20demayo Chapter 120, page 119: An absurd story! And... don't push me!
Chapter 120, page 119: An absurd story! And... don't push me!
Chapter 120, page 119: An absurd story! And... don't push me!
The names on Ian's custom Marauder's Map are clearly visible.
Aberforth Dumbledore.
This is still Dumbledore, of course, but not the Dumbledore that everyone knows and recognizes. It's just sitting on the head of the only person who stays in the headmaster's office.
"My damn insight is so captivating." Staring at the black dot in the principal's office, Ian's expression remained unchanged as he curled his lip.
He had already noticed that something was wrong with Dumbledore. He had sensed it from the beginning in the Forbidden Forest, and the strangeness became even more obvious after they arrived at the Headmaster's office.
Perhaps Albus Dumbledore would allow Voldemort to operate in secret for some reason, but as the headmaster, Dumbledore wouldn't make up eight hundred excuses to avoid searching for Voldemort with the professors just to go back to his office for a cup of tea. Ian clearly felt fear when he was in the Forbidden Forest.
Would Dumbledore feel fear towards Voldemort?
Of course, it's unlikely!
Moreover, it is already extremely abnormal that Ian could sense his emotions so easily; this would never happen under normal circumstances before Albus Dumbledore lost control of his emotions.
Ian's observation skills were quite sharp; he realized that Dumbledore, ever since the Forbidden Forest, had seemed to want to postpone everything, which looked exactly like the perfunctory attitude of a day laborer working during summer vacation.
The attitude that you win as long as the problem doesn't occur while you're "working".
Such behavior is so bizarre, so unlike the principal Ian knows!
Furthermore, although it was clearly agreed that the purpose of coming to the headmaster's office was to discuss Voldemort, Dumbledore, who was drinking tea the whole time, showed no interest in Voldemort. Not only did he not ask any questions about Voldemort, but he also inquired about the Resurrection Stone, which should have been well kept in the dark by Grindelwald.
This is also a very suspicious point. It's not that Ian thinks Dumbledore wouldn't be tempted by the Resurrection Stone, but rather that Dumbledore would never act that impatiently.
How could someone who can be called the White Demon King be completely without cunning? You must know that the original development in which Dumbledore was tempted by the Resurrection Stone and couldn't wait to put on the ring was based on the fact that he didn't know that his sister was doing well in the illusion, nor had he made a "natural death" agreement with his sister through Ian's connection.
His father died in Azkaban, his mother died due to uncontrolled magic, and his sister died in an accident—it was all these things combined that drove Dumbledore to abandon his reason.
The situation is clearly different now. When Dumbledore obtained the Resurrection Stone, he didn't even hesitate to ask Ian to seek Ariana's consent or to try to discuss and explore the secrets of the Resurrection Stone by combining Ian's special talents. It was as if he had no idea that Ian had already revealed the information to him.
Therefore.
At this point, Ian was almost certain that the Dumbledore he was facing was an imposter. The most suspicious thing was the way the imposter acted, as if he was determined to use the Resurrection Stone but didn't want Ian to know.
In other words, after sensing the other person's emotions, he realized who the imposter might be. Sure enough, after looking at the Marauder's Point map as soon as he went outside, Ian immediately confirmed his guess.
Aberforth was clearly careless and didn't realize that items like the Marauder's Map existed.
of course.
It's also possible that his magical abilities are limited, unlike the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor currently in the underground classroom—the scene of the ghosts' party—who possesses numerous methods to truly impersonate him. Based on Ian's brief interaction, he felt that Aberforth's situation was most likely a combination of both.
"I just don't know how Aberforth Dumbledore guessed that the Resurrection Stone was with me—" Ian stroked his chin, feeling like he was Sherlock Holmes of Hogwarts.
The fact that Aberforth was able to use the headmaster's office suggests that his impersonation was likely authorized by Albus Dumbledore, or even that it was arranged by Albus Dumbledore himself.
