The Department of Mysteries' Compensation

Chapter 2 The Department of Mysteries' Compensation

After moving between various elevators for nearly five minutes, Dumbledore and Avada finally arrived at a lavishly decorated room, where a gaunt man in a black wizard's robe stood in the center. Upon seeing Dumbledore enter, the man immediately stepped forward, his face beaming with smiles.

"Welcome, Professor Dumbledore! I am the Silent One of the Department of Mysteries. You may call me Crocker."

"Hello, Mr. Krock."

Dumbledore replied calmly, "I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but I'm here to confirm something important. In some of my investigations, I've clearly found traces of the Department of Mysteries."

He patted Avada on the back, gesturing for him to take two steps forward: "Do you know what this boy's name is?"

Kroc shook his head, completely bewildered.

"His name is," Dumbledore paused, then slowly and deliberately read, "Avada Kendavia."

Crocker shuddered at the first three words, nearly drawing his wand in fright. When he realized things weren't as he'd imagined, his expression turned strange.

"Avada Kendavia? Is he an abandoned orphan? He actually has magical talent?"

"Merlin's beard, what an incredibly slim probability! Or is it just because of the name?"

"Looks like you did know after all."

Dumbledore's expression remained perfectly calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever: "Then explain it to me, and to this child whose future is destined to be full of trouble."

Kroc paused, about to ask something, when he suddenly realized something, and his expression became quite interesting.

"The thing is... the thing is..."

Crocker spoke awkwardly, avoiding direct eye contact with Dumbledore and Avada: "The name comes from a study conducted eleven years ago."

"At a time when Mysterio and his Death Eaters were becoming increasingly rampant, as a member of the Ministry of Magic, our Department of Mysteries also played its part, striving to provide Aurors and Strikers with more powerful equipment, and trying to counter Mysterio's various tricks."

"After a long period of research, my team successfully cracked the mysterious man's 'name curse,' which is the magic that makes people know his name immediately once it is called out."

"Oh?" Dumbledore asked in surprise, "You actually broke that spell? You have a way to counter it?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Kroc's expression became even more awkward: "That spell is extremely complex and difficult to cast. After we break the spell, we can't even make slight modifications, let alone counter it."

"However, we had this idea at the time: could we use this magic's properties to detect the Unforgivable Curse and other dark magic?"

Avada's face twitched—he roughly guessed what was going on.

"According to the characteristics of this magic, the object of the spell must be a 'name'. So we found an abandoned baby in the Muggle world who had just been born, registered him at an orphanage, and named him after the killing curse 'Avada Kedavra'."

"Next, we cast a 'name curse' on the child. Our plan was that this would pinpoint the location of anyone casting a killing curse the moment they were cast, leaving them nowhere to hide!"

"So, did you succeed?"

Dumbledore's eye twitched; he felt that he had been speechless more times than he had in the previous ten years combined.

"As you can see, no." Crocker simply gave up, no longer embarrassed, and went on and on: "The spells seem to have special properties, unable to be used as ordinary names. And if we succeeded, we could replicate all dark magic spells; we would have wiped out all the dark wizards in Britain over the past ten years!"

"Didn't you ever think about how someone could live with such a name?"

"We never expected that a randomly chosen Muggle abandoned baby would have magical talent..." Crocker replied with a mournful face, "Who in the Muggle world knows the meaning of this spell? He could live a perfectly normal life in the Muggle world!"

Dumbledore sighed helplessly, realizing that the Department of Mysteries couldn't be entirely blamed for this; fate was indeed unpredictable...

"Then let's ask the person involved for their opinion."

Dumbledore turned to Avada: "As you have heard, your name is an incredibly evil magical spell in the wizarding world, which may bring you countless troubles: being ostracized by classmates, not being able to find a job, or even being alienated by everyone in the entire wizarding society... Changing your name won't help, a person's first name has a special magical significance that cannot be escaped. The Book of Admission will only show your true name."

"And the cause of all this is the Department of Mysteries in front of you, but this was not their intention. If they had succeeded, they could have made an immense contribution to the entire magical world."

"You can decide whether to forgive them and you have the right to claim compensation."

"..."

Avada felt utterly overwhelmed with unease.

He just randomly transmigrated, so why are such bizarre things happening to him? He had read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction in his previous life, but he had never seen such an outrageous plot!

"Alright," he replied listlessly, "I can roughly understand that this isn't entirely their fault, and I can forgive them... As for compensation, I don't know much about the magical world, so I don't know how to determine it. Perhaps you could give me some advice, Professor?"

"Thank you for your understanding, child."

Kroc breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slightly: "I have a compensation plan here that you can take a look at."

"First, there will be a direct compensation of three thousand Galleons, as well as reimbursement for all necessary expenses incurred during your time at Hogwarts, including textbooks, robes, wands, cauldrons, and other necessities."

"Furthermore, after you graduate, you'll receive a monthly allowance of twenty Galleons as long as you're unemployed. Also, if the Ministry of Magic needs staff, you'll have priority in the assessment and hiring process. And if you plan to open your own shop, the Ministry of Magic can provide a five-thousand-Galeon interest-free loan for five years. What do you think?"

Avada looked at Dumbledore with pleading eyes—he had no idea of ​​the purchasing power of Galleons.

Dumbledore nodded and said, "It's a very reasonable plan; you can accept it."

"Okay, Professor."

Avada nodded in agreement, but in his heart he still felt it was outrageous: the first thing he did upon entering the magical world was to receive a large sum of compensation...

He doesn't even have a magic wand yet!

"Then it's settled." Crocker clapped his hands, looking relieved. "I'll submit this proposal to the finance office. With the influence of the Department of Mysteries and Professor Dumbledore's involvement, it should be approved in about an hour. Mr. Kendavia can go buy a wand and then come back to sign the magical contract."

"Then let's say goodbye for now, Mr. Krock. Thank you for your help."

Dumbledore nodded to Crocker, then beckoned to Fawkes and led Avada away from the Ministry of Magic. With a flash of light, Avada found himself on a bustling street, surrounded by pedestrians in colorful robes, all staring at him and Dumbledore in surprise.

"Next, it's time to choose a wand for you."

After waving to the passersby, Dumbledore turned to Avada beside him and smiled, which stirred Avada's heart.

Although he can now use many of his self-developed spells without a wand, who can resist having their own wand?

Led by Dumbledore, he finally arrived at the door of a small, shabby shop, suppressing his excitement as he looked at the slightly peeling gold lettering on the door:

Ollivander: Crafted fine wands since 382 BC.

(End of this chapter)