186: Chapter 186, 8:00 AM

"You had better explain yourself clearly right now, Potter."

The door to Snape's office closed behind Allen, and the light from the corridor in the door gap was swallowed by the dark wood. Eight o'clock sharp; the pendulum on the wall had just reached its lowest point, the silver hourglass by the desk flipped over, and the fine sand began to fall.

Allen placed three rolls of parchment on the desk. "Divination exam explanation, revised Dementor report, and the explanation for not going to the hospital wing. The three things you requested, Professor."

Snape did not touch the papers. He sat behind the desk, his black robes pressed against the back of the chair, an undipped quill lying by his hand. "I also required you to bring honesty. Unfortunately, you always seem to leave it in bed."

If Draco were here, he would probably have cursed for him first. Allen simply moved his hand away from the parchment rolls and stood half a step in front of the desk. "I sleep a lot, and my memory is poor."

"Very well." Snape picked up the first roll of paper and unfolded it. The Divination exam record contained lines about a crystal ball, blue light, the Third Floor off-limits area, an old door, the Black Lake, and a knut. The word "blue light" was circled in red ink, with enough force to nearly tear the paper. "Professor Trelawney says you saw the future."

"She also said that the soup at dinner was a reminder from her Inner Eye."

Snape looked up. "You can use that line to fool Gryffindor. Don't try to fool me with it."

The medicine cabinets in the office were packed densely, and the snake specimens in glass jars were pressed against the walls of the containers. Allen could feel the Void raising its head inside his Portable Space, its tail tip pressing down on the cracked pocket watch beside the ebony box, keeping the blue light from escaping the cracks of the box.

"The crystal ball provided the image." Snape pushed the paper over. "The Third Floor off-limits area, blue light from the door gap, muddy water, a boy in black robes, a blackthorn wand. Are you prepared to tell me that was just exam nervousness?"

"Crystal balls amplify a student's memories," Allen said. "I've been to the Third Floor off-limits area since my first year. The incident at the Black Lake only happened last night. A knut is a trinket I use often. As for black robes, half the students at Hogwarts wear them."

Snape pressed the quill against the desk. "You speak very smoothly."

"I've practiced."

"On me?"

"On all the Professors."

This sentence caused the office to fall silent for a moment. The small fireplace in the corner was burning; there was nothing in the cauldron, only a ring of old potion residue. Snape looked at him, his fingers tapping beside the Divination record.

"I will give you four chances," Snape said. "First, where did the blue light come from?"

"The crystal ball."

"Second, what is behind the door in the Third Floor off-limits area?"

"Dangerous memories left behind by a former Professor."

"Third, last night by the Black Lake, before the stag Patronus appeared, did time loop back?"

"I was sleeping in the Dungeon."

"Fourth." Snape stood up, his shadow looming over the desk. "When the Boggart faced you, why was there only emptiness left?"

Allen looked up at him. "Perhaps it found me boring."

Snape walked up to him, the distance closing until it was uncomfortably near. The candlelight behind the snake specimens reflected on the glass, like many tiny eyes.

"Legilimency."

The first probe came without warning.

A series of prepared images flashed before Allen's eyes: the crystal ball in the North Tower, Draco cursing at the staircase, Hermione holding books and questioning him, McGonagall calling Harry away, the long table in the Dungeon, blank essays, sleepiness. The probe paused for half a beat after hitting the outer layer, like a needle piercing into a bottomless pile of paper.

Snape's face was even closer. "You have polished your memories too cleanly."

"Professor, the reports I've been required to write this year are enough to pave a corridor."

The second probe pressed down, the target shifting to the Black Lake and the Dementors. What Allen presented was still the Dungeon Common Room: Draco holding a candy box and cursing the Ministry of Magic, Pansy flipping through old newspapers, Nott recording the time, and Zabini asking about dessert for dinner. There was no lake water in the images, no blue light.

Snape pulled back an inch, his gaze beneath his brow ridge sinking very low. "Why did the Dementor pause when it approached you?"

"Maybe it was sleepy too."

"Potter."

