Hogwarts Headmaster’s Office.

The spacious room now seemed somewhat cramped.

Hagrid, towering and hunched, nervously fiddled with his thick fingers, “Albus, Rubeus wasn’t doing it on purpose… you know, he’s always been a good boy…”

“Yes, a good boy,” Severus Snape interrupted, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I think Pince, who’s still unconscious in the hospital wing after being thrown into it, would strongly disagree with you.”

Hagrid mumbled and lowered his head in resignation.

He knew that Rubeus had indeed made a huge mistake this time. If it hadn’t been for Madam Pince, there might have been another student injured or, worse, killed.

“Alright, calm down, Hagrid.”

Dumbledore placed a hand gently in the air, calming the situation. “I’m not blaming you, and I do believe Rubeus is innocent.”

“Really… really?” Hagrid’s face lit up with joy, and he blinked back tears, almost ready to cry. “You’re saying Rubeus won’t be expelled?”

“Yes,” Dumbledore nodded gently.

“Well, that’s not a good idea at all!”

Snape’s tone was still cold and scornful. “The facts are clear. That foolish beast has done nothing but take up space. It’s absolutely useless for guarding the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Hagrid lowered his head again, his shoulders slumping.

Dumbledore sighed, stroking his beard. “Hagrid, please go calm Rubeus down for me.”

He winked. “I’ll convince Severus for you.”

“Oh, oh, alright… I mean, thank you, Albus!” Hagrid wiped his tears away and cautiously glanced at Snape before slowly exiting the room.

Dumbledore stood up, took two cups from the shelf, and poured some tea into them. “Would you like some, Severus?”

Snape, however, didn’t even glance at the cups. “Albus, are you really going to let that stupid dog stay in the castle?”

“Why not? What would we replace it with? A troll? A dragon?”

Dumbledore made an inappropriate joke, taking a sip of his tea.

“Severus, we both know that Rubeus isn’t to blame for this incident. He’s just a victim of the Confundus Charm.”

“And the enchantment I left in the room, preventing it from leaving, was tampered with.”

Dumbledore made his assurances.

Having gotten to this point, Snape no longer wanted to dwell on the ridiculous dog.

He directly asked, “Was it Quirrell?”

“No, it probably wasn’t.”

Dumbledore shook his head.

“Because of the suggestions for the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum, Pomona has been with Quirrell since this morning in the Great Hall…”

“When the incident occurred, they were both at the Quidditch pitch.”

Snape furrowed his brows. “Polyjuice Potion…”

He almost said that it could have been Quirrell using the Polyjuice Potion, but his words halted abruptly.

Suddenly, Snape realized that whether the Quirrell at the Quidditch pitch was the real one or a fake, at least two people in the castle had shown greed for the Philosopher’s Stone.

He thought for a moment before asking slowly, “Is it Dawn Richter?”

Dumbledore froze, then chuckled softly. “Severus, why would you think that?”

“He was in the castle, wasn’t he?” Snape’s eyes narrowed.

Dumbledore opened a box of beetle stacks on the table, unphased. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

Snape frowned, displeased. “Albus, you know exactly what I mean! You and I both know that he’s the kind of wizard who could do something like this!”

“Alright, alright, don’t rush. Severus, I assure you, this child has nothing to do with this incident.”

Dumbledore tried to calm him down. “We, as professors, shouldn’t always harbor biases against our students.”

“Bias? Did you just say bias?”

Snape nearly laughed in anger, his hands pressing down hard on the desk as he glared at Dumbledore.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t been worried about Dawn Richter’s future! He’s not the type of wizard to stay out of trouble!”

“I can see his ambition, his desires!”

“Albus Dumbledore… the greatest headmaster of Hogwarts… do you want to create a second Dark Lord in your tenure?”

Snape practically howled these words.

He didn’t like Dawn Richter because he always saw in him the worst traits of those he despised, including Voldemort.

The portraits of past headmasters on the walls were slowly disturbed by the heated argument, waking up and starting to whisper among themselves.

Dumbledore, however, remained calm.

“No, Severus, Dawn is different from Tom.”

He said softly, “Tom wanted power. He wanted to be respected and feared by all… but Dawn doesn’t desire power or control.”

“Heh! What’s the difference between a Dragon-skin Viper and a Northern Viper? They’re both poisonous snakes!”

Snape sneered. “You’ve already failed with Voldemort. Do you really think you’ll succeed this time?”

“Yes, Severus, I believe I can teach him.” Dumbledore’s expression was very serious.

“You always do this… you always do this!” Snape felt that Dumbledore was utterly unreasonable.

He paced back and forth in the office. “You think you’re some great educator? Don’t joke around! You’ve never been able to judge anyone correctly!”

“You even thought Sirius Black, that scum, was a good person, and you kept favoring him endlessly during school!”

Snape thought back to the horrible past, and the fury and scorn in his eyes seemed like it could ignite Dumbledore himself.

He gritted his teeth. “He nearly killed me! He used that idiotic werewolf! And what did you do? You did nothing!”

Dumbledore fell silent for a moment.

“…Severus, I am sorry.”

“Enough. I don’t need your apologies!” Snape interrupted coldly.

“I’ve had enough of your baseless confidence! At least… I’ll use a memory charm to see if Dawn Richter is involved in this!”

“Absolutely not, Severus!”

Dumbledore’s expression hardened. “Doing that will only make things worse! What we need now is acceptance and trust, not rejection and suspicion!”

“Once something breaks down, it can never be rebuilt.”

Looking into Dumbledore’s unwavering eyes, the office fell into silence.

Suddenly, a portrait on the wall cleared its throat. “Ahem, young man, I believe you are mistaken. It’s well known that there are no bad people in the Black family!”

But clearly, no one had the time to pay attention to it.

Snape took a deep breath.

He pulled out a vial of golden potion, slamming it down on the desk with a thud. “Give this to Harry. Use whatever excuse you need.”

Dumbledore glanced at the potion, which was much larger than a standard dose of Felix Felicis. “Why not give it to him yourself?”

“Because I can’t stand that James Potter’s face!”

Snape gave Dumbledore a cold look, then swept his cloak around him like a bat and stormed out of the Headmaster’s office.

Bang!

The door slammed shut behind him, startling Fawkes the phoenix, who let out an annoyed squawk.

Dumbledore gently stroked the phoenix’s warm feathers, letting out a tired sigh.

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