Dumbledore seemed to know something, but he showed no intention of saying it.
"Professor—Professor—"
"Ah—I was a little distracted."
He Vincent an apologetic smile. "That's the downside of getting old. You're either reminiscing about the past or dreaming about the future."
"Professor, isn't there a now?"
"It's too tough right now. Once all the problems are solved, I think I can start thinking about now."
"Like, getting a new hairstyle?"
Vincent's example made Dumbledore chuckle.
With his level of Transfiguration, he could change his height and appearance at will.
Tom, who uses magic to modify his body, can also have his nose and hair grow back at any time.
"You did a great job this time, son."
"Mmm." Vincent blinked his big eyes.
Dumbledore got up and went to the shelf, bent down and picked up the Pensieve at the bottom.
"Want to see the scene of my first meeting with Tom?"
Since I'm pretty free anyway, I might as well watch a magical virtual reality short film.
This time, Dumbledore appears on a milk cart.
He was much older than when Nagini was last there, and his hair and beard were reddish-brown.
Vincent sat opposite, glancing at Dumbledore beside him with a smirk. "Professor, your taste is getting better and better."
Thank you for your compliment.
Perhaps it was loneliness that Dumbledore wear such an exquisite purple-red velvet suit during this period.
Judging from the 300% head-turning rate of passersby, he can truly be described as a man on the cutting edge of fashion.
Following behind this fashion mogul, the two walked through several alleys, entered through a huge iron gate, and arrived at a bare courtyard.
A square, gloomy, and old-fashioned building caught Vincent's attention.
"Professor, Tom is an orphan?"
"Yes, actually his background—" Dumbledore paused, "He could have taken a different path, if I had taught him carefully."
Based on the style of the buildings and the attire of passersby, this period should be around the 1940s.
Vincent felt he was struggling to manage both dealing with Grindelwald and taking care of Tom.
"Professor, you are not a saint, there is no need to take all the blame on yourself."
Dumbledore paused for a moment, then gave a grateful smile.
"Thank you. Perhaps this shadow will completely dissipate when I start to think about the present."
"That day will surely come, Professor."
The two followed the young Dumbledore toward the square building they had just seen.
After knocking for a moment, a girl wearing a shabby apron opened the door.
"Good afternoon. I have an appointment with Mrs. Cole; she's the manager here, isn't she?"
"Oh," the girl said, looking puzzled, as she scrutinized his fashionable attire with sharp eyes.
"Um, please wait a moment—" After confirming that it wasn't a bad person, she turned and called out loudly into the room, "Mrs. Cole!"
"Let him in, Sarah!"
Inside is an Entrance Hall covered with black and white tiles.
Although it looked particularly worn, it was spotless.
Dumbledore entered, a thin, somewhat tired and anxious woman hurried over.
She gave a few instructions to another girl, then turned her gaze to him.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cole."
Mrs. Cole stared at him in disbelief.
Faced with the overwhelming sense of fashion, she stood there dumbfounded.
"I am Albus Dumbledore Dumbledore." He extended his hand in a friendly manner.
"I wrote you a letter asking you to accept my request to meet, and you very kindly invited me to come today."
Mrs. Cole blinked, as if to make sure that the Dumbledore in front of her was not a hallucination.
She forced herself to stay awake. "Oh—yes, you'd better come to my room."
Vincent was trying not to laugh the whole time. "Professor, if you went to the Muggle fashion world, you would definitely become a godfather-level figure."
"Excellent suggestion." Dumbledore looked down at his sky-blue robes. "I long for that future."
Vincent stopped praising someone after they entered a small room that resembled both a living room and an office.
The place was as simple and shabby as the Entrance Hall, with old and mismatched furniture.
Young Dumbledore sat in a rickety chair, while Mrs. Cole sat behind a cluttered table.
"As I told you in my letter, I am here to discuss Tom Riddle's matter with you and to arrange a promising future for him."
"Are you his relative?"
"No, I am a professor." Dumbledore glanced at the leg of the chair. "I've come to invite him to study at our school."
"What kind of school is this?" Mrs. Cole breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"The school's name is Hogwarts."
Why would you be interested in Tom?
"We believe he possesses some of the qualities we are looking for."
"You mean he won a scholarship? How could that be? He never applied for one."
Dumbledore said slowly, "Oh—his name has been on the roster at our school since the moment he was born."
"Who registered him?" Mrs. Cole looked at him warily. "His parents?"
Without a doubt, she was a very shrewd and troublesome woman.
Dumbledore did not dismiss her wariness.
This precisely demonstrates her dedication and responsibility; she is a qualified and good manager.
He pulled a wand that was clearly not made of Elder Wood from the pocket of his crimson velvet suit, and then picked up a blank piece of paper from the table.
"Here, take a look at this and you'll understand everything."
Mrs. Cole's eyes flickered for a moment after the wand was waved.
She immediately focused and looked intently at the blank paper.
"Perfectly in accordance with procedure." She handed the blank sheet of paper back to Dumbledore, her gaze falling on a bottle of gin that had unexpectedly appeared and two glasses.
"May I buy you a glass of gin?" Her voice was particularly gentle and refined now.
"Thank you so much."
Vincent squinted as he sized up the two Dumbledore.
Although there was no malicious intent involved, he still felt like he had been fooled.
Even fully armed Muggle can only obey the powerful wizards they face.
"Professor, is Mr. Weasley's Muggle Protection Act about to be passed?"
"There was some resistance before, but the process should speed up starting today."
Dumbledore understood what he was thinking.
This law, which claims to be for protection, is actually arrogant at its core.
Muggle have animal protection laws, but they never have racial protection laws.
It's already good enough that they don't reject suppression; the Muggle Protection Act, which is also not malicious, may become the fuse that exacerbates the relationship between the two sides in the future.