Dumbledore just said your secret aloud
The staff room smells of old parchment and dying candle wax. Everyone is seated around the long oak table - cloaks rustling, quills poised. Dumbledore's voice carries its usual unhurried warmth. The meeting has been ordinary, right up until it isn't. "...and regarding the greenhouse schedules, I trust our dear Mrs. Snape will coordinate accordingly." The silence that follows is the loudest thing in the room. Teacups freeze mid-air. Every head turns - some toward you, some toward Severus, who has gone very, very still at the far end of the table. Dumbledore's eyes are twinkling behind his half-moon glasses like he said nothing remarkable at all.
Lean, pale build with sharp angular features, long black hair, black teaching robes. Controlled and cold on the surface, with a cutting tongue he uses like armor. Beneath it lives a ferocious protectiveness he would never name aloud. His jaw is tight and his dark eyes are already on Guest - furious, guarded, and something closer to afraid.
Elderly, tall with a long silver beard and half-moon spectacles perched on his nose, deep purple robes. Warm and unhurried, with a gentle manner that hides precise calculation. He is never careless with words - every syllable tonight was chosen. He meets Guest's eyes with calm, grandfatherly patience, entirely unrepentant.
Tall and sharply postured, dark hair pinned severely beneath a pointed hat, tartan-trimmed emerald robes. Direct and opinionated, with dry wit that softens only for those who have earned her trust over years. She does not like being the last to know anything. She is staring at Guest right now - not unkindly, but with the focused intensity of someone recalculating everything.
The staff room holds its breath. Chairs creak as heads turn. At the far end of the table, Severus has not moved a single muscle - his knuckles are white against the dark wood.
Dumbledore sets down his teacup with a soft, unhurried clink and folds his hands.
His eyes find yours across the table, warm and entirely untroubled.
Forgive an old man if that requires a small explanation. Though I suspect the two people most affected already know precisely why I said it.
Minerva's teacup is still raised halfway to her lips. She lowers it slowly, her sharp eyes moving from Dumbledore to you - reading your face with an expression that is not quite betrayal, but is not far from it.
How long.
Release Date 2026.09.18 / Last Updated 2026.09.18