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Chapter 683: Kai and Dumbledore's Mutual Harm
Chapter 683: Kai and Dumbledore's Mutual Harm
Dumbledore was delighted, especially when he saw Kai's helpless expression, and he almost laughed out loud.
The petty Headmaster of Hogwarts hadn't forgotten the flood of owls that had flown in earlier, nor the letters jesting about his desire to become the Minister of Magic.
He had been thinking of how to make Kai experience the same feeling, as he could tell that Kai also disliked the tedious work at the Ministry.
However, Fudge's public announcement in the newspaper about the return of the Dark Lord was an unexpected surprise for Dumbledore.
He knew that all this was thanks to Kai, because with Fudge's personality, unless the Dark Lord actually appeared and gave him a wand, he would never have admitted it.
Because of this, he had already dismissed the idea of retaliation, but unexpectedly, Fudge brought him a surprise that very afternoon.
Upon seeing the Ministry's exceptional employment form, Dumbledore almost instinctively signed his name on it, agreeing to Kai's employment at the Ministry as a student.
Just as he had told Chris, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that couldn't be refused.
Kai's opinion didn't matter.
Dumbledore glanced at Kai's silent expression... He had to admit that this feeling was quite enjoyable, and he felt like eating a treacle tart.
However, when he saw Kai preparing to leave, Dumbledore called out to him.
"Is there anything else?" Kai asked expressionlessly, "I still have to go back and write a report."
"So soon?" Dumbledore asked, "Can you tell me what it's about? Perhaps I can help."
"Oh, it's simple..." Kai said calmly, "It's a report on reducing the salary and benefits of the Hogwarts Headmaster. I've always believed that even the Headmaster shouldn't be absent from the school for two months without reason."
"That's a good suggestion," Dumbledore said with a smile, as if what Kai said had nothing to do with him.
"But there's something I must explain. I didn't leave the school without reason. On the contrary, I'm going to do something very important."
Dumbledore waved his wand, and a golden ring with a gem appeared on the table in front of him.
Kai's eyes widened upon seeing the ring.
"Oh, it seems you recognize it," Dumbledore said, gazing into Kai's eyes and lightly tapping the table.
Dumbledore didn't answer immediately. He continued to look into Kai's eyes, and after a moment, he said softly, "I think there's no one else in the magical world who would make Horcruxes except for Voldemort."
"Yes, perhaps," Kai nodded.
"Speaking of which, I have to thank you," Dumbledore said, extending his arm to reveal a scabbed wound.
"Are you hurt?" Kai asked.
"This is the punishment for breaking a magical contract," Dumbledore explained, "For some reason, I couldn't resist the temptation of this Horcrux and had the thought of using it.
"Fortunately, we had previously established this magical contract, or I might have been in danger if I had touched this ring.
"I'm ashamed. I always thought I could resist the temptation... You saved my life."
"It's nothing."
Kai shook his head and said, "Voldemort's arrogance made him choose extremely valuable magical artifacts as Horcruxes. These things might be a symbol of honor in his eyes, but to others, they are irresistible treasures.
"In fact, even Nicolas Flamel almost couldn't resist when he saw Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem. It's normal for you to have such thoughts, Professor."
"Wait, did you just say Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem?" Dumbledore blinked, looking at Kai with disbelief. "When did you find another Horcrux?"
"Cough..."
Kai realized he had slipped up and quickly tried to cover it up. "I meant Slytherin's Locket... The Diadem has been lost for nearly a thousand years. How could I possibly find it?"
But Dumbledore obviously didn't believe such a poor excuse...
"Sometimes the words that slip out unconsciously are the most truthful," Dumbledore said with a complex tone. "What's this about?"
"Hmm... Not long ago," Kai said softly. "About a year."
"A year ago?" Dumbledore felt like someone had punched him in the chest.
Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, the legendary magical artifact, was a priceless treasure that all alchemists dreamed of seeing, and Dumbledore was no exception.
Yet, Kai had found it and hadn't told him.
And from what Kai had said earlier, Nicolas Flamel also knew about it but hadn't informed Dumbledore.
The two of them had conspired to keep it from him for an entire year? Was their nearly century-long friendship so worthless? Dumbledore recalled Nicolas Flamel's clueless expression from their meeting the previous day, and his heart turned cold. He couldn't help but ask, "Where is the Diadem?"
