While the Death Eaters were still secretly holding meetings at Malfoy Manor, there was a different atmosphere in the principal's office at Hogwarts.
"Dumbledore, has the person you are waiting for not come yet?" Dracula leaned on the sofa boredly and yawned lazily.
"You've already added a few handfuls of Floo powder into the fireplace. Do you really want to be a Floo powder for free?" He glanced at the fireplace, which had always maintained a green flame, with a strange expression.
Although the price of floo powder has remained unchanged for hundreds of years, and has been sold at the rate of two Sickles per spoon for a long time, it is really nothing to a great wizard like Dumbledore who is not short of money... but Dumbledore adds it every once in a while. The Floo fan's behavior does seem a bit not very smart...
"Ahem... maybe something went wrong." Dumbledore was about to reach out for the jar containing Floo powder, but he couldn't help but froze in mid-air when he heard Dracula's question.
Without the supplement of floo powder, the flames in the fireplace finally could no longer maintain their green form and turned back to their original red color.
"Professor Dracula, hasn't Tom Riddle's Horcrux returned?" Dumbledore turned to look at Dracula and asked,
"It doesn't make sense...Isn't the Death Eater meeting over yet?"
"So you are waiting for Snape, right?" Dracula curled his lips and looked at Dumbledore with disdain.
"In order to prevent his identity from being exposed, Riddle left the Death Eater gathering early. The others should have to wait for some time. After all, he is Voldemort's Horcrux, so it is normal to have some special treatment." Dracula thought that Dumbledore was waiting for some important wizard, his tone was mysterious.
Unexpectedly, Dumbledore just sensed Riddle's return and thought that the undercover agent he had placed in the Death Eater camp was about to return, so he used a special floo powder to open direct access to the Hogwarts principal's office.
"Ah, so that's it!" Dumbledore smiled awkwardly and took back his hand reaching for the floo powder jar.
"It seems we have to wait for a while longer. Hmm... I wonder if Professor Dracula is interested in wizard chess?" He casually took out a wizard chess board and started to pass the time with nothing to say.
"You want to play wizard chess with me?" Dracula showed a very strange expression,
"sure?"
"Is there any problem, Professor Dracula?" Dumbledore glanced at Dracula strangely, feeling that his expression was strange for no reason.
"It's okay, come on." Dracula slowly raised the corners of his mouth and stood up from the sofa. He sat directly in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking at the wizard's chess board on the table, quietly becoming interested in it.
Five minutes later - Dumbledore looked at the situation on the chess game in front of him and fell into deep self-doubt.
He believed that with his high IQ and judgment, as well as his experience in participating in wizard chess competitions when he was young, he could be considered a pretty good chess player.
Although the global wizarding war started by Grindelwald has become increasingly busy since the outbreak, and there is little chance to play small things like wizard chess, but it is not like being played to the point of being unable to fight back...
"Professor Dracula, I didn't know you were a professional chess player." Dumbledore looked at the silver-haired man in front of him with a playful expression and said helplessly,
"No wonder you look so confident, but I'm asking for trouble."
"I'm not interested in being a professional chess player." Dracula shook his head happily.
"But I have some experience with time-killing things like wizard chess." During the more than a thousand years that Dracula had experienced, he was bored for a long time, trying to find various places. Something that can pass the time.
Wizard chess, a game that was born in India a long time ago, is one of the things he has studied.
In fact, during his thousand-year life, Dracula had long been tired of playing games like Wizard Chess. He had thoroughly studied various ideas and methods of playing chess, and he had long since become too lazy to play chess with others.
But Dumbledore's sudden invitation made Dracula suddenly interested. Being able to defeat a great wizard in a unique way like wizard chess sounds like a lot of fun!
Seeing that Dumbledore had not moved for a long time, the magic chess pieces on the chessboard had begun to noisy - Queen: "Why don't you point out the next step quickly? I have been waiting for a long time." King: "Why don't you vote, it's boring. !" Knight: "We are about to fight to the death, why does Your Majesty surrender first?" Soldier: "..." Dumbledore looked at the chattering chess pieces on the chessboard with a black line on his face. He raised and lowered his hand, wondering if there were any more. What a chance for a comeback.
At this moment, the flame in the fireplace in the principal's office suddenly swayed rhythmically.
"Ah, it seems Severus is coming back." Dumbledore immediately noticed the movement of the flames and stood up as if he had been granted amnesty.
He put away the wizard chess piece very quickly, covering up the chess game with no chance of winning at lightning speed.
"Ahem, Professor Dracula, it seems that we don't have time to decide the winner today, so why not fight another day!" Dumbledore coughed lightly and said to Dracula who had not yet reacted.
Dracula: "?" He was just enjoying the old principal's embarrassed expression with great interest, why did he lose his chess piece inadvertently?
However, Dumbledore didn't give Dracula a chance to protest. He reached out and grabbed a handful of special floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. The flame in the fireplace immediately burned with green light.
A greasy wizard walked out of the flames with a cold expression. His long black hair was draped on both sides like a curtain. In the middle was a gray-yellow face, a hooked nose and a pair of dark eyes.
"Welcome back, Severus!" Dumbledore asked enthusiastically,
"Did you gain anything from today's Death Eater gathering?" Snape's dark eyes looked at Dumbledore, his eyebrows raised slightly, as if he was wondering why the old headmaster was suddenly so enthusiastic today.
Of course, what Snape didn't know was that Dumbledore was a little embarrassed by the wizard's chess game just now, and now he just used him as a tool to change the subject...
"Dracula, why are you here?" Snape did not answer Dumbledore's question, but turned his head to look at Dracula sitting at his desk.
"Why, aren't I welcome?" Dracula stood up from his chair, came to Snape with a chuckle, and looked deeply into his eyes.