With that letter sent from the dreamlike realm to the human world, even if the relationship between the two brothers wasn't completely repaired, it was certainly better than a situation where they would never speak to each other again. It's entirely possible that Dumbledore asked his brother to make appearances in his name at times when he wasn't around.
In fact.
Even if something happens, Aberforth can still be a fighting force. Aberforth's strength is beyond doubt, after all, the Dumbledore family has never had a weakling.
Whether it's Ariana or the young man Ian encountered in the Enchanted Realm, the kind-hearted one who could be considered to have saved the entire Hogwarts, the fact that they were able to live as Obscurials for much longer than other Obscurials must be due to the powerful bloodline of the Dumbledore family.
Even though Aberforth may seem unremarkable to many, he is actually one of the top wizards in the wizarding world, and can be considered a force to be reckoned with even in the Order of the Phoenix after Albus was gone.
"There are no mediocre members in the Dumbledore family," Ian said, turning back to look towards the Headmaster's office. He was perhaps one of the people at Hogwarts who understood the Dumbledore family most thoroughly. And that was why...
He knew very well that although Aberforth was not as invincible as his brother, he was still a rare strongman.
even.
Aberforth's talent, in his time, was likely second only to the two greatest wizards of his era—considering that this man, despite spending his entire life in decline, was still more powerful than most wizards, which speaks volumes about his innate talent. Aberforth Dumbledore's weakest point was probably his lack of in-depth understanding of magic.
This can be seen from the fact that Aberforth Dumbledore's name appeared on Ian's Marauder's Map, and that Ian stood outside the Headmaster's office for so long, thinking about so many things, yet Aberforth remained calmly seated at his desk, completely unaware that Ian had handed over a fake Resurrection Stone.
Aberforth's in-depth exploration of magic largely remained in his youth. Ian could even picture Aberforth at this moment still examining the fake Resurrection Stone ring with his reading glasses, muttering incoherently about "how to use this thing."
"The only problem is that if the real headmaster finds out that I have the Resurrection Stone Ring, I'll definitely be in big trouble with the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Our professor instructed me to do everything in my power not to let Dumbledore know." Ian made sure Aberforth hadn't followed him out before he lifted his foot and walked toward the stairs.
He quickly came up with a solution—to tell the truth. But ignoring the timeline, he could simply tell Albus Dumbledore that he had given the real Resurrection Stone ring to Lady Ravenclaw.
Dear Headmaster, you can't very well go to that volcano to ask Madam Ravenclaw for confirmation, can you? Even if the truth were to be revealed one day, Ian simply omitted the fact that Madam Ravenclaw returned the ring to him later.
"That's the art of language!" Ian looked down from the activity staircase and saw that many young wizards were already heading to the Great Hall. It was the time for the Hogwarts elves to serve their meals.
He had originally planned to lay low for a while and take a detour to the elves' kitchen for a hot pot meal, but unexpectedly, the sharp-eyed Ravenclaw wizards blocked his way at the end of the stairs.
The group of people had frighteningly bright eyes. They didn't ask any questions, just surrounded Ian, seemingly as a throng, but Ian felt as if he was being swept into the hall.
The aroma of food filled the entire auditorium.
Students who had arrived one after another were already seated at the long tables of the four academies, but no one seemed to be eating with much enthusiasm. Instead, they were all huddled together in twos and threes, whispering and discussing amongst themselves.
The prefects tried to maintain order during mealtime, but to no avail. Ian vaguely heard students of all grades discussing what had happened in the Forbidden Forest.
The word "dragon" was repeatedly mentioned, though it was often vaguely implied. And when Ian was ushered into the auditorium, many students' eyes immediately turned to him.
There was disbelief, shock, incredulity, and even fear in their eyes as they stared at him—Ian finally couldn't hold back any longer and grabbed a familiar young wizard standing nearby to ask a question.
"What's wrong with you guys? And why are they looking at me like that?" Ian was speechless. He even noticed that one of the little witches burst into tears after just one look from him.
"We're waiting for you, Professor, to tell us what happened. We bet you'll tell us how Michael opened a betting pool at Ravenclaw."
