Chapter 157 [Trait]: Do You Even Understand What You're Reading?!
Having slept a full night in the dorm, Harry and Ron hadn't returned.
The same was true the next day. However, the young wizards who had been prepared to take the Hogwarts Express home in the morning were suddenly told by their Head of House that the plan to go home was canceled.
They still needed to stay at Hogwarts for exams. This left the students of the four houses both bewildered and with a faint sense of anticipation. Could it be... that the crisis of the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir had been resolved?
Soon, the latest news arrived. —Ginny was saved! She was rescued by Harry, the Boy Who Lived!
Dylan returned to his dorm after breakfast. He waited and waited, but no new developments occurred. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He guessed Dumbledore and the professors were now fully focused on Kael'thas.
"Actually, I really should do more things as Kael'thas right now, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, I'll just hold back," Dylan sighed softly to himself. He felt a bit like researching a cloning spell.
If he could develop a clone identical to himself, with the exact same abilities, to do things for him, then in every aspect, he would be much more relaxed.
"Why can't I get an achievement reward for 'One Qi Transforms Three Pure Ones'?" Dylan pouted.
In the morning, just as he thought his part was over and was about to enter his trunk space for research, a melodious and clear chirping suddenly came from outside the window.
At this time, only Dylan was in the dorm; everyone else had gone out. Dylan subconsciously looked up. He saw a figure, like a ball of fire, streak past the window, moving so fast it was almost a blur. When Dylan came to his senses, a phoenix was standing on his bed.
"..." Dylan's eyelid twitched. "You... haven't washed your feet."
Fawkes: ... It lifted a paw, as if wanting to jump to the floor.
Dylan reached out and pressed it down: "Never mind, you're already on it. Even if you get down, my bed's still dirty."
Fawkes tilted its head, its two paws instinctively retracting, but quickly released when it realized it was crumpling the bedsheet. Clearly, it was a little flustered.
"Chirp~" What now?
As a phoenix, although Dylan couldn't understand what it was saying, Fawkes could express its emotions through its chirps. So Dylan could roughly deduce the message it was conveying.
Dylan sighed slightly, and as he withdrew his hand from Fawkes, he accidentally plucked off one of its feathers.
"Chirp!" Fawkes gasped. This little wizard had actually pulled out one of its feathers! Hiss! So painful...
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You're not angry, are you?" Dylan flipped his palm, and the feather instantly disappeared from it. He then looked at Fawkes with a concerned expression.
Seeing that this little wizard wanted to extend his "evil claw" again, Fawkes quickly flapped its wings and hopped onto Harry's bed.
"Chirp!" Fawkes raised its beak at Dylan.
Dylan also stopped his attempt to continue plucking feathers from it, raising an eyebrow. "You mean Dumbledore... Headmaster wants me to come over?"
Fawkes nodded.
Dylan's heart skipped a beat, but his face showed no unusual expression. "Why does the Headmaster want me? I heard everyone say that the Chamber of Secrets issue has been resolved. Does Headmaster Dumbledore still think I solved it?" Dylan said to Fawkes in a joking tone.
Fawkes tilted its head again, looking at Dylan with a strange gaze, as if expressing—Do I look like I can answer you?
Dylan chuckled. "Alright, I understand. Since the Headmaster wants me, let's go quickly. I was reading late last night, and I was planning to catch up on some sleep after finishing my book."
Dylan had nothing to pack. He grabbed his broomstick leaning against the wall and swung a leg over it.
"Whoosh!" Dylan flew straight out the window. Fawkes also flapped its wings and followed.
One person and one bird flew up a floor. Fawkes followed closely behind Dylan. The wind roared past their ears. Soon, Dylan arrived at the window of Dumbledore's office. Walking up the stairs would require a password, so Dylan simply flew over and knocked.
"Knock knock." Dylan raised his hand and knocked on the window.
A moment later, a familiar figure appeared behind the window. Silver hair, a flowing beard, and a pair of half-moon spectacles perched on his nose, through which his blue eyes twinkled with a gentle light.
It was indeed old Dumbledore. He slowly walked over, pushed open the window, and looked at Dylan, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and he couldn't help but tease, "Your entrances are certainly unique."
Although Dylan always worried that Dumbledore, like an old fox, could discover his secrets at any moment, they had been acquainted for so long.
So far, Dumbledore seemed to have no suspicions. He didn't know why he was called this time, but if his secrets had been discovered, Dylan didn't think Dumbledore would call him over so gently.
So Dylan wasn't flustered. He also smiled, retorting without weakness, "Didn't you send Fawkes to call me like this?"
Dumbledore chuckled twice: "Indeed. Come in quickly, my boy." Dumbledore moved aside for Dylan, who, riding his broom, flew directly into his office.
"Headmaster, is there something you wanted to talk about?" Dylan landed, holding his broomstick upright on the floor. He scanned the room. Dumbledore wasn't the only one in the office. Harry was standing to one side.
To Dylan's slight surprise, Vera was also there. Dylan nodded to Vera as a greeting. The atmosphere in the office was relaxed. The expressions of both Dumbledore and Vera weren't solemn. —It seemed there shouldn't be any trouble for him.
Dumbledore, with a kind expression, smiled and said, "It's nothing urgent, just a few questions I wanted to ask you."
Dylan nodded: "Go ahead."
Dumbledore didn't immediately pose the questions but turned to look at Vera and Harry. "This is an Auror sent by the Ministry of Magic."
Dylan nodded again: "I know."
Dumbledore smiled and asked, "Do you two know each other?"
Vera spoke up: "A cute little brother who often comes to my house for ice cream."
