A Long-Overdue Conversation with Dumbledore

Stephanie hesitated for a moment, but finally picked up the mirror.

This is Magical Item that Grindelwald gave her, allowing her to connect with herself.

"I need to let you know, sir," Stephanie said to herself in the mirror.

However, after waiting for quite a while, Grindelwald's voice still did not come from inside.

Stephanie had no choice but to give up; this wasn't the first time she'd been unable to contact the other party.

Meanwhile, Sean had already walked out of the Room of Requirement where no one was around. Inside the castle, quite a few students had noticed something was wrong, and there was a lot of noise going on.

Sean approached the professor and ultimately received the same answer that Stephanie had given him.

The date October 27th has indeed disappeared.

Sean also subtly inquired whether the professors had a deeper understanding of the Time-Turner.

However, even Professor Flitwick, who possessed the greatest knowledge, did not seem to understand it.

This also indirectly confirms Stephanie's statement that the Time-Turner were all destroyed a long time ago.

After leaving the Staff Room, Sean changed direction and walked into a narrow side corridor towards the Ravenclaw Tower. With access to the Room of Requirement, he no longer had to worry about taking unnecessary detours at Hogwarts.

Sean lowered his head in thought, pondering who was responsible for this time travel accident.

Is it Dumbledore, Grindelwald? Or perhaps Ancients hidden behind the veil?

What exactly did that person change when they went back in time?

Furthermore, who was the person who altered Stephanie's memories?

Lost in thought, Sean didn't notice what was in front of him and accidentally bumped into a student.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?" Sean quickly apologized.

He looked at the person he had bumped into, a sixth-year Slytherin boy.

The other person had a cold expression. He simply patted his shoulder, which Sean had bumped into, with annoyance, and coldly said, "Watch where you're going," before walking past him.

It was still dark, and the torchlight in the corridor was not very bright.

As they passed each other, Sean only saw a cold and arrogant face.

"Those guys from Slytherin..." Sean muttered to himself helplessly.

Thanks to Sean's actions and Malfoy's influence, relations between Slytherin and the other houses have improved considerably—in a different way.

Following the rhetoric taught by Sean, Malfoy would make grand promises to everyone in the Slytherin Common Room every day after class.

The topics were nothing more than the true glory of Pure-blood, the true manners of Slytherin, and so on.

After being brainwashed so much, and with Sean often helping Malfoy stage some spooky little incidents (basically having the Basilisk hide in the Chamber of Secrets to cooperate with the performance), the Slytherin ' attitudes were slowly changing.

It wasn't that they were willing to lower their guard and mingle with students from other colleges, but rather that they disdained to engage in those petty 'discriminatory' tricks anymore.

Under Malfoy's brainwashing, most of the Little Snakes began to think that discriminating against their classmates was a very low-class thing.

The real Slytherin have more important and noble things to do—though they haven't yet found what they should be doing.

However, this is actually a good thing for easing the atmosphere at Hogwarts.

Sean subconsciously glanced back at the Little Snakes from before, and upon seeing it, his brows furrowed.

Wrong direction...

I took the path that I usually found easy to get lost on the stairs, a path that few people walked on. The person I was looking for wasn't going to the Slytherin Common Room, and there were no classes at the moment. If I wanted to go to the library, it would be closer to go up the stairs from the Great Hall; there was no need to go through the corridor on the first floor.

Whether he came out for a meal or to check on the situation, he should normally have returned to the Slytherin Common Room at the bottom of the Black Lake.

Although the Little Snakes are proud, they rarely act alone. They prefer to gather in groups and always maintain a numerical advantage on their side.

Normally, Sean would just be curious and then leave it at that. After all, everyone has their own secrets, and he has no right to monitor others.

But then a time travel accident happened, Sean became more sensitive than before, suspicious of everything that seemed abnormal.

Sean pondered for a moment and decided to go after them to see what was going on.

Walking to a secluded corner, the stone wall moved according to Sean's will, and the Room of Requirement was opened again.