The person who was caught was the Chocolate Frog Boy, who quickly answered Ian's question, "As for the people from the other houses—it seems that Miss Greengrass told the story she made up to almost everyone she met after class, and it seems that the story has now been popularized by Gryffindor."
The chocolate frog boy's words surprised Ian slightly.
"What story?"
Ian had a bad feeling.
"Miss Greengrass said you fought three hundred adult wizards in the Forbidden Forest and killed them all—" The Chocolate Frog Boy clearly didn't believe this story.
The same applies to other Ravenclaw wizards.
How could their little professor kill someone? This little professor was a gentle boy who repeatedly reminded them not to hurt others when teaching them some less dangerous curses!
"Those stinking snakes of Slytherin are just that wicked!"
"The version I heard was that the young professor fought Grindelwald—Grindelwald was chased away with his tail between his legs."
Since Grindelwald has a tail, I think he might be the male succubus.
"What? What I heard was that the professor was being chased by Grindelwald riding the mysterious man? And that the mysterious man was reincarnated as an ostrich in the Forbidden Forest!"
"The Gryffindor twins also said they saw you going out for a night stroll instead of sleeping, and that if you were unhappy at night, you would go to the Forbidden Forest to catch some centaurs or unicorns to eat."
As soon as the Chocolate Frog boy spoke, the other Ravenclaw wizards stopped talking and chirped in, adding what they knew.
Ian was getting more and more confused, his eyes practically staring at the E.T. alien.
Goodness gracious!
How long has it been since the forest ban was implemented?
The rumors have spawned so many bizarre versions!? Grindelwald riding a mysterious man?! What the heck?! And the Gryffindor twins have even more outrageous versions circulating?!
"Nonsense! All nonsense!" Ian felt utterly overwhelmed. Seeing his loud rebuttal, the young Ravenclaw wizards all wore expressions of "I knew it!"
"Don't worry, Professor, we all believe in you. The evil Slytherin students are just trying to smear you."
"Yes, yes, William said he saw the truth, and we believe William's statement."
"We know you're not involved in the dark wizards' activities. You've just been raising dozens of fire dragons in the Forbidden Forest... Once they're grown up, could you sell me some of their meat?"
The young wizards' words of comfort did not make Ian feel much better. He looked around but could not find William. Looking ahead, he saw William had run to the long table in Hufflepuff.
The green-haired boy was even holding a megaphone that he had somehow found.
"You all know Ian Prince from our college, right? He's practically a legend. The dozens of fire dragons he keeps are as big as a house."
"Maybe it will grow bigger than our school castle someday, and those dragons will be covered in fire. Ian rode one of these mutated fire dragons and chased after the dark wizard Grindelwald!" William seemed completely unaware that Ian had arrived in the Great Hall, and he was vividly telling the children the stitched-together version of the rumor.
"But there shouldn't be any dragons in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, right?" Xiao Guan still retained some intelligence, but William's answer ruthlessly stole that part of it away.
"That's precisely because there aren't any, that's why Ian raised one. I think he did it so that we and our children could also live in a diverse environment where we can see living dragons." William said with an air of seriousness.
His voice was so powerful that several young wizards who were about to question him lost their confidence due to his imposing manner.
"I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be wrong?" William even patted his chest to make a guarantee, unaware that Ian was already standing behind him.
"Should I call you William the God-Eye?" Ian's voice was laced with a hint of gritted teeth as he saw William's entire body tremble violently, as if he had been startled.
"That really scared me!"
The green-haired boy turned around, his face beaming with excitement. "Ian! Quick! Tell us about your dragons! Can you take me out tonight so I can pet their butts?"
He still loves fire dragons so much.
Moreover, they have unique tastes.
I wonder if the reason I longed to become a dragon during the Transformation class was also because of this.
"Hogwarts doesn't have dragons! I don't keep any dragons! That's Transfiguration! You idiot!" Ian snatched the megaphone from William's hand.
"So, it really was you? The one who caused such a commotion in the Forbidden Forest?" William paused for only a second, then widened his eyes as if he had grasped the key point.
