"Music and dance truly were captivating." As the music came to an end, he said, "It is now bedtime. Students from each House, follow your prefects back to your dormitories. Horatio, come with me."
Hermione looked sympathetically at Horatio beside her. "I hope I can still see you tomorrow."
Horatio shrugged, unconcerned. Beauxbatons had its ways, and with his talent, in a few years he could learn from a certain man surnamed Huang. Breaking into Hogwarts was much easier than getting admitted to Hogwarts.
Horatio followed Dumbledore to the headmaster's office on the Seventh Floor of the castle. A stone gargoyle stood guard at the entrance.
"Bumblebee."
The gargoyle leaped aside, revealing a hidden spiral staircase. At the top of the stairs stood an oak door, its knocker shaped like a griffin.
Opening the door, they entered a circular room. A massive desk stood in the center, piled high with books and documents.
Portraits of past headmasters hung on the wall behind the desk. Beside it stood a perch, upon which the Phoenix Fawkes rested.
Dumbledore sat in the headmaster's chair and said to Horatio, "Child, tell me. Where did you learn that magic?"
Horatio's eyes darted around as he pulled out the table of contents for Five Years at Hogwarts, Three Years in Azkaban. "Headmaster, take a look. This book records a great many spells. I suggest making it compulsory teaching material and having you personally teach the course.
"Look, Headmaster. Hogwarts graduates nowadays cannot even cast a Shield Charm. If those people from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Ilvermorny see that, they will mock us. What right would we have to call ourselves the greatest magical school?
"I suggest adding MHGA exams. For Years One through Four, there should be a minor test every seven days and a major test every month. For Years Five through Seven, a minor test every three days and a major test every seven days.
"If they fail once, call their parents immediately. Three failures, public criticism across the whole school. Five failures, revoke their boarding privileges and make them commute. Ten failures, expel them outright..."
Ignoring Horatio's suggestions, Dumbledore opened the table of contents. The beginning was fairly normal, but the farther he read, the more alarmed he became. The Unforgivable Curses could only rank near the front; after them were spells like Call of R'lyeh, neutron bursts, stellar collapse, and other terrifying-sounding magic.
"Child, how much of this book have you learned?"
"Huh? Not much. About twenty percent, I guess."
Dumbledore let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness.
"But I learned it from back to front..."
Dumbledore's eyes rolled back as a profound sense of powerlessness washed over him. Voldemort was nothing but a fool who liked Avada Kedavra. Even with his old flame, he could at most blow up a city. But this little lord was aiming to destroy the world.
"I am beginning to wonder whether admitting you to Hogwarts was the right decision." But on second thought, if Horatio were left outside to grow unchecked, it would not be strange for Dumbledore to wake up one day and find himself floating in outer space.
In the end, Dumbledore returned the book to Horatio. There was no helping it—he had already learned it. After all, one nuclear bomb and a hundred nuclear bombs were the same thing, as long as the fuse was kept under control.
Dumbledore and Horatio agreed that he would not use the last dozen or so spells. If he wanted to use any of the others, he needed to practice under Dumbledore's supervision.
Horatio indicated that Dumbledore was overthinking it. Even if he were drained dry right now, he still could not cast those spells.
Horatio put the book back into his sack—though in truth, he stored it in the space described in the system book—then took out another book.
Dumbledore drew a sharp breath, thinking Horatio was about to produce something else earth-shattering. When he saw the words "cookbook" written on it, he immediately relaxed.
Horatio handed the cookbook to Dumbledore, then made three conditions with him.
First, he needed a private dormitory. Second, he needed a plot of land set aside for him so he could grow vegetables. Third, no one was allowed to confiscate his alchemical tools.
Afterward, Dumbledore gave Horatio a Phoenix Tail Feather, then sent him to a private Gryffindor dormitory.
The dormitory was fairly spacious, at least for a young wizard. A bed with four posts draped in deep crimson velvet curtains stood on the left side of the room. On the right was a fireplace, its fire burning brightly, with a sofa and coffee table placed on the red carpet before it. At the far end of the room was a window, through which he could see the pitch-black night sky.
His luggage had already been delivered. Dumbledore handed him a class schedule, told him to rest early, and said he still had classes tomorrow.
Horatio said he understood. After Dumbledore left the dormitory, he unpacked his luggage and released Hathor, Isis, and Nephthys from their cages.
After petting the cats for a while, Horatio lay on the bed with Hathor in his arms and closed his eyes.
"Sleeping? Forget sleeping—get up and have some fun." Horatio sprang out of bed, took a hooded robe from his trunk and threw it over himself, then took out two hidden blades and strapped them to his left and right wrists. He removed the short blades from them and replaced them with Kei and Li, the two Magic Wands.
He put a little cloak on Hathor, then said to the two birds, "Isis, you're coming with me. Nephthys, stay behind and guard the house."
He then pushed open the window. Horatio had originally planned to make a leap of faith, but after looking at the height, he decided to take the door instead.
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