Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 269 Transcending Time and Faithful to History

"To borrow a famous Muggle quote I heard from you during a conversation, 'To be one step ahead of one's time is genius; to be two steps ahead is madness.' — Vaughn, do you think, in Slytherin's eyes, his two closest friends were geniuses or madmen?"

Well----

Vaughn was speechless.

Dumbledore didn't give him time to consider, continuing incessantly, "To put it another way, Slytherin was truly a narrow-minded, evil racist. Since he opposed Muggle children's admission, why didn't he kill them all back then? Was it because he lacked the ability, or because he never even considered it?"

"According to the records of the ancient wizards, the idea that he was powerless is not valid. Slytherin was proficient in most dark magic, including ancient magic. If he wanted to eliminate the Malignant Seeds, neither Gryffindor nor Ravenclaw could stop him—destruction and annihilation are always easier than protection and creation."

"But if we look at it from another perspective, Slytherin wasn't a narrow-minded wizard, but just someone bound by the limitations of history. Then everything would make sense—he was enraged by the crazy talk of his two friends, so he fought with them and risked a complete break, but he had no ill intentions towards Hogwarts and Muggle."

"There is no right or wrong in this conflict, only differences in perspectives and angles. So, despite opposing Muggle admissions, Slytherin never took any action until his death—firstly because eliminating Muggles was not his true intention, and secondly because, until his death, the situation he feared never materialized!"

"In fact, many wizards who study the history of magic have put forward similar views over the years, but due to the destruction caused by the Dark Ages and the witch hunts, many historical materials and notes have been lost, and there is no actual data to support them. Some time ago, I also hesitated when I was thinking about it."

He looked around the enormous, palace-like room:

"Vaughn, what does this place remind you of, a tomb, or a palace he built for himself?"

As he spoke, he tossed the ball of light that had been hovering above his head into the air.

A few seconds later, the ball of light exploded, and Dumbledore below raised his hands, the immense magic providing it with formidable energy.

The seemingly endless waves of light swept across the deep space, illuminating the palace in every detail, making it magnificent and resplendent.

Amidst the dazzling spectacle, Dumbledore's deep voice echoed: "The rumors of the Chamber of Secrets only spread after his death, but why, before Tom, was there never a case of a Muggle dying as an heir to the Chamber of Secrets? Perhaps the rumors were just a scare tactic, perhaps the true purpose of the Chamber of Secrets was not to kill Muggles, perhaps there was never an heir to the Chamber of Secrets—"

The light waves brushed against my face.

The pale green mist vanished without a trace, the darkness receded, and the magnificent structure of the secret chamber was revealed to Vaughn with unparalleled clarity.

As the light arrived, the deathly and eerie atmosphere that had recently struck him, along with the chilling aura emanating from the towering stone pillars, vanished.

The ground and ceiling, the obsidian black surface flowing with iridescent colors, showcasing its weight, the stone pillars coiled around the giant serpent gleaming with jade white, the scales vividly detailed, overflowing with color.

The green light also reflected out, which were the eyes of the giant snakes on the stone pillars. The emerald luster and the obsidian ceiling provided a background, making them look like stars.

The change in light instantly gave the building a completely different look.

Just like Dumbledore's assumption.

Vaughn cannot be said to be wrong. In fact, many researchers of magical history have mentioned what Dumbledore just said.

There are too many suspicious points surrounding the split among the four giants.

The reason it hasn't become mainstream is twofold. Firstly, regardless of what happens in private, at least publicly, the wizarding world doesn't advocate exonerating dark wizards, even though Slytherin never used dark magic to do anything evil in his life.

On the other hand, as Dumbledore said, there is a lack of empirical evidence.

Last year, when Vaughn was searching for information about the secret room, he also thought about those suspicious points, but as mentioned earlier, he had no interest in clearing the names of his predecessors, so he just thought about them casually.

Of course, there was also the factor of preconceived notions—he knew that there was a thousand-year-old serpent monster in the secret room, and that the serpent monster would be released by the notebook to kill people this semester.

but----

After hearing Dumbledore's words, he suddenly wondered if Slytherin had left the Basilisk behind to eliminate the so-called dirty Mudbloods?

Or, if Slytherin wanted to eliminate a specific group, why choose the Basilisk?

The basilisk's ability to kill with its gaze is indiscriminate; any creature that makes eye contact with it will die instantly!

It doesn't matter if you're of Mongol descent, mixed race, or purebred!

Unless, Slytherin left the Basilisk with the intention of protecting it, not to kill it!