From the emotional feedback I sensed from William, Ian realized that this guy wasn't actually clairvoyant; he was just making up a story, and perhaps he hadn't seen anything at all from the beginning.
"Didn't you say you saw it?!"
Ian almost bit his own teeth to pieces.
"It's not my fault! It's Professor Lockhart! Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor said he'd give Ravenclaw ten extra points if I publicized your story!"
William immediately backed down and revealed the truth.
"??????"
Ian was stunned again.
"I actually think this is a story that Professor Lockhart came up with on the spur of the moment, maybe it was improvised?" William Shan smiled and tried to brush off non-existent dust from Ian's robe.
"What the hell?!"
Ian was one of only two junior wizards who knew the true identity of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He found it absurd, wondering if this old man, once known as the First Dark Lord, was addicted to role-playing.
"Where is Greengrass?"
Ian thought of another rumor-monger the young wizards had mentioned. He looked at the Slytherin table, but not only was Greengrass not in the Great Hall, but Aurora was nowhere to be found either.
"She's at the castle gate."
A young wizard gave Ian directions.
Ian immediately grabbed three chicken legs from the Hufflepuff table and, before the children could react, rushed out of the Great Hall while still munching on the chicken legs.
"Did you know? Prince from Ravenclaw discovered the Founders' treasure in the Forbidden Forest and released dozens of fire dragons guarding it."
"Young man, you might also like to know about the commotion this afternoon. It was actually Ravenclaw's Prince who broke an ancient seal in the Forbidden Forest."
"Wait a minute, classmate, I want to commend another of our classmates, Ian Prince."
He successfully frightened away the centaur coalition with his dragon in the Forbidden Forest.
Just as we approached the castle gate.
Ian then heard Daphne Greengrass's weak voice; she was indeed spreading different rumors and stories to every student wizard who passed by.
She looked a little thirsty and her voice was hoarse, but she still firmly stopped everyone who passed by, and the stories that came out of her mouth were all different.
"I really want to know what you're doing, Miss Greengrass."
When Ian saw Daphne Greengrass, who looked lifeless and utterly despondent as he passed by, she even tried to stop him.
Then promote the "gospel" story about Ian Prince to him as well.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! This... this really isn't what I wanted to do!" Daphne Greengrass cried out like a startled fawn after realizing that the person she had grabbed was Ian.
She stumbled back a few steps, then bowed deeply to Ian in a zero-frame apology, her fairly pretty face filled with panic and fear.
"Let me guess, is it Professor Lockhart?" Ian's gaze lingered on the red book in Daphne Greengrass's hand. Most of the stories this young Slytherin wizard told came from this book, since Daphne Greengrass had been looking down at the book and speaking as if she were reading aloud while stopping others.
"It's him, that wretched—terrible professor." Daphne Greengrass's voice was choked with sobs. When she mentioned Grindelwald, she dared to speak in a whisper, her face pale, and she kept glancing around cautiously, as if afraid that Grindelwald might suddenly appear out of nowhere.
"He said I had to tell at least five hundred people what was described in the book before tonight, or he would make me kiss a Dementor in the next class." After confirming that Grindelwald wouldn't suddenly attack, Daphne Greengrass recounted her ordeal in a terrified tone.
Ian had never imagined that Grindelwald had such a wicked sense of humor. He looked again at the tightly clutched red book, its open pages automatically weaving different stories.
This is clearly an alchemical creation.
They were able to freely create numerous stories featuring Ian Prince as the protagonist. However, largely due to the creators' lack of care, the resulting stories were of increasingly absurd quality.
"No professor would dare to do something that would harm a young wizard, and Dumbledore would never agree to it." Ian was quite certain that Grindelwald was just trying to scare the child in front of him.
Because of Dumbledore's "restraint," this Defense Against the Dark Arts professor didn't even dare to kill malicious Muggles who blocked his way, so how could he possibly lay a hand on the young wizards in the school?
Ian felt that his judgment was probably correct.
but.
Daphne Greengrass clearly didn't share his views.
