Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 110 Fate is not terrifying, what is terrifying is the unknown.

Evil, terrifying, wearing black robes, and at Hogwarts... The trio couldn't think of anyone else who fit these criteria.

“We always thought Quirrell wanted to steal the Philosopher’s Stone to make gold…” Ron’s voice was low and hoarse, his tone grave. “But now it seems he probably wants to use the Philosopher’s Stone to prolong his life.”

Harry and Hermione nodded. They hadn't considered the possibility of prolonging life before, since Quirrell looked so young. Who could have imagined such a development?

This new discovery weighed heavily on their minds.

Because the nature of the issue had suddenly changed, even though the three were still young, they were able to distinguish which was more important, the economic issue or the life issue.

Ron gritted his teeth: "I should have known! Last year, he dared to cast the Killing Curse on Vaughn in the castle. How could it be just for the gold? Murder and theft are completely different things. Theft only gets you locked up in Azkaban, but murder gets you the kiss of a Dementor!"

It was another language Harry couldn't understand.

He wasn't in the mood to ask what Azkaban was or what the Dementor's Kiss was; he just felt that he should brush up on some basic knowledge of the magical world during his summer vacation.

He simply asked anxiously, "So what do we do now?"

Because he suddenly realized that his plan seemed to be unable to proceed.

Compared to his and Ron's panic and anger, Hermione remained calm. After thinking for a moment, she said, "This is no longer something we can handle, Harry. We must inform Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore as soon as possible."

"But……"

"No buts, and stop using finding evidence as an excuse!" Hermione said sternly. "Quirok dared to drink unicorn blood; his health is probably in terrible shape. It's unimaginable that we've been living with such a ticking time bomb in the same school for a whole year!"

"A person driven to desperation like this, no one knows when they'll be pushed to their limit, or what kind of madness they might unleash. I wouldn't be surprised if they blew up Hogwarts right now. You can't imagine how ruthless a person would be to survive!"

"I know you want to catch him and ask Dumbledore for a reward to give Gryffindor points, but things are different now, Harry. Are you going to put the lives of the entire school at risk?"

"I..." Harry's lips twitched a few times, but he couldn't bring himself to say the selfish words.

He knew Hermione was right. Even a fish thrown into a pot of boiling oil would thrash about to survive, let alone a person, a dark wizard.

Although it was painful to give up the last chance, Harry knew he couldn't stand by and watch his classmates stay with a volcano that was about to erupt.

He nodded vigorously: "Okay, let's go back now!"

To his surprise, Ron stopped him: "Wait, now that you're here, you can have Ferrenze use centaur divination to predict Quirrell's plans. It's not urgent, it won't take more than a few minutes."

Nearby, Ferencze, who had been silently listening to the trio's "confidential" conversation for a while, hesitated when the three looked at him. Instead of refusing or agreeing, he asked:

"Harry, haven't you always wondered why we all knew you when you broke into the tribe?"

"In fact, we have long foreseen your destiny, Harry Potter, the boy who survived. From the day you stepped into Hogwarts, the stars of your destiny began to twinkle."

"you……"

"Ference, you damn bastard, do you know what you're doing?"

A furious, savage roar from afar interrupted Ferenczec's words.

Harry and his two companions were startled. They quickly looked in the direction of the sound and saw a burly centaur covered in black fur, looking very savage, running towards them from a distance. Behind him was a much thinner centaur.

Two centaurs quickly approached the group. The hot-tempered, savage black-haired centaur raised his hoof at Frenzer: "We swore an oath never to defy the will of Heaven. Are you going to break your oath?"

"Bane, don't slander me!" Ferenc said, displeased. "I haven't agreed to Harry Potter yet!"

"But you've already said it, you're going to tell him the trajectory of the stars, this little colt chosen by fate!"

"I'm just hesitant..."

The sudden appearance of two centaurs and the unexpected argument left the trio bewildered.

They didn't even understand why asking Quirrell to do a divination about Quirrell sounded like it was related to Harry.

……

Let's rewind to a short time ago, to the treetops above Harry and his friends.

