Enlisting Old Dumbledore as Muscle and the Portrait

Before he had truly mastered his studies, Vaughn had never considered facing Voldemort alone.

But that did not mean he intended to abandon the mission.

The system mission only said to save the Unicorn in the Forbidden Forest; it never said he had to do it himself!

This was Hogwarts. With Old Dumbledore around, why would he foolishly go head-to-head with Voldemort?

That evening, after walking for several hours to leave the Forbidden Forest, the two parted ways at Hagrid's Hut.

Vaughn adjusted his expression, making himself look solemn and nervous, as though something terrible had happened.

Then he went to find Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Weasley, you..."

"Professor, please take me to see Headmaster Dumbledore. I have something important to tell him!"

Professor McGonagall was startled by his expression. After standing frozen for quite some time, she hesitantly led him to the Seventh Floor.

As Deputy Headmistress, she naturally knew the password to Dumbledore's office.

"Chocolate Frog!"

Following Professor McGonagall into the Headmaster's Office, Vaughn found himself there for the first time. The circular office was brightly lit and warm as spring.

Right at the entrance stood a spiral staircase leading upstairs, which was probably Dumbledore's private quarters.

A broad semicircular display shelf stood against the wall, Piled Full of books and unknown Alchemical Items.

Before the office's enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, the long Table was also Piled Full of clutter.

Only in one corner was there a perch, where Phoenix Fawkes stood with its eyes closed, resting.

Hearing them enter, it opened its eyes and looked over. So did the portraits of past Headmasters hanging on the walls.

"Look, Slytherin's genius has arrived. How wonderful," one portrait said delightedly.

Vaughn glanced at him and guessed that he was probably the only Headmaster to have come from Slytherin, Phineas Black!

The man with the worst reputation among all the past Headmasters.

More tragically, the Black family of that Headmaster was nearly extinct...

Vaughn gave him a quick bow, then turned toward the Fireplace—

Dumbledore was sitting there in his usual pinkish-purple nightgown, knitting a sweater.

He turned back and waved a knitting Needle in greeting. "Minerva, Mr. Weasley, good evening. Since you're here, help me take a look. Does this knitting pattern look nice? I spent half a day picking it out at a Muggle shopping mall the day before yesterday and nearly went cross-eyed..."

"Ahem, Albus!"

Professor McGonagall shot him a glare. "Mr. Weasley says he has something important to discuss with you."

Dumbledore looked at Vaughn curiously.

Their only previous interaction had not been especially pleasant from Dumbledore's perspective. Vaughn, who had a mind of his own, had decisively rejected his probing.

He had thought the boy would avoid him for quite a while.

Vaughn nodded. Under the watchful eyes of Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore, and the many portraits, he took the bottle from his satchel and placed it on the Headmaster's desk.

Dumbledore asked curiously, "Mr. Weasley, what is this?"

"Unicorn bloodstains, Headmaster."

With that, Vaughn took out his Wand and cast Revelio.

The scene from several hours earlier appeared again. When the Gray Mist emerged from the white light, many of the portraits immediately sucked in sharp breaths.

The probing smile on Dumbledore's face vanished as well.

He rose and walked to the desk. As he leaned closer to inspect the bottle of soil, he waved to the stunned Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, go attend to your work first. Mr. Weasley has indeed brought me a serious matter."

Only after Professor McGonagall left did he raise his head again and look at Vaughn.

"Mr. Weasley, where did you find it?"

Those eyes, not bearing the slightest trace of age, shone so brightly they seemed capable of piercing straight through a person's Inner Heart!

Hmph, Legilimency? Vaughn, who had kept up Occlumency the entire time, could sense a strange Magic Power spreading from Dumbledore's eyes.

Yet it did not directly rush into his mind. Instead, it lingered around the edges.

He's only using Legilimency to sense my emotions, to tell whether I'm lying?

Without changing expression, Vaughn answered, "In the Forbidden Forest..."

Then he explained how he had gone to find Hagrid today and had "accidentally" discovered that the blood shed by the injured Unicorn was abnormal, bearing traces of the Dark Arts.

"...Whether it was the Werewolves of the Forbidden Forest or any other creature, none of them could have used the Dark Arts to harm a Unicorn. Only a Wizard could do such a thing!"

"You know, I've achieved a little in Potions. Although Unicorn Blood carries a Curse, from ancient times to the present, there has never been a shortage of bold people wanting to brew it into Potions. Usually, such Potions are..."

"...Elixir to Induce Euphoria!"

Dumbledore murmured, finishing his sentence. He gently raised a hand. Without an incantation or a Wand, he reached directly for the bottle.

His hand passed through the white light and pulled out those wisps of Gray Mist, clasping them in his palm.

Vaughn watched in amazement. Wandless and silent casting, spellwork perfected to the highest degree—he had not even sensed the slightest fluctuation of Magic Power.

Dumbledore studied it intently for a while. After a long time, he waved his hand and dispersed the Gray Mist, then looked at Vaughn. "What you discovered is very important, but I still need to inspect the scene myself..."

He held out his arm. "Fawkes!"

Phoenix Fawkes cried out and flew onto his arm, gripping him tightly.

"Mr. Weasley, there are candies and pastries on the Table. Please wait a moment. I will be back soon."

With that, he Apparated away directly. Vaughn was not surprised. Although Hogwarts had Anti-Apparition enchantments, they did not apply to beings outside the Wizarding system, such as Magical Creatures like Fawkes or House-elves.

He did not stand on ceremony. Walking behind the desk, he found several pieces of Chocolate in the candy dish that floated before him and began eating.

After walking for most of the day, he had long been hungry.

While he was eating, Vaughn heard one of the portraits amid the surrounding whispers calling out to him. "Hey, boy from the Weasley family."

Vaughn looked up.

It was Headmaster Black.

The gloomy-faced old man waggled his eyebrows at him. "To notice the Dark Arts in Unicorn blood, you're not such an obedient little fellow either, are you? Oh, don't look at me like that. I've never discriminated against the Dark Arts. I'm even pleased that you study them. How can a Slytherin who doesn't know the Dark Arts be worthy of being called a genius?"

"I just... want to make a deal with you!"

He blinked and said in a low voice, "Do you want to learn more dark power? As long as you do one thing for me, I'll tell you where Black Manor is. Merlin be my witness, the Black family has hidden plenty of dark, vicious forbidden knowledge. As long as you..."

Before he could finish, a white-bearded old man suddenly barged into his portrait, pounced on him, pinned him beneath him, and began pummeling him.

"You bastard! You accomplished nothing while alive, and even after death you still want to harm the younger generation. I'll beat you to death!"

"Teacher, teacher... that's enough. You old mad dog, I'm already dead. How are you going to beat me to death?"

The two began wrestling.

Vaughn watched with great enjoyment.