"No, I—I've discovered it! Our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, that internationally renowned author, is probably a deeply hidden madman!"
"Didn't you take his class about Dementors? Although he told everyone it was just a hallucination created by mental magic, I clearly saw it before his class—"
"He really did keep a Dementors at school!"
Speaking of it.
Daphne Greengrass's tears were already streaming down her face.
This once arrogant pure-blooded Slytherin descendant now had a deathly pale face, looking like a female ghost, and even her voice was filled with uncontrollable fear and trembling.
"Excuse me, I want to tell you about this person next to me—" Perhaps the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, and Daphne Greengrass stopped a student in front of Ian.
Although the red book in her hand was indeed simple in its production process, she never expected that the content it generated could sense that Ian was right next to the person in charge of telling the story.
"That's right. This classmate of mine defeated the lust demon in the Forbidden Forest, killed three hundred succubi in the Forbidden Forest, and then came back to us as if nothing had happened."
Say something.
Watching Daphne Greengrass grab someone and then launch into a rambling, fabricated story about herself, even Ian, with his thick skin, felt a little ashamed.
He tried to persuade Daphne Greengrass to stop, however, Daphne Greengrass's fear of him was clearly not as great as the psychological trauma inflicted on her by the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Daphne Greengrass seemed determined to complete the "task" assigned by the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, apologizing to Ian while constantly blocking passing wizards.
It's like she's schizophrenic; she tells a story, then tells it to Ian, and then pulls someone else to continue. And whenever she mentions Ian, she bows to him beside her.
The spirit of craftsmanship was even more thoroughly embodied than that of Ian.
Ian was really starting to lose his composure. The way the young wizards who had been stopped by Daphne Greengrass were looking at him was as if he were coercing Daphne Greengrass into doing such a thing.
"I have to go find Professor Lockhart!" Ian really didn't understand Grindelwald's perplexing behavior. Did Grindelwald foresee that he would give the Resurrection Stone to Aberforth?
But what he gave me was fake!
How could Old Ge really get such a severe retaliation?
It couldn't be that Daphne Greengrass offended Grindelwald!
Just as Ian pulled out the Marauder's Map, confirmed that Grindelwald was still near the basement and hadn't left, and was about to go find Grindelwald to ask what was going on,
"Um?"
Ian spotted the Muggle Studies professor around the corner ahead. He twitched his nose twice and instinctively reached for his wand under his robes.
"How about we go catch some bugs tonight?"
"Great, great! But we need to catch two. Once they're grown up, they can have offspring, creating an endless lineage. We'll definitely make a fortune from that!"
A young wizard's voice rang in his ears, and young wizards were coming and going all around him. Ian's eyes flickered, but in the end he did not pull out his wand.
"Dumbledore wouldn't still want him to come into contact with the Philosopher's Stone, would he?" Ian's pupils reflected Quirrell's back. This traitorous professor had gone from a clean-cut young man to a ghost.
We haven't gotten close yet.
You can smell an unpleasant garlic odor.
This is exactly the same as what Ian knew about being possessed by Voldemort.
only.
There seem to be some discrepancies in the details.
"I remember it should be hung above the head?"
Ian frowned slightly, looking puzzled.
Quirrell gradually disappeared into the corridor at the other end of the corner under his gaze, the large garlic clove wrapped around his waist and even with a tail hanging behind him was extremely conspicuous.
The garlic cloves, with their tails swaying back and forth, look like a long string of fuses.
"Whoosh~"
Ian finally couldn't hold back.
He secretly set Quirrell's backside on fire.
As flames suddenly erupted, Quirrell immediately jumped up and down in a panic.
The young wizards around were also quite startled.
"Fire! Fire! The professor's butt is on fire!"
"Use the Freeze Charm!"
"No! We should use the 'Water Like a Spring' spell!"
"I haven't learned any of that! But I can put out fires with a broom! Flying broom, here it comes!"
Amidst the chaos and confusion.
The young wizards enthusiastically displayed their various skills. Some sprayed water on Quirrell's butt, some tried to freeze it into an ice block, and some underachievers even grabbed brooms and started running around wildly.