Upon hearing this, Dumbledore's gaze shifted slightly, then he revealed a relieved smile. "Is that so? Well, that's natural. Fawkes has been running that shop alone. Without the company of some children, it would never have managed."
Oh, ho~ Dylan secretly clicked his tongue. The old fox is indeed an old fox. A direct double entendre!
Vera merely hummed softly, not denying anything. —In fact, her mentioning her family's shop was already quite telling. It seemed that what Dylan did last Christmas had indeed slightly improved the relationship between the father and daughter. Very good, very good.
Dylan spoke: "Aunt Vera, I'm not a little kid anymore."
Vera glanced at Dylan, a hint of amusement in her cool eyes: "Only little kids fly in through windows."
"..." Dylan paused. "Don't say that. Voldemort seemed to have escaped through a window last time he fled."
Vera froze.
Dumbledore then spoke: "Voldemort was possessing Quirrell before, and Dylan was there that time too."
Vera blinked, her gaze fixed on Dylan: "You? How did you get involved with Quirrell?"
Dylan shrugged: "I think the professors have already explained to the Ministry. I was just passing by." He then asked with some curiosity, "Headmaster, what happened to Quirrell? Did you manage to get anything out of him?"
Dumbledore's smile remained: "Actually, no. And later we sent him to the Ministry of Magic. I'm not particularly clear about the subsequent situation."
Vera interjected: "Quirrell died last year—oh, I had just joined the Ministry of Magic and was given this huge trouble. I even handled his corpse."
Dylan's expression remained calm, but on his face, he displayed a perfectly appropriate surprise: "Ah? Died? Why? He didn't seem to have suffered any harm after Voldemort left his body."
Dumbledore stood behind Dylan, his eyes faintly gleaming as he observed Dylan for a moment, seeing that his expression didn't seem to be feigned. Then he spoke.
"You often go to the Restricted Section. You should know that when a body has two souls intertwined, and the invading soul departs, it will not only take away the vitality of the host but also leave the host's soul damaged."
Dylan blinked: "You know I always go to the Restricted Section?" He scratched his head sheepishly: "I'm sorry, I didn't tell the other professors about going to the Restricted Section."
"As for the soul entanglement you mentioned, I did read about it in General Theory, but even if the vitality is incomplete, or even the soul is badly damaged, it shouldn't be enough to cause the possessed person to die outright, should it?"
Dumbledore stared at Dylan for a good while, then suddenly chuckled: "It seems you've studied very thoroughly."
"Yes, if it's just ordinary possession, no matter how intertwined the two souls are, the departure of one is not enough to cause the death of the other."
"However... you know, that was Voldemort."
"He over-drew most of Quirrell's life force to escape at the time. Unfortunately, I couldn't save him."
Vera frowned: "That's not your fault. He couldn't resist the temptation of darkness. Even after he became a corpse, he had a strong evil aura around him—it disgusted me thoroughly at the time."
Dylan looked at her: "Why did the Ministry of Magic make you, Aunt Vera, someone who just took up her post, do such a thing?"
Vera was silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head: "I don't know. Perhaps they wanted to test me. In fact, I did gain favor from my superiors after this incident, and now I've become a captain of an Auror team."
Harry stood to one side, watching the three of them chat endlessly. Amidst the calm exchange, there seemed to be an undercurrent swirling, but he couldn't understand it and couldn't interject. He could only stand there, bewildered.
Harry secretly glanced at Dylan. This Auror from the Ministry of Magic had taken him around the Chamber of Secrets last night, searching for many almost useless dark magic items, including some creature remains.
That's how he met Vera. She was someone with a high level of expertise in spell research, making him immediately think of an adult Hermione. But what surprised him was that Vera was the daughter of the owner of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour? And Dylan seemed to have known her for a long time already?
While he was spending his days with his friends, researching how to find the Heir of Slytherin, what in the world was Dylan doing...? Harry originally thought Dylan was just a study fanatic.
—Even more insane than Hermione! But now it seemed... Even though he spent so much time studying, he could still make time to go to an ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley and eat ice cream every day? It was truly incredible!
"Dylan, the main reason I asked you to come here this time is to confirm a few things with you. You don't need to be nervous," Dumbledore said.
"It is my mission as a Gryffindor to help Hogwarts, Headmaster. Feel free to ask anything you want—and I'm not nervous at all," Dylan said righteously.
Dumbledore smiled, but his eyes conveyed a hint of seriousness: "Dylan, have you read anything about Horcruxes in the Restricted Section?"
Dylan raised an eyebrow: "Horcruxes? Professor, this is something I've always wanted to understand. I've seen this term mentioned in many books, more or less."
"But unfortunately, I don't quite understand what exactly this thing is—because after flipping through many books, I haven't found any explanation about Horcruxes."
Dumbledore's eyes gazed directly into Dylan's. The latter also looked up, composed and unperturbed, allowing Dumbledore's gaze to focus on his own. At this moment, Dylan had almost completely mastered Occlumency. In fact, even amidst his busy schedule, he had also managed to refine his Occlumency spell trait.
[Trait]: Do You Even Understand What You're Reading?!
When you activate Occlumency, this trait will automatically analyze the logic and structure of invading magic. Any magic attempting to invade your mind will fall into confusion. Key information you wish to hide will be scrambled and reassembled, causing the invading magic to get lost in a labyrinth of thought.
With this trait, even if Dylan's Occlumency wasn't at max level, he wasn't afraid that Dumbledore would detect any unusual information from his mind.
As long as Dumbledore didn't catch him red-handed, Dylan wasn't worried that this old man, with more schemes than the Yongzheng Emperor, would discover anything.
.....
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