A ruined Hogwarts

"The entrance to the principal's office is right behind here. Professor Dumbledore always likes to use the names of desserts to set passwords." Harry introduced to Owen nonstop, and then said to the huge and ugly stone monster in front of him: "Lemon ice cream ."

The stone monster raised his eyelids and glanced at the two of them, then jumped aside. The wall behind it cracked in half, revealing a spiral staircase that was slowly moving upward behind the wall.

"The principal's office is up there, come on!" Harry excitedly pulled Owen onto the spiral staircase. The wall behind them closed heavily, and the stairs under their feet carried them higher and higher.

"It's amazing, isn't it? It's like an elevator. Oh, it's an electrical appliance in the Muggle world." Harry said. He looked longingly at Owen, who was silent along the way, and was in a very good mood. Although he has always been happy to receive Dumbledore's private lessons, the heavy expectation has always made him very stressed, especially when he tried his best and could not learn or even understand the knowledge taught by Dumbledore. when.

He very much hopes to have someone who can accept Dumbledore's guidance with him. In his opinion, no one is more suitable than Owen, who is extremely excellent in all aspects. He believed that Dumbledore had finally discovered Owen's outstanding talents and decided to focus on cultivating him.

I know more about the structure of the elevator than you do... Owen glanced at Harry without interest. He didn't think that Dumbledore had discovered his talent. Along the way, he had been mentally preparing for various situations that might happen next, including but not limited to being discovered by Dumbledore that he was learning black magic. If the other party discovers that the Magic Stone is in his hand, there is even a possibility of being humanely destroyed by the other party.

He didn't even know where he had exposed a flaw that attracted Dumbledore's level of attention. He didn't feel that the aura of black magic on his body was sensed. The power itself was quite concealed, and it was only at the initial stage of his contact that there was only a slight loophole. He didn't know if he had overlooked something when executing the plan that night, but if so, Dumbledore's attitude shouldn't be so ambiguous, and he should have been tougher.

"Ah, we're right there!" Harry pointed to a gleaming oak door ahead without knowing anything, then grabbed the griffin-shaped bronze knocker on the door and knocked on it.

The door opened quietly, revealing a spacious and beautiful circular room, filled with all kinds of funny little sounds. There were many strange rotating silverware on the table, exhaling small streams of smoke. The walls are covered with portraits of old principals, all snoring gently in their respective frames. There was also a huge table in the room, and a dirty and tattered Sorting Hat was placed on a shelf behind the table.

Owen stared at the dirty hat silently, wanting to cast a cleaning spell on it.

"Huh? Professor Dumbledore isn't here?" Harry said in surprise, "He must have been delayed by something. You see, these are portraits of the old headmasters. They are always sleeping, and I have never seen them awake. time." In the last sentence, he deliberately lowered his voice.

A subtle "click" sound sounded behind the two of them. Harry turned around and looked at the big golden-red bird standing on a tall gilded perch behind the door, gnawing on a small piece of bone, and said hello intimately: " Good evening, Fox."

"This is Fawkes, a phoenix. It can carry heavy objects, its tears have a healing effect, and it can sing inspiring war songs." Harry introduced, leaning over to stroke Fawkes' beautiful feathers affectionately, and He waved to Owen.

After looking into Fox's bright eyes for a while, Owen slowly approached with a hint of curiosity and tentatively stretched out his right hand. Phoenix's clear eyes showed a look of human disgust and arrogance, and he quickly jumped to the side on the perch, avoiding Owen's palm.

Owen stretched out his hand again, but was easily dodged by the phoenix, and even almost got pecked on the back of his hand by the sharp golden beak.

"It seems like it doesn't like me." Owen said with a smile as he took back his hand. Fawkes raised his graceful head high and allowed Harry to stroke his gleaming golden paws.

"Well, Fawkes must have given up on life..." Harry twitched the corner of his mouth and silently retracted his hand.

The two of them waited here boredly for three minutes. After carefully looking at every part of the room, Owen finally stopped suppressing the strong impulse in his heart and drew his wand towards the Sorting Hat.

"Owen, what are you doing?" Harry looked at his movements in confusion.

"Clean it up!" Owen has endured it for a long time!

However, this curse, which Irving has mastered so well, hit a wall here. The Sorting Hat did not change at all, and even twitched a little itchyly, as if in mockery.

"You..." Harry was stunned, his eyes widening.

"Ahem, it turns out that the cleaning spell has little effect on such clever magical creations." Owen curled his lips and withdrew his wand with a little embarrassment.

"Pfft..." Harry laughed, then suddenly turned his head and covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking.

At this time, the curtain behind the office was suddenly opened. Dumbledore, wearing bright blue wizard robes, walked out from behind the curtain with a faint smile on his face.

Harry tightened his smile and greeted Dumbledore with a slightly funny expression.

