Dumbledore's Unspoken Burden

Why do you say that Professor Dumbledore is sending himself to his death?

As Sean's voice fell silent, the previously noisy headmasters fell silent, and the walls instantly became quiet.

Phineas pretended to be swirling a glass of red wine in his hand, while Delilah Derwent, the former headmistress of Hogwarts and a renowned healer, simply left the frame, presumably heading to the murals at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Meanwhile, Armando Dippet, who couldn't let anything slip, was staring at Sean, seemingly realizing that the boy's act of being impolite was a ploy to trick him.

"Please, tell me why," Sean asked again.

The principals remained silent for a long while before Armando Dippet spoke up, somewhat reluctantly. "Knowing too much is not good for you."

"If you hadn't let it slip—" Phineas said sarcastically.

"Shut up—" Dumbledore's former headmaster yelled at Phineas, then continued with a grim expression, "Child, you should go back."

Sean didn't leave. Instead, he casually moved a stool over and sat down directly in front of the wall displaying the principal's Portraits.

"Headmaster and Headmistress, in your eyes, I am just a student still studying at Hogwarts, a child—I have always had the utmost respect for elders, especially you. You have made tremendous contributions to Hogwarts, and the fact that this castle stands here and has endured for so long is the best proof of that—so I can understand your thoughts. Students need protection, and children need to give way. This is not because you look down on a child, but because of your greatest kindness and protective instincts as elders, which impresses and moves me."

After a string of heartfelt words, the headmasters' expressions improved considerably, especially Armando Dippet, who had been annoyed by Sean's trickery. He enjoyed being genuinely praised, especially by a distinguished student of Hogwarts, as it was the greatest recognition he could receive from his former headmaster.

Sean looked increasingly sincere. He took a deep breath and continued, "I believe Professor Dumbledore thinks the same way. He is not only a powerful wizard, but also the kindest the Elder I have ever met—"

The principals all nodded, and one old gentleman in a medieval robe even pounded his chest.

Sean's tone shifted, becoming serious.

"You know Professor Dumbledore better than I do, and you know the truth about things I can't know, but—even I, who am outside the truth, know that Professor Dumbledore has worked so hard, he has done so much all by himself, and I'm sure you can feel that even more..."

In the Portraits, many people sighed, their faces showing regret and heartache.

"As a student, if I had to point out a flaw in Professor Dumbledore, it would be that he tries to carry far too much on his shoulders—too much for anyone but you to talk to, too much for him to do day and night, and too much for him to even think about himself."

"Headmasters and ladies—" Sean gave a faint smile, "You know, Professor Dumbledore hasn't been able to reunite with his family for a long time, and his sister is even trapped somewhere I don't know—but everything he's done isn't for himself. He wants Hogwarts to stand strong, he wants the children to be able to explore the wonders of magic safely and freely, he wants the people of Diagon Alley to be smiling, he wants the world to be a better place..."

Under Sean's highly infectious speech, the headmasters all sighed, while some showed pride, feeling proud that they shared the same position as Dumbledore.

"If I didn't know all this, I probably wouldn't have done anything. I would have just continued attending classes and studying as usual, at least not wasting the peaceful time that everyone here and Professor Dumbledore have been working together to build up. Because I believe that with Professor Dumbledore, the world really does become a better place..."

"But—" Sean's tone shifted, his eyes reddening, "You're telling me he's going to die, he's going to his death?! There won't be Albus Dumbledore in a better world, only a white tomb with his favorite Wizard Robes and Wizard Sweets, his wand, and his body that will never wake up—and then the honors of Albus Dumbledore will be carved on cold marble for future generations, for children like me to look up to, to admire, and to be our role models."

"Future generations will pass down the story of the great Albus Dumbledore... but he himself can't see it?" Sean stared intently at everyone in the Portraits, even Phineas's gaze became unsteady, and he dared not meet Sean's eyes.

"And all of this is because Professor Dumbledore took on too much and was unwilling to let the child get involved in those things—even if that child possessed great power and a mature mind?"

"As former administrators of educational institutions like schools, I believe that all of you here understand better than I do that many things cannot be solved by working alone. Otherwise, why would schools exist? Everyone would be like before the Middle Ages, individually finding a promising talent, educating them into adulthood, and then your students would continue doing what you did before—isn't it because wizards have become better because there are more 'collectives' like Hogwarts?"

"Professor Dumbledore's strength is beyond doubt, but you know better than I do that there are some things he cannot bear alone."

As if answering Sean, and also as answering himself, Armando Dippet said loudly, somewhat annoyed, "That was Albus's own choice! It was a wizard's honor, willing to sacrifice his life for a better world. This is not something anyone else has the right to stop—and why don't you think that some things are only for him to do?!"

"Is that all?" Sean stood up, looking directly at everyone. "Professor Dumbledore's greatest strength, and also his greatest weakness—he's too kind, and he always wants to take on everything! To hold up the overwhelming veil for others first! Gentlemen and ladies, ask yourselves, if more people were involved— Gellert Grindelwald, Aberforth Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall ... and so on, and me! Wouldn't that lighten the burden on his shoulders a bit, or perhaps..."

He took a deep breath. "Or perhaps, it could allow Dumbledore to see that better world with his own eyes?!"

The Portraits fell completely silent. Some leaned against the edge of the canvas in silence, some opened and closed their mouths as if cursing something under their breath, and some kind ladies secretly wiped away their tears.

This made Sean completely certain that Dumbledore was heading down a path to certain death!

Delilah Derwent, who had somehow returned to the canvas, sighed. The woman's voice was reassuring, yet it carried a great deal of helplessness.

