In Gryffindor's common room, the fireplace flame burns lazily, and the magic effect of the fireplace always knows how to control its heat, which makes the Hogwarts common room usually maintain a comfortable temperature.

Perhaps because it was dinner time, there was no one in the lounge, except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who sat around a small round table, all frowning and silent.

"Your words are baseless, Harry." Hermione spoke suddenly, her brow furrowed, her expression was very complicated, as if she was fighting very fiercely inside, but in the end reason prevailed.

"But......," Harry tried to argue.

"That's enough, Harry." But she was directly interrupted by Hermione, and she saw her chest rise and fall, and her emotions seemed to become a little excited

"It's just your guess, you can't do it - for no reason - and besides, there are mysterious people involved."

"I've faced Voldemort—" Harry looked at Hermione and Ron firmly, the latter shuddering involuntarily at Harry's horrible name again.

"I know he's plotting all the time, and he wants to come back!" The calm voice seemed to narrate a fact, and even Hermione couldn't help but rethink it.

"Whenever he has the opportunity, he takes advantage of it! - So I think something must have happened during the holidays that made Ning An run into Voldemort! ”

"Harry—please don't say that name again." Ron rubbed his red hair in agony again.

"But how can he control Ning An? What can Ning An do for him? I don't know if I was impressed by Harry, or if I actually wanted it to be true, Hermione asked as if she were talking to herself.

"Uh-" Ron cleared his throat as he sensed some disregard, and he looked around for a moment, whispering a little cautiously, "I know a—I remember hearing my dad say—there's a spell that can control others—the Imperius Charm!" ”

Seeing Harry and Hermione raise their heads, their eyes staring at themselves without blinking, Ron swallowed, moistened his somewhat dry throat, and continued in a deep voice, "I heard that that is Voldemort's most common means of control—yes, whoever is controlled will be finished." ”

Hearing this, Harry and Hermione's expressions couldn't help but change a little more, and after Ron said the specific spell, this conjecture seemed to be a little more likely to be true.

Not to mention the argument between the three, on the other side of the Slytherin table.

Ning An had finished his dinner, and was eating a pudding with whipped cream and frosting sugar while listening to Walter's report.

"There are about twenty people in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades who want to join us, and the least in the seventh grade, only two."

"It's normal that seventh graders are starting to think about where they will go after graduation." Daphne said nonchalantly.

Since her memories were altered, Daphne thinks that what Ning An wants to do is to gather more of her men and then dominate the wizarding world.

"But there are also people who always whisper bad things in secret, such as Pierre? Trudeau. As Walter said this, Samantha's body shook unnaturally.

He turned slightly sideways, facing Ning An, with a cruel look on his face, and said in a sharp voice: "Please leave him to me to deal with, master-"

"It's not time yet, Samantha." Ning An finished eating the pudding on the plate, wiped her mouth gently, and then looked at Samantha with a hideous face.

He knew that Pierre was the one who liked to bully Samantha the most, and that she was the most hated person in all of Hogwarts. It's just that Ning An also has his own plans for this person.

"Halloween is coming, and I'd like to have a small party to entertain these new members who want to join Serpent's Letter." Seeing Samantha bow her head and bow her head to show her obedience, Ning An said lightly.

"I'll let them know for you."

"But where are you going to hold this banquet?" Daphne asked, confused, "You can't be in the common room in Slytherin." ”

"I think Professor Lockhart would be happy to approve his fans to borrow a house to gather." Ning An's tone was full of sarcasm and ridicule.

For this bombastic Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Ning An naturally uses the principle of using a few points if he can, but unfortunately he is a Hogwarts teacher after all, otherwise it would be more convenient to control it directly with the Imperi Curse.

But after all, with Dumbledore here, Ning An decided not to take such a risk.

————————————————————————————————

At this time, Dumbledore, who was afraid of Ning An, was sitting in his office, and Phoenix Fawkes was lying listlessly on his perch, looking even more deenergetic than when school started.

Swirling silverware sits on the shelves, occasionally spewing out scented smoke. The headmasters in the frame are snoring with their eyes closed, and they spend most of the day in such a state.

Snape stood at his desk, still wearing the same black robe that had not changed for thousands of years, wrapped around him like a large bat, his shoulder-length black hair meticulously groomed, and he looked at Dumbledore quietly with a gloomy face.

"Delix gone?" Snape spoke slowly, a hoarse voice echoing through the office.

