Admission Notice

"Surely no one actually ate an owl, did they?"

Dumbledore felt a tremor of unease as he saw that McGonagall's expression remained entirely devoid of a smile, but fortunately, she quickly shook her head to deny it.

"You guessed wrong, Dumbledore. It is indeed a lapse here at Hogwarts! Just a moment ago, the Acceptance Quill wrote a name upon the Book of Admittance, and that child is a first-year student for this coming term!"

Upon hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Dumbledore let out a long sigh of relief and remarked dismissively:

"Is that all, Professor McGonagall? It's no matter. The start of term is still a long way off; there is plenty of time to send an owl to the student now. At most, we can cast a speed-enhancing charm on the owl, and nothing will be delayed!"

As Dumbledore spoke, he seemed to feel that the iced lemon juice in his hand wasn't sweet enough, so he produced some honey from somewhere and added it to the drink, gesturing to Professor McGonagall to ask if she would like some as well.

Professor McGonagall indicated she had no need for it, her eyes fixed intently on Dumbledore as she said meaningfully:

"Dumbledore, the problem is not the time, but the person. You know this child's elders!"

Hearing this, Dumbledore smiled faintly and said in a relaxed tone:

"Ha, Professor McGonagall, you know how it is. When one has lived as long as I have, one tends to know a great many people. May I ask, whose child is it?"

"They must have been terrified waiting for an owl that never came, right? Poor child. When he arrives at Hogwarts, I shall certainly make it up to him!"

Dumbledore stirred his iced lemon juice gently, preparing to take a sip.

"That child's name is Wentworth, Wentworth Grindelwald!"

Dumbledore's hand froze in mid-air, his gaze vacant, and had Professor McGonagall not been quick to react, the glass of iced lemon juice floating before her would likely have tipped over onto the floor.

Seeing Dumbledore's stunned expression, McGonagall suddenly felt her mood improve significantly; she slowly raised her own glass of iced lemon juice and took a refined sip.

"Grindelwald? When... when did he have a child?"

Dumbledore muttered to himself in disbelief.

Noticing that Dumbledore seemed to have misunderstood, McGonagall quickly clarified:

"No, it is the descendant of that man's younger brother, not his own! But they are all of the Grindelwald family, are they not? If it becomes known that we have accepted his descendant into our school, then..."

Before McGonagall could finish expressing her concerns, Dumbledore interrupted with firm, decisive instructions:

"Write the letter, Professor McGonagall. Every child recorded by the book, whoever they may be, shall receive an acceptance letter from Hogwarts. It has been this way for a thousand years, and it shall not change simply because of who their relatives are!"

"His family may choose to have him forgo his studies at Hogwarts, but we cannot fail to notify them!"

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Professor McGonagall was stunned for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.

"Very well, Dumbledore. I shall have an owl send the letter immediately, and I will cast a speed-enhancing charm on it as well. I hope we receive a reply as soon as possible."

After Professor McGonagall departed, the Hogwarts headmaster's office was left with only Dumbledore and the countless portraits of former headmasters hanging on the walls.

The portraits had heard every word of the conversation, and they began to murmur amongst themselves.

However, the opinions of these headmaster portraits were remarkably unified; they all endorsed Dumbledore's decision, agreeing that Hogwarts would never change its principles based on a student's status or background—the traditions of Hogwarts were the pride of Hogwarts.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, ignored the murmuring portraits behind him and stood alone before the Pensieve in the office, lost in thought. After a long while, he murmured:

"Gellert, did you foresee this day?"

At that moment, an owl had already arrived outside Wentworth's window. The sudden appearance of the bird startled everyone in the room, and then, they all guessed what it carried. The room descended into a frenzy.

Wentworth was just about to run over in wild joy to open the window and bring the owl inside, but after only two steps, he saw his window shatter with a crash. The owl flew into the room, only to be snatched out of the air by Rosier.

Rosier did not bother with elegance; she crudely tore the letter from the owl, tossed the bird aside, and huddled with the several old men behind her to read the letter carefully.

In the room, only Wentworth remained, standing there pitifully and at a loss for what to do.

Oh, and the owl—it was still waiting for Wentworth's reply, but the sight of corpses killed by Avada Kedavra scattered everywhere had truly terrified it.

The boy and the bird stared at each other. The cold night wind blew in through the broken window, ruffling the boy's hair and the owl's feathers. The atmosphere was rather awkward.

Rosier quickly scanned the letter. As everyone had expected, it was an acceptance letter from Hogwarts. However, when she saw the string of titles beneath Dumbledore's name, a trace of disdain appeared in her eyes.

"This acceptance letter is utterly devoid of character, lifeless, just like Dumbledore's Hogwarts. At this rate, it won't be long before Durmstrang becomes the undisputed number one school of magic!"

"Hey, you should know that, in fact, the best school of magic in the world is called Ilvermorny!"

Ignoring the others' bickering, Rosier called Wentworth to her side and handed him the Hogwarts acceptance letter. Although she was deeply dissatisfied with Dumbledore, she said to Wentworth in a gentle voice:

"Take a good look, Wentworth. This represents a new world opening its doors to you. It is a day worth remembering, isn't it?"

Wentworth took the acceptance letter from Rosier's hand with a slight tremor. In truth, he had already memorized the contents by heart.

But when he saw the shield crest on the envelope—composed of a lion, an eagle, a snake, and a honey badger—the excitement in his heart was beyond words!

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Grindelwald, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and