Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

It all started with Grindelwald.

Grindelwald was once Dumbledore's close friend. They admired each other's talents in their youth and came together because of the same ideals.

At that time, Dumbledore was still very young, full of youthful vigor, and eager to achieve great things.

This grand undertaking is his and Grindelwald's goal: to change the world in their own way.

This is what Grindelwald refers to as the greatest interest.

Later, due to an accidental conflict that resulted in the death of Dumbledore's sister, Dumbledore and Grindelwald became enemies.

Dumbledore lost his family, friends, and lover as a result.

Everyone knows how things will ultimately turn out.

After a period of patience, Dumbledore stepped forward and defeated Grindelwald, who had swept across almost all of Europe at the time, and Grindelwald voluntarily surrendered to Nurmengard prison.

Dumbledore shattered his own ideals, sided with the existing order of the wizarding world, and buried Grindelwald, a reformer.

This is the story of Dumbledore, and it's why he was so cautious.

Of course, only Dumbledore himself probably knows the specific details.

Eric's words struck a chord with him, leaving him no room for rebuttal.

However, there is no doubt that Dumbledore now knows exactly what he wants, and so does Eric.

So Eric chose to refuse.

Just when Dumbledore thought today's conversation had completely failed.

Eric, who had just reached the door of the principal's office, suddenly turned around: "The two-year agreement is still valid, Professor. I will wait for you for two years and complete the task Nico asked me to do during that time."

Dumbledore asked, "What if it involves Horcruxes? Would you be willing to...?"

“Of course,” Eric nodded and said. “I can agree to this cooperation, and I can also go with you to find the Horcruxes.”

“One last question, Eric,” Dumbledore called to Eric, who had stopped in his tracks again. “Do you consider me a failure?”

Eric looked at Dumbledore, and for the first time, such disappointment and sorrow appeared on the old man's face.

Dumbledore was genuinely saddened by the people Eric had just mentioned, including Harry, and by the potential sacrifices that might occur after Voldemort's resurgence.

However, he will not change because of this.

He simply chose what he considered the most appropriate course of action after weighing all the factors.

This choice cannot be simply judged as right or wrong, nor is it related to morality.

He only did it because he was Dumbledore.

Eric said, "Loser? No, you're not."

"Then what am I?"

Eric said, "You are Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of our time."

After saying that, Eric turned and left.

Chapter 131 Confinement

The last day of the Christmas holidays passed quickly, and all the students returned to Hogwarts.

The first half of this semester was incredibly stressful. The deaths at the Duel Club and Sirius's invasion made everyone feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.

Now, after a relaxing holiday, the tension of the past seems to have vanished without a trace.

Only a few people who were particularly concerned about these matters remained on edge.

This also includes Fudge.

Fudge returned to Hogwarts.

All for the sake of meeting Eric.

Through Dumbledore's connections, he had only just learned that Eric had become Nicolas Flamel's apprentice.

This news was truly shocking to him.

From his perspective, things gradually became blurred.

In his eyes, Eric now is still the same person he was back in the Leaky Cauldron.

The mark that Eric displayed that was unique to Grindelwald was something that most people wouldn't dare to forge.

But Eric was also valued by Dumbledore and recommended to Nicolas Flamel.

This left Fudge somewhat puzzled.

Also, there's the old version of the Dark Mark that appeared in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

This information was enough to cause Fudge to make a misjudgment.

As for what he actually thinks, only he knows.

Fudge arrived at Hogwarts in a hurry with a group of Aurors.

But they didn't even get to see Eric.

After leaving Dumbledore's office yesterday, Eric stayed in his dormitory, dealing with his own affairs.

He spent the entire holiday away from school, and his bedside was piled high with Christmas gifts and letters from his friends.

Hermione gave him a complete set of books on the history of the goblin rebellion, while Cho Chang's gift was a flying broom he had modified himself. It was a decent model, though not as good as the Firebolt, but the sentiment behind it was precious.

In addition, gifts from other people were also sent over, completely covering Eric's bed.

Since Eric had no other address, all these things ended up being stuffed into his dorm room.

Eric spent the entire day dealing with these things.

The letters that had arrived were piled up in a thick stack. Eric picked one up at random and saw that it read:

Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me? We have some legal questions we'd like to ask you. Remember to reply.

[P.S.: Remember to reply to me!!!]

Pick up another letter:

Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Are you there?

This is Luna's letter.

Eric didn't open all the other letters.

Eric Khan, it would be strange if you got a reply to a letter like that.

But it's also his fault. He disappeared for a whole vacation without a trace, so it's no wonder Hermione and the others were worried.

Eric wrote a reply with just a few strokes of his pen, which read in large letters: I'm back.

With a flick of his wand, he used a copying charm to copy the reply more than a dozen times.

After preparing these things, Eric called over an owl from the school and instructed it to deliver the letters back one by one.

The owl rolled its eyes at the amount of work, but still dutifully delivered the letter.

On the other hand, Fudge's arrival ultimately brought good news.

The Ministry of Magic has decided to drop all possible charges against Eric.

He had no further connection to Clement's death.

As for the responsibility for the murder, it was all pushed onto the wizard named Rozier.

Rozier's true identity was not revealed; the news only stated that he killed Clement because of a personal grudge.

Now that there's no way to verify the truth, whatever the Ministry of Magic says is the truth.

This was also the result of Fudge's instructions behind the scenes.

Amelie Bones, who was presiding over the case, was unable to find any obvious errors or omissions based on the existing evidence.

And that was the end of it.

It's over, at least on the surface.

For everyone else, the end of this holiday was no different from any other.

Except for Ron.

As soon as the holiday ended, he received a message from Filch instructing him to be at the castle gates that evening to join Eric in carrying out their confinement.

The confinement consisted of patrolling the Forbidden Forest under Hagrid's leadership.

Ron's good mood vanished without a trace.

Ron was very happy throughout the holiday, mainly thanks to Harry.

Harry's fire bolt drew everyone's attention.

All the members of the Gryffindor team were overjoyed and spread the news everywhere.

Their main rivals, Slytherin, were deathly pale.

Harry was already a great flyer, and now he had the most powerful broomstick fire bolt.

It's likely that no one will be his match in the future.

Even Cedric couldn't do it.

The performance gap between the Fire Arrow and other flying brooms is enough to overwhelm all technical factors.

As Harry's good friend, Ron was also occasionally able to ride the Firebolt and fly through the air.

He was having so much fun that he only remembered he was under house arrest and had to go to the Forbidden Forest when he received the notice.

Ron wasn't afraid to go exploring the Forbidden Forest, after all, he was never a well-behaved student and had been there before.

But Ron is terrified of spiders, and there are many spiders in the Forbidden Forest.

Last year, before Eric officially enrolled in school, he and Harry experienced being surrounded by a large group of giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest and nearly lost their lives.

After what happened last year, Ron now gets PTSD whenever he sees a spider.

Now the only excuse he can use to comfort himself is that he is not alone; thankfully, he still has Eric with him.