Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world

Chapter 92: The Web of Fate and the Road to Legend

Vaughn, who was about to leave, turned back and looked at Dumbledore strangely.

Old Deng smiled back at him.

After a pause, Vaughn said with a hint of sarcasm, "I thought you wouldn't let me participate in the house game you prepared for the Savior."

He is self-aware of this. Although he is now working closely with Deng, that is only because he has not shown any dangerous behavior.

In fact, the way Vaughan and Dumbledore have been getting along has always been one of mutual trust and mutual vigilance.

Due to the difference in concepts, it is difficult for them to truly accept each other.

Vaughan is too "obsessed" with power. Whether it is his pursuit of fame and reputation or his desire for knowledge, it is essentially a pursuit of power.

Dumbledore is too "divine". He has seen too many complexities and treacherous human hearts and hopes that everyone can be as simple as possible.

Of course, up to now, both of them have remained restrained in their opinions on each other, and even tacitly agreed not to secretly interfere in the other's concerns, but to put everything out in the open.

So Dumbledore clearly guessed that Barty Crouch Jr. might still be alive, and Vaughan relied on this to win over Crouch, but he did not pursue it further.

Every time Vaughan came into contact with Harry, he would show Dumbledore his memories of their time together, because he knew that Dumbledore was afraid that his ideas would influence Harry.

Keeping distance from each other, not touching each other's weaknesses, and limiting cooperation - this is the basis for their relatively fragile trust to be maintained until now.

Harry is Dumbledore's weak spot!
Hearing Vaughn's ridicule, Dumbledore just smiled slightly. His eyes were blank for a moment, as if he was thinking about something, and then he asked a seemingly irrelevant question: "Vaughn, what do you think of fate?"

Vaughn frowned slightly. He couldn't observe what fate would be like yet, and he never liked to comment on things he didn't understand.

Dumbledore didn't seem to expect an answer. He continued, "A few months ago, you told me a line from a Muggle movie about how human nature is the sum of divinity and animality. It deeply touched me. In the past few months, I've been studying Muggle philosophy and literature whenever I have free time."

"One playwright's opinion particularly interested me. He believed that tragedies in literary works are generally divided into three types. One is caused by the villain in the play, one is due to coincidence, or what Muggles call 'fate', and the last type, which is the most common and realistic, is the tragedy caused by social relationships and the character's class."

"What I write about is not the consequences, nor the retribution, but the cruelty between heaven and earth, and in the human world..."

Muttering these words, Dumbledore was lost in thought for a moment before he stood up and extended his hand to Vaughan:
"Hold my hand, child."

Vaughan didn't understand what Dumbledore was going to do, but he did it anyway. He stepped forward and grabbed Dumbledore's old, skinny hand.

Dumbledore waved his wand.

He rarely recited a spell, and the pronunciation sounded like runes, or Rune. It was only after Vaughan entered Hogwarts that he came into contact with this ancient language, which had become extinct in Muggle society and even ordinary wizard families.

But his self-study results were mediocre (Runes was an elective course for third-year students), because learning this language had nothing to do with a person's intelligence, but rather depended on whether one had a talent for divination - Runes had always appeared as proverbs.

The talent for divination was something Vaughn was most reluctant to mention.

But after more than half a year of study, Vaughn has gained some experience.

"It requires chanting the spell in Runic. Is this a prophetic magic?" Vaughn was a little confused. As far as he knew, there had never been a fortune teller in the Dumbledore family.

He did not resist, but just observed silently, feeling the huge magical fluctuations like a mountain emanating from Dumbledore who was waving his wand beside him.

In Vaughn's perception, the old man beside him was like a terrifying radiation source at this moment. Circles of invisible ripples spread out from his body, extending to 3 or 4 meters away, and suddenly disappeared when approaching the wall.

It seemed that it could only spread so far, but that didn't mean it was weak. In fact, within the range of the ripples, the air was affected by the terrifying force in it, becoming so heavy that it was almost solidified.

For a moment, Vaughan felt like a bug trapped in pine resin. He could clearly feel that he had absolutely no ability to resist Dumbledore.

He has always been aware that he was able to negotiate with Dumbledore only because he took advantage of Dumbledore being a "gentleman". Just as Dumbledore trusted his rationality, he also trusted that Dumbledore would not do anything bad to him.

As Dumbledore's voice became more and more passionate as he chanted the spell, the frequency of the terrifying magic power spreading became faster and faster, and the impact on the surroundings became stronger and stronger!
At a certain moment, Vaughn's pupils dilated, and he saw that the colors in the world before him were rapidly disappearing - that was not some kind of illusion.

