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Chapter 787: Dumbledore's Purpose
Chapter 787: Dumbledore's Purpose
As there were still matters to attend to, Professors McGonagall and Sprout left a little earlier, around midday.
Then there was Mr. Weasley, who had to return to the Ministry of Magic early due to some pressing matters.
With the Ministry's recent reconstruction, it was an incredibly busy time, and it was already challenging for them to take half a day off.
As Moody prepared to leave, Kyle approached him, asking, "Alastor, are you certain that Bathilda is herself?"
"I can't guarantee there's no issue," Moody replied, his blue magical eye spinning rapidly, "but so far, I haven't noticed any problems. She hasn't had anything to drink in almost three hours, ruling out the possibility of a Polyjuice Potion. As for the Imperius Curse... with Dumbledore here, there's nothing she can do."
After saying this, Moody limped away from the protective magic and Disapparated.
"Yes, with Dumbledore here, there's nothing to worry about," Kyle muttered.
But being stared at constantly was uncomfortable, so after a moment's thought, he decided to ask a question.
He approached Bathilda, but before he could speak, the elderly witch began scolding him:
"Why are you still here?"
"What?" Kyle was taken aback, not understanding her meaning... why couldn't he be there?
"Well, I'm here for Lupin and Tonks' wedding," he said, "Ms. Bathilda, you..."
"Why didn't you go and apologize to Aberforth?" Bathilda spoke again, but this time, her words left Kyle even more confused.
Aberforth?
At this moment, he should still be at Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, keeping company with a goat. Why would he need to apologize to him?
But the next second, he heard a name that shouldn't have appeared here under any circumstances.
"Listen to me," Bathilda said, "if you hadn't insisted on talking to Albus, he wouldn't have forgotten to prepare lunch for Aliona. Aberforth's anger is justified."
"You're the one who made a mistake, and you should apologize, not just to Aberforth, but also to Aliona. That child has already suffered enough."
"Wait a moment," Kyle said instinctively, "who did you just mention?"
"Aliona Dumbledore, my sister," came a familiar voice from behind.
Kyle turned around.
At some point, Dumbledore had appeared beside them without them noticing.
"You should have seen her; she's the largest portrait in my office," Dumbledore explained.
As Dumbledore approached, the surrounding voices seemed to fade away, the music and the Weasley brothers' shouts becoming distant, as if they had suddenly been moved miles away.
"But why is Ms. Bathilda talking to me about this?" Kyle asked.
"It's obvious she mistook you for someone else," Dumbledore replied vaguely.
"And you, Albus, shouldn't you be at home? Why did you come out again?" Bathilda turned to Dumbledore, "And if you can, please remove that fake beard; it looks truly ridiculous."
"My beard isn't fake, Bathilda. Take a closer look," Dumbledore said.
He waved his hand gently, and a crisp, melodious song drifted from a distance.
A golden-red hue appeared where the clouds overlapped, and a Phoenix Fox descended, landing on Dumbledore's shoulder.
The Phoenix's song was like a clear stream flowing through everyone's ears.
As the song played, Bathilda blinked her cloudy eyes and looked up at Dumbledore.
"Albus, I'm so glad you came to see me again."
For some reason, Kyle felt her voice sounded much older than before, and her body seemed more hunched.
"Where am I?" she asked, seemingly forgetting what she had just done.
"We're taking a walk," Dumbledore said, taking a few steps forward, "but now we should head back. We need to turn ahead, and then we'll be on our way."
"I'm not senile; I know the way. I don't need your reminder," Bathilda said, "but is Hogwarts that idle these days? You just visited me yesterday, and now you're here again."
Dumbledore remained silent, merely nodding slightly.
But Kyle understood that Dumbledore, having just lost the Elder Wand and dealing with the Death Eaters' attack on the Ministry, was incredibly busy. Bathilda had likely mixed up the dates again.
As the two walked further away, Kyle glanced back at the lively wedding dance floor behind them and followed without hesitation.
He found the upcoming events more intriguing than dancing.
