The conversation between Link and Snape went on for a long time.
During that time, the two had a very in-depth discussion about the war against the French magical world.
The discussion included quite a few confidential matters.
For example, a large-scale wave of migration had already broken out in the French magical world.
Another example was that the unrest caused by Norton's suicide was far worse than what had been reported in the Daily Prophet.
At the moment, the French Ministry of Magic was practically paralyzed and unable to organize any effective resistance.
The situation on the British Ministry of Magic's side was much better.
The first issue was the mass production of the Pseudo-Dawn Potion.
At present, the Pseudo-Dawn Potion still couldn't truly be mass-produced without Link.
However, after research by Link, Snape, and a group of potion masters, most of the production process had already been transferred to other people. The only thing Link needed to do was the final mixing step to activate the title effect.
This greatly increased the production efficiency of the Pseudo-Dawn Potion, and it had officially begun to be used within the Auror force.
Of course, because the quantity was still limited, the Pseudo-Dawn Potion appeared within the Auror force as an exchangeable resource.
Aside from those with exceptional talent whom Link had personally invested in, ordinary Aurors needed enough achievements and Galleons to obtain a Pseudo-Dawn Potion.
Meanwhile, the recruitment campaign led by Percy and Old Barty had also achieved impressive results.
As of now, the Auror force had grown from just over one hundred members after its first expansion to nearly two hundred.
The Hit Wizard force had increased from just over two hundred members at the beginning to nearly five hundred.
Such numbers might seem unremarkable in the Muggle world, perhaps even pitifully small.
But this was, after all, the magical world.
Population resources in the magical world were extremely scarce.
The entire British magical community had only tens of thousands of magical citizens.
Among them were large numbers of elderly people, children, weak wizards, and those unwilling to join the military.
So being able to organize a force of this size was already no easy task.
One had to remember that in the original story, when Voldemort controlled the Ministry of Magic and gathered a large group of mostly disorganized Death Eaters to attack Hogwarts, there were only around a hundred of them.
With that comparison, the importance of Hogwarts became obvious.
There was a reason both Fudge and Voldemort valued Hogwarts so highly.
As the most famous magical school in Britain and even all of Europe, it gathered over a thousand students.
Even if only a few hundred of them possessed actual combat ability, that was still a considerable military force.
And now, all of that force was under Link's control.
Furthermore, besides Hogwarts, Link also controlled Durmstrang Institute. With these two major "barracks" and the military strength of the British Ministry of Magic, the Shadow Men hidden in the French magical world had little chance of victory in Link's eyes.
However, all of these discussions came to an end when Professor Slughorn stepped forward and announced the official start of the Slug Club Christmas banquet.
The entire hall was soon filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Everyone enjoyed the music and food. Professor Slughorn, Ernie, and several other humorous people occasionally told jokes, making everyone laugh. Even someone like Snape couldn't help smiling.
In Harry's eyes, compared to the earlier discussion about how to more effectively invade the French magical world, this scene seemed extremely ironic.
Unfortunately, Harry's attention was no longer on the banquet.
In fact, ever since Link admitted that the purpose of recruitment was to press the advantage and continue the war, Harry had been in a dazed and confused state.
Harry had to admit that he still held some illusions about Link before this.
The reason he had struggled when Gerald gave him the order was precisely because of that.
After a long internal struggle, he had even lowered his expectations of Link to the point where maintaining the current peace would be enough.
As long as the current situation could be maintained, Harry was willing to use gentler methods to remind Link not to become obsessed with invasion.
In Harry's view, this should not have been difficult.
After all, the British Ministry of Magic had already won.
As a victor who had already gained benefits, couldn't they at least maintain their current victory?
Link gave him the answer today.
No.
Link couldn't do that.
Maintaining the current victory was not what Link wanted.
The truth was that Link wanted more. He wanted to continue the war, go into the French magical world, defeat an enemy Harry wasn't even sure existed, and seize more resources from the French magical world.
This completely disappointed Harry.
He felt that all the good expectations he had once held toward Link had gone straight into the trash.
An intense sense of loss enveloped Harry.
It felt as if his soul had fallen into a bottomless abyss, sinking endlessly.
Throughout the entire Christmas banquet, which lasted several hours, Harry remained in that state.
Absentmindedly, he applauded with everyone else, recited Christmas blessings, and promised that the Slug Club would always be one family.
Even after the banquet ended, the crowd gradually dispersed, and the lights slowly dimmed, Harry still sat alone in the dark hall.
The blow had been too great.
He had completely given up thinking.
At that moment, he desperately wanted to hear that gentle whisper again.
Only that voice could comfort and heal his wounded heart.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, the voice never appeared.
The surroundings were frighteningly quiet.
The only thing accompanying him seemed to be the sound of his own heartbeat.
The heartbeat sounded irregular, and the vibrations seemed unusually strong, causing his whole body to sway slightly.
No, this wasn't a heartbeat...
Harry finally realized something was wrong.
He reached toward his left chest and touched a cylindrical metal object.
It was the Spatial Anchor Gerald had given him.
It was no longer cold like before.
Instead, it radiated warmth and continuously trembled.
It was almost as if it had sensed Harry's depressed mood and was trying to comfort him.
As Harry stared at the Spatial Anchor in his hand, his previously unfocused eyes gradually became sharp again.
Link's situation was even worse than he had imagined.
If that was the case, ordinary methods probably wouldn't work anymore.
