Chapter 307

Back in the dorm, as Harry lay on his bed, it suddenly occurred to him: if Snape and Lucius had no intention of exposing the diary, wouldn't it have been simpler to just threaten or bribe Draco and Pansy into silence?

In Harry's original plan, the Death Eater meeting was to be held at Draco's house, and the ideal moment would be to burst in mid-speech and interrupt Lucius's confident monologue. Now he had to admit, the odds of that succeeding were low—Lucius had already anticipated it.

So why didn't Lucius stop Draco beforehand, and instead let Snape fabricate new lies?

If we look at this superficially, one might guess that Bellatrix had a spy among the students—she already knew about the diary, and Snape was forced to cover it up. The most obvious suspect is Pansy, since the Parkinson family remains steadfastly aligned with the Lestranges. Alternatively, perhaps Draco and Pansy accidentally left traces during their investigation, drawing the attention of some Slytherin classmate.

Harry felt the truth might not be so simple.

Digging deeper, what if Lucius and Snape had long realized the diary would inevitably come to Bellatrix's attention—and had already prepared for it? Then Draco and Pansy's actions might have been anticipated all along.

Harry couldn't help pondering: this whole sequence seemed like ordinary countermeasures, yet he had a nagging feeling things were more complicated than he'd thought. He could simply ask Snape directly, but whether Snape would reveal anything was one thing—whether his opinion of Harry would drop was another. Harry, of course, wanted to deduce Snape's true intentions and plans himself, but he'd already used the Insight Spell once, trying to unravel Trelawney's mystery; the information Snape had given him tonight wasn't enough to trigger a new insight, leaving him deeply frustrated.

The weekend arrived, and Harry attended the Order meeting with Sirius. As soon as it began, Dawlish kept stressing, "Our progress is not encouraging," followed by Moody's speech, recalling past glories of the former Order and urging members to take action.

As he spoke passionately, Harry glanced around and noticed that, aside from the energetic young members, most senior figures remained unmoved—they had other concerns weighing on their minds.

After the Order meeting ended, Sirius merely escorted Harry back to school; he seemed lost in thought, so Harry said nothing.

It wasn't until the next day, when they met again, that Sirius still appeared deep in thought. In a solemn whisper, he said, "Harry, I suspect… they've known my true identity all along."

"What?" Harry was stunned, then broke out in cold sweat.

"I'm not certain, but something's odd: according to their logic, the Black family is a pure-blood noble house, so why do Lucius and Bellatrix refuse to ally with me? Even after I laid out some points, they showed zero interest in speaking with me."

"As you said earlier, Lucius and Snape had already reached some private understanding. I suspect Lucius and Bellatrix may have a secret agreement too—and I'm the one they've deliberately excluded." Sirius spoke with a heavy tone. "I don't need to be friends with them, but the most likely explanation is: I've been exposed."

"Just thinking about it, Harry, I can't sleep." Sirius let out a heavy sigh.

"We could test it first—it might not be true," Harry said instinctively, avoiding the thought, though he knew ignoring it didn't make it disappear.

"Think back—wasn't it on the first day of term that someone told you Draco was having trouble at home?"

"Uh, yes," Harry nodded. "That must be true, right?"

"It is true, but we don't know when he reconciled with his family, do we?" Sirius asked.

"Perhaps…" Harry began recalling scene after scene, "after we formed Dumbledore's Army."

"That's convenient, isn't it?" Sirius rubbed his chin stubble. "We formed Dumbledore's Army to give Cresswell something to do—that's precisely when the Ministry started intervening in their conflict."

"But the logic is clear: we formed Dumbledore's Army, amplified the students' voice, and that gave Draco the confidence to speak up…" Harry's voice trailed off as he realized: once Draco had that confidence, he wouldn't directly undermine his father—he'd try to reason with him.

All this time, Harry had assumed the Malfoys were still at odds because Draco showed no interest in Greengrass. In truth, they might have reconciled long ago. Draco's indifference to Greengrass wasn't because he was still rebelling—it was because, before he creatively thought to use Crabbe and Goyle, Greengrass had already ceased to be a relevant concern.

So what about the Parkinson family—steadfastly loyal to the Lestranges—and their daughter Pansy, who adores Draco Malfoy? Are they at odds too? Or have they reconciled? After all, the strengthening of student influence didn't benefit Draco alone.

"So you think Lucius and Bellatrix have a secret agreement because of Pansy and Draco's relationship?" Harry mused.

"Yes. I only realized it recently—specifically, the moment I realized Snape and Lucius had private dealings, Pansy and Draco's relationship suddenly stood out. Now it seems they may have become a bridge between their parents' Death Eater circles even before becoming a bridge between the Order and the Death Eaters."

"And that's the Malfoy way: shout loud slogans, but only do what benefits themselves," Sirius added bitterly.

"But if Lucius and Bellatrix have a secret agreement, what could it possibly be?" Harry posed a new question.

"I've thought about that too. I suspect it's about keeping escape routes open." Sirius said. "On the surface, Lucius doesn't want Voldemort resurrected—that's understood by all. We know Bellatrix dreams of bringing him back. Their interests seem opposed. But suppose she succeeds—wouldn't Lucius then face Voldemort's retribution?"

"So if Voldemort returns successfully, Lucius needs Bellatrix to speak well of him, because at that point, Voldemort will know she's the true hero," Harry agreed. "And Lucius, who once harbored doubts, would be punished."

"Now I know why they suspect you," Harry chuckled dryly. "If you had a chance to leave Voldemort's service unharmed, no fool would return to serve him again."

"Don't oversimplify things," Sirius said, though he couldn't help chuckling a few times. "As for Bellatrix, she's probably using Lucius to secure her own escape route too."

"But where could Bellatrix escape to? She could leave now if she wanted—she's the most restless one of all," Harry protested.

"It's not for herself," Sirius remarked. "It's for Delphini."

"If the Order ultimately destroys all the Horcruxes, she can't be sure we won't target Delphini. As a mother, she must leave her daughter a way out."

"But!" Harry objected. "The Order wouldn't harm an innocent child."

"Dark minds see darkness in others. Voldemort attacked you fifteen years ago, so Bellatrix fears the Order will attack Delphini fifteen years from now," Sirius stated objectively. "Whether we act or not is our business. Whether she fears it is hers."

"We won't do it, so let her worry," Harry grumbled.

"That's still the easier problem," Sirius sighed. "We can ignore Lucius and Bellatrix's deal—it benefits us. But have you ever wondered if Snape and Bellatrix have a deal of their own?"

Harry's thoughts instantly returned to Thursday night, after his conversation with Snape. Snape must have made deals with nearly everyone—that would explain everything. But what common interest could he possibly have with Bellatrix?

"Horcruxes," Harry blurted out. "Snape knows the painting is a lie—he must be planning to sell the Horcrux to Bellatrix in exchange for…"

"Exactly—that's the problem. We don't know what Snape gains from Bellatrix," Sirius shrugged.

"Snape's ultimate goal is the same as ours: to dismantle all the Death Eaters slowly, like boiling a frog." Harry calculated. "So all he needs to do is weaken Bellatrix's power. What he's doing… what he's doing…"

"Since we haven't seen Snape take any action to weaken Bellatrix, perhaps his moves lie beyond our view," Harry felt a spark of insight. "He might be plotting against Rodolphus."

"That makes sense—I nearly forgot about those deluded Saints," Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "But no matter, we still have Gilmour if we need it."

"But Gilmour was founded to prevent werewolves from being exploited," Harry said bitterly.