Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 600 Kindness
“Alright, Harry, I won’t make things difficult for you. I doubt you remembered a single word of what I just said,” Tierra said.

"Hehe." Harry awkwardly scratched his head.

“Tell him this: if he has any objections to this matter, he should come directly to me or Dumbledore,” Tierra said. “Professor Dumbledore and I will give him a reasonable explanation.”

“Okay, okay.” Harry took out paper and pen, pushed aside the plate in front of him, and began to write.

By this time, Ron had finally finished eating and was burping as he watched Harry write his reply.

“Add one more thing,” Tyella said, pointing to Harry’s reply, “that Dumbledore also tacitly approved of the economic collapse of the entire wizarding world in Europe.”

“Oh?” Harry asked, somewhat shocked.

“How could Dumbledore do such a thing?” Hermione questioned, displeased. “Are you trying to use Professor Dumbledore as a shield again?”

“Oh, my Hermione, Hermione, Hermione,” Tyella shook her head with a smile, “You’re too young, too young to understand Professor Dumbledore. You think he’s a born saint, but don’t you think about it? Which saint could defeat two Dark Lords through personal charisma alone?”

“If he were a hundred years younger, what wouldn’t he dare to do? Or rather, what Voldemort and I are doing now are things that Professor Dumbledore already did before.” Tierra shook her head with a smile.

“Alright, let’s go. I’ll talk to you about Professor Dumbledore’s past in more detail another time.” Tyrell smiled and stopped the conversation, then patted Hermione on the shoulder. “Let’s go, Hermione.”

"Huh? Where are you going?" Harry asked, puzzled.

“Help Professor Slughorn craft the Philosopher's Stone. He doesn't have any classes all day, so it's perfect time for him to craft it,” Tierra said with a smile. “I promised Hermione, have you forgotten?”

“Oh, okay,” Harry said.

Harry didn't have any classes this morning. Although he really wanted to go and see, Tyrell had already clearly refused him last time, so Harry couldn't insist again.

“Well, Ron and I will go and mail the letter,” Harry said, looking a little dejected.

Tonight is Snape's detention time, and Harry thinks that if Tyrell lets him watch, maybe Snape's detention time can be postponed again.

The headmaster's office, the eighth tower of Hogwarts Castle.

“Headmaster, I don’t understand what you mean,” Severus Snape asked, his face ashen.

“Oh, it’s like this,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “Our lovely and clever little Tyella wants Horace Slughorn to teach our little Harry Occlumency to fight Voldemort’s Legilimency. But Professor Horace Slughorn seems to have some other things to do, so he passed the task on to me, wanting me to help guide him first. But, you know, I have a lot of things to do with the Magical Union, so I thought perhaps I could entrust this to you.”

"Why?" Snape asked, his face ashen. "I'm busy too."

“Thanks to Tierra’s genius expansion policy, I have countless assignments to grade,” Snape added.

"Didn't Tierra teach everyone a spell at the last teachers' meeting that would allow the ghosts and murals wandering Hogwarts to help grade homework?" Dumbledore asked mercilessly. "Are you going to grade homework yourself?" Snape was silent for a moment. "But I don't think Mr. Potter needs to learn Occlumency right now. After all, with the little genius Tierra watching over him, if Void dares to pry into Harry's blockhead, he's just asking for trouble."

"But our little genius Tyella isn't Harry's babysitter, is she? There are always things Tyella can't take care of," Dumbledore said calmly.

"What? Tyrell isn't Mr. Potter's nanny?" Snape asked, feigning surprise.

“Snape, this is not the time for jokes,” Dumbledore said seriously. “It is of utmost importance that Harry learn Occlumency.”

"How important is it?" After seeing Dumbledore's expression, Snape pondered for a moment and asked.

"It's important enough that you need to reveal the memories you gleaned from Harry's mind to Voldemort," Dumbledore said calmly.

Upon hearing Dumbledore's words, Snape was momentarily speechless and fell silent.

"Tierra's idea?" Snape asked after a moment of thought.

"Tierra's idea." Dumbledore nodded, confirming Snape's guess.

"Aren't you curious and worried about what his plans are?" Snape retorted aggressively.

“What do I care what his plans are?” Dumbledore said, stroking his beard. “Or, to put it another way, if he has any plans, how can we possibly interfere?”

"Aren't you even a little bit worried?" Snape asked. "That's not like you, Dumbledore."

"I'm old, too old, and too tired," Dumbledore sighed. "Voldemort and Tyrell have exhausted all my energy. I'm too tired. I'll retire once Tyrell has dealt with Voldemort and achieved what he wants."

"Have you ever thought that this would be unfair to Harry?" Snape asked. "You've raised him, protected him, let him live and feel your mercy and power, made him trust you completely, and then what? You handed him over to Tyrell, a devil like that. You even condoned Tyrell's actions, you even condoned Voldemort spying on Harry's thoughts."

“The word ‘devil’ is too strong,” Dumbledore said calmly. “I don’t deny that Tyella is not like you, me, or McGonagall, or Flitwick, or Sprout, or Newt, and will never be as kind as Lily. But it is undeniable that sometimes, the people who rule our wizarding society and guide it toward a better future can never be the kind of people who are simply kind.”

“Such people don’t survive long in the vortex of power,” Dumbledore said.

“Don’t compare him to Lily!” Snape said, starting to sound a little impatient.

Dumbledore remained noncommittal, pondered for a moment, then raised his teacup and took a small sip of black tea.

A moment of silence fell over the principal's office.

(End of this chapter)