Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 198, Section 197: Dumbledore's Uncertainty
“I’ll forge you a new pair of weapons, at a reasonable price.” After patting Draco on the shoulder, Harry turned to Ronan and said, “It seems your views on humanity have changed somewhat?”

This centaur named Ronan was actually an anti-humanist, and he was always with the hot-tempered Bane. Because there weren't many centaurs who held this view, Triton had to explain it to Harry, fearing that Ronan and the others might anger Harry because of their words and actions.

Judging from past experience, this savior of the wizarding world has not been very good-tempered, at least when dealing with centaurs.

“The fates of centaurs and wizards are intertwined,” Ronan said with a melancholy expression. “And this is the will of the elements, which I must obey.”

"...Remember, balance is the most important thing." Harry noticed that Ronan's words clearly placed him in a subservient position to the elements, so he gave him a deep look and offered this reminder.

Whether Ronan will listen to his advice is up to him.

Harry's apprentices are thriving, and at least compared to the other students in the castle, they no longer freeze up and don't know what to do when faced with an unexpected event.

When faced with a prank spell attack, they know to retaliate with a spell instead of throwing away their wand and lunging at the opponent.

Although Harry doesn't actually object to the latter.

When Harry arrived at Professor McGonagall's office, he found Dumbledore, who had been away from the castle for some time, there as well. He seemed to be talking to Professor McGonagall about something.

“In principle, I’m not against this form of celebration,” Professor McGonagall said after listening to Harry’s Halloween plans. “But the premise is that you must ensure that the students will not encounter any accidents or dangers, and that they will not suffer any physical disabilities or aftereffects—where do you plan to hold the event?”

“How about the Black Lake?” Harry said. “It might be harder to control on land. Let them make warships out of pumpkins and fight on the Black Lake with the goal of sinking the enemy’s warships. The abundant water element and the giant octopus in the Black Lake will protect the students’ safety… Well, their biggest danger might be catching a cold if they fall into the water, since it’s already November and the lake water is still quite cold.”

“That’s not a problem,” Dumbledore interjected enthusiastically. “Mrs. Pomfrey can prepare some cold medicine in advance and have everyone drink a bottle after the event.”

“Wait, Dumbledore,” Professor McGonagall frowned, “you’ve already agreed?”

“Why not?” Dumbledore shrugged. “Doesn’t it sound interesting? I think the kids will love it… well, maybe they won’t forget this day for many years to come.”

Although the professors at Hogwarts sometimes joke in private that Professor McGonagall, as the vice-principal, is more like the headmaster than Dumbledore, who doesn't usually get involved in much work, Professor McGonagall never objectes when Dumbledore actually makes a decision.

And so the matter was settled. Time was a bit tight, but with the help of magic, it wasn't too late to give the children most of a day to prepare. We had to pass on the message quickly.

"You look... everything's going well?" After leaving Professor McGonagall's office together, Harry looked Dumbledore up and down and said, "Your spirit looks light and bright, and your body looks a few years younger."

“Oh, Harry, you’re cheating,” Dumbledore said, feigning anger. “It’s a bit too direct to observe other people’s souls directly through an astral perspective and draw conclusions.”

“But I wasn’t wrong, was I?” Harry said with a smile. “Anyway, I’m glad to see you’ve come out of the shadows of the past.”

“…You know what, Harry?” Dumbledore couldn’t help but retort, “Your words make me feel like you’re the one who’s over a hundred years old, a wizard.”

"Hmm...you've become more lively in your speech," Harry said thoughtfully. "What's going on? Did you really follow my advice and find a companion? Are you planning to retire? Officially hand over the school to Professor McGonagall?"

Dumbledore suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Harry without saying a word. Harry looked back at him, observing him carefully.

In an instant, Harry realized that he might have unintentionally hit Dumbledore's weak spot and grasped the key point.

"Uh, um, did I disturb you?" A sudden voice broke the eye contact between the two. Harry turned his head and saw Sir Nicholas, the ghost of Gryffindor, peeking out from the wall and speaking cautiously.

He sensed that something was wrong.

“No, Nick, what happened?” Harry asked.

“Oh, is that so?” Nick looked very nervous. “I, um… I mean, this year’s Halloween will be my 500th birthday.”

"Death anniversary?"

"It's the anniversary of death," Dumbledore casually explained.

“That’s right, exactly,” Nick said quickly. “Anyway, I’m planning a party in a spacious underground classroom, and friends from all over the country will be coming to celebrate with me—I mean—would you like to come? Professor Potter, I would be honored, uh, of course, Headmaster Dumbledore, if you would too—well, I dare say you’d prefer to attend a school party, wouldn’t you?”

“I would be delighted to attend your death anniversary celebration,” Dumbledore replied without a second thought, “but unfortunately, Nicholas, as the headmaster of Hogwarts, I must preside over the school’s banquet.”

“Oh, okay, okay,” Nick said with a disappointed look, then looked at Harry.

“I don’t have any problems,” Harry said after thinking for a moment. “A ghost dinner in this world? That should be interesting.”

Harry thought of the feasts of the ghosts in Karazhan, who, under Medivh's dark magic, continued to dine day and night as if they were still alive.

Dumbledore disagreed.

