The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 517 Communication
The next day was the weekend, and the weather was unusually good. Ryan got up early, jogged with Hermione, and said goodbye to her after breakfast. Then he walked towards the door of the principal's office in the corridor with the bright golden sunlight shining into the corridor from the window.

After arriving at the door and reciting the door-opening command "Sour Candy" to the monster, and criticizing Dumbledore's taste in candy, Ryan took the spiral staircase to the door of Dumbledore's office with a brass knocker. After politely knocking on the knocker, the door opened automatically, and Ryan saw Professor Dumbledore sitting in a chair behind his big desk, crossing his fingers and thinking about something.

After seeing Ryan outside the door, he smiled at Ryan, stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation, indicating Ryan to sit on the chair in front of him.

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore." After sitting down on the chair, Ryan bowed slightly and greeted Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, good morning, Ryan, what would you like to drink now?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, and then stretched out his wand to point at the table and kept changing the drinks. "Black tea, pumpkin juice, or some lemonade?"

"Hot tea, please." Ryan said, and two cups of steaming tea appeared in front of the two people. After taking the cups and sitting down, Ryan looked at Headmaster Dumbledore and asked, "Excuse me, what is the matter that brought me here this morning?"

"Of course, of course I have something to talk to you about. Here's the thing." Dumbledore said in a slow pace that only an old man could speak: "I noticed that you seemed to be teaching your classmates some magic at your small gathering yesterday that is not appropriate to teach them now, so I thought I should remind you of this today."

"But the magic I teach you is definitely not dark magic." Ryan said firmly. "I remember that in Hogwarts, you are only prohibited from learning those dangerous dark magics, but you are not prohibited from learning this kind of magic."

"Yes, that's right." Dumbledore said slowly. "The magic you teach us is not dark magic, but it is quite powerful and can cause various problems for learners or others. For example, I think if we take the risk of learning spells that are too dangerous, it is easy for someone to get hurt."

"You are right about one thing. These spells are indeed lethal, and it is impossible to ensure 100% safety while learning them." Ryan stared into Dumbledore's blue eyes and nodded seriously. "But I'm afraid you are wrong about the other point. I think these spells are what everyone should learn now."

Seeing Dumbledore put his elbows on the table and pretend to listen carefully, Ryan also sat up and said, "I know that you have always believed that the war with the You-Know-Who group is only the task of you and those few brave volunteers, and hope that the war will not involve those innocent people. This is equivalent to you carrying all the pressure on your shoulders-"

"Your compliment makes me feel a little embarrassed. I'm not as great as you say. The reason I fought against Voldemort was just to make up for the mistakes I made when I was young." After hearing Ryan's compliment, Dumbledore smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"But no matter what, you are still at the forefront of the battle against the mysterious man, and I respect you for that." Ryan said, "But there is one thing you may have overlooked, that is, the current situation is no longer something that can be solved by just the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic."

Ryan paused for a moment before continuing, "Now the You-Know-Who's attack on the wizarding world has evolved into an all-out war. Even the Muggle world outside is facing their random and indiscriminate attacks and has suffered serious casualties. One thing I need to point out is that the members of my interest group are all the priority targets of the You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters because of their family backgrounds. So I think it is very necessary to teach them some combat skills."

"You should believe that we and the Ministry of Magic can provide sufficient protection, especially inside our school, which should be absolutely safe." Dumbledore said after thinking for a while.

"I'm sorry, I find it hard to believe this." Ryan looked at Dumbledore helplessly and said, "The bloodshed caused by the Death Eaters before is enough to explain the problem. Everyone wants to learn how to fight, so that even if we really encounter the Death Eaters, we will not just sit and wait for death. For example, Neville said that compared to waiting to die, he would rather choose to die gloriously in battle like a warrior."

"Neville Longbottom?" Professor Dumbledore sighed after hearing the name, and then remained silent for more than ten seconds: "We were careless after Voldemort disappeared. This was our mistake. I owe the Longbottom family a lot--" "When people get old, they always think about the past." Soon Dumbledore came out of his memories and said to Ryan in a negotiating tone, "I think Voldemort is indeed a danger to everyone now. I also hope that every teacher and student will be vigilant at all times and not take it lightly. In this case, there is no problem with you wanting to learn self-defense, but why don't you learn safer magic such as the Disarming Spell or the Stunning Spell like last year?"

After listening to Dumbledore's words, Ryan found that the differences between him and him were not as big as he had imagined. This was just a simple concern for his students, just like many primary and secondary school principals who were worried about students' accidents and simply canceled spring or autumn outings. It was not the reason that Dumbledore needed to control the overall situation and therefore suppressed all uncertainties as some people in the previous life thought.

But think about it, a person who can win the praise of most people in the magic world cannot be the kind of person who is self-centered. Except for key figures like Harry who are related to the final victory, Dumbledore is actually semi-indulgent towards most people, including Ryan. There is no need to worry about being specifically targeted by Dumbledore.

For example, now, a note was sent to me immediately after the party. This shows that the principal has a very high degree of control over the school, and as an experienced centenarian, Dumbledore should have seen what the reading club is going to do. However, his attitude towards the reading club has always been laissez-faire, and he only intervened when there was a possibility of serious harm. But even so, the principal still used a gentle communication method to solve the problem.

Since they are not being directly targeted, it means that Professor Dumbledore can be persuaded. Thinking of this, Ryan seemed much more energetic. "Professor Dumbledore, I don't want to put my classmates in danger. But it's more dangerous outside now. The Death Eaters will definitely not let us go just because we are students or minors."

"But even if you learn these magics, you will not be a match for those brutal Death Eaters. It is not worth taking the risk to learn these dangerous magics under the circumstances." Dumbledore said, crossing his fingers across his chest and leaning forward slightly.

"But after learning these magics, at least we can have a fighting chance, and maybe even a chance to escape. But if we don't master these more powerful magics, we can only sit and wait for death."

Seeing Professor Dumbledore lost in thought, Ryan quickly struck while the iron was hot and continued, "We don't have much ambition, and we don't want to hurt others. The only purpose of learning these magics is to hope to survive this war."

"Yes, stay alive." Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I have seen too many deaths in my life, and I don't want to see any more innocent people die."

Ryan knew that this should be the principal's true words. The reason why Dumbledore fought Voldemort for the rest of his life and even lost his life in the original text was largely to atone for his actions when he was young that led to the death of his sister. He also learned a lot from that mistake, including that people who control power must take responsibility, otherwise it will only bring disaster. The reason why he talked to Ryan today was that he was worried that Ryan would be controlled by power. Fortunately, the result of the conversation made him feel relieved.

"I think I can allow you to continue learning these magics, in order to save more innocent people." Professor Dumbledore thought for a moment and said, "But you'd better ensure your safety, otherwise I will have to revoke my permission. Well, today is the weekend, I wish you a happy weekend."

"Thank you, professor. I will definitely put everyone's safety first. Please don't worry." Ryan stood up and bowed seriously to Dumbledore, then left the principal's office.

"That's not like you." The portrait of Phineas on the wall said just after Ryan left.

Dumbledore ignored him, and muttered to himself as he looked at where Ryan left. "I may be really old, so I just hope that I can have enough strength this time to protect the young people as much as possible before they grow up completely."

(End of this chapter)