Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 122 Curse and Heartache

"Most people?"

"Oh yes, child, there are always some headmasters who are incompetent fools, and they have no secrets."

The witch who said this was dressed in a Baroque-style court dress, looking elegant and noble.

She glanced at a portrait with a disdainful and deliberate air.

Hermione followed her gaze and saw a gloomy-looking old man in the portrait, who looked anxious and melancholy.

Hermione knew him; when she accompanied Vaughn, the old man shouted Vaughn's name and was then given a good beating by another old wizard with a long white beard.

They called him Phineas Black.

This name is not unfamiliar. Hermione had read "A History of the School" which clearly recorded him, calling him "the most incompetent principal in modern times".

Of course, his other most famous achievement was "nurturing" Albus Dumbledore during his time as headmaster!
In this respect, among the modern school principals whose reputation rivals his, only Armando Dippert is comparable. During Dippert's tenure as principal, he "nurtured" Voldemort...

Lost in thought, Hermione waved to Vaughn and then bid farewell to the portraits she was reluctant to leave.

Seeing that the other portraits were all saying goodbye to the girl and no one was paying attention to him anymore, Phineas Black secretly slipped away to the vicinity of Vaughn:
"Hey, Weasley kid!"

Vaughn glanced at him but ignored him.

Phineas was furious; he wasn't exactly known for his good temper. But now that he needed Phineas's help, he forced a smile: "Weasley, remember my suggestion from last time? It still stands... Oh—Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore approached. "Phineas, why don't you try to let go?"

As he spoke, he removed the frame from the Phineas Black painting.

Phineas clung to the picture frame, pleading, "Dumbledore, please, let me finish what I have to say! I don't expect anyone to save that bastard now. Yes, he deserved it, but... but he's the last of the Black family bloodline..."

On the other side, Hermione left, and the portraits of her departing family gathered around, watching Phineas Black and weeping softly.
“Once he dies, the Black family will be extinct, a thousand years of history will turn to dust. Merlin, is the Black family cursed? Dumbledore, Weasley, for the sake of this old man, can you think of a way to ensure that at least one member of the Black family survives?”

"It was my mistake to use dark magic to lure Weasley last time, and I am willing to apologize. Dumbledore, I am even willing to donate the Black family's magic to the school, I just beg you, please let the Black family continue!"

He wept bitterly, and the portraits whispered among themselves.

But Dumbledore remained unmoved.

His fingers brushed across the portrait, and a silent incantation lulled the weeping Phineas into a deep sleep. Then he put the frame away.

One of the portraits, unable to bear it, said, "Dumbledore, perhaps..."

“No maybe!” Dumbledore said firmly, waving his wand to put all the portraits to sleep.

He looked very upset. Noticing Vaughn looking at him, he paused before explaining, "Vaughn, don't listen to Phineas's pitiful act. The last descendant of the Black family committed an unforgivable crime. He only deserves to be imprisoned in Azkaban and has no right to do anything else."

Dumbledore didn't even want to say the person's name.

But Vaughn certainly knew: "Sirius Black? (Sirius is an incorrect translation, but it's used here as a convention)"

Upon hearing the name Sirius, Dumbledore seemed momentarily dazed. "Where did you hear that from?"

Vaughn had already prepared an excuse: "After Phineas tried to seduce me with dark magic last time, I specifically looked up newspapers from more than ten years ago and even asked my parents... He was a good friend of Harry's father, James Potter, and also Harry's godfather."

"Then you should know how evil he is!"

"Well, he was very evil. As the keeper of the 'Loyalty' spell, he leaked the Potter family's address to the Dark Lord. And after the Dark Lord's death, he went so far as to kill his other good friend, Peter Pettigrew."

Vaughn concluded without showing the slightest change in expression.

"Sigh..." Dumbledore sighed, not continuing the topic. He looked at Vaughn's bandaged wound and frowned slightly: "Is the injury still not healed?"

Vaughn shook his head: "No."

He unwrapped the bandages, and in the afterglow of the setting sun outside the window, the two could see that the wounds on his chest and shoulders, caused by Voldemort's forced Apparition, were still bleeding.

