The extremely cold weather froze the huge black lake into a solid piece of ice. Under the dim light, the Forbidden Forest swaying in the biting cold wind looked more like a rugged lake.
"Before Easter last year, I remember you wrote to me telling me that you were exploring the ruins of an ancient Greek wizard in Greece, and mailed me five pints of dragon's blood and forty ounces of dragon's liver,"
Amosta and Snape walked side by side towards the castle standing on the cliff. When they passed three tall clubs on the side of the playground, while Amosta was looking at the flickering fire of Hagrid's hut, Snape looked around him. Amosta, whose eyebrows were darker than when he graduated three and a half years ago, had an unclear meaning in his voice.
"But then, the Daily Prophet disclosed an interesting piece of information. The Norwegian Ministry of Magic said that someone illegally broke into their fire dragon nature reserve, stole a precious Norwegian Ridgeback egg and accidentally killed it in two places. A Norse red-scaled dragon, Amosta, was slaughtered in front of the Muggles who entered the reserve. I think the two are not related in any way, right?"
"What do you think, my professor?"
Amosta withdrew his distant gaze and looked at the only room with firelight in the row of dark rooms in the tower. He smiled and said,
"In other words, what kind of reply do you want to get from me?"
Snape's lips curled up in a habitual sneer, but as he spoke, he suddenly realized that the young man next to him was no longer the poor boy he was at school. A student immersed in his own world, he has quickly grown into a wizard that even he can't see clearly.
"It doesn't matter to me, Amosta, I just want to remind you,"
The warm meeting that Dumbledore expected did not happen between the teacher and student. Snape strode towards the castle with his head sullenly.
"I hope you know what you are doing now, and I hope you know that this school is not as peaceful as it seems - especially in the past few years, Amosta, if your habit of keeping a low profile has not changed, then Just keep it up, especially in front of Dumbledore,
Finally, my advice is to leave here as soon as possible, even leave the British wizarding world, and come back after everything has settled... If your brain is still as sensitive as it was then, you should understand what I am talking about. "
……………
Perhaps the action tonight was too ordinary. When the stone monster at the door of the office stepped aside, it bared its teeth in a subtle display of dissatisfaction.
"Thank you for the reminder, Professor."
Snape had no intention of going in. When crossing his body, Amosta smiled softly and said,
"I always knew what I was doing and the risks I was taking."
Dumbledore in the office had already taken the time to put on a clean, decent wizard robe. He had obviously noticed the visitor's arrival in advance. When the wall closed and Amosta stepped into the office, Dumbledore had already stood up and stood. Behind the desk, looking at the door with a smile.
"Good evening, Headmaster Dumbledore!"
Although he had made a mental preset in advance, when the bright blue eyes illuminated by the steady and bright firelight, which condensed the wisdom of a century of life, fell on him, Amosta Brain still felt a tingle on his face. It was so tight that my heart beat a little faster unconsciously.
Fox, who was in the brazier, heard a somewhat familiar voice and was struggling to stretch his neck out from the pile of ashes, looking around curiously.
Thirty feet away, the old man clad in firelight contained more than just the vast magic power in his tall, thin body. His legendary life experience, which was not inferior to anyone else, was a living history of modern European magic. .
In front of such people, it is difficult to imagine how the first and second generation Dark Lords could last for so long.
"Welcome, welcome~"
Dumbledore smiled and stretched out his hand to meet Amosta, who was striding forward. His penetrating eyes swept across Amosta's young face, only lingering on the lavender eyes for a very short time. time, he turned his attention to dyed snow’s gray hair,
"Good evening, Amosta. I'm sorry to have to make you go on such a journey in such bad weather. To compensate, can I buy you a drink?"
"Thanks, that's exactly what I needed."
Amosta sat down under Dumbledore's guidance. He himself walked to the bookshelf on one side, opened a cabinet with a pensieve, and took out a vintage wine bottle from under the trap.
"For the sake of my health, I had to hand over most of my collection to Poppy, but this bottle... To be honest, Amosta, I haven't shared it with anyone else yet!"