"Children, we are not ghosts, nor are we living people. We are merely Portraits left behind by magical powers and the natural magical standpoint of Hogwarts. We have consciousness and memory, but we have only one purpose: to provide all the assistance we can to the current headmaster. This means that all our actions must be based on the will of the current headmaster of Hogwarts. We cannot resist this, and we are proud of it."

Sean lowered his head in disappointment. "Madam, isn't there even the slightest possibility of leniency? I really can help Professor Dumbledore, and as the person in the Prophecy, shouldn't I have some right to know?"

"But—" Delilah Derwent looked troubled.

Phineas was sulking alone, smashing a wine glass he'd somehow acquired, while Armando Dippet stood with his hands on his hips, sighing and exchanging glances with the other principals across the canvas.

Sean was silent for a moment, then asked in a heavy tone, "It's fine if you can't tell me the truth, but I have a question—"

"Excuse me, child," Delilah Derwent said softly.

"Is Professor Dumbledore doomed?"

No one answered, but the person in the Portraits did not smile.

Sean took a deep breath, as if he were asking and answering himself, or talking to the Portraits: "From what I understand so far, the biggest constraint on Professor Dumbledore is the Unbreakable Vow, which he set voluntarily, and he used it to do many things that I don't know about. Normally, this would not lead to his death. He has a certain ability to bypass the oath, and he doesn't like to put his life in the hands of others."

"The thing that allowed Professor Dumbledore to die peacefully... it must have been his own choice, something he had carefully considered, something he realized had no better solution, and something that would bring about a huge change and have a decisive impact—and now there is a completely unexplained but potentially devastating threat that could destroy the entire world..."

Sean raised his head and said in a deep voice, "It's me. You all know about the Prophecy, you know about the Sin within me—I have some clues about other things, Professor Dumbledore has also given me bits and pieces of information indirectly. But with the Sin, Professor Dumbledore only told me the specific content of the Prophecy, but he has never taken any substantial action on how to resolve the Sin —this has been several years since I learned about the Prophecy, and there is only a little over a year left before the Sin is fully awakened."

"This isn't Professor Dumbledore's style—" Sean narrowed his eyes, "You were all present when Professor Dumbledore told me about the Prophecy in this very office..."

He suddenly looked up. "Either the Prophecy contains a chilling secret I don't know about, or... the professor has hidden part of the Prophecy from me. There's another part to the Prophecy, isn't there?! It involves Dumbledore's death!"

The Portraits looked at each other somewhat flusteredly, but no one spoke.

However, their silence was the best answer.

That Prophecy was partially concealed by Dumbledore, and through his research, Dumbledore discovered that the hidden part could only be resolved through his death?!

"The Seer fell one by one, the saints born of the Dark Heirs fought their entire lives against the island's queen, the giants rose and then lay dormant again, and the smoke of war filled the land—"

"The foolish and pointless struggle angered the unknown, the ancient characters stung the world, Sin was born from the darkness—"

"After wreaking havoc with his raging Pride, He sank into prison, to slumber for a thousand years..."

"When that thousand years are over, the Sin will be released from prison, and He will appear in His own form. The Seven Deadly Sins, with Pride at the head, will grow, they will awaken, they will destroy—the old era will be burned to ashes, and the new era will be adorned with the blood of millions—"

"To wipe away the blood, the old era had to endure harsh punishments, Sin would be transformed into virtue—"

"Those Ancients awaken offer their souls, those corrupt beings of the old era give their blood; ' Pride ' will forgive the sins of the world, and humbly and mercifully embrace those evils—"

This is the entirety of the Prophecy that Sean has firmly memorized.

However, it now seems that Dumbledore hid a part of the Prophecy, which may involve the solution to the doomsday Prophecy. This path requires the sacrifice of someone like Dumbledore to achieve it.

Sean's mind raced as he tried to figure out Dumbledore's ultimate goal.

There are currently three major predicaments. First, the World Will is watching the Grindelwald time travel incident, which will be resolved soon. Second, the restless Returners, whose origins are unclear, seem to aim to further destabilize the world or to welcome back the leader of the Returners, whom Sean suspects, the "Bard." Finally, there are the Seven Sin, led by Pride within Sean. When Pride fully awakens, the Prophecy will be fulfilled, and this world will become a hellish inferno.

The Returners and the Sin are connected in some way— Dumbledore even gained a certain degree of trust from the Returners ...

He wanted to resolve both the threat posed by the Returners and the impending arrival of the seven Sin.

Can these two things be linked and solved simultaneously?

Sean considered many possibilities, but ultimately lacked sufficient information to draw a definitive conclusion.

This is not the situation he wanted.

The principals in the Portraits clearly couldn't provide any more information. Sean left with the words, "Please think carefully about what I've said," and then quickly left the Headmaster's Office.

After he left, the principals looked at each other in silence across the canvas, and finally only a long sigh accompanied by the steam rising from the silverware.

Sean, having left his office, opened the wooden door to the Room of Requirement again. To his surprise, there was someone inside— Professor Dumbledore.

My own permissions didn't even register the other party's presence, but that's perfect!

Sean stepped forward. "Professor!"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Listen to me, Sean, give an old man with one foot in the grave a little time."

Sean's mouth twitched twice, but he ultimately fell silent.

Dumbledore smiled gently, easily picked up two cushions, sat down, and patted the cushions beside him.

"Perhaps I should have a proper talk with you about some things."

My kidney stones flared up again yesterday... I managed to type a few words today despite feeling unwell. Ugh, it's awful.