Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 119 Dumbledore's Decision

Avada pushed open the door and went inside, where he saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, Hagrid standing tall and imposing in front of him, and Kettleburn, who, though also tall, looked tiny next to Hagrid—he was panting heavily, his face flushed red.

"professor."

He nodded to Hagrid and Kettleburn, receiving two rather forced smiles in return, before turning to Dumbledore and asking, "Professor, is that really the truth? You've used time..."

"Silvanus, Hagrid, could you leave for a moment?"

Dumbledore suddenly raised his hand to interrupt Avada, and looked up at Hagrid and Kettleburn: "I'd like to speak with Ken alone about what's to come."

"Okay, Professor."

Kettleburn mumbled in a low voice, "But please be careful..."

"Thank you for reminding me, Sylvanas, I will remember," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

After Kettleburn led Hagrid away from the Headmaster's office, Avada, with Dumbledore's nod of approval, continued, "Professor, is the truth really as stated in the announcement? Is that also the information you obtained using the Time-Turner?"

"Ah, I think that's the problem, Ken."

Dumbledore leaned back, adopting a more relaxed posture: "I did not obtain the Time-Turner."

"What?! Why?"

"The day you came up with this idea, I immediately wrote to the Ministry of Magic, requesting a Time-Turner to investigate the truth behind the coma incident... Logically, with my guarantee, they shouldn't refuse."

"But a few days later, I was surprised to find that the Ministry of Magic suddenly began to strictly adhere to the rules—the regulations did not stipulate that the headmaster of Hogwarts or the head of Wizengamot could directly apply for a Time-Turner, so they could not send me the Time-Turner. Instead, I had to go through a rather complicated application process and an assessment of me personally. Even if I succeeded in the end, it would be six months later... That's what they said in their reply."

"Then, almost on the same day I received the reply, news came that most of the Board of Trustees had agreed to form an investigation team and move into Hogwarts."

"..."

Avada frowned. "They...are setting you up?"

"Your views are exactly the same as Professor Kettleburn's," Dumbledore said with a smile and a nod.

Why?

"This was my oversight."

Dumbledore suddenly sighed, his previous ease and smile vanishing instantly: "The reaction of the stubborn pure-bloods has exceeded my expectations."

"A die-hard pureblood? You mean... the speech at the end of last semester?"

"That's right... Sit down first, this topic is going to be long—you don't have anything urgent to do right now, do you?"

"No, Professor."

"Let's have a pot of tea and discuss this together... Where were we? Oh, right, the die-hard purebloods..."

Dumbledore patted his head, as if he were truly a forgetful old man on his deathbed: "Last semester I practically made it clear that I only wanted to change the deep-rooted bloodline mentality in magical society, and had no intention of directly affecting the interests of pure-blood families, and was also willing to acknowledge the ancient glory of pure-bloods... Plus, I just caught Voldemort's momentum, and I thought that would make those stubborn guys restrain themselves a bit, but now it seems I was wrong."

"You mean, from the coma incident to the time-tamper, it was all a conspiracy orchestrated by the die-hard purebloods to take revenge on you?"

Avada was momentarily incredulous—even Voldemort had fallen completely, so who gave those guys the audacity to run around on the head of Britain's most powerful wizard?

"Maybe yes, maybe no. After all, the investigation team bypassed me and released their findings directly, taking away every single one of those so-called 'evil bird' without letting me see them. So I can't produce conclusive evidence to prove that they were the culprits behind everything, and that the so-called evil bird attack was completely fabricated..."

"Isn't that obvious enough? What are their intentions?"

Avada sensed something was off about Dumbledore's attitude towards the matter: "Besides, didn't Professor Kettleburn say that the Wicked Bird couldn't possibly have gone dozens of meters underwater to crawl into the pipe? If we just tell everyone this, wouldn't those conspiracies fall apart on their own?"

"Maybe it's possible at school."

Looking at the anxious, youthful face before him, Dumbledore smiled helplessly: "But what about the magical world?"

"If they want, they can put this on the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow, detailing how Albus Dumbledore absurdly provoked the Witchbirds with a rooster, and how he incompetently toiled for over a month without any results. And that research institution will then release a report proving that those Witchbirds did indeed undergo a mutation that allowed them to dive... And then what happens next?"

"Then the angry magical society will gang up on you and force you to resign."

Avada was completely unaware that her voice was already a little hoarse: "No, it shouldn't be... You have a very high reputation in society, almost all wizards are your students, everyone admires you... Besides, the idea that the Witch Bird can dive is too outrageous. Unless they post detailed bloodline charts in the newspapers, no one will believe it..."

"You still have some misunderstandings about the magical society, Ken."

Dumbledore shook his head with amusement: "The truth is, most wizards have no idea whether the Witchbird can dive, and the sensational term 'mutation' is enough to convince most people. Although a few with extensive knowledge of magical creatures know it's impossible, their voices will be drowned out by the masses."

"As for my personal prestige, that's easy to resolve—just exaggerate as much as possible how tragic the victimized students were and how severe the aftereffects were, and that will be enough to ignite people's anger... Or, to put it more mildly, say that although I was very wise in the past, I am now old and blind and no longer of great use?"

"..."

Avada remained silent for a long time, lowered his head, and then raised it again:

"Fire me, Professor."

"Huh? Why?"

"It was my wrong prediction that led you to include a rooster in the painting."

His gaze hardened: "Didn't those guys say the harpy birds were harmless, and that the roosters were the cause of their attacks on the students? Then you can say that I secretly added those roosters to the painting, and that you just thought it was harmless and didn't stop it. That way, your 'responsibility' will be greatly reduced, and you can at least buy more time to prepare a counterattack..."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle, scratching his beard and shaking his head, his eyes almost slits. "Why are you so eager for me to stay as headmaster, Ken?"

"Huh?"

Avada was taken aback by the question: "Does that need a reason? You're the protector of the entire school..."

"Oh, really?"

Dumbledore chuckled and retorted, "But why do I feel like I'm the one causing trouble for this school?"

"...Are you referring to your declaration of war against the theory of bloodline?"

Avada was even more confused: "But you only did the right thing. Aren't the troublemakers those bastards who would harm students for their own selfish gain?"

"So I said I was the one who 'brought' trouble... Okay, Ken, it seems you don't quite accept that explanation, so let's change the subject—if I stepped down from the principal's position as they wished, would they continue to attack the students?"

"...I don't think so."

"Would they shut down Hogwarts, or fire all the current professors and replace them with a new batch to indoctrinate students with extreme bloodline ideologies, encouraging them to discriminate against or even harm others?"

"If they weren't idiots, they probably wouldn't..."

"That's enough."

Dumbledore laughed even harder: "You see, after I leave, the students won't be in danger, my professors won't be expelled, and Hogwarts won't change its ways for the time being... So what difference does it make whether I'm the headmaster or not?"

Something came up at home, so the update is almost an hour late. I'm so sorry!

(End of this chapter)