Dumbledore's Frustration

Dumbledore had slipped back to the school unnoticed.

He had been very busy lately.

Not only did he need to investigate Voldemort's whereabouts, but he also had to find the magic that could separate a soul from its body and keep it alive for a long time.

He and Fawkes appeared in the Headmaster's Office, and both wizard and bird froze on the spot.

The portrait frames had been repaired, but the antique-grade desk had not.

"Albus, hurry to the Great Hall!" Armando's tone was extremely urgent. "It's him—him as a student!"

Dumbledore instantly eliminated twenty-two possible spells, but there were still sixteen left.

Though he wanted to rule them out one by one, time did not allow it.

The wizard and bird emerging from the red flames froze again.

The entire school was having breakfast, yet there was no sign of Tom anywhere.

"You're back, Albus." McGonagall rose from the staff table and walked toward him.

Dumbledore noticed that she was different from before. More accurately, everyone present looked as though they had been through something.

"He opened the Chamber of Secrets and released this thing. After that, he tried to trap us inside..."

The small bottle in her hand made him realize the severity of the situation.

Just because nothing had happened before did not mean they would always remain safe.

Only Filch and Mrs. Norris had been petrified. That was already a blessing amid misfortune.

After getting a rough understanding of the whole incident, he turned his gaze toward the Gryffindor table.

Harry was unharmed and appeared to have only suffered a slight fright.

Vincent ate breakfast as though nothing had happened, even giving him a mischievous wink.

"Have they returned?"

"Yes. I just lent him the small bottle for five minutes."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow slightly