Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 327 An Unbreakable Vow

"The best black tea should be drunk neat; some barbarians never understand this kind of taste." Snape glanced meaningfully at Harry, who was holding a teacup and looking distressed.

Harry sensed that he was very malicious.

Fortunately, Snape didn't seem to want to be too harsh on Harry in front of Vaughn, so after a casual remark, he started chatting with Vaughn.

"North America also produces green tea?"

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"Of course, the Yankees love Far Eastern tea; their habit is even starting to spread to England, haven't you noticed?"

"—I noticed it, but I just didn't realize it, or I couldn't put it into words."

"Oh, an unbreakable vow, or some kind of unknown, secret magic?"

Huh?

Harry, who was staring at the teacup, wondering whether or not to drink the strange tea inside, suddenly realized something.

Weren't we talking about tea? Why did we suddenly switch to the magic channel?

Harry looked up blankly, and saw Snape take a sip of his tea and say without any apparent reason, "There aren't that many secret spells, one is enough."

Upon hearing this, Vaughn pondered for a moment, then nodded: "It seems the Spellcaster's contract restricts you greatly. I won't mention his name. I will present a few items; you don't need to answer, just remind me in whatever way you deem appropriate."

After saying that, under Harry's increasingly bewildered gaze, Vaughn slowly began to take things out of his satchel.

First, there's a Chocolate Frog card, with Dumbledore on the card moving repeatedly in the photo.

Then there was a newspaper with a picture of Vaughn himself on the front page.

Snape showed no reaction to either of these things.

Vaughn paused, then pulled out a newspaper. Harry noticed that it seemed to be an old newspaper from last year, and to his surprise, the photo on the front page was of him!

In the photo, he is thin and small, following beside Hagrid, surrounded by a group of wizards, looking helpless.

"This was when I enrolled last year—"

"Shh—" Vaughn raised a finger to stop Harry from continuing, then looked at Snape.

Snape picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Well----?

Harry looked around, vaguely thinking of something, but not quite. He frowned, about to continue pondering what the inspiration in his mind was.

On the other side, Vaughn pulled out something again.

An ordinary, unremarkable diary!

In that instant, Harry noticed that Snape's eyes seemed to light up, and he raised his cup and drank the tea in one gulp!

Wait, a diary?

Harry's mind went blank for a moment, and he opened his mouth in surprise.

But before he could utter the first syllable, Vaughn's gaze swept over him from across the table:

"Illicio!"

The Silent Curse!

Harry recognized the spell; during the grueling training last semester, Vaughn had cast it on him several times to prevent his screams from disturbing others.

As the spell was cast, the magic instantly materialized, and Harry felt his mouth being "smoothed out" by a powerful force.

In a physical sense.

He could feel his upper and lower lips stuck together, his throat twitching, causing his vocal cords to become limp—his ability to speak had completely disappeared.

He could only sit quietly, watching Vaughn silently put away his diary, and ask indifferently, "When will that North American green tea leave England?"

"I don't know, maybe it's because they have no competitors."

"Don't worry, competitors will appear soon."

After answering, Snape glanced at Harry, whose mouth had completely disappeared, with his lifeless eyes, and said expressionlessly, "Are you satisfied with my answer?"

"Hmm—" Vaughn tapped the diary in his hand, "There are still some questions, but I'm generally satisfied."

"You should know that if you want to ask me anything, you don't need to make up any excuses. There's no need to involve the famous Savior."

Vaughn blinked and smiled. "It's safer to have him with me, isn't it?"

Snape's face turned pale. "You—"

The question, uttered with surprise and doubt, was swallowed back by Snape, partly because he realized the relationship between Vaughn and Dumbledore, and partly because Harry was present.

There are some things he doesn't want to say.

The atmosphere became quiet.

On the other hand, Harry, though under the influence of the Silent Charm, couldn't voice his many questions.

However, this also gave him more energy to think about Vaughn and Snape's conversation, and he gradually realized that the two were probably unable to communicate normally due to some kind of restriction, which is why they were using this kind of cryptic and cryptic riddle.

The only thing that is beyond doubt is that Snape still stands on Vaughn's side, or rather, on Hogwarts' side.

This stirred up Harry's emotions.

Although he knew from what happened last semester that Snape wasn't a bad person, he found it hard to convince himself that Snape was a good person and on his side because Snape always targeted him maliciously.

But now it seems—

Last night, the scene of Snape summoning the wind and looking back reappeared before his eyes. For some reason, Harry suddenly felt a heaviness in his heart. Countless thoughts, which he himself could not distinguish, kept surfacing in his mind and then disappearing.

"And—why did Vaughn say it would be safer to bring me along? Does it mean he thinks Snape will be more attentive and honest with me present?"

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Harry instinctively cut it off.

He refused to believe it, even finding it absurd!

My thoughts were in a jumbled mess and I couldn't sort them out.