"Oh, I think so, Severus." Dumbledore sorted through some of the clutter on his desk: "He said that there were no more suspects to suspect at Hogwarts, so the Aurors would go to Leicestershire to investigate next." ”

"." Snape sneered and said mercilessly, "I knew these Aurors were incompetent. ”

Dumbledore was rarely silent, he didn't say a word, slowly got up from the headmaster's chair in the center, walked to a gold-rimmed window inlaid with colorful patterns, looked out the window silently and asked:

"What's going on in Ning'an?"

Snape's face was a little gloomy, and there was some anger in his voice, and he said in a hoarse voice, "I lost the clue, Daphne doesn't know much about it, I'm afraid she really spent her vacation at Greengrass's house." ”

Narrowing his black eyes, Snape snapped, "But at least she's revealed that our Mr. Nyingan has recently been assembling an organization called Serpent Letters—hmph, it's really a Slytherin-smelling organization." ”

Snape pursed his lips gloomily, and the expression on his face was not a sign of ridicule or appreciation.

On the other side, there was silence again, Dumbledore looked through the window at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, his voice was still calm and composed, unconsciously convincing

"That's bad—Severus."

Dumbledore turned around, looked at Snape standing coldly in front of the table, and said slowly, "A few days ago, I went to the Shafiq Valley. ”

Snape looked serious, his tall and thin body twisting slightly, leaning in Dumbledore's direction, as if trying to hear better.

"Shafiq's old house has not disappeared." Dumbledore spoke amazingly.

"But the Aurors—"

"It's just that we can't see it." Dumbledore paced around his office, thinking as he said, "I guess they used the Loyalty Charm. ”

"How could it be—that's quite a complicated spell." Snape's hooked nose curled, panting and trying to deny.

"Is it really impossible? Severus? Dumbledore looked at him meaningfully.

Snape regained his composure, it was indeed possible if it was Ning'an, but where did he learn all this magic? Snape was puzzled.

Dumbledore's face was complicated, he looked at Snape with a little regret and said, "Severus—I have to say, there's my fault in this, I think, my connivance... Let Ning An learn a lot of dangerous knowledge in the forbidden book area. ”

Dumbledore was excited to discover Ninth's talent, but he didn't care about Ninth's curiosity about magic, believing that with patient guidance, Nincan might become an important force in the fight against Voldemort.

He had many years to teach slowly, but he didn't expect that Ning An would suddenly undergo such a huge change.

"However, Ning An may not have learned so much in the forbidden book area." Dumbledore shook his gorgeous white robe and sat back in his seat as the Headmaster.

"I wonder if he's learned some dangerous or unknown magic from somewhere else."

"You mean—Voldemort?!" Snape's voice became more unfathomable, even slightly sharper, and Phoenix Fawkes was watching him curiously.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about—" Dumbledore's intelligent eyes looked at Snape through the lenses of his half-moon glasses.

"I suspect now, Ning An, may have been in contact with Voldemort." Dumbledore's words sent a shudder down the sleeve for Snape.

His mind was flooding with the appearance of Ning An when he asked him for the materials of the wisdom enhancement potion, the appearance of asking him about the spell, the appearance of the smile, the appearance of innocence, and the appearance of not caring.

Is it a disguise? Deceive? When exactly did you come into contact with Voldemort? Did he do what Voldemort had instructed him to do? Snape was in a state of flux.

"That's just speculation, Severus." Dumbledore interrupted Snape's reverie.

"Everything is still undecided, I want you to pay closer attention to Ning An."

"He's already discovered my purpose, clever boy, huh?" Snape said with some dissatisfaction: "Now he has begun to deliberately avoid me. ”

"Keep an eye on him, Snape, and don't let Ning An do anything dangerous." Dumbledore's expression looked serious.

"Voldemort will come back one day, and all we have to do is try not to let things get too far out of our hands – maybe something else can be pinned on the chosen one, but until then, we still have to do our part."

Snape gave Dumbledore a deep look, the old wizard in front of him, as he had done all those years before, resisting the Dark Lord as best he could, even when everyone thought it was peaceful.

"I will—" Snape bowed his head, owing.

"I'm sorry, Severus, I know he's your protégé, your relationship-"

"If the protégé becomes a demon, then there is nothing to be proud of, Mr. Headmaster." Snape finished calmly, straightened his robes, and slowly walked out of the headmaster's office.