"I don't know," Kai replied honestly. "After I returned from Nicolas's house last Christmas, Rowena Ravenclaw took it with her to catch up with Ms. Grey, and I don't know where they are now. They might be in some corner of the castle."
"Rowena Ravenclaw?" Dumbledore's eyelids twitched, as if he had thought of a possibility. "You don't mean..."
"Yes, Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the Big Four of Hogwarts," Kai said. "A part of her consciousness is attached to the crown, and both Nicolas and I have communicated with her, and it's been quite fruitful."
Dumbledore slammed his hand on the table with a bang. For a moment, his blue eyes lost their brightness and became dull.
"Professor, are you okay?" Kai asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Dumbledore said stiffly, but he quickly recovered.
Although it was a pity to miss the opportunity to communicate face-to-face with Rowena Ravenclaw, as long as the crown was still in the school, there was still a chance.
Through this incident, Dumbledore also resolved a doubt in his mind.
Perhaps Kai was truly being cautious and wanted to use a magical contract to bind himself. Dumbledore even thought that everyone who knew about the existence of the Horcruxes and tried to find them should bind themselves in this way.
The crown with Rowena Ravenclaw's consciousness... Dumbledore couldn't think of anyone who could resist such temptation.
But the only thing he couldn't understand was how Voldemort could have made such a precious item into a Horcrux... unless he didn't know that there was still a consciousness within the crown.
```
Dumbledore didn't think Kai was lying to him, as Nicolas was also involved. He could simply ask to know the truth.
While Dumbledore was deep in thought, Kai had already approached the table and was carefully examining the ring.
Honestly, this thing looked like a cheap Muggle craft, the kind you could buy five for a pound.
The only attractive feature was a thin crack on the gemstone, as if it had been casually thrown on the ground and damaged.
"Professor..." Kai asked softly, "This isn't the result of you trying to destroy the Horcrux with Gryffindor's Sword, is it?"
"Of course not." Dumbledore shook his head. "Gryffindor's Sword cannot destroy Horcruxes. In fact, this crack exists in the Resurrection Stone itself.
I believe it was Cadmus Peverell who, upon realizing that this stone couldn't truly resurrect people, created this crack.
"Dumbledore explained the origin of the ring calmly, expecting Kai to exclaim in surprise, just like Snape had done.
"Oh, Voldemort is such a spendthrift!"
Kai did exclaim in surprise, but that was all.
"I think you've read _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_," Dumbledore said. "When you see the Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows, aren't you surprised?"
"I am surprised," Kai said. "But I've seen another one before and studied it for a while. This thing is just a sophisticated alchemical tool, to be honest.
"Whether it's the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, or Rowena Ravenclaw's crown, none of them are inferior to the Invisibility Cloak.
"You've seen it?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, his fingers unconsciously touching the pocket of his robe.
"Harry's Invisibility Cloak," Kai said directly. "When I was bored, I flipped through Sirius's copy of _Wizarding Genealogy_ at his house. It mentions that Peverell's descendants include the Gaunt family and the Potter family.
"So why do you believe this Potter family is Harry's?" Dumbledore asked with interest.
"Because I remember Harry once said that his Invisibility Cloak was the one his father used when he was in school."
Kai continued, "The items used by Mr. Potter are already twenty years old, but the best Invisibility Cloaks on the market can only last for ten years. This is the limit for Invisibility Beast hides.
"I think Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which has lasted for so long, should be the one belonging to Ignotus Peverell of the three brothers.
"Truly remarkable..." Dumbledore clapped his hands, "I believe even Harry himself might not have realized this.
"If he had read that genealogy book, he would have known," Kai said. "But he didn't even open it once, and he was about to throw it away as trash.
"This is indeed Harry's biggest shortcoming," Dumbledore said.
"This Horcrux hasn't been destroyed yet," Kai said, looking up. "I suggest you can give it to Nicolas, who can perfectly solve the Horcrux problem and has rich experience.
"In fact, I just returned from Devon," Dumbledore said. "But there's a certain curse magic on this Horcrux. If it's not resolved first, Nicolas's method won't work.
"He suggested I should destroy the Horcrux, but I suddenly realized I lack a weapon... I heard you provide Snake Venom to St. Mungo's at a thousand Galleons per pint.
