I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 459 The Half-Hidden Truth

"In the past, this temple was dedicated to a goddess named Diana."

"Legend has it that gods have the ability to heal any injury. As long as you are alive and have a breath left, you can be healed."

Outside the tent, a New Zealand Ministry of Magic official was showing Dumbledore and Professor Shatty the mound of rubble in front of them.

There are two of the most powerful legendary wizards of our time.

There was almost no noteworthy resistance during the Selwyn family's purge.

Upon learning the truth, the Ministry of Magic all chose to get involved, hoping to profit from the situation.

There were no conspiracies or schemes, no united will; all that remained was the scattering of followers when the tree fell. Faced with absolute power, Selwyn's resistance was almost laughable.

"In the past two weeks, all Selwyn family strongholds, including those in Australia and New Zealand, have been completely eradicated."

The official said with some trepidation.

He looked at the two elderly people beside him with some reverence.

One of them is the president of the federation.

The other is the president of Tai Hsin University, who has an unimaginable influence in Southeast Asia.

The combined power of these two individuals sent shivers down the spines of the entire Southeast Asia.

The official took a deep breath and looked back at the rubble scattered on the ground. "I never imagined that the legendary gods would actually be real."

There is a new grave there.

The grave stands alone among the rubble of the hill.

The only companions were the gentle breeze.

"What a pitiful person!" Professor Xia Ti said with deep feeling, noting that older people are more susceptible to infection.

"Perhaps—in the past, that so-called goddess possessed other abilities, and this temple was proof of her glory, but later," Dumbledore paused, "we don't know when the first goddess was imprisoned, but continuous intermarriage with Muggles should have caused most of the goddess's inherited power to be lost."

"But the remaining power led to their imprisonment for who knows how many years," Professor Shati said. "How is it possible for such a powerful force to be passed down from generation to generation, and only inherited by one's female offspring, with the mother's power gradually diminishing until death as the daughter grows up?"

"Albus, I don't know much about other parts of the world, such strange magic exists in the magical world?"

"Never heard of such a thing," Dumbledore replied.

"Really? Even you didn't know?"

"All I knew about the goddess Diana was that her flesh and blood could make life more resilient, not just to heal wounds, but to make the human body more 'robust'," Dumbledore said. "I never knew the truth about Diana was like this."

"We underestimated the dark side of some people," Professor Shatty said, gazing at the temple on the hill.

The temple and the god are one.

One man became a god, and one god became a city. God and city guarded each other for a thousand years. Now, these shattered stones all over the ground are a response to the fate of the god's shattering.

"The battle will soon be over," the New Zealand official said with a smile. "You should know that the ministry has overcome tremendous difficulties for this matter. After all, the Selwyn family has been entrenched in the area for over a century, with numerous branches and deep-rooted influence."

The man spoke in a seemingly serious tone.

But deep down, he had completely opposite thoughts.

Being deeply entrenched also means having more people who dislike them, because they are blocking others' path forward.

It's like if the Malfoy family were to fall, the entire British wizarding family would be happy to kick them while they're down.

It would be even better if they could get a share of it.

Dumbledore's gaze swept over the man's face, which was unable to suppress his smile.

He was well aware of the Ministry of Magic's thinking.

All they wanted was Diana's child.

The reason Sigman Selwyn showed Diana that photograph outside Lakiura that day was not to appease him, but to subtly threaten her.

The goddess's power is automatically inherited by her daughter when the mother dies.

Sigman Selwyn never even considered getting Diana back from them.

He was forcing Diana to die.

She used her daughter as leverage.

Because only children who inherit the goddess's power are valuable to them, even though they will inevitably suffer greatly in the future, they will be able to survive.

If it were an ordinary child, it would be of no use to them, and there would only be one outcome: death.

Dumbledore speculated that Diana might not know that her girl was still alive.

The Selwyn family must have snatched her daughter away immediately after her birth, intending to use her later.

That photo may have been the only time she ever held her child.

Diana's eventual suicide was naturally related to the coercion she received from Sigman Selwyn.

As a mother, she naturally hoped that her child could live.

As the successor to the goddess, she naturally knew that as her daughter grew up, her power would slowly diminish, eventually leading to her death.

Her lifelong yearning for freedom was nothing but delusion; death, like the rising sun of the next day, was inevitable for her.

Yes—she could choose to confess to Professor Dumbledore and the others.

But she couldn't guarantee that the wizard named Dumbledore wouldn't be the next Selwyn.

She didn't understand the world and dared not place her hopes on a few strangers.

Even if they act very friendly.

All she could do was prepare for both possibilities.

Suicide—to protect one's child.

Be honest—and pray the other person is a good person.

At least this way, she wouldn't be tormented by Dumbledore and his men, who might be hypocritically deceiving her, after learning the truth.

And her daughter will survive.

These are things that the current former principal still knows.

The New Zealand Ministry of Magic naturally did not want a child with the power of a goddess to be taken away.

They will definitely do everything they can to keep it.

"Hmph." Professor Xia Ti let out a short sneer from the side.

The Ministry of Magic's idea is utterly ridiculously naive.

Their ulterior motives were openly revealed.

How could they possibly allow Diana's daughter to remain in the place that had caused her such immense pain?

Just like this temple in front of us, since it has already collapsed like this, there's no point in thinking about repairing it.

The right choice is to find another place and build a new one.

"professor--"

"Professor Dumbledore!"

A group of people walked over from a distance.

Lily, James, Sirius, and Snape.

And Professor Zhang Qingqiu and Professor Horace Slughorn.

There were also several federation officials.

Lily was holding a baby who was about a year old in her arms.

"Hmm." Professor Dumbledore watched them approach, a complex expression flashing across his face. He looked down at the baby sleeping soundly in Lily's arms, a tenderness in his eyes.

