"This is a good thing," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
Although the Aurors would suffer injuries because of it, under Tver's command, the Ministry of Magic was playing a far greater role than it had in the last war. There was barely even anything left for the Order of the Phoenix to do.
During the last war, it had been the Order of the Phoenix under his leadership that held the front line all along, preventing the Ministry of Magic from falling completely under Voldemort's control.
Now the situation was reversed. The Ministry of Magic had become the main force against Voldemort.
Naturally, Dumbledore could not have been more satisfied.
As for Tver using certain less-than-honorable methods to influence the Ministry of Magic, and even establishing a Joint Operations Office that did not quite comply with The Statute of Secrecy…
Special times called for special measures. That was understandable.
That was also why Dumbledore had always allowed Tver to act. Without his tacit approval, the Order of the Phoenix would never have shared intelligence with the Ministry of Magic so readily.
Even the Wizards' Confederation, which he had controlled for decades, would not have turned a blind eye to Tver's little moves.
Tver, however, had no idea that Dumbledore was quietly supporting his work. He only felt that matters with the Wizards' Confederation had gone even more smoothly than he had imagined.
Of course, from another angle, that could also be credited to his years of diligently being a good professor.
"Gentlemen, your…"
The waiter looked at the table, which was spacious enough under normal circumstances but nowhere near enough to hold so many desserts, and immediately became troubled.
Guests of this level surely would not allow him to stand nearby and overhear their conversation, would they?
"Thank you. Bring the first serving here, and put the rest on the table next to us." Tver pointed to the empty table beside them.
Although this was somewhat impolite, his competitive spirit had been provoked. He had ordered one more dessert than Dumbledore.
"Mmm…"
Dumbledore scooped a spoonful of lemon cake into his mouth, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.
But in his slightly narrowed eyes, an almost imperceptible glint of slyness flashed.
"It really is quite good. It seems I'll have to find a way to have the house-elves put this cake on next school year's menu."
Tver, who was lowering his head to taste his cake, remained perfectly composed, as if immersed in a sea of desserts.
But his ears quietly pricked up, betraying his thoughts.
"Speaking of the school, have you found a suitable Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?"
Dumbledore immediately gave a soft sigh.
"If it were that easy to find one, would I have allowed Umbridge to teach last school year?"
"It shouldn't be that bad now, should it?" Tver asked curiously. "With the wizarding world in such chaos, Hogwarts should be the safest place because you're there."
And if Tver himself were included…
"Wouldn't it be even safer if you were there too?" Snape said casually.
Tver could not help pressing his lips together in frustration. He finally understood why the two of them had come.
But after thinking for a moment, he still sighed and said, "There's nothing I can do. Voldemort is watching from outside. You can stay at Hogwarts in peace, Dumbledore, but I can't."
More importantly, his plan to overthrow The Statute of Secrecy had already entered a rapid and unstable stage.
All the planning he had done before would begin showing results during this period. Staying at Hogwarts and giving orders remotely, as he had done before, would no longer work.
At the mention of Voldemort, Dumbledore also set aside his small personal intentions.
Seeing the current situation looking so favorable, he had hoped Tver could remain at the school and hold the fort, allowing him to focus on researching other matters.
But Tver was right. Dealing with Voldemort was more important.
"There's no helping it, then. We'll have Karkaroff teach every year. That was how it was done before Tver came to the school."
Speaking of Karkaroff, after being frightened by the news of Voldemort's resurrection and hiding at Hogwarts, he had grown bolder when Voldemort remained in hiding and left Britain to begin his vacation.
He probably had not expected that not long after he left Hogwarts, Voldemort would launch an attack.
If he had not kept sending letters to report that he was safe, Dumbledore might have thought he had already died at the hands of some Death Eater.
But in truth, Dumbledore was not satisfied with Karkaroff's performance over the past year.
Or rather, after growing used to a high-quality professor like Tver, not only the other professors, but even the students were no longer especially satisfied with Karkaroff's teaching.
It was only because Umbridge had existed last school year that, by comparison, Karkaroff had seemed particularly outstanding.
"Perhaps… we can think about it another way?" Tver glanced at Snape, who was silently eating cake.
He knew that this school year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was supposed to be this little-known master of dark magic.
"For example?" Dumbledore asked with interest.
"Since people outside the school are wary of the curse, we can approach it differently. Hire a professor for another subject, and then let that subject's original professor take over Defence Against the Dark Arts…"
"I can't."
As if he had understood Tver's meaning, Snape replied without the slightest hesitation.
Of course, the only people at Hogwarts who could transfer to that course were him, Flitwick, and Professor McGonagall.
But that was not right.
Tver looked at him in great surprise.
Snape did not know anything about the plot, so he was somewhat displeased by Tver's surprise.
"Voldemort's movements are very strange right now. According to the information I have, he has most likely left Britain again."
Although Snape's goal was to return to Voldemort's side, for some reason, when he went looking for him, the only person who greeted him was Bellatrix Lestrange.
Through deliberate and indirect probing, he had only obtained one piece of information so far.
Voldemort had not taken a single Death Eater with him. He had left Britain alone.
At that, Tver thought of how the last time Voldemort had acted so mysteriously, it had been for an attack plan that killed four birds with one stone, and his expression became more serious.
Last time, it had forced him to move his own plans ahead of schedule. What was Voldemort trying to do this time?
"What's his target? He can't just be going abroad for a vacation, can he?"
"I don't know." Snape shook his head helplessly.
Spying was already difficult work, and now he could not even catch sight of Voldemort. Finding out that Voldemort had left the country was already the limit of what he could do.
"Perhaps we can change our thinking again…"
Dumbledore was much calmer. After all, in his view, no matter what Voldemort did, the current situation was far better than it had been last time.
"No matter what Voldemort wants to do, the Death Eaters will certainly be among the subordinates he can command."
"Why not try starting with that group? Analyze Voldemort's goal through their broader movements."
Snape nodded without surprise.
"I am currently contacting more Death Eaters, trying to link together each of their different small plans as much as possible. So I absolutely cannot spare any energy for teaching."
This task truly consumed a great deal of energy. Snape not only had to communicate with more Death Eaters, but also could not afford to miss a single detail.
And the final linking and broader analysis were not things an ordinary person could do.
"In that case, I can consider having Marvolio slow the hunting plan a little, or cooperate with your mission so it's easier for you to gain the Death Eaters' trust," Tver said thoughtfully.
After all, most of the ones they had taken down so far were small fish. It would be better to leak some intelligence to Snape and let him use it as favors.
"But if that's the case…" He looked at the pensive Dumbledore. "The school is short quite a few professors, isn't it?"
Dumbledore exhaled helplessly, even setting down the knife and fork in his hands.
"I'll think of another way."