Hogwarts: What Bad Intentions Could a Little Hufflepuff Have? — Chapter 13

Dumbledore said with a smile.

Hermione beamed at Dumbledore's coaxing.

Of course.

Unlike Hermione's excitement.

Black remained wary of Dumbledore.

Because...

No matter how he thought about it, today's encounter felt very strange!

Running into a Concealment Monster might have simply been bad luck.

But.

Why had Dumbledore suddenly appeared here?

Why was Fawkes so affectionate toward him?

And most importantly.

Why had his Nameplate suddenly repaired itself at this moment?

And...

Why was his surname the incredibly sensitive "Grindelwald"?

Thinking of all this.

Black's mind was full of question marks.

At that moment.

Dumbledore's gaze turned toward Black as well.

Although he had only just met this child.

For some reason.

Whenever he looked at him.

He always felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.

Dumbledore smiled at Black. "Then... I suppose you're also a new Hogwarts student this year?"

"I'm not," Black answered honestly.

"Oh?" Dumbledore looked at Black in confusion. "You didn't receive an acceptance letter delivered by owl?"

"A letter by owl? Oh, Hermione told me about that. But... I never received one."

Black was not lying this time.

He truly had not received an acceptance letter.

More precisely.

He had been waiting for that owl all along.

But it had never come.

Black thought.

Perhaps his birthday had not arrived yet.

As an orphan.

He did not even know when his birthday was...

Dumbledore was somewhat surprised as well.

In the UK.

Young wizards of school age.

Generally all attended Hogwarts.

Unless the child's parents were unwilling.

Or had decided to send the child to another magical academy.

However.

Even if they did not wish to attend Hogwarts.

That would be a decision to make later.

Hogwarts would still send every school-age young wizard an acceptance letter.

But now.

Black clearly had not received one!

Perhaps the child had not turned eleven yet?

That was not particularly strange.

Black continued looking at Dumbledore with a puzzled expression.

He was not worried in the slightest that Dumbledore would see through his lies.

Because the Novice Gift Pack had rewarded him with beginner-level Legilimency.

Beginner-level Legilimency might not be enough to deal with Voldemort.

But it was more than enough for Dumbledore.

After all, he would not directly use Occlumency to forcibly read a young wizard's memories.

"Then what exactly... happened here?"

Because Black and Hermione were together.

Dumbledore had initially assumed that they already knew each other.

And since Hermione knew about the magical world.

Black naturally should have known as well.

But now, it seemed.

That was not the case?

Afterward.

Black told Dumbledore everything that had happened earlier.

Of course, he concealed the parts he could not reveal.

Dumbledore looked at Black and Hermione in surprise.

He had always assumed that both children came from wizarding families.

Or at least Hermione did.

But unexpectedly.

They were both Muggle-born.

Black was even a child from an Orphanage.

The two children had only learned about the magical world recently.

"I always thought my abilities were some kind of superpower."

"So I secretly practiced them before..."

"It wasn't until not long ago that Hermione told me this was magic..."

Black added.

This was his indirect explanation.

His Transfiguration had reached such a level.

Entirely because he had practiced it as though it were a superpower!

That way...

His Transfiguration skills, far beyond those of his peers, seemed much more reasonable.

After Black finished speaking.

He was very glad that he had not used any offensive spells during the battle.

Otherwise, that really would have been difficult to explain.

Sure enough.

Dumbledore did not grow suspicious.

Instead, he was even more astonished.

After all.

If Black had not received an acceptance letter.

That meant.

He did not have a Wand!

He could use Transfiguration to this level without a Wand?!

If he had a Wand...

Wouldn't he be even more formidable?

At that moment, the corner of Black's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Because the system notified him.

The Treasure Chest draw had failed...

Trash system!

After recovering from his shock, Dumbledore let out a soft sigh.

Then he smiled and said.

"It is truly a great blessing that you are both unharmed, children."

"Concealment Monsters are not so easy to deal with."

"However... your brave performance was far more outstanding than I expected!"

"If this had been at Hogwarts, I would definitely have awarded twenty points to each of your Houses without hesitation!"

Then Dumbledore smiled at Black again.

"By the way... what is your name?"

"Perhaps I can return to Hogwarts and find out when your birthday is."

"The Book of Admission will certainly have your name and birthday."

Indeed.

Hermione had already introduced herself.

But Black had never said his name.

"Thank you so much, Professor!"

Black said excitedly.

"My name is Black... Black Grindelwald!"

Dumbledore's eyes suddenly widened.

"Y-you... what did you say your name was?!"

Ding! Detected an extremely shocked emotion!

Ding! Drawing a Treasure Chest for the host!