The expression on the face of the Ministry of Magic official beside him changed drastically, darkening rapidly.

How could that be?

How could Dumbledore move so quickly?

The bunch of useless people in the department, despite so many searching, are not as fast as these few little wizards in front of them.

Dumbledore took the child from Lily's arms, somewhat surprised. "How did you find the child so quickly?"

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that the Selwyn family would do everything in their power to hide the child, whether to make a comeback or to cover up their crimes; they absolutely cannot allow him to be found.

"It's Professor Slughorn," Lily replied immediately.

Professor Slughorn was their mentor for this competition.

I've been busy collaborating with the organizers, so I haven't been able to spend time with them.

“One of my students helped me out,” Professor Slughorn said with a smug smile. “Weston Selwyn, a fine young man, now a batter for the Montrose Magpies. He’s also part of the Selwyn family, but he’s—well—the British faction. They seem to disregard the main line of Oceania and have always wanted to break away. I got him to do me a little favor.”

"Of course—Albus, you can't pursue their past mistakes any further; this is the price we agreed on."

"Of course—it's good that Mr. Weston has turned to the light. As long as he can keep his brother away from the Death Eaters, I will not pursue them," Dumbledore said calmly.

His deep blue eyes gazed at the baby girl in his arms.

Her small body was tightly wrapped in soft swaddling clothes, her face was as delicate as the finest porcelain, and her skin was fair and smooth.

She has silver hair, just like her mother.

Perhaps due to the fatigue of the past few days, the child had already fallen into a deep sleep.

"You can't—" Professor Slughorn's expression changed. "I've already discussed it with them. Mr. Weston can't control his crazy brother."

"So I should just watch him make the same mistake again?" Dumbledore said seriously. "You know what they've done."

"but--"

Professor Slughorn wanted to argue, but Dumbledore was no longer looking at him.

He turned and handed the baby girl to Professor Xia Ti.

"What are you doing?" Professor Shatty was quite surprised by Dumbledore's choice. "Are you sure?"

“You’re right, Voldemort’s power is growing. Mr. Weston’s brother—I can’t guarantee he hasn’t told his master what’s going on here—the child isn’t safe in England; the Selwyn family still has some influence there.” He said calmly, “And the child’s father seems to be a Ming dynasty official.”

"I understand." Professor Shatty looked down at the baby girl in her arms.

The girl opened her eyes at some point.

She stretched out her chubby hand and waved it in the air, then suddenly pulled hard and grabbed the old wizard's beard.

"Haha—" the professor suddenly laughed, "It seems we are indeed destined to meet."

He stretched out his aged fingers and pinched the girl's cheek.

"From now on, you'll be my student, Master Laozi."

After many days, Dumbledore finally smiled.

He turned to look at Lily. "Well done, Miss Evans."

"I...I didn't actually do anything," Lily said, shaking her head.

"Oh, you did it. You got Horace to come with you to New Zealand. Do you like him?"

With their business settled, they should return to England.

The child is with Xia Ti, the teacher at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an, so he should be safe from any harm.

Perhaps with the Master's guidance, she will grow into a powerful witch.

Because the child's father was no longer a Muggle—but a wizard.

The passing away of the goddess's power over generations made the Selwyn family realize that they should no longer allow Muggles to marry Dianas.

They superficially believed that the weakening of the goddess's power was due to the thinning of the wizard's bloodline.

Therefore, the father of this generation of goddess descendants is a wizard.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dumbledore, Lily, and the other three boys headed toward the tent.

Professor Slughorn was somewhat angry because Dumbledore had not agreed to his bargaining chips, and had already gone to Rakiola Town ahead of time.

They probably went to buy alcohol.

"Hmm," Lily wasn't sure if she liked Professor Slughorn. She felt that Professor Slughorn wasn't so good in some ways; he liked to categorize young wizards into different classes.

"Horace enjoys material pleasures," Dumbledore continued, "and he also likes to associate with famous, successful, and powerful people. He likes the feeling of being at their beck and call. He never wants to be in power himself, but prefers to be in a secondary position—that way, he has more freedom and more control."

At Hogwarts, he always liked to select his favorite students, sometimes because of their ambition or wisdom, sometimes because of their charm or talent, and he had a very unusual ability to always select those who would later excel in various fields.

Horace started a club with himself at its core, composed of his favorite protégés.

He introduced them to each other, established useful connections, and in the end, each person always received some benefit—either a free box of his favorite pineapple preserves or the opportunity to recommend a clerk to the fairy liaison office.

"Professor, what do you want me to do?" Lily blinked her clear green eyes.

At this moment, several people had already arrived at the tent.

The three boys quickly went upstairs.

They were packing their things, preparing to leave New Zealand.

Of course—this was also to give Dumbledore and Lily enough space.

"It's clear that Horace likes you very much," Dumbledore continued. "You are very talented. Although you didn't win the competition this time, your potion-making was very constructive. Lily, you will become a treasure in his collection."

"But Professor—Severus's potion-making talent far surpasses mine. Why do you think Professor Slughorn would recruit me?"

"Mr. Snape is getting too close to the Death Eaters," Dumbledore said bluntly. "He may have made a mistake once, but he certainly won't make it a second time."

Lily's eyes were full of doubt, and Dumbledore seized the opportunity to continue, "Horace has been a professor at the school for many years." He blinked and said, "Who do you think was his best student?"

"."

The old headmaster had been so blunt; Lily couldn't possibly not have guessed.

"Of course, you'll only be in sixth grade this September, so you have two more years. Lily—all you need to do is get along well with Horace."

"Cultivate good relations?"

"That's right. Some of my guesses still need to be verified; perhaps they are just my wishful thinking."

"Alright, Lily. Go pack your things. We—should go back."

(End of this chapter)