Inside the Headmaster's office, the silence continued.
Dumbledore stared at the smile tugging at the corner of Link's lips, and the expression on his face turned a bit cold.
This made the air in the office seem as though it, too, was tinged with the faint smell of gunpowder.
But unfortunately for him, since Link had already found Dumbledore's sore spot, he was not afraid of him at all.
After a long time, Dumbledore finally gave up on this roundabout intimidation, and said with extreme seriousness, "Alastor Moody cannot leave Hogwarts."
The smile on Link's face faded, and his hand withdrew from the little head of the phoenix. This made Fawkes, the phoenix, displeased, he pecked at Link twice.
Seeing this, Dumbledore took a deep breath and explained, "He is the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor I went to great trouble to invite. His professional level is absolutely solid. If he is driven out of Hogwarts, then for several months I won't be able to find anyone suitable to replace him."
Link still said nothing, only glanced at Snape.
The meaning was very obvious, but Snape deliberately turned his head away as though he hadn't seen.
Because two years ago, he had already fallen into this trap once, helping to substitute for those Defense Against the Dark Arts professors who ran into problems halfway through.
So he was very clear.
Although the Defense Against the Dark Arts post was the position he dreamed of, if he still had to double as Potions professor, then it would be utterly meaningless.
After all, preparing two classes at the same time was simply too much torture.
Link turned his head back, a little disappointed, only to see Dumbledore smiling happily as he said, "Then let's leave it at that, Link. I am sorry for what Alastor did. His paranoia is indeed rather severe, and his actions caused you psychological trauma."
Speaking, Dumbledore took out from a drawer a glass jar full of a transparent liquid and pushed it in front of Link. "However, I believe that even injuries of the mind can be healed by phoenix tears. Here, there are a full 5 ounces. Do you think that is enough?"
Phoenix tears were indeed powerful.
After all, this could be said to be the strongest healing potion in the world, and at the same time one of the ingredients in many legendary potions recorded in the Slytherin compendium.
Most importantly, it was extremely rare.
Because in the entire world at present, the only wizard still raising a phoenix was Dumbledore himself.
This meant that apart from those poor wizard-hunters who occasionally had the luck to get a drop or two in the wild, Dumbledore's hand was the only source.
Standing beside Link, Snape was already somewhat restless at this moment.
But there was no trace of joy on Link's face.
This was a full 5 ounces.
Could it be that this old guy Dumbledore forced poor Fawkes to cry every day to collect them?
'Poor little fellow.'
Link stroked Fawkes's head with pity.
More importantly, from Dumbledore's words Link could hear his determination.
Dumbledore absolutely would not let Moody leave Hogwarts.
These 5 ounces of phoenix tears were also Dumbledore's way of telling Link that trying to pinch him through funding was meaningless, because once he sold this bottle of phoenix tears, he would get an astronomical sum of Galleons.
Of course, as for that excuse about not finding another Defense professor, Link didn't believe a single word.
That old fox Dumbledore surely had other goals.
But that was no longer important.
"Whew!"
Link exhaled a breath of turbid air and said to Dumbledore, "These phoenix tears are indeed more than enough."
"But I have some doubts that Professor Moody is actually someone else using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him."
"How about this, since Professor Snape just so happens to know how to brew the antidote for Polyjuice, why don't we let Professor Moody drink some and test it out?"
"Link, must you really insist on this?" Dumbledore's tone was a little helpless.
He did not believe that Moody was an impostor, this was simply too far-fetched.
In his view, Link just wanted an excuse to take revenge on Moody.
If possible, Dumbledore truly wished to refuse.
But he also knew well that Link was a very petty person.
If he didn't agree now, Link would surely find some other way afterward to retaliate against Moody.
That might become uncontrollable.
Thinking this, Dumbledore reluctantly nodded and turned to Snape, "Severus, then you should go prepare the potion first. Once you finish..."
"No need for the trouble! Ever since those thieves stole some Polyjuice ingredients from my storeroom two years ago, I've always carried an antidote with me."
Snape pulled out a bottle of green potion from his robes and, smiling, interrupted Dumbledore.
"Very well then. Fawkes, go fetch Alastor."
At Dumbledore's words, the phoenix on Link's shoulder let out a cry, then in a flash of flame disappeared.
This eased the tense atmosphere in the office quite a bit, and even Link's face showed some cheer.
Though he hadn't succeeded in driving Moody out of Hogwarts, at least being able to verify Moody's identity would count as some gain.
A few minutes later, Fawkes and Moody reappeared in a burst of firelight before them all.
"Dumbledore, what do you want with me?"
Moody didn't even glance at Link or Snape, asking Dumbledore directly.
"Ah, it's like this, Alastor. Mr. Flamel suspects you might be someone else using Polyjuice to impersonate you. So Professor Snape has specially prepared a Polyjuice antidote. He hopes you will drink it to prove yourself."
"Nonsense!"
Moody roared at once. "This is blatant revenge! Dumbledore! You should know that!"
Dumbledore said nothing, only quietly looked at Moody.
This made Moody's expression darken, and he said coldly, "Must I really drink it?"
This time, Dumbledore finally spoke, but all he gave Moody was a sigh.
Moody understood. He glared fiercely at Link and Snape.
"Cheap tricks! Despicable scoundrels!"
With that, he picked up the green potion from the table and began casting every kind of spell and inspection charm on it.
This examination lasted for nearly half an hour, until even Link was a bit stunned.
Because during this time Moody used all sorts of diagnostic spells, even Scarpin's Revelaspell, a potion analysis charm that only those with high-level potions education could learn.
