Aurelius Dumbledore

Aurelius Dumbledore

Watching the black mist gradually fill the corridor before him, Li Weide slowly backed away...

When facing a wild beast, the worst thing to do was turn your back and run.

Li Weide feared that if he turned and fled, the black mist would surge at him! After all, what difference was there between an Obscurus that had lost its mind... and a wild beast?

Yes, the moment he saw that eerie black mist and sensed the powerful magic contained within it, Li Weide had already guessed its true identity.

The Obscurial Credence Barebone... or rather, he should be called Aurelius Dumbledore, Aberforth's biological son.

Li Weide only knew that sometime around 1930, after the Qilin election incident had ended, Aberforth had taken him home.

As for what became of him afterward, Li Weide did not know.

However, seven or eight years had already passed. Given the short lifespan of an Obscurial, even if Aurelius was exceptionally gifted, his condition could not possibly be good now.

After all, enough time had passed for even Nagini to gradually succumb and disappear from people's sight...

The fact that Aurelius, an Obscurial, was still alive was nothing short of a miracle.

Just as Li Weide was weighing whether to smash through the floor and jump down to escape or slowly back down the stairs,

Aberforth's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Don't move. Don't panic..."

Hearing that, Li Weide immediately stopped.

Then Aberforth stepped out from behind him.

He carefully approached the mass of black mist.

"Calm down... Aurelius, calm down. You can do it. I can trust you, can't I?"

As Aberforth gently coaxed him, the black mist began to tremble.

Gradually, the black mist filling the entire corridor slowly contracted. At last, it gathered in a corner of the hallway and turned into a pale young man.

His body shook uncontrollably. "I... I can't hold on much longer... Please, kill me... I won't be able to keep going for much longer anyway. Rather than let me stay here, never knowing when I might lose control and hurt someone, it would be better to send me out of this world now..."

"Nonsense! What son would force his father to kill him? Besides, your uncle set up magic in the attic. Even if you lose control, you won't be able to destroy it. Don't worry, you won't hurt anyone."

"But this time, I got out without even realizing it, didn't I? Even Uncle's magic can't stop me completely... Father, please agree... Let it all end..."

Sorrow filled Aberforth's face. "Don't say that again! Good boy, let's go back. I'll stay with you until the very end... You don't need to think about anything else! Please... don't force me anymore..."

He helped Aurelius slowly rise from the floor.

Bitterness showed on Aurelius's pale face as he turned to look at Li Weide. "I'm sorry..."

He seemed to want to say something else, but after opening his mouth, he ultimately said nothing.

Throughout all this, Li Weide said nothing. He merely watched them quietly, then watched as they slowly climbed the stairs leading to the attic.

Li Weide now completely understood why Aberforth had forbidden them from going into the attic.

It was because Aurelius was not dead. He lived in the attic, and because an out-of-control Obscurial was far too dangerous, many protective enchantments had been placed there as well.

If Li Weide was not mistaken, the sounds he had heard earlier had been the out-of-control Obscurus battering against the protective magic.

When he stepped out into the corridor, the Obscurus had just broken through the protective magic and escaped, running straight into him...

Not long afterward, Aberforth came downstairs with a heavy expression.

He walked up to Li Weide. "If you have questions, ask them."

Aberforth knew that after unexpectedly seeing Aurelius today, the child would surely have a mountain of questions. Clearly, saying nothing to him was not an option.

Children this age were at their most curious. If they went looking for "answers" on their own, they might cause trouble...

"What was that just now?" Li Weide could only ask symbolically.

"That was an Obscurus... You can think of it as a kind of illness, and the person afflicted with it is my son, Aurelius Dumbledore. Those who have this illness can turn into an Obscurus at any time and lose their reason... This time was an accident. I've reinforced the protective magic again." Aberforth answered.

Seeing Aberforth's expression, Li Weide did not want to keep asking.

Because asking further would only make this pitiable father relive the tragic past he did not wish to look back on.

Besides, Li Weide had already more or less guessed the whole story. There was no need to ask more.

"I don't have any other questions..."

Aberforth looked at Li Weide in surprise.

If it had been him, he would have had countless questions after encountering something like this. Yet Li Weide had asked only one question, and then stopped?

But Aberforth soon understood what Li Weide was thinking.

"All right... Come find me if you have questions later." Aberforth gave Li Weide a deep look, then turned and went downstairs.

What a gentle child... Aberforth thought.

By the time Tom woke up, it was already three in the afternoon.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Li Weide practicing Transfiguration, turning a matchstick into all sorts of shapes.

You bastard! You told me to sleep while you secretly worked hard yourself? How shameless!

Li Weide looked up and saw Tom staring at him with a face full of grief and indignation.

"How did you sleep? You look much more energetic."

"Don't you know best how I slept?" Tom glared at Li Weide furiously.

"All right, all right, I know you don't want to see me anymore, Tom." Li Weide waved a hand. "Whatever. I was just thinking about how to leave anyway."

Tom frowned. "What do you mean?"

Li Weide took out a key and dangled it in front of Tom.

"As a rich man with five or six thousand Galleons in Gringotts, there's really no need for me to live under someone else's roof. Wouldn't it be better to buy a house of my own? At worst, I can find a place and build one myself! With Toby taking care of my daily needs, why would I need some guardian?"

With a massive sum of Galleons and valuable gold bars in his possession, Li Weide indeed had the necessary means to live on his own.

More importantly, if he lived alone, he would be able to conduct many experiments he had long been considering but had never had the chance to carry out.

Those experiments could not be done while a guardian was watching over him...

Tom shook his head. "Dumbledore won't agree. If he doesn't agree, you'll never be able to pull this off, so forget it. You should know that he's not as kind as he looks."

"You have a point, but I'll definitely think of something." Li Weide frowned in thought.

"Also, don't forget that half of those thousand-odd Galleons and gold bars you mentioned are mine!" Tom emphasized.

They had done the job together back then, and they had caused the trouble together too. No matter what, Tom was getting half the money!

"Oh, of course, of course. I won't leave out your share." Li Weide put the Gringotts key away again.

After a long silence, Tom suddenly asked, "If... you can figure out a way to move out... can you take me with you?"

"What?" Li Weide looked at Tom in shock. "Didn't you say you didn't want to stay with me? Tom, don't get any ideas about me! I have no interest in men!"

"Bastard! What filthy thoughts are going through that head of yours?" Tom's face darkened. "What I mean is... we move out together, get away from the restrictions of these so-called guardians, and then go our separate ways!"