Hogwarts: The Exemplary Wizard I Am Chapter 933: Dumbledore, a Ghost? - Novel Cool

Chapter 933: Dumbledore, a Ghost?

Chapter 933: Dumbledore, a Ghost?

"Are you... really?"

After a moment of shock, Harry looked at Dumbledore before him, asking hopefully.

"You can think of it that way..." Dumbledore said after a moment of thought.

Harry seemed excited, and he believed that everyone would be thrilled if Dumbledore could return.

Kyle stood by, watching them without saying a word.

In fact, ever since he saw Dumbledore, his doubts only grew, all because of Dumbledore's lame excuse earlier.

To be honest, Dumbledore wasn't a perfect wizard, or perhaps at times, he could be a little cruel...

For instance, to keep Harry away from the wizarding world's adulation and glory, he let him live with his Muggle uncle and aunt, who despised magic, for ten years.

But to say that Dumbledore stood by and watched as students and professors were slaughtered by Death Eaters, just so he could retire peacefully, not even Ron would believe it, let alone Kyle.

This excuse was just too poor.

If it weren't for the fact that Fox didn't react, Kyle would have unleashed the Basilisk to kill this Dumbledore right then and there.

But Fox didn't react, indicating that the person before them was indeed Dumbledore, and if it were a fake, they wouldn't know about Harry being a Horcrux.

This was also the part that Kyle found most incomprehensible.

But just then, before he could ask any questions, Harry and the others interrupted him.

"Harry, he's not Dumbledore," Hermione suddenly said, snapping everyone's attention back to her.

"How is that possible, Hermione? He's clearly Professor Dumbledore," Harry said, puzzled. "I remember you saying that Polyjuice Potion could only be made with hair taken from a living person, so he can't be fake, right?"

"No, what I mean is, he's a ghost!" Hermione pointed, "Look, he has no shadow."

Shadow...

Everyone's gaze shifted to Dumbledore.

Kyle's pupils constricted.

The room was brightly lit, and under the illumination, five long shadows were clearly projected onto the floor and walls."

It seemed normal, but upon closer inspection, one of the shadows wasn't human, but that of a long-legged stool... the very stool Dumbledore was sitting on.

As for Dumbledore himself, he had no shadow.

The stool seemed deliberately positioned, its shadow stretched out, and if not for Hermione's reminder, Kyle wouldn't have noticed anything amiss.

"Professor, you..."

"Ah, no need to worry," Dumbledore waved his hand, interrupting Kyle, "I'm still alive, but I thought I could get away with it this time, but Miss Granger discovered me."

As he spoke, he stood up and walked under the light.

Now it was clear to see that he indeed had no shadow, and this situation only occurred with ghosts.

"I know what you want to ask," Dumbledore turned to Kyle, "I can only say that my current situation is special, and I'm not a true ghost in the strictest sense."

"But you're not truly alive either, are you?" Kyle asked in return.

Dumbledore remained silent, acknowledging the truth.

After a long while, he spoke in a tone akin to a joke, "This isn't something hard to understand, Kyle. Don't forget that time travel only allows one to go back to the past, it doesn't create time out of thin air... I think you know what I mean."

This time, it was Kyle's turn to fall silent.

Of course, he understood. Dumbledore had been rejected by time in 1899, experiencing countless repetitions, and no one knew how many years had passed.

This time wasn't created out of thin air; it couldn't possibly be non-existent.

In other words, Dumbledore's actual age was much older than he appeared... but he never mentioned this after returning, and Kyle didn't want to think about it.

The silence between the two worried Harry, who looked at Dumbledore and then at Kyle, feeling his head spin, unable to comprehend what they were talking about.

"I'll explain later, and I won't hide anything, no matter what you want to know," Dumbledore said again, "But right now, the most important thing is how we can completely kill Tom."

Hearing this, Harry finally snapped out of his thoughts about whether Dumbledore was a ghost or not, and without hesitation, he asked loudly, "Professor, I really am... am..."

"A Horcrux," Dumbledore finished for him, "Yes, in a sense, you are indeed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes... I'm sorry, child, I never told you the truth."

"I... I..." Harry looked lost for words, his mouth open but unable to speak.

"Wait a moment," Kyle stepped forward, "Professor, if we resolve the issue of the soul in Harry's body, can we continue our previous conversation?"

"You could say that," Dumbledore nodded, "But it's not easy. Harry is different from the other Horcruxes; we can't kill Tom's soul within him by destroying the vessel.

"The only way I can think of is for Tom to take action himself, using the special connection between the two souls to kill the other self."

"Voldemort has already fled," Hermione said.

"Yes, he has," Dumbledore said with a heavy expression, "I stubbornly believed that only when Harry could face all this himself would he have the prerequisite to defeat Tom.

