Dumbledore's Invitation

Though somewhat flustered, she had not forgotten to bring Chu Yang to the Headmaster's Office.

The two of them took the spiral staircase to the eighth floor. At the end of the corridor stood an oak door with a griffin-shaped knocker. Professor McGonagall stepped forward, lifted the knocker, and rapped on the door.

With a creak, the door opened. Professor McGonagall led Chu Yang into the room, where the first thing he saw was a massive wooden desk covered with snacks.

The room was spacious, filled everywhere with strange silver instruments. They looked like magical creations, yet also somewhat like mere decorations.

The wise old man stood by the window, seemingly lost in thought.

"Dumbledore, Chu Yang is here," Professor McGonagall reminded him.

"Thank you, Minerva. You may get back to your work," Dumbledore said with a smile and a nod. Then he crossed the wooden desk in the center of the room and walked straight over to Chu Yang.

"Before I leave, there's something I need to tell you." Professor McGonagall quickly approached Dumbledore and lowered her voice as she told him about Malfoy and the Black Lake.

A trace of surprise flashed through Dumbledore's eyes. After a moment of thought, he said, "Let us wait until Malfoy wakes up before questioning him about the details. Set aside everyone else's accounts for now."

"I understand." Professor McGonagall nodded, then turned and left the Headmaster's Office.

"You must be Chu Yang, then? Sprout mentions your name in my ear every day. For a while, I thought I was living in the East." Dumbledore smiled as he invited Chu Yang to sit down and handed him some snacks from the desk.

The instant Chu Yang took the snacks from Dumbledore's hand, their eyes met. Dumbledore then suffered the same fate as the Sorting Hat.

Three or four seconds later, Dumbledore hurriedly shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Even he found the oppressive force conveyed through that gaze somewhat unbearable.

"No wonder the Sorting Hat reacted that way. It seems you have something extraordinary hidden within you, preventing others from peering into your thoughts."

Dumbledore sighed in amazement. "Because you are an orphan, we naturally assumed your parents were Muggles. But now, it seems that assumption was somewhat inaccurate."

"Your parents likely came from some renowned wizarding family in an ancient Eastern nation. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain what is within you."

Chu Yang shrugged and answered indifferently, "I don't know where they were from, but I truly am an orphan."

"And just now, you mentioned peering into my thoughts..."

Chu Yang fixed Dumbledore with a piercing gaze. Anyone would be angry after being subjected to Legilimency twice in a single day.

"I am deeply sorry, Mr. Chu Yang. It is one of the few bad habits I have developed over my many years as Headmaster—always trying to be careful in everything, cautious in everything, while overlooking things that are more important."

Dumbledore spoke gently, his gaze sincere. "From your perspective, you are certainly justified in feeling angry. But I also hope you can be understanding toward an old man like me."

Dumbledore was a very clever wizard. The cleverest thing about him was his skill at winning people over with a warm and sincere manner.

Chu Yang understood that clearly, but even so, the anger in his heart was rapidly fading.

Dumbledore smiled. "As compensation, I can grant some reasonable requests, such as providing you with additional financial aid."

"I like reading!" Chu Yang said without hesitation. "Headmaster Dumbledore, if possible, I hope the library can open more sections to me, so that I can absorb more knowledge."

Chu Yang's request was clearly outside Dumbledore's expectations. He had originally thought that a child from an orphanage would decisively choose financial assistance.

Dumbledore praised him, "For a wizard, this is undoubtedly a wise choice. However, knowledge is often dangerous as well, especially for a child your age, who is not yet able to distinguish such dangers."

"Moreover, you have only just enrolled. There is still much foundational knowledge for you to learn. To become a great wizard, you must take every step steadily."

"Therefore, I will reserve judgment on your request for now. When the right time comes, I will allow you access to more knowledge."

Chu Yang did not press the matter and calmly accepted Dumbledore's advice.

Dumbledore's refusal was within Chu Yang's expectations. He had never thought of reaching his goal in one attempt. Getting Dumbledore to make a promise was already an excellent result.

As long as Chu Yang continued displaying talent beyond ordinary people and made Dumbledore change his mind, the magical knowledge hidden in the library would eventually be his.

Dumbledore felt gratified by Chu Yang's maturity, which surpassed that of his peers.

If it had been any other eleven-year-old, they probably would have troubled him over it for quite some time.

"Sprout has told me about some of your unusual traits, and the Sorting Hat also seemed to have difficulty deciding where you belonged. So, do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

At this moment, Dumbledore was like a kind old man next door, amiably discussing the matter with Chu Yang. Chu Yang could sense equality in his attitude, and that attitude alone made one feel close to him.

Chu Yang closed his eyes and thought long and hard, but ultimately shook his head.

Dumbledore adjusted his glasses and asked, "Child, could you show me your magic?"

As he spoke, he tapped the air with a finger. Magic bloomed from his fingertips like fireworks.

Then, the wand on the desk flew into his hand.

Wandless magic!

Dumbledore handed the wand to Chu Yang.

"This is a wand I had prepared in advance," he said with a smile. "Its materials are fairly similar to those of your own wand."

"Of course, its core is not precious qilin scales, but a unicorn tail hair. Both are magical creatures that represent holiness, so they will not reject your magic too strongly."

Chu Yang accepted the wand from Dumbledore, but he was thinking, What kind of scene would it be if Dumbledore asked me to cast magic with the Elder Wand?

How great an impact would result from natural magic centered on Wood Release meeting the Elder Wand made of elder wood and Thestral tail hair?

Anyway... this Headmaster's Office definitely wouldn't survive.

The portraits of all those previous headmasters on the walls would suffer catastrophic devastation as well.

Dumbledore had no idea that Chu Yang was letting his thoughts run wild. Seeing that he had not moved for some time, he assumed Chu Yang was worried about the consequences, so he smiled reassuringly. "Do not be afraid, child. No matter what happens, I can bear the consequences for you. Relax, focus your attention, and control your magic."

With the experience from last time, Chu Yang felt less awkward when using a wand. Following Dumbledore's guidance, he slowly fed magic into it and gave it a light wave.