A vast amount of magic enveloped the space, obscuring the figures of Dumbledore and Vaughn, who sat on the magic carpet, looking down below.

Hermione plays the unicorn's voice to soothe the bird-snake, and Harry asks about the unicorn in Ferrenze, which leads to the events of last year.

Dumbledore exclaimed, "Beautiful fate, unpredictable fate, isn't it, Vaughn?"

"...Yes, it all seems like it was all planned..."

Even after analyzing it many times, Vaughn is still terrified by the unpredictability and strangeness of fate, just as he said, everything seems to be arranged.

Harry lost the Quidditch match, and he "reasonably" tried to seize one last chance.

And then, in a "reasonable" move, they prepared to consult a fortune teller to pinpoint Quirrell's timing.

Then, in the dangerous forbidden forest, they "reasonably" encountered danger.

Hermione, just as logically, used the Walkman Vaughn had prepared for her, which contained a recording of unicorn language, to resolve the danger.

Then, by discussing unicorns, the reasons for their disappearance are brought up.

Step by step, the information that had been concealed was unexpectedly revealed to Harry in a way that seemed to follow the logic of events, helping him to reconstruct the whole incident and determine Quirrell's condition.

It's like... there's an invisible script pushing Harry to meet his destined other half as soon as possible!

Vaughn even discovered that he himself was involved in those events and played a decisive role.

Normally, since he decided to intervene last year and move the unicorn away, Harry's fate should have already been altered by him.

Without the unicorn, Quirrell wouldn't have come to the Forbidden Forest; without the incident of delivering Norbert and being discovered while out at night, Harry wouldn't have come to the Forbidden Forest, and he certainly wouldn't have met the centaurs.

Originally, with Vaughn's interference and Dumbledore's deliberate concealment, Harry and Voldemort, who was parasitizing Quirrell's brain, should have been on two parallel paths.

But today, these two parallel lines suddenly closed!

Vaughn only just realized that the foreshadowing of their closure had been planted a long time ago—on Halloween last year, the day he tried to take advantage of Voldemort!

That day marked the beginning of everything that followed.

If he hadn't wanted to use Voldemort to get the Philosopher's Stone, there wouldn't have been the later incident where Harry and Hermione wanted to find him and Ron.

Without the search for Harry, Harry wouldn't have suddenly encountered Voldemort, causing the connection between the Horcruxes to be activated prematurely.

There's even less chance that Harry would be taught Occlumency in advance to prevent him from being influenced by Voldemort.

It was while teaching Harry Occlumency that Vaughn, in order to speed up his progress, inserted an experimental personality implant into his brain.

The punishment mechanism of the virtual personality led Harry to believe he was a horse one day, and he secretly ran into the Forbidden Forest, where fate decreed that he would meet the centaur Frenzel!

The centaur Frenzier was a crucial turning point in Harry's original destiny, as he was the one who told Harry that Voldemort was still alive.

Harry, who harbors a deep hatred for Voldemort, also began to shift from being passive to being active from that day on. Like a moth drawn to a flame, he actively rushed towards anything related to his mortal enemy, Voldemort, pushing their intertwined fates to gradually form a storm that would sweep everything away!

"I, and my persona... have become tools of fate!"

Vaughn couldn't quite describe his feelings. Was it excitement? Fear? Shame and anger at being used and fooled? It seemed to be a combination of all of them, yet there was something else entirely.

All he knew was that beneath the solid shell forged by his maxed-out brain-sealing technique, his inner world was already a raging storm. The storm of various negative emotions gave him an impulse to destroy everything.

And he can do it!

With just a flick of his wand, he could kill Ferenze and halt the course of fate.

But his remaining reason told him that such behavior was meaningless, and that Frenze was just a link in the chain of fate. Or rather, the only protagonists in the vortex of fate were Harry and Voldemort, and everyone else was just a pawn to help them complete their grand performance!

Including him, Vaughn Weasley!

Holding his wand, Vaughn remained expressionless. He was used to hiding and suppressing his emotions, and even in this situation, he had enough rationality to control himself.

