The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

The late winter in Albania was even colder than Hogwarts. Walking through the gradually sparsely populated paths, snow piled on the road and melted into the mud.

Not long after Dumbledore pulled Loren out of the hotel, he began to use magic to wander in the Dinara Mountains in eastern Albania.

After the two of them walked more than ten meters, they would shrink into a ball and disappear in place like a vortex. With a slight "pop", they would appear hundreds of meters away, then walk another dozen meters and repeat the last action.

Dumbledore's Disapparation Spell was very subtle, and Loren didn't feel any discomfort during such a short distance teleportation.

This behavior was repeated countless times, and Loren couldn't help but asked: "Principal Dumbledore, what are we looking for?"

"Look for some special traces."

They stopped in front of a snow-covered pine tree, which is common in Albanian forests, mostly coniferous.

There are many ice edges hanging on the branches, with the tips pointing to the ground, and white snowflakes stick to the stick-like ice edges.

There was a flash of flame, and a flame shot up from Dumbledore's palm and rose up along the trunk of the tree. It did not damage the branches at all, but only melted away the ice and snow.

It started to rain lightly under the trees.

The ice edges on the tree revealed their true colors. They were snake bones with their tails wrapped around the tree and their heads hanging straight to the ground.

The snake bones have varying degrees of corrosion, and some have become rotten and yellowed, looking like they have been there for several years. Some of them can still see corroded pieces of flesh hanging between the bones, indicating that they were only a few months away from death.

There are big and small, the small ones are no more than the length of an arm, and the large snake skull is almost as big as an adult head.

The ice and snow covering the carrion melted away, and a faint stench began to permeate the air.

"Voldemort doesn't look like he's been having a good time these past ten years."

Dumbledore looked carefully at the remains of these snakes, seeming to confirm something.

For ten years, Voldemort hid in this forest, possessing a snake, and lingering.

The body of an ordinary snake cannot carry Voldemort's evil soul for a long time. Voldemort will change his body every once in a while, and these bones are hung here, like some evil ritual.

Dumbledore knew that it was impossible for a man as conceited as Voldemort to live here for ten years without leaving some traces to prove his existence. These snake bones are the best proof.

Arrogant sense of ritual, even if there is only a residual soul left, you have to prove yourself.

Loren raised his head and looked at these snake bones, imagining Voldemort crawling through branches and shrubs, the scales on his abdomen making a rustling sound.

He didn't know much about Voldemort and always thought he was a villain with no intelligence and no nose. All kinds of strange thoughts came to mind. Does Voldemort need to hunt for food? Will he swallow rats and rabbits alive with their skins and flesh?

Dumbledore didn't know that Loren already knew about Voldemort, and he was wondering how much he should tell Loren.

After stopping for a while, the two started wandering again.

This is really a small country. Dumbledore took Loren to visit every place in Albania in one afternoon.

Winter is not over yet, the mountains and forests are covered with ice and snow.

The two came to sit by a vast lake, which was not frozen.

Lake Ohrid stretches for thousands of miles in the east of Albania. The clear lake reflects the clear clouds in the sky and the surrounding mountains.

Looking at such a wide and clear lake, Dumbledore looked much more relaxed.

"It doesn't look like anything special here."

All afternoon, they saw no werewolves, no vampires, no evil witches who had lived for centuries.

"An old wizard's advice is to never jump to conclusions about anything prematurely."

Dumbledore waved his hand and turned a stone into a tabletop, and placed some snacks that he took out from nowhere.

Loren watched him take out a pot of steaming black tea from his sleeve, and then looked at his cumbersome small suitcase, mentally slandering whether Dumbledore's Invisible Stretching Charm was legal.

Secretly planning to start refining his own space items after returning, and asking Flamel for help, he should be able to complete it during the summer vacation.

"Voldemort used an evil ritual to put his soul in a strange state..." Dumbledore poured the black tea and his voice drifted with the rising fog.

"...Harry's mother protected Harry with love, a power that Voldemort did not understand..."

The rebounding Death Curse destroyed Voldemort's body and magic, leaving him so weak that he turned into a wandering ghost and lingered in the Albanian forest for ten years.

Until Quirrell's arrival, Voldemort easily controlled the power-hungry wizard.

At this point, Dumbledore took a sip of tea and said, "Don't be driven by power, control power."

"Why don't you just expose Quirrell?"

"Voldemort cannot be killed, and Hogwarts needs a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Dumbledore said this with confidence. No one knows better than him how difficult it is to find a professor who is willing to come to Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he has to change one every year.

"Harry and the others are now on guard against Professor Snape, thinking he wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone." Loren looked at Dumbledore.

"Well, although there are some deviations, it is acceptable." Dumbledore pretended to think, and then asked: "What about you, do you believe Severus?"

Thanks to his magical eyes, Loren had seen something strange on the top of Professor Quirrell's head, and had also seen the Dark Mark of Severus. Dumbledore wanted to know what Loren was thinking.

"I think Professor Snape is unlucky. He was the only one bitten by Fluffy."

Such an answer made Dumbledore pause. He looked at Loren with gentle eyes and smiled, "Maybe I should tell Severus how to calm that irritable puppy."

Loren was still thinking about desperate souls. The only souls related to this forest were Quirrell and Voldemort.

"Are those snakes desperate souls?" Loren asked.

"I don't think so. These are just ordinary snakes."

"Who will be that desperate soul, Voldemort?" Loren didn't want to accept such a choice. The plot of redeeming the villain was too vulgar.

"Voldemort's soul has long been broken. He will not despair."

He only grew angrier and resented those who had put him in this situation, whether those who resisted him or those who were his useless servants.

Dumbledore looked dazed. He occasionally wondered if he would have had a different outcome if he had been kinder to young Tom when he went to the orphanage.

"I think your prophecy won't have results until the last day of this year. That's when the old and the new will change."

Why did you bring me here so early?

Loren could only dare to mutter this in his heart.