Hogwarts: Starting with full Unforgivable Curses

As the knot was pressed down, the willow tree's movements stopped instantly, and the waving branches slowly drooped down, returning to calm, as if it had become an ordinary willow tree again.

The trembling of the willow tree completely stopped, its branches drooping limply onto the snow, no longer displaying its previous aggression.

Only then did Aberforth Dumbledore feel relieved enough to walk out of the back door of the Hog's Head and step onto the path leading to the secret passage.

He wrapped his invisibility cloak tightly around himself and walked slowly through the snow-covered forest, carefully avoiding dead branches with each step to prevent making any unnecessary noise.

After getting away from the Willow of the Beating Man, Aberforth stopped and looked up at Hogwarts Castle, which stood atop the snow-capped mountain in the distance.

The castle's spires looked particularly magnificent against the gloomy sky, and warm light shone from the windows, with owls circling around the castle faintly visible.

He sighed softly, his voice filled with emotion: "So many years have passed, I've almost forgotten when I last came back here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aberforth stopped, tightened his invisibility cloak, and quickened his pace toward the castle.

He held the wand, his wrist swinging back and forth gently. A faint silver light followed the wand's trajectory across the snow—the clear footprints he had left gradually blurred under the silver light, eventually disappearing completely into the snow, as if no one had ever passed by.

By evading the patrolling Filch and the magical barriers surrounding the castle, Aberforth arrived safely at the door of Dumbledore's office.

He was about to raise his hand to knock when the office door was suddenly turned open from the inside, and Albus Dumbledore stood behind it with a smile, as if he had known he would come all along.

“That’s quite a surprise, Aberforth.” Albus stepped aside to make room, his tone slightly teasing. “You’re at Hogwarts at this hour? Looks like you have something important to do. It’s almost noon, would you like to grab something to eat? The kitchen just made some pumpkin pies, they’re still warm.”

"Forget about food, I don't have time to think about these things." Aberforth walked into the office, casually took off his invisibility cloak, threw it on the sofa next to him, and said in a serious tone, "Let's go inside and talk business. You must answer my questions truthfully."

Albus smiled and nodded, making a welcoming gesture towards him: "Of course, my brother."

But hold on a minute, how about we sit down and have a cup of hot chocolate? It's so cold outside, we can warm up before we talk.”

“I don’t have time to beat around the bush with you!” Aberforth didn’t sit down and went straight to the point. “You already knew that Dylan was researching war magic, didn’t you? The ideas he mentioned at the meeting at the Pighead Bar today clearly involved the core principles of war magic, which cannot be mastered by figuring it out on your own.”

“Hmm?” Albus raised an eyebrow, his hand holding the hot chocolate paused slightly, and his tone became cautious. “Aberforth, there are some topics we'd better not… at least not discuss so bluntly, especially in Hogwarts offices.”

“Then I understand.” Aberforth’s expression instantly became more serious, his eyes fixed on Albus. “It seems that Dylan has indeed learned a lot about war magic from you—otherwise, as a student, he would never have been exposed to such profound content.”

He took two steps forward, his tone tinged with dissatisfaction: "I know your excuse all too well! Every time you don't want to answer a question directly, you use these ambiguous words to brush it off. Dylan is the most amazing student we've had in all these years, his thirst for knowledge is stronger than ever, he's as greedy as a sniffer for diamonds! If you're willing to give him even a hint, he'll definitely do everything he can to learn and research. Do you think I don't know that?"

“I’m really happy that you still understand me so well.” Albus showed no embarrassment at being exposed, but instead revealed a gentle smile, though his tone remained firm. “But I still have to remind you that some discussions of knowledge require extra caution, and we’d better not bring up those sensitive areas.”

"Don't give me that!" Aberforth's voice suddenly rose, his hands clenching involuntarily. "Not bringing it up? But Dylan already knows about war magic! What are you planning to do? What do you want him to do with that knowledge?"

“Aberforth, please don’t be in such a hurry.” Albus put down the hot chocolate in his hand, his tone still unhurried, his eyes filled with a sense of reassurance. “I think you, like me, are very confident in Dylan—although he is full of thirst for knowledge, he never abuses the abilities he has.”

He continued, "Therefore, you should also know that his research into war magic doesn't mean he will actively use it. Perhaps he just wants to verify some of his conjectures or refine his understanding of the magic system through this research?"

“At least in my opinion, I trust Dylan completely.” Albus’s tone became serious. “He is much more mature than we think, and he knows how to avoid the risks hidden behind knowledge. Moreover, I can sense that what he desires is simply knowledge itself, without any other ulterior motives.”

“Your description is quite interesting.” Aberforth pursed his lips, his dissatisfaction easing slightly. “Just like you said, he’s like a Niffler, simply fond of sparkly knowledge, he doesn’t have any bad intentions, does he? But even so, you can’t let him get involved in such a dangerous area!”

“Alright, it seems that just talking won’t put your mind at ease.” Albus smiled helplessly and pulled his wand from his pocket. “In that case, let’s do something more practical and let you see for yourself.”

He raised his wand and gently beckoned to a tall cabinet in the corner of the office.

The cabinet door opened instantly, and countless yellowed parchment drafts flew out, like a flock of awakened butterflies. After circling in the air a few times, they landed neatly in the center of the desk, piling up into a small "paper mountain".

