Dumbledore listened to Hermione's analysis with considerable satisfaction. When she finished, Vincent quietly gave her a thumbs-up beneath the table.
"A very reasonable analysis. Did you reach this conclusion together?"
Hermione shyly looked away from Vincent. "Professor, I actually came up with it myself. Aunt Evelyn has done some research into Muggle psychology, and I often discussed subjects like this with her during the summer holidays this year."
"Oh?" Dumbledore studied Vincent with great interest and even gave him a particularly mischievous wink. "How wonderful. When I was young, I very much looked forward to having a passionate school romance of my own."
Vincent immediately rolled his eyes. "Professor, you seem to have gone off-topic."
There was no school romance, but there was certainly plenty of passion.
Hermione was so embarrassed that she nearly buried her little head in her stomach, while her hands beneath the table nervously clenched together.
Dumbledore smiled apologetically. "My apologies. When one grows old, one always reminisces about one's youth."
Full of anticipation, he picked up another little red candy and put it into his mouth. The smile on his face blossomed sincerely.
"Mmm—such a sweet flavor. Creamy strawberry."
It was truly a pity that he had not gotten another Dragon Breath Chili-flavored candy.
Returning to the subject at hand, Vincent believed there were two reasons why Karkaroff had no reason to curse the dragon.
First, Devouring Feast, a curse that burned life force and the soul to gain destructive power, had been made far too obvious.
There was a huge difference between an enraged dragon and one driven berserk by a curse. Dumbledore, as a judge, could never fail to notice it.
Second, the few pieces of evidence in this incident all pointed toward Karkaroff. Either he had been careless, or he had done