Chapter 66 Dumbledore's Unexpected Turn of Events

Chapter 68 Dumbledore's Unexpected Turn of Events

Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office.

Dumbledore stood by the window, his half-moon lenses reflecting the red nebula in the Forbidden Forest that still tirelessly shone with the words "I am a fool."

But he couldn't laugh at all.

On the long table behind him, the spyglass was spinning wildly, chanting, "Avada Kedavra—"

Dumbledore murmured softly, his voice tinged with coldness.

This is no ordinary curse; it is dark magic that requires a vast amount of magical power and pure killing intent to unleash.

How could Quirrell's almost stinking body possibly withstand this level of power output?

Could it be that the unicorn's blood not only prolongs his life but also nourishes the dark magic within him?

Or perhaps it was the panic and chaos that had recently arisen in the castle due to the Ministry of Magic's intervention that nourished that remnant soul?

"I was too careless."

He had always seen Quirrell as a weak caged beast and Harry as a protected lion cub. But just now, the lion cub had almost had its throat bitten off by the caged beast in the greenhouse.

If it weren't for that utterly absurd, glowing sign in the sky, emitting mocking sound effects—

"Fox!" Dumbledore turned around, his initial shock and fear replaced by coldness and rationality.

This was a disaster, but in the political arena, whoever writes the first accident report holds the truth.

"Minerva! Severus!" Dumbledore waved his wand, and two silver phoenix Patrons burst through the window. "Go to the edge of the Forbidden Forest immediately and intercept Hagrid and the children. Take them directly to the school hospital. On the way, forbid anyone from touching them, and forbid them from speaking to anyone. Hurry!"

After doing all this, he strode to his desk, pulled out a piece of parchment bearing the Hogwarts Headmaster's seal, and began writing rapidly on it with his quill.

In the magical administrative system, jurisdiction is everything.

The observers sent by the Ministry of Magic must have also seen the strange phenomena in the Forbidden Forest, and are most likely already drafting a report, preparing to characterize the incident as "a serious attack by dark magic at Hogwarts."

Once this report reaches Fudge's desk, based on the signed document that Umbridge took a few days ago, the Auror office will take full control of Hogwarts' security tomorrow morning.

Dumbledore absolutely could not allow this to happen; Voldemort's secrets could not be exposed to the Ministry of Magic's spotlight now.

"Preliminary handling opinion regarding the serious disturbance in the prohibited forest caused by a first-grade student illegally carrying high-risk and prohibited prank props late at night —"

Dumbledore wrote the title without any expression.

Although the "Big Fool" nebula was so ridiculous that he wanted to sigh, it became the best political cover at this moment.

Green light? That's just the light reaction when a low-quality alchemy item explodes.

A shadowy figure? It was just a woodland creature disturbed by the explosion.

As long as he firmly pins the blame on these disobedient students and defines the incident as a "serious violation of school rules and regulations within the school," the Ministry of Magic will have no leverage to intervene in the judicial investigation.

After writing the last line, Dumbledore stamped the headmaster's seal heavily, folded it into a paper bird, and cast an expedited spell to send it flying directly to the Hogwarts Owlshaw. He wanted to get this self-inspection report to the Department of Education's desk before the observers could.

After completing the initial administrative blockade, Dumbledore immediately went directly to the university hospital via the fireplace.

Mrs. Pomfrey was frantically giving a sedative to several muddy, shaken children.

Draco Malfoy, wrapped in a blanket, was still trembling uncontrollably, muttering incoherently, "black monster" and "green light."

Harry sat blankly on the hospital bed, his eyes vacant.

"Headmaster," Snape said, standing in the shadows with a grim face, his black eyes fixed on Harry, "the commotion they've caused is enough to make half the Scottish Highlands think Hogwarts has been ravaged by goblins."

"I understand, Severus." Dumbledore nodded calmly and walked straight to Harry and Draco's beds.

"Children," Dumbledore's voice was gentle yet authoritative, carrying an undeniable air of pressure, "I regret that your confinement has turned into an extremely dangerous farce. That luminous device of unknown origin not only nearly ignited the Devil's Web, but the intense light and irritating fumes from its explosion clearly caused you to experience severe hallucinations."

"No! That's not a hallucination!" Draco screamed, looking at Dumbledore as if he were grasping at a straw. "There's a monster! It's flying in the air, it's going to kill us!"

"In a state of extreme panic and intense light, the brain conjures up grotesque monsters from the shadows of trees and the wild animals in the mud, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore interrupted him gently, looking intently into Draco's eyes. "If there were any monsters that wanted to murder you, you wouldn't be sitting here unharmed. You're just terrified by the pranks you've brought with you."

That's why, as I explained in my letter to your father, this was an accident caused by serious student misconduct.

Draco was stunned.

Draco's survival instinct overcame his fear, and he shut his mouth, his face pale as he lowered his head.

