The Wind and the Wings of Hogwarts

"Thank you, Helena."

Dumbledore nodded and went into the inner room with the crown.

Scott and Professor Flitwick followed him inside.

"Thank you for your help."

"That's what Ravenclaw says in the painting."

"Please place the crown in the very center of the room."

Dumbledore waved his wand, causing the crown to fly automatically to the center of the room and land on the ground.

“You may leave now,” Ravenclaw said. “Please come back in seven days.”

Dumbledore paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Then we'll take our leave, Ms. Ravenclaw."

Professor Flitwick looked conflicted and turned back several times as he left.

Back in the corridor, he said regretfully, "What a pity. I was hoping to see how Lady Ravenclaw planned to remove that person's soul fragments without damaging the crown."

Dumbledore also looked regretful, "Since it's Lady Ravenclaw's request, we can only comply."

Scott glanced back at the bare wall.

He really wanted to see it too.

"Professor Dumbledore," he asked Dumbledore, "what did you do with that notebook before?"

"Of course it was completely destroyed."

Dumbledore shrugged.

“Ordinary spells can’t even cause any damage, so I had no choice but to use a very dangerous spell.”

"Oh, Albus, what spell did you use?" Professor Flitwick asked him curiously.

"Fiendfyre," Dumbledore whispered.

Professor Flitwick's expression changed. "Oh, that's a dangerous dark spell, very difficult to control, very difficult."

"Yes."

Dumbledore glanced at Scott again.

"This reminds me of the last time we were in the Forbidden Forest at night, when young Mr. Troop took a brilliant approach to dealing with a wizard who was casting a powerful fire spell."

“Oh?” Professor Flitwick turned to Scott. “How did you do it, Scott? I’ve never heard you mention it before.”

"It's just a shortcut."

Scott said.

“I cast a happiness spell on that wizard.”

"The Happiness Mantra?"

Professor Flitwick's eyes lit up.

"It is indeed an effective method, and perhaps the most suitable one for you young wizards! Oh! You always impress me, Scott!"

Chapter 170 Attempting to Calculate Voldemort's Horcruxes

“Now, you need to go and appease the Ravenclaw students, Felius.”

Dumbledore reminded Professor Flitwick.

"Oh!"

Professor Flitwick nearly jumped up.

“Yes, I have to go…” He turned to look at Scott, “Scott, will you come back with me?”

Scott was about to agree when Dumbledore added, "Perhaps Scott could come to my office and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa."

"Alright."

Professor Flitwick glanced at Dumbledore, then turned and walked toward his office.

"bring it on."

Dumbledore greeted Scott.

"Come sit in my office. Of course, you can also come in from the eighth floor."

Scott followed Dumbledore, turning left and right, until finally pushing open an inconspicuous oak door hidden in a corner.

The moment the door opened, Scott keenly heard the lively conversation inside the office abruptly stop.

“Oh, these are portraits of the former headmasters,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “They were always arguing with each other when I wasn’t around.”

Scott glanced at the wall, where the figures in the portraits were all pretending to be dozing off.

Dumbledore walked behind his desk and sat down, gesturing to the chair on the other side.

"Come on, sit down."

He tapped the table with the Elder Wand, and two steaming cups of hot cocoa appeared on the table.

He picked up his cup, took a sip, and showed an expression of enjoyment.

Scott also picked up his glass, took a few sips, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can I take a look?"

Dumbledore pointed to the roll of parchment in Scott's hand.

"That's the parchment you used to record this arithmetic divination, isn't it?"

"Oh, of course."

Scott handed him the parchment.

Dumbledore reached out and took the parchment, unfolded it, and examined it carefully for a while.

“You’re very talented, Scott. You’re very talented in this subject.”

He kept muttering to himself.

"To be honest, I know a little about arithmetic and divination, but I can't do that. I can't deduce the position of the crown just based on the conditions you wrote down."

He blinked.

"Usually... I use arithmetic divination to predict what Honey Duke's discounted candies will be each quarter."

Scott couldn't help but laugh.

Although Dumbledore seemed to be joking, Scott always felt that he wasn't incapable of doing such a thing.

Dumbledore took a few more sips of hot cocoa, his expression becoming somewhat serious.

“Next, I need you to try to calculate something, Scott,” he said, “about Tom’s Horcrux.”

He paused, looked at Scott, and asked, "Are you willing?"

"Of course I'd like to."

Scott nodded.

“But…” he said hesitantly, “the known conditions are too few, and we may not be able to get a satisfactory result.”

"Of course, I understand that perfectly well."

Dumbledore put down his cup.

"What I really want to know is how many Horcruxes Tom has. I'd like to ask you to try it out, even if you don't get any results."

Scott asked him curiously, "Why not ask Professor Victor to do the calculation? I mean, he should be more capable than me."

"Professor Victor has certainly already calculated it."

Dumbledore said.

"It's a pity," he said with a somewhat helpless expression, "he didn't get the result he wanted."

“Is that so?” Scott nodded again. “I’ll give it a try, but to be honest, I’m not very confident about it.”

Dumbledore took out a new piece of parchment and placed the inkwell with the quill pen in it next to Scott.

“It’s alright,” he said with a smile. “This is just an experiment.”

Scott put the cup of hot cocoa aside and picked up the quill pen.

He first wrote down the object of the divination: [Voldemort/Tom Riddle's Horcrux].

Then he wrote down [The Notebook] and [The Ravenclaw Coronet].

He then stopped writing.

“I’m sorry, that’s all the known information I have,” he said hesitantly. “And there’s no logical connection between them.”

“Yes,” Dumbledore said softly, “that certainly won’t do. You need to know more about Tom.”

He began to ramble on and on about the Voldemort he knew.

The story begins with his visit to the orphanage where Riddle grew up, when he was a professor of Transfiguration...

One summer day in 1938, Dumbledore went to the orphanage and invited Riddle to study at Hogwarts...

Scott listened quietly as Dumbledore recounted Voldemort's past, comparing it with the information he still remembered.

According to Dumbledore, Riddle was born after his mother used a love potion on his father, so he was born without the ability to love.

But Scott felt that he might just be sick, with some mental and psychological illnesses.

For example, antisocial personality disorder?

However, Scott only thought about it that way; he didn't really understand these things.

Perhaps aphrodisiacs do have that effect?

Dumbledore spoke for a long time, while Scott, holding a quill pen, extracted key words from his words and wrote them down on parchment.

When Dumbledore stopped recounting, Scott had already filled most of a parchment, summarizing Voldemort's life in a few concise words and phrases.