Dumbledore's Cover

He slowly withdrew his inner gaze, summarizing his "harvest" this time.

The risk was extremely high, and the rewards were equally immense.

He had successfully verified his bold conjecture—using a powerful Divine Soul to "filter out" the directional will of a Charm, thereby directly absorbing its pure energy.

This method was feasible!

"Ryan! You're awake!"

A voice filled with surprise and joy rang out by his ear.

It was Madam Pomfrey, holding a bottle of steaming potion. Seeing Lin Yuan open his eyes, her face immediately showed a look of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness! Child, how are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable anywhere? Dizzy? Nauseous? Dumbledore said you suffered a severe magical impact. Merlin's beard, three whole days! I thought..."

The kind matron chattered on while nimbly checking Lin Yuan's physical condition.

"I'm fine, Madam. Just a little tired." Lin Yuan smiled, his voice slightly hoarse from just waking up, but his eyes were clear, without the slightest hint of confusion.

Just then, the hospital doors were pushed open.

Professor McGonagall strode in with her usual firm steps, but on her usually stern and rigid face, there was a rare, unconcealed apology and lingering fear.

She quickly walked to Lin Yuan's bedside. Looking at the student who had just returned from the brink of death, the sharp eyes that were always hidden behind her square glasses softened.

"Mr. Ryan." Professor McGonagall's voice was much lower than usual. "I... I must apologize to you. As Deputy Headmistress, as your Head of House, I made an unforgivable mistake. I should not have allowed first-year students like you to enter the Forbidden Forest for such a dangerous punishment without adequate protection."

Her lips pursed into a stern line, a sign of her extreme self-reproach.

"If... if Headmaster Dumbledore hadn't arrived in time and confirmed that the curse's power had been greatly reduced for some reason, and it was only the scattered energy that hit you... I can't even imagine the consequences."

Lin Yuan immediately understood.

"A curse whose power was greatly reduced" was clearly the official explanation Dumbledore gave to cover up the truth.

The news of a first-year freshman surviving a direct hit from the Killing Curse would cause a shock no less than Harry Potter's "boy who lived" incident back then.

And he, an "Eastern student" with no background, would instantly be thrust into the spotlight, under the constant gaze of countless eyes.

This would be a devastating blow to his "cultivation grand undertaking" of quietly analyzing the world and transforming Spiritual Energy.

Dumbledore was silently protecting him.

"You don't need to blame yourself, Professor." Lin Yuan followed the cue, speaking calmly. "The Forbidden Forest is inherently full of unknowns. When we stepped into it, we should have been prepared. Besides, I wasn't entirely defenseless. Some Eastern amulets passed down in my family seemed to have played a small role at the critical moment."

He casually fabricated a reason.

"Eastern," "family," "amulets"—these words, filled with mystery and impossible to verify, were the best shields.

Professor McGonagall clearly preferred to believe this more plausible explanation.

She breathed a sigh of relief but insisted, "Even so, the fault is still mine. As compensation, once you are discharged from the hospital, I will personally make up for the lessons you missed these past few days."

After speaking, she gave Lin Yuan another look, a complex mixture of approval, worry, and a hint of confusion, before turning to leave.

She still had many follow-up matters to handle, such as how to explain to the Ministry of Magic the appearance of a shadowy figure resembling Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest.

As soon as Professor McGonagall left, a flurry of hurried footsteps and hushed arguments could be heard from the doorway.

"Be quiet, Ron! This is a hospital!"

"I know! I'm just too excited! Harry, do you think Ryan will be able to get out of bed and play Quidditch already?"

"Shut up!"

The hospital room door was cautiously pushed open a crack, revealing three heads.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Seeing that Lin Yuan was already sitting up, the three immediately rushed in.

"Ryan! You're so cool!" Ron led the way, his face full of admiration. He lowered his voice, but his excitement was palpable. "We all heard! You confronted a mysterious Dark Wizard, he threw a curse at you, and you were fine! Firenze brought you all back to the castle, and Hagrid said you saved Harry!"

"Ron!" Hermione glared at him fiercely, then turned to Lin Yuan, her face showing undisguised worry. "How are you feeling? Are you really okay? I checked Difficult Magical Injuries and Their Treatment, and it says that the aftereffects of powerful magical impacts can manifest in many ways, including but not limited to memory confusion, magical imbalance, and even personality changes..."

She rattled off a string of terrifying consequences like reciting a grocery list, clearly having been worried sick for the past three days.

Harry, on the other hand, stood silently at the back.

He looked at Lin Yuan, his emerald green eyes filled with gratitude, guilt, and a deep sense of confusion.

After Ron and Hermione finished their greetings, he stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Ryan... Thank you. At that moment, he was coming for me, I could feel it... The scar on my forehead was hurting terribly. It was you who stood in front of me."

He paused and asked the most crucial question: "Why?"

Lin Yuan looked at the future "Savior" before him, his thoughts racing.

Of course, he couldn't say, "Because if you died, it would affect the main storyline of my observation of this world," nor could he say, "I don't know why that guy just shot an Avada Kedavra at me."

He simply smiled faintly and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "We're classmates, aren't we?"

This simple sentence, "We're classmates," stunned Harry.

Having been bullied his whole childhood at the Dursleys' home, and though he had made friends with Ron and Hermione after arriving at Hogwarts, deep down, he had always felt different, alone.

Lin Yuan's calm yet powerful words were like a warm current, instantly striking the softest part of his heart.

Yes, classmate.

It's that simple.

Seeing the emotion in Harry's eyes, Lin Yuan knew this topic could be concluded.

He skillfully changed the subject, asking about their classes over the past few days and discussing a few minor issues in Potions Mastery with Hermione.

The atmosphere in the infirmary quickly became relaxed.

But amidst this easy conversation, Lin Yuan's thoughts had already drifted to deeper matters.

This experience, while yielding great rewards, had also exposed a serious problem: he couldn't always wait for Voldemort or other Dark Wizards to "deliver food" to him.

This method was too passive and the risks were too high. A single misstep could damage his Divine Soul, and that was no laughing matter.

He couldn't spend all day chasing Death Eaters and Dark Wizards, asking them, "Come on, give me a Cruciatus Curse," or "Come on, give me a bite of melon," could he?

That would be too strange.