Chapter 184: The Second "Journey" with Dumbledore
Chapter 184: The Second "Journey" with Dumbledore
At eight in the evening, Harry arrived outside the Headmaster's office, where the ugly stone gargoyle stood, tilting its head to stare at him.
"Butterscotch drops," Harry said.
The gargoyle stepped aside, allowing Harry to climb the spiral staircase. As he ascended, he soon reached the oak door adorned with brass handles.
Knocking on the brass knocker, the door silently swung open. Stepping inside, Harry saw Dumbledore within, bent over, examining something on a large table, with the Sorting Hat by his side.
The walls were adorned with portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were chattering away as Harry entered.
When the door opened, all voices ceased, and the portraits turned to look at him.
The scene would have been quite eerie if not for the bright, warm glow of the ever-burning candles that illuminated the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore's phoenix perched on a brass ring from which the candles hung. In contrast to the previous year, it now looked old and frail, with sparse feathers, and appeared to be nearing the end of its life.
"Ah, Harry, right on time," Dumbledore stood up and said, "Come and see, I acquired an interesting toy today."
"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. These are..."
As Harry walked over, he saw that on the table were several magical pets.
There were tiny phoenixes, dragons, unicorns, and a Re'em, some drinking, some playing, and others resting. Each pet had a meticulously crafted nest.
A wizard of similar size, wearing a pointed hat, lived alongside them, along with a fairy-tale-like mushroom house, from whose chimney wafted a faint wisp of smoke.
They seemed to be living in a real countryside setting.
The wizard was arguing with the dragon—
Dragon: "Move forward a bit, I have no space here!"
Wizard: "I was here first; you go over there!"
Dragon: "How much space do you need? Just squeeze in!"
Wizard: "Alright, alright, I'll give you all the space you want!"
The thumb-sized wizard stomped off to the side, and the dragon foolishly smiled and followed to apologize.
Re'em tried to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, no more arguing. It's just that our owner gave us too little space; otherwise, we wouldn't have to squeeze together like this."
"If I had the money, I'd want a golden nest," the phoenix said wistfully. "This wooden house always feels like it's about to burn down, and it makes me too scared to move."
Unicorn: "ZZZ..."
"Don't be hard on our owner!" said the dragon. "It's not his fault he doesn't have money. He's already working hard to provide us with a good environment. Don't be sad, owner, I still love you!"
It raised its head to address Dumbledore and politely nodded at Harry. "Hello, little wizard."
Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh, stroking his long beard, which was tied with a bow.
"Look at these adorable little fellows," Dumbledore said. "They've brought quite a bit of joy to my life. I heard they are your invention?"
"Yes," Harry replied briefly.
"Brilliant, Harry...simply marvelous. Fawkes and the Sorting Hat are quite fond of them as well. They can chat with these little creatures all day..."
Dumbledore frowned slightly. "They keep hinting that I should buy them things. Any suggestions on how to deal with that?"
Harry: "...Sorry, Professor. The pets' personalities are formed during their creation, so it's not impossible to change them. But doing so would be like killing their current selves."
At these words, the miniature pets immediately scurried back into their houses, leaving only the Re'em's backside sticking out;
The wizard and dragon, who had been arguing while lying on the grass, also forgot their quarrel and huddled together, trembling, their eyes filled with fear and pleading as they looked at the two wizards.
"No...don't..." the wizard stuttered, "I don't want to die..."
The dragon nodded vigorously.
"In that case, let's leave things as they are," Dumbledore said. "The greedy personality is quite amusing, after all."
The pets breathed a sigh of relief, and before long, they resumed playing happily.
"Ravenclaw, isn't it?"
"I still remember the scene when you told me you wanted to be in Gryffindor," the Sorting Hat suddenly said. "But I believe I placed you in the most suitable house, Wade Gray. You are a born Ravenclaw."
"Thanks," Wade said dryly. "But I believe I could have achieved just as much in Gryffindor. Knowledge is not exclusive to any particular house."
The Sorting Hat fell silent, its tip twitching slightly as if it were pondering a rebuttal.
Fox suddenly let out a "gah" of laughter, as if mocking the hat, and a few feathers fell from its tail, which Wade caught and placed on the table.
"You keep them," Dumbledore said. "Phoenix tail feathers are extremely useful for making wands, brewing potions, or alchemy, despite Fox's fearsome appearance. Its feathers still contain immense power."
"Thank you, Professor. And thank you, Fox," Wade said, not bothering to be polite as he collected the phoenix tail feathers, his mind already racing with ideas for valuable potions or alchemical products.
"You're welcome," Dumbledore said. "I look forward to more of your surprises and changes, and I suspect Professor Morrey feels the same."
Professor Morrey's name was Terrence.
"Is there something you wanted to see me about, Professor?" Wade asked.
He didn't deliberately think about what he had been up to lately, but he had prepared himself before coming.
Since the burn marks in Little Hangleton Village had made it into the newspaper, there was no way Dumbledore wouldn't find out.
The Headmaster had taken Wade to the village not long ago, and soon after, the Gaunt shack had burned down, so it would be normal for him to be suspected.
Or perhaps Lupin had discovered the secret of the Horcruxes during their two outings and, unable to keep it to himself, had reported it to Dumbledore.
Lupin had once been a member of the Order of the Phoenix, so it was only natural that he trusted Dumbledore more than Wade, something Wade could understand.
With his hand resting on the edge of the table, Wade stood there in a relaxed posture, waiting for an answer.
Dumbledore merely smiled faintly and said gently, "I guess you still remember our last visit to that old friend?"
"Of course," Wade nodded. "Voldemort's upbringing was quite impressive. What surprised me the most was that despite being a half-blood, he constantly emphasized pure-blood supremacy."
"Because he despised the Muggle half of his lineage," Dumbledore explained. "At the same time, he needed it to attract like-minded followers and build his power base."
"Then why don't you expose his background in the newspapers?" Wade asked. "His followers keep preaching about the glory of pure-bloods. If they knew their master was actually a half-blood..."
Wade didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.
Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle, a hint of indulgent fondness shining in his deep eyes as if Wade were a naive and foolish child.
Wade frowned slightly, realizing he had asked a rather silly question.
"Although not many people know that Voldemort used to be called Tom Riddle," Dumbledore said, "he never really hid his background."
"His earliest followers and the inner circle of Death Eaters all knew that Voldemort had a shameful origin and a Muggle father, and that he had killed his own father."
"Voldemort himself doesn't shy away from mentioning these things. He relies on his powerful magical abilities to conquer his followers. He believes he was born different and sees Muggles as inferior beings, not worthy of being considered the same race."
"This fact hasn't shaken the Death Eaters, either. They never bring up Voldemort's half-blood status and even propagate that he's a pure-blooded descendant of Slytherin so that their leader remains unblemished."
"Voldemort rules over wizards with his pure-blood ideology and his disdain for those of Muggle birth. That's his belief. And today, I'd like to take you to visit another old friend."
Dumbledore extended his hand.
"Are you ready for another journey, Wade?"
(End of Chapter)
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