Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 344 The Brother's Curses

They stepped through the open oak door, where silver crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a soft glow from the candles.

The office was a spacious and beautiful room, oval-shaped, with a square window made of stained glass on the outer wall that was half-open and half-closed, allowing the faint moonlight to shine in. Outside were the grounds and the forbidden forest.

Behind the desk placed against the wall sat the same old wizard, Albus Dumbledore.

"Albus..."

Aberforth.

After a vague greeting, there was a long silence.

Strange silverware spun on the table, emitting wisps of smoke. Under the watchful eyes of the former headmasters, Melvin, Aberforth, and Dumbledore sat facing each other.

The room's decor had been significantly altered, with pink silk strips adorning the walls and shelves, bows tied to gilded perches, and even the crumpled Sorting Hat had been cleaned and tidied up, exuding a girlish style in every detail.

Dumbledore wore a light blue dressing gown embroidered with stars and crescent moons. Behind his crescent-shaped spectacles, his deep blue eyes were unfathomable. He leaned back in his chair, with portraits of past headmasters behind him.

Aberforth had removed his disguise; his beard and hair had shortened, returning to their original gray color, thicker and more rugged than Dumbledore's, disheveled and gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Melvin remained silent, trying to minimize his presence and not wanting to disturb the brothers' reunion.

He lowered his head slightly and saw the black gemstone, the Resurrection Stone, placed in a silver vessel to the right of the principal on the table.

From revealing the news of the Resurrection Stone at the Pig's Head Bar to leading the bar owner into the room and facilitating the meeting of the two old wizards, Melvin's initial schadenfreude had vanished. For some reason, he was unsure whether his choice was the right one.

The room was silent as the two brothers stared at each other, their eyes both azure blue.

“I can always see these eyes in the mirror.”

Dumbledore was the first to look away, picked up the teapot, and asked softly, "Hot cocoa or pumpkin juice? How about butterbeer?"

Aberforth snorted coldly and didn't respond.

Melvin silently poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

“Butterbeer, it’s low in alcohol, it’s what the Hogwarts kitchen serves to the students. As the owner of the Hog’s Head, you might not be used to it.” Dumbledore looked at his brother, trying to remain calm.

The headmaster of Hogwarts, the head of Wizengamot, and a world-renowned legendary wizard, sensed Aberforth's magic the moment he arrived at the door, but didn't know how to deal with him.

After many years apart, the reunion was filled with hesitation and uncertainty, and it wasn't just the younger brother who felt lost and uncertain.

He paused briefly: "Or you could have a glass of flaming whiskey."

"What are you going to do with it?" Aberforth scoffed. "When the fire is at its fiercest, pour it into your beard?"

"The flaming whiskeys I have here are still within their expiration date. The flames aren't strong enough to ignite a beard, and the temperature isn't hot enough to meet your needs."

Dumbledore said in a low voice, pausing slightly, "I heard all the passwords you guessed during the ten or so minutes you were at the door."

“You knew I was outside, yet you deliberately refused to open the door for me!” Aberforth glared angrily.

“Wiseengamor…for the greater good…” Dumbledore muttered to himself, forcing a smile. “Thank you for mentioning Ariana at the end. It makes me feel much better. At least in your heart, I’m not a hopeless case.”

"Of course you're beyond saving! You damn fool!"

Aberforth stared at the black gemstone, his bright blue eyes sharp: "What are you thinking? Are you getting senile? You found that damned stone, why didn't you tell me!"

He slammed his fist on the table, his burly frame swaying restlessly in his chair, then began looking around as if searching for that familiar figure: "Where did you hide her? Ariana! Ariana!"

"She went back to rest."

Dumbledore lowered his head and poured him a butterbeer: "She can't stay here for long, not even with the protection of the Resurrection Stone. Just like in her life, she is weak and easily fatigued, and needs to go back to rest every few hours."

Aberforth paused for a moment, then glared at him fiercely, as if offended, and suddenly became furious, his chest heaving as he roared:

"Stop your hypocritical act, Albus! I know you, I know my own brother. To outsiders, you have a majestic image, radiating sunshine from every pore, but I know you are a heartless, treacherous, and hypocritical fellow!"

The candlelight shone on Dumbledore's spectacles, making the crescent-shaped lenses opaque and blurring his deep blue eyes behind them.
"I don't deny it."

Aberforth said rudely, “You learned secrecy, secrets, and lies on your mother’s lap. The rest of us need to go through some lessons to master these skills, but you were born with them. You are an ambitious man, an ambitious Slytherin man!”

"Yes, it's me."

Dumbledore accepted all the listed crimes.

"you you……"

This subservient and humble posture made Aberforth feel very uncomfortable. He should stubbornly argue, use clumsy or excellent rhetoric to defend himself, and make up excuses by rambling on and on, so that he would have a chance to break Aberforth's nose with a punch.

But now it's like punching cotton; I can't vent my anger, and I feel extremely frustrated.

“But none of this diminishes my love for Ariana,” Dumbledore said calmly.

"How ridiculous! Your love is like expired wine—stinking, worthless, and harmful!"

Abufo spat and ruthlessly reopened his wound: "How many people you cared about so much ended up with tragic and miserable ends? You should have just stayed away from them in the first place!"

"..." Dumbledore seemed to have been truly stung, his expression darkening as he remained silent.

Seeing his expression, Aberforth pursed his lips, his menacing demeanor softening somewhat. After a moment, he said, "Give me the Resurrection Stone and let me take Ariana back!"

Dumbledore didn't speak, but shook his head slightly.

"Ariana loves me, not you!"

Aberforth became enraged again, standing up abruptly, his ferocious expression somewhat terrifying: "You've been pretending for too long. Don't fool yourself. You don't care about her at all. She loves me the most. When Mother can't get Ariana to eat, I can coax her to eat. When she has a temper tantrum, I can calm her down. When she's not having an episode, she often helps me feed the sheep..."

"And you, Albus, do I need to remind you?"

His voice suddenly rose: "When you're at home, you always stay in your bedroom upstairs, reading your books, counting your awards, and corresponding with the most famous wizards of the time! Now you're the most famous legendary wizard in the wizarding world, are you proud? Are you pleased with yourself?"

(End of this chapter)