Conversation with Dumbledore

Chapter 64 Conversation with Dumbledore

"call……"

Avada had already dispelled the illusion curse before running up to the eighth floor. When he arrived in front of the stone beast, he took a couple of breaths, and his clothes were already soaked with sweat.

"OMG, this is so exciting..."

Deceiving the once-powerful Dark Lord using Occlumency was like walking a tightrope on a cliff. Every step had to be taken with extreme caution, every subtle mental fluctuation had to be perfectly disguised, and the control over facial expressions and micro-movements was the finest of details... But in the end, his Occlumency and acting skills prevailed, and he successfully gained Voldemort's trust.

But absolute trust is impossible; Voldemort always trusted only himself and viewed his servants as tools.

Wiping away his cold sweat, Avada walked up to the stone beast and tentatively murmured, "Zzzzz Honey Candy."

The stone beast remained motionless.

"Lemon grapefruit tea?"

"A pile of cockroaches?"

"Chocolate Frog?"

"Butterbeer?"

"Mint ice cream?"

"...Don't try it."

The stone beast rolled its eyes and said, "This dessert is imported from abroad, and its name is a rather obscure Italian word."

Avada: ...

"Fine, I'll just ask another professor."

Avada turned to knock on the door of the Ravenclaw Dean's office—Flitwick's office was on the same floor as the Dean's office.

"etc."

The stone beast suddenly called out to Avada, saying with a strange expression, "Dumbledore has given you permission to go in."

After saying that, it jumped to the side, and the wall behind it slowly opened, revealing a staircase leading upwards.

"Dumbledore knew I was coming? What's going on?"

Avada was startled, wondering if he had been exposed at some point—but whether he was releasing the troll or casting the Imperius Curse on it, he had been using his magical senses to monitor his surroundings and had not detected any additional life force or spiritual energy. He had even used the Disillusionment Curse to bypass the paintings.

With a heavy heart, he climbed the spiral staircase and finally arrived at a wooden door, where he knocked.

"Please come in."

An aged yet gentle voice came through the door. Avada took a deep breath before turning the doorknob and pushing the door open, stepping into the principal's office for the first time since entering the school.

It was a spacious, beautiful circular room, filled with all sorts of amusing little noises. Many strange and wonderful silverwares sat on a long-legged table facing the door, spinning and emitting wisps of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of the former headmasters, each in their own frame gently snoring, whether genuinely asleep or just pretending, it was hard to tell.

There was also a huge table in the room with claw-shaped legs. On a shelf behind the table sat a tattered, wrinkled wizard's hat—the scabbard of the Gryffindor sword… no, the Sorting Hat.

On a branch next to the Sorting Hat stood a beautiful, fiery red bird, none other than Fox the Phoenix, whom he had met once before.

Avada couldn't help but glance at Fawkes a few more times—after his talent was optimized and he gained a lot of magical knowledge, Fawkes's vitality and mental strength seemed to be traceable in his magical senses. Although it was still difficult to understand for a while, it was still a kind of progress.

"So, what do you think? Doesn't the Fox look a bit younger?"

Behind his desk, Dumbledore pushed up his crescent-shaped glasses and said with a smile, "After taking you to the Ministry of Magic a year ago, it underwent another rebirth—a unique life process for a phoenix, essentially resetting its own life."

"cough."

Avada then realized he'd been so engrossed in watching the phoenix that he'd almost forgotten he had more important business to attend to with Dumbledore. However, instead of immediately bringing up Voldemort, he first asked, "Professor, how did you know I was coming to see you?"

"Haha, I not only know you're coming to see me, but I also know why you're coming to see me."

Dumbledore smiled and said, "You're here because of Professor Quirrell, aren't you?"

"You knew?!"

Avada's pupils contracted. If he hadn't realized that Dumbledore hadn't used Legilimency on him, he almost couldn't resist using Occlumency.

"Although I don't know what happened between you and Quirrell, I do know that you've been spending too much time with Quirrell over the past month or so—you spend more than an hour in Quirrell's office every weekend, and as the principal, I know that."

