At noon the next day, Howl remained seated in his office. Cedric entered and whispered, "Sir, a painting outside says she needs to see you."
Howl nodded, "Alright, thank you, Cedric."
He stood up and walked out of the reading room. In the corridor, Sindel waved to him.
As he approached, she cupped her hand to her mouth and whispered, "Headmaster Dumbledore wants you to go to his office. The password is 'cockroach cluster.'"
"Thank you for the trouble."
With that, he headed downstairs.
After several months, Dumbledore contacting him now likely meant Quirrell had started to make his move.
Finally… arriving at Dumbledore's office, it was still as usual, except that the giant mirror had disappeared, and Dumbledore had taken it somewhere unknown.
"Have you had lunch yet?" Dumbledore was not in a hurry to get to the point.
"Yes, I have." Howl sat down. The chairs in Dumbledore's office weren't as comfortable, at least not as comfortable as his own sofa.
"I think you really should install an intercom in your office. Sometimes it's quite troublesome to contact you," Dumbledore said.
"I don't mind running a phone line," Howl waved his hand.
"No need. The portraits are quite convenient." Dumbledore looked at the rows of Principal portraits hanging to his side. Most of Hogwarts' Principals were famous figures of their time.
"Some of their portraits are connected to St. Mungos, and some to the Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore said.
"And they serve you?"
Dumbledore just smiled, not answering directly.
Howl also smiled. Undoubtedly, they must serve Dumbledore.
Because this old fellow certainly wouldn't want others to monitor him through portraits either.
"This office has a small magic that can prevent other portraits from entering freely. If you don't mind, you can set one up in your own office too."
Howl recalled the first time Sindel brought him here. At that time, the cheerful girl downstairs said she needed to come up and ask for permission... "Alright, I'll do it when I have time. Let's talk business," Howl nodded and said.
"Look at this." Dumbledore handed him the letter from the Ministry of Magic.
Howl took it and glanced at it. The text on the letter was very standardized, like it was machine-written. The specific content was suspicion of his involvement in the Hogwarts Halloween Troll incident.
The reason for suspicion was the 1990 Knockturn Alley incident and the unidentified Wizard flying over London incident.
"Oh, didn't you say you asked your friends at the Ministry of Magic to clear this up?" Howl put away the letter and looked at that perpetually unperturbed face.
"It seems someone dug up the old files," Dumbledore said. "This is a targeted investigation. They are simply grabbing some unsolved cases from the past and pinning them on you.
And coincidentally... those cases were indeed done by you!"
"Ahem..." Howl waved his hand, "Never mind, let's not talk about that. I didn't expect Riddle to still have such great influence even in his current state."
Dumbledore explained, "Riddle had many followers back then. After his downfall, they all claimed they were under Imperio when they helped him do evil, thereby escaping retribution.
And most of these people are quite well-known in the Wizarding World. It's too easy for them to push for small investigations."
"Alright, this is Quirrell's move to expel me from Hogwarts. What about you?"
"I have some too." Dumbledore nodded. "Quirrell, through others, reported the existence of Cerberus at Hogwarts. Coupled with the Troll incident, the Ministry of Magic needs to re-investigate whether I am fit to be Principal."
"These methods are hardly clever," Howl shook his head. "When are they coming?"
"It should be today. And after last night's events, that little Dragon should also be exposed. Riddle won't mind causing me more trouble," Dumbledore said.
As he was speaking, a painting on the wall suddenly spoke, "Dumbledore, someone downstairs wants to see you."
"Who?"
"Hagrid and Harry Potter," the person in the painting said.
"Give them the password," Dumbledore nodded.
Their discussion ended there. Before long, two people, one large and one small, entered. Hagrid practically burst out from behind the curtain, slamming his hand on the table: "Sir, it's Quirrell! It's Quirrell who wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone!"
"Oh, why do you say that?" Dumbledore looked at Hagrid with interest.
"Harry said so!" Hagrid pointed at Harry behind him.
It was only then that he noticed Howl nearby.
"Oh, Howl. You're here too." He greeted him boisterously.
"Good afternoon, Hagrid." Howl smiled and nodded, then slightly inclined his head at Harry's surprised gaze.
"Good afternoon, Uncle Howl," Harry replied, then looked at Dumbledore, "Good afternoon, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Good afternoon. It seems you both have something very important to tell me. Go ahead."
"It's... that thing."
Hagrid looked at Howl somewhat uncertainly.
Watching Hagrid's subtle movements, Howl helplessly stroked his beard... Didn't you just blurt out almost everything when you rushed in?! Why are you suddenly concerned about secrecy now?!
"You can speak freely. Howl is trustworthy, and he is also involved in the plan," Dumbledore said with a wry smile.
"Oh, I see." Hagrid laughed, then recounted everything from last night.
Dumbledore nodded, took out a handful of candies, and offered them to a few people, "So why do you think it's Professor Quirrell?"
Then Harry stepped forward and explained his scar and his deductions one by one.
After listening to Harry's reasoning, Howl's lips curled into a smile, and he looked at Dumbledore with disdain.
Dumbledore tried his best not to look at Howl, but nodded and said, "I understand. Thank you, Hagrid.
As for the Unicorn problem, Hagrid, you can ask Pomona or Severus. I think they might have some remedies that could alleviate some of the Unicorn's pain."
"Really?!" Hagrid stood up, his eyes filled with unspeakable joy.
"Of course." Dumbledore nodded, "You can go now."
"Alright, then Harry, let's go."
Howl stood up, "Oh, Hagrid, you go first. I think there's something I need to deal with Harry about."
"Alright." Hagrid nodded, then bid farewell to everyone and eagerly left Dumbledore's office.
After Hagrid left, Harry looked at Howl suspiciously, "Uncle Howl, is there anything else?"
"The Dragon." Howl nodded, "The people from the Ministry of Magic somehow found out about the Dragon's existence. Perhaps we should hide it first."
"What?!" Harry was very surprised, "How did they know?"
Howl smiled but did not give an answer.
"I'll teach you a new magic, which happens to be useful here."
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