Bathilda shuffled along the path they had come, turned into a small lane after passing a few houses. She searched her body for a while, took out a key, opened the door, and stepped aside to let them in.
"Come in, Albus, but I don't have any good tea to offer you."
"I've had quite a few drinks already." Dumbledore said as he stepped into the house, waving his hand expertly.
A gust of wind blew away the strange smell inside the house.
Kyle followed him in.
"Who is he?" Bathilda asked.
"One of my students," Dumbledore replied, "He wanted to visit the historian who wrote History of Magic, so I brought him here."
"Oh, I see." Kyle realized, quickly adding, "I've always liked History of Magic."
"Indeed, a discerning child." Bathilda said, "History of Magic took me over a decade to create, and I interviewed countless people. It's my proudest work."
She smiled at Kyle, her wrinkles bunching up and almost covering her eyes, looking like a cabbage cut in half.
Kyle nodded in response.
Although Dumbledore had dispelled most of the room's odors, Kyle could still smell a distinct musty scent, along with the stench of spoiled food.
These smells seemed to have permeated the house, and it would likely require an explosion to completely eradicate them.
"So, what did you want to ask me?" Bathilda walked past Kyle, removing her moldy headscarf to reveal a head of sparse white hair.
Kyle instinctively looked at Dumbledore, but he slapped his forehead, "Oh, I almost forgot to instruct Miller. Wait for me here, I'll be right back."
Saying this, he hurried out of the house, leaving Kyle standing there in a daze.
"Sit down, don't just stand there." Bathilda said, and Kyle carefully sat on a sofa that looked like it might fall apart at any moment.
"I guess he wasn't here to instruct Miller, but to visit Aliona." Bathilda suddenly said.
"Every time he comes here, it's to visit Aliona, and occasionally he'll drop by to see me. I know all about this."
"His sister, Aliona Dumbledore?" Kyle asked, following Bathilda's lead, "Is she here too?"
"She's in a church nearby." Bathilda said, looking up at Kyle, "I didn't expect you to know this. Did he tell you all this? That's quite rare."
"I saw a photo of a girl in his office." Kyle said.
"That's Aliona." Bathilda murmured, "But what's the use, that poor child..."
It seemed that it had been a long time since she had chatted with anyone, and now she had found someone willing to listen, brought by Dumbledore, so Bathilda opened up, talking a lot about Dumbledore's younger years.
She even took out some severely faded old photos from a worn-out box.
The photo showed two young men full of vigor, and Kyle quickly recognized one of them as the young Dumbledore.
He had seen middle-aged Dumbledore in the Pensieve, who looked very similar to the young man on the right of the photo. The other person was of similar age, slender, handsome, and with a sharp gaze, looking full of spirit.
"This is one of my nephews." Bathilda said, "In Aliona's matter, he's as much of a scoundrel as Aberforth."
"Look, this is Aliona." Bathilda pointed to a corner of the photo.
It was the attic of a house, with a small figure looking at them through the attic window.
Under the effect of the developing potion, the photo was divided into two distinct parts, the most prominent being the spirited young men.
The other part, neglected and confined to the attic, was Aliona, longing for sunlight and friendship.
This contrast made Kyle feel uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but have a bold thought—he wanted to punch Dumbledore.
He didn't have his wand, and one of his hands was still unusable, so he might actually be able to punch him.
Thinking of this, Kyle shook his head, refocusing his gaze on the photo, specifically the person on the left.
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Gellert Grindelwald, Dumbledore's former best friend and greatest rival, is currently studying at Nurmengard.
Kyle remembered that Bathilda Bagshot seemed to be his great-aunt.
Just as Kyle wanted to take a closer look, the photo was put away.
"I've never dared to look at this, it always brings back sad memories." Bathilda said.
Kyle wanted to ask about Grindelwald, but after thinking about it, he gave up and continued, "At that time, Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to care much about his sister."
"Yes." Bathilda nodded, "He was completely different then, always feeling he had more important things to do than taking care of his mute sister day after day. In his eyes, Aliona was a burden."
