The Return to Hogwarts

"Here's the thing, Headmaster Dumbledore, I just received a letter from Sirius Black—"

Amos Tower strode to the desk, and without waiting for Dumbledore to greet him, he pulled out a chair and sat down. Without much pleasantries, he got straight to the point.

"You know I've been having Sirius Black keep an eye on Barty Crouch's movements."

This topic immediately aroused Dumbledore's concern, and he became much more solemn, maintaining a listening posture.

"Yesterday morning, Barty Crouch requested a long sick leave from the department. He told them that the injury he sustained while surveying the tree peak in Hungary had not yet healed, and the pain was preventing him from concentrating on his work. Therefore, he decided to stay home and rest for a while. Moreover, he rejected Fudge's suggestion that he go to St. Mungo's for treatment. He handed over his daily work to Percy, who could write to him to report on any important matters."

"Audacity!"

Among the portraits of modern school principals hanging on the side wall, Armando Dippert immediately exclaimed in his own frame. These portraits were all aware of the inside story, and the other principals immediately began whispering among themselves to their friends in the adjacent frames.

"What do you think this means, Amosta?"

Dumbledore's azure eyes also flashed with a sharp light. He certainly didn't think that Barty was really too ill to go to work, but at the same time, he shared the same doubts as Amosta—from any perspective, Voldemort wouldn't let Barty die so mysteriously at this time.

I don't know--

Amosta shook his head.

"But I'm thinking, we can't just leave Old Batistuta alone forever—"

“But you should know, Amosta, if Tom is really in Barty’s house right now, then your sudden entry might ruin our plans—”

"Dumbledore said seriously."

Amosta's eyebrows twitched slightly, a hint of surprise in his expression.

In the matter of Barty Crouch, Dumbledore's decisiveness and ruthlessness exceeded his expectations, but this was quite normal. Destroying Voldemort completely was probably one of the things Dumbledore had to accomplish in his remaining years, and to achieve this goal, he was willing to sacrifice some lives.

Like Alastor Moody, Dumbledore knew perfectly well that his longtime friend was now in enemy hands and, most likely, imprisoned in that fake Moody's office, yet he never tried to rescue him for so long.

"If Voldemort really was lurking in Barty's house, then it would indeed be impossible for me to sneak in under his nose. But on the other hand, I don't need to sneak around at all, do I?"

Amosta remains steadfast in his opinion.

Allowing Voldemort to return was a consensus between him and Dumbledore, but in order to control the spillover of risks, it was necessary to have a complete grasp of the development of events. All the actions of Vittia Creona could not escape his eyes. Judging from various signs, she was not truly loyal to Voldemort. The cooperation agreement reached between the two was probably that Vittia needed to help Voldemort resurrect, and what Vittia asked for was probably that after Voldemort regained power, he would help her take revenge on the Vatican.

"Bati and I are currently working together, and I happen to have some legitimate reasons to visit him openly and without arousing suspicion."

On his way to Dumbledore's office, Amosta had already come up with some reasons.

"All right."

After hearing Amosta's reasons for coming, Dumbledore lowered his head and pondered for a while. It was clear that he was still not very willing for Amosta to take the risk, but he also knew that he could not forcefully interfere.

Looking at the increasingly resolute young man sitting opposite him, whose every gesture exuded authority, Dumbledore sighed inwardly. He suddenly missed the days half a century ago when he and Newt's group had exposed Gellert's plot to become president of the International Confederation of Wizards. Back then, he was the one who made all the decisions.

“I can’t see anything wrong with it, Amosta. I don’t think Tom would be hiding behind a door eavesdropping on your conversation if Barty really agreed to let you visit. You probably won’t run into each other at Barty’s house—”

Dumbledore's nod also brought a slight sense of relief to Amosta.

His relationship with Dumbledore was more like that of allies. To ensure the stability of this alliance, it was necessary to obtain each other's consent before any major action. If they went their separate ways, infighting would be almost inevitable.

"There's one more thing—"

Dumbledore had assumed Amosta would immediately set off to investigate, but instead, he hesitated slightly.

"Regarding Voldemort's Horcruxes, Principal Dumbledore, how much concrete information do you have now?"

Voldemort's Horcruxes—

It seemed to be a magical sentence. After Amosta said it, the former headmasters who had been discussing Amosta's decision to investigate the Barty family fell silent one after another. Even the little tinkling noises in the office seemed to disappear.

"Voldemort's Horcruxes, confirmed information—"

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, his aged face shadowed, and looked at Amostella, speaking softly.

"If you're asking for exact information, Amosta, I think we know just as much: the Slytherin locket, the Ravenclaw tiara, and the notebook Tom left behind at Hogwarts—they'll all be destroyed in your hands. And, we're also extremely fortunate to know that the Hufflepuff Cup is very likely one of the Horcruxes. Of course, we still can't be certain that the Cup's final destination is Harry—"

Dumbledore's sharp gaze, fixed on Amosta in his deep blue eyes, remained gentle.

"What's wrong, Amosta? Are you planning to surprise me again?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Headmaster, I can't surprise you with a new Horcrux this time—"

Amostella smiled, stood up, and his wand silently slid from his sleeve into his palm.

"But I do have a clue, something that might also be one of the Horcruxes—"

A few wisps of black mist emerged from the tip of Amostella's staff. The mist swirled and gradually took shape before Dumbledore, whose expression was extremely solemn. Finally, it transformed into an unremarkable black stone.

"It will probably look like this, though it might be a little different. Actually, it should be an ornament on a gold ring—"

Amosta stared at the black stone in mid-air and spoke slowly.