The granulation tissue in the wound was throbbing, and the powerful healing power of the Phoenix Tears was still taking effect. However, on the other hand, a wisp of blackness lingered at the wound, hindering its healing!
As the bandages were removed, black marks spread like a spider web across half of Vaughn's body, all the way to the source—a small snake bite on his right hand.

Dumbledore bent down to examine it closely, his azure eyes gleaming behind his crescent-shaped spectacles. After a moment, he looked up: "Tom's curse..."

"Yes, it's rather troublesome."

The curse was cast by Vaughn when he used Apparition to tear off Voldemort's arm.

As a master of dark magic, Voldemort's spells should not be underestimated.

However, Vaughn wasn't too worried about the curse.

On the one hand, Voldemort was in such a hurry that he didn't have the strength to cast any particularly difficult spells.

On the other hand, Vaughn was a potions master, and his potions were quite effective in treating dark magic.

It just needs time!
“Don’t let anyone else know,” Vaughn cautioned. “I didn’t tell Hermione either, so they wouldn’t worry.”

Dumbledore understood, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "I still need to talk to your Potions professor. Severus is very good at handling... the problems Tom left behind. I think you should know some things about him."

Old Deng's gaze was somewhat inquisitive.

He didn't tell Vaughn that Snape had been a double agent.

What puzzled Dumbledore was that Vaughn never questioned the arrangement of Snape as an "undercover agent" to guide Quirrell and Harry.

It was as if he already knew that Snape was connected to Voldemort!
Dumbledore has suspected Vaughn of having a prophetic talent on many occasions—although the Weasley family has never had a prophet in its history.

Dumbledore never tried to ask Vaughn because he knew that Vaughn was actually very similar to himself; there were things they didn't want to talk about that no matter how much you asked, you would never get an answer.

So he could only try to get the information indirectly.

Sensing his probing, Vaughn smiled and said deliberately, "I'll tell the professor, and by the way, I'll tell him that I've turned his idol Voldemort back into a shadow. I hope he won't be too sad."

...He really knew...

Dumbledore smiled. "It would be best to recreate the details, like how you tore off Tom's arm and ripped off his head... Oh, by the way, you put a lot of cameras in the painting world. Perhaps it would be more intuitive for Severus to see the footage in person?"

"You're such a bad guy, Albus."

"Darling, you too!"

After exchanging a few sarcastic remarks, Dumbledore waved his wand, summoning several items: a Time-Turner, a Philosopher's Stone, and a scroll.

He put the time-tamper and the magic stone into his pocket, and pushed the scroll to Vaughn.

"What do you mean?" Vaughn looked at the scroll, which was the key to the world in the painting, equivalent to the main body of that small world.

Dumbledore explained, “The matter is resolved, and it no longer means anything to me. I know you will continue to study small worlds in the future. The alchemical materials that can support a ‘world’ are still very rare. Its creator spent decades gathering the materials. Keeping it will save you a lot of trouble.”

Upon hearing the last sentence, Vaughn thought for a moment, then took the scroll: "Thank you... Actually, I'd rather have the Time-Turner!"

“That won’t do, darling, you’re not old enough to use it yet. When you’re in third grade, you can try to apply for it from Minerva again. As for this one, I have to return it to the Department of Mysteries…” Old Deng winked mischievously, “Hopefully they haven’t realized one is missing!”

"You stole it?"

"How can you call something a wizard stealing? It was borrowed, I just forgot to tell Mr. Fudge!"

"Shameless!" Vaughn rolled his eyes, then glanced maliciously at the bulging bag in his arms: "What are you going to do with the Philosopher's Stone?"

“This needs to be returned to Nico. I promised him I would only borrow it for a short period of time.”

"And then what? What will Nicolas Flamel do with it?" Vaughn pressed.

Dumbledore hesitated for a moment, but then told the truth: "Nicole will probably destroy them... You know, both gold and immortality can arouse people's greed. Because of it, Nicole went into seclusion two centuries ago, and he didn't even dare to pass on the method of making the Philosopher's Stone."

"You don't know either? I remember you two worked together for a long time."

