Chapter 306: Snape

Harry spent the better part of the week in high spirits; the mere thought of Lu Xiusi about to make a fool of himself over the Torchwood affair made him incredibly happy.

On Thursday evening, when he returned to the castle from the Quidditch pitch, the Fat Lady's portrait reminded him that Snape was waiting for him in the Headmaster's office.

"How strange," Ron muttered. "What would that old bat want with you at this hour?"

Harry thought of Spier almost immediately. He guessed that Snape was preparing to put forward some point at Sunday's meeting and needed Hoffa's support. To him, this was like a double blessing, so he waved goodbye to his friend with a smile and strode up the spiral staircase.

"Sit down, Mr. Potter." Snape sat behind the desk, his face grim.

"What did you want to see me about?" Harry asked with a hint of anticipation.

"The diary has been exposed, or rather, it is about to be," Snape said coldly. "Because of your cleverness."

"What?" Harry froze, feeling a bit confused. How did Snape know about this?

"You never considered how determined Bellatrix is." Snape placed both hands on the desk. "Lu Xiusi and I tacitly kept the existence of the diary a secret because we understand Bella."

"No matter what excuses you prepare, you cannot stop Bellatrix, because once she knows the location of all the Horcruxes, she will definitely take immediate action. No one can persuade her otherwise." Snape tapped the desktop. "We might have enough strength to stop her insane behavior, but once casualties occur, the situation will become uncontrollable. Do you understand this?"

Harry remained silent. He was still wondering how Snape knew about the diary. Could the Headmaster monitor every corner of the school? Had he just happened to overhear his conversation with Draco?

"Before this, I haven't had much time to pay attention to you, but clearly, you aren't exactly swamped. On the contrary, you have the leisure to provoke young Malfoy." Snape sneered. "Unfortunately, as the saying goes, like father, like son."

Harry took a sharp breath. He suddenly thought of something terrifying: what if Draco and Lu Xiusi had reconciled long ago? What if the conflict between Pan Xi and Lu Xiusi had also been resolved?

He should have realized this the day he saw Greengrass appointed as Seeker on the pitch. Harry realized with annoyance that Draco and Pan Xi must have told Lu Xiusi about the diary, and Lu Xiusi had then told Snape.

"Lu Xiusi has been in contact with the Order of the Phoenix for a long time, much earlier than you thought," Snape stated coldly. "And Draco—it's quite interesting. Even though he didn't know what his father was doing, he made the same choice."

"You and Lu Xiusi have been working together for a long time?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Obviously, going to war doesn't serve his interests either, so we blocked the news of the diary within both the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters," Snape said flatly. "As long as one Horcrux remains unaccounted for, we always have an excuse to keep Bella in check."

"But after you keep her in check, do you just leave her alone?" Harry said, feeling somewhat annoyed. "You've been laying the groundwork for a long time; why is she still so arrogant now?"

"To dismantle her power without causing casualties, the only thing the Order of the Phoenix can do is use the Horcruxes to apply a little pressure, but we mainly have to rely on Lu Xiusi to divide and win people over," Snape said with a hint of disappointment. "But Bella has one advantage that attracts the vast majority of her followers to pledge their lives to her: Delphini."

"What?" Harry felt like he had heard that name before.

"Delphini Riddle, the Dark Lord's daughter, or you could call her the Dark Princess," Snape said slowly. "So, do you understand now? Those most insane, most brutal Death Eaters are still united under Bella, and they are ready to stir up a bloodbath at any moment."

"When you think you're playing political games well, don't forget that not everyone is willing to play political games with you." Snape sighed. "I hope this teaches you a lesson."

Harry was left thinking again: why had Sirius and Lupin never told him these things? Perhaps it was because they didn't want Harry to know too much, but it was more likely that Snape had kept them in the dark as well. After all, they had had a very unpleasant time during their school days.

"Of course, Lu Xiusi also knew that there would come a day when the diary couldn't be hidden, and Hoffa's appearance made him panic. So, he predicted the current situation and proposed a solution that isn't really a solution." Snape's tone remained deadpan. "Deng Buliduo left his Horcrux to you."

"Deng Buliduo's Horcrux???" Harry couldn't help but exclaim.

"In that Golden Snitch he left you as a legacy, he stored the Horcrux he created," Snape said coldly. "This should be a secret that only you know, but we need to find a way to leak it and get it to Bella's ears."

"But that Snitch is empty, and besides, how could Deng Buliduo create a Horcrux?" Harry's surprise and skepticism gradually began to turn into understanding. "Oh, right. Deng Buliduo didn't create a Horcrux, but you want me to lie and say he did."