But even after such meticulous checking, Moody still could not find anything wrong with the potion.
"Damn it! Cursed bastards, Merlin's beard…"
Moody muttered and stalled, unwilling to drink. But under Dumbledore's insistence, in the end he downed the potion in one gulp.
No sooner had he finished than Moody's expression twisted in pain.
During his years as an Auror he had been poisoned countless times, so though his tests hadn't revealed any toxins, the moment the potion hit his throat, he knew something was wrong.
"You…"
Moody snarled, drawing his wand, but before he could finish speaking, his skin turned green. Countless thick warts bulged out across his flesh, and the sudden agony drove him to collapse on the floor.
Link and Snape exchanged evil grins.
No matter how cautious Moody was, facing a potion master like Snape, he still had little defense.
Dumbledore lowered his head and sighed deeply.
"Since the matter is settled, you two should go."
"Of course," Snape said gleefully, shooting a glance at the convulsing Moody on the floor. "These symptoms will last for a full week, then fade on their own."
With that, Snape left the office with Link without looking back.
Once the stone gargoyle sealed the Headmaster's office again, Snape couldn't hold back his eagerness and said to Link, "The phoenix tears?"
"I can't give you all of them."
"I want 4 ounces!"
"2 ounces, at most!"
"Fine! Deal!"
Without hesitation they split the spoils right there before the gargoyle, making Snape all the happier.
After all, with phoenix tears, such a rare ingredient, he could start experimenting with the legendary potions in the Slytherin compendium.
And what's more, that detestable Moody had suffered a big loss. That alone was enough.
Snape had never really expected Dumbledore to drive Moody out of Hogwarts anyway.
"By the way, the potion you gave Moody, was it really the Polyjuice antidote?"
Just as Snape was inwardly rejoicing, Link suddenly spoke.
Snape's smile faded, and he frowned.
"You really think that Moody isn't the real thing?"
"You know my instincts are always sharp. It's by that talent that I've survived until now," Link said meaningfully.
"And this time, my feeling about Moody is especially bad."
At this, Snape's eyes flickered. After a moment's silence he said, "Looks like that old man's Imperius Curse really left you some trauma. Perhaps, like Dumbledore said, you should drink some phoenix tears and see if they heal your mind."
Link said nothing, just kept staring into Snape's eyes.
Snape surely knew something, but he was unwilling to speak, so he covered it with empty words.
Link was very clear on that.
But he didn't mind. After all, when it came to information, as a transmigrator, the knowledge he had was far beyond what a native like Snape could imagine.
Perhaps being stared at made Snape uncomfortable.
After holding Link's gaze for a while, he finally admitted, "The potion I gave Moody was indeed not a Polyjuice antidote. It was a special breaking draught, an improved version based on Gringotts' Revealing Waterfall."
"Drinking it doesn't just cancel Polyjuice, it also cancels all kinds of transformations, even Animagus forms and Disguising Charms. So rest assured, this Moody is the real thing!"
With that, Snape quickly left without another word.
He had to hurry back to his office to experiment with his new potions, he had no time to waste with Link.
Link, however, stood in place, frowning in thought.
Moody was the real thing.
Logically speaking, this news wasn't good for Link.
Because he knew, Barty Crouch Jr. and Peter Pettigrew were still roaming free, not to mention the far greater force behind them.
If this Moody had really been Barty in disguise, then Link could have used that to his advantage, to gather intelligence, for instance.
But now, those people had gone completely underground, and it would be hard to catch them again.
Thinking this, Link shook his head helplessly.
At that moment, seeing Snape leave, John, who had been hiding in the shadows the whole time, came out to ask about the "battle."
From his expression, Link could tell his friend hadn't really believed Link and Snape would gain anything from Moody.
So his questions were more out of concern and friendship.
Link didn't hide it, and simply told John about Moody's miserable state in full.
Seeing John's eyes grow wider and wider, Link felt satisfied, and with a smile he walked back to the Hufflepuff common room with him.
With John's distraction, Link also came to realize something.
The things he was worrying about were really unnecessary. As long as Voldemort did not return at full power, then with Dumbledore around, all these so-called incidents would only remain low-level threats.
Against such things, the simplest way was just to block soldiers with soldiers, water with earth.
———
In the weeks that followed, Link seemed to have completely forgotten about the matter. Each day he either attended classes or stuck close to Emily.
Still, even so, they did not actually spend much time together.
Because every single professor was frantically increasing their homework.
"This year you will face your O.W.L. exams! That means you no longer have time to waste on meaningless things like wizard's chess or romance!"
"What you must do now is put all your effort into reading a few more pages, doing a few more practice papers! Right now! Immediately go!"
Those were the words Professor Sprout said to Link's class in their very first lesson this term.
After she said it, every student in the classroom was stunned.
Because those words sounded more like something Professor McGonagall would say, not Sprout.
In the eyes of every Hogwarts student, Professor Sprout had always been a gentle and kind professor.
This could be seen from the fact that her assignments in the past had always been very light.
She rarely even scolded her students, and when they made mistakes, she would comfort and teach them instead.
But after this term began, all of that had changed.
Every fifth-year student could feel her drastic shift.
She had become irritable and short-tempered. Not only did she pile on homework every lesson, she even, for the first time, yanked the ear of a mischievous student.
That was something unthinkable before.
Naturally, many students began to complain, thinking she was deliberately tormenting them, or that she was going through menopause.
But after attending other professors' classes, they no longer thought that.
Because the other professors' changes were even more extreme than Sprout's.
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