But he couldn't hide it from Dumbledore.

"Is it hard to accept? Are you angry?" Dumbledore suddenly asked, looking at the trio below who were gathered together, discussing Quirrell's life status.

Vaughn glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Receiving no answer, Dumbledore didn't mind and continued, "I used to be like you. To be precise, intelligent people like us seem to have a particularly hard time accepting that our actions become part of a certain concept or thing."

"That would make us feel that our intelligence and our efforts have suddenly become meaningless... Mediocre people don't have this kind of trouble, because only intelligent people are so proud, so proud to believe in themselves, even more so in fate!"

This was the first time Vaughn had ever heard Dumbledore say that he was a proud man.

Although Vaughn had already noticed it during their long-term interactions.

However, he was in a bad mood and said sarcastically, "Didn't you always advocate the idea of ​​equality for all? Why are you distinguishing between mediocre and intelligent people today?"

Dumbledore knew he was taking his anger out on someone, but he didn't mind. He simply smiled and said, "It seems you also acknowledge that we are the same. Well then, why don't you listen to some small pieces of my experience regarding fate, from someone who has already gone through it all?"

Vaughn didn't say anything more.

Dumbledore didn't stop there: "I've said it before, I've had a period like yours. When I first came to know the power of fate, for a long time I became paranoid."

"Back then, I kept wondering, were my actions truly what I felt in my heart? Were my thoughts pre-planned? Perhaps my plans weren't even based on my free will?"

"When you question the facts with a skeptical attitude, everything in front of you will be filled with doubts. That's a terrible situation. You'll start to question everything, even your own existence. You'll feel like you're immersed in despair, not wanting to think about tomorrow or the future, and then you'll slowly wear yourself down..."

"Perhaps this is fate's punishment for those wise people who are wary of it!"

Listening to Dumbledore's story, Vaughn wasn't sure if he would end up like that, but just now, he did question the meaning of his actions and thoughts.

He finally spoke, asking, "And then?"

"And then? Then I started learning to be an ordinary person!" Old Deng winked at him. "Look, I still believe that all people are equal. From the perspective of fate, what's the difference between an ordinary person and a clever person? But if you look at it from your own perspective, ordinary people are actually happier. It's a mindset worth learning, it's a positive thing!"

Vaughn was speechless, not expecting him to suddenly retaliate against his earlier taunts.

I couldn't help but complain, "So your solution is just to lie flat?"

"Ha, lying down, an interesting way of putting it... Of course not!" Dumbledore shook his head. "That's just the first step, learning the mindset of the mediocre, learning to overcome fear, and then you must begin to try to guide and control your destiny!"

Upon hearing this, Vaughn exclaimed in surprise, "You can control fate?"

"Of course not!" Dumbledore said matter-of-factly, then laughed heartily, "But I have magic!"

As he spoke, he drew his wand and pointed it downwards.

A terrifying surge of magical energy emanated from him. He didn't chant any spells, but Vaughn could clearly sense that a spell had been cast the instant he pointed downwards.

It was just an ordinary Confusion Charm, but in the hands of this legendary wizard, it was like some incomprehensible concept that suddenly covered the earth below.

Spread, expand, grow!

The power of the curse spread in all directions, like ink spilled into a pool.

"We are wizards, and in a wizard's eyes, nothing is nobler than magic, not even fate!"

"My dear, do you remember what I told you? Fate is not static; it has variables, as Muggles say!"

"Fate needs Harry to know the truth that Tom is still alive, but all it needs is the result. The process that leads to that result could happen today or a month from now. This kind of variable is what our magic can leverage."

"Like now, I don't like to put things off for a month; I want it to happen now!"

As Dumbledore finished speaking, Vaughn noticed that two centaurs, who shouldn't have been there, were running towards Harry and his friends from afar and soon arrived in front of them.

He heard Ferenczer call the two centaurs Bain and Ronan.

Upon hearing Bain's accusations against Ferencze, Ferencze initially defended himself, but gradually grew impatient and eventually lost his temper.

