Finite Incantatem?
The old man walking slowly up the cobblestone street hadn't cast a spell.
Ian naturally couldn't make an accurate judgment from that.
All he could sense was an invisible hand halting the magic's loss of control.
The moment the blazing light vanished, it was as if the whole world had gone dark. The air was filled with a faint smell of smoke that hadn't quite dissipated.
It might have been the only proof that a great fire had ever burned there.
Moonlight filtered through the clouds.
Under the night sky,
everything seemed as though it had never happened.
Even the fence that had been partly burned down had returned to its original state.
"Headmaster Dumbledore..."
Ian recognized the old man approaching and lowered his head, feeling a little awkward.
Along with his worry and unease, a hint of confusion crept in. Why had Dumbledore come to Hogsmeade Village in the middle of the night?
"I much prefer it when young wizards like you call me Professor. It makes me seem less stuffy." Dumbledore soon reached Ian.
He didn't reprimand Ian for his recklessness.
Instead, he teased himself in a lighthearted tone.
"All right, Professor Dumbledore."
Ian promptly corrected himself.
"Won't you invite me in to sit for a while?"
Dumbledore glanced at the cottage door.
"Sorry, I must have been a little too stunned."
Ian hurriedly opened the door and gestured for him to come in.
He was feeling a little uneasy, too.
He had no idea what Dumbledore was here for. Thought Perception could sense Snape's emotions, but it didn't seem to work very well on the headmaster of Hogwarts.
"I certainly never expected to run into a bold young wizard on my way back to the castle—one who dared to try creating a new spell right outside his own home."
Dumbledore went in as he spoke. He looked around the tidy living room, glanced toward Ian's bedroom, then finally chose to sit at the desk by the window.
"That was nowhere near creating a spell. It was a disaster, nothing more." Ian hurried to the tea table and poured Dumbledore a cup of black tea.
"At least you've taken the first step down that path. That's no small thing." Dumbledore pulled a bag of brown sugar from somewhere and began dumping it generously into his tea.
It was straightforward praise.
But Ian couldn't bring himself to feel pleased.
"If you hadn't helped me, Professor, I might have caused a catastrophe." Before Dumbledore could reprimand him, Ian took the initiative to criticize himself.
"I shouldn't have tried something so dangerous. I nearly burned down the whole village. I really am an idiot!" Now that he thought about it, Ian was genuinely a little scared.
His regretful, self-reproachful confession left Dumbledore momentarily taken aback.
Then,
the old man shook his head with an amused smile.
"We can't be too hard on young wizards like you." Dumbledore didn't look up at Ian, seemingly absorbed in fixing his tea.
"I only hope this frightening experience will make you remember that, when exploring the path of magic, 'caution' matters more than any other quality."
In the quiet cottage,
Dumbledore's earnest words were gentle, yet carried great weight.
"I'll remember your advice."
Ian nodded, utterly serious.
"Relax a little. Perhaps... you should put on some clothes first." Dumbledore suddenly smiled. Only then did Ian realize he was wearing nothing but his underwear.
"It's fine. Just airing things out."
Ian's face reddened a little, but he still tried to act casual.
"????"
Dumbledore looked a little bewildered.
"Professor, did you come here specifically to find me?"
Ian took the opportunity to ask.
He didn't think Dumbledore normally lived in Hogsmeade Village.
"No."
Sure enough,
the old bee shook his head and took a sip of the tea, which had enough sugar to be lethal. "I came to deliver a letter. On my way back, I happened to see the fire over here."
"Actually, I watched you from nearby for quite a while. I must say..." A complicated look flickered in Dumbledore's eyes. He continued in an astonished voice,
"Your way of understanding magic is quite different from that of most wizards." He was clearly referring to Ian's research into magic circuits, something most wizards never explored in any depth.
"Ah?"
Ian put on a bewildered expression,
with a hint of unease.
"Don't worry. It isn't a bad thing. It's a kind of... talent that only a few people possess." Behind Dumbledore's thick glasses was a pair of deep-set eyes.
"I heard you learned Snape's Sectumsempra?"
He asked the question out of the blue, seemingly out of curiosity.
"Ah?"
Ian froze for a moment.
Then
he nodded.
Snape had warned him not to tell anyone, but since Dumbledore had already asked, trying to hide it might be an insult to a master of Legilimency.
Whatever the case,
Ian didn't dare take that chance.
"It wasn't me who wanted to learn it. Professor Snape pressed my head down and told me that if I couldn't learn it, he'd lock me away in some incredibly evil place."
Ian stuck to his usual policy of telling the truth, but not the whole truth. He vividly described Snape's coercion and how utterly helpless and pitiful he had been.
However,
Dumbledore clearly wasn't interested in his story.
"How long did it take you to learn?"
The old bee sipped his tea as if the question were casual.
"An hour?"
Ian lied.
He had no choice.
If he didn't lie,
who knew what needless misunderstandings might arise if people found out he could learn Dark Magic in an instant?
"Mostly because Professor Snape taught me so well!"
After saying that, he even remembered to add a little excuse for himself.
"..."
Dumbledore didn't respond.
He stirred the tea with a stick he had conjured.
He didn't take another sip.
"I think I understand..."
Dumbledore turned to gaze at the stars outside the window. "You're going to achieve great things, my boy. Don't ever waste your extraordinary—"
He hadn't finished speaking
when
the air suddenly rippled with faint, strange tremors.
Then,
a dazzling red light appeared, and a red phoenix flew out, beating its wings. Its feathers shone like brilliant jewels in the dim room, breathtakingly beautiful.
"Mr. Prince, it seems our tea party must come to an end." Dumbledore set down his cup and stood, straightening his slightly rumpled white robes.
He seemed to have just thought of something.
"A small piece of advice: magic circuits aren't the direct cause of magic's emergence. You might want to shift your focus as you pursue the path of magic."
Dumbledore spoke concisely.
"Shift my focus?"
Ian pondered his words.
At that moment,
Dumbledore had already raised his arm,
waiting for the phoenix to land.
However,
neither he nor Ian, who was still thinking, expected that after circling the room a few times, the phoenix would dive down from the ceiling.
Its two talons
landed squarely on Ian's head.
Thanks to [Mao Mao Yu] for the tip! Fist bump!
(End of chapter)