Hogwarts Raven

Chapter 287 Chapter 286: The World Never Needs Anyone
perhaps.

It was already approaching morning.

The mornings in the Forbidden Forest always come later than in other places. The dense tree canopy blocks all the moonlight, leaving only bottomless darkness.

This was once the remains of a battle. The aftermath of magic had once scorched the land, leaving no grass growing. But now, those traces of destruction are being quietly covered by new vines and greenery.

Yes, those plants that were destroyed in the previous battle have grown again under the influence of the strange field, and the tender green vines are entwined around the new trunks of the ancient trees as if they were fresh.

It just looks so distorted and unreal.

There was still a burning smell in the air, reminding that something unusual had happened here. Hermione seemed very cold, and Dumbledore created a bonfire. It could perhaps be regarded as the most real thing in this place - Albus Dumbledore, the greatest white wizard of this century, always had some magical magic.

far away.

The wind rustled the leaves.

As if whispering a secret that was about to be revealed, the bronze door stood in the center of the halo, and the mottled runes on its surface flickered in the twilight, like the scales of a sleeping beast.

"That's a little weird."

Albus Dumbledore's long silver hair and beard glowed faintly in the darkness. The tip of his wand rested on a complex rune on the door as if to confirm.

The runes flickered as he touched them, like a star struggling to stay awake. At this scene, both Hermione and Snape felt as if they had touched a blind spot in their knowledge. Of course, compared to Hermione, Snape was a little more knowledgeable, and he could probably guess what kind of problem Dumbledore might have encountered.

that's the truth.

I saw.

Dumbledore frowned.

He was using magic to try to figure out the correct operating order of the bronze gate.

only.

Then, the tip of the old man's wand hovered above the bronze door rune, and the silver-white magic thread spread like a spider web, but suddenly dissipated when it touched a certain symbol.

obviously.

This is a failure.

The complexity of being able to piece together hundreds of millions or even tens of billions of possibilities is not something that can be tested by the process of elimination, not to mention that the magic runes on this door can actually piece together many different effects.

In Dumbledore's opinion.

Such a design may be a means to prevent reverse cracking.

Therefore.

A little careless.

It was an unpredictable effect, and no one knew what kind of disaster it would cause. In this situation, even Dumbledore was a little timid and could only test it cautiously. It was not that he had not figured out everything, at least his understanding was clearer than before, but still not clear enough.

"Not yet." Dumbledore's sigh startled the night owls in the treetops. He pushed up his half-moon glasses, and the blue eyes behind the lenses reflected the dim light of the runes that were gradually extinguished.

"The arrangement of these alchemical arrays is more ancient than I thought. Well, this door is also more peculiar and more dangerous than we thought."

He did see something, but confusion still lingered in his mind. There was no other way, there were too many hodgepodge magic words on it, and he could only find a few bits of information in his collection of books.

"Forehead……"

Hermione Granger stood quietly by. Since Snape's last stern warning, she no longer approached the pile of ancient books, but her eyes still glanced at Dumbledore's hunched back from time to time.

Her fingers twisted the corner of her robe nervously. There was no way, even though she forced herself not to be curious about the forbidden knowledge, worry was like an invisible hand tightly grasping her heart.

Ian seemed to have really walked in, without any news or signs. How could the little witch not worry about her classmate's life?
"You are uncomfortably quiet, Miss Granger," Severus Snape said suddenly, his voice less harsh and more thoughtful than usual.

"You usually have enough questions to give a troll a headache."

of course.

He still couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks about the students in the academy he hated.

"I……"

Hermione raised her head and met Snape's inky black eyes. To her surprise, there was no sarcasm in them as usual, but instead a hint of emotion that she could not read.

“I was just wondering if Ian might need help.”

She answered softly, her voice sounding especially clear in the silence of the forbidden forest.

Snape's mouth twisted into an expression that was close to a smile. "Is caring about friends a Gryffindor virtue, or is it stupidity? I can't tell the line between the two in you."

Although his words were harsh, his tone unconsciously slowed down.

And at this time

Dumbledore suddenly sighed, and the exhaustion in his voice made the two men turn their heads to look at him. The old wizard slowly stood up, his robes were covered with dirt and dead leaves, but he didn't seem to care.

"This alchemical artifact was made too long ago... It does not belong to any magic system we are familiar with. Even with the knowledge I have collected over the years, it is difficult to get a glimpse of its true appearance."

Dumbledore slowly raised his head, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. Indeed, being knowledgeable does not mean being omniscient, and even if one has collected many books, they do not cover all the knowledge from ancient times to the present.

Faced with a creation that was built up like a hodgepodge of multiple systems but strangely did not collapse, even Albus Dumbledore found it incredible.

"How is this possible!" Snape frowned, like a bat that smelled danger. "If even you can't figure it out, who can? Nick Flamel?"

There was a bit of worry and uncertainty in his eyes. To be honest, the powerlessness that Dumbledore showed at the beginning had already made the Hogwarts Potions Professor feel incredible.

I thought Albus Dumbledore would be able to solve the puzzle after some effort. However, I never expected that even after waiting for so long, Albus Dumbledore still couldn't solve the problem.

The greatest white wizard of this century seemed to be truly stumped - Snape had never thought that one day he would encounter something that even Dumbledore was helpless to deal with.

It's like a dream.

But it is indeed real.

After all, Snape had pinched himself to verify this - of course, it was not ruled out that there were real dreams in this world. After all, the magical world was full of wonders, and Snape could also concoct a potion that allowed people to experience real dreams. However, because of this, he knew very well that the current situation was by no means like that.

There are real problems.

Even Dumbledore felt powerless.

