The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

Dolly began to argue her case, but Dumbledore was clearly prepared.

“Actually, I asked Myrtle, but unfortunately she was only 14 years old when she died, so she couldn’t understand what the Soul-Stealing Curse was, let alone experience it herself.”

"Not to mention she's a ghost, and ghosts aren't considered to have the same level of judgment as wizards."

Dolly narrowed her eyes slightly and said, "Does the professor mean that I might not be able to tell the difference between the Imperius Curse and the 14-year-old witch Myrtle?"

"Although you may find it offensive that I'm saying this... I do think you might not be able to distinguish between the Imperius Curse and the Confusion Curse, or other control methods like potions."

“Miss Dursley, theoretically it’s unlikely you could tell them apart, since you’ve never had the chance to experience them or even learn about them, have you?”

"and……"

Dumbledore pulled a black wand from his sleeve. The wand was broken in the middle, held together only by a piece of some kind of animal hair.

"We found this on the grass outside the window of the bathroom where the accident happened. I have already had it appraised and repaired by Mr. Ollivander."

"This is a homemade wand from abroad. It's very crude and not up to standard at all, but it can still cast some spells."

"Although Mr. Ollivander's restoration of it was not entirely successful—well, Mr. Ollivander refused to fully restore it—I tried to use the Flashback Charm on it and still managed to see some images."

Dumbledore pointed his wand at the broken wand, and a burst of sparks shot out. Dumbledore calmly said, "Confusing Charm, a very powerful Confusing Charm. It's not something an ordinary person can use."

"But some older students are already able to try it, which means there are now more than a dozen suspects."

Dolly's breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling slightly, and she said, "Professor, since we know this is a foreign wand, wouldn't investigating its origin provide clues?"

"Someone with access to foreign wands, who can cast spells with them and then break and throw them away—doesn't Quirrell seem like the most suspicious person?"

"Moreover, with your wisdom, I think you could use other methods to test Quirrell and then determine whether he is the murderer or not, just like you are doing to me now."

Dumbledore remained unmoved, calmly watching Dolly.

Dolly continued, "I heard Cho Chang say that Professor Quirrell wasn't always like this."

"He's become very strange. Aren't you curious about what happened to him?"

Quirrell was formerly a professor who taught Muggle studies courses, and he was a talented person with a solid theoretical foundation.

After going to Albania, he turned into the universally disliked Garlic Monster. Dumbledore knew that Albania was one of Voldemort's most likely hiding places!

Dumbledore finally spoke again, saying, "Don't get agitated, Miss Dolly. I admit you have a point, but these are just suspicions, not evidence."

"Perhaps you could consider my previous suggestion: if you are truly determined to accuse Professor Quirrell, I can invite the Ministry of Magic to intervene."

"But by then, I won't be able to control the situation, and everything will be up to the Ministry of Magic."

"As for us, we can't just take action against a professor because of your accusations; we need evidence."

"What if there was even one eyewitness?"

Dolly took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

If the Ministry of Magic gets involved, they will inevitably conduct a thorough examination of Dolly to determine whether she has been afflicted by the Imperius Curse.

This was clearly not something Dolly could accept, not only because she was worried about her secret being exposed, but also because she was concerned about the professionalism and attitude of the people at the Ministry of Magic.

To say that the Ministry of Magic is full of incompetent fools is clearly a generalization.

However, to say that the Ministry of Magic is corrupt from top to bottom, and that they may disregard the facts and only deal with issues from a political perspective, is not entirely unfair to them.

Let's look at some previous examples.

Lucius, Voldemort's right-hand man, became a victim after being tried by the Ministry of Magic, and now still wields enormous influence, enjoying the Malfoy family's vast fortune.

Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and James's loyal friend, was imprisoned for over ten years as a murderer and has been tormented by Dementors ever since.

The real murderer, however, becomes a rat, Ron's pet, and goes unpunished. He will later sacrifice his arm to resurrect Voldemort.

Even setting aside the past, the current Minister of Magic, Fudge, is a fool who would disregard the safety of the entire wizarding world for the sake of his position.

He was clearly more worried about Dumbledore leaving Hogwarts and taking his position as Minister of Magic than about Voldemort's return. And if Voldemort really came back, his only fate would be to step down and get out.

Dolly would rather commit suicide than entrust her fate to these people and let them choose for her.

Seeing Dolly close her eyes and remain silent, Dumbledore was not in a hurry, but quietly waited for Dolly to think.

He knew that the little witch in front of him was smart enough to figure out her own answers without needing much prompting from him, an adult.

Dolly slowly sorted through all the conditions Dumbledore had given her, allowing her mind, which had been in disarray from yesterday's battle, to regain its rationality.

First of all, Dolly was indeed very unhappy.

As a little witch who almost got killed, she can't see the real culprit brought to justice. Instead, the person who should be catching the real culprit is here lecturing her.

If Dolly hadn't had the experience of living two lives, she would have already lost her mind, either giving up on revenge or starting to hysterically release her emotions.

But Dolly can't now, because she has to be responsible for her own safety, and she doesn't intend to let the person who secretly harmed her get away with it.