"Sit down. I'm sorry I'm late. I just took a nap." Dumbledore glanced at the curtain he came out of with a smile, and then sat down on the high-backed chair behind the table. He directed two chairs to float lightly across the table, and invited Owen and Harry to sit on them.

"I'm not asking you to come here tonight to have classes. After all, I want you to enjoy a leisurely holiday." Dumbledore smiled and crossed his hands. "You can understand that a lonely old man wants to talk to someone. .Ah, by the way, do you want some dessert?"

He tapped the table with his fingers, and a large table of exquisite desserts of different colors appeared out of thin air. It looked pleasing to the eye, and a charming sweet fragrance filled the office.

"Whenever I see them, I can't help but feel happy, right?" Dumbledore said in a relaxed tone, and picked up a cupcake. Facing the sweets, his expression was serious and pious.

Owen and Harry each took a piece of apple pie and sat across the table from Dumbledore. Owen could clearly see Dumbledore's bright blue eyes, silver beard, wrinkles on his face, and crooked nose under his half-moon glasses.

"Harry, let's talk about the Sorcerer's Stone." Dumbledore glanced at Harry. Harry straightened his back instantly, his expression became tense and heavy.

"Don't worry, Harry. According to reliable intelligence, the Sorcerer's Stone has not fallen into Voldemort's hands." Dumbledore said slowly.

"But isn't the Aether Society helping Voldemort?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Ah, the Aether Society." Dumbledore wiped the corners of his mouth and his expression became serious. "There is no evidence that this organization I have never heard of before is supporting Voldemort. In fact, at the beginning of this school year, the news I received It’s just that some servant of Voldemort is trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone to resurrect his master… There is no news from the Aether Society.”

"A servant?" Harry asked confused. This is completely different from what he knows.

"That's right, Professor Quirrell." Dumbledore sighed. "He was once a smart and passionate man, but he failed to resist the temptation of Voldemort. He sold his soul and let his heart be filled with hatred and greed. And swallowed up by ambition..."

Owen seemed to feel Dumbledore glance at him gently. He lowered his eyes to taste the apple pie in his hand and listened calmly to the conversation between the two.

"But, isn't Professor Quirrell a member of the Aether Society? No, hasn't he been replaced?" Harry was completely confused.

"No, he has never been replaced and has nothing to do with the Aether Society." Dumbledore said softly, "At least that's what the information I got told me. He disappeared the night the Sorcerer's Stone was stolen. There is a high probability that he disappeared Either he died, or he left here following the traces of the magic stone."

"What about Professor Snape?" Harry looked at him with burning eyes.

"Oh, Harry, Professor Snape has nothing to do with the Aether Society, and has never been replaced." Dumbledore narrowed his eyes and smiled, "He has been taking care of the Philosopher's Stone in his own way and paying attention to Quirrell. any suspicious behavior.”

Harry's face fell apart. If Professor Snape had not been replaced, then those tests and actions he had made to the dean a few days ago... He covered his face, feeling that he had no shame in appearing in front of the dean again.

No, since there is no problem with the dean, why should we avoid his touch? Doesn't he want to clear himself of suspicion? Moreover, the Ether Society had tampered with the Sorting Hat and assigned him to Slytherin House. Isn't the person best suited to monitor him nearby the Dean of Slytherin?

Harry suddenly thought of this question, and his expression became serious. Could it be that Mr. Dumbledore was also deceived? No, he still had to continue testing... For the truth, it was worth dying in society again!

"Speaking of the Aether Society..." Dumbledore suddenly said, "I want to hear you tell me again everything that happened that night when you had direct contact with them. You know, I was not in school that night - ah, there was too much There are a lot of things that need to be arranged - although Professor Snape has already told me the whole story, maybe I can gain more from a different perspective."

Harry recalled the day carefully, recounting all the details he remembered. Owen also added a few words.

"You chased me, Mr. Shafik?" Dumbledore said. "This was not a wise choice."

"Yes, I was very angry at the time. No one had ever treated me like this. Plus I felt that Harry had seriously injured him..." Owen said with emotion. "I was very scared when I thought about it afterwards. I was really too impulsive at that time. ."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed inexplicably.

"Sir," Harry said, "if the Philosopher's Stone was not in Voldemort's hands, then he would still be trying to make a comeback in some other way, wouldn't he? I mean, he didn't disappear, right?"

"Yes, Harry, he did not disappear. He is not really alive, so he cannot be killed. As far as I know, after you made him lose his body, he has been hiding in the black forest of Albania. He may have missed this opportunity, but he will always be eager to try to regain his power, so there needs to be another person who is fully prepared to fight him to the death in the future..."

Dumbledore stared at Harry quietly, with a glimmer of translucency and pity in his eyes, but only for a moment.

"But, sir, can you tell me why I made him lose his body?" Harry said confused.

