The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 600 Farewell under Misunderstanding
The light in the classroom was getting dimmer and dimmer. The light from the suspended candles could no longer dispel the darkness. Just like Snape in Ada's eyes, his road had come to an end.

This classroom has seen many Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, and has also witnessed the curse that surrounds this position.

Some are as miserable as Benedict Foley, who suffers a minor disaster every three days and a major disaster every five days; some are like Quirrell and Lockhart, who are usually bullied by students, but are taken away by a wave of curses at the end of the term; and some are like Remus Lupin, who usually does not show the power of the curse and is loved by students, but cannot stay in office due to various special circumstances.

Ada sat in the seat she used to sit in. There were no other students around, nor the sound of the professor lecturing. The dim light from the candles made her figure seem a little lonely.

Snapped!
Ada snapped her fingers, and a ball of fluorescent light appeared at her fingertips. After it left her hand, it floated higher and higher, and gradually became the size of a prophecy ball, emitting a soft and beautiful light.

"Who poisoned Slughorn's mead?" Ada asked. "What a poor choice!"

She knew that Snape had no intention of telling her their plan, and no matter how she asked, Snape would not speak. Breaking the casserole to get to the bottom of things was not suitable for all situations.

Draco Malfoy and his successor, one chose the curse of the opal necklace, the other chose to poison the drink, these two people seemed to be too unwilling to take Dumbledore seriously.

Such a clumsy method would not only fail to harm the headmaster of Hogwarts, but would also reveal his true identity and expose himself.

Ada once talked to Malfoy and wanted to understand his mental journey.

According to Malfoy, the core of his plan was the Vanishing Cabinet. He wanted to connect the Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts with the one in Borgin and Burke's, so that the Death Eaters could be brought into Hogwarts secretly and Dumbledore could be killed by the internal and external forces.

It can be considered a long-term and careful plan, but the entire plan is based on the premise that the Vanishing Cabinet can be repaired.

As long as the Vanishing Cabinet can be put into use, Malfoy will be halfway to success. Even if the Death Eaters who entered Hogwarts failed to complete the task, he would have explained to Voldemort and would not be killed by the Avatar.

However, the difficulty of repairing the Vanishing Cabinet was far beyond Malfoy's expectations, making him feel that the future was bleak.

On the one hand, the mission was delayed and could not be delivered, which made Malfoy feel the pressure from Voldemort; on the other hand, he was worried that the Vanishing Cabinet could not be repaired and his plan could not be carried out. This worry also made him feel suffocated.

Under the double pressure, Malfoy had no choice but to take a risk and mail-order the opal necklace. He thought that while repairing the Vanishing Cabinet and perfecting his plan, he would try other methods at the same time.

Now that several months have passed, Malfoy's successor has made the same mistake as him, thinking that assassination is too simple. I just don't know if this successor also has a more thorough plan.

"Theodore Nott." Snape gave a straightforward answer. "He received the same mission from the Dark Lord as Malfoy. The reason... you should be able to guess it."

I did think of it. Not long ago, in a raid by the Ministry of Magic, the Death Eater Nott was arrested again. This Nott was Theodore's father, and he was arrested twice by the Ministry of Magic in more than half a year.

Theodore Nott is tall and thin, with buck teeth, a bit of a loner and few friends.

He is in the same grade as Malfoy, and their fathers are both Death Eaters. He is one of the few classmates that the proud Master Malfoy gets along with on an equal footing.

In Ada's eyes, Slytherin students can be roughly divided into two categories, one is those she has beaten, and the other is those she has not beaten.

Originally, Ada should have had no impression of Nott, a Slytherin student two years younger than her, but before coming to school, she happened to learn a little about him from Draco Malfoy.

"What did Dumbledore say?" Ida continued, "Give Theodore Nott a chance, just like he did with Malfoy?"

The Dark Lord must have some serious illness to arrange two students to assassinate Dumbledore. It's not that Ida looks down on people, just look at what Malfoy and Nott did!

Once someone keeps pursuing the matter of poisoning (necklace), the murderer will be found out soon and the plan will be in vain.

Of course, these two students could also be baits placed on the stage, deliberately giving themselves up to cover the actions of others, such as Severus Snape standing in front of Ada.

But no matter what, Voldemort must have cut off his subordinate's brain when he sliced ​​his children. A smart person would not do such a thing. What do you think those Death Eaters with children would think?
This is not the only thing that proves that Voldemort is not mentally sound, there is also the questioning of Ollivander.

Tom Riddle was handsome and charming during his student days. Even when he first revealed his identity as Voldemort, his words were so bewitching and inflammatory that people were willing to work for him.

Now, the only means Voldemort used to rule the Death Eaters were killing, torture, and terror. To get clues from Ollivander, he no longer used verbal induction and bewitching, but tortured him with the Cruciatus Curse.

The contrast between before and after is obvious, he is like two different people. I don’t know whether the first failure dealt Voldemort too much of a blow, or whether he really damaged his own brain.

"Don't try to get words out of me," Snape said. "I will say what I should say. If I shouldn't say anything, even a letter or a modal particle is superfluous."

Snape turned his back to Ada and fiddled with the burning candle flame with his fingers.

The candlelight grew brighter, illuminating his face, which showed neither sadness nor joy, as if the unbreakable oath had nothing to do with him.

For Snape, every day of life is torture, and death is the only way to be relieved. He is not afraid of death, and will even actively embrace death, but he cannot be so selfish, there are still many things waiting for him to do, and there are still people in this world who need him.

There was silence, a long silence. The classroom was so quiet that they could hear the faint sound of the candles burning and their own breathing.

After a while, Snape's iron heart seemed to soften a little, and he said: "Death is everyone's destiny, why are you making such a fuss. Just like the Chudley Cannons will be at the bottom of the league this year, it is something that is destined to happen..."

Before he finished speaking, Snape regretted his own excessive talk. Some things are better known by only two people, without involving a third person.

"Although you always make me hate you to the core and I can't get rid of my anger even if I beat you up. You are going to die, and I should be happy. The annoying disaster is finally gone!" Ada said, "But I can never forget all the good things you have done for me."

Ada's tone was very much like a farewell, and it was obvious that she did not understand what Snape had just said. Or perhaps it was her habitual thinking that made her think that Snape was comforting her and saying goodbye to her.

"What can I do to help you?" Ada asked. She didn't think Snape could withstand the Unbreakable Vow, and she didn't know how to help Snape, so she prepared to leave.

Kill Albus Dumbledore on his behalf? Whether he could defeat him was a question, and whether he could bring himself to do it was also a question. Or would he become the next Dumbledore, bound by rules and regulations?
"No need, I don't have any unfulfilled wishes." Snape said, still with his back to Ada, not daring to look at her.

It's just a misunderstanding, let it be, I shouldn't have said that sentence in the first place, Snape thought.

"I'm good at the Killing Curse." Ada added, "If you need it."

"Thank you, but it's not necessary." Snape said, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Time will arrange everything."

(End of this chapter)