Hogwarts: A Chinese-Style Professor

Chapter 39 Welcoming Petrification
"This time, what will you choose?"

Faced with Dumbledore's probing question, Li Wei couldn't help but give a wry smile.

"Do I have any other choice? Professor, has anyone ever told me that you are actually very good at manipulating people's hearts?"

Without any hesitation, he reached out his hand to Dumbledore.

"This time, I choose Headmaster Dumbledore—are you satisfied with this answer?"

"It is my honor as an educator."

Dumbledore hadn't felt tired before, but now he felt a surge of energy flowing into his heart, making him realize that he wasn't in such good condition as before.

He held Li Wei's hand tightly.

After their hands separated, Dumbledore stood up immediately.

“Li Wei, we were able to discover this first Horcrux thanks to the information you provided. I would like to invite you to witness it with me.”

He raised his wand and conjured a brazier in the center of the office, then placed the diary from the middle of the desk inside it.

boom.

Red flames erupted from the tip of his wand, transforming into a spear that pierced directly at the notebook in the center of the table.

"Wow!"

The fiery spear pierced the center of the diary with the force of a wildfire, and continued to burn and spread outwards.

Ink began to gush out of the diary, almost overflowing the brazier.

Along with this came terrifying screams, loud enough to pierce eardrums!
Even after the screams subsided, ink continued to drip from the diary, accompanied by the sizzling sound of the flames.

Livy and Dumbledore experienced all of this seriously together.

He began to feel that his previous thoughts were not cautious enough—if he were to actually use something so sinister one day, he might need to make more preparations.

"Alright, we've done most of the important things."

After the Horcrux was completely burned to ashes, Dumbledore once again invited Levi to sit down.

As for the extremely skillful Fiery Spell that the other party had used earlier, the two of them tacitly ignored it.

"Now, all that's left is the basilisk."

"Yes, that's exactly why I'm sitting here today."

After sitting down, Li Wei let out a weary sigh—today's conversations had been quite frequent, and now that it was coming to an end, a feeling of exhaustion was overwhelming him.

"So, what's your plan in keeping the basilisk alive?"

"There are many things involved, but the most important thing is that I hope to mentor Harry."

"Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Yes, you've already met him. What did you think of him?"

Li Wei thought for a moment, but could hardly recall anything, and shook his head, saying:
"His talent for spells is quite good, but I don't know if it's because he lacks goals and is too lazy. He often can't even finish the assignments I give him."

Frankly, I can't associate him with the word "savior" at all.

"Lazy—I didn't expect you to see that child that way."

Dumbledore looked somewhat surprised.

"My opinion of him is not important, so what does it have to do with you keeping the basilisk around? You can't expect him to challenge the basilisk, can you?"

"That is indeed my plan."

"It's a reckless decision, but since this is your plan, I have no objection."

"But even if you kept the basilisk, why did you plan today's attack?"

"."

Seeing that Levi immediately accepted the idea of ​​putting Harry on the risk, Dumbledore's mood was slightly complicated—whether Snape or Minerva knew about the plan, they would definitely be furious with him, but with Levi...
He suppressed the strange emotions rising in his heart and explained: "Filch's cat is fine. Actually, it was temporarily controlled by my spell. After this conversation, I will go and formally apologize to Filch."

Seeing Li Wei's questioning gaze, he continued to explain:

"Tom is coming back soon, and I want to give some ambitious people a good talking-to so they'll behave themselves—the Basilisk is a good bait."

"So you're using the basilisk as bait, waiting for someone to attack you?"

“Yes, of course, there are other reasons as well.” Dumbledore nodded. “I want to put this matter out in the open, so that everyone knows.”

Now we both know that Tom Slytherin is the heir to the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin, and he probably attempted to open it during his student days—an incident that permanently resulted in the death of a student whose ghost still weeps throughout the Hogwarts campus.

"The Weeping Myrtle?"

"Yes—in that incident, Hagrid was forcibly identified as the final culprit and stripped of his wand. I believe there must be some hidden story behind it. I pleaded with him repeatedly to save him, but I couldn't do any more."

Now, it's time to clear his name.

Li Wei nodded, showing no interest in these old gossips—he had already read the complete Harry Potter series, so these things were more like background to him than actual events. Perhaps that was why he always maintained a sense of detachment from others.

No, no, this needs to be changed—to find the path to becoming a legendary wizard, he must try to integrate into life.

Li Wei reflected silently, then asked Dumbledore:

"So, are you planning another attack by the basilisk? How many? Have the targets been decided yet?"

"Hmm—I think it will require at least two times," Dumbledore said, seemingly undecided. "I don't want to use the students as the implementers of this plan, so—"

"Can I be the candidate?"

"what?"

Even Dumbledore was momentarily lost in thought at this moment.

"The previous petrification was ignored because it was Filch's cat, so you were able to use magic to disguise it. The next two candidates should really be facing the basilisk and being petrified for a period of time, right?"
I'll be the one to choose, whether it's the first or the second one—but in that case, you might have to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor to temporarily replace me.

Or, you can have Jowell replace me; I believe he can handle these things well.”

"Are you really going to do it? Why?"

Dumbledore frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

Based on his understanding of Li Wei, the other party shouldn't be a selfless person.

"I want to see what it feels like to be petrified by a basilisk."

"."

Dumbledore raised his eyes slightly behind his glasses, looking at Li Wei with some surprise.

"Aren't you interested in why the basilisk's eyes can kill people, but turn into petrification after being blocked by lenses?"

Is this a rule set by the god of magic, or just a kind of magic that we do not yet understand?
Perhaps the so-called petrification is just a manifestation of a curse within a branch of dark magic? I'm very curious.

Levy had no intention of trusting Dumbledore; he was genuinely curious.

Moreover, with Dumbledore watching over him, he felt at ease.

Dumbledore and his two assistants were the only people in the world that Livy could trust to entrust his life to.

Dumbledore stared at the eloquent Livy, his astonishment lingering for several seconds.

Suddenly, accompanied by a brief, sharp screech like gas being squeezed out of a boiler, Dumbledore burst into a happy laugh.

"Li Wei, I must apologize to you again."

His voice trembled as he laughed, yet he persisted in speaking.

The next moment, he suddenly stopped laughing and looked at Li Wei with utmost seriousness.

“Depriving a wizard like you of the right to freely explore magic is one of the few acts of cruelty I have ever committed in my life.”

(End of this chapter)