Hogwarts 1991

Chapter 547 Night Talk with Dumbledore
"Good evening, Harry." Dumbledore looked at Harry from behind the half-moon-shaped eyes, with a very satisfied expression on his face, "That's great, that's great."

Harry stared blankly at Professor Dumbledore, wondering what he meant.

Perhaps seeing Harry's confusion, Dumbledore tapped his temple with his fingers and said, "Your [Occlumency] has already started... You have broken through and found the most critical points. Obviously, McGuffin Albert is very good at teaching... Not only [Flying Curse], but [Occlumency] also allows you to make extremely rare progress."

"Perhaps Professor Snape's teaching method really needs to be improved..."

Dumbledore suddenly pulled out his wand, waved it lightly, and a dirty wine bottle and two glasses appeared in the air.

The bottle turned on its own to fill each quilt with the amber liquid, and the glasses floated towards Harry and himself.

"It's [Honeydukes] Radish Soak Soda...you need to get your head around it, Harry!"

Dumbledore pointed to Harry's drooping eyelids and said,
"I kept this on purpose... It's a pity that the Froome couple are still recuperating at [St. Mungo's Hospital for Magic]. It may take a year before we can drink such good magic soda again."

Dumbledore raised his glass as a gesture. After taking half a sip and spitting out one or two small orange glass ball bubbles, his somewhat sluggish spirit suddenly cheered up, and even his long silver-white beard with dry curly hair instantly shone and straightened... the whole person became very energetic.

Harry put it to his lips dubiously, and sniffed it... a smell of carrot juice.

According to Dumbledore's original reputation for strange tastes, Harry was very skeptical about the taste of this thing.

He swallowed desperately, and finally closed his eyes and drank it with a gulp.

Surprisingly delicious,
There is no weird radish taste, but a fresh and slightly sour soda.

Very tasty.

And the moment he drank it...it was as if an electric current passed through Harry's stomach and flowed through his whole body...his scalp went numb instantly, and he was refreshed.

"That's right, Harry." Dumbledore sat on the empty hospital bed opposite and said slowly, "I can finally take some time tonight to talk to you about something."

"I originally planned to tell you these things when you became an adult...but as the situation changed, now I have to tell you in advance now."

"And now... there is a conundrum I want you to help us solve. By 'we' I mean me...Sirius, MacGuffin Albert, Professor Snape...and everyone who has the courage to stand up to Voldemort..."

Harry sat up straight, eager to know what that meant.

"Don't worry, Harry. It's a long night, and we need to talk slowly...First of all, what we need is..."

Dumbledore stopped suddenly, raised his index finger to his lips, and made a quiet gesture.

Harry stood still, he didn't know what was going on.

The room suddenly became only the breathing of Harry and Dumbledore.

No, there is also a murmuring, babbling sound like a child's muttering, and it feels like the sound of a small animal, and it seems to come from under his bed...

When Harry was about to look down,
Dumbledore suddenly rushed to Harry's bed with an agility that did not belong to the elderly, bent down and grabbed a small thing the size of a palm under the bed.

"Interesting! Really interesting...Amazing! I didn't expect to be able to use it to such an extent...Amazing! McGuffin Albert!" Dumbledore sighed.

Only then did Harry realize that the little thing Dumbledore was holding was a smaller McGuffin, just like the little McGuffin doll he had seen in [St. Mungo's Hospital].

The little thing was chattering and struggling in Dumbledore's hands, with a silvery-white light shining in its eyes, and one could even see the reflections of everything present from those two eyes that were as small as pine nuts.

As Dumbledore examined it closely, the Little Geffen burst into a puff of smoke before reverting to a silvery white filament.

It passed through Dumbledore's hand, floating in the air like catkins, and quickly disappeared into the room.

Seeing Harry's stunned look, Dumbledore smiled and sat down again, filled the glass with carrot juice, took a big sip, and said, "Okay, it should be just the two of us now... we can have a good talk."