"Ogden Aged Firewhiskey, more than eighty years old, is priceless on the market,"
Amosta sniffed the aroma of wine floating in the air and smiled implicitly, "Thank you for your generosity, Principal Dumbledore. Based on this alone, my trip will be worth it--"
Time has given this valuable spirit a hint of richness and mellowness. Amosta sipped the wine, silently waiting for his stiff fingers to regain their flexibility.
Dumbledore was not in a hurry to start the next conversation. He looked at Amosta quietly with gentle eyes. Although he didn't ask any questions, he seemed to have gotten what he wanted to know, and the result was quite satisfactory.
"Severus once told me that for the past two years, he has been following in the footsteps of those great sages and exploring magical ruins lost in time,"
When he saw Amosta's cheeks that were pale due to the cold return to rosy color, Dumbledore smiled and said
"I'm glad that you still haven't forgotten to study magic and improve yourself after leaving this school. This makes me feel that the educational policy I have adhered to in this school is not a complete failure.
At least the education at Hogwarts has made a very small number of people realize that in addition to the Ministry of Magic, there are many other good places in the wizarding world. "
Dumbledore did not mention the appointment of the school board or any talk about the Chamber of Secrets, which surprised Amosta, who had already prepared his speech and plan.
"In the era when I was still in school, young wizards would not rush to find a way out for themselves after graduating from school. Instead, they would go on a graduation trip to see everywhere. Before I graduated, I had planned to go with one of my friends. Old friends went to Greece to look for the magical creatures named in mythology and to Egypt to visit the experiments of the alchemists...
But unfortunately, some accidents interrupted my plans, which almost made me regret it for life. "
Dumbledore sighed with emotion as his eyes fell into reminiscence.
"Making such a choice may have something to do with my Muggle origin,"
Amosta put down his wine glass, and although he was smiling in agreement, he felt confused in his heart.
Before coming here, Amosta had thought about the conversation between him and Dumbledore many times in his mind. In his deduction, the unpredictable old man behind the desk might try to find out what happened between him and Dumbledore. With years of experience, I will not be deceived by his simple words.
Perhaps, like Professor Snape, he would be curious about his true purpose in trying to return to school.
Maybe talk to him in depth about the perpetrator of the locked room attack and question the preventive measures he proposed.
But now it seems that Dumbledore is not interested in any of this and just wants to chat with himself.
is it possible?
Amosta would not think that Dumbledore was so innocent. He was more wary in his heart, but on the surface he showed great interest in the current topic.
"Children from wizarding families regard the magic of magic as normal, but people like me who grew up in the Muggle world are better able to understand how rare it is to make miracles bloom in front of you with the wave of a wand. Compared to this , power and wealth seem so insignificant."
"There is no need to be self-effacing, Amosta. There are many children from Muggle families, but being able to revere knowledge and pursue it tirelessly is your unique talent."
Amosta's explanation played right into Dumbledore's hands. There was relief in his deep eyes behind the half-moon frame.
"The most important thing is that after having many experiences, you can still use words like 'miraculous bloom' to describe magic instead of 'power'--"
Dumbledore winked and smiled playfully,
"When you were still studying here, Professor Snape expressed to me many times in private that he was worried about your research on dark magic. This also led to the two of us banning books in the library many times late at night. An 'accidental encounter' in the district..."
Ahem!
Amosta, who was taking a sip of wine, choked on the strong drink. He wiped his scarlet lips, his expression was a bit like the embarrassment of being exposed by a parent about a childhood embarrassment.
"It's rare for a wizard like you who has so much to do to remember those little things, Principal Dumbledore. I've never been obsessed with the power of black magic. I just think... whether it's black magic or white magic, they are just magic. Some of them are worth learning... I mean some of them are worth learning from. Blind rejection will only highlight our own ignorance."
"Of course, of course, a very philosophical statement,"
Dumbledore nodded in approval, but his expression immediately became solemn,
"But not everyone has a clear self-awareness and strong control, Amosta, so Professor Snape's worries about you back then were justified..."
PS: I hope you can support me more, thank you!