Under the spell's influence, the ripples of magical power surging from Dumbledore were so strong that they were visible to the naked eye. Vaughn could clearly see them sweeping across the two men's bodies, across the tassels draped in the headmaster's office, across the desk, the carpet, the dessert cabinet, the candy, the Pensieve...

With each ripple, a color is stripped from these objects.

It was as if an invisible hand was peeling off the gorgeous outer layer of the world, revealing its true nature, just like peeling off the glaze layer applied on an oil painting to enrich its colors!
Even though the range was less than 4 meters, it was enough to shock Vaughn!
He watched as everything the ripples touched quickly turned into outlines of black, gray, and white, and watched as transparent, spider-silk-like threads emerged from the surfaces of those objects.

Only at this moment did Dumbledore finally stop his magic. He seemed to be very exhausted, and from the unique perspective at this moment, his face was so pale that it was almost transparent.

"Hoo—" Dumbledore took a few quick breaths before finally easing his breath. His voice became hoarse, and he said to Vaughan self-deprecatingly, "I'm really getting old. Decades ago, when I used this magic to observe the Web of Fate, it wasn't as strenuous as it is now."

"The web of fate?"

Vaughan observed the strange scene before him. The space with a radius of about 3 meters, centered on him and Dumbledore, had completely lost all color (in hue, black, white and gray all represent no color or no hue).

Outside the border, the walls covered with portraits still look normal, as if a black, white and gray ball has suddenly been embedded in reality.

Inside the sphere, spider-like threads appeared on the surface of all objects except him and Dumbledore. They extended out, intertwined and woven with each other, like... a web, extending to the edge of the spherical space and eventually disappearing without a trace.

“…This is the web of fate!”

Vaughan repeated Dumbledore's words again, but this time, with certainty.

"Yes, this is the true face of fate. It is also what the playwright said, the cruelty between heaven and earth, and the human world!"

Looking at the crisscrossing threads in space, Dumbledore sighed and said, "It penetrates deeply into all things. It is both the origin and the end of all things. Nothing can escape these threads. Of course, Muggles cannot see this. What they think of as coincidence and chance in fate are merely part of true destiny. But even so, they still understand some of the essence of fate."

"Like its ruthlessness and cruelty!"

Dumbledore sheathed his wand, raised his free hand, and called out, "Fawkes!"

Fawkes, who had been hiding somewhere since Vaughn's arrival, reluctantly appeared on Dumbledore's arm.

Fawkes spread his wings, and with a crackling sound, he Apparated with the two of them to a corridor in Hogwarts and appeared outside a door.

Vaughan, who had lived in Hogwarts for several months, was already quite familiar with the castle. He knew that behind the door was Quirinus Quirrell's office.

The spherical space surrounding the two of them still existed, and it seemed that maintaining it was not difficult at all. Dumbledore even had enough energy to wave his hand and cast invisibility and soundproofing spells.

He pushed open the door as if he was returning home and walked into the office with Vaughn without encountering any obstacles.

"This is just a small privilege I have as the headmaster. Hogwarts will not refuse the headmaster's request." Dumbledore winked at Vaughan and said.

Vaughn paid no attention to the old man's playfulness. He just looked at Quirrell sleeping soundly on the sofa in the office.

As he got closer, the black, white and gray spherical space took in Quirrell's body. Then, the colors on his body quickly peeled away, and like the objects next to him, dense silk threads emerged from his body surface.

The difference is that the silk threads on his body are clearly divided into two parts.

Some of them are thinner and almost invisible. They extend from all parts of Quirrell's body and are distributed more evenly.

The other part was mainly concentrated behind Quirrell's head. It was dense and thick, like the tail feathers of a white peacock spreading out, extending from behind Quirrell in all directions and sinking into the boundary of the spherical space.

"...Is that Tom's fate?"

Vaughan ignored Quirrell's own delicate fate.

Looking at a thread extending from the back of Quirrell's head and passing in front of his eyes.

He held out his hand and looked towards Dumbledore, who nodded before he tentatively touched it.

But he didn't touch anything, his fingers passed directly through the thread.

Dumbledore sighed, "This is what has baffled and frustrated many great wizards throughout history. Fate can only be observed and predicted, but cannot be interfered with or changed."

Dumbledore was lost in thought as he stared at the back of Quirrell's head. Vaughn followed his gaze and saw the thickest thread there. It looked different. The other threads, no matter how thick or thin they were, were all smooth threads.

Only it has a thread-like shape, as if it is made of two silk threads twisted together.

