Harry Potter and the Great Old Ones

Chapter 611 Dumbledore's Burden

Sirius was distraught.
Or perhaps he left Dumbledore's office completely disoriented.

Sirius couldn't believe that Dumbledore, who was once kind, gentle, and compassionate like a saint, had suddenly become such a tough and indifferent attitude towards life.

If Sirius hadn't known it was absolutely impossible, he would have suspected that Dumbledore, who was sitting on the other side of the headmaster's desk today, was actually Tyrell in disguise.

Meanwhile, after Sirius left the headmaster's office, Dumbledore, who was sitting behind the desk, slowly dissipated like a phantom and quicksand, revealing Tyella's true form.

Sirius Black is gone.

Tiye stretched out his right hand fingers and gently pressed them in mid-air.

A bright orange flame ignited at the bone between his fingertips.

Tierra's voice traveled far and wide, reaching even the real Dumbledore.

"It's been dragging on for quite a long time."

From the other end of the flame came Dumbledore's aged voice.

“Sirius is indeed much more stubborn than most people,” Tierra said. “When are you coming back?”

“Oh, Tyrell, I don’t plan to come back anytime soon,” Dumbledore said from the other side of the flame. “I’m old, I’m too tired, and as you said, I’m about to die. In the time before I die, I want to see the world a little longer. I’ve been trapped in this lonely fortress of Hogwarts for more than half a century. I want to go out and see the beauty of the world, see the ugliness of the world, see my elders, see my descendants. And of course, I want to see my future grave in advance.”

“Headmaster Dumbledore,” Tierra said gravely, “you know I have countless ways to extend your life without any side effects.”

“Thank you, but no need,” Dumbledore replied with a smile. “It is not you who decides the length of my life, but myself.”

"Our lives are ultimately the sum of a period of time. How we spend that sum of time reasonably and effectively, and whether we regret it afterward, is the only standard by which to judge whether a person has lived a worthwhile and reasonable life." Dumbledore's aged voice came from the other side of the flames. "When I was young, I always enjoyed this, but now... I no longer have the mood or pleasure to control time."

“Although you have done many things, I still want to thank you, Tyella,” Dumbledore said calmly. “Although your motives were not pure, you took on the heavy burden that has been weighing on my shoulders.”

“It is my honor and my duty,” Tierra said calmly. “As you said, with great power comes great responsibility.”

“You are still fulfilling a long-cherished dream that Gellert and I were unable to achieve in our youth,” Dumbledore said with a sigh. “This ideal…is too heavy.”

“I feel guilty for the death of my sister when I was young, and I also feel guilty for not keeping my promise to work with Gellert to change the wizarding world,” Dumbledore said in a deep voice. “After Gellert went astray, there was no turning back, so I had to stop him, to defeat him.”

“Lately I’ve often thought that if I hadn’t backed down because of Ariana’s death, but instead had stopped Grindelwald and at least persuaded him to change his extreme views, would the outcome have been much better?” Dumbledore said.

“That’s the capriciousness of fate,” Tierra said. “The tide of history cannot be changed by the will of any individual.”

Tierra, of course, knew the outcome.

The experimenter at that inexplicably high position could not have allowed this situation to occur.

But Tiera couldn't say it outright, so she could only utter an ambiguous statement.

“Yes, the capriciousness of fate,” Dumbledore said with a sigh.

"Harry!"

Inside the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Harry was playing wizarding cards with Ron when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

Harry followed the sound and went over—"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed excitedly, slamming the playing card in his hand face down on the table and running over.

"How did you come?"

Harry first gave Sirius a big hug.

Meanwhile, Ron, who was still sitting in his seat, took the opportunity to look at the cards Harry had placed face down on the table.

It's lunch break time now, and most of the young wizards are choosing to sleep or rest in their dormitories because their studies have become much heavier under Tierra's reforms.

Only a small number of students—

For example, Hermione diligently scribbling arithmetic calculations, Harry with the help of the Half-Blood Prince's "Advanced Potions Tutorial," and Ron, who has nothing to do, chooses to stay in the Great Hall during lunch break to study or relax.

"Sirius!" Hermione put down her pen and math problems, walked over, and greeted him politely.

"Oh, Harry, I came to Hogwarts today to talk to Dumbledore about something, and I also wanted to drop by to see you." Sirius gently patted Harry's head. "How are you settling into school? How are your studies going?"

“Yes, very good, all very good,” Harry replied excitedly.

With that, Harry pulled Sirius to his seat.

"How did your talk with Dumbledore go?" Harry asked nervously.

Harry was terrified that Sirius and Dumbledore's conversation would cause Tyrell's situation to deteriorate rapidly.

"That's not good. Dumbledore seems to support Tyella's plan." Sirius quickly changed the subject and asked seriously, "You didn't take Tyella's Dark Arts class, did you?"

'I, I, I…' Harry suddenly became nervous, and finally lowered his head, saying, 'I chose.'

"What?" Sirius was shocked. "Didn't I tell you that you absolutely couldn't choose Dark Magic class?"

“But…but,” Harry said, almost in tears, “if I don’t take Tierra’s Dark Arts class, then I have to take Snape’s Defense Against the Dark Arts class.”

"Ah," Sirius hadn't expected Harry to face such a harsh environment, and for a moment he fell into deep thought.

“If that’s the case,” Sirius said, “choosing Tierra’s Dark Arts class doesn’t seem so incomprehensible.”

Harry was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

“But Harry, you have to promise me—” Sirius suddenly said again.

"Wh-what?" Harry seemed startled by the serious expression on Sirius's face.

“It’s fine to learn the principles of dark magic, but you yourself must never use dark magic!” Sirius said.

"Oh, okay, sure," Harry replied nonchalantly. "Don't worry, Sirius, I absolutely will not use dark magic!"

Just as Sirius and Harry were having a pleasant conversation.

Snape strode over, his bat-like cloak trailing behind him—

(End of this chapter)