"For Bellatrix, she would easily believe this, because Voldemort created Horcruxes; there is no doubt about that." Harry gradually understood Snape's line of thinking. "And this way, Bella wouldn't dare to start a war rashly, because she would worry that the Order of the Phoenix would destroy the painting and immediately resurrect Deng Buliduo."

"For the foreign wizards you want to guard against, this could also have a quite positive effect," Snape added, raising an eyebrow.

"Then we can persuade Bellatrix to prioritize stealing Deng Buliduo's Horcrux before considering resurrecting Voldemort. We can say: 'Bella, you wouldn't want Voldemort to be defeated again right after he's resurrected, would you?'" Harry realized with a start. "And she has no way to steal something that doesn't exist, so before she loses patience, we still have a little time to think of new ways."

"Lu Xiusi has quite a bit of experience in how to maintain Bella's patience," Snape said indifferently. "But more importantly, how do we pass this news to her ears without leaving a trace? We only have three days left."

"If we can't think of a way, does it have to be told to her by you or Lu Xiusi personally?" Harry calculated. "I feel like what you say is quite credible; the Death Eaters all know that Deng Buliduo trusted you quite a bit."

"Yes, but if I had known all along, why wouldn't I have said so earlier?" Snape shook his head. "You should be able to notice that."

"Ah..." Harry pondered for a moment, but he suddenly realized that Snape might have already had a plan and was just bringing him over today to lecture him.

If he admitted frankly that he couldn't think of anything, perhaps this matter would be resolved in some way, and Snape calling him over was just to keep him in the loop. However, this also meant that in Snape's eyes, Harry was a child who hadn't grown up at all. He wouldn't say anything more, and might even forbid Harry from continuing to meddle in "adult affairs."

The desire to "prove himself," typical of a teenager, surged in his heart. Harry tried hard to think: who was someone trusted enough by Bellatrix and who fit the setting of "just finding out about this recently"?

Harry recalled the members of the Death Eater meeting. Perhaps Regulus or Hoffa met these conditions, but how could he explain how they learned of this "secret that only Harry Potter knows"? It could only be a secret known to Harry himself or core members of the Order of the Phoenix he trusted deeply. He could say Sirius let it slip in front of Regulus—that was the most far-fetched and clumsy reason, but it was barely usable.

Or, there was another person at the Death Eater meeting, someone with erratic movements but considerable appeal and credibility: William, the liaison for the White House. Since Tang Tang Nade used the Order of the Phoenix to pass information to Hermione without leaving a trace, Harry could certainly use him to pass information to the Death Eaters without leaving a trace. "Dark" was a mole for the Magical Congress; the Death Eaters would definitely believe it without hesitation. After all, Dark joining the Order of the Phoenix was something that had happened recently. However, Tang Tang Nade's patience was limited. If he bothered him with everything, then neither the old teacher-student relationship nor Cassandra's leverage would be useful for long. Harry subconsciously made this plan his final fallback and turned to think of other ways.

He soon thought of another direction. Since the final battle in his fourth year, Bondarev, who had appeared before the Death Eaters several times, had vanished, and the Death Eaters and the Soviets had completely cut off contact. If he found someone to disguise themselves as a KGB agent and put this intelligence in front of the Death Eaters, that would certainly be a good idea too. After all, the KGB didn't need to explain their actions to the Death Eaters. As long as he could induce them to investigate with suspicion, the results of the investigation would depend entirely on Harry's manipulation, and the Death Eaters would believe the conclusions they investigated themselves even more.

After considering this layer, Harry thought a little more: what would Snape's plan be?

Perhaps it was the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry had once carefully inspected Deng Buliduo's legacy; they had the possibility of discovering this secret, and this secret should have been sealed by Leslie along with the Doctor Project.

They had known this secret for a long time. Now that they discovered Bellatrix might be stirring, they would immediately think of curbing her actions, so they threw out this secret to scare the Death Eaters. Bella would definitely think this was the Ministry of Magic bluffing because they didn't want to see the two sides go to war. But likewise, as long as she started investigating with suspicion, Snape's goal would be achieved.

Harry looked up at Snape. Perhaps this Headmaster and double agent had more depth than he had imagined. But it was also possible that he was too slow—Arnold Abinson couldn't possibly have come to Hogwarts just to retire; he should have noticed this long ago, just as he should have noticed Greengrass. ===== CHAPTER 307 =====