What are we protecting?

Suddenly, Dumbledore's words echoed in Vaughn's mind:

Why did Tom, who had never been exposed to dark magic before, suddenly improve his Horcrux skills so rapidly after learning the incantations and crafting methods from "Decoding Dark Magic"?

He inherited Slytherin's legacy, which contained Slytherin's knowledge of Horcrux research.

[Vaughn, does this place feel like a tomb, or a palace he built for himself?]

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Vaughn, who looked to the side in surprise at Dumbledore, who had finished casting the spell and was now smiling at him: "You mean—Salazar Slytherin also made Horcruxes? This is where he prepared for his resurrection?"

Dumbledore remained smiling and silent.

But that attitude already said it all.

Vaughn felt his mind was in a mess. This was "information" he didn't have in his memories of his previous life. He wanted to disprove it, but upon closer inspection, the explanation made perfect sense.

On the contrary, after the denial, there are many illogical aspects to both Tom's growth and Slytherin's deeds.

Seemingly sensing his hesitation, Dumbledore spoke again: "My suspicion is not only because of Salazar Slytherin, but also because of Tom."

"You told me before that Tom's purpose in returning was to open the secret chamber and release the basilisk, which aligns with my understanding of him. After all, your intelligence confirmed that he was the one who did it more than 40 years ago. However, if we look at it from a dialectical perspective, Tom's release of the basilisk more than 40 years ago was driven by a strong internal motivation."

"At that time, he was investigating his origins. He discovered that he could speak Parsley and perhaps inherited an extraordinary bloodline. For an orphan, the impact was unimaginable. He couldn't wait to get rid of the old labels—before that, he had always been rejected by the pure-blooded Slytherin."

"So by chance, after opening the Chamber of Secrets, he commanded the Basilisk to attack Muggle students according to the legend of the Chamber's heir. But initially, he did not intend to kill anyone, because he knew that if people died, Hogwarts might be in danger of closing down. He did not want to leave the school and return to the Muggle orphanage he hated."

"Including the later killing of Myrtle, it was because he found that small-scale attacks had not worked and the Muggles were still not afraid that he tentatively took more radical actions. He even found a target to frame for him. Hagrid—did you notice? His behavior had its own set of logic."

"But that logic was based on the context of more than 40 years ago, on the premise that Tom wanted to get rid of the Muggle label but did not want Hogwarts to close down. More than 40 years later, his concerns back then have completely disappeared."

"He's no longer a half-blood craving pure-blood recognition, no longer a pathetic wretch who's homeless after leaving school. So what's his purpose in continuing to open the secret chamber and release the Basilisk? To kill all the Muggle and half-bloods? Forgive my bluntness, but Tom doesn't have that kind of awareness. He's a very selfish person. What benefit does this behavior bring him? No benefit at all. On the contrary, it will only hasten his exposure."

"Unless, as a Horcrux, he has a reason to release the Basilisk, even if it would expose him—or rather, by the time he's exposed, he won't care about being exposed anymore!"

As Dumbledore spoke, Vaughn's eyes lit up with magic again. He stared intently at the statue of Salazar Slytherin, at the dense, solidified aura emanating from it.

Dumbledore's sigh echoed in my ears: "My only knowledge of Horcruxes before was from 'Deciphering the Dark Arts,' which listed various items suitable as Horcruxes, but it didn't mention that a living being could become a Horcrux, until Harry—"

I know, but I've never actually thought about it that way.

Vaughn suddenly recalled Nagini, the snake that Voldemort turned into a Horcrux, not too far into the future, a pitiful victim of the plague curse.

The memories of Nagini, swirling within the archives of recollections, intertwined with Dumbledore's words, flashing like thunder in Vaughn's mind: "The Basilisk is very likely Salazar Slytherin's Horcrux. Voldemort probably knew this when he first entered the Chamber of Secrets, which is why he boldly plotted to kill Myrtle and create his first Horcrux, because there was a ready-made example before him. And in the future, he found Nagini to create his last Horcrux, still a ready-made example—yes, his personality has always been somewhat path-dependent—"

Vaughn didn't know what expression to make.

He stood there stunned for a long while, then let out a long breath. His complex gaze held a lot of unfathomable meaning as he looked at Dumbledore: "These are all just guesses of yours—"

"But it is a reasonable guess, and the result of my guess is not only about Salazar, but also about Tom."

