The Unknown

"Professor Dumbledore, you don't actually believe in the powers of the Deathly Hallows, do you? A wand that makes its wielder invincible in every battle?"

Dumbledore knew Death did not exist, and in the story, the Resurrection Stone had directly led its users to their deaths. If there was anything among them that could hold even a little appeal or use for Dumbledore, it was probably only the Elder Wand.

But...

"Are you sure that obtaining the Elder Wand makes someone invincible, rather than only an invincible person being able to obtain the Elder Wand?"

Meeting Manus's frank, even slightly puzzled gaze, Dumbledore fell silent at the question.

Because that was indeed how the Elder Wand worked. Whoever defeated its master became its master, so naturally they would be invincible. But this was supposed to be what he said only if Manus showed fascination with the Elder Wand.

Why had Manus said it to him instead?

After that, Dumbledore's hand, which had originally been about to draw the Elder Wand from his sleeve, merely rubbed against his other hand instead.

"It seems I was being unnecessarily cautious. Manus, not only are you a genius, but you already possess a mature understanding of this world."

Thinking of his original plan, Dumbledore smiled helplessly. Yet he was also delighted, because he was certain Manus had not the slightest possibility of walking Tom's old path.

Even if Tom himself came to tempt him, he could never accept Tom's twisted reasoning.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Dumbledore's eyes shifted as he said to Manus:

"Manus, it seems that once you enter Hogwarts, you will certainly be sorted into Ravenclaw House. Rowena Ravenclaw once left behind a famous saying—wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."

Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure...

Manus savored the words and smiled.

Wasn't that exactly right?

Sure enough, even though wizards generally followed the path of developing their innate talents, there were still spellcasters who pursued magic through reason.

When he had previously heard the history of Hogwarts, he had already felt more favorably toward Rowena Ravenclaw among the four founders.

The reason was simple. Of the selection criteria for the four Houses, only the standards set by her and Helga Hufflepuff could truly be considered standards a school should have. One pursued deeper knowledge, while the other ensured that everyone had the opportunity to receive an education.

And between the two, he leaned more toward Ravenclaw. It was simply that, for him personally, Ravenclaw House suited him better.

"That can be considered one of my favorite sayings. It might even make the top three, competing for second place."

As Dumbledore marveled that he had indeed not been mistaken, that Manus and Ravenclaw were the same kind of people, he also grew curious.

"Oh? Then what is your favorite saying?"

"I don't know."

"...What?"

Dumbledore froze for a moment.

"You haven't found it yet?"

It made sense that he had not yet found his favorite saying—or rather, that there might never be a single saying he liked "most"...

"No, I mean the phrase 'I don't know.'"

The corners of Manus's lips rose slightly.

"Though it is only three short words, all knowledge in this world begins with them."

In truth, between "I don't know" and knowledge, there was another stage: "I want to know." If one merely remained at "I don't know" without wanting to know, knowledge would never come into being.

That corresponded to Manus's second favorite saying—

"Knowledge is a path, not an end. Cherish your thirst for knowledge and your curiosity about the unknown; they will be the lamp that guides you forward."

"This must be a wise person's reflection on life."

Dumbledore sighed in admiration, then frowned.

"But why haven't I heard it before? Who said it?"

"Actually, I don't know either. I heard it from someone else."

Manus shrugged.

The one who had left behind "I don't know" and the saying that followed it was an Archmage who had long since fallen. Their era was simply too distant from the time before he had crossed over, and only these words had been recorded.

"I see."

Dumbledore nodded, thinking that these might also have been words left behind by a Muggle sage. Perhaps they had no magic, but magic did not play much of a role in wisdom.

For the two of them, the banquet passed just like that amid their conversation.

Manus had not expected to talk with Dumbledore for so long—well, more precisely, he had not expected Dumbledore to be willing to speak with him for so long.

After all, the banquet itself had little to do with Manus. However he spent it, it would pass. At first, he had only wanted to learn about Hogwarts from Dumbledore and, incidentally, learn about this century's greatest wizard.

And judging by what he had learned, it was not bad.

At the same time, Dumbledore was astonished by Manus's intelligence and maturity. Originally, he had only intended to use Manus to avoid pointless socializing, then stay until halfway through the banquet before finding an excuse that there were still matters to handle at Hogwarts and leaving early.

He had not expected to discover such a little genius. Though he had never met Ravenclaw, Dumbledore instinctively felt that Ravenclaw in her childhood had probably been much like Manus.

For a child so young, even if their parents tried to instill and influence them, it was difficult to make them love reading and love knowledge.

Learning was painful. This mental pain was even worse than physical pain, because while enduring physical pain, one could distract oneself in other ways and survive it through numbness.

But learning was different. Distraction and numbness would only make learning ineffective.

To achieve the results of learning, one could only face that pain head-on.

Therefore, only by truly finding satisfaction and happiness in acquiring knowledge could a person overcome that mental pain and genuinely come to love knowledge.

And someone who sincerely loved knowledge was bound to have limitless prospects. More importantly, Manus's mind was mature, and his aspirations were exceptionally positive.

At the very least, they were far more positive than Dumbledore's aspirations had been in his youth.

Upon returning to the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, Dumbledore finally could not hold back his laughter—what an unexpected delight!

In truth, Dumbledore had always feared one thing: that the Wizarding World would have no successors. When Grindelwald had once ravaged the world, he had been there to step forward and defeat Grindelwald...

Though it was not necessarily all his strength that had played a role in the process, the question was, had he defeated him or not?

Yet after several decades, Voldemort had appeared again. Although this time only Britain had been affected, Voldemort's threat and power were in no way inferior to Grindelwald's. He was even more dangerous than Grindelwald.

Yet there was no one in the Wizarding World who could step forward to contend with Voldemort as he had. Everyone was waiting for him to step forward and defeat Voldemort just as he had once defeated Grindelwald.