Vaughan had some guesses. Noticing his gaze, Dumbledore, who read his thoughts, said, "Yes. That is the intertwined fates of Tom and Harry, their bond... You should also know the prophecy, right? The prophecy about the Dark Lord creating his own mortal enemy."

"I know a little." Vaughn nodded.

Logically, this should be confidential, but after a few months of getting along, Dumbledore had become accustomed to Vaughn's well-informedness, although he was very curious about how Vaughn knew those secrets.

He continued, "This is the wonder of the world. There is no one in the wizarding world who doesn't believe in fate, but most people, like Muggles, have a somewhat narrow understanding of fate, including the Dark Lord."

"When he began slaughtering children born in July according to the prophecy, he didn't know that knowing his own destiny and taking such actions was itself part of that destiny." "You haven't seen Voldemort at his peak, Vaughn. He's not an old man like me; he's at his prime. His magic, his power, far surpasses certain limits, perhaps even surpassing mine and..."

He paused, and ultimately did not pronounce the name. He just mumbled it and said, "Even as powerful as Voldemort was, he still couldn't fight against fate. So a miracle happened—a legendary wizard who delved into the dark arts was killed by the rebound of his most skilled and proud dark magic!"

"Sometimes when I think about it, it's really absurd and terrifying..."

Dumbledore's beard trembled slightly, and he gently closed his eyes: "...The prophecy reveals that the two people whose fates are entangled are the only ones who can kill each other!"

Hearing this, Vaughan finally understood why Dumbledore showed him the web of fate. He hesitated and asked, "You mean, only Harry and Tom can kill each other, and no one else can do it?"

Dumbledore nodded wordlessly.

Vaughn's face didn't look very good, but it certainly didn't mean that he was so arrogant that he thought he could kill the Socket Man or that he wanted to be a hero.

But in his opinion, whether one has the ability or desire to accomplish something and whether one can accomplish it are two different concepts.

The choice of the former is yours, but the latter basically blocks all roads, leaving only "can" and "can't", with no room for maneuver.

Vaughan didn't like that situation.

His fundamental purpose in pursuing power is actually to gain more choices. He is unwilling to rely on others for his life and safety!
"Believe me, when you try to fight fate, it usually makes it worse!"

Seeing Vaughn's grim expression as he fell into deep thought, Dumbledore said nothing more, but led Vaughn out of Quirrell's office: "Let Quirinus get some sleep, he...sigh!"

Fawkes took the two back to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore lifted the magic and poured a glass of juice for Vaughan and himself.

After this period of time, Vaughan gradually came to his senses. He knew that if fate was really unchangeable, then Dumbledore would not have to show it to him.

Is it specifically to tell him that you don’t need to try hard because you are not the protagonist anyway?

Old Deng is not that boring.

Vaughn took a sip of juice, frowned, and put it down. It was too sweet. He looked at Dumbledore and said, "Tell me, you didn't come here just to attack me. What do you think?"

Dumbledore didn't beat around the bush any more. "Remember the guess you told me at the beginning? Harry, because of that accident, he has become Voldemort's... Horcrux!"

Of course Vaughn remembered that it was during Halloween last year, after he unexpectedly met Voldemort, he deliberately threw out the shocking news in order to avoid a crisis of trust with Dumbledore and to deepen cooperation with Dumbledore.

"I've been thinking about how to solve this problem for the past few months, and I've recently come to some conclusions... But if possible, I don't want to use that method."

Having said that, Dumbledore did not continue and did not say what solution he had thought of.

But Vaughan knew that the method in the original book would most likely be used. If it was true that fate could not be defied, then Dumbledore would have very limited options when faced with the intertwined fates of Voldemort and Harry.

Even if we put aside fate, from a relatively logical perspective, considering that Harry and Voldemort can communicate with each other in terms of senses and memories, it is obvious that the fragment of Voldemort's soul is not just "stuck" to Harry's soul.

Only by using the method of the original book, through a series of arrangements, sacrificing many people, letting Voldemort indulge in the pleasure of revenge, lose himself in the joy of breaking free from fate, "killing" Harry with personal hands, and destroying his last Horcrux with personal hands, is the most likely to succeed.

Recalling what he knew, Vaughn began to understand why Dumbledore didn't want to use that method.

There is no other reason, the sacrifice is too great.

If we follow the fate of Harry and Voldemort, their fate will become a huge meat grinder, and everyone else will be involuntarily drawn into it until the final result is determined.

He looked at Dumbledore. "So, you no longer want to accept fate, but are prepared to fight it? If I am not confused, not long ago you said that any attempt to resist fate would only make it worse."