Harry was in a daze for some time when a gentle pat on the shoulder woke him up.

Looking up, he saw Vaughn standing in front of him. The conversation seemed to have ended, and Snape was sitting in front of the fireplace with his back to him, seemingly lost in thought.

"Let's go back, Harry."

Vaughn said, dispelling the spell on Harry: "Breakfast is over, Professor Snape needs some quiet time."

Harry glanced at Vaughn, then at Snape, and finally swallowed the words he wanted to say, following Vaughn out of the office.

The door closed behind him, and Harry couldn't help but speak up: "You and Snape—"

—

"The strange wizard Lucius brought last night forced him to sign a magical contract, so he can't say anything."

Seemingly knowing what he was going to ask, Vaughn answered before he could speak: "That spell is called an unbreakable oath. It is usually used to bind the person under the spell to keep a secret. The person under the spell cannot utter any words or phrases that are directly or indirectly related to the secret, and cannot even think about them in the presence of someone who does not know the secret."

"However, very few people know that Professor Snape is an expert in Occlumency. You have also studied Occlumency, so you should know that its deceptive and concealing effects are quite useful at times—that's why the professor and I cheated a little just now."

Harry quickly asked, "Did he really tell you everything?"

The dungeon was dimly lit. Away from the office, only the distant fire pit provided some light, but the dungeon was still filled with darkness and the flickering shadows of the fire pit.

Harry couldn't see Vaughn's expression, but he noticed the other man glance at him: "Aren't you here too? As long as you're here, the professor won't hide anything unless it's absolutely forbidden."

Ah, this—

Despite having had this thought before, Harry was still stunned and speechless when he heard it confirmed by Vaughn.

My ears are ringing and my mind is a mess.

All that could be faintly heard was Vaughn saying, "I told you before that you could trust Professor Snape, and now I can tell you that anyone, whether it's Dumbledore or me, could hurt you, except him!"

————He's the only one who won't————

Vaughn's certainty sent a shiver down Harry's spine. His throat tightened, and after a moment, he murmured, "Why?"

Yes, why is that?

Is it because of love and hate?

After the Quirrell incident last semester, Vaughn had told him about the conflict between Snape and his parents.

But he actually couldn't quite understand it.

He couldn't understand what kind of hatred made Snape always cause him trouble, even after he tried to make amends when he learned the "truth," the other party rudely rejected him.

Harry, too, couldn't understand what kind of love made Vaughn so certain, even though he and Dumbledore might not have been as steadfast in their stance as Snape.

Harry looked at Vaughn expectantly, wanting an answer.

Vaughn did not answer the question, but simply said, "There are some inside details, but that's between you and the professor. I can't pass them on. If the professor is willing to tell you someday, he will."

That's all I can say for now.

Lily's death is a complex issue.

On the surface, she died because of Snape's betrayal. Although Snape was unaware that the prophecy involved her, the malice of the betrayal itself was undeniable.

Upon learning of the prophecy, Snape attempted to help his master Voldemort defeat his destined nemesis and rule the entire wizarding world.

So the question is, how did Snape come up with this idea?

James!

From Vaughn's perspective as a latercomer, James Potter undoubtedly bullied Snape throughout their school years.

This bullying was so pure that the two of them didn't actually have any hatred at first. What caused them to be at odds was the "blood feud" between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Moreover, bullying is a long-standing tradition at Hogwarts.

Not to mention James and Snape's era, just last year, when Draco bullied Neville in the Great Hall, many Gryffindors joined in the mockery and ridicule.

Despite Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall's constant emphasis on equality and friendship, the reality is that Hogwarts operates on a "law of the jungle." Why did no one in Gryffindor, except for the trio, stand up to stop Draco?

Even in the eyes of Gryffindor, it was perfectly justified and reasonable to bully Neville, a cowardly, forgetful, and pushover.

You're weak, so you deserve to be bullied!

This is the common logic of Hogwarts, and indeed most magic high schools; therefore, in essence, wizards have always believed in power.

The relationship between James and Snape gradually slid into the abyss against this backdrop. Initially, it may have just stemmed from jealousy, since Snape and Lily were childhood sweethearts during their school days, and James liked Lily.

But when jealousy is transformed into a contest of strength and a battle of magic, the nature of the conflict changes. Snape's magical talent is inferior to James's, and under the prevailing values, when he cannot defeat James by force, he loses the right to engage in equal dialogue.

The so-called bullying in the magical world is actually more like the victor manipulating and humiliating the loser.

When a person is defeated in front of everyone, their dignity is stripped away time and time again by the victors, exposing their most vulnerable and sensitive inner self.

When he was humiliated time and time again, yet received no comfort, and even his only friend left him.

Then it's only natural that this person's thinking might go to extremes.

From this perspective, Lily's death was inevitable when James first defeated Snape, upholding the wizarding world's tradition of the survival of the fittest.