Even if this person is Voldemort.

Perhaps for Voldemort, killing Dolly was merely to make Harry Potter shed a single tear.

But Dolly wanted Voldemort to know that he had messed with the wrong person this time.

Looking at Dumbledore's conditions, to put it bluntly, Dumbledore insisted on just one thing.

He placed Dolly and Quirrell on equal footing.

He could accept Dolly accusing Quirrell, but Dolly needed to have evidence and at least bear the responsibility if the accusation failed.

He was unwilling to conduct a thorough search and interrogation of Quirrell based on Dolly's accusations, and unwilling to treat Quirrell as a criminal right now.

Putting aside emotional issues, Dolly must admit that Dumbledore had his reasons for doing so.

A student's life is important, and a professor's reputation, and even his life, are naturally important as well.

Just because Dolly was hurt doesn't mean Quirrell should be held responsible, even without evidence.

This is legally logical and fair enough.

But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that this is not just.

Dolly and Quirrell could indeed be placed on opposite sides of a scale, but Dolly is now a victim who almost got killed.

If, in order to treat Dolly and Quirrell fairly, Dolly ends up having no one to accuse and is forced to forget what happened yesterday.

Such a outcome is utterly devoid of any justice.

Moreover, when did Hogwarts in the wizarding world start to emphasize fairness in the legal sense?

Please, you can't even find a decent lawyer here!

So ultimately, it's because Dumbledore doesn't want to touch Quirrell right now.

But Dolly is indeed a victim, and he needs to start with Dolly to find a way to end this.

That is the sole purpose of this dialogue.

Even if Dolly was a victim, she didn't die, did she? She was able to get out of bed in a few days without any aftereffects. What kind of harm is that?

Attempted murder?

Sorry, our magical world has an imperfect legal system, so we don't consider that kind of thing!

After figuring all this out, Dolly didn't feel angry. Instead, she clearly realized one thing: she wasn't the main character.

At the very least, he wasn't the protagonist in Dumbledore's eyes.

Dumbledore does favor Harry, but he doesn't favor every student. In fact, when he does favor Harry, it can make those on the other side of the scale feel unfair.

Just like Dolly and Quirrell, who are now on opposite sides of the scale, Dolly would also feel it's unfair.

Of course, Dumbledore's preference for Harry was also justified.

After all, Harry was the child he was pushing to his death, not someone like Dolly who was seriously injured and dying. Harry was truly facing death and then returning from the edge of death.

Only in this way can Voldemort's Horcrux—that is, Harry himself—be killed.

In contrast, did he have any reason to favor Dolly?

Because Dolly is Harry's sister?

Harry did need the company of blood relatives before he grew up, but Vernon and Petunia were enough for him.

As for Dolly's talents and abilities, which even surpassed the knowledge and responsiveness of her peers, Dumbledore may have already begun to suspect that Dolly was created by some wizard after taking Polyjuice Potion.

Having figured all this out, Dolly felt calm and peaceful, and wasn't angry at all anymore.

Because she no longer expected to get the answer she wanted from Dumbledore, it was clear that Dumbledore would not respond to Dolly when she could not produce sufficient evidence.

Of course, not expecting Dumbledore to provide a solution doesn't mean Dolly thinks the matter is over.

Dolly opened her eyes and said, "Professor, I really can't produce any evidence."

"But it's also a fact that I was almost killed, don't you agree?"

Dumbledore slightly raised his head, realizing that Dolly had finally come to terms with reality.

“You are quite right, Miss Dursley.”

However, Dolly's next words caught him somewhat off guard.

"So since Hogwarts doesn't recognize the murderer I identified, and can't find the real culprit, then Hogwarts has no choice but to take responsibility for my injury, right?"

Dumbledore looked on with a hint of realization, then smiled with a touch of unease and said, "Indeed, Miss Dursley."

He never expected that after he persuaded Dolly to change her mind and stop escalating the matter, Dolly would actually hold him and Hogwarts responsible for it.

Dumbledore could, of course, simply wave his hand and choose not to take responsibility, leaving Dolly to bear the consequences.

But he was ultimately a good person, not a politician who endlessly shifted blame. Because of the guilt in his heart, he chose to bear all of this alone.

"I don't know what I or Hogwarts can do for you, but if you want financial compensation, I can personally fund it for you."

Dolly shook her head, not intending to take the money, even though Dumbledore was very good at making money.

As a top-tier mage who lived to be over a hundred years old, any one of his collections or a piece of his personal reflections could fetch an astronomical price.

But for Dolly, who has futuristic vision, this amount of money is not a problem.

She values ​​certain privileges more than money.

So Dolly said, "First of all, entertainment in the castle is too boring. I want to bring some Muggle entertainment products here to decorate our dormitories."

"Of course, this only applies to our dormitories. As long as our living environment is safe, I hope that the prefect, the dean, and the school will not interfere with us."

Dumbledore laughed exaggeratedly and said, "This suggestion makes me a little sad. I thought that children would always have countless ways to have fun when they get together..."