I had to admit.
Aside from his sharp tongue, unpleasant manner of speaking, and unlikable appearance, Professor Snape actually had plenty of other virtues.
For example, he had left Ian enough Galleons.
Although buying all the essentials today had cost quite a bit, the money pouch had clearly been affected by the Undetectable Extension Charm. It still contained the terrifying fortune of a full hundred and fifty Galleons!
Never underestimate that amount.
An ordinary Ministry of Magic clerk would probably need two months to earn that much—and that was assuming they spent nothing and saved every last coin at Gringotts.
Just think.
The Weasleys couldn't even afford the seven Galleons for Ron's wand.
As you could imagine.
Whether for a young wizard or an adult, a hundred and fifty Galleons was an amount that would make plenty of people envious.
"Yikes. Even if I really did start with my parents dying for the plot, that doesn't mean I should feel this guilty." Ian was becoming more and more certain that something was off. Could his mother really be a clone of Lily Potter?
Come on!
It was only the nineties!
Neither the Muggles nor the Wizarding World had that kind of technology, did they?
Terrifying when you think about it! Absolutely terrifying!
Ian still felt uneasy.
But right now, he was more focused on learning magic.
After carrying everything into the neat little wooden cabin Snape had provided, Ian eagerly pulled out his wand and picked up the Hogwarts textbook he couldn't do without—The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1.
Dusk fell.
The last trace of sunset had faded at the edge of the sky.
As night descended.
Ian chose the simplest spell, and the one he'd seen used most often.
"Lumos!"
Following the instructions in the textbook, Ian concentrated, aligning his thoughts with his wand. He took a deep breath and softly spoke the incantation.
The next moment.
A gleam of light shone from the tip of his wand.
Then vanished in an instant.
It went out almost immediately.
It was clearly an unsuccessful attempt at casting a spell, but Ian didn't feel the slightest bit discouraged. Instead, his eyes lit up with excitement.
When it came to learning.
Most people were held back by all sorts of factors. They couldn't make progress, or couldn't tell how much progress they'd made. That was the main reason so many people struggled to keep at learning something.
However.
For Ian.
That wasn't something he needed to worry about.
[Lighting Charm (Level 0): 3/50]
After the failed attempt, a new skill appeared on Ian's status panel. He'd experienced something similar more than once before.
"Looks like I've got a decent talent for magic!"
Looking at the panel.
Ian was thrilled.
A single attempt had earned him three points of proficiency. He'd need no more than twenty attempts to master the spell and reach the most basic level of proficiency.
When learning a skill could be quantified with numbers.
It was like a god revealing its health bar.
"Lumos!"
"Lumos!"
"Lumos!"
Inside the empty cabin.
White light appeared, then went out.
The attempts continued, one after another.
They were a testament to Ian's passion for magic.
And to his anticipation of what kind of [Extraordinary Trait] magic might bring him.
Hogwarts.
Headmaster's Office.
As the most powerful wizard in the Wizarding World, Dumbledore sat behind a solid wood desk like any ordinary old man, dressed in an old-fashioned, colorful dressing gown.
The desk lamp wasn't connected to any wires, yet it steadily gave off a glow like an old oil lamp. An open book lay in the center of the desk.
[Aurora Grindelwald]
Dumbledore's eyes remained fixed on one name among the many on the page. Behind his silver spectacles, his eyes were bright yet world-weary.
"Knock, knock, knock."
He kept tapping the desktop, as though deep in thought. An old man staying up instead of going to bed had to have something troubling on his mind.
"Rumble..."
The sound of machinery turning echoed through the office.
Dumbledore didn't look up.
A figure hurried through the doorway of the Headmaster's Office.
"Albus, you never told me Ian was a natural Legilimens!" Snape was furious, his manner that of a man demanding an explanation.
His question rang through the office. The figures in the portraits on the walls covered their ears, though a few leaned closer to their frames as if eager to watch the show.
"I think some things can only be called a surprise if you discover them for yourself. Just as I never told Mr. Prince about the inseparable connection between the two of you."