Dumbledore remained calm: "My dear, while you were busy with your practical classes, I went through Harry's memories more than once, watching him snatch the notebook from Malfoy, watching him in the Burrow, with the trepidation, excitement, guilt, and euphoria that you might have noticed—communicating with the notebook."

"Tom was so cunning. He easily convinced Harry that he was a poor wretch who had been forgotten by his master and locked at the bottom of a trunk for many years. He pretended to be afraid of Voldemort and asked Harry if Voldemort ruled the wizarding world."

"After receiving a negative answer, he showed no sign of distress. I can imagine that the fragment of Tom's soul in the notebook must have been filled with questions: Why did his original self fail? Why was he destroyed? Resentment and curiosity would drive him to find out everything. So, when Tom understands the reason for his failure, Vaughn, what do you think he will do?"

Most people wouldn't be able to answer this question.

Even though many people lived through the era when Voldemort ruled the wizarding world, they don't understand the Dark Lord and only have stereotypes about him such as cruelty, bloodthirstiness, and madness.

Vaughn was the exception.

He was deep in thought.

If it were 12 years ago, when Voldemort was at the height of his power, he would probably have gone straight to Harry and killed this nemesis who had ruined his plans.

Tom, more than 40 years ago, was a viper.

At that time, he was very patient and cautious, and he would never fight a battle he was not sure of winning. For example, when he first learned that he could speak Parsley, Tom had already guessed that he might be from the Gaunt family.

After all, Parsleyan is the most well-known symbol of the Gaunt family.

However, he did not rush into action. Instead, he remained hidden at Hogwarts until he instructed the Basilisk to kill Myrtle and create his first Horcrux before he went to the Gaunt family.

What will Tom, who is so cautious, do after he learns about the history of the Dark Lord's downfall from Peeves or Colin Creevey?

Vaughn tries to put himself in Tom's shoes.

If it were him—as a fragile fragment of a soul without a physical body—he would continue to hide himself and then seek help!

When considering the scope of his helpers, Vaughn first ruled out Death Eaters.

Although the fragments of soul in the notebook belong to 16-year-old Tom Riddle, once a person's personality is formed, it is almost impossible for them to undergo a completely opposite change.

Voldemort, hiding in the Albanian forests, barely clinging to life, couldn't believe that his former servant, 16-year-old Tom Riddle, certainly couldn't either.

Selfishness and suspicion were character flaws that plagued Tom throughout his life.

So, if such a suspicious person can't even trust his former servants, who can he turn to?

The answer is obvious.

Vaughn raised his head, looking at the enormous statue of Slytherin before him, especially the head where magical light was most concentrated, and his voice was somewhat unsteady: "You mean, Tom in the notebook reopened the Chamber of Secrets to resurrect Salazar Slytherin? To get Slytherin's help?"

Like him, Dumbledore, gazing up at the statue's head, said in a deep voice, "Yes, only this can explain the motivation behind the soul fragments in the notebook to risk reopening the Chamber of Secrets."

"Why? He doesn't even trust his own servants, so why would he trust Slytherin?"

Vaughn raised a question.

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "I don't know either, child, just as I don't know why Slytherin left Horcruxes in the Chamber of Secrets, and why he didn't use them to resurrect himself, but instead left them to sleep here."

"Perhaps some materials left here recorded the reasons, but those things have been taken away by Tom. The obvious problem now is that the fragments of Tom's soul in the notebook have recently been figured out by Mr. Crevy about the process and result of his main body's failure."

"He discovered that his main body had not been resurrected. He didn't know where things had gone wrong. He could only bewitch Peeves and try his best to avoid me and you. But in such a sensitive moment, when his subjective feelings were fraught with danger, he still opened the secret room and prepared to release the basilisk."

"Unless we assume that the soul fragment went mad or lost its mind, opening the secret chamber must be related to its own needs—for the soul fragment, its needs are firstly to have powerful force to protect itself, and secondly, to complete the plan it set up when it split its soul—resurrection!"

These are all speculations.

But this time, Vaughn did not try to refute it.

Because Dumbledore's conjecture is very logical.

Most importantly, Vaughn suddenly remembered some details he had overlooked before. In his previous life, Lucius Malfoy, who had obtained the notebook, had said that the Dark Lord had given it to him before his accident and did not allow him to use it. Instead, he was asked to return the notebook to Hogwarts at the appropriate time.

Lucius didn't know the notebook was a Horcrux, nor did he know what the so-called timing was. For twelve years, he had indeed never used the notebook—not out of respect, but out of fear. After all, who could say what curse the cruel and tyrannical Dark Lord had placed on the notebook?