"It looks like your undercover operation was very successful, Professor Snape!"
"I'm very curious about how you managed to deceive Voldemort almost perfectly. Even Voldemort's clone told me that you were definitely on the side of the Death Eaters." Dracula revealed a meaningful expression. Expression, slightly raised corners of mouth,
"In addition, how did you manage to infiltrate the Death Eater camp and gain such deep trust from Principal Dumbledore?" Snape looked at the wine-red light flowing in Dracula's eyes and pursed his lips tightly. He pursed his lips and fell silent. There was no trace of emotion on his face.
The situation now becomes a little complicated. Not only does Snape distrust Dracula, thinking that he is just an outsider who has only been at Hogwarts for a year; similarly, Dracula also does not trust Snape very much. Pu, because he was confirmed as a Death Eater by Riddle himself!
"Severus, Professor Dracula, you two don't have to question each other like this." Just when the air fell into silence, Dumbledore suddenly said.
"Severus, Professor Dracula is absolutely trustworthy. You can safely tell him what happened at today's Death Eater gathering." Dumbledore looked at Snape and nodded lightly to him.
After choosing to replace his own plan with Dracula's plan to destroy Voldemort, Dumbledore knew that all future information could no longer be hidden from the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Otherwise, there will only be more information gaps between the two people, and even some resentment. So Dumbledore didn't hesitate to tell Snape that he could tell Dracula the information he learned at the Death Eater gathering.
Then, Dumbledore turned his head and looked at Dracula.
"Professor Dracula, I also fully trust Severus." He said softly,
"Severus being recognized by Voldemort is not a reason for us to doubt him, but should be used as our capital to fight against Voldemort!"
"I would like to ask, Mr. Headmaster, why do you fully trust Professor Snape?" Dracula asked the question with great interest, regardless of whether Dumbledore was willing to answer or not.
"I've been curious about this for a long time." After asking this question, Dracula noticed that Snape's expression changed subtly.
"As far as I know, Professor Snape was a die-hard Death Eater back then..." Dracula raised the corners of his mouth, staring closely into Snape's eyes as deep as a dark tunnel,
"Why did you betray Voldemort so suddenly and gain the trust of Principal Dumbledore so suddenly?"
"There must be something I don't know about!" Dracula looked deeply into Snape's eyes, and then sighed with regret.
Snape had indeed learned Occlumency very well, and there was nothing useful that could be found in his eyes.
No wonder he can be an excellent undercover agent deep into the Death Eater camp.
"These things have nothing to do with you, Dracula!" Snape finally couldn't bear it anymore, gritted his teeth tightly, and said every word,
"If I were you, I would definitely mind my own business first!"
"What a pity, Professor Snape...but you are not me." Dracula did not feel dissatisfied at all, but said with a smile,
"If you were me, you would know how boring I am. It's rare to find something interesting, so of course you have to explore it to the end!" Snape's face became even gloomier, and he clenched the wand in his hand tightly. It seems that he wants to hit Dracula in the face with a magical blade at any time.
But then he remembered the scenes of being defeated by Dracula several times, so he turned his head with a stiff expression, choosing not to look at Dracula's irritating face, out of sight, out of mind.
"Albus, I think we need to be ready." Snape looked at Dumbledore and said in a deep voice.
"Is Voldemort determined about his next move?" Dumbledore's expression also became serious.
"Yes, the Dark Lord asked us to do it on Halloween." Snape said seriously,
"Nearly all the elite Death Eaters will mobilize to break through Azkaban's defense and rescue the Dark Lord's most loyal servants!" Then, Snape told Dumbledore Voldemort's plan in detail - —Snape himself dragged two professors from Hogwarts, Yaxley bribed officials from the Ministry of Magic, and Lucius used connections and money to build relationships...
"In fact, after learning the detailed plan, the Death Eaters' operation can be easily sabotaged." Snape said,
"As long as you two can arrive in time, the Dark Lord simply won't have enough power to break Azkaban's defenses."
"No!" Dumbledore categorically rejected Snape's statement.
"Voldemort's plan can indeed be broken easily, but the gain outweighs the loss." He looked deeply at Snape and said in a very serious tone,
"If Voldemort's plan is destroyed so easily by us, he can easily discover that there are undercover agents in the Death Eaters' camp!"
"Severus, the premise of all our actions is to protect your own identity first!"
"I know." Snape said softly,
"I can't stop the Death Eaters' other actions for the time being, but I can pretend that I'm not holding you back and let the news of the ruling Dark Lord leak out a little later."
"Even the Dark Lord knows that there are very few things that can be hidden from Dumbledore. He can't be harsh on me on this matter."
"But even this will reduce his trust in you." Dumbledore frowned and shook his head slightly.
He looked at Dracula who was bored next to him.
"Maybe we can find a better way. What do you think, Professor Dracula?" Dracula crossed his arms and casually sat back on the chair in front of his desk, with an indifferent attitude.
"Aren't you worried about the exposure of undercover agents?" He crossed his legs and raised the corners of his mouth happily.
"Actually... we don't just have one undercover agent!"
"You mean..." Dumbledore adjusted his glasses thoughtfully.
"Just do it!" Dracula waved his hand and said decisively,
"For example, the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic, as well as the Director of the Auror Office, etc., you should notify them... and the Aurors and observers stationed in Azkaban will do the same. Those who have accepted bribes Replace them all!”
"Anyway, according to the original plan, Riddle's involvement in our camp will be exposed soon, so why not let him be exposed more thoroughly!"
"And after Voldemort learns about a certain undercover agent, he will probably be more relaxed about the investigation of other undercover agents, which can be regarded as making the best use of Riddle."
"That's the advantage of having more undercover agents!"......