Dumbledore finally raised his head. His voice was calm and steady, yet gentle. With a casual wave of his hand, the book on the desk closed by itself.
[Book of Admittance]
That was the book's name.
The name of every student who would attend Hogwarts was written in it by the Quill of Acceptance. Hogwarts had always relied on these two enchanted objects to run its admissions system.
Of course.
The book Dumbledore had placed on his desk wasn't the original Book of Admittance. It was probably just a copy linked to it somehow. After all, the Book of Admittance and the Quill of Acceptance were kept in a locked tower that no student had ever visited.
"His condition isn't normal!"
Snape stood in the middle of the office, his expression carrying a hint of lingering fear. "Occlumency had no effect at all. I tried my hardest more than once."
"He said he could only sense my emotions, but I think he can do far more than that. Albus, I've never encountered such unreasonable Legilimency."
Snape stared hard at Dumbledore.
"It turns out that some people really are exceptional beyond imagination, Severus. I don't think that's hard for you to understand." Dumbledore's expression didn't change in the slightest.
He had clearly noticed that there was something unusual about Ian long ago.
"I've met natural Legilimens before. None of them had such an overbearing, invasive mind. His talent is far too dangerous!"
Snape's expression was grave and serious, his voice carrying unmistakable concern. His gaze never left Dumbledore.
The look he gave Dumbledore, as if he were about to devour him whole, made Dumbledore sit up a little straighter, somewhat ill at ease.
"Exceptional talent isn't a bad thing."
Dumbledore's voice remained gentle.
"We had an agreement! He only needed to go to school like everyone else, then graduate and live an ordinary life! Damn it! You're bringing that person into the school next year!"
"At a time like this, the last thing he needs is exceptional talent. He only needs an unremarkable life, just like all those students who never amount to anything!"
Snape always sounded as though he were gritting his teeth when he spoke.
"I don't think any of us should decide what kind of life Mr. Prince ought to have." Dumbledore understood that Snape's reaction stemmed from something close to a trauma response.
However.
He didn't agree with Snape's plan. "That's a right not even parents possess. I know what you're thinking, and I suggest you give up on it."
Dumbledore looked Snape straight in the eyes.
Snape fell silent.
A moment later.
"He'll hate you."
Dumbledore spoke softly.
"Do you think I care?"
Snape gave a derisive laugh.
"Severus, if the long years have taught me anything, it's never to assume you're absolutely right. Trying to use your own will to shape someone else's life is incredibly foolish."
"No amount of powerful magic can change the bitter consequences that such an act will bring." The silver lenses of Dumbledore's spectacles reflected the desk lamp and Snape's figure.
"We're both failures. What gives us the right to decide what the right kind of life is?" Dumbledore's words made Snape's expression change as quickly as an actor in Sichuan opera.
"You're no failure. You're the greatest wizard in the world, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Even now, many in the Wizarding World fear your power."
"Albus, excessive modesty only makes you seem hypocritical."
Snape snorted, making no effort to be polite.
Dumbledore shook his head, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"In fact, I told you about him not because I wanted you to change him. Quite the opposite. I wanted to see whether he would change you."
"Severus, you need him. He doesn't need you."
Dumbledore's words infuriated Snape.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Snape's voice rose several pitches.
Dumbledore only smiled.
"I don't need you dictating my life either!"
Snape stared into Dumbledore's eyes.
"Whatever scheme you're planning, you need to swear to me. Make an Unbreakable Vow and tell me he isn't part of your plan."
Snape clearly didn't trust Dumbledore very much.
"First, you and many others overestimate my intelligence. Second, if it'll put your mind at ease... of course."
Dumbledore shrugged helplessly and drew his wand from where it lay beside him. In the magical world, an Unbreakable Vow was an important form of magic.
It required two people to point their wands at each other in the presence of a witness and state the terms of their vow. Once spoken and accepted, the vow formed a bond between them that was nearly impossible to break. Anyone who tried to violate their vow would pay a terrible price.
"Are you satisfied now?"
He put his wand away again.