"Of course I won't. Nico won't teach me, and I won't learn it either. The existence of the Philosopher's Stone goes against the laws of nature. I have no intention of judging whether its existence is right or wrong, but it is clear that ensuring that it does not spread is the most important thing. Neither Muggle society nor the wizarding world should have a group of immortal people."

Vaughn frowned. He understood the logic, but he still felt it was a pity: "The Philosopher's Stone represents the highest achievement of the 'Golden Soul' theory. It is a miracle in itself. If it is destroyed like that, wouldn't it mean that the knowledge will also be cut off?"

He didn't care about the so-called immortality of the Philosopher's Stone, nor did he have any interest in its ability to transform gold; he only cared about the knowledge system it represented.

Because of the foreseeable future, Vaughn believed that he could not continue along the path of the "Golden Soul" theory. The core idea of ​​that line of alchemy was that the individual was incomplete and that they pursued wholeness and perfection, which was a path of completion!
While Vaughn's current views are not yet systematic, they are completely opposite to the "Golden Soul" theory in terms of cognition. In his view, reality and ether are two sides of the same coin, there is no so-called "cosmic soul (golden soul)", and naturally there is no such thing as imperfection or perfection.

Matter is matter!

Macroscopic, microscopic, energy, and ether are all different manifestations of it at different energy levels and in different dimensions.

Of course, Vaughn did not believe that he was absolutely right and that others were absolutely wrong, so he still hoped to absorb knowledge systems from different schools of thought to improve and verify his own system.

If the Philosopher's Stone is destroyed and the method of making it is lost, it would be a real pity for him!
Dumbledore understood his meaning. In the pursuit of knowledge, Dumbledore still trusted Vaughn and knew that he was not someone who would be blinded by greed.

This made Lao Deng even more hesitant.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally nodded: "I will convey your message to Nico later and see what he says..."

Vaughn smiled and said, "Or you can give me his address and I'll go visit him?"

Dumbledore pretended not to hear.

Although he believed in Vaughn's pursuit of knowledge and his attitude towards it, it didn't stop him from thinking that the guy was dangerous.

He's a ruthless guy who dared to rip Voldemort's head off!
After chatting for a few more minutes, Dumbledore hurriedly left. He wasn't in a rush to return the Philosopher's Stone, but he wanted to return the Time-Turner he had "borrowed" as soon as possible that evening.

There's also Mr. Potter, the representative of Evamony. He and Vaughn left suddenly, so we have to go back and meet them again to maintain proper etiquette.

Before leaving, Dumbledore thought for a moment and instructed Vaughn: "Vaughn, go see Harry when you have time. He's a bit upset right now because of our deception and lies... The boy trusts you more than I do."

"Ah."

Vaughn agreed and asked, "Is there anything I can't say?"

To enlighten a child who thirsts for the truth, you should tell him the truth, but there are some things you can't tell Harry.

Knowing what he meant, Dumbledore, facing the light of the sunset streaming through the window, dimmed his eyes slightly: "...You decide for yourself..."

Vaughn didn't rush to see Harry.

After Dumbledore left, he turned on the light in the headmaster's office, sat down at the large desk, and took out his notebook to organize the conclusions and follow-up thoughts of this "experiment".

"Timeline folding!"

Under his magical influence, the quill rustled and automatically wrote down the title and brief content.

"...The time reversal in the small world can indirectly prove that the initial timeline of the world can be changed within the same dimension. Using Novikov's principle of self-consistency, we can assume that reality is already the altered timeline, and time travel can still occur, but the timeline after the journey will be in a folded state..."

"...To put it simply, that folded state is like a roller coaster track curving into a circle. A time traveler enters from one end, and no matter where he travels to in the circle, his trajectory is a futile circular motion until he completes the journey without any change, and then exits from the other end, returning to the 'present'..."

But how did the "circle" come about?
How can we ensure that time travelers will fall precisely into the circle when they travel back in time?

Thinking it over, Vaughn wrote down two words.

