he discovered with some surprise that the two people were actually Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman.
And Ludo looked terrible—his face was flushed, his robes were disheveled, his usually jovial expression was replaced with something like desperation.
"Help me think of a way, Albus..." Ludo was saying as Adrian continued to approach within hearing distance. His voice was anxious, almost pleading.
"Good afternoon, Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Bagman," Adrian called out politely as he came within comfortable speaking distance, not wanting to appear as though he'd been eavesdropping.
Ludo, who had been in a complete state of anxiety and distress, seemed startled by the interruption and spun around quickly.
After seeing it was Adrian approaching, a flash of panic flashed across his ruddy face, and he hastily said to Dumbledore with forced brightness: "Then it's settled, Albus. We'll discuss this later. I'll come find you this evening, perhaps. Thank you for your time."
With that, he immediately hurried away across the grounds toward the main gates, practically fleeing, not even acknowledging Adrian with so much as a nod.
"?" Adrian looked puzzled, watching Bagman's retreating figure with raised eyebrows.
What was Ludo's strange reaction about? Why had he fled so quickly?
Had he done something to offend him?
Dumbledore watched Ludo's retreating figure thoughtfully for a moment and didn't say much about it. He turned to Adrian and smiled. "Good afternoon, Adrian. How are things progressing in the Forbidden Forest? The Treants thriving, I hope?"
"The Treants are growing exceptionally well, Professor," Adrian confirmed with a nod, then gestured back toward where Bagman had disappeared. "Mr. Bagman seems to have encountered some serious trouble? He looked rather... distressed."
"There have been some significant personnel changes at the Ministry of Magic recently," Dumbledore's tone was very calm. "Ludo may be temporarily leaving his position. Or perhaps permanently. The situation is still developing."
"At this critical time?" Adrian asked with genuine surprise, then a thought occurred to him and he frowned. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with those gambling debts he owes, would it? I'd heard rumors... Surely the Ministry wouldn't be afraid of pressure from those debt-collecting goblins, though. That would be absurd."
Dumbledore sighed softly, it was like a sound born of disappointment.
"Ludo may have tampered with the prize funds for the Triwizard Tournament," He said softly.
He paused, seeming to realize he had spoken too bluntly. "Of course, I shouldn't speculate like this without concrete proof. Ludo is essentially a good person at heart, a decent man, just that his unfortunate weakness for gambling often leads him to make deeply unwise decisions. Choices that spiral out of his control."
Adrian frowned slightly, processing this information. "If that's actually true, if he's been embezzling tournament funds, how will the Ministry handle it? That's quite serious."
"Cornelius will try his best to keep it low-key," Dumbledore said with certainty.
"After all, this concerns the international reputation of the British Ministry of Magic. A scandal like this could be devastating. They've already begun an internal investigation, and perhaps official news will come out after a short time. Or perhaps it will be quietly swept under the rug. These things are unpredictable."
'I see,' Adrian thought to himself with some cynicism.
Bagman had probably been too greedy this time, had taken too much, to the point where even Fudge couldn't suppress it or ignore it any longer despite his usual tendency to avoid controversy.
Playing with fire and inevitably getting burned.
However, Adrian wasn't particularly worried about Ludo Bagman's ultimate situation or fate. The man would have to face the consequences of his actions.
Gambling debts could make a person lose all rationality and common sense. Since Bagman owed such astronomical amounts of money to dangerous creditors, his corruption and embezzlement certainly hadn't started just yesterday. This had probably been going on for years.
If he was a smart man, which he supposedly had been as a Quidditch player, he would definitely have some way to extricate himself from this mess.
Three days later, on a gray morning with rain clouds hovering, Dumbledore announced to the gathered professors in the Great Hall during breakfast the official news that Ludo Bagman had been formally removed from his position as Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
The announcement fell like a stone into still water.
"This is far too sudden!" Madame Maxime exclaimed. She frowned deeply, looking rather troubled. "The competition is right before us; the maze is already prepared and populated with creatures—who is the new person in charge? Who will organize everything? We can't simply cancel now!"
"Percy Weasley," Dumbledore answered simply, gesturing to where Percy sat at the staff table, looking both nervous and tremendously pleased.
Hearing this announcement, Adrian glanced at Percy beside him with raised eyebrows—no wonder the young man had appeared at Hogwarts today, looking unusually formal in new robes.
However, thinking about it more critically, both major departments directly related to the Triwizard Tournament had now lost their heads—first Crouch, now Bagman. This was truly ridiculous, almost absurdly so.
And in the end, it was Percy Weasley, who had only graduated from Hogwarts not long ago, barely more than a year was taking over one of the most important positions!
This entire tournament was really turning into a complete organizational mess, a disaster of epic proportions.
Adrian even found himself wondering whether the Triwizard Tournament itself had been cursed by Voldemort somehow, just like Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts position had been cursed for decades.
As the pattern of disasters was remarkably similar.
Speaking of which, this year's Defense Against the Dark Arts curse hadn't yet taken effect on Moody—his teaching had been going rather smoothly so far, surprisingly.
After Dumbledore finished his brief announcement, everyone's eyes naturally turned to Percy at the staff table, appraising the young man who would now be responsible for the tournament's conclusion.
Percy immediately straightened his chest, adjusted his glasses, and bowed slightly to everyone with skillful formality. His face was practically glowing with a smile he couldn't quite suppress despite his attempts at maintaining composure.
"Thank you for your trust, Headmaster Dumbledore and Minister Fudge,"
He said in his most official voice, trying desperately to maintain composure but unable to hide the obvious excitement making his voice slightly higher than usual. "I assure you all that I will execute my duties with the utmost professionalism and dedication. The Triwizard Tournament will conclude successfully."
Several professors exchanged skeptical glances.
Adrian couldn't help but think: Well, this should be interesting.
At the Gryffindor table, Ron had buried his face in his hands. "My brother," he muttered to Harry and Hermione. "My brother is in charge of the Triwizard Tournament. We're doomed. This whole thing is cursed; I'm telling you."
"At least Percy is competent," Hermione said, though even she looked doubtful. "He got twelve O.W.L.s."
"That doesn't mean he can run a tournament!" Ron hissed back. "He can barely run his own life! Remember when he sent Mum a singing toilet seat for Christmas by mistake?"
Harry, meanwhile, was watching the staff table with a thoughtful expression, his mind already on other concerns.
________________
You can read more chapters on:
patreon.com/IamLuis
You can check out my new novel: Harry Potter: Black's Mage Book on my profile