"But I didn't expect Tom to lose..." Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Forgive me, I should have told you all this earlier.

Harry stood there, head bowed.

It was clear that he held some resentment towards Dumbledore, but the way they were meeting this time was so unique that he didn't know how to express himself for a moment.

"It's just a piece of the soul, why make it so complicated?" Chris suddenly spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

"Do you have a way?" Dumbledore was taken aback for a moment, "I've inquired about methods to purify Horcruxes, but none of them seem suitable for Harry's situation."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Chris shook his head, "When I first sent the Horcrux crown, I discussed the solution to Horcruxes with Newt."

Chris gently moved his fingers, unlocking the box and sticking half his body inside.

"To be honest, this seems tricky, but there are plenty of solutions... Fiendfyre, Basilisk Fang, Avada Kedavra, all are backup options."

Chris's voice came from inside the box, sounding somewhat muffled,

"None of these are exceptions, and they all act upon the soul... Since that's the case, I thought of something else related to the soul, and you've all seen it."

"Oh, I found it!" Chris stood up.

At the same time, the temperature in the room dropped sharply, and the air seemed frozen...

Harry saw something floating out of the box, its face covered by a hood, and it made a clattering sound.

"A Dementor..." Harry clutched his chest, as waves of unpleasant memories flooded in.

"Expecto Patronum..."

"Expelliarmus!"

Hermione's wand spun and landed in Chris's hand.

"Don't be nervous, this is the key to the solution." Chris returned the wand to Hermione and directed the Dementor towards Harry.

Dumbledore seemed to understand Chris's intention, and his blue eyes brightened instantly.

However, Chris didn't notice this. He continued explaining to Harry.

"Do you remember? What does the Dementor's kiss do?" Harry felt his entire body freeze, but he still managed to stutter, "Dementors... devour souls... leaving only... a living body."

"That's right," Chris said, "and Horcruxes are precisely soul fragments."

At this point, everyone in the room, including Ron, understood Chris's intention.

It was to use the Dementor's ability to extract souls to solve the problem of Voldemort's soul fragments.

"Brilliant idea!" Dumbledore exclaimed sincerely, as he had never thought of this before.

"I've always wanted to try this approach, but I was concerned that the Dementor might negatively impact the Horcrux crown, so I never made a firm decision."

Chris stopped in front of Harry, saying, "Now we can test my idea."

Harry blinked, feeling something was amiss.

Was he more concerned about the impact on the Horcrux than on Harry himself? Was he less worried than a Horcrux?

"Wait..." Hermione quickly stopped Chris, "You haven't tested this method, and if the Dementor devours Harry's soul, it's too risky. I disagree!"

"Well said, Hermione!" Harry almost teared up, as this was exactly what he wanted to say...

"So, letting Voldemort kill Harry isn't risky?" Chris asked in return.

"I, I didn't mean that, I just..." Hermione was anxious to explain.

"Stupefy!" Chris waved his wand lightly, and without any warning, Hermione fell into a stupor and passed out.

"Chris, you..."

Ron also froze.

"Perfect, now no one will disturb us." Chris said, staring intently at Harry, "Relax, it won't hurt at all."

Harry's throat moved. He wanted to refuse politely, but the words stuck in his throat.

As the Dementor drew closer, Harry felt his throat freeze, unable to speak. In a daze, he saw the Dementor's face beneath the hood.

It was a void, a hole that seemed to suck in everything.

See the original in 9@Book/Bar!

Harry once thought he had overcome the fear brought by the Dementor, but he felt he was wrong. He heard the scream again, identical to the first time he encountered the Dementor on the train.

This time, the scream was even clearer, as if it were right next to his ear.

Harry instinctively wanted to use the Patronus Charm, but his fingers felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, unable to lift the wand.

Harry's eyes grew more scattered, and his face turned ashen, like a faded portrait. Something squeezed out of his throat.

From others' perspectives, it was a light of indescribable color, perhaps white, or maybe a pale yellow, or blue...

Its color seemed to change, yet it also seemed unchanged.

After this ball of light appeared, the Dementor clearly became excited, wanting to swallow it whole. But at this moment, a long, silvery tentacle appeared behind the Dementor, wrapping around its neck. It abandoned its desire for a meal and instead eagerly sucked on the tentacle.

Finally, another ball of light appeared, looking much smaller and dimmer than the first.

"This is it..." Dumbledore exclaimed excitedly, "Yes, Tom's soul fragment!"

"Devour it!" The jellyfish released the Dementor, its tentacles wrapping around Harry's soul, forming a protective layer.