【node】

[Stress]

"If we consider the timeline as a rope, then the nodes are knots. These knots may be the 'remnants' left behind by the observers who caused the timeline to collapse and altered past events. If this hypothesis is true, then the shape of the real timeline may very well be entirely composed of rope structures, and no matter how you travel through it, you can't escape the 'circles'."

"But that's too cumbersome. On a long timeline, every second of 'present' is followed by 'past,' and it's endless. How many observers would it take to naturally make the timeline so intricately knotted, without even a single second of gap?"

"Therefore, perhaps there is a mechanism similar to a stress response in the real timeline—for example, any spacetime bubble that escapes the current spacetime will fall into the 'circle'..."

Vaughn stopped writing at this point.

After thinking for a moment, he didn't continue writing, but instead started a new line and wrote a single word—

【destiny】

It is circled with heavy strokes and connected to the previous record.

If we were to find a definite concept for the stress response mechanism of spacetime, in Vaughn's understanding, only "fate" best fits the bill. And that's not all.

He recalled a conversation he had with Dumbledore about fate, during which Dumbledore said that no one can know for sure what fate is.

Before it becomes a reality, it can be unknown in a sense.

From Vaughn's current observations, fate does indeed behave in this way; sometimes it produces a definite outcome, but there are many ways to achieve that outcome, and more often than not, it doesn't actually have an "outcome."

For example, regarding the fates of Harry and Voldemort, the prophecy only revealed that one of them would die, without specifying whether it had to be Harry or Voldemort.

This contradicts the notion of a "fixed timeline".

more importantly--

“How should I explain my existence?” Vaughn pondered. “In the original Harry Potter world, I didn’t exist at all. If the timeline of reality is fixed, then I certainly wouldn’t exist, but the reality is that I am here.”

"What happens when a variable that didn't exist before suddenly enters a fixed timeline? Dumbledore once said that he saw my fate interfering with the fates of Harry and Voldemort..."

After a moment's hesitation, Vaughn wrote in his notebook:
[Timeline collapse]

【Observer】

He stared at the word "observer," remained silent for a moment, then waved his hand to erase it...

……

Harry lay curled up in his hospital bed all day.

People came to visit him one after another: Neville, Seamus, and other Gryffindor classmates he was close to, as well as Hagrid and other faculty and staff...

They didn't know what had happened to him, and Dumbledore didn't seem to say either; he simply asked for leave for him, Hermione, Ron, and Vaughn.

The headmaster seems to want to keep everyone from knowing what's happening in the world depicted in the painting for the time being.

Everyone was just wondering why the trio had all suddenly fallen ill (Vaughn's reason for taking leave was to receive the representative of Evamon), and even Professor Quirrell was sick.

They didn't see Harry—which Harry had specifically requested, as he didn't want to be disturbed right now—but they did see Ron, whose swollen head shocked everyone!

Although Ron tried to explain that his swollen head was due to a dangerous dark magic spell, Hagrid still managed to glean some information from Madam Pomfrey.

So in the afternoon, Harry vaguely heard students passing by outside the window talking amongst themselves—

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley contracted a terrible disease from playing with the feces of dangerous magical creatures.

Hermione was lucky not to be caught up in the rumors, because at lunchtime, many people saw her going to the restaurant to get her lunch.

Ron, stung by the potion, flew into a rage and threatened to go after Hagrid, until Madam Pomfrey held him down and forced him to drink a bottle of potion.

Harry ignored the noise and chaos around him, lying silently in bed, his mind a jumble of thoughts.

By evening, Ron, whose head swelling had begun to subside, also left. He had developed a psychological aversion to the school hospital and would rather return to Gryffindor and be watched by everyone than face Madam Pomfrey again.

When Ron left, he said he would come back to visit later and asked him what he would like to eat.

Harry refused.

He's feeling very confused right now, can't sleep, and has no appetite.

He just wanted to be alone and think undisturbed, so when night fell, he heard someone push open the door of the school hospital, walk to his bedside, and pull back the bed curtains.

He said impatiently, "I've already said I don't want to eat, you..."

Turning back, he suddenly stopped speaking. Under the bright moonlight streaming in from the window, the figure of Vaughn, who had suddenly grown taller this year and whose figure was vaguely showing signs of becoming more handsome, was reflected in his eyes.