“These are the results of my research over the past few years, about the conversion and application of magical energy. However, they are not yet fully perfect, and there are still many details that need to be adjusted.” Albus pointed to the parchment drafts on the desk and said to Aberforth, “According to the original plan, we intended to wait until next school year, after Dylan’s foundation in magical theory has become more solid, before gradually handing over these research results to her.” He paused, his eyes filled with anticipation: “Aberforth, perhaps you can take a look at these drafts first. You might find them somewhat familiar—some of the ideas actually have a lot in common with the magical protection theory you studied back then.”

Looking at the pile of parchment drafts on his desk, Aberforth Dumbledore's eyes instantly became wary. He took a half step back, crossed his arms, and asked suspiciously, "What are these things? Could they be some strange secret documents you've come up with again? What if I pick them up and look at them, and then I'm forcibly bound to some kind of magical contract, and it's too late to back out?"

Albus Dumbledore chuckled at his brother's wary words, shaking his head slightly and saying helplessly, "Of course not. We've known each other for so many years, when have I ever used such methods on you? You don't trust me at all."

“You didn’t use it on me because I know you all too well, and I was already on guard against this kind of thing.” Aberforth chuckled, his tone laced with sarcasm. “But I know someone who has fallen for your tricks before—that silly boy Newt, wasn’t he tricked into doing those dangerous things by you using similar ‘tricks’ back then? You can’t deny that, can you?”

"Can I deny it?" Albus shrugged, his gentle smile still on his face. "You've already said it, you know me too well, there's no point in denying it."

He changed the subject, pointing to the drafts on the desk: "But I still suggest you take a look. The contents of these drafts are really interesting. Since you know that Dylan is researching war magic, it means you must have participated in their previous discussions and heard a lot of interesting topics."

"If you could know the contents of the draft beforehand, the next time Dylan talks to you about his magical research findings, you won't be too surprised by his lack of knowledge, and you won't even need to worry about him. What do you think?"

"Why should I worry about him?" Aberforth raised his eyebrows, his tone full of disdain. "He's just a young wizard; he can research whatever he likes. As long as he doesn't break the law or hurt anyone, what do I have to worry about?"

Despite saying that, Aberforth unconsciously took a step forward and reached out to pick up the stack of parchment drafts.

His raised eyebrows remained, clearly indicating he was still on guard, his fingers gripping the edge of the draft as he quickly scanned the text.

Albus watched his brother's hypocritical actions, and his smile deepened. He didn't say anything, but just stood quietly to the side, slowly stroking his long white beard, his eyes filled with understanding.

Aberforth quickly became engrossed in the draft and completely failed to notice Albus's subtle movements.

The parchment draft was densely covered with text, but the content it recorded was extremely subversive, which surprised him more and more as he read it, and even gave him a strong sense of déjà vu—these views and ideas seemed to have a strange connection with some things he had heard before.

His thoughts drifted back to the conversation that had just ended—when Neville mentioned that the author of "Introduction to Muggle Swordsmanship" was Godric Gryffindor, and especially the ending of the book, which suggested that Gryffindor's inspiration for founding Hogwarts most likely came from his experience in the Muggle Knights.

This idea of ​​linking wizarding history with the Muggle world intrigued him at the time, and seeing the contents of the draft now shocked him even more.

The draft mentions a bold, almost insane, conjecture: the wizarding community chose to hide outside the Muggle world not purely out of its own free will, but because the Muggle society's rejection and fear of wizards forced them to make concessions.

To avoid greater conflict, the wizards passed a unified law that made the entire wizarding community disappear from the sight of Muggles.

The "secrecy law" that wizards often talk about is not a rule made by a single country or region, but a law formulated by the International Wizarding Federation and observed by wizards worldwide—the "Secrecy Law of the International Wizarding Federation".

The draft details the background of the law's creation. It was formally passed and enforced in 1692, with the core purpose of regulating wizards' behavior and ensuring that the existence of the magical world was not discovered by Muggles, thereby maintaining a balance between the two worlds.

Upon seeing this, Aberforth paused slightly in the hand holding the draft, his eyes filled with shock. He had never imagined that the separation between wizards and Muggles had such a hidden past, and Dylan's research seemed to be moving in the direction of uncovering these secrets.

As Aberforth looked at the draft of the "International Wizarding Federation's Law of Secrecy," his brow furrowed deeper and deeper, and his doubts grew stronger. The core reason for promoting this law was clearly because the witch hunts in Europe and North America were too rampant at the time, and the relationship between wizards and Muggles had reached a freezing point. European wizards were particularly troubled and had no choice but to enact the law of secrecy to completely separate the "magical world" from the "Muggle world," and even isolate the magical world from the Muggle's view.

For European wizards, enforcing secrecy laws was indeed an urgent necessity. After all, the "witch hunt" that swept across many places at the time was mainly concentrated in Europe and North America, and wizards faced the risk of being tried and persecuted at any time.

The problem is that in other continents, such as most parts of Asia and Africa, there were no similar persecutions or trials of witches at the time, and their lives were peaceful and stable.

If that's the case, why would the magical worlds of these continents be willing to cooperate in implementing a secrecy law that seems to have nothing to do with them?

Moreover, this law was enforced by force, and in a short period of time, it hid the entire magical world around the globe, which is truly inexplicable.

This draft, filled with unorthodox ideas, broke Aberforth's long-held beliefs with a completely new theory of magic and a unique perspective, prompting him to reflect on previously accepted notions, such as the relationship between wizards and Muggles, and the true hidden reasons of the magical world.

"Because Muggles need us to disappear... so we disappeared from their world in a magical way?" Aberforth read this sentence from the draft in a low voice, his tone full of disbelief. He looked up at Albus, his eyes filled with inquiry. (End of Chapter)