The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 357 Contradictions and Plans

"No problem," Snape said slowly.

"The sooner the better," said Dumbledore pointedly.

Snape's eyes narrowed. "You remember my warning to you, Headmaster? About - that matter - are you trying to get around me -"

Sirius drawled, "That couldn't be more sensible."

"Black, don't pretend that you can figure out what I'm saying." Snape said in a smooth tone, "Headmaster, I see a dangerous sign, so I have to give you another warning, that is, don't let Black participate in any important plan."

"And my advice is to keep your nose out of this place, Snape," Sirius said sharply.

Snape didn't even look at him, but just stared at Dumbledore, with a sarcastic smile on his lips: "Let me think, what was the result of allowing Black to participate in the plan last time? Someone died..."

The nonchalant smile on Sirius's face suddenly disappeared without a trace. Almost in the next second, he rushed to Snape, grabbed his collar with one hand, and took out his wand with the other hand - Snape's face was pale, but the wand was already against his throat -

"And this time it will be you and your master who will die," Sirius said through gritted teeth, poking Snape's chest with his wand.

Dumbledore stood up and said calmly and clearly: "I said, put down your wands, there are no enemies here."

Fawkes poked his head sleepily out from over the top of the cupboard. Dumbledore glanced at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all of whom looked worried, and then at Anthony.

Anthony immediately understood what he meant, walked over to the three Gryffindor students, and whispered, "Come on, let's leave first."

"Leave?" said Ron in horror. "So they can kill each other?"

"Professor Dumbledore is here." Anthony smiled at the three people, "Let's go."

Although they were very reluctant, the three students still couldn't find a suitable argument to refute Anthony, so they had to drag their feet and look back every few steps to leave the principal's office. Anthony followed them and escorted them down the spiral staircase and away from the gargoyles.

Ron suddenly stopped and said, "Wait, did Snape mention that Sirius was going to participate in some project?" He looked at Harry, "But didn't Sirius just say that he was going to Greece for vacation?"

"I guess he doesn't want Harry to worry." Hermione frowned. "It sounds dangerous."

"Yeah..." Harry drawled, turning to look at Anthony.

Anthony pretended not to notice.

"Professor Anthony?"

"What's wrong?" Anthony said helplessly.

Harry said sharply, "Professor Anthony, did you know - I mean, you just happened to go to the principal's office -"

Anthony lowered his head and saw three faces looking at him eagerly. He did not hesitate for long between a lie, the truth, and "This is none of the students' business": "I do know."

Ron lowered his voice excitedly: "What's the plan?"

Hermione asked, "Is it dangerous, Professor?"

Anthony thought for a moment and said, "What I can tell you is that the reason I showed up in the principal's office is probably because Sirius and I were assigned the same mission."

He could see that the three people in front of him relaxed at the same time, and even revealed a hint of disappointment. Almost all the Hogwarts students who knew him knew that he had not received formal magic education, and even last year he was learning Apparition with everyone else.

Perhaps realizing that they were being too obvious, Hermione said sheepishly, "We're not..."

"It's okay." Anthony smiled at them. ...

When Anthony returned to the headmaster's office, Sirius and Snape had separated and were occupying opposite ends of the office.

"No, Dumbledore, I don't trust him," hissed Snape. "He acts impulsively -"

"As if you're worth trusting," Sirius said coldly.

"I have full confidence in you, Sirius." Dumbledore raised a hand, both as a reassurance and as if to indicate that the subject was closed. "Just as I trust Severus."

Sirius and Snape both had a look on their faces as if they had swallowed a fly.

Dumbledore turned to Snape, "Severus, I assure you that I have no intention of circumventing you. But now, if you agree, I would like to speak to Sirius and Henry first."

Snape stared at Dumbledore for a while, and finally nodded reluctantly: "Okay, Headmaster."

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said calmly.

Snape seemed to want to say something, but in the end he just looked around resentfully - Sirius half leaned back on the cabinet, supporting his body with his elbows, looking up at Fawkes who was still craning his neck to look at them with a nonchalant smile - Snape pursed his lips tightly together, turned around abruptly, pushed Anthony aside, and strode out of the headmaster's office.

Sirius whistled softly at Fawkes, making a melodious and clear sound like a bird's song. Fawkes tilted his head and looked at him for a few times, then retracted his head with disinterest.

"I still don't understand why you hired Snape as a professor," Sirius said, standing up straight, and Anthony had to admit that he secretly agreed with this point of view.

Dumbledore said gently, "I have my reasons. Find yourself a comfortable seat, Sirius, Henry."

Anthony and Sirius sat down, looked at each other, and smiled.

Dumbledore also smiled: "I think you both know very well why each other is here."

"Yes, sir," said Anthony, "I just didn't expect it to be Sirius."

"Well, to be honest, I was surprised to hear your name too, Henry," said Sirius. "But Albus said you were an expert, and Remus said he wasn't surprised at all, so I guess I can expect some surprises. Where do you want to start?"

"Well...according to the geography book, Albania is about 1,500 miles from England," Anthony said, glancing at Dumbledore, "Mr. Tycross in Apparition stressed that we should never attempt to Apparate over 700 miles, so I guess we'd better choose the right means of transportation."

"A suitable means of transportation." Sirius thought, "I have a nice motorcycle, it should be big enough--" He glanced at the huge luggage beside him, "Well, maybe we can add a sidecar..."

"I mean the plane," said Anthony. "I looked at the routes. We can go from London to Rome, and then from Rome to Tirana. We are lucky. At least Rinas Airport has international routes." He consulted Mr. Lind specifically.

"Plane?" Sirius' eyes lit up. "You mean one of those Muggle buzzing things that go up into the sky? You got hold of one of those?"

'No, but I think I can get a ticket for that thing,' said Anthony. 'But before that, we need to apply for passports -' He stopped short, realizing that Sirius probably had no birth certificate at all, while he had both a birth and a death certificate.

Sirius asked with interest, "Applying for a passport? Is it like applying for a portkey?"

Anthony looked at Dumbledore: "Sir, how do wizards usually get passports?"

"Wizards generally don't need passports," Dumbledore said with a smile, "but if you really need one, you can apply to the Ministry of Magic and ask them to make one for you."

"Well, in fact, let's think about the sidecar again," said Anthony decisively.

(End of this chapter)