Harry scrambled to his feet, bewildered. "I...I thought it was Ron..."

He looked at the bandages wrapped around Vaughn's body and the faint bloodstains seeping from them, and stammered, "You, your injury...didn't Dumbledore say it was fine?"

This doesn't look like something's wrong!
“It’s a bit troublesome, after all, it was left by Voldemort, but it’s not a big problem,” Vaughn said with a smile, then gestured for Harry to get up: “Want to go for a walk together?”

"Oh……"

After saying goodbye to Mrs. Pomfrey, the two left the school hospital and the castle one after the other.

Perhaps because it had rained enough in the past few days, the weather was quite nice today, with no sudden downpours or storms, and the sky was no longer covered with heavy clouds after nightfall.

The dark sky, like a black gem reflecting a faint light, hangs overhead; the moon is bright and the stars are sparse, a cool breeze is blowing.

Harry followed Vaughn closely, vaguely guessing why Vaughn had come to find him, and waited for the other to speak.

But even as they walked to Black Lake, Vaughn remained silent.

Harry could tell he was a little distracted, as if he was thinking about something else. After following him listlessly for a while, Harry couldn't help but ask first, "Vaughn, I heard from Ron that you defeated Voldemort?"

Vaughn snapped out of his daze, smiled, and first warned, "Be careful not to call Voldemort by his name in the future. His name is enchanted. It doesn't matter now, but if he ever comes back to life, calling his name will expose you."

"Uh……"

Harry had indeed heard that people were afraid to call Voldemort by his name, and he assumed it was because people were afraid.

He nodded: "Oh, I've got it."

Very cute.

Vaughn couldn't help but glance at it, which made him think again about the contradictions between fate and timeline.

In the nearly one year since he enrolled, he has more or less had a significant impact on Harry and brought about many changes, which were not present in the original Harry Potter series.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Vaughn continued, "As for defeating Voldemort... sort of. At least for a while, you won't run into him again, unless he finds another fool willing to let him parasitize!"

"You mean, he's not dead?"

Harry recalled the nightmarish scene he witnessed before he fainted, where Vaughn pulled Voldemort's head off.

Can a person survive without their head?
Seemingly sensing his thoughts, Vaughn chuckled: "What died was Quirrell's body. Voldemort himself did not come back to life, so he did not die. He simply returned to his original form and continues to eke out a living in the dark jungle."

Harry couldn't understand what that state was like, but he didn't dwell on it. There were just too many things in the magical world that he couldn't comprehend.

So he quickly changed the subject and asked the question he had always wanted to ask:
"You and Dumbledore...why did you keep this from me? Why did you lie to me?"

Harry doesn't like deception; that's just how children are.

Seeing things in black and white, and failing to think things through properly and meticulously, sometimes lies and deceptions are not out of malice.

It could also be for protection, for example, when the truth is rather harsh.

Vaughn replied, “Deceiving and misleading you is Dumbledore’s decision. He wants to test you. I don’t think it makes sense, but he insists.”

"Why test me? Is it because my fate is intertwined with Voldemort's? What does our fate truly mean?"

Harry asked a series of questions.

Vaughn stopped, looked at Harry, and after a long silence, shook his head and said, "I can't answer those questions for you. It's not the right time yet..."

"Then when exactly is it?" Harry complained. Dumbledore was like this, and so was Vaughn!

Why are they unwilling to tell the truth?

Harry thought dejectedly that he already knew what Vaughn was going to say next; it would be the same old Riddler stuff.

But to his surprise, Vaughn gave him the exact answer: "When you're as strong as I am now!"

Harry: "..."

This answer is worse than not saying anything at all...

"That's impossible!" Harry watched almost the entire battle between Vaughn and Voldemort, witnessing the incredibly skillful Apparition, the terrifying "Big Blast Curse" that blasted the hall into craters, and the masterful Transfiguration.

Harry felt that he might never be as good as him in his entire life!

Vaughn asked him, "Why do you think it's impossible if you haven't even tried?"

Harry was speechless.