"Sir, was that just now?" Harry still couldn't take his attention away from the Little Guffin.

"McGuffin's little avatar...As far as I know, he can use this avatar to investigate the secrets of the school. By the way, speaking...I have to make a rule with him. There are some places in the school that you can't just go to."

"Okay, Harry, let's get back to the topic just now? I don't have much time... I still need to discuss with the principals of other magic schools about the Top Ten Tournament..."

"Hundreds and endless meetings, that's not what I became headmaster of Hogwarts for..."

After muttering a few words in a low voice, Dumbledore said seriously, "First of all, Harry, I have to congratulate you. Congratulations on passing the test...and becoming a Hogwarts warrior."

"Don't argue, Harry! You can't argue with that! No one can question it."

"You rely on your own courage and wisdom to pass the life-threatening challenge..."

"What's more, once the magic ritual in the Goblet of Fire is passed, even I can't change it. You must complete the ten-strong competition."

Harry nodded in a daze.

Although he has met the professor more than once, it can be said that he is quite familiar with Professor Dumbledore.

But his meetings with Dumbledore were always across the table, or in the presence of other people... He had never spoken to Dumbledore in such a deliberative tone.

This made Harry feel a little uncomfortable.

Afterwards, Dumbledore told Harry some things to pay attention to as a warrior of the Top Ten Tournament: Don’t accept interviews with reporters casually; you can’t leave school and go home on Christmas; it’s best not to contact or fight with other warriors in private... To protect your image, from now on Harry represents the honor of Hogwarts to some extent...

After Dumbledore finished telling Harry, his expression became more serious.

Harry was very nervous, not knowing what the professor was about to say.

"Harry, tell me, does your scar still hurt?"

Harry subconsciously put his hand on his forehead and touched the lightning-shaped scar.

"No," he said, "I was once afraid that Voldemort would see everything at Hogwarts through my eyes, and even manipulate me..."

He looked up at Dumbledore to see a scornful smile on his face.

"Voldemort is not powerful, Harry! His soul is so broken that he cannot accept... being with such a hopeful and loving soul as yours. Don't worry, if his soul tries to penetrate your brain, it will be like ice to hot iron. If he tried once, he would not do it..."

"At best, he can only confuse you and spy on you..."

"Don't worry about that, Harry. Besides, haven't you already learned [Occlumency]?"

Harry said nervously, "But professor, I feel like I can't use it now. Maybe it's an illusion... Maybe it's just that I was too excited in that challenge, and I had the wrong feeling... I think I learned [Occlumency]."

While talking, Harry suddenly realized that something was wrong, and the words stopped...

——How did Professor Dumbledore discover the [Occlumency] he learned.

Dumbledore smiled, with a satisfied expression on his face, "The learning of [Occlumency] requires extremely intense emotions as the driving force... Sadness, anger, hatred, despair, hard work... Even fear, extremely intense desire, shame and inferiority... These can all prompt us to have an instinctive need to isolate emotions and memories, and this strong desire is the key to us learning [Occlumency]."

"I am very pleased to see that Harry, you have chosen the most beautiful emotion as the key... A positive emotion, this kind of positive feeling will push you to go further and make it easier for you to stay away from Voldemort's influence... so that you can isolate him from his prying eyes."

"It is also because of this that I can tell you some secrets, some about your fate...about your constant connection with Voldemort since 13 years ago..."

Then Dumbledore started slowly from 13 years ago,
He started from his own interview with Professor Trelawney and learned of the prophecy...from Voldemort's attack on Harry's parents...to Harry himself surviving the catastrophe...to Dumbledore casting a bloodline protection spell on Harry and handing Harry over to the Dursleys...to the fact that Voldemort searched for the prophecy ball in the Ministry of Magic not long ago...

"Could it be that [Hall of Prophecy]...the place where the crystal ball is...McGuffin..." Harry felt that there were too many things stuffed into his head at once, and he instinctively asked the question directly based on what he remembered.