"I'm fed up with your cowardice, like ostriches in the Muggle world burying their heads in the sand, thinking that if you don't see or hear, the danger will disappear."

"Listen, Harry Potter, the one whose name you can't speak, the one who killed your family and ultimately died by your hand, he's still alive! He's hiding in Hogwarts, the evil wizard who attacked the unicorn!"

"Frenze!"

"I don't want to lie anymore, not to others, not to myself! Bane, Ronan, do you think we'll let us go if we don't tell him when the Wizard returns? You know the prophecy; he and Harry Potter are twins of destiny. Only when they defeat each other will the wizarding world find peace!"

The sounds of the centaurs arguing echoed through the woods, reaching the ears of the stunned Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Above, Dumbledore's sigh also reached Vaughn's ears:

"Everything makes perfect sense. A centaur, questioned and accused by his companions, impulsively reveals a secret that should be kept hidden. His motives are also very logical, because he loves his tribe, loves this forest, loves peace, and is brave enough to face difficulties."

"Vaughn, your fear of fate stems from its unknown nature, but in reality, fate can only reveal its power to things that truly exist, and magic can do the same!"

Listening to Dumbledore's words and looking at what was happening below, Vaughn fell into deep thought.

For a fleeting moment, he suddenly wondered if Dumbledore's idea of ​​using magic to manipulate variables was also an arrangement of fate.

But he quickly suppressed his thoughts.

Dumbledore was right; he shouldn't have used doubt to question the facts, as that would only have led him further down the path of questioning.

Vaughn was lost in thought, oblivious to the shock that Harry and his two companions were experiencing upon hearing the bombshell news.

"So, from today onwards, I have to learn to be an ordinary person... A personality suit seems like a good tool, but its appearance seems to be related to fate... Wait, stop thinking about it..."

Taking a deep breath, Vaughn pulled himself out of his thoughts. The full-force Brain Lock spell was only moderately effective at suppressing his own distracting thoughts, since it was a spell to defend against external prying eyes, not to defend himself.

To avoid overthinking, Vaughn looked at Dumbledore: "What's next? Harry already knows the truth, are you ready for your challenge?"

Dumbledore smiled: "Of course!"

…………

Everything that happened tonight was so sudden.

It caught people off guard.

Harry only remembers Ferrenze arguing with Bane and Ronan. Bane accused Ferrenze of betraying his oath and the Horde. Enraged, Ferrenze suddenly revealed the true identity of the man in black—Voldemort—and Harry's entangled fate with him!

Shocked by those truths, Harry's mind was buzzing, and he was almost unable to make a clear response or think clearly.

In a daze, he felt Ferenze pick him up and put him on his back, and heard Bain's angry roar:

"Damn Ferenze, you not only betrayed your oath, but you also tarnished the reputation of the centaurs! You let humans ride on your backs like riding a damned mule!"

Mules are mostly considered a highly insulting term among centaurs, and Harry could sense that Ferrenzer's broad, powerful body was throbbing with rage and burning with intense heat.

"Then go back to your tribe and let the elders expel me. I've had enough of your stupid and barbaric face, and enough of your cowardice. Or do you want to keep blocking my way and taste my bow and arrow?"

Bane let out a terrifying scream, and Harry's vision went blank, as if his brain was in chaos. He could see nothing clearly except that Bane seemed to be raising a bow.

Then Ronan ran between the two: "Enough, put down your arrows. Bane, you've been hurling insults at me. And Ferenze, you... you really shouldn't have made the prophecy, and you certainly shouldn't have carried a human foal."

Ferenc's breathing was like a bellows: "Because of your pedantry, I'm starting to worry about the safety of these foals. I'm going to send them out of the Forbidden Forest. Ronan, don't stop me!"

"Frenze..."

Ferenze ignored him, reared up, neighed, and with the trio on his back, turned and rushed into the forest.

Harry didn't know if Bane and Ronan had caught up. All he knew was that Ferrenze was running very fast, moving through the dense forest as if it were flat ground. Trees, bushes, and the faintly glowing eyes of nocturnal animals hiding in the darkness were quickly left behind.

A cool breeze blew in my face.

