Although the location of Hogwarts is magically concealed, nearly all witches and wizards know it lies near Hogsmeade, since the Hogwarts Express stops there.
When Phineas realized this, he looked a bit sheepish and turned to Dumbledore as if he wanted to say something.
But Dumbledore waved his hand gently, signaling it wasn't necessary. After all, Phineas had lost almost all his relatives at the age of three. It was understandable that he wouldn't know such things. Smiling, Dumbledore said kindly:
"All right then. I'll be waiting for your arrival at Hogwarts."
Phineas nodded and snapped his fingers.
With a soft pop, Kreacher appeared beside him.
"Kreacher, bring the sweets I prepared."
"Yes, Master."
Kreacher nodded and returned shortly with a large bag of candies.
Phineas took the bag and offered it to Dumbledore.
"Here you are, Professor. Cockroach Clusters—your favorite. I actually acquired the company that makes them and developed some new variations. I thought you might enjoy trying them."
Dumbledore looked surprised as he accepted the package. "You bought the company?"
Phineas nodded. "Yes. I was curious about what the candy you liked tasted like, so I bought some. Honestly, I found the flavor a bit too close to ordinary chocolate. So I bought the company and developed new kinds based on my own ideas."
In truth, Phineas didn't really care much about the candy itself. He had done all this simply because Dumbledore liked them.
Phineas was very aware of his situation in the magical world. The older members of the Black family had stopped caring about its future. As long as someone carried on the name and handled the ancestral rites, they didn't care who held the title.
The pure-blood families weren't looking to destroy the Black family outright. What they truly wanted was to carve up its wealth. If Phineas was left with a token shop and just enough money to survive, that would be acceptable to them.
In recent years, several families had shown interest in the Black estate—especially the Riche family, an influential force in the Wizengamot.
Even though Phineas had hidden himself and Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the Black family's wealth couldn't be concealed. Many properties had already been targeted and attacked. The only reason the family's holdings hadn't crumbled completely was due to their sheer size and value.
But now, Phineas was turning eleven—and once he entered Hogwarts, he could no longer hide at home. So winning the favor of a powerful figure like Dumbledore—a legendary white wizard—was essential.
If he could appear loyal to Dumbledore, openly opposing Voldemort, then his daily life would be far less constrained.
That was the reason behind the candy.
Upon hearing that the candies were newly developed, Dumbledore immediately unwrapped one and popped it into his mouth.
Cockroach Clusters were, as their name suggested, shaped like cockroaches. Enchanted to scurry about, they mimicked real insects—right up until someone ate them.
The original version was simply a chocolate sandwich, but since acquiring the company, Phineas had experimented with several new flavors.
One variant involved coating the chocolate with a fine dusting of coffee powder, adding a pleasant bitterness to the sweetness.
Another, which Dumbledore happened to be tasting, had a hard candy shell, chocolate powder inside, and a jam core made from fruit juice blended with honey. The fruity tang and the natural sweetness made for an addictive flavor.
Even Phineas had grown fond of these candies—despite their unsettling appearance. After all, not everyone could bring themselves to chew on something that looked like a cockroach.
"This is excellent," Dumbledore said at last, savoring the flavor with closed eyes. "Thank you for the treat."
Then he added, "I'll order a batch for myself—no need to inform the company."
But Phineas waved a hand casually. "Don't bother, Professor. I've already arranged it with the company. A portion of each batch will be mailed directly to you."
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed suddenly, his piercing gaze locking onto Phineas. It was clear he was using Legilimency, trying to peer into the boy's thoughts.
But Phineas remained calm. Although the Strongest Wizard System had not yet fully activated, it could already shield certain key secrets—such as the system itself, and his memories from his previous life.
After a few moments, Dumbledore gave him a long, thoughtful look, then silently turned and left.
The moment Dumbledore disappeared, a clear voice rang in Phineas's mind:
> "Ding! System activation complete. Personal Panel unlocked. Task System unlocked. House Treasure Chest interface unlocked. Library interface unlocked. Mall interface unlocked."
Following the prompt, Phineas opened the various interfaces to check them out.
---
Personal Panel
Name: Phineas Walburga Black Jr.
House: None
Enrollment Date: September 1, 1989
HP: 2490 (average human: 2000)
Magic Power: 200 (average young wizard: 100)
Luck: ***
Exploration: 0%
(Note from the author: The panel will only appear in full here. It won't be repeated often, and it's not a major feature—just a way to digitize certain elements.)
---
Next was the Task System. Currently, it displayed only one task:
> Main Task: Enter Hogwarts on September 1 and participate in the Sorting Ceremony.
Reward: One Library Pass.
The House Treasure Chest interface was also available, but as Phineas hadn't yet been sorted, there were no treasure chests and no visible unlock conditions. It seemed he would only learn more after enrollment.
Finally, there was the Library Interface—which Phineas considered the most critical feature.
This interface, when combined with the Spellbook Interface, would allow him to draw spells. Library Passes were consumed here.
At the moment, the interface was empty. To use it, Phineas would need to bind it to either a real magic book or an actual library. Each Library Pass could extract three spells. These three spells were guaranteed to be different from each other, but not guaranteed to be different from those drawn with other passes.
In short, using two passes might give you six distinct spells—or three duplicates.
The magic book or library used must truly exist, and only one binding was allowed—for now.