The green willow branches swayed with the cool late night wind, and the bright moonlight shone on the rugged lake. Except for the floor of the school hospital, the dimly lit Hogwarts Castle once again exuded a cheerful and peaceful atmosphere. On the first night The dark clouds that had been hanging over the castle had completely dispersed.
Dumbledore and Amosta walked side by side by the lake. Neither of them was in a hurry to speak, but quietly enjoyed the rare peace at this moment.
"The matter in the Chamber of Secrets has been resolved, Principal Dumbledore. I'm afraid I will have to leave soon."
Five minutes later, Amosta stopped under a crooked-necked willow tree. He faced the undulating lake water and carefully savored the complex emotions in his chest.
"Aren't you going to think about it, Amosta?"
Dumbledore didn't seem surprised, but there was still obvious regret on his old face, and he said sincerely
"In my opinion, you are a very qualified professor. You get along well with this school. The young wizards also like you very much. If possible, I don't want to lose you, an excellent teacher."
Amosta smiled and said nothing. He believed that Dumbledore could guess his choice.
Dumbledore looked more tired than at any time this semester. He did not continue the topic. His long life had given him wisdom that was not inferior to anyone else. What things can be changed and what things cannot be changed. Dumbledore Bledo saw it better than anyone else.
"So--"
Dumbledore took out the tattered diary from his pocket. He had taken it out from the secret room before. Under the moonlight, a drop of water leaped into the air with undulating waves and landed accurately on the diary. , and left clear water stains on it.
"I assume you recognize what this thing is, Amosta?"
"Oh, Principal Dumbledore, you may think too highly of me. I know nothing about Horcruxes."
Amosta winked playfully at Dumbledore who was smiling bitterly. It was not so easy to hide something in front of a Dumbledore who had extremely rich life experience and was also a master of Legilimency. Easy, Amosta just used a joking way to express that he didn't want to talk about Horcruxes in depth.
"Just let it be."
Dumbledore put the diary back into his pocket. He took a deep breath and looked at the dimmed cabin at the edge of the endless forest.
"There's one thing I'm afraid you can't pretend not to know, Amosta--"
Dumbledore's tone became slightly more solemn,
"I hope you can return the basilisk in the secret room to me."
Wow!
The strong wind whipped up the water and slapped the water heavily on the shore of the lake. At the same time, it also made Amosta's neatly combed gray hair dance wildly. He stretched out his hand to hold the top of his head and sighed heavily by the sound of the raging wind.
Dumbledore knew that he did not kill the basilisk, of course. Such a clumsy lie could not deceive Dumbledore. Amosta even suspected that the great headmaster next to him had such a unique personality. His unique eyes had already 'saw' the basilisk lying in his arms.
Amosta said that in the Chamber of Secrets just to tell Dumbledore that he wanted to keep the basilisk. He thought that since he had solved the matter in the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore would not refuse this 'trivial' request.
"I hope you can understand my difficulties, Amosta,"
The 'stubborn' Amosta made Dumbledore feel helpless.
"Hagrid is now imprisoned in Azkaban. I must provide some evidence to prove to the Ministry of Magic that it was not the old spider named Aragog raised by Hagrid who attacked the young wizards fifty years ago and now. , this diary has been destroyed...
Moreover, I think Voldemort’s Horcruxes are not suitable to be displayed as evidence, and the basilisk is strong proof..."
Amosta's expression darkened. To be honest, he really didn't consider Hagrid.
The situation was a bit tricky. Hagrid was Dumbledore's most loyal confidant. Amosta knew that Dumbledore would never let Hagrid be imprisoned in Azkaban.
However, if he handed over the basilisk, what would he do with his mission? Did he spend several months and use a very precious voodoo doll to resist Voldemort's curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? But it's all work in vain?
No, this is absolutely impossible.
Dumbledore read Amosta's attitude from his silence and continued,
"This basilisk needs to be handed over to the Ministry of Magic... Connelly ordered the Daily Prophet to remain silent about the two attacks on young wizards last semester..."
Ho!
Amosta laughed and still didn't speak, but he was already thinking about what he would do if the situation really got out of control later.
Amosta would not be arrogant enough to think that he could defeat Dumbledore. However, since he entered Hogwarts and had been living and preparing for so many years, if he could not even escape from Dumbledore, If he can't do it, then he is too cowardly.
In fact, from the moment he accepted this mission and decided to enter Hogwarts, Amosta had foreseen this embarrassing situation.
Amosta stared at the rising waves of the lake with evil eyes, and turned towards the large iron gate of the school with the corner of his eyes. He had already made a plan. Once he did, he would leave the Hogwarts campus as quickly as possible. , and then flew away by apparating away.
The tacit understanding between Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge had nothing to do with him. As for Hagrid, he did feel a little apologetic, but he believed that Dumbledore could handle this matter. After handing over the task with Karkus Foley, I'll go to Azkaban by myself.
However, he did feel a little regretful that he didn't have the chance to say goodbye to Professor Snape, Hermione, and Harry.
The endless layers of lake water hit the river bank. Dumbledore shook the crystal water droplets on his silver beard. Having noticed the hostility emanating from Amosta, his expression became even more helpless. He frowned slightly. Frowning, he seemed to be thinking about how to resolve the conflict in front of him.
"Amosta..."
After a while, Dumbledore, who seemed to have decided something, became happy again. He softly called Amosta's name, took out a money bag from his arms and handed it to Amosta. The appearance of this purse was inconsistent with the funds Dumbledore had allocated to Amosta at the beginning of the semester, and seemed more like a personal item.
"What do you mean, Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Amosta narrowed his eyes, looked at the money bag, then looked away, and then looked directly into Dumbledore's slightly smiling eyes.
"Because I couldn't be awarded a special contribution medal, so I was replaced with a gold galleon as a reward?"
"That's not true, Amosta,"
Dumbledore's beard and hair, which had a different style from ordinary people, reflected the white moonlight, as if his whole body was radiating radiance. He followed Amosta's example and playfully blinked his blue eyes,
"Actually, I didn't originally plan to tell this matter-"
Under Amosta's confused gaze, Dumbledore said in a brisk tone,
"This is not a bonus for special contributions, Mr. Jin Viper, this is a reward for the commissioned task you accepted--"
Reading Pavilion
