Dumbledore, I'm here! Where are you?!

Chapter 99 Dumbledore, I'm here! Where are you?!

Rice opened the door in the fourth-floor corridor and found Louie, the three-headed dog, fast asleep.

"Not bad." Rice nodded. Although she used the sleeping potion he left behind, it at least proved that Daphne could identify the type of potion and use it correctly.

As they ventured deeper, Rice noticed something unusual about the Devil's Vine. Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but chuckle: Daphne, that girl, had actually suffered a bit here.

When Rice saw the dilapidated door behind the Flying Keys, his facial muscles twitched twice.

He felt he needed to check on Daphne's mental state; for some reason, some of her behavior was very Gryffindor, which worried Rice. It was unacceptable that a weed called Godric had sprouted in his carefully tended field.

Could it be because he's been spending too much time with Potter and Weasley? Rice's thoughts began to wander.

While daydreaming, he conjured a rope and grabbed the key that had lost half a wing and was almost unable to fly—he could force open the door, but that was too Gryffindor-esque, so Rice chose to solve the puzzle using the correct approach.

Along the way, in addition to observing the traces left by the three young wizards and figuring out how they passed through, Rice was also diligently searching for traces of Dumbledore.

He believed that Professor Dumbledore was secretly watching the young wizards go on their adventures from behind.

But the more he searched, the more confused he became: there was no trace of him here, and he couldn't sense any of Dumbledore's magic. The mechanisms he had left behind after entering showed no signs of being triggered, indicating that no one had entered since.

This is extremely strange. With his keen insight, almost no one can escape his eyes, not even his three companions. Could it be that someone invented some kind of profound invisibility spell over the past thousand years, making it impossible for him to detect him?

Dumbledore, I'm here! Where are you?!

A crazy idea popped into Rhys's mind: Could Dumbledore not have come? Rhys was shocked when the thought crossed his mind.

When arranging trials for young wizards like Harry and Daphne, there are two key points to keep in mind: first, make the young wizards participating in the trials believe that they are truly undergoing the trials alone; second, never actually let them undergo the trials alone.

If they really just let things slide, it won't matter if the wizarding families maintain a birth rate like the Weasleys'.

Rice genuinely admired Dumbledore's courage. He probably already knew that Daphne had repelled Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, which wasn't hard to guess: it wasn't Harry, Hagrid wasn't there, and the centaurs were late—it could all be deduced by process of elimination. But how did he know Harry would definitely bring Daphne? What if Daphne refused? And wasn't he overestimating Daphne's fighting abilities?

Of course, there is another possibility: that Dumbledore knew he would come, so he simply didn't come. But this possibility is even lower than the probability that Harry Potter would tear off his mask and reveal Gryffindor's face.

and many more……

It has absolutely nothing to do with what teammates Harry brought!

After banishing the image of Harry tearing off his mask and revealing Godric's face from his mind, Rhys suddenly realized: with Dumbledore's design, no one other than Harry would ever enter the final stage!

The final challenge, the Fireproof Potion that allows passage through the Flame Gate, consists of only a tiny sip, enough for just one person. This must have been Dumbledore's design to restrict the other young wizards and allow only Harry to enter the final challenge—given Harry's personality and eloquence, this single dose of potion would ultimately end up in his mouth.

As for Quirrell, Rice thought he wouldn't bother with that logic puzzle at all. He could just cast a fireproof spell on himself to get past the fire door, so he wouldn't waste his time on it.

His unnecessary actions inadvertently ruined Dumbledore's carefully laid plans: he poured out the fire retardant potion and hid a potion-making tool and two sets of fire retardant potion ingredients in the small room—now even Daphne could enter the final stage.

Through Dumbledore's design, Rice came to a new conclusion: Dumbledore was confident that Harry would not be harmed even if he faced Quirrell one-on-one.

Is it because of that ancient magic on Harry? Oh, I see!

He had previously taken the opportunity to observe Harry up close, and Rice noticed something unusual about Harry: there was something strange about the magic he exuded. Unfortunately, due to a lack of evidence and his limited familiarity with Harry, Rice couldn't conduct in-depth research and couldn't reach a definitive conclusion. He could only vaguely deduce that Harry was under a very rare, lost spell. This spell was strange; it had the properties of defensive magic, yet it also felt like a curse, which greatly puzzled Rice.

Rice finally understood why Dumbledore dared to let Harry, a first-year wizard, deal with the villains who coveted the Philosopher's Stone—Harry's spells could protect him.

This opened Rice's eyes and also aroused his curiosity about the spell: what kind of spell could have such an effect?

He couldn't help but quicken his pace.

When he arrived at the room where the chessboard was set up, he saw the black and white chess pieces, which had been restored to their original state and were now arranged in a game of chess, and Ron, who was fast asleep in the middle of the chessboard.

"Young people sleep so well, they fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow." Rice laughed as she moved Ron off the chessboard and then took out her wand.

"If I had more time, I wouldn't mind playing a game with you, but I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry," Rice smiled at the pieces. "Besides, I'm really not confident I can beat you, and you're not like Daphne, who's willing to give me a few pieces."

Looking at these chess pieces, memories of playing Wizard's Chess with Daphne gradually surfaced in his mind...

Wait a minute, I just downloaded it to the wrong place!

"You're mistaken, this knight was originally black!"

[Hidden chess pieces?! What do you take me for?]

"Give me three sons?! Daphne, you're going too far! One knight and one bishop are enough for me!"

Let's add a soldier this time...

Rice couldn't help but laugh. After a moment of reflection, he had a clear understanding of his chess skills, so he chose to win by using moves outside the chessboard to avoid wasting time.

A thin, long line of water emerged from the tip of Rice's cane.

He hadn't used water elemental magic in a long time, and casting it now brought back fond memories.

"I doubt many people know that my forte is actually water elemental spells..." Rice muttered to himself, then flicked his wand, and an inconspicuous line of water floated lightly across the entire chessboard.

The next second, whether it was a black piece or a white piece, a king or a bishop, all the pieces on the board were cut into pieces by the waterline.

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry. Consider my most proficient water magic as compensation." Rice flicked the water droplets off the tip of his staff and strode towards the room opposite.

Update here! The second update will be a little later, so check it out when you wake up in the morning~

(End of this chapter)