Eighth floor, Headmaster's Office.
After sending Harry away, Dumbledore reached out to stroke Fawkes, who had just been reborn from the ashes in nirvana.
"He didn't tell the truth."
Snape came over, "I could tell, he was hiding a lot... and he already knew he was a Parseltongue but hadn't told anyone."
When Harry arrived, he was also in the Headmaster's office.
"Severus, that child knew nothing about the Magic Realm before."
Dumbledore placed the wrinkled Fawkes on his perch, turned, and said, "Perhaps to Harry, being able to talk to snakes isn't unusual; many wizards can do it.
If he wanted to deliberately hide it, he wouldn't have shown it at the Dueling Club."
"As for other things..." Dumbledore glanced at him, "everyone has secrets they don't want others to know, Severus... including you and me."
Snape turned his head, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes.
"Tell me what you know."
Dumbledore sidestepped to the table, took a sip of tea, "About the Chamber of Secrets."
"I don't know."
Snape moved to where Dumbledore had been standing, "The Dark Lord never spoke about it, you should know that, he never discusses the past."
As he spoke, Snape bent down, naturally scooped the ashes under the perch into a bottle, with a calm expression as if tidying his own shelves.
Dumbledore's eyes twitched slightly.
Whether in alchemy or magic potions, phoenix's Nirvana Ashes are one of the rarest materials.
He had previously thought of using these ashes to upgrade the Mirror of Erised, but with one distraction, Snape had taken half of them.
And if Fawkes hadn't pecked him, even the remaining half might not have stayed.
"Severus, you..."
Dumbledore was about to say something, but Snape had already deftly pocketed the bottle, dusted off his robe, and looked up as though nothing happened.
"Headmaster, what did you just say?"
"Nothing..." Dumbledore sighed, "Would you like to try some tea? It's from Madam Maxime at Beauxbatons, it tastes pretty good."
"Alright, I'll have a cup." Snape walked over.
A new cup of tea and a dish of sugar cubes appeared on the table.
Snape casually picked up the cup and took a sip.
"You could try adding some sugar," Dumbledore suggested, "It would taste better."
"No, I never add those things."
Snape put down the cup and said, "There's another matter..."
"What is it?"
"I need to use the Pensieve," Snape said, "The day Charity Burbage was attacked, I saw someone in that corridor."
"Who was it?" Dumbledore asked.
"The time was too short," Snape said, "I couldn't see clearly."
"Alright then..." Dumbledore pointed to a cabinet in the corner, "You know how to use it."
Snape stood up and walked over, opening the cabinet door.
Inside the cabinet was a shallow stone basin, its rim inscribed with strange letters and symbols.
Snape placed his wand against his head, extracting a strand of flowing silver substance... like liquid light, or solidified wind.
"I thought I'd never do this again."
Snape, with a complex expression, placed his memory into the Pensieve.
"You should take a look too, I know you can..."
After he finished speaking, he plunged his head into the Pensieve.
The next second, Snape was in a corridor... then Dumbledore appeared as well.
Their vision moved continuously forward, as if they were walking.
When they reached the end of the corridor, their view suddenly shifted... they saw a figure flash by around the corner ahead.
But the time was too short, as their view turned, the person had nearly left the passage, they only saw a blurred profile.
Dumbledore's expression subtly changed, he turned his gaze towards a door not far away.
"This is the room where Charity was attacked."
"The house-elves found her while cleaning."
Snape nodded.
Then, the two returned to the Headmaster's office.
"What do you want to say..." Dumbledore asked.
Snape retrieved his memory, shut the cabinet containing the Pensieve, then meaningfully asked, "Don't you think that profile resembles someone?"
"I think I understand what you mean, Severus."
Dumbledore paused for a moment before continuing, "But that's impossible, the time in your memory is morning, and nearly everyone can prove that at that time Kael was at the Quidditch Pitch watching the match, and never left in between... he couldn't have been there."
"Could it be... a Time Turner?"
"No."
Dumbledore shook his head, "The more you know, the more you realize how terrifying the consequences of meddling with time are... she would not allow Kael to touch a Time Turner, even if the impact was negligible."
Dumbledore didn't name names, but Snape knew who he was referring to.
"So those two requests earlier..."
"Exactly, Diana rejected them," Dumbledore jested, "After being turned down twice in a row, I thought I was looking for a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
Dumbledore thought he had told a good joke, but Snape evidently didn't think so.
Not only did he not laugh, his expression became even more solemn.
"This is also what I can't figure out."
"Since there's no Time Turner, how could he be in two places at once... Polyjuice Potion?"
Snape frowned.
Recently, someone had broken into his private storage room and stolen a lot of potion materials, including Boomslang Skin and Bicorn horn, which are key to brewing Polyjuice Potion.
But the timing doesn't match... his private stock was broken into days ago, while Charity Burbage's attack was a month ago.
"Don't think too much about it, Severus."
Dumbledore poured him another cup of tea.
"It's just a profile, it doesn't mean anything, maybe it's someone else, you're just making assumptions."
"So, Dumbledore, you think we both mistook them for someone?" Snape looked up, "Don't forget, I never said who the profile resembled."
"I trust Kael." Dumbledore looked out the window, "Just like I trust Harry and you."
"Ha, I'm really honored." Snape sneered, "To be compared to the great Savior and the youngest holder of the Merlin Order Medal..."
"The Savior is just a shackle, not an honor, but the Merlin Order Medal..." Dumbledore suddenly shook his head, "You indeed haven't earned that, Severus."
Snape was momentarily taken aback, then his face instantly turned sullen, "You think I would care about something like that?"
"If you cared, you would have gotten a First-Class medal long ago." Dumbledore said with a smile, "But others clearly think differently, when it comes to personal honor, people think you're not as good as Kael."
"Just because of a gilded plaque?" Snape's expression soured further.
"Second-Class is pure gold..."
"Is that what I meant?" Snape said angrily.
The moment he recalled Dumbledore's earlier words, a surge of inexplicable anger rushed in him, he didn't even notice the topic had changed.
Snape never cared about anything other than magic potions, nor did he value fame or honor.
He could accept others saying Lockhart was better than him or that Harry Potter was more famous... it all didn't matter since he didn't care about those.
But somehow, hearing Dumbledore say he wasn't as good as Kael irked him.
This feeling had never occurred before, like someone took away his carefully brewed potion all at once.
"Severus, if you're willing to publish your little tips for brewing potions, I could be your nominator."
Dumbledore looked at him and couldn't help but laugh, "I promise, the next time there's a selection, you could get the Order Medal."
"First-Class?" Snape was a bit tempted.
"No, Third-Class... at most Second-Class..." Dumbledore shook his head, "That depends on the specific efficacy of those tips."
Third-Class medals... what use is that.
"No need, I'm not interested in it, nor do I want to waste time on it." Snape decisively refused.
"What a pity." Dumbledore blinked, "If you change your mind, you can always come to me."