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, and then said softly: "Back then, Voldemort wanted to kill you, and your mother died to save you. This deep love left the deepest mark on you. , not a scar, not a visible mark, Harry. Being loved so deeply by someone will leave us with an eternal talisman, which protects you from Voldemort's harm. His spell rebounded. He went back and ended himself..."

Harry sat there in a daze, wiping his tears with his sleeves while Dumbledore looked up at the sky.

Owen's eyebrows moved slightly. He felt that sitting here was very unnecessary. He turned his head and stared at Fox, who was swinging his tail feathers on the perch. One person and one Phoenix began to stare at each other with big eyes.

"Owen, um, I guess I can call you that, right?" When Harry was emotionally unstable, Dumbledore turned to Owen and said, "Can I know what you are thinking about now?"

"Of course." Owen turned his head and looked into the other person's eyes, calmly giving the answer the other person wanted to hear most, "I'm very touched and shocked, sir. That kind of love is so great and moving."

"Yes, yes, love, it is the greatest and most precious thing in the world, and it is also the most powerful and most capable of creating miracles." Dumbledore sighed softly, "When a person is determined to go out for love. When fighting, he is indestructible.”

"That is something Voldemort will never understand. If you cannot understand it, you will never be called a great wizard." He said slowly, "Do you understand, Owen?"

"Maybe." Owen smiled, "I will try to understand love."

"I want to know, Owen, what is your attitude towards Voldemort?" Dumbledore looked into his eyes and said in a conversational tone.

"I don't want him to come back, sir." Owen said sincerely. "I think anyone who is familiar with history will not want him to come back and bring darkness and despair to the world again."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, then changed the subject: "I heard from Harry that you are not very good at learning white magic? Owen, what are your views on white magic and black magic?"

Why does this guy Harry say everything... Owen blinked and said in very objective terms without changing his expression: "They essentially lead to the same goal by different paths. They both require wizards to use their own strong emotions to cast spells, but one of them requires Positive emotions, one needs negative emotions, are opposites.”

"They tend to be more powerful and miraculous than ordinary magic, but when a wizard delves deeply into either path, he will be affected to a certain extent." Owen said slowly Xu said.

"Yes, influence, do you know how they affect a person?" Dumbledore asked, "For example, take dark magic as an example."

"When a person is immersed in strong negative emotions for a long time, his nature will be subtly affected." Owen glanced at him and said softly, "At the same time, when a wizard uses it on others, he will learn from the victim's pain and There is a feedback in desperation that changes the wizard's temperament more deeply. In both respects, black magic seems to have a much greater impact on people than white magic."

"You call that feedback?" Dumbledore's sharp blue eyes stared at him. "No, that's the corrosion of dark magic, Owen. That's when it unscrupulously erodes the body, mind and even soul of the user. Let them grow darker and more evil from the inside out."

Owen looked at him quietly and suddenly showed a bright smile: "Aren't they all the same thing?" He said in a brisk tone: "They are all mentioned in the book, just different expressions."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, exhaled deeply, and then smiled: "Why don't you continue to eat a little more?"

In the following time, the atmosphere became calmer. The three of them tasted the dessert and talked for a while. When the time was almost up, Owen and Harry said goodbye and left.

After leaving the principal's office, Owen calmly twirled a coin on his fingertips with a faint smile on his lips. It seemed that Dumbledore had noticed something, but he was not sure, so there was more room for change.

As for the erosion of black magic, he had known about it for a long time and was prepared for it. His black magic transformation is not considered a failure. Although he failed to achieve his original goal, he was able to isolate the subtle and feedback evil thoughts on the other side of his mind and store them in the black magic guard... In other words, At least it won't get worse.

It was only later that he discovered that, in fact, everything was already irreversible the moment the Black Devil Guard took shape. Accepting the malice in his heart, accepting the evil nature, accepting the erosion of black magic, and accepting the destined darkness, that is the path he has to face.

"Even if the future is doomed to be dark, please walk alone gracefully and cruelly." Owen gently tossed the coins in his hand, and the smile on his face became wider and wider.

"Owen, you don't like learning those white magics. Is it because you're not good at it?" Harry followed up, stared at the coin that was moving flexibly on Owen's fingertips, and said with a smile: "But If you don’t work hard, we will catch up with you.”

"You can think more boldly. Maybe I'm just addicted to black magic?" Owen looked at him with a half-smile.

"I don't think you would make such an unwise choice." Harry pretended to look at Owen, then shook his head and smiled.

"But what if it's true? Will you break up with me?" Owen suddenly said expressionlessly.

Harry was stunned for a moment, looking at Owen's somewhat indifferent expression. He thought about it seriously, then firmly put his arm around Owen's shoulders, and said with a playful but firm tone: "No! I believe you won't hurt me. I will never betray you, we are friends!"

Owen finally took off the other person's arm from his body, rubbed his shoulders speechlessly, and thought to himself: "A simple guy with one muscle."

However, it seems good to have such a person by your side.

He looked at the flickering candlelight in the dark corridor ahead, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.