However, instead of going to a specific room, Sean entered one of the compartments in the Room of Requirement's storage room.

He stepped inside the stone walls of Hogwarts, and everything outside was laid bare before him. He walked along a void corridor from which no one could see him.

This is also one of the privileges that the Room of Requirement granted to Sean.

Sean jogged a few steps and caught up with the Slytherin student who was going up the stairs.

The other person had a cold gaze, a calm expression, and took very long strides.

First floor, second floor, third floor...

Sean hid in the stone wall, watching as the other person climbed several flights of stairs without stopping.

Furthermore, Sean noticed that although the other person appeared calm, he was deliberately avoiding places where students usually stayed.

He didn't want anyone to know where he was going...

Seeing the other person's appearance, Sean became even more convinced that something was wrong with this guy.

The Slytherin student kept taking the secluded little staircases upstairs, avoiding the main corridors, and finally arrived at the Seventh Floor.

Huh? This guy knows about the Room of Requirement?

Within the stone wall, Sean raised an eyebrow.

If the other person is heading to the Room of Requirement, then there's no need to follow them; they don't like to pry into other people's secrets.

However, the person walked past the tapestry and headed straight for the end of the Seventh Floor corridor.

That direction... is the Headmaster's Office.

Sean followed quietly behind the other person, who looked around in front of the Gargoyle and, after confirming that no one was nearby, whispered the command.

"The past is whispering."

Huh? Dumbledore actually uses passwords other than sweets, candies, and snacks?

Moreover, Dumbledore hadn't been to the castle for quite some time, and she only learned from Stephanie that Dumbledore had been there the previous night.

How did this person know?

To Sean's surprise, the Gargoyle actually jumped to the side. However, the person did not go in, but waited quietly at the door.

Soon, Dumbledore, who had not appeared for a long time, appeared at the door!

Sean's pupils dilated suddenly; in just a short time, Dumbledore looked much older than before.

Previously, although Dumbledore white hair, his eyes and movements did not resemble those of an elderly person.

This time, Sean truly saw the old age and weariness emanating from Dumbledore.

"They sent me to find you," the Slytherin student said.

Dumbledore smiled gently, and with a casual wave of his hand, Sean could no longer hear their conversation.

This person is a liaison; for whom is he relaying a message?

Furthermore, why not go into the office, but instead talk outside the door...?

The conversation between the two was brief; soon, Dumbledore lifted the spell, and the student quickly left.

Sean watched all this silently from within the stone wall; he did not chase after the departing student.

After a slight hesitation, he placed his hand on the stone wall, and the door appeared.

He could easily catch up with the student; with Imperius Curse, Hypnosis Charm, and so on, Sean had over a dozen ways to get the details of their conversation. However, Sean decided to ask Dumbledore, who had been avoiding him, in person.

Before Dumbledore had even returned to his office, he saw the writhing stone wall and then saw Sean emerge from a wooden door that appeared out of nowhere.

His wise eyes first showed surprise, then admiration.

"Sean, it seems you've done a better job than I have in uncovering the secrets of Hogwarts," he said with a gentle smile.

Sean closed the door, the wooden door disappearing from view, and he stared directly at Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said softly, "May I ask what you've been up to lately?"

Dumbledore smiled helplessly, "Sean, you know, I can't tell you."

Sean understood the hidden meaning in the other person's words. "I can't tell," rather than "I won't tell."

"Why?" Sean frowned. "Like Prophecy, the more people who know about it, the more it influences the course of the whole thing?"

Dumbledore, with his hands behind his back, lifted a non-existent pebble on the stone corridor like a child, his tone carrying a meaning Sean couldn't decipher.

"Please forgive me for not being able to give a definite answer."

"That old riddle-maker..." Sean thought to himself, feeling a surge of anger that made his teeth itch.

Dumbledore then changed the subject, his tone filled with pride. "I was wondering last night why a second person had suddenly touched Hogwarts. I must say, as the headmaster, I feel both ashamed and proud that my students discovered a deeper secret before me."

Sean took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "But for the first half of the month, your students were controlled and humiliated by Umbridge, and you didn't show up."

