The Vow That Bound Dumbledore

The white light illuminated the dim cemetery, making it as bright as day.

Sean and the three people opposite Thomas all looked toward the location where the white light appeared.

The white light gradually dissipated, and an old man with white hair and beard appeared in mid-air.

"Professor Dumbledore ..." Sean recognized the person at a glance.

However, the way Dumbledore appeared in the white light was something he had never seen before.

Moreover, Dumbledore seemed to be in a strange state.

In Sean's memory, Professor Dumbledore always maintained a wise and calm demeanor. Even though he had seen him look tired many times, it was just the normal state of fatigue that an old man would exhibit.

However, Dumbledore's sudden appearance today made Sean a little uneasy.

The old man's face was contorted with anger, but his left eye was tightly shut, while his right eye remained as usual. Moreover, Dumbledore's chest was heaving violently, as if he had just survived a major battle before arriving here.

Dumbledore floated in mid-air, his plain white robes swaying slightly in the night breeze. He had his back to Sean and was facing Thomas and the other two, which allowed Sean to see his hands behind his back.

His right hand gripped his left wrist tightly. His left hand was in a contradictory state of being both dry and swollen; one finger was as withered as dry wood, while the other was so swollen that it was unrecognizable as human.

What was Dumbledore doing before he came here...?

Thomas and the other two also saw what the newcomers looked like. The three people who moved in unison all widened their eyes, revealing obvious shock.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Thomas's voice was filled with shock and panic, yet also with something Sean couldn't understand... envy?

"I'm so sorry—" Dumbledore began, but not to Thomas. Instead, he turned to Sean and smiled apologetically. "Sean, this is something I didn't anticipate. I thought the special Portkey would guarantee your safety when you go out to recruit students, but I still didn't think things through..."

"Professor, are you aware of this situation?" Sean did not extinguish his demonic flames; instead, he pointed to the Lloyd Couple beside him.

Dumbledore frowned.

After a moment, he said, "I had some ideas, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this..."

Upon hearing this, Sean also frowned.

So it seems Dumbledore about the dealings between the Returners and Durmstrang.

He wasn't stupid. The Lloyd Couple' strange behavior had already reminded him of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, "Sloth." But that was just a guess. Sean originally intended to take the person back to Hogwarts, but he was pulled to this graveyard by an unknown, powerful force. That almost certainly meant it was the power of the Sin "Sloth." He had touched upon a terrible truth, which was why he was brought here by a defensive, unknown spell.

But that wasn't what shocked Sean. After all, he had already guessed that the Returners had a Sin background. What truly shocked him was the power that Thomas two companions displayed and what they said.

As the Pride, Sean, though unable to control the Giant within him, does have some understanding of the power of Sin.

Back then, at Père Lachaise Cemetery, Sean awakened Pride. Pride briefly revived and completely took over Sean's body, revealing its true nature Sin.

What Sean felt most deeply was, on the one hand, the irresistible and terrifying power of Sin, and on the other hand, the purity of Sin itself.

Yes, Sin is pure, a pure and powerful force, and its greatest strength lies in its exclusion and purity.

Although Sean had only experienced the power of Pride and a portion of the power of Lust, and knew that the power manifested by each Sin was different, there should be one thing in common among the seven Sin —their power rejects external magic.

When Sean was possessed by the Obscurus, a part of the Obscurus was also absorbed by Pride. But that was a trap set by Pride for Sean. It was Sin actively absorbed the Obscurus. In fact, Sean suspects that he was possessed by the Obscurus first, which is why Pride was able to do this.

The power of Sin refuses to be absorbed or dissolved by Mahoutokoro. In other words, many spells of a wizard are completely ineffective when faced with Sin. Conversely, the same applies when spells are cast using the power of Sin, when faced with the wizard's magic.

The two forces will only collide and explode at their most fundamental level, just like why Sean was able to shatter the Binding Charm left by Dumbledore when he finally gained some control over the situation.

The power of Sin surpasses human imagination, even Sean cannot fathom it—this is one of the reasons why Sin can be so destructive, and also why Sean has yet to gain any control over Pride.

In other words, apart from those who coexist with Sin and have a slight chance of borrowing its Sin Sin. This is Sean's personal experience and a natural intuition as the head of Sin, Pride.

However, the unknown power used by Thomas and his two companions came from the Sin [Sloth]?!

Sean was 100% certain that none of Thomas's three were truly "Sloth." The awakening of Sin gradually grants the host a portion of power; the more guilt awakens, the more the host gains, until finally, the host becomes entirely "Sin"—this should be the law governing the awakening of "Sin."

Since Sean was unable to control Pride, his efforts were focused on preventing Pride from awakening and on using various opportunities to weaken Pride power.

As for Stephanie, as the embodiment of "Lust," she began to exhibit increasingly evident Sin power during her gradual awakening, which Sean could perceive in his conscious state. Moreover, as "Pride" is the foremost Sin, the other Sin would instinctively try to merge into "Pride" during the awakening process.

Thomas and his two companions were already able to use such a direct power of Sin, but Sean not only lacked the instinctive sense of Sin, the other party also clearly did not want to merge into Sean's body.

The fact that an uncontrollable force of Sin appeared in the three wizards was what truly shocked Sean.

In other words, Sin is something that transcends the life level of a wizard, which is almost equivalent to a mortal wielding the power of a god.

But what exactly happened to the "Sloth" behind the Returners?

Just as Sean frowned in thought, a shrill voice rang out. "Professor Dumbledore! You shouldn't be here!"

When Thomas saw that Dumbledore completely ignoring him, he shouted, his voice filled with obvious resentment and dissatisfaction.

