"I must say, Mr. Dreyar, your teacher taught you a lot!"
"I'm just stating facts." Victor, who had long since realized that someone was eavesdropping at the door, turned around and replied. "And is it a hobby of yours to listen in on other people's conversations, Professor Dumbledore?"
That's right, just as Professor McGonagall was left speechless by Victor's retort, Dumbledore, who had been at the door of the Gryffindor Head of House's office, suddenly opened the door and walked in.
"I was going to invite you to my office, but Dilys told me you were here with Minerva, so I came over myself."
Dilys Derwent, who served as Headmistress of Hogwarts from 1741 to 1768, was a distinguished Healer whose portrait hung in both Dumbledore's office and St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, allowing her to travel between the two.
"Mr. Dreyar, you are right. Back then, I did focus too much on Tom and overlooked the power behind him. Whether it was born out of fear or genuine loyalty, without the support of the pure-blood families, Tom alone could not have caused so much bloodshed. However, you are mistaken about one thing. Not all of the Death Eaters who followed Tom were unaware that he was a half-blood wizard. It was fear, or perhaps worship, that made them willingly ignore this fact."
Dumbledore then began to recount some of the events that occurred during Voldemort's reign of terror. Back then, Dumbledore was not unaware of the role the pure-blood families played behind the scenes. But at the time, Voldemort was causing trouble everywhere: attacking the Ministry of Magic and various magical schools, killing Muggles and Muggle-borns on a massive scale, and even having his Death Eaters launch simultaneous attacks on the Muggle world in major European cities.
Dumbledore, who was busy dealing with all these events, was constantly thinking about how to find and destroy his wicked former student. He believed that the source of all the trouble was Voldemort. If he was eliminated, the European wizarding world would return to peace.
Given this, along with the fact that most of the pure-blood families had already been completely controlled by Voldemort, Dumbledore believed that even if he revealed Voldemort's half-blood status, it would not have a significant impact. That's why he didn't bother with the media.
Upon hearing Dumbledore's reasoning, Victor rolled his eyes. How naive! What a narrow perspective! It seemed that even the 109-year-old "old busybody" had overlooked the power of public opinion.
So what if some of the Death Eaters knew their master's identity? There must have been some extremist pure-bloods among them, right? Turn them against him!
Even if they couldn't be turned, they could be manipulated into betraying him. Whether they lived or died, at least Voldemort's power would be weakened, wouldn't it?
Also, Voldemort was so obsessed with his bloodline; Dumbledore could have just put an ad in the Daily Prophet calling him a "Mudblood"!
Pride comes before a fall.
He could have used that as bait to lure Voldemort out. Even if he had Horcruxes, at least the White Wizard could have destroyed one of his souls. And what about the argument that calling him a Mudblood would hurt Muggle-borns and cause internal conflict? This was a war, not a children's game!
Sigh. This was a job more suited for the "rabbits" of his homeland.
Hearing that Dumbledore wanted to continue, Victor quickly interrupted him. "Professors, that problem is in the past now, and there's no use talking about it. And I've already guessed why Professor Dumbledore came to see me. So I won't beat around the bush. I'll get straight to the point. I just want to honor my teacher's last wish and completely remove the tumor of pure-blood supremacy from the wizarding world. This comic, or rather, Voldemort, is just a catalyst for my plan."
To prevent the old busybody from asking too many questions, Victor immediately brought up his non-existent teacher as a shield and had him die to prevent future trouble.
Dumbledore's brows furrowed when he heard Victor. He saw the shadow of his old friend in Victor, who had also been so ambitious many years ago but had eventually gone down the wrong path. So, to prevent this "young" student from going astray, Dumbledore began to persuade him.
"Victor, do you know what you're up against? The pure-blood families have deep connections all over the world. They control most of the wizarding world's resources, and the one thing they are most proud of is their own bloodline. The idea of pure-blood supremacy is the foundation of their continued dominance, and you want to tear out that foundation. Do you know how much chaos that will cause?"
"Haha! Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure!" Victor suddenly quoted the famous Ravenclaw motto. "Professor, you have to understand that this isn't just a war; it's a revolution! Whether it's magic or technology, the progress of civilization does not allow for the existence of bloodline-based supremacy! Sooner or later, the great tide of history will push this revolution forward. I am only bringing it about sooner."