To completely wake Link from the whirlpool of desire, stronger measures would be necessary.
Thinking this, Harry clenched the Spatial Anchor tightly.
Taking a deep breath, he rushed toward Snape's office.
———
Panting heavily, he arrived in the dungeon and pushed open the heavy stone door of Snape's office.
Waiting for him was Snape's pair of eyes, which seemed forever calm.
As if he had already expected Harry to come, Snape sat quietly at his workbench, watching him.
The sight gradually calmed Harry's restless heart.
Subconsciously, he greeted him.
"Professor."
Snape nodded.
"It's late. What is it?"
"I have something I want to ask your help with."
Harry stared directly at Snape. When Snape didn't respond, he continued,
"But before that, I want to know if I can trust you."
"You've already come here, stood in front of me, and asked for my help. At this point, I think you already have the answer to that question in your own heart."
Harry fell silent.
Snape's answer wasn't really an answer at all.
Yet it unexpectedly struck right at Harry's thoughts.
He had already come here.
That naturally meant he considered Snape trustworthy.
This wasn't just because of Gerald's suggestion.
It was also what Harry truly believed.
Taking a deep breath, he finally pulled the Spatial Anchor from his robes and said, "You're right, Professor Snape. I am willing to trust you. So the favor I want to ask is for you to place this inside Dumbledore's office."
"What is it? It looks very finely made. Some kind of alchemical item, I assume. What are you planning to do with it?"
Snape took the Spatial Anchor from Harry and carefully examined it in his hand as he spoke.
His tone was very relaxed.
Because he simply didn't believe Harry would have any harmful intentions toward Dumbledore or Link.
He even suspected this might be another prank planned by Harry and his friends, similar to something George and Fred would do.
Such pranks were extremely common among Gryffindors.
Those brainless lions loved meaningless jokes and enjoyed seeing shocked or frightened reactions from others.
If there was one thing Snape couldn't understand, it was why Harry had come to him for help this time.
However, Harry's expression suddenly became serious.
"This is indeed an alchemical item. I need it to be hidden somewhere in the Headmaster's office for at least a week without being discovered. As for why I want to do that, I'm sorry, Professor Snape, but I can't tell you."
Listening to Harry and seeing the seriousness on his face, Snape's relaxed attitude finally disappeared.
He began to realize that things might not be so simple.
Once again, Snape picked up the metal cylinder and began examining it more deeply with both magical power and mental energy.
This time, he made a shocking discovery.
Within the cylindrical alchemical device, he found magical circuits similar to those used in Portkeys, along with many spatial magic fluctuations.
In other words, this alchemical device was likely something capable of breaking through space, similar to a Vanishing Cabinet.
Of course, in terms of effectiveness and level, it was probably far superior to a Vanishing Cabinet.
After all, Hogwarts' spatial defenses were completely different from what they had once been.
That was also why it needed to be placed inside the Headmaster's office.
Only at the core of the defensive formations, inside the Headmaster's office, could the device possibly function properly.
In other words, Harry intended to bypass the Anti-Apparition protections and allow certain people who were not welcome at Hogwarts to enter the castle directly?
This wasn't a simple prank at all.
This was a genuine invasion.
The question naturally followed.
Why would Harry want to do such a thing?
He had absolutely no reason to do it.
For the first time, Snape's expression changed.
He looked at Harry with a complicated expression, as though only now did he truly know the boy standing before him.
"You asked me before whether I was worthy of your trust. I can answer that directly now. The answer is that I am not worthy of your trust at all."
"To be honest, I don't understand where your trust in me comes from. Why would you think I would help you do something like this?", Snape said.
By the end, his tone had become extremely stern.
Yet this time, Harry somehow found the courage to meet Snape's gaze without backing down.
"I believe you'll help me because you're my mother's friend, aren't you? Even though you hated my father with all your heart, you still loved my mother."
The moment those words were spoken, Snape's eyes widened.
The thoughts that had been suppressed beneath Occlumency finally burst free.
His breathing gradually grew heavier.
The way he looked at Harry became strange.
Or perhaps confused.
Yet after a long struggle, reason ultimately prevailed.
As his eyes became deep and empty once more, Snape placed the Spatial Anchor on the workbench and said calmly, "That was a very long time ago."
"Yes. If we're only talking about time, then it was a long time ago. But for you, it feels like those things happened only yesterday, doesn't it?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about. This is simply..."
Snape had only spoken halfway when Harry interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
He no longer seemed interested in arguing.
Slowly standing up and retreating toward the door, he began closing the stone door behind him as he said, "The choice is in your hands. My fate is in your hands too."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the stone door slammed shut.
Only then did Harry finally lose his composure.
He collapsed against the stone door as if all strength had left his body.
His heart pounded like a drum, and his back was soaked with cold sweat.
He could hardly understand how he had managed to hold himself together in front of Snape.
He understood even more clearly that he no longer had any way back.
With Snape's abilities, he would definitely discover the truth about the Spatial Anchor and understand Harry's plan.
Now it depended on what choice Snape would make.
If Snape chose to tell Link or Dumbledore, then Harry was finished.
Just as Harry had said, his fate was now in Snape's hands.
Things had already reached this point.
There was no use hesitating anymore.
Harry gritted his teeth and forced his weakened body toward Gryffindor Tower.
At the same time, what Harry didn't know was that the Snape who now held his fate in his hands was trapped in an even greater dilemma than Harry himself.