About Li Wei

The clock turned back to before Dumbledore set off.

"Dumbledore, I must speak with you!"

Professor McGonagall called out to Dumbledore, her expression grave.

"Minerva, I have something urgent to attend to—"

"I know." Professor McGonagall disregarded etiquette and, unusually, interrupted Dumbledore. "It's about Li Wei, isn't it?"

"Minerva, I must admit I'm somewhat surprised." Dumbledore's expression did not change, but the atmosphere visibly grew heavier.

"I never expected even you to know about him. It seems the impact he has caused is even more serious than I imagined!"

"Of course I know him. He was my student—no—no—what are you talking about?!"

Professor McGonagall glared, realizing that Dumbledore had misunderstood her.

"I've maintained correspondence with Li Wei for years. I've communicated with him far more often than you have. Of course I know him!

Not in the infamous sense you mean! I mean scholarly exchanges between two academics!"

Professor McGonagall was clearly becoming anxious, her tone rather indignant.

"."

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly before immediately lowering again.

"Oh, forgive me. I hadn't realized that was what you meant."

Professor McGonagall was not one to hold grudges.

Her face remained stern as she stared intently at Dumbledore.

"The Ministry of Magic wants you to personally arrest him?"

"That's right. What he has done has not caused any harm for the moment, but Fudge and I have both seen a dangerous trend.

He should be sent to Azkaban."

Professor McGonagall blinked but did not speak immediately.

Then came a heavy sigh.

"Oh, no."

But she said no more.

No one understood Li Wei's thinking better than she did.

This student believed magic was a miraculous force that granted one's wishes, a mystery containing the ultimate principles of heaven and earth—but at the same time, it was a science that could be broken down and analyzed.

Whether spells, Transfiguration, or even the Dark Arts, all of them followed discernible patterns. The only reason people could not understand them was that they had not researched them enough.

Over twenty-one low-profile years, Li Wei had mastered every spell and the first through fifth stages of Transfiguration. He had also combined spells and Transfiguration, inventing many incantations that made Professor McGonagall applaud in delight.

What pleased Professor McGonagall even more was his open-minded willingness to share. Li Wei believed that merely understanding and mastering knowledge was not enough; only when one could teach it to others could one claim to truly comprehend it.

Though he had never served as a professor at any magical school, he had traveled the wizarding world for many years and taken on more than a dozen students, along with two assistants whom even Professor McGonagall greatly admired.

She had once tried to persuade Li Wei to stop researching the Dark Arts, but in the end, Professor McGonagall had been the one convinced instead.

In truth, every powerful wizard had studied the Dark Arts, including Dumbledore and herself.

What Li Wei was doing was actually much the same as what they had once done. Only the times had changed. Professor McGonagall desperately considered whether there was any way to spare Li Wei from this disaster.

Dumbledore sensed Professor McGonagall's complicated emotions and was somewhat surprised. He rarely saw Minerva undergo such complex emotional changes.

It seemed she held an entirely different view of that low-profile student than he did?

"Minerva, I fully respect your thoughts."

Dumbledore wore a gentle expression as he looked at Professor McGonagall, who hurriedly raised her head.

"Regarding Li Wei, if you have any thoughts or opinions, you may tell me. I promise I will consider your views seriously and carefully."

Professor McGonagall hesitated for a moment. Though she knew her words would certainly affect Dumbledore's judgment, she still spoke.

"Dumbledore, aside from arresting Li Wei and sending him to Azkaban, is there any other possibility?"

"Of course—so long as he gives up continuing to research and spread the Dark Arts."

Professor McGonagall's heart, which had just settled, rose again. At last, she let out a dejected sigh.

"That's impossible."

"He has become obsessed to that extent?"

Dumbledore raised a brow slightly, his inner judgment shifting toward the other side.

"Obsessed? Perhaps. But it definitely isn't an obsession with the Dark Arts. It's an obsession with magic."

Professor McGonagall sighed again, her mind racing as she considered whether there might be another possibility.

Li Wei was not merely her former student. He was also a close friend with whom she had exchanged letters for over a decade, and a like-minded companion in teaching and magic.

Even if they differed in their beliefs, Professor McGonagall still sincerely respected and felt fortunate for the existence of someone like Li Wei.

"I thought magic had more branches than just the Dark Arts?"

Dumbledore offered a lukewarm jab.

"According to him, he has reached a dead end in both spells and Transfiguration unless a new perspective is introduced—such as the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes.

But in his view, Ancient Runes is a field with insufficient accumulated knowledge. Asking him to abandon the Dark Arts to study Ancient Runes would be like leaving a gold mine right before his eyes untouched and choosing to dig underground instead. Those were his exact words."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose imperceptibly.

His interest was piqued.

Though he did not believe Ancient Runes was truly as lacking as Li Wei claimed, he found Li Wei's understanding of the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes rather interesting.

Naturally, Dumbledore would never admit that he vaguely felt the same way.

Otherwise, why would he have studied the Dark Arts in the first place?

"A dead end? That is quite a broad claim."

Even Dumbledore would not claim that he could no longer improve in magic. Yet he had indeed seen some people who, after reaching a certain stage, could no longer make any progress.

"At the very least, are you certain he has mastered every spell and all of Transfiguration? Could this simply be an excuse?"

"To my knowledge, he only earned eight Os in his O.W.L. examinations.

Of course, that was already an exceptionally outstanding achievement. He had not even used a Time-Turner, but it was still far from his goal..."

Hogwarts's library contained the vast majority of knowledge on spells and Transfiguration. Even books such as Moste Potente Potions, which involved the Dark Arts and the Unforgivable Curses, were kept in the Restricted Section.

But no student could possibly master such knowledge while at school. And after graduation, obtaining knowledge was not so easy.

Not to mention that Li Wei had joined neither the Ministry of Magic nor the Death Eaters. How had he acquired all that knowledge?

Or had Minerva merely been deceived by him?

"When I first learned of this, I was surprised for quite a while. I even verified it personally—yet I had to admit that, when it came to the number of spells he had mastered, I truly could not compare to him."

As though she had recalled something amusing, a smile appeared on Professor McGonagall's face once more. She was even in the mood to keep him in suspense—just then, she had thought of another solution to this problem.

Though the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had to be replaced every year, compared to sending him to Azkaban, Professor McGonagall would rather let Li Wei take a gamble.

And she believed that Li Wei might just be able to solve this trouble.

"What method did he use?"

Seeing Professor McGonagall merely smile without speaking, Dumbledore asked, half playing along and half out of curiosity.

"He memorized all the knowledge he needed from the entire library and the Restricted Section."