Hogwarts: Becoming the White Lord from Breathing

Chapter 68: Even if plucking a hair could benefit the world, I would not do it
Who hasn't wanted to have a secret base as a child?

Here, no one can discover them. They can enjoy everything in this place and do whatever they want without worrying about being discovered.

And now, this scene appeared from a dream into reality, clearly and realistically before the eyes of Harry and the other two.

Hermione first looked at the books on the bookshelf, while Ron and Harry looked at the "scarred" training targets.

"You usually stay here to read? No wonder I never see you in the library."

Hermione reached out and stroked the desk, casually opening "The Fifth Element: Exploration" on the desk. There were scattered notes on almost every page, all of which were Damon's own thoughts and questions.

Isn't this a book for older students? Has he made this much progress on his own? Hermione was secretly shocked.

"Isn't this place nice?"

Damon walked up to her and looked at her quietly.

Hermione turned her head away, focusing on her books and ignoring him.

She was still angry about what happened before - and now, this incident had to be added to the mix.

"Damon! This is so cool! You should have told us sooner!"

The first person to rebel was Ron.

After seeking Damon's consent, he began to cast a spell at the target in front of him.

"Expelliarmus!"

Every time he shot down a target's weapon, he didn't need to change it at all. The puppet would just flash slightly and have a new weapon in its hand.

Harry soon felt itchy and joined Ron in the process.

At the beginning, the two were a little worried - their performance yesterday seemed unfamiliar even when they recalled it now, so good that it didn't seem like themselves at all.

What will happen now?
The red light emitted from the tip of the wand was indeed not as good as yesterday's performance, but it was not much different - the magical performance of both of them had increased significantly, which made Harry and Ron ecstatic - they did not expect that their magical level would increase so much in just one day.

"Oh—I think if I were to duel with a third grader right now, I could beat him!"

Ron waved his hands excitedly, and Harry also showed an excited smile on his face.

"I never thought that we were both geniuses in magic!"

Damon stood beside Hermione, watching the cheers coming from the two of them, and shook his head.

"You guys play here for a while. Headmaster Dumbledore and I have something to talk about."

Hermione put down her book, and Harry and Ron stopped casting spells and turned to stare at him.

Damon couldn't stand their gazes, so he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and said:

"As for what we talked about, I promise to tell you everything in detail later, okay?"

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione without saying a word. The little lion nodded, pointed at his own eyes with two fingers, and then pointed at Damon:
"Be careful! I'm watching you!"

"Wow, I really need to be more careful then."

Damon pretended to be scared and left the Room of Requirement. Before leaving completely, he heard the sound of Harry and Ron continuing to cast spells excitedly.

This lonely room, where he had practiced hard for a year, will now forever be home to three happy figures.

That's good.

Inside Dumbledore's office.

The phoenix Fawkes was quietly perched on the phoenix stand, the Sorting Hat closed its eyes and said nothing. Dumbledore had already brewed some tea and handed it to Damon the moment he entered the room.

"Is it still lemon cheese?"

"Yes, I'm a loyal person." Damon pulled out a chair and sat across from Dumbledore. "Once I like something, I'll keep eating it until I get tired of it."

Dumbledore realized the hidden meaning in his words, waved his wand with a smile, and a plate of lemon cheese appeared in front of Damon.

The two were silent for a while.

Only after they had finished their tea and cake did Dumbledore say something suggestive: "You seem to know more than I thought?"

"You know, I am a pen pal with Ms. Bagshot, the editor of A History of Magic. She seems to be old and often in a confused state of mind. Sometimes in her letters to me, she even mistook me for you or Grindelwald.

Also, a reporter named Rita Skeeter wanted to get more stories from me, and in return, she told me a lot about you—she seems to be preparing to write a biography about you, but I'm afraid some of the content in it will not be very popular with you.

Dumbledore said "Oh", looked at Damon and shook his head:
"To be honest, I really don't want you to get to know me through other people, because I think that might lead you to have some misunderstandings about me."

His eyes, hidden behind his half-moon glasses, were deep as he stared at Damon:

"So, what did you learn?"

"There are many things, such as the past of the two generations of Dark Lords, what they did to the wizarding world, and the adverse effects they caused.

For example, you and the Dark Lord Grindelwald jointly proposed the slogan "For the Greater Good."

Dumbledore's eyelashes trembled slightly, his eyes lowered, and he did not rush to defend himself. Instead, he asked:
"So, what do you think of this sentence?"

"I don't agree."

Seeing Dumbledore's head suddenly raised, with a hint of disapproval hidden in his eyes, Damon smiled and said:

"Professor, please forgive my bluntness. You grew up in a magical world and received very little cultural education, which is why you were bewitched by Grindelwald."

Dumbledore remained patient and nodded for him to continue.

"In the far east, there's an ancient and cultural country called 'China,' where many profound ideas were born. If I remember correctly, our sophomore, Qiu Zhang, is from there."

"Among the many schools of thought in China, there is one that can completely refute the absurdity of your idea."

"This idea is that even if plucking a single hair could benefit the world, I would not do it."

Damon said this in Chinese, translated the general meaning into English, and asked Dumbledore a question.

"Professor, if Voldemort returns today, and I only need a strand of your hair in exchange for Voldemort's complete death, would you be willing?"

Dumbledore thought about it and naturally wanted to answer yes - let alone a single hair, even if it was all the hair, all the hair on the body, what would be the harm in giving it away?

But in the current situation, he couldn't help but think about it often and think carefully about whether there was any deeper meaning in it.

But the result of thinking is still - "I do."

Damon nodded and continued to ask:
"Then if you were required to sacrifice an arm in exchange for Voldemort's complete death, would you be willing?"

"I do," Dumbledore replied immediately.

Damon nodded.

"If you were to sacrifice your life now in exchange for Voldemort's death, would you be willing?"

"I do." Dumbledore still did not hesitate.

Damon nodded.

"Then if you need to sacrifice your family's lives in exchange for Voldemort's death, are you willing?"

Dumbledore was unable to answer immediately - he seemed to understand what Damon meant.

Damon continued:

"Then if I were to use the lives of ten people closely related to you in exchange for Voldemort's complete death, would you be willing?
If I were to sacrifice ten people in exchange for the survival of a hundred, would you be willing?"

"As long as it is for the greater good, can we disregard emotions and human ethics and arbitrarily determine the interests of individuals?"

"Of course—no."

Dumbledore raised his left hand weakly, his expression painful, begging Damon to stop it - he was even grateful in his heart, grateful that Damon did not say the name that broke his heart.

If Ariana was still alive, but she had to be sacrificed to defeat Voldemort, Dumbledore's answer now would be - "Never!"

"I understand, Damon, I understand—so please stop."

(End of this chapter)