The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 126 The Meaning of the Headless Horseman's Existence

Dumbledore closed his notebook, and the male voice abruptly stopped.

"The story of Sir Cadogan tells us that sometimes courage can turn into luck," Dumbledore said with a slight smile.

"I should have known, Sir Cadogan is a Gryffindor." Moriarty shook his head with amusement.

"After learning about Sir Cadogan's story, I think it makes perfect sense that the Headless Horseman appears in his murals. Let's go, the Headless Horseman might be waiting for us."

Dumbledore put the notebook back on the bookcase and led Moriarty and Diana toward the headmaster's office.

Five minutes later, the three of them walked up to the mural of Sir Cadogan on the seventh floor of Hogwarts.

Sir Cadogan, who always armed himself and loved to challenge people to duels, is not in the mural at this moment.

Instead, the headless horseman was introduced.

He rode on Sir Cadogan’s beloved treasure, a fat grey horse.

The heavy armor weighed down the fat horse's back, causing it to kneel on all fours, its rump swaying incessantly, and neighing loudly from its mouth.

"Good heavens, let her go!" Diana cried. The elven priestess, who had compassion for all small animals, glared at the headless horseman. "That mad headless monster, he won't even spare a mare! Oh, poor mare..."

The headless horseman glanced at Diana, then suddenly gripped the fat horse's neck with both hands. Mysterious runes on his wrists quickly shot up to the horse's neck, causing it to howl in pain before drooping its head helplessly.

Moriarty and Dumbledore exchanged a glance; the fat horse had fallen under the spell of the Headless Horseman.

The poor mare trembled and spun around in place before transforming into a streak of red light and disappearing into the ground.

Immediately, Moriarty and Dumbledore, the two people most connected to Hogwarts, noticed that the mural had changed; it now gave them a sense of déjà vu.

Yes, it's very similar to how they felt when they first stepped into Hogwarts Castle.

Moriarty suddenly remembered Pippi's words about the Headless Horseman once casting a spell on a tree.

How similar was what the headless horseman did to the fat horse to what he did to the tree!

Pipi said that spell might be alchemy... Is that true?

Moriarty recalled recent information about the Headless Horseman: the house-elves spoke of a black dragon that appeared in the Forbidden Forest a thousand years ago, and the Headless Horseman said that Merlin wanted to stay at Hogwarts to learn how to use dragons as alchemical materials to create a large and powerful alchemical artifact for protection.

If we connect these key points with a line...

One hypothesis is that Merlin crafted the black dragon into a powerful alchemical artifact and buried it beneath Hogwarts to protect some kind of being.

This is the secret of "Don't disturb the sleeping dragon"!

Moriarty's idea could explain the centuries-old mystery surrounding Merlin.

Merlin was indeed older than the four leaders, but in order to protect that being, Merlin left "Do Not Disturb the Sleeping Dragon" at Hogwarts.

"Have you discovered it?" the headless horseman said calmly. "This is the same spell as 'Do Not Disturb the Sleeping Dragon.' An ancient protective spell. From now on, Sir Cadogan's murals will be protected by this fat horse. But there is a time limit, because I do not know Merlin's alchemy."

Dumbledore took a step forward. "Headless Horseman, I am Albus Percival Woolfrick Bryan Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts."

The headless horseman seemed not to have expected the headmaster to come to him. He froze for three seconds, and for a moment Moriarty thought he was a dead man.

Three seconds later, the Headless Horseman adjusted his position and came to stand in front of Dumbledore.

"Albus Percival Woolfrick Bryan Dumbledore!" he repeated. "I've heard many children say that you are the most powerful wizard of our time, and the current headmaster of Hogwarts."

Without waiting for Dumbledore's reply, he turned to Moriarty.

"And Moriarty Slytherin—the harassing fly didn't take over your head today, so it seems you've successfully solved the alchemical problem that's been bothering you."

"So, you two, one the current headmaster of Hogwarts and the other the current head of the Slytherin family, have gone to such lengths today—gathering all the portraits, armor, and ghosts to investigate me alone? What is your purpose?"

"You don't know? Can I take that as you not knowing?"

Moriarty took out his Slytherin staff again and lightly ran the tip across the surface of the mural, his tone full of threat. "You can easily see into other people's minds, and even Occlumency cannot stop your probing. Yet you tell us you don't know."