Of course, Vaughn declined to comment on these inside stories. In his view, it was all about perspectives, not right or wrong, so he wouldn't interfere too much.

However, we won't just abandon it.

At least, it can't be like the "original plot" in his memory, where Snape only let go of everything on his deathbed, dissolving his memories in tears to tell Harry the truth, but then leaving Harry no chance to express his thoughts.

That kind of ending would be terrible.

Standing beside Vaughn, Harry looked dazed, his mind filled with confusion and a multitude of questions welling up in his throat, yet he was too disoriented to know what to ask.

After a long while, he managed to sort out his chaotic thoughts and asked, "Vaughn, the inside story you're talking about isn't the conflict between my parents and Snape when they were in school, is it?"

Vaughn, who was walking ahead, turned back slightly: "Oh, why do you say that?"

"I tried to put myself in Snape's shoes," Harry said, thinking of himself and Malfoy. "If one day Malfoy defeats me and humiliates me, I'll definitely hate him, wish he were dead, and if Malfoy were to take away—"

He thought of Qiu Zhang again, and his face flushed red, then turned deathly pale.

This is too painful to imagine.

He quickly shook his head, pulling himself out of his inexplicable emotions, and continued, "That hatred is indeed very strong, but if one day, Malfoy really dies, and he dies for more than ten years, leaving behind only a lonely and helpless child, then I think my hatred for him will disappear, and I will not vent my hatred for Malfoy on a child."

"So I guess Snape's bad attitude towards me might not be just because my father used to bully him."

Vaughn remained noncommittal, smiling as he countered, "Perhaps it's because of your title as the savior? He despises you, the one who defeated his master, or perhaps he's just inherently despicable, venting his hatred for adults on children."

"I have considered this possibility."

Harry replied seriously, "In my eyes, Snape is indeed petty, but I eventually gave up on that idea because I trust you and Dumbledore. You both trust Snape, especially you—although you always make Snape angry, I know you actually respect him."

"----Oh!"

With a light laugh, Vaughn stopped teasing. "Alright, don't think about it too much for now. Things are far more complicated than you imagine. As I said before, I'm an outsider and it's not appropriate for me to get involved. When Professor Snape is willing to tell you, you can make your own decision instead of trying to find answers from me."

Riddlers are so annoying!

Harry was starting to understand why Ron was so annoyed with his brother. Right now, he really wanted to grab Vaughn, pry his mouth open with magic, or torture him with a tickling charm or something.

Unfortunately, we couldn't win.

Feeling frustrated and aggrieved, Harry said, "You tell me to believe him, but you won't tell me anything. I don't even know the reason, how can I believe you?"

Vaughn glanced at him and stroked his chin. "I told you, this is between you two. If you really want to know, you can try to have an open and honest talk with the professor."

"Huh?" Harry's face immediately fell, and he shook his head repeatedly. "No!"

"What's wrong?"

"I—" Harry wanted to say something. Some thoughts vaguely popped into his mind, but they were not clear, at least not enough for him to express clearly.

Moreover, he instinctively knew that those thoughts might be dangerous, and if he pursued them further, he might be overwhelmed by some possibilities that he could not accept.

Beside Harry, Vaughn stared with interest at the lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead, which was covered by hair.

He was very interested in Harry's keen senses.

Judging from the previous conversation, the other person may have already made a corresponding judgment in their little brain: if Snape's bad attitude towards him was not hatred, it was most likely an attempt to escape.

Why would an adult avoid a child?

Unless, he did something wrong to that child!

Of course, Harry didn't know the truth, and his guess was probably not that clear. It was probably just a fleeting thought that he quickly suppressed with reason.

But at least he has already had this idea.

After a long pause, Vaughn waved his hand: "Go back, maintain your Occupy Central technique, and don't let your mind wander—Ron, how long are you planning to hide?"

He turned slightly and looked ahead, into the shadows cast by a statue in the corner of the passageway not far away.

There was a moment of silence, then Ron wriggled out, this guy who had been complaining about his brother to Harry lately, as if he would curse him out at the mere sight of Vaughn, was now as timid as a mouse before a cat when he actually saw Vaughn.

Hesitantly, even his voice cracked: "Hey, Vaughn, good morning—"

"I'm fine. If you stop talking badly about me behind my back, I might feel even better."

Upon hearing Vaughn's seemingly mocking words, Ron's freckles turned white with fright. His fingers clenched nervously, and his wide eyes stared warily at Vaughn's hand, as if afraid he would suddenly draw his wand.

To his relief, Vaughn didn't seem interested in causing him trouble today, only asking, "How's Ginny been lately?"

After receiving his reply that "Ginny has made friends and is having a great time at school," he said goodbye to the two of them and left the dungeon first.

After Vaughn left, Ron let out a long sigh of relief: "Merlin, I've decided I won't leave the Gryffindor Tower today!"