For some reason, as Victor was speaking, Dumbledore and McGonagall both saw a red five-pointed star shining brightly in his eyes.
What they didn't know was that the "rabbits" of his homeland were natural revolutionaries; they would always step up when history called for it. And Victor, a pure-bred "rabbit," had seen an opportunity to lead a revolution, and the revolutionary genes in his blood could no longer be contained.
With a look of shock from Professor McGonagall and a thoughtful expression from Dumbledore, Victor left the Head of Gryffindor's office. He used a teleportation spell to instantly arrive at the top of the Astronomy Tower, then took out the book A History of Hogwarts that Ivanna had given him and began to study it carefully.
The top of the Astronomy Tower was the quietest place, allowing him to concentrate on the book's contents.
Victor skimmed through it and found that the historical timeline seemed to be incomplete. It started around the time of Hogwarts' founding around 990 AD and ended in 1769 AD, with gaps in between. There was no history recorded after 1769.
This was probably a cultural issue; it seemed that no one in Europe, whether they were wizards or Muggles, had a habit of meticulously documenting their history.
Victor opened the first page. He didn't need to read the whole book from beginning to end; he just needed to find anything related to Peeves.
The earliest records of Peeves began with the first Hogwarts caretaker, Hankerton Humble, who was appointed by the four founders and knew the most about Peeves. The first few pages of the book contained Hankerton's personal notes. He wrote:
When the poltergeist appeared, I was confused as to where it came from. I asked it a few questions, but it didn't answer, only laughing or remaining silent at times.
I told the great wizard Salazar about the poltergeist, but he ignored me. I told the great wizard Godric, but he simply said it was only a ghost and not to make a fuss. In the end, I had no choice but to let the poltergeist stay at school.
Sometimes it would sit on the wooden beams in the classrooms and watch the students. Other times it would steal food, and I found it strange that a ghost could eat.
One day, the poltergeist began to change. It started to laugh and play pranks. It would sing rude little songs at every opportunity, knock over the great wizard Salazar's potion bottles, and add sand to the pumpkin porridge in the kitchen…
Hankerton's notes on Peeves ended abruptly there. Victor flipped through the rest of the book and saw only fragmented events, such as Helga Hufflepuff giving Peeves his name.
However, Hankerton's notes were thought-provoking. When Peeves first appeared at Hogwarts, he would sometimes laugh and sometimes be silent. For a long time after, he simply observed the students. Then, one day, he started to change and play pranks all over the school. But why? What caused this change in Peeves?
"No, that's not right!" Victor's mind raced with possibilities, and then he suddenly remembered something. When he first found Peeves, he had clearly recognized Ravenclaw's diadem, but he had said, "No, not yet!" Did Peeves sense Voldemort's soul inside the diadem?
And in the Great Hall, Peeves had already left, but he had specifically returned to take out the manuscript Victor had carefully hidden in the Room of Requirement and shouted that he had found Victor's prank.
Why would he do that? And why would he say it was my prank?
"Peeves knows about the Room of Requirement, and he probably knows everything about this castle! So, Peeves has known Voldemort's identity all along! He knew Voldemort had tampered with Ravenclaw's diadem! The reason he revealed my manuscript was not to tease me, but to get revenge on Voldemort. He wanted to humiliate the man he despised!"
With this realization, Victor's thoughts became clearer.
"Peeves isn't a ghost. He's the physical embodiment of all the students' thoughts and feelings! That's how he knows everything about Hogwarts! The reason he was just laughing and being silent at first was that he was just 'born' and had no emotions! But as time went on, he started to grow by absorbing the thoughts and feelings of the students.
"The students are young and lively, but they are confined to a huge castle with nowhere to go. Their desire for fun was passed on to Peeves, and his pranks were his way of bringing them joy! But the appearance of Voldemort changed Hogwarts, causing the students to become divided and discriminate against one another. This made Peeves unhappy, so he wanted to use pranks to unite the students against him."
Having figured everything out, Victor silently stood up. He looked at the massive castle below him, his heart filled with a mix of emotions, unable to speak.
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