Dumbledore turned to Harry: "And you, Harry? Do you also think it's a ghost that wants to kill you?"

Harry opened his mouth, the afterimage of that green light still lingering in his mind, but the endless "I'm a big idiot" chants above his head and the chaos when Hagrid rushed out made his memory fragmented.

"I—I don't know, Professor." Harry rubbed his head in pain. "The ball just suddenly exploded, and then there was light and smoke everywhere—"

"That's the truth, Harry. An extremely dangerous violation that nearly caused a disaster." Dumbledore patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

While Harry and Draco were stunned by Dumbledore's words, Ron, on the other side of the ward, was huddled under the blanket like a frightened quail.

His face, which was originally covered with freckles, was now as pale as paper, and his hair was still covered with what was either mud or glowing powder that had fallen from the nebula.

Upon hearing the word "hallucination," Ron's empty eyes finally regained focus.

"Hallucination—yes, it must be a hallucination—"

Ron muttered nervously to himself, clutching his mug tightly, oblivious to the hot cocoa spilling all over him.

"That's—Merlin's beard, yes, the alchemical firework! If he were a real dark wizard, how could he have been driven back by 'I'm a complete idiot'? That's too embarrassing—it can't possibly be real—"

Rather than admitting that he was forced to be a comical little monster with a mocking sign on his head at the closest point in his life to death, Ron preferred to believe that it was all a mental breakdown caused by a prank prop.

He desperately tried to bury the memory in his mind, attempting to replace the terrible sound with the noise of exploding fireworks.

In contrast to Ron's self-deception, the twin sisters Parvati and Petil remained huddled together, trembling.

Parvati's tears had already etched deep lines into her mud-covered face.

"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore—it's all my fault—" Parvati choked back tears, her voice trembling uncontrollably, her fingers twisting the sheets tightly. "I shouldn't have brought that thing into the Forbidden Forest—I was so scared, Malfoy bumped into me, and my hand slipped—"

"Shh, good children, this isn't entirely your fault." Dumbledore walked over and gently patted the two girls' shoulders with his broad hand. His gaze behind his half-moon spectacles was kind. "You just triggered a dangerous contraband at the wrong time."

Fear amplifies your senses, making you see the shadows of trees as deadly monsters.

Remember, this is just a serious disciplinary incident; there's no black magic or monsters involved. Tomorrow morning, all you need to do is write a letter of repentance for using dangerous items, and I'll handle the rest.

Parvati and her sister exchanged a glance. Between the fear of being fired and the relief of surviving, they nodded frantically, completely accepting this perfect excuse.

Only Hermione's eyes still held a glimmer of reason and skepticism.

Although she wasn't facing the green light inside the mud pit, she clearly saw the shattered ancient trees when she rushed in with Hagrid.

"But Professor, the signs of destruction in the woods—" Hermione bit her lower lip, her brilliant mind still trying to make sense of things, "and that shadowy figure, it really did use some kind of magic to block the centaur's arrows when it ran away! That was definitely not an ordinary hallucination!"

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore turned and looked at her gently, "the gunpowder core of high-level prank items is usually extremely unstable, and the magical turbulence generated by the explosion is enough to break an old tree."

As for the shadowy figure that blocked the arrows—under the cover of the explosion's light and smoke, even a startled Thestral would be enough to give you the illusion that it was some kind of defensive barrier.

Sometimes, overinterpreting fear is more deadly than fear itself. We must trust logic, not the eyes of panic, mustn't we?

Hermione opened her mouth, trying to refute the idea that Thestrals wouldn't actively create a defensive barrier, but ultimately, under the impeccable authority and tight logical loop of this greatest white wizard of our time, she lowered her head in frustration: "I understand, Professor. It was just an out-of-control prank."

After calming the students down, Dumbledore walked out of the university hospital, the gentleness fading from his face.

He walked down the empty corridor, heading towards the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor where the magic stone was hidden.

Quirrell's power was beyond his control. If left unchecked, Harry might not even last a second against the Mirror of Erised before being struck by a Killing Curse.

"We can no longer proceed according to the original plan."

Dumbledore pushed open the locked door, and Fluffy let out a low growl from inside.

He had to change the rules of the magic mirror. Not only should only those who "want to get the stone but don't use it" be able to obtain it, but he also needed to inscribe a trigger-based spatial counterspell in the basement where the magic mirror was located.

Once the magical fluctuations of the Unforgivable Curse are detected, Harry must be instantly and forcibly teleported.

Not only that, he also needs to find out something else.

Who was behind that prank glass ball that changed the course of tonight's battle and interrupted the Killing Curse?

"An interesting out-of-control situation—" Dumbledore stood in front of the trapdoor, his gaze cold.

Since the original script has been torn apart, this seasoned player has no choice but to personally step in and rearrange this deadly game that has become tainted with real killing intent.