He didn't know how long he had been exposed to the cold wind before his speed gradually slowed down. Only then did his dazed mind clear up a bit. When he came to his senses, he noticed Ron leaning against Ferrenzer's upper body in front of him, and Hermione tugging at his robe behind him, both looking at him with complicated expressions.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

He turned his head and looked ahead.

The trees gradually thinned out, and it seemed they had reached the edge of the forbidden forest. After walking for a while, when the moon was clearly visible overhead, Ferenze stopped, half-squatted down, and put the three of them down.

"It's safe here now. You can use your wands to set off fireworks. Hagrid will see them and escort you safely back to the castle."

"Frenzer..." Harry's voice was hoarse, "And you? What are you going to do?"

The centaur, whose appearance was as pure as a unicorn, smiled, stretched out his enormous hand, and ruffled Harry's hair. "Of course I must return to the tribe. I am a centaur, and I should not set foot in human territory. This is required by the Law of Secrecy. We swore an oath, and we must keep our oath!"

Harry, anxious and impulsive, said, "Haven't you already broken your oath? What good will it do to go back now? Bane practically wanted to kill you before!"

"Not all vows are the same, Harry Potter."

Ferenze smiled gently: "The oath of the Secrecy Law concerns the survival of all centaurs and must be strictly observed. The oath to conceal one's fate is only because the tribe is afraid of the one whose name cannot be spoken. It is dishonorable and stems from cowardice and weakness."

He crouched down, looking directly into Harry's emerald eyes, and gripped his shoulders firmly with his large, rough hands: "Running away won't solve anything, so I'd rather go against it and tell you the truth of the prophecy, because, Harry, you can defeat it."

"I firmly believe this!"

"I..." Harry was speechless. He looked at Frenze's firm and trusting expression, and no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to say anything dejected.

When the centaurs argued and revealed that the man in black was Voldemort, Harry couldn't help but recall the twisted, malevolent figure he had seen in the fourth-floor corridor last year.

So terrifying, so powerful, even the mere overflow of magical energy caused the walls and flames to lose their color and distort the light.

Previously, when people mentioned his "great achievement" of killing Voldemort when he was only 1 year old, Harry didn't really feel it because he had no memory of it at all.

To him, Voldemort was merely an abstract concept that had died, a symbol that would never stand before him again.

At least, when he occasionally became arrogant and indulged in praise and flattery, he never imagined that Voldemort would one day stand in front of him again.

During the time Harry was being carried on Ferrenze's back, intense fear gripped his heart.

Last year's Halloween scenes flashed before my eyes frame by frame: Quirrell's magic, Vaughn's magic, and that terrifying green light at the end.

He had never imagined he might experience such a scene again, after all, there was Vaughn, professors, and Dumbledore at the school.

He thought he was a nobody, only needing to expose the man in black robes at crucial moments, while the adults would naturally deal with the man in black robes himself.

He never imagined he would become the protagonist!

A jumble of emotions overwhelmed his fragile mind—a mixture of confusion, excitement, sadness, and—fear and shame…

Harry discovers that he is not as great as everyone says, and he is actually afraid when faced with the sudden revelation of the truth of his destiny.

Because Voldemort was no longer an abstract symbol to him, but a dark wizard whose terrifying power he had personally experienced.

Seeing that Harry hesitated and didn't speak, Ferrenze didn't say anything more. He just ruffled Harry's hair again, then got up, waved to them, and walked back into the Forbidden Forest where the mist was beginning to rise.

Before long, his figure could no longer be seen in the night.

Harry stared in that direction for a long time, stunned, and murmured, "I wonder what kind of punishment he'll face when he goes back?"

Ron, who had just been scolded by Hermione for failing to set off fireworks several times, scratched his face upon hearing this: "It's probably not a good idea. The centaur tribe is very closed off and barbaric. Bane's temperament is basically what wizards think of centaurs. Ferrenze will suffer a lot when he goes back."

But Ferenczek was not afraid!

For some reason, Harry suddenly realized that the fear that had been plaguing him had somehow dissipated.