But he didn't say.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Nick looked so happy he almost did a somersault in mid-air. "The famous Harry Potter is coming to my death anniversary party, that's fantastic!" Muttering to himself, Nick excitedly passed through the wall and left, only turning back at the last moment to add, "See you tomorrow night."

“…I’m not sure you’ve made a good decision, Harry,” Dumbledore said after a few seconds of silence. “Ghost parties are often too much for the living to handle—but it’s fine if you want to broaden your horizons.”

Harry simply responded to Dumbledore's words with a single word.

"My wife?"

Dumbledore then fell silent once again.

"Why do you look so embarrassed?" Harry sensed something was off. "There's nothing shameful about this... If people knew, they'd just congratulate you on finally finding someone to spend your life with. Why are you hiding it like this? Does your partner have some secret?"

“Stop, Harry,” Dumbledore finally couldn’t hold back any longer. He sighed and said, “You’re being a little too perceptive… Let’s get back to Ariana.”

"That person who has made you feel guilty for decades, someone you hesitated to face even when given the chance to meet again?"

“…That’s right,” Dumbledore sighed softly, “Do you know Grindelwald?”

“I know,” Harry nodded. “The Dark Lord recognized by the wizarding world. Voldemort, a minor character who only stirs up trouble in Britain with terrorist attacks, is nothing in front of Grindelwald. The Ministry of Magic of other countries does not recognize Voldemort’s title of Dark Lord.”

“I didn’t expect you to have such a high opinion of him,” Dumbledore chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Since you know… well, then we should start with Ariana’s story from when we were young… when Grindelwald and I were both very young…”

Sitting in an empty classroom, Dumbledore seemed somewhat dazed. He wasn't telling a complete story; rather, he was just rambling on and on, surprisingly without any concealment.

He made no attempt to conceal his youthful arrogance and pride, even stating that he deeply resented the existence of Muggles in his younger days. Grindelwald's ideas were also his own, and both of them longed to overthrow the Law of Secrecy and establish a world ruled by wizards over Muggles.

To be fair, if the secrets Dumbledore revealed were to be spread, it would definitely cause chaos in the wizarding community. After all, in the eyes of many people, Dumbledore is a white wizard who is irreconcilably opposed to Grindelwald and has devoted his life to fighting against dark magic.

But in front of Harry at this moment, Dumbledore admitted for the first time so frankly that his research on dark magic was actually no less than that on white magic—after all, this old man used to say that he didn't know anything about dark magic.

Dumbledore told Harry everything about his youthful ideals, his arrogant behavior, and even the fundamental reason that ultimately led to his separation from Grindelwald. He even revealed his feelings for Grindelwald and the existence of the blood pact. Harry was so honest that he even wondered if Dumbledore had been replaced.

“…You have indeed changed a lot, Dumbledore.” After finally hearing Dumbledore’s past stories, Harry said with some emotion, “I thought you would never mention these things to anyone else, and if someone was curious about them, you would just pretend to be ignorant and cover it up.”

“Oh, Harry, I know how Severus described me to you,” Dumbledore said humorously, “a sugar-loving, pretentious old bee?”

"You actually knew that?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised.

“Of course,” Dumbledore burst into laughter. “My Potions professor has said these things to my face more than once.”

“Your sweet tooth is indeed a bit awful; that’s not the amount a normal old man should be consuming,” Harry retorted. “But that’s your own business—so the reason you’ve become so… cheerful now is because Ariana’s soul has forgiven you?”

"Yes," Dumbledore sighed deeply, his smile fading, and said with a wistful expression, "My sister, Ariana... my angel... she is still so kind..."

“You can’t even imagine the look on Aberforth’s face when I appeared before him with Ariana’s soul. You know, before that, whenever he saw me walk in, Aberforth always looked like he wanted to shove his never-washed rag into my mouth… Ha…”

"But that day, Aberforth cooked a delicious meal, something he hadn't done in a long time. He didn't just wash the vegetables and meat and stew them together, nor did he deliberately make the rice look disgusting... Everything was perfectly normal, just like the most ordinary dinner in an ordinary family..."

Dumbledore's thoughts seemed to drift back to that day with these memories, which were absolutely the most cherished memories he had held in his life for decades. So much so that just recalling them made his blue eyes mist over.

"This family gathering...didn't you bring your spouse along?" Harry suddenly asked.

"...Gellert is still imprisoned, as per the magical contract we made back then." Dumbledore, somewhat amused and exasperated by Harry's retort, said helplessly, "And Gellert himself probably doesn't want to be."

Harry nodded.

“Thank you for taking the time to listen to an old man’s story, Harry,” Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. “That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you—never, never forget your original intentions, and never forget where your heart is. That is the most beautiful thing about us as human beings. There are many things that we only learn to cherish after we lose them, but often by then, we are powerless to get them back.”

“…I understand,” Harry said silently.

He suddenly realized why Dumbledore had said these things to him. The old man was still worried that he would go astray, so he did not hesitate to use his own past experiences as an example to educate him. No, it cannot be called education, but rather a warning.

It can be said that they went to great lengths.

November in England has already turned cold; the leaves are falling from the trees, the wind is chilly when you open the window in the morning, and even the midday sun seems precious.

Harry's proposal had been communicated to all four houses, and on the very day the notification was sent, the students had already found their teammates and gone to Hagrid to collect a giant pumpkin.

(End of this chapter)