"Well, McGuffin Albert knows these things too! I told him not to tell you for the time being."

Dumbledore told Harry half of the prophecy, and continued, "That's all I can tell you now, Harry."

Harry froze in place, with countless mysteries swirling in his mind. He watched Dumbledore staring at him with a smile, knowing that he could continue to ask questions.

"Sir...why?...I don't have anything special, nor is I predestined, that is, I'm not as smart as Hermione, nor as good at interpersonal communication as Ron, and I don't have McGuffin's ability to overthrow everything that is far superior to his peers...Why me? Could it be that just such a prophecy determines everything?"

There was a bit of accusation in Harry's tone.

Dumbledore didn't answer, and waved his wand lightly again, a silvery long sword with a huge ruby ​​in the handle suddenly appeared beside the two of them.

"You're right, it's not predestined, everything is a choice...Harry, everything is a choice..." Dumbledore repeated vaguely, he picked up the Gryffindor sword and handed it to Harry.

Harry didn't understand.

"Why did you become the savior in the prophecy... Leaving aside the reason for your connection with Voldemort 13 years ago, it is related to the second half of the prophecy..."

"There are some things I can't say very clearly yet, and I will tell you step by step when the time comes, Harry."

"But now, what happened yesterday, your performance has clearly demonstrated...your ability, Harry!" Dumbledore said, "Not every student has the courage to overcome all kinds of difficulties under the disadvantage..."

"But that's what McGuffin taught me in advance..." Harry retorted in frustration.

Dumbledore smiled, and flicked his wand for the third time, brushing against the blade of Gryffindor's sword...Under the moonlight, a line of writing slowly appeared on it.

'Break through yourself, challenge yourself, face the difficulties and obstacles of others' retreat, and keep going forward...is the real courage. '

"You are right, Harry, you are indeed inferior to many people... Hermione, Ron, McGuffin... But when you face a complete evil incarnation like Voldemort, you will always have the courage to stand up immediately." Dumbledore said.

"McGuffin! McGuffin can do it too! Last year, if he hadn't dealt with Death Eaters, and Dementors..."

"Ha ha!"

Dumbledore seemed to have heard a joke, he chuckled for a long time, and then said quietly, "McGuffin is not really courageous, he is angry..."

"Compared to you...Harry! If McGuffin encounters the same situation as you, he will always play tricks, always choose to retreat first, and he always has a way to avoid danger..."

"But compared to you, because he always tends to escape, he can't be firm and courageous in choosing to fight against Voldemort... Until there is no way to retreat, McGuffin will spread his anger on everything, overthrow everything, destroy everything, and mess everything up..."

Listening to Dumbledore's analysis, Harry somewhat agreed with his view on McGuffin.

"But against something like Voldemort, there is absolutely no way to take a step back. The Death Eaters survive by spreading fear..."

"Okay, that's the end of this topic, shall we? Harry, it's getting late after all..."

"As for things related to this...Harry! I hope to take some time to give you a private lesson. I will explain these things to you in detail in class..." Dumbledore said suddenly.

"Lessons alone—with you?" Harry was so surprised, he came back from his contemplation.

"Yes, since you have made some progress in [Occlumency], then I think it's more important to take care of your education. After all, the current situation is ever-changing, and I, a bad old man, can't keep up with the times... We must rely on you young people."

Harry wanted to ask what was going to be said, but Dumbledore didn't seem to want to say more, so he stopped tactfully.

"Starting next Saturday...my office code will be 'Ten 11!'"

"Well, it's getting late, Harry, and I should say one last thing."

Dumbledore stood up and knelt down, sighed comfortably and continued, "As I said before... this matter is very important. This is the key to our fight against Voldemort... it must be kept absolutely secret!"

"It's a problem...only you can solve it! Harry"

Dumbledore said to Harry with a serious face, "Harry, you must get a message from Professor Slughorn's brain many years ago!"

(End of this chapter)