Dumbledore didn't seem the least bit angry.
"I don't know what you're planning, letting that person into the school, but no matter what, I hope you'll do what a Hogwarts headmaster is supposed to do."
"Keep every student safe."
With the Unbreakable Vow in place, Snape's expression finally eased a little. Even so, he clearly still had his share of misgivings and doubts about some of Dumbledore's choices.
"That's my responsibility."
Dumbledore's voice was steady and firm.
It inspired confidence.
"Once that person arrives, I'll keep an eye on him."
Snape swept his robes around him and left with a scowl. His figure soon disappeared from the office. Dumbledore lowered his head again and looked at the copy of the Book of Admittance on his desk.
"Dumbledore! Snape really has changed!"
"Indecisive! What a disgrace to Slytherin! I think he should've been in Hufflepuff!"
"I'd love to meet that child. Severus's Occlumency has always been excellent, so what kind of natural Legilimens could possibly scare him?"
"No matter how talented that kid is, he can't be more talented than me! Hogwarts never lacks exceptionally talented students!"
After Snape left.
The former Hogwarts headmasters in the portraits began chattering away. Their noisy discussion didn't disturb Dumbledore's thoughts.
He gently waved his hand again, and the book on the desk flipped open at once.
The same name.
The same contemplative silence.
[Aurora Grindelwald]
The first time he'd seen that name in the Book of Admittance, Dumbledore had gone to Nurmengard to visit an old friend. The surname clearly came from the first Dark Lord.
Gellert Grindelwald.
The person named in the Book of Admittance wasn't a direct descendant of Gellert Grindelwald, but somehow she had inherited his rare talent through a blood relation.
In fact.
Just a little while ago.
The lesson Dumbledore had given Snape was an idea that had changed and taken shape in him after that visit to Gellert Grindelwald.
"Albus, our failures both came from trying to change too many things and too many people, without realizing we're only wizards with a little more power."
"A wizard can nudge fate, but mustn't try to decide it... Now I only want this child to follow her own path as a witch, carrying the wisdom I've gained from reflecting on my mistakes."
Those were Gellert Grindelwald's exact words to Dumbledore.
There had even been a hint of pleading in them.
It had been very hard for Dumbledore to refuse.
However.
The reason Dumbledore was still hesitating and feeling uncertain was that he truly couldn't tell whether Gellert Grindelwald had some ulterior motive behind her words.
Indeed.
Gellert Grindelwald might not lie to him, but she was absolutely capable of misleading him. There was probably no one in the world who understood the art of using language better than Gellert Grindelwald.
When he'd said earlier that he wasn't as clever as others imagined, it truly hadn't been false modesty or hypocrisy on Dumbledore's part. In his life, his own overconfidence had left him with countless regrets.
That was precisely why.
Dumbledore had found himself resonating with the two things Gellert Grindelwald had just said.
And it was for that very same reason.
Dumbledore worried that Gellert Grindelwald was up to something again.
He couldn't be blamed for his suspicion.
The main thing was...
After spending so many years in Nurmengard, Gellert Grindelwald had changed far more than Dumbledore had imagined. Dumbledore remembered that the greatest change in Gellert Grindelwald had come that year.
"1979..."
It was on a certain day that year.
Gellert Grindelwald, who had been utterly dispirited, seemed to have regained the high spirits of her youth. It was the first time in many years that Dumbledore had been so startled he rushed to Nurmengard to see his old friend.
"Dumbledore, I hope you'll witness the changes in this world with me, rather than trying to stop them."
"You can stop me, stop many things, stop that jumping clown named Tom, but, Albus, neither you nor I can stop a legend from rising."
That was the year.
As if she'd come alive again, Gellert Grindelwald had even redecorated her living quarters. Eating steak, she looked twenty or thirty years younger as she gave Dumbledore a meaningful... warning.
And this year...
Was the year the children born in 1979 started school.
"Is the legend you spoke of your descendant?" Dumbledore gently ran a hand over the name in the Book of Admittance and murmured softly, so quietly that probably only he could hear.