HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

Dumbledore learned of Teach Cal's actions from the Aurors, and the instant he learned this, as mentioned above...

Dumbledore didn't consider Teach's evil nature; instead, his first thought was about the safety of the young wizards.

For him, the safety of the trainees is paramount.

The main reason Dumbledore wanted to eliminate Voldemort was that Voldemort would attack Hogwarts and pose a huge threat to the young wizards in the castle.

Moreover, the Aurors' claims about Teach being the murderer were all things Teach did before coming to Hogwarts, so Dumbledore needs to carefully assess whether Teach Carr poses a threat to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore looked at the small woods where Karl's Castle, half the size of his Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was located, and then politely went inside.

......

In a 24-hour bar in London.

At Titch's kind suggestion, Xia Ke came here to indulge in spending.

Previously, she was just a lowly clerk in the Ministry of Magic, earning a paltry ten Galleons a month, which was barely enough to cover her research materials for magic.

So, as a wizard, Xia Ke had never before indulged in such a carefree and unrestrained lifestyle.

But this enjoyment was interrupted as Jonge Patin searched for it along the way.

"...Yo~ Minister Qiongqi, long time no see," Xia Ke said disdainfully, pointing at Qiongqi with a hint of disgust and hatred in her eyes.

As a traditional wizard, Jungkir Padding disliked the noisy atmosphere of this modern bar, but with Shakko in front of him, he could only suppress his discomfort and sit down at the bar.

At this point, the bartender asked, "Sir, would you like something to drink?"

“No need for wine. A filthy person like him only deserves pumpkin juice mixed with slug snot,” Xia Ke said, looking at Qiong Qi sitting next to her, her eyes filled with unspeakable disgust.

'Smack!' Xia Ke's words made Qiong Qi angrily slam her hand on the bar, then, suppressing her anger at being humiliated, she shouted, "Xia Ke, is this how you talk to me, the department head? Do you want to commit insubordination?"

"Heh~ Minister..." Xia Ke said dismissively, leaving the rest of the sentence unsaid. One could guess what she meant without even listening.

Xia Ke had lost interest after her first pleasant experience of the day was ruined by a disgusting person. After finishing her drink, she got up to pay the bill.

At the bar entrance, Qiongqi chased after her, shouting, "Stop! Xia Ke, where are you going?"

"As Minister, I order you to return to the Ministry of Magic with me to be punished for dereliction of duty. You must also explain why you have been following Teach Karl and being at his beck and call."

Xia Ke stopped in her tracks. Qiong Qi thought that he had stopped Xia Ke. Just as he was feeling vain and complacent, an arm covered with dragon scales reached out to grab him and then disappeared from the spot in a phantom teleportation.

In the deserted mountain forest, Xia Ke grabbed Qiong Qi's terrified face and lifted him up, saying fiercely, "Order me? What right do you have to order me around?"

"There is only one person in this world who can command me, and that is my master and 'husband,' Teach Carl."

“Jungi Patin, do you still think you're the minister who can bully me at will? No~ no~ no~, in front of me now, you're just a disgusting bug, a filthy slug that I can crush at any time.”

Qiongqi ignored what Xia Ke was saying and stared wide-eyed at Xia Ke's dragon girl form.

Dragon scales and claws on its arms, dragon scales and dragon eyes on its face.

The dragon's tail is at the base of its spine, and its wings are on its back.

"This...this...this...what is this thing? What are you? Shake McFastie?"

Qiongqi was stunned by the dragon girl Xia Ke before him. This form of creature, which he had never seen before and which had never appeared in the history of magic, shocked him and made him tremble with disbelief.

“McFastie? Heh~ Hahahaha... From the day Master Teach gave me my surname, I was no longer called McFastie. My name is Shake—Shake Carr.”

"You better remember this well," Xia Ke said, releasing Qiong Qi. Then, as Qiong Qi fell, she struck with her dragon claw, piercing through Qiong Qi's abdomen.

A penetrating wound the width of an arm wouldn't necessarily kill a seasoned wizard.

"I'm sparing your life, and you should thank my master. If my master hadn't told us not to be too ostentatious for the time being, you would have been torn to pieces if you had appeared before me today."

Jonci Padding poured healing potion onto his abdominal wound, watching as Shake spread her dragon wings, flew into the air, and vanished in an instant, leaving him unable to recover for a long time.

......

At Carl Castle Manor.

Dumbledore sat in the courtyard with a kind expression, sipping red tea with Teach across from him.

But out of the corner of his eye, he kept watching Andri, who stood motionless like a guard behind Teach.

Dumbledore sensed a magical power in Andre that was even greater than his own, an aura more dangerous than that of a magical dragon, making his nerves pound with alarm.

After quietly and peacefully finishing his black tea, Dumbledore asked directly, "Mr. Teach Carr, can you tell me, Headmaster, how many wizards did you kill before you came to my Hogwarts?"

Teach put down his teacup, showing no surprise at the question. After all, he had used his true form when he fought back against the pursuing Auror wizards: "Not many. It's far less than Grindelwald and the Dark Lord Tom."

"There are only less than 30 people."

When the forbidden love Grindelwald and the forbidden student Voldemort were mentioned, Dumbledore's old face immediately changed expressions.

After calming his racing heart, Dumbledore asked again, "So, Mr. Karl, can you tell me how many people you've killed since you entered Hogwarts?"

How many people? Those MacFastie family wizards who are preventing me from obtaining experimental data?

[Can I say I didn't do these things? After all, I was fully disguised at the time.]

Teach, without batting an eye, replied firmly and seriously, "No, not a single person. I've taken Hermione Granger as my apprentice, so I must set a good example for her."

"Legally I might be a 'murderer,' but under those circumstances I was merely acting in self-defense."

“Headmaster Dumbledore, you need to understand, I’m not a serial killer, really~”

I've seen it in your eyes...

Dumbledore understood from Teach's implied meaning that Hermione was being used as a bargaining chip, a shield.

Hermione didn't speak, and Dumbledore didn't detect any sign of lying in Teach's feigned expression, so he kindly said to the maid beside him, "If it's convenient, please bring me another cup of black tea."

The brief moment of drinking black tea passed slowly.

When the teacup became empty again, Dumbledore got up.

He took the Elder Wand from his robes and solemnly addressed Teach, "Mr. Teach Carr, you've been studying magic at Hogwarts for a year now. I wonder how your magic is progressing?"

"Now that I'm feeling inspired, I, the white wizard who is known as the greatest and most powerful, would like to experience your magical powers firsthand."

[Ha~, so this was your real purpose, Lao Deng.]

That was indeed the original purpose. Dumbledore wanted to use this all-out battle to determine the extent of Teach's strength.

If he wins, he will use Teach's murder as grounds to force Teach Carr to leave his Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

If he loses, then he can only helplessly let Teach continue to be a wandering unofficial professor at Hogwarts.