You listen to the big and small things that happen in this castle every day, yet you still tell us you don't know.

"Mr. Armor, given the series of unusual events that have occurred in the castle, we must find out the cause, so you cannot be allowed to hide anything, understand?"

The headless knight immediately said, "I'm not hiding anything, and I don't know your purpose either."

The Sleeping Dragon's Retreat is an ancient and powerful protective magic—I have already told you this, and practice has proven the truth of what I say.

As for what Merlin is trying to protect? I don't know. Perhaps only the four masters of Hogwarts know.

The headless horseman plopped down on the ground and stopped talking.

"Tch," Diana snorted. Because of that fat horse, she seemed to particularly dislike the Headless Horseman. She said disdainfully, "He's faking it. He only does that to fool children."

"Alright, Mr. Headless Horseman," Dumbledore spoke, his words slow and clear. "Since you don't know our purpose, we'll be frank: what is the meaning of your existence?"

The headless knight remained silent.

Dumbledore extended his right hand and gently placed his palm on the mural.

"I entered Gryffindor House at Hogwarts in 1892 and stayed there for seven years. I have been teaching and serving as headmaster at Hogwarts for nearly seventy years. That adds up to almost eighty years, which, rounded up, is a hundred years."

Having lived in this school for almost a hundred years, I have never seen or heard of you in person.

If it weren't for that boy Bill Weasley reporting to me, I probably wouldn't be here. And if it weren't for Mr. Moriarty's arrival, I certainly wouldn't have discovered that you are a portrait without a mural.

I hope you understand one thing.

The headmaster of Hogwarts has complete control over everything that happens in this castle.

Dumbledore withdrew his hand, and a powerful aura of authority emanated from him, crashing against the mural like a howling wind.

Moriarty smirked; Old Deng's nickname, the White Devil, was well-deserved.

He said the principal could control anything that happened in the castle, implying that only he could control what happened in the castle.

If an accident or incident occurs outside of his control, then unfortunately, he has no choice but to eliminate the accident.

Diana looked at Moriarty with a puzzled expression. Although she was an elven priestess, elves were very simple-minded, and Diana had never played power games during her reign.

The Headless Horseman must have understood Dumbledore's unspoken meaning.

He stood up from the ground.

"Alright, Headmaster, and Slytherin descendants, I wouldn't have said anything if neither of you were here. Neither of you can be missing!"

"If only that elf who's over a hundred years old were there, I wouldn't even look at her! You know, Merlin was imprisoned by the elves."

"You headless monster who's gone mad! I'll...!"

Moriarty grabbed Diana, who was rushing towards him, and pushed her to the other end of the corridor.

"Go on," Moriarty urged.

"Before that, I must state two points," the headless horseman said, standing ramrod straight.

"First, I will not actively probe people's thoughts; instead, the magic within me will automatically penetrate their brains."

Of course, if some wizards possess a sufficiently powerful mental dimension, I would be unable to probe their thoughts, such as Headmaster Dumbledore.

"And you, descendant of Slytherin, also possess a decent mental dimension, but that day you had just too many harassing flies around you, and I understood immediately."

Moriarty speculated that the "brain dimension space" he was referring to was what is now known as brain shut-off surgery.

"Secondly, I express my sympathy for the tragic events caused by the recent intense emotional turmoil within the castle."

But I won't meddle. Headmaster Dumbledore said he's been in the castle for almost a hundred years, while I've been in this castle for almost a thousand years!

If every big or small thing that happens in the castle comes to me, will I be driven crazy?

"My purpose in existing is not to protect this castle; this castle belongs to Hogwarts, not to the Knights of the Round Table."

Moriarty and Dumbledore nodded slowly; the Headless Horseman made sense.

"Now, let's get to the point," the headless knight's voice gradually turned cold: "The purpose of Sleeping Dragon Do Not Disturb is to protect, and the purpose of my existence is to seal."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed: "A seal?"

"Seal," the headless knight said with certainty, "Seal the most powerful, evil, and magical vampire progenitor in history, a headless vampire progenitor."

Moriarty, Dumbledore, and Diana exclaimed in unison: "The headless vampire progenitor!?"

(End of this chapter)