"It's written in the report." Allen pushed the second roll of paper forward. "I am slow to react to cold, and my emotional reactions are also slow. Orphanage records can prove that I was often said to be slow to react when I was a child."

"Orphanage." Snape uttered these three words as if picking up a dirty knife. "Dumbledore has sent people to inquire. The anomalies of your childhood—doors opening from the inside, objects changing positions, extra space appearing in cupboards. Do you still want to claim it's just poor sleep?"

"Potter bloodline talent." Allen answered quickly. "The Principal mentioned it over the summer, too. My father's side has records of spatial affinity. If you are willing to accept the Principal's judgment, I can write one less explanation."

Snape's gaze darkened.

The third Legilimency probe crashed in, bypassing the orphanage and heading straight for the Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk, the Girls Lavatory, the diary, the silver light—all had been laid out by Allen beforehand as fragments, mixed into Harry's narrative, Fawkes's flames, the turbulence of Gilderoy Lockhart's Memory Charm, and the conversation in Dumbledore's office. As the probe passed through, it only caught a patch of ash burned by Phoenix fire.

Snape's fingers twitched.

"Your brain is more suspicious than a black hole."

Allen thought for a moment. "What is a black hole?"

"Muggle Astronomy."

"You know so much, Professor."

"Shut up."

The fourth probe did not enter his memories; it headed straight for the outer side of his soul. The interdimensional layer opened silently, like an unmarked sheet of black paper, swallowing that power and then spitting back a complete blank. There was no resistance, no rebound, no wall. Only absence.

Snape's expression sank into a place where the firelight could not reach. He retreated behind the desk, picked up the explanation for not going to the hospital wing, read three lines, and sneered. "Reason: No obvious wounds, no persistent fever, no unconsciousness lasting more than half a day. Did you write out Madam Pomfrey's judgment in advance, too?"

"Going to the hospital wing would take up more of the Professors' time."

"You are truly considerate."

"For the sake of writing fewer reports."

Snape stacked the three rolls of paper together and placed them on the corner of the desk. "Starting from the holiday, one report every two weeks. The topic will be decided by me. Dementors, spatial loss of control, sleep disturbances, time anomalies, Boggart reactions, Divination images. For every word you omit, I will have Mr. Malfoy copy it for you."

Allen glanced at him. "Draco will protest."

"He will cry for you to see."

"That is more troublesome than the reports."

Snape picked up the quill and wrote two lines at the very top. "Dumbledore will talk to you personally when he returns to school. Don't be too happy; the Principal has more patience than I do. He also prefers giving students candy."

"I don't like sweets."

"He will remember that."

Before the office door opened, Snape called him back again.

"Potter."

Allen stopped by the door.

"You may continue to pretend to be asleep," Snape said, rolling up the parchment and stuffing it into a black file folder. "But you had better pray that when you are awake, no one dies beside you."

"I will try to choose a place further away to sleep."

When the door closed, the light from the corridor fell upon him once more. Draco, Nott, Pansy, and Zabini were all waiting at the corner; Draco was clutching a bottle of ink in his hand, the cap already twisted askew by him.

"Did he kill you?" Draco whispered.

"No."

"Then why did it take so long?"

"He wanted to see a black hole."

Zabini blinked. "Muggle Astronomy?"

Nott was already looking down, writing. "Snape attempted Legilimency four times, all failed. A report every two weeks over the summer. Dumbledore will have a private talk."

Pansy looked at Allen's face. "You have a nosebleed."

Allen raised his hand to wipe away a bit of blood. "After-effects of the crystal ball."

Draco shoved the ink bottle into his hand. "Don't drip blood into your homework. Snape will make you write a blood composition analysis."

Allen took the bottle and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes for a moment. Inside his Portable Space, the cracked pocket watch quieted down, the Void's tail tip still pressing down on the lid of the box, while Peter huddled in the corner of the cage, unable to make a sound.

Nott closed his notebook. "Next step, Granger."

Allen opened his eyes.

At the end of the corridor, the lights in the direction of the Library had not yet gone out.