"Mute?" Kyle paused.
"Oh, I shouldn't have said that." Bathilda said, "In fact, Dumbledore publicly claimed that Aliona was ill, but no one has ever seen her at St. Mungo's."
"Well, let's forget about it. It doesn't matter what the truth is."
"In any case, Aliona's death changed Albus, but it also caused a complete break between him and Aberforth, and his nose was broken at that time."
Bathilda stumbled to the table, put the photo back in the box, and then searched for something inside.
"Do you want to see the manuscripts of History of Magic? There are many interesting untold stories there."
"Of course," Kyle said.
Although he was more interested in the principal's younger days, Bathilda obviously didn't want to continue, and he didn't want to pushy question.
"How come..." Bathilda searched in the box for a while, "Maybe I put it upstairs, I'll go and find it."
She came to the stairs and slowly went upstairs.
After Bathilda left, Kyle looked around for the first time.
The room was messy and rarely cleaned, with dust everywhere.
There was an armoire next to the sofa, with many photos on it. Kyle saw Grindelwald again in the silver frame, this time a solo shot, and he looked even younger.
He was lazily smiling at Kyle in the silver frame.
"Click..."
At this moment, the door rang, and Dumbledore walked in from outside.
What a coincidence, as soon as Bathilda went upstairs, he came back.
Kyle looked at him, picked up the silver frame on the armoire, and asked, "I guess Bathilda Bagshot just mistook me for this person, her nephew."
Dumbledore paused slightly and nodded. "That's probably right. She rarely spoke to others in that tone."
"But we don't look alike, especially our hair color." Kyle looked at the photo.
The person in the frame had golden hair, but Kyle's was black, which was quite a difference.
And being mistaken for a dark wizard is not a pleasant thing. Kyle always thought of himself as a good person.
"I'm not sure, maybe it's because of age. Her eyesight isn't as good as before."
"Is that so?" Kyle put the frame back, and Dumbledore seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
He came to Kyle's side and asked, "Do you wonder why I suddenly came here?"
"A little." Kyle nodded.
To be honest, he had guessed a possibility in his heart, but he didn't say it, just looked at him.
"After leaving last night, I went to Devon." Dumbledore's face was conflicted, as if struggling with something. After a few minutes, he said in a low voice, "But Nika told me that what I'm looking for is with you?"
"Nika?" Kyle didn't feel strange at all. "The last time I visited his estate, he did give me a gift."
Kyle took out a golden, five-handed pocket watch from the transfigured lizard leather bag.
For a moment, Dumbledore's breathing suddenly became rapid, and Kyle even felt a chill down his spine, his body tensed up.
It's certain that he had the thought of taking the watch, but he restrained himself.
"Can you lend it to me?" Dumbledore struggled with his emotions, "It's important to me."
"Why is it important to you?" Kyle asked casually, lifting his head to meet a pair of sharp, bright blue eyes.
"How do you know?"
Dumbledore was questioning, but Kyle always felt that he already knew it would be like this.
"I guessed, Bathilda told me some secrets about your younger days." Kyle opened the box in front of Dumbledore and put the watch inside.
During this time, he just watched, without any movement, until Kyle closed the box.
"Maybe I can guess boldly again. You brought me here, from the beginning, you wanted to borrow Bathilda to tell me about Aliona."
"Yes." Dumbledore didn't deny it, "Bathilda has been more and more fond of reminiscing about the past. When she saw me leaving, she would guess I was going to visit Aliona, and thus bring up this topic."
"Why?" Kyle asked, unable to understand why he would do this.
These things he could have told himself, why go to such lengths to have Bathilda relay it.
"Because I need that time turner, but I don't have the courage to tell you the reason." Dumbledore sat across from Kyle, "I dare not recall the events of those years, let alone speak of them, so I can only use this method to tell you the reason."
"What if Bathilda didn't mention Aliona?" Kyle asked, "Or what if I'm not interested in this name and didn't ask?"
"I can only say that my luck has always been good." Dumbledore said, "This time is no exception."
(End of Chapter)
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