It wasn't until summer vacation, with pressure from the Ministry of Magic to seize dark magic items, and the fact that the Dark Lord hadn't appeared for twelve years, that Lucius finally mustered the courage to throw this hot potato away.

This is the detail that Vaughn overlooked.

Because his perception of Lucius Malfoy had always been that he was more trouble than he was worth, he subconsciously underestimated the clues about the other man.

Looking back now, why did Voldemort make this special arrangement before the incident?

Did he have a premonition about something back then?

This is not impossible. As a legendary wizard, Dumbledore was able to overcome the limitations of talent and choose a spell to observe "fate" through the so-called "Path of Legend".

Voldemort might have used the same methods.

Alternatively, although there are fewer and fewer wizards with prophetic blood in the modern wizarding world, they are not non-existent. Dumbledore was able to find Sybil Trelawney, and Voldemort, who almost ruled the wizarding world more than ten years ago, may have also found another descendant of a prophet.

Therefore, when Voldemort handed the notebook to Lucius, he was laying the groundwork for his own possible bad end and subsequent comeback.

It's really —

Vaughn found that the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

Vaughn was a little confused.

From a personal perspective, he should believe the descriptions and definitions of this world found in the novels and movies of his past lives, rather than believing Dumbledore's wild speculations and assumptions.

What Slytherin Horcruxes? What Voldemort's plan to resurrect Slytherin to help himself?

Something that didn't exist in my past life memories!

But reason told him that he was in the real world, a real world, and that he should not take so-called "premonition of the plot" as an irrefutable truth.

The change had already occurred when he was born into the Weasley family; how could it remain unchanged?

Most importantly, Dumbledore's various assumptions are reasonable, logical, and consistent with his motivations. Vaughn could not ignore such obvious factors!

Although there are still many doubts in the hypothesis.

For example, why did Slytherin leave behind Horcruxes but not come back to life?

For example, what exactly made the suspicious Tom Riddle think that if he resurrected Slytherin, Slytherin would be willing to help him? Vaughn didn't consider the emotions brought about by their blood ties; both Voldemort and Slytherin were legendary wizards.

It's hard to say how much worldly emotion still restrains wizards who have reached that level.

There are many unexplained doubts, but compared to the core of Dumbledore's hypothesis, these doubts can be temporarily ignored.

Vaughn gradually calmed down, and rationality returned.

He withdrew his gaze from the statue's head, looked at Dumbledore, and calmly asked, "So, what do you want to do with me here? Release the Basilisk and help you verify your guess?"

"No." Dumbledore shook his head, shaking the music box in his hand helplessly. "This magical item can only record one Parsleyan phrase, which I guess means something like 'open.' It can't communicate with the Basilisk, and even if we release it, we won't get any answers from it."

"Why can't I get it?"

Once Dumbledore's mind was opened, his ideas became extremely radical, while Vaughn—after his own mind was opened, felt that Dumbledore was still too conservative—

He said matter-of-factly, "If we can't communicate, we'll kill it. We'll study its soul together and see if it's a Horcrux. A dead basilisk is less likely to lie!"

"6

'

Dumbledore's smile vanished; he even felt a headache coming on. "My dear, I still prefer the cautious way you questioned me just now. Could you perhaps tone it down a bit?"

really!

Vaughn curled his lip. "So you came in today just to show off your ideas, instead of testing them?"

"Verification doesn't require killing the Basilisk. If it truly is a Horcrux, and it dies, won't Salazar Slytherin also die?"

Dumbledore advised, "I'm telling you my idea so that you'll cooperate with me later. Together, we'll follow the course of fate, monitor the notebook to open the Chamber of Secrets, and then keep his behavior within a safe range. This way, we can safely verify my guesses and also make it easier for us to investigate the truth. Aren't you curious about why Slytherin would set up a contingency plan for the resurrection, and what his purpose was? No one else knows these questions except Tom and the Basilisk."

Vaughn was naturally curious.

But he had no interest in secretly monitoring the notebook's movements all day. After thinking for a moment, he suggested another idea: "Tom wasn't the only one who went into the Chamber of Secrets. Before him, many members of the Gaunt family must have been there. Why don't we go to Azkaban again and see Morfin Gaunt's memories?"

"That's one way—" Dumbledore pondered, then hesitated, "However, Morfin's mental state is very unstable. Last time we went there, it had a great impact on his mind. I'm worried that if we go again, he won't be able to handle it."