A Newborn Soul

"One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approached...

Would be born to those who had thrice defied him, as the seventh month ended...

The Dark Lord would mark him as his equal, but he would have power the Dark Lord knew not...

Either must die at the hand of the other, for neither could live while the other survived...

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord would be born as the seventh month ended."

In Hogsmeade, inside a small, dark, filthy bar reeking strongly of mutton, the now white-haired Dumbledore listened with a frown to the dreamlike murmur of the woman before him.

Sybill Patricia Trelawney was the great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney, a renowned seer in the Magical World.

However, compared to her elder Cassandra, Sybill's gift for prophecy had greatly weakened over several generations of inheritance.

Rather than making accurate predictions about the future, Sybill more often acted like a psychologist—accurately seeing through people's traits, then using ambiguous words to fool them.

Dumbledore looked at the thin woman in oversized glasses before him, unsure whether he should believe her prophecy.

As if sensing Dumbledore's suspicious gaze, Sybill Trelawney, clutching a bottle and drunk to the point of bleary eyes, dazedly slipped out of her half-dreaming state.

"What happened? Where did my sherry go?"

She had no memory at all of what she had just said.

She only knew that her bottle was empty again.

Sybill Trelawney tapped the bar counter, signaling for the owner to bring her another bottle of her favorite sherry.

Seeing Sybill behaving like a drunken sot, Dumbledore became slightly more convinced of his assessment of Trelawney—she was a fraud.

The Dark Lord she spoke of was named Tom Marvolo Riddle, once Dumbledore's student.

Thus far, Albus Dumbledore had experienced two wars.

Coincidentally, the instigators of both Wizarding Wars that had thrown the Magical World into turmoil had deep connections with Dumbledore, known as the "greatest White Wizard in the Magical World."

The first Wizarding War Dumbledore had personally experienced was known as the Global Wizarding War.

The man who started that war was named Gellert Grindelwald.

After being expelled from Durmstrang, Grindelwald traveled the world and met the equally gifted Dumbledore in Godric's Hollow.

The two admired one another as kindred spirits and gradually fell into a love that society would not accept.

In 1945, Dumbledore personally brought an end to the war started by his lover.

And now, he had become embroiled in another Wizarding War.

Although this war was confined to the British Isles, and its scale was far less devastating than the wounds Grindelwald had inflicted upon the European Magical World, it brought wizards no less terror than Grindelwald's era had.

It was now 1980, the ninth year since Tom Riddle, who called himself "Voldemort," had started the Wizarding War in the British Magical World.

Dumbledore, already nearing a hundred years old, was no longer young. His hair had entirely turned silver, and his white beard had grown long enough to tuck into his belt.

He should have been enjoying his retirement, but because of the Ministry of Magic's inaction, he had no choice but to step forward and establish the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society opposing Voldemort's organization, the Death Eaters, and raise the banner of resistance against the Dark Lord.

This was now the critical stage of the Wizarding War.

Over the past few years of fighting Voldemort, Dumbledore had gradually begun to feel his strength failing.

Even as the greatest White Wizard in the Magical World, he could not withstand time's erosion.

If the war continued in a stalemate, the balance would tip toward Voldemort. After all, Voldemort was decades younger than Dumbledore, and time was on his side.

Throughout these nine years of Wizarding War, Dumbledore had constantly sought a way to defeat the Dark Lord.

This time, he had specifically made time from his precious schedule to meet the descendant of the renowned seer Cassandra Trelawney at the Hog's Head Bar, hoping to hear some valuable prophecy from Sybill.

But judging by Sybill Trelawney's state, this trip had been for nothing.

Dumbledore sighed softly. After a moment of silence, he placed several gold Galleons on the counter, then turned and walked out of the bar.

Though he gazed up at the clear sky, Dumbledore's mood felt as though it were shrouded in dark clouds.

However, as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, he had no time to waste worrying here. He still had to return to the Order's headquarters as soon as possible to take charge.

Dumbledore emptied his mind and pictured his destination. His body gradually twisted and faded into nothingness.

With a sharp crack, Dumbledore's figure vanished from Hogsmeade.

The next second, Dumbledore instantly appeared at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters.

A house-elf with bat-like ears and bulging eyes the size of tennis balls hurried forward to greet him.

House-elves were a race conquered by wizards in ancient wars. From birth, every one of them was trained into servility, becoming slaves who served their masters generation after generation.

They handled all household chores and were bound by their masters. They could not casually disobey their masters' orders, and if they did, they had to punish themselves.

To them, their greatest right was obeying their masters' commands.

"Great Dumbledore, I..."

Dumbledore, somewhat distracted and troubled, waved his hand to signal the house-elf not to disturb him.

But the house-elf did not withdraw. "Sir, the one you told me to watch over..."

At the house-elf's words, Dumbledore's expression changed instantly. "Kyle? What happened to Kyle?!"

Startled by the sudden change in Dumbledore's expression, the house-elf was about to open its mouth and explain what had happened.

But Dumbledore, anxious at heart, did not wait for it to speak before hurrying toward a certain room.

Inside a Chamber of Secrets protected by numerous defensive spells, Dumbledore stared intensely at the infant suspended within a mass of transparent gel, unable to suppress the joy rising on his face.

Within Kyle's body, Dumbledore, a master of Legilimency, sensed fluctuations of consciousness for the first time.

What Dumbledore had originally sensed was only blankness.

This meant that a soul had been born within Kyle's body!

Dumbledore, swept up in wild joy, quickly calmed down.

This was the critical time in the fight against Voldemort. Kyle's transformation from a soulless shell into a complete person was certainly cause for celebration, but Dumbledore had no energy at all to spare for caring for Kyle now.

What was more, Kyle's surname was Grindelwald.

That surname meant many things to the Magical World, especially since Kyle was a direct descendant of Grindelwald.

After pondering for a long while, Dumbledore made a decision that was somewhat difficult for him.

He would send Kyle somewhere safe.

A short while later, a brown-feathered owl flew out of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, tightly clutching a letter as it headed toward the country across the Atlantic Ocean.

Under the golden sunlight, the recipient's name written on the envelope was clearly visible—Newt Scamander.