After leaving the Headmaster's office, Tver had originally planned to hide outside and use his current access, which was higher than Dumbledore's, to quietly peek inside… no, to study it!
A very objective study of how the Resurrection Stone worked!
Not a shred of gossip-loving curiosity involved!
Except…
"Professor?" Harry looked strangely at the two people crouched outside the Headmaster's office. "What are you doing here?"
"Ahem." Snape stood up with a stern face. "I do not need to explain myself to you. Ten points from Gryffindor!"
With that, he strode away without looking back.
But to both Tver and Harry, his retreating figure somehow looked rather flustered…
"Hey, hey, it's your turn in a bit!" Tver quickly called after him.
Snape's steps paused, but he still did not turn back. He continued walking away with firm resolve, leaving Tver utterly baffled.
How had he been so righteous when he was setting Dumbledore up back in the Headmaster's office, only to flee at the last minute now that it was his turn?
"What do you mean, Snape's turn?" Harry asked curiously.
"That is none of your concern. Five points from Gryffindor!" Tver dusted himself off and snapped irritably, as if possessed by Snape.
"I remember today is the weekend. What are you doing here instead of going out to have fun?"
Harry pursed his lips. Sure, Gryffindor had plenty of points, but that was no reason to deduct them like this!
"I heard you were back at school, Professor, and remembered Dumbledore was supposed to teach me today, so I came over in a hurry."
"Then Dumbledore won't be able to teach you today." Tver thought for a moment. Old Dumbledore had been holding this in for nearly a century, so who knew how long the aftereffects would last this time? "He probably won't be in the mood to teach you for a while. Go on back."
"What about you, Professor? Since you're back at school, are you going to teach us again?" Harry asked expectantly.
When the Professor had returned to Hogwarts last year, he had not stayed long, but he had still taught them a few classes.
More importantly, the Professor had led them in attacking Umbridge during class. Harry had been able to vent a great deal of anger then!
Now Umbridge had been thrown into prison, and Sirius's classes were quite good, but that did not stop him from looking forward to the Professor's lessons.
Ideally, Karkaroff would be kicked out, and the Professor and Sirius would take over Defence Against the Dark Arts together!
As if sensing his little scheme, Tver said offhandedly, "Don't you already have two Defence Against the Dark Arts professors? It wouldn't be very appropriate for me to get involved."
"You could replace Karkaroff!" Harry blurted out in his urgency.
"Oh?" Tver's interest was piqued. "Is Karkaroff teaching badly?"
Karkaroff's classes had already been heavily criticized last year, but compared with Umbridge, he had become a ray of light in the darkness, so the students' dissatisfaction had never fully erupted.
"It's not that he's terrible," Harry said, struggling for words. After all, Karkaroff had given them plenty of enjoyable time to practice magic.
"It's just that his classes have become very casual. He teaches whatever comes to mind, as if he hasn't prepared at all."
"Sometimes he even forgets that he's already taught us similar material and goes over the same thing again."
"Though his second version of the lesson is definitely better, the content is still basically the same!"
Under Tver's guidance, Harry chattered on and poured out all the dissatisfaction he had built up toward Karkaroff over the past two years.
Tver, however, was more concerned with Karkaroff's abnormal behavior.
Was he under the Imperius Curse?
Judging from Karkaroff's behavior, that was the first thought that came to Tver's mind.
But the Imperius Curse usually produced some degree of dullness, and Dumbledore might not have failed to notice it even now.
Of course, if the Imperius Curse had been cast by Voldemort himself, or even controlled personally from somewhere nearby, then Dumbledore might truly not be able to detect it.
After all, it was one of Voldemort's three best spells.
Whatever the case, Karkaroff was definitely hiding something…
"Speaking ill of a professor behind his back is not a good habit. Another five points from Gryffindor."
Tver glanced at the tightly closed door of the Headmaster's office. After being interrupted like this, it was no longer possible to slip inside quietly.
Complaining inwardly, he left the bewildered Harry behind and took a familiar winding route back to the office he had not seen in ages.
Dumbledore was still fairly considerate. The office had been kept for him. As for Sirius, since Karkaroff had chosen another place, Sirius had naturally inherited Umbridge's office, which was also the most traditional Defence Against the Dark Arts office at Hogwarts.
The office was not covered in dust, either, because the house-elf Dobby came by to clean whenever he had time.
So, after six years, everything in the office seemed unchanged, exactly as it had been when Tver first arranged it.
And yet, it also felt as if everything had changed completely…
After looking over the furnishings for a while, Tver skillfully poured himself a glass of Pumpkin juice, sat down in the sunlight, and slowly opened a letter that had been prepared long ago.
The investigation into Karkaroff naturally could not be limited to Hogwarts. Cynthia was also better at integrating the Ministry of Magic's resources and conducting detailed investigations from every angle.
So, in less than half a month, she had sorted through Karkaroff's movements outside school over the past two years.
There was not much, but it was especially interesting.
Last year, Karkaroff had taken a long leave of absence under the excuse of traveling.
But interestingly, he had spent that leave in Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley…
He had stayed there all the way until the start of the new school year, occasionally wandering aimlessly through the streets, yet also seeming to circle Weasley Workshop and Borgin and Burkes with clear intent.
After school began, he had behaved much more quietly. Aside from sometimes appearing in Hogsmeade on weekends, he spent most of his time at Hogwarts, almost like someone living in seclusion.
If he had not attended class on time, he probably would barely have shown his face in front of the students.
Seen this way, Karkaroff practically had the word "suspicious" carved into his face!
Just as Tver was pondering the meaning behind Karkaroff's every move, someone suddenly knocked urgently on the office door.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Tver, I have something extremely important to tell you!"
That voice… was Karkaroff?!