"No! Don't do this!"
"ah!!!"
"Stop it!"
Amidst the chaos.
Ian thought he heard two people screaming.
No. 4, Ligustrum Road.
As dusk settled, the streets were slowly embraced by a soft and mysterious twilight.
The afterglow of the setting sun was like diluted golden paint, gently spreading across every inch of space, but this light was gradually fading, making way for the approaching night.
The leaves on the trees lining the street were a deep green in the dim light, and occasionally a few were gently shaken off by the evening breeze, drifting slowly to the ground with an almost inaudible rustling sound.
As night deepened, the streetlights began to illuminate the street one by one, their dim, yellowish glow spilling from their shades and draping the ordinary street in a warm, slightly nostalgic veil. The light intertwined with the fading daylight, creating an atmosphere that was neither entirely bright like daytime nor entirely dark like night.
An elderly man sat on a bench in the street, watching the houses ahead where lights came on and shadows flickered. His gaze remained fixed on the smallest of the houses.
"Do you know what a mess the school is in?" A figure dressed in a black robe sat down next to the old man, his face full of displeasure and his tone full of complaints.
"Severus, your insight is still as sharp as ever." The old man seemed somewhat surprised by Snape's arrival, and he turned his head slightly to look at Snape beside him.
"The imposter you found—his disguise is extremely clumsy," Snape replied disdainfully, his gaze fixed on the house ahead with a complex expression.
They were like two lonely old people sitting quietly on a bench.
Few pedestrians were around, with only one or two figures hurrying past on their way home, their footsteps echoing in the empty street, adding to the tranquility of the night.
"Please forgive someone who never expected to help me with this kind of thing. He's really not good at this kind of thing, and he's already done his best to keep it from the other professors."
The old man defended his brother.
Snape didn't want to continue the discussion with the old man.
"Albus! We've found traces of that guy in the Forbidden Forest!" Snape seemed displeased with the old man's reaction and attitude. He emphasized the seriousness of the problem. "Whatever you're trying to do here, that guy is a year ahead of schedule!"
Voldemort's appearance clearly did not surprise the old man.
He was actually pleasantly surprised.
Snape, however, found himself increasingly puzzled by this.
"You have to go back to school! Make sure—" Ian doesn't try to provoke that guy again! Snape felt a headache coming on just thinking about what happened in the Forbidden Forest that afternoon.
"Rest assured, I have made extremely proper arrangements. No one can harm Mr. Prince."
This is also extremely important to me.
Dumbledore didn't seem to realize the meaning behind Snape's words; his attention was focused on the house in front of him, and his mind was preoccupied with other things.
"You're not planning to go back to school? At a time like this—that child with the utterly despicable father won't be starting school until next year—what exactly are you trying to do here?"
Snape also noticed Dumbledore's gaze.
He looked again at the window of the house ahead where people were moving about. The thin figure made him look at the person with a mixture of disgust and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"I need some more time, and this is a very important matter." Dumbledore's eyes were also quite complicated, and his hands, which had been crossed in front of him, were clenched tightly all afternoon.
"The important thing you're talking about is just staring at Lily's baby here? I've been observing you for a long time; you've been sitting here for at least five hours!"
Snape felt like he was being misled by the headmaster next to him.
however.
Dumbledore sighed heavily, his wrinkled face appearing even older, his voice heavy with a hoarseness and hesitation.
"Give me some more time. I'm thinking about some better options. Believe me, Severus, the last thing you should do right now is force me to make a decision." Dumbledore's eyes flickered slightly, and the unfamiliar expression on his face made Snape feel as if he had been transported back to not long ago when Dumbledore had taken that Slytherin student away from his office.
Why?
Snape had a bad feeling.
The old man before him spoke softly, revealing no obvious emotion. Yet, for some reason, Snape felt a chill run down his spine and a cold gust of wind wash over him.
"because-"
Dumbledore lowered his head slightly, concealing his gaze.
That would make you very sad.
His voice carried a hint of heaviness and helplessness.
"Of course, that includes me."