The silence had gone on for far too long. Amostella finally realized something was wrong. He turned to look at Dumbledore, and his expression immediately changed in shock.

At some point, Dumbledore's solemn expression faded, replaced by a complex mix of surprise, nostalgia, longing, wariness, and regret.

Amosta only sensed these thoughts from Dumbledore's wandering mind due to his turbulent emotions, but Dumbledore quickly brought those emotions back to his senses.

"How did you know about it, Amosta?"

Dumbledore asked softly.

"I'm investigating something. I've unexpectedly learned that Salazar Slytherin once possessed this stone, and that he intended to pass it down as an important treasure—"

Amosta squinted at Dumbledore.

“But I’m not entirely sure if it has fallen into Voldemort’s hands. It seems you’ve seen this stone before, hasn’t you, Headmaster Dumbledore?”

Chapter 675 Split up

2024-01-03

As a great wizard who was proficient in Occlumency and an old man who had seen countless storms in his life, Dumbledore had always maintained a calm and collected demeanor in front of others, including Amostall, and rarely showed such intense emotional fluctuations as he had just witnessed.

Amosta immediately realized that there was probably some story between Dumbledore and the stone.

Suppressing his inner turmoil, Dumbledore was also scrutinizing Amosta's investigation. That was Amosta's claim. What could he be investigating? After a brief moment of thought, Dumbledore immediately realized that Amosta was almost certainly investigating the Deathly Hallows.

Looking at Amos Tower, who was trying to see into his heart, the aged Dumbledore's lips moved slightly, but unusually, he didn't know what to say.

Give him a wake-up call, hoping he'll realize his mistake and turn back from the wrong path?

Amosta's purpose in pursuing the Deathly Hallows is not hard to guess. He probably already realized that he was about to touch that barrier, and he probably also knew that there were no higher peaks beyond that barrier, but rather a bottomless abyss with no way out. Therefore, he hoped to use the power of the Hallows to elevate himself to the level of those legendary wizards.

Dumbledore knew very well that Amostrath Blaine was a wizard obsessed with power, but unlike most ambitious figures in history, Amostrath was not enamored with the 'dominance' that power brought; he was focused solely on power and hoped to witness the limits of magic.

At the same time, Amosta has love in his heart. He respects other people's personality and humanity. He does not look down on others because he has outstanding magical talent and power far exceeding that of ordinary wizards. To be honest, neither he nor Gellert had the vision and maturity that Amosta had at his age.

trust--

The word suddenly popped into Dumbledore's mind. He stared into Amosta's eyes, those clear pupils that were concealed by a little trick. Amosta calmly returned his probing gaze, and no further ambition arose in those eyes.

"You're right—"

The tension around Dumbledore dissipated, and a smile returned to his aged face. He said lightly,

"Salazar Slytherin did indeed make it into a ring."

Amosta raised an eyebrow, while Dumbledore drew his wand and, as Amosta had done before, twirled the tip in front of him, the wisps of smoke settling into a pattern.

One hand, judging from its skin tone, was very young. On the index finger of this hand was a black gemstone ring with a heavy gold setting. The black gemstone on the ring was the Resurrection Stone that Amosta had seen in Helga Hufflepuff's memories!

"This is--"

Amosta frowned and spoke in a low voice.

"Voldemort's hand. He wore this ring in front of you when he was studying at Hogwarts?"

"not at all--"

Dumbledore gently shook his head.

"Tom isn't a particularly intelligent man, but you have to admit he's the kind of kid most people would consider exceptionally bright. He wouldn't show me that ring, Amosta, because he can't explain to me where a kid raised in an orphanage would get a priceless ring."

Before Amostella could raise any questions, Dumbledore explained,

“Years ago, while investigating Tom’s past, I stumbled upon the fact that Tom had received this ring from his uncle. It’s a complicated story, Amosta, and now is not a good time to share it; we all have things to do!”

"What trouble have you encountered?"

Amos Tower nodded. Dumbledore explained why he knew about the ring, but he could tell that Dumbledore was hiding something. Just as Dumbledore didn't press him about what he was investigating that led him to the discovery of the stone, Amos Tower didn't want to force Dumbledore to reveal what he didn't want to say. This was an unspoken understanding between the two.

"Also related to Tom's Horcruxes--"

Dumbledore looked troubled. He didn't need to appear so omnipotent before Amostella; he frowned and sighed with distress.

“Here’s the thing, Amosta. You surely remember when we destroyed that Slytherin locket you brought from Sirius’s old house. That was the third Horcrux we destroyed for Tom. We also know that Hufflepuff’s cup was turned into a Horcrux, and, it’s almost certain, that Tom will turn that ring into a Horcrux. To be honest, this is beyond my expectations. After I realized that Tom had made more than one Horcrux, I was prepared to spend a lot of time on this. Did you notice, Amosta? This is the fifth one!”

"so--"

Amosta understood.

"You're troubled by how many Horcruxes Voldemort created, aren't you? We've discussed this, Headmaster Dumbledore. Probably no more than ten. You don't think Voldemort's soul strength surpasses yours—"

“We must be careful in this matter, we must be precise, Amosta—” Dumbledore said with a sigh.

This was undoubtedly a very difficult task, and Voldemort wouldn't go around telling everyone how many 'life-saving charms' he planned to create for himself.

"Do you have any ideas, Principal?"

Amosta glanced at the letter in front of Dumbledore and asked, "In this matter, Dumbledore is the main force."