Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 196 The Crack in the Moonlight

It was late at night when Levi returned to Hogwarts Castle.

The freshmen dinner was over; the students had made a great fuss, and then the entire Hogwarts fell silent.

But some people are still waiting for Li Wei to return.

Dumbledore was standing at the entrance to the hall.

The moonlight shone on him, and even the faintest rays of light appeared exceptionally dazzling on him.

"Li Wei, the moonlight is lovely tonight—I didn't see you at the freshman banquet, what were you doing there?"

He tried his best to avoid making his tone sound accusatory.

"Let's go for a walk—Principal, did you wait here specifically for me?"

Li Wei was about to skip over him as he spoke.

"I thought our relationship, if not extremely close, should at least be that of friends who could talk about anything."

Li Wei stopped in his tracks.

"If that's how you think, then you should talk to people more like a friend."

Dumbledore sighed softly, his voice low and clear, echoing in the first-floor corridor and hall.

"I just received some secret information—it's ridiculous that Fudge still thinks I did it, and he's desperately trying to hide it from me while spreading the news everywhere."
The Ministry of Magic's carriage was struck by lightning on its way to Azkaban. The four Aurors escorting the carriage were unharmed, but Peter Pettigrew, who was sitting inside, died.

A sharp glint flashed in the obscure eyes hidden behind the glasses.

"Li Wei, you did it, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did it."

Li Wei looked at Dumbledore, without any intention of playing mind games, and directly admitted it.

"Why? I want to understand your thinking behind doing this."

Dumbledore's voice trembled slightly—he hadn't expected that Livy, after gaining enough power, would so easily trample on the law. No, in fact, he had always been this kind of person.

Dumbledore lowered his eyelids slightly.

When they first met, Levi was already a "madman who disregarded the Ministry of Magic".

However, he was moved by Li Wei during this period and did not want him to be that kind of person, or rather—he sincerely tried his best to avoid thinking of Li Wei as that kind of person.

"There are two reasons."

Li Wei extended his right index finger.

"one:

Peter Pettigrew is an expert on Animagus; if the Ministry of Magic continues to rely solely on Dementors as guards, he is highly likely to escape.

Dumbledore slowly shook his head, and Levi then extended his middle finger:
"two:

Voldemort is about to return, and these Death Eaters will surely be freed. I hope there will be as few enemies as possible in the future.

"That sounds reasonable. It seems I should clear out the prisoners of Azkaban before Voldemort returns, to prevent them from affecting us later?"

Dumbledore's tone was joking, but his expression was clearly more serious. "In fact, I think you should do it."

Li Wei responded casually, as if discussing how many chickens to kill today.

"Li Wei—!"

Dumbledore raised his voice, which was unusual for him.

"Do you know what this means? The complete annihilation of Azkaban? By what standards? By whom? Is it you? Or me?"

"Either is fine—if you don't want to do it because of psychological pressure, I can do it."

Dumbledore's attitude clearly had no effect on Livy.

A look of sadness appeared in his eyes.

"How can this be? To decide the life and death of those people based on one's own opinion, just for some seemingly grand purpose, how are we any different from Voldemort?"

"The difference is that we only punish those who are beyond redemption, instead of trying to rule others by indiscriminately killing innocent people."

Li Wei stared at Dumbledore's gaze, bravely meeting his eyes with an almost unnatural calm.

Dumbledore closed his eyes in anguish and shook his head.

But soon, he forcibly sealed his current thoughts with the Occlusive Technique. Now was a critical moment, and he could not retreat, not even temporarily!

“Livy—” Dumbledore’s eyes became equally calm and still, “Your current thoughts are actually very similar to mine when I was young. Do you feel that way?”

"For a greater good?" Levi shook his head. "Principal, although I don't fully understand your propositions, I think they are different."

“I’m not prepared to sacrifice anyone’s interests. I just think you should get rid of those Death Eaters who have made mistakes, instead of letting them stay in jail and become a threat.”

In peacetime, I wouldn't mind letting these scoundrels spend their lives in prison—but we know Voldemort will return, yet we remain indifferent to it all. Isn't that foolish?

Dumbledore didn't answer the question, not because he couldn't, but because he knew his answer wouldn't convince the man before him.
Dumbledore's voice became very low, as if it carried the weariness characteristic of the elderly.

"Livy, the reason we fight Voldemort and his followers is not only to eliminate a powerful and evil dark wizard, but also to defend the rights of every person in this world."

Even the most base and weakest life should be bound and protected by basic rules, rather than being arbitrarily deprived by the stronger.

If, in our efforts to fight Voldemort, we follow the same path as him—abusing power, trampling on the law, and deciding the life and death of others according to our own whims—we will be at a disadvantage.
Then what's the point of all this?
It's just pushing ourselves further and further into the abyss.

Livy simply shook his head in response to Dumbledore's advice.

“Principal Dumbledore, I do respect you—but I cannot agree with some of the ideas you have expressed—I will not discuss the right or wrong of this matter with you, I will only say the most basic point.”

Li Wei looked directly at him and said calmly:
"Even someone as outstanding as you has made such serious mistakes—what makes you think I'm wiser than you and can avoid stepping into the same river?"

"And unlike you, I believe I'm on the right track."

Dumbledore simply looked at Livy with a heavy gaze and said nothing.

Li Wei stepped past him, leaving behind his last words.

"Furthermore, the two reasons I mentioned earlier are merely high-sounding excuses—the deepest reason is that I despise the existence of villains like Peter in the world."

I had no intention of torturing him, but I also didn't want him to live on—life is the most important thing to me, so I only took away what was most important to him.

Moonlight streamed down the stairwell, enveloping the two figures and casting long shadows on the floor, like two unbridgeable rifts.
(End of this chapter)