"I guess he can't either."

Dumbledore shook his head, his blue eyes behind his half-moon glasses flashing with helplessness: "Nick's attainments in alchemy are indeed unparalleled in the world, but..." He paused, his fingers stroking a dent on the door, "Even my old friend may not be able to know those missing knowledge systems."

"Some magic has disappeared forever in the long river of time along with their creators." Obviously, the disappeared magic that Dumbledore was talking about was the magic on the bronze door.

"This……"

Snape's expression changed.

A gust of wind blew through the forbidden forest, and the leaves rustled, as if responding to the old wizard's words.

"Then what should we do?"

Hermione suddenly felt a chill running up her spine - if even Dumbledore and Nick Flamel couldn't understand this door, then was Ian really in danger?
“It’s not like I didn’t find anything.”

Dumbledore seemed to have sensed the little witch's emotions and spoke to comfort her.

"What do you mean? What did the headmaster discover?" "This door is not a simple space passage, Hermione. It has a screening mechanism. Only those who are truly qualified can make it play its true role."

The old headmaster sighed softly and patiently answered Hermione's questions.

"Screening for what?" Hermione demanded.

"Soul." Dumbledore frowned, his eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion at the mention of the word. "Only a certain soul can make it work."

"And souls who are not qualified are likely to fall into it and become part of those who may be abandoned." The old principal did see a lot from the scattered knowledge. Just as he said before, this door has a variety of ability triggering mechanisms, one of which is the ability he is talking about now.

"Like that evil Dumbledore we met earlier?"

Snape couldn't help but ask.

"No, that is the part that is abandoned by fate, but those who try to enter it are different. Those who try to enter it are actively moving from the right to the wrong."

Dumbledore shook his head in response.

He didn't mind Snape calling him evil.

"Like Ian?" Hermione felt a sense of powerlessness coming over her. She looked at the bronze door again, and in her mind, she recalled the time when the bronze door was still working.

as if.

Those distorted faces seemed to be screaming at her, but she could not hear any sound. A terrible imagination took shape in her mind-Ian was trapped in some dark space.

And her soul was torn apart by an invisible force... How pitiful, how terrible. I have to say that the little witch has a strong imagination, and it is no wonder that she will become a good witch in the future.

For wizards.

Imagination is indeed important enough.

At least that's the theory Ian came up with.

There was some silence in the air.

Dumbledore did not respond.

After his expression changed for a moment, Snape's voice broke the silence, "It all depends on Ian's own fate, right? I knew that the little brat would kill himself sooner or later."

Even though the tone was annoyed.

But there is more of a hidden worry and sadness.

"Ian just made his own choice, or rather, fate made him make the choice." Dumbledore sighed, "Just like each of us is responsible for our own choices."

"In fact, now, we cannot conclude that Ian has fallen into the wrong fate." Dumbledore turned to the bronze door, and the wrinkles on his face appeared deeper under the dim light of the wand: "Although I don't fully understand its function, I am not without a clue."

He raised the Elder Wand and drew a complex trajectory in the air. "I know how to activate it. Perhaps I can try to go in and look for Ian."

"If we're lucky enough, we can both come back." Obviously, Dumbledore still wanted to try to save Ian. After all, Ian's importance to him was self-evident.

In this regard.

Snape was a little suspicious.

He really had never seen the old principal value someone so much.

Even Harry Potter.

Snape knew that Dumbledore would abandon the child if necessary - but to Ian, it seemed that Dumbledore was often different from the old headmaster he knew.

Snape's dark eyes flickered between Dumbledore and the bronze door.

His brows were furrowed.

He really couldn't recognize him. Could the rumors in the academy be true? Compared to the Potions Professor who thought too much, Hermione's heart just jumped.

“But what if I’m not lucky enough?”

She really couldn't control herself from thinking too much.

"Not lucky enough?"

Dumbledore looked at her, his blue eyes flashing mysteriously behind the lenses: "Ian will come back. I believe in him. He has enough ability and courage to face everything."

This irrelevant answer left Hermione stunned.

Hermione was somewhat unable to comprehend the meaning behind Dumbledore's words. She frowned and wanted to ask something else, but swallowed the words back when they reached her lips.

Finally, she just opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. There was something in the old principal's tone that she couldn't understand - not hope, not prophecy, but a kind of almost certain promise?

In this regard.

Snape became more and more suspicious.

However, even if he thought so, Snape still felt that Dumbledore should consider the overall situation. The world still needs Dumbledore, he is like a beacon guiding everyone forward.

The threat of Voldemort still looms over the wizarding world.

Ok.

At least that's still the case in the eyes of most wizards. After all, only a few people in this world know what Voldemort has become.

"You know, Albus, you need to live, you need to live in this world, you know..." Snape spoke in a deep voice, and because of the little wizard beside him, he was unable to make his words clear.

For this,

Dumbledore simply smiled and did not answer the question. He adjusted his robes with the same deliberate movement as if he were preparing for an afternoon tea party.

"The world never needs anyone. Everyone has his own mission and value, and I will not take risks blindly. Of course, I am not a person who seeks death. I have certain confidence, so... wish me good luck." Dumbledore interrupted him gently, but his eyes flashed with an unquestionable light.

The old principal's authority still exists.

and so.

Although he was still dissatisfied and had objections in his heart, thinking that Dumbledore was too reckless, after a change of expression, Snape still chose to keep silent.

After a psychological struggle.

"Good luck."

Snape sighed and spoke.

Based on emotion and reason.

In fact, he also has selfish motives.

Ian was his nephew after all.

Of course, he would be happy to see Ian being rescued.

only hope.

Everything will turn out well.

(End of this chapter)