In the face of the Dementor, it remained motionless, its thin, gray-skinned eye sockets suddenly revealing a clear look of surprise.

It wasn't until Harry repeated himself that the Dementor leaned forward, aiming the shapeless hole beneath its hood at the unprotected, slightly smaller orb of light.

"Ooooh!"

A chill wind seemed to blow through the room, and the orb was enveloped in dark fog, with eerie howls emanating from the depths.

But soon these voices, along with the fog, were sucked into the Dementor's mouth. The orb, still resisting, flickered twice before going completely dark.

The Dementor hovered, exuding a sense of unspoken satisfaction.

"This..." Harry looked at Dumbledore, puzzled. "Is this considered resolved?"

"It should be, I suppose." Dumbledore was also uncertain.

It was too simple; after all, it was a fragment of Voldemort's soul, and it had just been consumed by the Dementor like a candy bean? He could feel that as the Dementor sucked in the orb, the soul's essence within it completely dissipated.

Who could find it? The Dementor, the most evil creature, was naturally resistant to the most evil Horcrux dark magic.

"I knew this would work," Harry said, putting the Dementor back in the box and approaching Ron to examine him.

Fortunately, after the Dementor disappeared, the orb representing his soul sank back into his body.

Ron's body shuddered, and his face regained some color. Although he was still unconscious, it wouldn't be long before he woke up.

Once he was confirmed to be fine, Harry turned his attention back to Dumbledore.

"Alright, you want to know something," Dumbledore seemed to be recovering from the shock of the Dementor consuming the Horcrux, but he wasn't going back on his word.

"When did this happen?"

"After I took Draco Malfoy to Severus' office," Dumbledore said.

"The same day as your funeral?"

"Yes, and a few days after," Dumbledore said.

"So, Malfoy was rescued by you?" Harry asked, "And you stunned Professor Flitwick."

"That was Aberforth's doing," Dumbledore corrected, "He ambushed Filius, and it had nothing to do with me."

"I see." Harry narrowed his eyes, "You didn't appear again after that, like you had disappeared."

"I had no choice," Dumbledore smiled wryly, "I thought I could wait until the final battle."

"So, what are you now?" Harry scrutinized Dumbledore.

He was a ghost, but his appearance was almost indistinguishable from a living person, which was why Harry hadn't noticed anything amiss at first.

"Consider it a form of payment, I suppose." Dumbledore said, "That day, I encountered Professor McGonagall, and I begged her to help me, at least to let me do one last thing for Hogwarts. She agreed."

Harry's eyes flickered, surprised to learn that Professor McGonagall was involved in this.

"What did she do?"

"I'm sorry, but that's the one thing I can't tell you," Dumbledore said.

"Alright, then what do you want to do?" Harry didn't press further, changing the subject, "Is it to help me?"

"That's just a side benefit, not part of my plan," Dumbledore said.

"To help defeat Voldemort?"

"That was my initial intention," Dumbledore said, "I wanted to conserve some strength to assist you at a critical moment, but later I realized that even without my help, you could still defeat Voldemort."

"So, you're telling me Harry is a Horcrux?"

"Not exactly," Dumbledore shook his head again.

This left Harry puzzled.

"It's your decision," Dumbledore reminded him, "Do you remember what we said before Harry arrived?"

"Of course," Harry nodded, "You said you wanted to retire, watching the Death Eaters stir up trouble at Hogwarts."

"That's right," Dumbledore confirmed, "Tomorrow, I'll appear before everyone and repeat those words."

"Then you'll be drowned out by the howls," Harry interjected, looking up sharply, "Plus, there was the fake funeral that fooled everyone, Professor Dumbledore. You'll be the shame of the British wizarding world overnight."

"Ah, that's what I intend to do," Dumbledore chuckled, "If I can draw all attention and hatred onto myself, no one will notice what you've done."

"Oh?" Harry pointed at himself, "What did I do?"

"Those Death Eaters who died by Fiendfyre," Dumbledore said, "Many heard what you and Tom said, and as they calmed down, they'd start suspecting you."

"Oh, and that huge patch of Whomping Willows behind the castle, that was your doing too... Have you thought about how many wizards you've killed in this war?"

Harry pursed his lips, as he hadn't considered this. Aside from the one or two that Dumbledore had mentioned, there were many more.

The Fiendfyre explosion had killed approximately a hundred Death Eaters, with many more injured.

And the Whomping Willows... being plants, those Death Eaters weren't unaware of how to escape, there probably weren't many...

"Two hundred and sixty..." Dumbledore gave Harry a number, "This is just an estimate."

"So, there must be a big enough target to attract all attention and hatred, making people subconsciously forget other things."

"I guess I fit the bill," Harry said.

...

(End of Chapter)

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