Chapter 719
Taboo
Chapter 719 Taboo
Amidst the scattered light, Albus Dumbledore's figure resembled a legendary wizard stepping out of an ancient oil painting, every strand of his hair imbued with the wisdom of time, his azure eyes shining brightly.
He held the boy steadily in his arms, turned to Harry, and a gentle smile curved his lips.
“You did a great job, Harry.”
The warm, mellow voice carried an undeniable certainty, and Harry's ears instantly turned bright red. His eyes blinked nervously, his gaze shifting back and forth between Dumbledore's robes and the ground.
"Actually, I didn't do anything. Wade defeated them... Oh right! Voldemort came back to life, and he even encountered me! He used the Killing Curse on me, but I... I died... I seem to be alive again! I... I don't understand what happened..."
His face showed a hint of confusion.
“I know, Harry, I know…we all saw it,” Dumbledore continued gently. “But there’s something wrong. You’re not dead. Voldemort’s Killing Curse didn’t kill you…”
"Why, why?" Harry asked. "I heard... that people who are cursed with the Killing Curse die..."
"Oh, there are some complicated reasons behind this..."
Dumbledore revealed a slightly smug expression and said, "But let's talk about this later, shall we? We can sit down and I'll explain it to you slowly."
Harry suddenly realized that this wasn't school, and it wasn't a good time for a heart-to-heart talk. He nodded, stepped back to Dumbledore's side, glanced at Wade worriedly, and gripped the golden water jug tightly in his hand.
When he woke up on the ground, he saw the tattooed woman who had been knocked unconscious by the puppets, with a golden water bottle lying beside her, seemingly unnoticed by anyone.
Harry immediately ran over and picked up the water bottle, and the puppet didn't stop him, but he dared not use the bottle to restore Wade to his original state—
Without a doubt, this water jug was an extremely dangerous magical artifact. Harry worried that if he mishandled it, he would turn Wade into a baby, and then be unable to turn him back.
……
Dumbledore's gaze finally turned to the dark wizards.
Death Eaters, UMNO.
Apart from Wade and Harry, the Light Beasts attacked everyone present indiscriminately, but they seemed to have their own criteria for judgment, displaying drastically different power towards different targets.
For example, Braun was only stepped on, and he has already gotten up from the ground, but before he could stand up properly, he was knocked over by a gleaming silver lynx.
Most people weren't so lucky; they were hit by the light beasts and suffered broken bones and groans while clutching their twisted and deformed legs.
A very small number of people lay limp on the ground, looking as if they had been baptized with a Cruciatus Curse, their eyes vacant as they stared at the sky, appearing as if they were dead.
The remaining light beasts still roam the battlefield; their bodies have begun to turn transparent, but they still occasionally deliver a vicious blow to someone.
And so, screams echoed from the ruins, here and there, every now and then.
After the wizards, whose bodies were soaked in the aura of dark magic, attracted the attention of the light beasts, Braun finally managed to stand up with difficulty, relying on his own two legs.
He covered his arm, which appeared to be dislocated, with one hand, and bowed slightly to Dumbledore.
"It is an honor to meet you, Headmaster Dumbledore."
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping sharply over the brown-haired youth before him.
After a moment, he said slowly, "Mr. Braun... is truly impressive."
When separated by a screen, humans can only use their senses of sight and hearing, making it impossible to present many details in greater detail.
Dumbledore genuinely believed that this brown-haired youth was one of the best chosen by Grindelwald from the new generation of the Malays.
However, standing face to face with him now, he keenly sensed something... subtle, inhuman about the young man.
For a moment, this discovery even made Dumbledore shudder.
It wasn't because Wade and Grindelwald still maintained contact—something he had anticipated long ago; Dumbledore had known about his old friend's persistence and persuasiveness for many years.
What gave him goosebumps was the existence of a puppet that was completely indistinguishable from a real person!
This Braun... he's not the kind of pet that rolls around in the window of Aslan's magic workshop, nor is he the soldier who charges into battle and is ready to die for Vader.
His every move, the rhythm of his breathing, the texture of his skin, his eyes full of emotion, the slight rise and fall of his chest when he spoke... were just like a real living person!
If you don't peel off the skin and cut through the flesh, who can tell that he is different from a human?
This goes beyond the realm of alchemy...
Dumbledore's long beard swayed gently in the air, revealing a turbulent undercurrent beneath his calm exterior.
He recalled a topic that Nicolas Flamel had once discussed casually:
"Life alchemy... that's a taboo in alchemy."
"When the Creator begins to blur the boundaries between life and creation, the first boundary that is often blurred is the boundary of oneself as a 'human being'."
"Hahaha... Even so, this has always been the highest pursuit of alchemists—"
"Dementors, house-elves, banshees, centaurs, undead..."
"These magical creatures that everyone is familiar with today, how many of them are the creations of ancient alchemists..."
In an instant, a rare rage surged in Dumbledore's usually gentle eyes, and his expression became terrifyingly cold.
[Morley... Flamel!]
What have you guys been teaching Wade?!
The principal's surging, sharp anger caused Braun to instinctively take a step back.
He didn't know what was wrong with his attitude just now... so it must be that? Was it because he was thinking of Grindelwald, and then he took his anger out on them?
Braun gave a wry smile and bowed again.
"Please allow me to clarify that our purpose in coming here is solely to prevent Voldemort's resurrection and his attempt to acquire the Puppet Army. We have absolutely no intention of offending the dignity of Hogwarts or interfering with the Magical Schools League."
"Or does Headmaster Dumbledore want to keep all of us wizards who participated in rescuing the Hogwarts heroes here as well?"
"boom!"
Suddenly, a deafening sound rang out in the air.
Grindelwald made no attempt to conceal his Apparition; he suddenly appeared in his true form, his gleaming dragon-skin boots landing precisely on the glassy ground.
The white-haired wizard appeared just in time to hear Braun's last words.
He turned to Dumbledore, took two steps forward, and chuckled softly:
"I've heard that Headmaster Dumbledore is the greatest white wizard of our time... a paragon of 'law-abiding'..."
He pronounced the words "obey the law" with a profound and sarcastic tone.
Grindelwald gave an exaggerated bow and said, "Please tell me—which law has my children violated today?"
"Or--"
He approached Dumbledore, a dangerous and mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Does the UK's Department of Justice stipulate that headmasters of magic schools can arbitrarily arrest and govern wizards from other countries?"
“It’s truly astonishing, Gellert Grindelwald…” Dumbledore’s eyes flashed with mockery as he said in an icy tone, “I had no idea you could study the Codex?”
(End of this chapter)