"Yes," Kai said, and then he found a small bottle filled with serpent venom. "If you need it, I can give you a nice discount. How about five hundred Galleons?"
"But..." Dumbledore looked at the bottle, which was barely bigger than his thumb, and raised an eyebrow. "It seems there's not a pint of it here..."
Kai calmly replied, "So I gave you a discount."
"Well, that's reasonable," Dumbledore smiled and promptly placed a bag on the table.
Kai handed over the bottle and casually asked, "Professor, how do you plan to deal with the curse on the Horcrux? Since it was placed by Voldemort, it must be dangerous."
"More importantly, if the Horcrux is destroyed, the contract seems to be useless, right?"
"You're right," Dumbledore nodded. "The contract only works on the Horcrux."
"Professor, I think it's best if I keep this item," Kai glanced at Dumbledore's arm. "At least I won't have to worry about touching it."
"I understand, Kai, but that's absolutely not an option," Dumbledore said softly yet firmly.
"Alright," Kai said, and with that, he didn't bring up the matter of keeping the ring again and prepared to leave.
Just as he reached the door, Kai turned and said, "I think you can find a Death Eater and throw the ring on them. That way, the curse will be lifted."
"Or a Dementor would work too. Weren't there sixty of them who pledged allegiance to Voldemort? Consider it a waste utilization."
Dumbledore's eyes lit up as he pondered Kai's suggestion... Ah, he had almost forgotten about those Dementors.
Throwing the ring onto a Death Eater might be a bit inappropriate, but there's no need for concern when it comes to Dementors.
Those creatures are a collection of all things evil, and they themselves are another form of curse.
More importantly, Dumbledore had already located those Dementors on a small island to the south some time ago.
He had planned to deal with them after the school break, and this would be a convenient detour.
When Dumbledore looked up again, Kai had already left the Headmaster's Office, and the only thing left in front of him was Fawkes sleeping on his perch.
Instinctively, Dumbledore thought of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, and he couldn't help but feel a bit downcast.
His intuition told him that Kai had intentionally slipped up to get back at him for signing the employment contract.
If that was indeed the case, then Kai had succeeded, as he was feeling quite miserable now.
The mere thought of Rowena Ravenclaw being in this castle but not being able to meet her made Dumbledore feel gloomy, and he didn't even feel like eating a cockroach.
And it wasn't just him; even the portraits on the walls were whispering amongst themselves.
Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the greatest witches, possessed supreme wisdom and creativity. Even a thousand years later, no one could surpass her.
Even a single conversation with her would be an invaluable treasure for a wizard.
So, the portraits of the Headmasters stopped pretending to sleep, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared into their respective frames.
Then, something interesting happened within the castle.
Someone noticed that the school portraits had new faces on them, ones they had never seen before.
The first to discover this was a Gryffindor, as the Fat Lady, who was in charge of managing their common room, wasn't listening to their password and was instead excitedly chatting with a curly-haired witch.
"Hey, pumpkin juice!" Seamus yelled the password for the third time, his tone already showing impatience.
But the Fat Lady showed no signs of opening the door, and even more annoyingly, when he was about to shout again, he was interrupted by a piercing scream.
The Fat Lady seemed excited, and her scream was the loudest it had ever been. Seamus instinctively covered his ears.
Then, he watched wide-eyed as the Fat Lady disappeared into her frame with an uncharacteristic lack of grace.
In the corridor, five or six Gryffindor students looked at each other, unsure of what to do now that the Fat Lady was gone.
"Please, don't do this..." Neville pleaded desperately. "I've been waiting outside for an hour!"
Unfortunately, the Fat Lady had already disappeared into her frame and couldn't hear him.
Fortunately, at that moment, the common room door was opened from the inside.
Harry seemed to be in a hurry and rushed out, followed by Ron and Hermione.
"Oh, thank goodness, you..." Neville started to express his gratitude, but the three of them had already disappeared at the end of the corridor.
"They're always so mysterious, who knows what they're up to," Seamus said, not finding it strange at all. He quickly grabbed the door before it closed. "Alright, let's go in. I hope the Fat Lady returns soon; I don't want to spend the next few days stuck in the common room."
With that, he took the lead and entered the passage behind the portrait.
Neville, seeing this, quickly followed.
...
(End of Chapter)
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