"And I happen to know that there's something suspicious about Quirrell, and I also happen to know that you possess extraordinary talent. And for a gifted little guy like you, those things that seem rather suspicious to an old man like me might have an extraordinary attraction... So I've been keeping an eye on your movements lately."

Avada: ...

Well, he overlooked that point, forgetting that the headmaster had the authority to monitor the school through the ubiquitous paintings. And going to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for extra lessons every weekend was part of the normal teaching routine, so he hadn't taken any precautions.

"It's not just about Quirrell, it's about me too, Professor."

Avada looked into Dumbledore's eyes and said with some difficulty, "That troll today... I might have released it."

"Go on, don't worry."

Dumbledore gave him an encouraging smile.

"Yesterday afternoon, Quirrell suddenly called me over, gave me a small cardboard box, and told me to put it in the basement classroom during the Halloween party, saying he wanted to create a little surprise..."

Avada Kedavra slowly recounted the entire process of Voldemort entrusting him with releasing the trolls—of course, the Imperius Curse was omitted.

"...On my way back to the dorm to prepare the stimulant, I remembered the task he gave me, so I turned around and went to the underground classroom, put the cardboard box on the ground, and went back to the dorm to prepare the medicine..."

"When I learned that the trolls had attacked the underground classroom, my first thought was of that little cardboard box—I'd heard of the Unseen Stretching Charm, so I immediately went to Quirrell's office to confront him, and then, and then..."

He took a deep breath, his face contorted with fear, before slowly beginning to speak: "Then, right in front of me, he took off his turban, revealing a face on the back of his head—a face that called itself Voldemort!"

"Oh?"

A look of surprise finally appeared on Dumbledore's face: "So this is how he sneaked in?"

"Professor, you've known all along?"

"Of course I know... In fact, I've been trying to find out where he's hiding, but I didn't expect you to find out first."

"Then why don't you...?"

"I have my own plan, and I can guarantee he won't hurt anyone. Don't underestimate the wisdom of the elderly, Ken."

Dumbledore smiled, then his expression turned serious: "If I'm not mistaken, after he revealed his true colors, did he threaten you, saying how incredibly evil and treacherous I was, and that if I knew you had studied under Voldemort and had released the trolls on his orders, I would expel you, imprison you in Azkaban, or even worse?"

"...That's right."

"But you still came to me and told me everything."

Avada nodded silently—mainly because he was a little embarrassed to admit it directly; his thick skin still needed improvement.

"Thanks."

Dumbledore stood up and solemnly said to Avada, "Thank you for your trust in me. It has given me very important information. Perhaps your trust can change everyone's destiny."

"Not everyone can remain rational under Voldemort's influence, especially since he deceived you before... I think it must have taken a lot of courage for you to trust me like this."

"..."

"Besides that, I would like to entrust you with one more thing."

"What is it, Professor?"

"I want you to pretend nothing happened and continue your interactions with Quirrell as usual, without letting him see through your act." Dumbledore hesitated. "I know the task of dealing with Voldemort shouldn't be entrusted to a student, but neither of us has any other choice at this moment..."

"I know."

Avada nodded solemnly: "If I show any abnormality after tonight, he will probably immediately suspect that I told you about it, and then he will kill me without hesitation and escape from Hogwarts."

"I will continue to attend his classes as usual, pretending that I have already submitted to him, without revealing any flaws."

"……Thanks."

After a long silence, Dumbledore looked into Avada's eyes again and thanked him earnestly.

"To thank you for your trust and help, I'm awarding Hufflepuff thirty points." Dumbledore sat down again, his gaze towards Avada now carrying a smile. "And rest assured, no one will blame you for the troll incident; you were a victim in this matter as well."

"Alright, it's almost curfew. If you don't hurry back, Filch might catch you, and I'll have to explain things to him again... Want some candy? It's from Italy, and it tastes pretty good."

……

Until the very end, Dumbledore never asked why Avada Kedavra had piqued Voldemort's interest, or why Voldemort had so easily revealed his true colors to him.

(End of this chapter)