Karkaroff sounded even more urgent than his knocking, but Tver was dumbfounded.
What was this supposed to be?!
I was just starting to suspect you, and now you show up at my door?!
Still, Karkaroff probably did not know Tver had begun to doubt him, so Tver straightened his robes and put on his usual calm, composed expression.
At the same time, the office door opened automatically the instant he recovered himself, leaving Karkaroff frozen with his hand raised to knock again.
"So you really are here?"
"You came running over to knock without even checking first?" Tver said bluntly.
Although he had always treated Karkaroff with respect, Karkaroff was nowhere near qualified to be treated the way Tver treated his teacher.
Of course, this was how Tver usually acted toward Karkaroff, so Karkaroff did not notice anything strange.
After a brief daze, he hurried over to stand opposite Tver. With only the desk between them, he had not even caught his breath before trying to speak.
"No, I heard you'd returned to school. I ran into Potter outside the Headmaster's office, and he said you'd left… No, that doesn't matter. Listen, I need to tell you…"
"Don't rush. I'm not going to suddenly run away."
Now that the matter had reached him, Tver instead took his time pouring Karkaroff a glass of Pumpkin juice, then set it in front of him at an unhurried pace.
"Drink some Pumpkin juice and rest for a moment. Staying in your best condition is the best way to deal with trouble."
Karkaroff stared at the Pumpkin juice rippling in the cup and froze again. He felt that something about Tver was off.
Or rather, he was far too normal.
I'm already this anxious. Can't you at least be a little nervous?!
With that strange feeling in mind, Karkaroff hesitated, but seeing Tver's firm expression, he still sat down.
Then, looking at Tver across from him, sipping Pumpkin juice so comfortably that his eyes narrowed, Karkaroff seemed to understand something.
Had he interrupted Tver's Pumpkin juice?
In any case, as the sweet Pumpkin juice slid down his throat and into his stomach, Karkaroff's urgent mood did calm down quite a bit.
Seeing this, Tver withdrew his subtle, probing gaze and asked as if casually, "All right, tell me. What happened that made you come looking for me in such a hurry?"
At the mention of it, Karkaroff's face grew anxious again.
"It's the Dark Lord! The Dark Lord used the Imperius Curse on me and forced me to act according to his orders at Hogwarts!"
"Mm-hm. And then?"
Tver was not surprised at all. His tone was so relaxed that he might as well have been discussing whether Dumbledore preferred wool socks or cotton socks for Christmas.
"And then? What do you mean, and then?"
Karkaroff wondered if he was simply too old to keep up with how young people thought.
He was a Hogwarts professor who had been controlled by the Dark Lord. He might hurt the students at any moment. Was that really not enough to make Tver show even the slightest change in expression?!
Tver smacked his lips and counted on his fingers. "For example, what Voldemort plans to make you do. Or where Voldemort is hiding now. Or what scheme he intends to carry out through you. Those are the important points."
Only then did Karkaroff understand.
So what happens to me doesn't matter. What matters is what the Dark Lord is planning.
You could have said that earlier!
After thinking for a moment, he still felt something was wrong, but the Dark Lord's business was indeed more important, so he shook his head and pushed the odd feeling aside.
"As for what the Dark Lord specifically intends to do, of course he wouldn't tell a small fry under the Imperius Curse. But I feel, or rather, judging from his orders, that he's probably targeting the Boy Who Lived."
"Harry?" Tver immediately caught on.
To be honest, now that Dumbledore had already decided to overturn the Statute of Secrecy with him, Voldemort was no longer making trouble that would help push Tver's plan forward.
At this point, Voldemort's existence was purely a nuisance.
The problem was that Voldemort was still Voldemort. If he were stupid enough to confront Tver head-on while at such a disadvantage, that would be an insult to both the wizarding world and Dumbledore's intelligence.
A fool could never have started a Wizarding War and forced Dumbledore to act with such restraint!
So not only was Voldemort not stupid, he had chosen a very smart way to lie low. He had not even returned to Azkaban Island.
That left Tver with no way to catch him.
Nor could he push too hard. After all, that was Voldemort. If he were cornered and decided to drag everything down with him, Tver could deal with him himself even without Dumbledore, but before that happened, Voldemort tearing down half of Hogwarts would already be the most conservative estimate.
If the students' lives were harmed, it would be even less worth it.
So for now, protecting Hogwarts was the most important thing. Otherwise, Dumbledore would not have spent most of the last war staying inside the castle.
This Dark Lord still deserved a certain degree of respect!
"What does he plan to do to Harry? Kill him and get rid of his destined enemy?"
In the original story, the most important reason Voldemort had fixated on Harry was naturally that prophecy.
After learning from past experience, even after Dumbledore's death, Voldemort had not truly failed to take Hogwarts because he could not do it. In reality, his attention simply had not been on the castle.
Snape, whom he trusted, was in control there, so Voldemort naturally cared more about Harry.
But now, Voldemort's opponents were clearly Tver and Dumbledore. Why was he targeting Harry?
"You'll have to ask the Dark Lord yourself," Karkaroff said bluntly.
"However, I vaguely felt that there were a few classes where the Dark Lord personally controlled me and taught the students…"
"?"
What kind of development was this?
This was the most surprising news Tver had heard so far.
Voldemort had risked exposing himself and controlled Karkaroff just to fulfill his dream of becoming the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?!
Impossible. Tver had asked Marvolio before. Back then, Voldemort had applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position mostly for the books in Hogwarts' library and the abundant supply of student resources there.
If he had simply wanted to teach the students, Dumbledore could not possibly have refused.
Still, Voldemort's goal had become clearer now…
Tver rubbed his chin. It seemed this trip back to Hogwarts had brought him far more than he had expected.
"No, Tver, what if the Dark Lord finds me again? What am I supposed to do?" Karkaroff asked with a bitter expression.
"Do whatever you should do," Tver said carelessly. "As long as you're still useful, the worst that'll happen is he tortures you a bit, then keeps controlling you with the Imperius Curse."
"But what if I'm no longer useful?" Karkaroff asked in horror.
The only answer he received was Tver's mask-like fake smile.
"..."