"No, it's not about resisting, but changing the approach..."

Dumbledore explained thoughtfully, "Vaughn, fate doesn't give a definite result. It only sets certain conditions, such as 'the Dark Lord and his mortal enemy, one of them must die at the hands of the other', rather than saying with certainty that Voldemort will win, or that Harry will win."

"This is precisely the ruthlessness and cruelty of fate. It's like a god with a bad taste. It chooses a few children of destiny, explains the rules, and then watches them fight within those rules for fun."

"We want to take advantage of this uncertainty. Of course, I haven't figured out how to do it yet, so for now, the method I've come up with will continue to move forward. But at the same time, I hope to introduce some variables... Oh, that's what Muggles say, very interesting."

He looked at Vaughn with sincerity, "You have the potential to be that variable!"

In the past, Vaughan would have just turned his back and left, but today, he was patient, and it was not because of Dumbledore's request.

He asked, "Albus, your magic just now didn't show you our destiny. Did you see something?"

"..."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then hesitantly said, "I don't know..."

"what?"

"I don't have the talent for divination, so I can't see what fate has revealed. I only know that after you successfully promoted the Werewolf Affairs Committee, the web of fate was disturbed... It was very subtle, but now that Tom and Harry's destinies have been determined, normally, no new child of destiny will appear."

"unless……"

Dumbledore's azure eyes were as bright and clear as the autumn sky. "Unless what you do in the future profoundly affects the entire wizarding world, the Werewolf Affairs Committee is only the starting point, but this starting point is enough to make the web of fate respond to you!"

Vaughan remained silent.

Dumbledore didn't push him. Today was just his first attempt, and for this, he was even willing to let go of some of his insistence. He asked Vaughan in a gentle tone, "Do you want to know why I don't have a talent for divination, but I can master the magic of directly seeing the web of fate?"

Vaughn raised his head. "Trying to seduce me with power?"

"Don't be so blunt. You could also say I'm using knowledge to attract you. That sounds better." Old Deng said shamelessly.

He sneered, but Vaughn had to admit that he was a little moved.

The perspective of directly observing fate before was so amazing. The most illusory part of this world was presented to him so intuitively.

After a brief stalemate, Vaughn asked Dumbledore coldly, "How did you do it?"

Dumbledore answered straightforwardly this time, "It stems from a kind of transformation. When your magical prowess reaches a certain level, your body and soul will undergo positive changes from the inside out, just like what Muggles call evolution. You will feel like you've transformed into a completely new being, as if made of magic, a kind of..."

"Mythical creature?"

Vaughn continued.

"...mythical creatures... Hmm, that's a good summary." Dumbledore looked at Vaughan deeply. "It seems you've thought about this a long time ago."

Vaughn shrugged. "Of course, your strength far surpasses that of other wizards. The difference in talent alone cannot be so great. I can't think of any other explanation except that your life level has evolved, turning you into another species."

Dumbledore laughed heartily. He was actually a rather proud man. When he was young, only Grindelwald caught his eye, so the two young men hit it off right away.

Even though he has experienced great changes and some of his ideas have shifted, there are some things that are engraved in his bones that he cannot let go of.

For example, in his interactions with him, Vaughn would occasionally hear him say things like "smart people like us".

He still does so now. He said cheerfully, "I like to talk to smart and outstanding people, Vaughn. However, the wizarding world calls that state 'legend', and we generally call them legendary wizards."

"I never heard."

"Because there are so few. In the second half of this century, there was only one Tom, you know, and no one wanted to mention his name."

Dumbledore said optimistically: "Of course, perhaps by the end of the century, you will become a new legendary wizard, Vaughan!"

Vaughn evaded his direct questioning, "So, you learned that prophecy magic after becoming a legend?"

Dumbledore didn't care and answered simply, "It's the moment you become a legend. It's a very wonderful state. You can peek into many secrets of the world and comprehend some magic that you would never normally learn."

"I chose prophecy because of an old friend... I can say that magic was created by me, even though I don't have a talent for divination."

Vaughn was silent for a moment, then asked, "So, how do I reach that level?"

"With your talent, when one day you feel you can no longer improve, you've reached its threshold. You can choose to delve deeper into a particular subject. No one can help you in this area... However, I think you can continue to delve into Potions and Transfiguration, as you excel in both."

"If everything goes well, one day you will naturally understand where you are heading. We call it the legendary road."

“Everyone’s path to legend is different.”

After getting the answer, Vaughn remained silent for a long time.

(End of this chapter)