Dumbledore's face showed some apology, but his eyes were sincere. "This is indeed a very incompetent act, and I must apologize to everyone—however, please allow me to defend myself."

"Back then, well... I had too many things to deal with, and it was hard for me to get away. Besides," he smiled at Sean, "Your headmaster was still bound by the Ministry of Magic, and I admit I couldn't do a better job than you— Sean, I've always had a lot of faith in you."

"Please forgive this shameless old man, but that's really what I think."

Sean was taken aback, and finally replied sullenly, "I didn't think that way about you."

"That's wonderful," Dumbledore said with a sigh of relief. "Sean, I can't even describe the whole thing to you. In fact, I hesitated for a long time before saying this—whether I should even talk to you or not."

"However, I feel I should still tell you that I'm not trying to reassure you, but rather that I'm just an old man with little ability trying to continue to win back his students' trust..."

Dumbledore was older and weaker than before, but his eyes still shone brightly behind his glasses.

"Sean, please believe me, okay?"

Sean fell silent, and the atmosphere in the Seventh Floor corridor was heavy.

The Gargoyle secretly moved its base, seemingly wanting to move away from this place.

The sound of the stone block moving broke the silence. Sean glanced at the gargoyle, which had turned its Gargoyle away as if it didn't exist, and said in a deep voice, "Professor Dumbledore, my choice to come out rather than try to take the soul of that Slytherin student is proof of my trust in you."

Dumbledore moment, then patted his head with a sigh of resignation, "I'm really out of my mind. I can't even understand such a simple principle—but thank you very much for your trust, Sean."

After saying this, he winked at Sean, still like the wise and humorous old man he used to be, and then went back to his office.

"Professor," Sean called out to him, "Mr. Grindelwald ..."

The name made Dumbledore stop in his tracks. Finally, he turned around, Sean noticed a look of relief... sadness in the old man's eyes.

"I wish I could go back to that summer..." he sighed. "By the way, Sean, don't go looking for those Slytherin from earlier; it won't do you any good."

The Gargoyle jumped back and blocked the entrance to the Headmaster's Office once again.

Dumbledore's lake-blue eyes flickered one last time.

Goodbye, Sean.

The corridor on the Seventh Floor was empty again, leaving only Sean, who was breathing heavily.

Dumbledore... why did you say that?

That night in Paris, I realized that those two old men were clearly acting.

Why, why does Dumbledore look so sad...?

Sean's brief conversation with Dumbledore made him unusually irritable.

Isn't this just acting...?

Aren't those two old fogies plotting an unprecedented grand scheme...?

Damn it, what the hell...

Sean stood alone in the corridor for a long time, a mix of emotions flashing through his mind, until the sunlight of October 28th shone through the gaps in the curtains and fell into Sean eyes.

Dust and wisps floated and sank within the beam of light.

Scotland, which had been experiencing years of rain, finally saw sunshine...

Sean remained silent for a long time before finally throwing a powerful punch at the beam of light.

"You two old geezers who can't speak human language, when you're fighting to the death, I won't help either of you, damn it... Bah! I'm going to study hard and improve myself every day, eventually take control of the Sin, and then beat you all to death..."

He started cursing and swearing as if venting his anger.

In the end, Sean left, still upset.

Go find Hermione and Daisy; he needs something nice to lift his spirits.

However, Sean hadn't walked far when he saw two girls, and Harry and the others followed behind them in a panic.

Hermione's eyes lit up when she saw Sean: "You really are here!... Sean, what's wrong?"

The girl keenly noticed the gloomy expression on Sean's face.

"It's nothing," Sean waved lazily, glancing at the flustered Harry. "What's wrong? Looking for me?"

Harry rushed forward, holding something unseen in his arms, speaking in a low, urgent voice.

"Sean!"

"What's wrong?" Sean looked down at the other person's empty hands.

That's Invisibility Cloak.

Harry's slicked-back hair wasn't even properly styled, and he swallowed hard.

"The Invisibility Cloak... is broken..."