The oak door to the headmaster's room was opened, and the three impulsive little wizards walked past him without noticing. Only Hermione Granger suddenly stopped after a few steps past him, a look of suspicion on her face.

There's still a smart man among them. Snape even thought with some appreciation.

However, this idea was quickly shattered by the other two boys. They paused, listened impatiently to Hermione's "strange feelings" she was experiencing, grinned that there couldn't be any more "nasty villains" here, and pulled her away.

Snape stood at the top of the stairs and watched the three of them disappear behind the stone beast before turning back and entering the door of the headmaster's office.

The over-excited portraits were still chatting happily and excitedly about what had happened today. But the joyous atmosphere that rippled in the room came to an abrupt end the moment Snape walked in.

Looking at the cold and pale face that even though it had gone through all the hardships to win the final victory, but still had a blank face, the people in the frame were silent. Only the man in the largest portrait behind the headmaster's chair is as happy and relaxed as ever.

"Oh, Severus!" said Dumbledore happily, "You're here, it's exciting, isn't it?

Snape stopped behind the huge desk in the middle of the room, looked at the huge portrait, and said with a blank face, "Yes." I'm glad that this unbearable can finally come to an end. ”

There was a hint of relief in his expression. Every portrait on the wall probably complained silently in their hearts.

Dumbledore was unaffected by his stinking face.

"I'm glad to see you keep your promise, Severus. "And I guess you're here to keep your promise? Hogwarts has been divided for a long time by the evil theories of 'that man,' and that's not good, very bad...... We still need you at this time, Severus. ”

Snape couldn't help but snort through his nose.

"I doubt there will be anything else in this world that will make you stop squeezing me. He said as he glared at the old wizard in the frame with resentment.

Dumbledore pretended not to see his expression, and said with a grin, "Oh, of course there will be a day - Severus, I promise you, on the day of your wedding, I will promise you a long vacation - you should also enjoy the other interesting parts of life, after all those years of hard work......"

Snape's face darkened.

"Wedding?!" he squeezed the word out between his teeth, and the veins on his forehead jumped.

"Why haven't you stopped meddling in the private lives of your staff, Professor Dumbledore. He said in a pale and hissing tone.

"But I'm no longer your employee, sir. I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts now. And—you're dead, and the impostor is dead, and where else can you find another liar and thief to assign to me, sir?"

This was utterly rude, but Dumbledore in the frame was not angry at all. Instead, he was stunned for a moment, and a smile faded from his face. He leaned forward, his sharp blue eyes fixed on Snape, and asked in a hurried tone, "What did you say?" Lily...... I mean, Bigonia, she's dead?!"

Snape pursed his lips and glared back at him, his mouth tightly closed, not answering him at all.

Dumbledore's face quickly darkened, and he seemed to have slumped back into the chair in the painting, his hands resting on the armrests on either side of the chair, his fingertips unconsciously facing each other. He thought for a moment before slowly raising his head, his blue eyes full of confusion.

"I don't understand, Severus...... I mean, she's not here, she's not in the frame......"

Snape's expression was cold, and he raised his eyebrows slightly, with a hint of mockery in his tone.

"She's certainly not in the frame. I haven't seen a portrait of her, and even if she did, the portrait wouldn't have reacted to it, in other words, it was just a painting that didn't move—the real Lily is still alive, and I don't think you have forgotten it, right?"

Dumbledore was not surprised by the news. Snape felt a surge of anger rise in his chest.

Dumbledore knew all of this—the secret of the real and fake Lily in this world at the same time—although objectively speaking, even Snape himself had to admit that the impostor who replaced Lily contributed much more to the Order of the Phoenix and the plan to destroy the Dark Lord than the real Lily - but in the end, Dumbledore let the impostor die!

Had there been some unknown tacit agreement or deal between him and the impostor?Why hadn't either of them told him the truth about it!?Did he think that when he learned of this, he would give up on protecting the arrogant wreck? Did he think that Severus Snape's promise could be broken and discarded?!

Presumably seeing his anger, Dumbledore moved in his chair, the confusion on his face still not gone.