He took one last look at the Forbidden Forest.

He didn't know when he would see Ferencze again, but he remembered what the other man had said.

Running away won't solve the problem!

Harry Potter, you have to be brave!

boom!

Harry, who had just been cheering himself on, was startled by a loud noise in his ear. It was Hermione, who was setting off fireworks with her wand.

In the distance, Hagrid's hut, whose outline and lights were only faintly visible, was accompanied by loud barking.

……

Da da—

The crisp sound of shoes stepping on the floor echoed in the empty corridor.

Vaughn walked through the utterly silent castle, ignoring the complaints of the portraits that had been awakened, and made his way to the basement.

Arrive at Snape's office and knock.

Normally, professors would be asleep by this time to prepare for the next day's classes, but Snape was an exception. He was a bit like a nerdy Muggle, who loved to study things that interested him late at night.

It is said that it would give him a burst of inspiration.

Sure enough, the door opened quickly, and Snape, dressed in his ever-present plain black robes, stood inside with his perpetually expressionless and stiff face.

"What's up?"

"The plan has been moved up, Professor!"

"...What do you need me to do?"

Vaughn chuckled. "Of course, it's to guide Quirrell and Harry. Dumbledore and I are planning to leave tonight. The representative from Ilfamoni has been kept waiting for days; he must be getting impatient. Unfortunately, I only finished dealing with school matters tonight—well, Quidditch is a good excuse—to express our apology and show our respect for Ilfamoni, we've decided to rush over to meet him tonight. I'm sure that representative will be very touched!"

Snape's lips twitched. That representative must have been incredibly unlucky to have encountered Vaughn and Dumbledore in his past life.

"So, I should inform Quirrell and Potter of this news?"

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Professor. I believe that with your acting skills and intelligence, they will definitely not be able to tell... By the way, should we bring a camera? I ordered a batch of miniature cameras a while ago. You can hide them in your clothes and film this part to make the story complete."

"No need!" Snape said coldly.

Although the change in expression from numb and stiff to cold was very small, it was still very noticeable on Snape's face.

Vaughn shook his head regretfully: "Tsk, that makes the Savior Trial Plan's plot less than perfect, a bit of a shame... But then again, you'll still have to be an undercover agent in the future, you can't be exposed."

"...Is there anything else?"

"That's all. I won't bother you any longer. Goodnight, Professor."

Vaughn gave a slight bow and turned to leave, but Snape called out to him, "Wait!"

"professor?"

Snape's dark eyes fixed on Vaughn. After a moment's hesitation, he said softly, "You and Dumbledore are getting closer and closer. I don't know what you're thinking, but I just want to remind you to be careful..."

Vaughn was taken aback by what he heard, and then smiled again: "Thank you for your concern, Professor. I will be careful."

Snape turned his face away and snorted coldly: "This isn't concern, I'm just afraid you'll become a terrible person like him in the future."

Ha, so arrogant!

Vaughn smiled, said nothing more, bowed again in farewell, and quickly left.

Emerging from the basement, Vaughn went straight to the eighth floor, where Dumbledore was already waiting, along with Professor McGonagall, the stern vice-principal who looked quite displeased.

"Albus, why did it have to be tonight? Couldn't we have arranged the meeting in the morning or at noon? It's already late at night. Isn't it impolite to disturb the rest of Iphamoni's representatives?"

"Besides, your notification was too sudden. There's a ton of stuff going on at school. Recently, those cheating devices and substandard potions used by the young wizards have resurfaced, and I'm preparing to organize a crackdown!"

Professor McGonagall wasn't really involved in the plan because of her fair and protective nature towards young wizards; she was unlikely to agree to Dumbledore's plan, so everyone kept it from her.

However, she obviously cannot stay; according to the plan, she needs to leave Hogwarts as well.

Seeing the two from afar, Vaughn was just about to go over when he heard Dumbledore say with a smile and innocent expression, "Minerva, it's not that I'm in a hurry, it's just that, Vaughn, you know, that kid has to review his lessons and do Quidditch training lately, I bet he's been itching to get back to school."

(End of this chapter)