Dumbledore then took a good look at Thomas, whose right eye, which was open, revealed obvious surprise and unease, and whose brows furrowed even more.

"Who are you..." the old man asked slowly, his tone carrying an undeniable authority.

Thomas's throat bobbed, but his voice grew even lower. "Do I really need to explain this to you, Professor Dumbledore?"

Sean called out from behind, "His name is Deep Thomas. He's Durmstrang's Admissions Officer. I ran into him at a freshman's house earlier today. He was planning to bypass other schools' Admissions Officer and try to recruit freshmen in advance using intimidation tactics."

Dumbledore nodded with his back to Sean, then looked at Thomas face was grim. "Mr. Thomas, the common admission criteria were determined by several headmasters together, so may I ask, whose instructions did you receive?"

Thomas gave Sean a cold look, then snorted at Dumbledore, "Professor, you're quite the expert at dodging questions—I just don't understand, is Wallerup that important to you?"

"Every child is important to me," Dumbledore said without batting an eye.

Thomas scoffed dismissively. "Professor Dumbledore, what does this have to do with admissions? You don't think I'd let Wallerup leave unscathed after I've shown you so much, do you?"

Dumbledore didn't speak, and Sean, who had his back to him, squinted.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Thomas smiled smugly, "As for what exactly happened, I suggest you go and ask that person yourself, Professor. After all, it's not something I can decide. However, things have come to this point, that person shouldn't be hiding anything from you anymore—of course, I have to take Wallerup with me."

As he spoke, he completely ignored Dumbledore in front of him and walked straight toward Sean.

"Sean Wallerup, who possesses the [Pride] within him, ha, what a coincidence that I happened to run into him— Wallerup, it's all your fault for being a busybody. I couldn't do anything about you before, but it's strange..."

Thomas walked past Dumbledore, glanced at the floating old man, and said mockingly, "It's all your headmaster's fault. He's already secretly cooperated with us. Tsk, trying to use a special Portkey to protect your students, Professor Dumbledore. You're too naive. Of course, you'll find out everything soon enough—"

Sean squinted, glancing every now and then at Dumbledore remained motionless.

Dumbledore had always known that he had a cooperative relationship with the Returners, but Sean speculated that Dumbledore and the Returners had only reached a partial agreement, and that Dumbledore wanted to use this partial relationship to achieve some goal of his own.

However, judging from Thomas's words, Dumbledore's cooperation with the Returners has reached such a deep level that they are only one step away from touching on a certain truth—if Dumbledore lets Thomas take him away today, the Returners will probably reveal all their plans to Dumbledore completely...

Principal, what exactly are you plotting...?

Thomas had completely turned his attention to Sean: "Wallerup, are you desperate? Did you think your headmaster was your savior? What a pity, what a pity..."

The three of them raised their wands in unison, and the magic power originating from the Sin Sloth surged forth once more.

"It's clearly Pride, possessing a treasure trove without realizing it... Wallerup, give up your struggles, come on, you will 'become' one of us, ha—"

The magic at the tip of the staff surged violently, then shot straight toward the demonic flames in front of Sean!

Sean didn't move, but simply gripped his wand tightly.

"Buzz——————"

A piercing buzzing sound echoed throughout the cemetery, and a silver-white shield appeared in front of Sean's demonic flames, blocking the spell cast by Thomas and his companions.

"Dumbledore —Professor?"

Thomas's face instantly darkened.

"I understand your rush here as an act of kindness; after all, this is your student, and you sensed he was in danger, which I sincerely admire—but when you saw me, after I called out your name, you still tried to stop me?"

Dumbledore slowly turned his head.

Sean's pupils suddenly contracted!

Just like Max Dawson before him, a strange red magic appeared on Dumbledore's wrist, and that magic was trying to go towards Dumbledore's heart!

Unbreakable Vow!

Dumbledore has indeed made Unbreakable Vow with the Returners!

Thomas also saw the activated oath, and a smug look appeared on his face. He then said loudly, "Professor, it seems the oath's judgment has taken effect—can you lay a hand on me? Can you defy the Returners's will?"

"Well..."

A long sigh rang out.

Dumbledore seemed oblivious to the eerie red magic. He sighed, and his left eye, which had been tightly closed, slowly opened. Something seemed to flicker within it before returning to the old man's lake-blue eyes.

"That was too reckless..." Dumbledore looked a bit of a headache.

Thomas frowned; he sensed something was amiss.

"Professor! You know better than I what Unbreakable Vow means! And today, everything happened right before Wallerup's eyes. He has seen your secret, he knows you are cooperating with us—what was the point of you risking your life to save him?!"

Dumbledore ignored him and instead looked at Sean: "Alas, Sean, I must say, I was too reckless—I thought such a long life span would allow me to gain more wisdom, but unfortunately, I was still a bit impulsive back then."

"Professor..."

Dumbledore smiled at Sean, then looked at Thomas: "The oath was signed too early, and the demands were too many... But then again..."

Dumbledore's "However" completely panicked Thomas, who immediately shouted, "Dumbledore! Don't forget, there's still room for maneuver in everything else, but if you kill me, you'll be afflicted by the oath, and you'll die!"

Dumbledore nodded easily. "You're right, the wizard who invented this oath is truly powerful. If I were to kill you, I would certainly die—however, the oath's binding force on me isn't as strong as you think, child. You must not have asked your elders who demolished the temple..."

"The temple..." Thomas paused, then his eyes widened. "You!"

"Besides," Dumbledore smiled slyly, "Why would I kill you?"