"Only mediocre people subconsciously deny themselves when faced with challenges, subconsciously believing that they cannot do it."

Vaughn said slowly, "But in reality, all the denials and impossibilities are just because you think it's too difficult, you're just avoiding the difficulties. Why not think about it the other way around? If one day you can become as strong as I am today, I'll tell you anything you want to know!"

Young Harry didn't understand what "chicken soup for the soul" meant, but at that moment, he truly felt as if he had drawn strength from Vaughn's words.

At least Vaughn's last sentence left him with a lot to think about!
Although he didn't explicitly agree with Vaughn, he stopped worrying about whether he could do it and instead asked, "So, what can you tell me now?"

"There are quite a few, for example, why Voldemort died at your hands 11 years ago; and what role Snape played between you and Voldemort... You have many questions that confuse you, some of which are not so important, and I can tell you all of them!"

"Even if we can't tell you for the time being, it's not that Dumbledore and I are deliberately hiding anything or harboring any ill intentions. It's just that we feel your current strength is not suitable for you to know those things, understand, Harry?"

Harry's lips moved a few times, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. After a long while, he slowly nodded: "I understand..."

Essentially, he wasn't afraid of the test; what troubled him was not knowing why he was being tested. Now, Vaughn made it clear: whether they designed the test for him or didn't tell him things, it was all because he wasn't strong enough!

A simple and direct answer, very much in Vaughn's style.

Harry exhaled, as if releasing the pent-up frustration of the day. Just like when he was learning Occlumency from Vaughn, he tried to put himself in Vaughn's shoes and suppress his own boiling thoughts caused by the lack of answers.

Then try to grasp the answers that are currently available.

“Tell me everything you can, Vaughn.”

"Hmm... there are quite a few. Which one would you like to hear first?"

Harry pondered for a moment, "Let me first explain why I was able to kill Voldemort. In the world of the painting, I could sense his hatred and contempt for me. People say I killed him with a spell, but that's not true, is it?"

“That’s right, what killed him was the protective charm your mother cast on you… Her name was Lily Evans, that was her name before she got married, you should remember that, Harry…”

On the tranquil shore of the Black Lake, the two walked further and further away, their voices fading into the gentle breeze and the vast night.

.........

"...Voldemort had been living inside Quirrell, and Quirrell always wore a large turban to cover Voldemort's face on the back of his head."

The next morning, Harry, who had tossed and turned all night unable to sleep, excitedly told his friends everything he had heard from Vaughn.

Ron, who was originally drowsy and in a daze, was immediately startled awake:
"Merlin, so we spent a whole year with Voldemort... with the Dark Lord? So every time Quirrell turned around to write on the blackboard, the Dark Lord was actually watching us from behind his turban?"

His face was so pale it was almost transparent.

Having just woken up and only managed to overhear a few words, Neville, his limbs curled up and breathing heavily, fainted with a "hiccup."

Fortunately, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finigan were both heavy sleepers and didn't hear this shocking news; otherwise, who knows what kind of chaos would have ensued in the dormitory.

Ron and Harry frantically carried the unconscious Neville back to bed. Ron, still groggy, washed his face and was pulled by Harry out of the dormitory. They walked to the courtyard, where the cool morning breeze made him realize he wasn't dreaming.

Ron's lips trembled as he asked to confirm, "Vaughn took care of him, right?"

"I suppose so," Vaughn said he had become a shadow again.

"Shadow? He's not dead yet?"

Upon hearing Ron's scream, Harry quickly recounted what Vaughn had told him the day before about the cause and effect of Voldemort's "death," as well as his current state.

Then he comforted Ron, who was crying, "Although he didn't die, he's in a worse state than if he were dead. Loneliness and pain are tormenting him every minute, and in that shadowy state, he can't do anything. Don't worry."

Ron felt no comfort: "But he will be resurrected someday..."

He recalled how he used to secretly throw chalk at Quirrell from behind in class, and how his sharp tongue in the fairytale town and the painted world caused Quirrell to be struck by lightning twice and breathe fire from a dragon once...

In a daze, he seemed to see his own end—

(End of this chapter)