With great power comes great responsibility

"I'm very sorry. I promise that next time, before taking them out, I'll let you know first."

Professor Dumbledore spoke to Mrs. Cole with sincere contrition.

"All right... Since they're back already, I'll let it go. You have no idea how worried I was! It's so dangerous outside... Human Traffickers everywhere!"

As Mrs. Cole spoke, she shot another glare at Tom and Li Weide, who were hiding behind Dumbledore.

"You two don't get dinner tonight. That's your punishment!"

"Yes... Mrs. Cole," Li Weide and Tom replied weakly.

After Mrs. Cole left, Dumbledore turned to the two of them. "All right. Now it's time for you to tell me what exactly you went through today."

"All right... Let's go to Tom's room and sit down while we talk..."

"Your room would be better. It's a nicer environment," Tom immediately objected.

He never wanted to see Dumbledore in his room again...

Who knew whether he would burn something else to scare him?

"All right, then let's go to my room..."

A moment later, the three of them arrived in Li Weide's room.

Li Weide pulled over a chair for Dumbledore, then sat on the edge of the bed with Tom.

"I imagine you must be hungry. But Mrs. Cole has punished you by forbidding you dinner, and I shouldn't encourage you to break her rules. So, let's have something to drink instead."

As Dumbledore spoke, he picked up an old umbrella from nearby and laid it on the floor.

Whoosh!

The next second, the umbrella transformed into a small tea table.

Li Weide and Tom watched with shining eyes.

Dumbledore waved his hand, and three drinks appeared atop the table. There was no telling where he had hidden them before.

"I trust you've guessed that I didn't happen to appear there by chance and take the blame for you," Dumbledore said.

Li Weide and Tom nodded.

Dumbledore pushed two cups of Pumpkin Juice toward Li Weide and Tom.

"This morning, in an alley two kilometers from the Leaky Cauldron, Muggle police discovered two people who had been tied up tightly..."

Li Weide nodded. "We did that."

Dumbledore paused slightly. He had not expected Li Weide to admit it so readily.

"Can you tell me why? I seem to recall telling you that wizards must never use magic on Muggles." Dumbledore's tone became stern.

"They were Human Traffickers!" Tom said urgently. "They wanted to abduct us! Were we supposed to just not fight back?"

Li Weide patted Tom on the shoulder, signaling for him not to get so worked up.

"According to Article Three of Chapter One of the newly revised 1928 Protection Act for Underage Wizards, underage wizards may use magic to protect themselves when faced with danger."

"Article One of Chapter One also states that, for the purposes of this act, underage wizards are wizards under the age of eighteen."

"Tom and I are only around eleven this year, so we should both fall under the protection of this act."

"In other words, when faced with abduction, Tom and I used magic to offer appropriate resistance. That fully complied with Article Three of Chapter One and should not have violated Ministry of Magic regulations..."

"So, Professor Dumbledore, we should not be reproached over this matter."

Dumbledore was left rather stunned by Li Weide's words.

Tom, meanwhile, gaped at Li Weide beside him, utterly unable to understand how Li Weide knew so much about these supposed regulations of the wizarding world.

"How... are you so familiar with these?" Dumbledore could not help asking.

Li Weide shrugged. "We went to Diagon Alley today. I spent more than two hours in Flourish and Blotts."

Tom stared at Li Weide in shock. "So you really memorized every book that interested you? You weren't bragging?"

"Not all of them. Time was limited, after all, and I couldn't go through every book that caught my interest..." Li Weide said regretfully. "I'll just have to make another trip to Diagon Alley next time."

"So... you can memorize all those books after reading through them once? You... you..."

Tom was so devastated that he could not even speak...

Dumbledore was equally shaken. In other words, everything Li Weide had just cited had been memorized after he read through it only once today...

Of course, it was also possible that he knew what he had done today and had deliberately found that act to memorize it.

"Your talent is truly astonishing, Weide... You're right. I cannot hold you accountable for this matter. And your actions did constitute self-defense. You did nothing wrong..."

"However..." Dumbledore changed tack. "Did you go to 39 Strand Street afterward?"

"Yes. We did that too," Li Weide admitted crisply once again.

Since Dumbledore had come looking for them today, it meant that what they had done had been exposed.

Any attempt to conceal it would be futile. Dumbledore would never have come here without sufficient evidence.

It was better to admit it outright.

"Why did you do that?" Dumbledore asked with a frown.

"We all know how miserable it is to fall into the hands of Human Traffickers... They sell good-looking children to wealthy perverts. The less attractive but clever ones are trained as pickpockets, while the duller ones have their arms and legs broken and are driven onto the streets to beg..."

"So, when I learned there were still children in the Human Traffickers' hands, I dragged Tom along with me. We wanted to save them," Li Weide said calmly.

Tom was a little surprised that Li Weide had taken all the responsibility onto himself this time.

Dumbledore opened his mouth, but no words of rebuke would come out.

Only after a long while did he slowly say, "Wanting to save people was right... But you should not have gone about it like that. It isn't that I doubt your or Tom's abilities. It's just that... wizards and magic must never be exposed carelessly before Muggles. That is a serious violation of the International Statute of Secrecy."

Dumbledore raised his eyes to Li Weide. "Since you've memorized all this already, I assume I needn't repeat it to you?"

"Yes, Professor... But at the time, we had not yet gone to Diagon Alley, so we did not know that our actions violated the International Statute of Secrecy."

Li Weide looked at Dumbledore, then lowered his head and said softly, "But I do not regret what I did. There were people who needed help, and I happened to have the ability to help them... I could not simply stand by and watch. I have always believed that with great power comes great responsibility."

Dumbledore's eyebrows lifted slightly. "With great power... comes great responsibility..."

After another long while, Dumbledore spoke again. "All the Human Traffickers who were arrested have been frightened out of their minds. They cannot reveal anything about the wizarding world, so you were lucky this time. It does not count as a violation of the International Statute of Secrecy... All right, tell me about the entire operation."

So Li Weide and Tom recounted everything that had happened during their raid on the Human Traffickers' hideout that morning, including the gold bars, Tom's Parseltongue, and Nagini, whom they had drawn there because of it.

They could not hide it, so they might as well say it plainly.

After hearing the full account, Dumbledore sighed. "I have to say, you were fortunate today... I knew Nagini in the past. She is a very unfortunate person... Caught between her beastly nature and her humanity, it is hard to imagine how much pain she has endured."

Tom immediately asked, "What exactly happened to her?"

"She is a Blood Curse Werewolf," Dumbledore said. "All right, we'll discuss her later. For now, let's talk about the dozen or so gold bars you obtained."

Li Weide remained calm upon hearing that, but Tom's eyes widened involuntarily, afraid that Dumbledore was going to confiscate the gold.

Tom, whose strength was not yet great enough, had now come to understand the importance of money.

After all, he was not yet the Voldemort who would one day shake the world...

Dumbledore smiled. "I'm not here to seize your gold. I merely want to remind you... Could an ordinary Human Trafficker hideout really possess that much gold? You exchanged some of it today, so you should know what an enormous fortune it is."

Li Weide immediately understood. "Professor, are you saying we've gotten ourselves into serious trouble?"

As for the Ministry of Magic's so-called underage protection act, I made it up because I couldn't find any relevant information...