"No, Severus, it's not a matter of portraits...... Magical portraits show a person's appearance, memories, and personality, and it is not so important whether there is a soul of the deceased or not, but the most important point is that the magical portrait is in a sense truly 'alive' until the person in the portrait actually dies...... Even if the real Lily—I mean Ginny—isn't dead, if Bigonia is killed, we can still sense her in the frame because she's in her real shell......"

He pondered in confusion, slowly organizing his words and thoughts. Obviously, the question of the discrepancy of the appearance and soul of the magic was also a problem for the well-informed and wise old wizard, who could only search for the relevant knowledge in his limited memory, and then organize it into the most probable outcome with reasonable hypotheses and inferences.

"Some magical portraits can be infused with the souls of the people in the paintings after their death, so that the characters in the magical portraits do not move while the people in the paintings are still alive......" He searched the corners of his memory for some knowledge about magical portraits that he had forgotten for a long time, and slowly organized them into a plausible inference that sounded plausible but not too negative. "And a magic portrait with this characteristic can sense more things than a normal magic portrait—"

Snape couldn't help but sneer, and said sarcastically, "Oh, of course, maybe that's why you've become a portrait, or that you're directing me to run around and get tired. ”

Dumbledore pretended not to hear Snape's sarcasm. He sighed, leaned forward, looked down the bridge of his nose, which had been crooked several times, and looked at Snape, who was straight, in front of the desk, and said earnestly, "She didn't come, Severus." My feelings may be wrong, but I'd rather believe that my reasoning didn't go wrong this time......"

Snape gasped.

He didn't know anything about magical portraits, but he remembered that Dumbledore had done the portrait that hung behind the Headmaster's chair in his last days, but until he fell off the tower, the portrait was as motionless as a normal Muggle portrait.

So Dumbledore's reasoning is likely to be correct? The absence of the fake Lily in the frame means that she is still alive somewhere in the world?

He briefly recounted the conversation he had with Siris in the Great Hall. Dumbledore's eyes lit up with interest.

"Oh, does Sirius really say that?" he asked, as he seemed to be a little more relaxed after making his conclusion, and sat down in his chair with interest.

"That's a ...... Peculiar, I think I'll need to think about it before I can answer you—alas, think, think! I thought that after Tom died, I would be able to enjoy my life in the frame and never overuse my old brain again. He complained as if it were true, and finally tapped the arm of the chair in the painting with his right hand and politely ordered Snape to be evicted.

"I think you need to get some rest, Severus. After such a long day, everyone needs a good night's sleep and something to eat. I think there's a lot more you have to do from tomorrow?" he squinted slightly behind the half-moon glasses, looking very sleepy—God knows how a painting would feel tired—— looked at Snape, and said kindly, "You will make it, my child." Now, go and rest. ”

Snape glared at him fiercely, as if he wanted to say something, but Dumbledore had already leaned back in the frame and leaned back in the comfortable chair, closed his eyes, and ignored him.

Snape had nothing to do, and always felt that there was a faint evil fire churning in his chest somewhere, and there was nowhere to vent it. He thought for a moment, and with a final wave of his wand he said a spell, and suddenly a row of crossbars jumped out of the ceiling of the headmaster's room, and the dark velvet curtain was rolled on the crossbars, and it fell straight down with a "boom", covering the portraits on the surrounding walls that pretended to be busy with other things, but in fact pricked up their ears to eavesdrop on his conversation with Dumbledore!

The portraits behind the curtain were in an uproar, letting out louder and louder shouts. But Snape ignored their complaints and grievances, turned and strode into the bedroom.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

June 22:

It's a little late today, are you thinking about whether to write a little more about the follow-up after the decisive battle, or should you just stop here?

If you write the next follow-up, most of them are also abusive stalks.,Of course,It's not the girl who abuses.。 Everybody understands hhhhh

So, do you want to see it? Or do you think it's okay to cut off after the decisive battle?

Next update: 0:00 tomorrow.

Thank you to the little angel who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angels who threw [mines]: 2 Gui Heshen, 1 meow, immortal limit;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [the nutrient solution]:

azoulifang 5 bottles;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!