The days at Hogwarts

"Let's go." Dumbledore held the comb in his palm, extended it to Loren, and motioned him to put his hand on it.

My fingertips touched the silver comb and it felt cool.

Before Loren had time to feel it carefully, he heard Dumbledore say, "Fawkes."

"squeak!"

It seemed as if there was a hook behind Loren's belly button, hooking him forward with irresistible momentum, and then his feet left the ground and flew up. He flew forward like a gust of wind, and he couldn't see anything clearly.

Loren's hands were pressed tightly against the comb, which seemed to have a magnetic force that stuck his fingers to it.

It seemed like a moment, but also like a long time had passed.

Loren's feet landed heavily on the ground. He was a little unsteady and was about to fall to the side, but Dumbledore supported him in time.

Loren's hair was blown by the wind into a mess, like a dog's kennel, and his clothes were askew.

He straightened his robes and looked up to see that Dumbledore was still neat and tidy, with his beard still in place.

"Where is this? Is the Black Forest just ahead?"

Turning around to look around, they were standing beside a muddy country road. The moist water vapor mixed with the scent of soil and grass, with a hint of earthy smell in the fragrance. In front of them was a vast forest.

"Albania, if nothing unexpected happens, it should be here."

Dumbledore pulled out a black Derby hat from somewhere and put it on. It looked like a traditional style from decades ago.

Such a hat would look very out of place on Dumbledore, who wears a white robe and has a long white beard and white hair.

"I need a little disguise. You know, being too famous is not a good thing." Dumbledore winked at Loren.

You are deceiving yourself. With that beard, eyebrows and hair, who could not recognize that this is the headmaster of Hogwarts, the most famous wizard in the world.

"If anyone exposes you, you will take out your wand and hit him, right?"

"Hahahahaha..." Dumbledore was amused by Loren's words.

Along with his hearty laughter, his beard shortened rapidly, with some brown and yellow growing from the roots, and eventually turned into a beard that was close to his face, with some gray and brown mixed in. His hair also shrank back and became short, and even became a little bald on both sides of his forehead.

Finally, Dumbledore patted his white robe again, and the wide robe began to shrink, fitting tightly to his body and turning into a double-breasted silver-gray fluffy windbreaker, with a pair of suit trousers and wide-foot yellow leather shoes underneath.

This outfit goes well with the derby hat.

Loren opened his mouth in surprise. The old wizard in white robe turned into a young man in his prime.

"You know, I used to be a Transfiguration professor."

Dumbledore's voice became more powerful. He patted Loren on the shoulder and wiped off the Hogwarts and Gryffindor emblems on his magic robe.

On the muddy country road, Loren was carrying a suitcase, and Dumbledore was holding Loren's hand, telling him some of his insights on the prophecy.

"The story begins with Professor Quirrell..."

Professor Quirrell was originally the professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts.

"When Quirrell was a student, he was an excellent Ravenclaw. He always felt that he had extraordinary talents, waiting for people to discover them..."

Quirrell has the qualities of a Ravenclaw, he is smart and good at studying, he even obtained 12 certificates in the O.W.L exams.

But he still felt that people looked down on him and always thought he had extraordinary talents waiting to be discovered. In order to quickly prove his strength, he developed a strong interest in black magic.

After receiving an offer to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, he went on a research trip to look for traces of dark wizards, partly out of curiosity and partly out of his desire for his importance that had never been noticed.

Finally, Chilo was found in the forests of Albania.

"I suspect that he started out with the intention of tracking down Voldemort and learning something from him." Dumbledore's voice was no longer old, but his tone was filled with helplessness.

Loren knew the rest. Here, Quirrell became Voldemort's servant and was possessed by Voldemort and returned to Hogwarts with the intention of stealing the Philosopher's Stone.

"At first I just thought he had joined Voldemort, but your reminder made me realize that it's not that simple."

Voldemort's possession of Quirrell was beyond Dumbledore's expectations, but it also allowed him to make better arrangements and verify some of his guesses.

Loren carefully recalled the content of the prophecy: The Dark Lord has left his forest... His plot... The White has anticipated it... The Black Forest is the beginning of the wave... The Blue and Black must go there... When the old and the new are replaced... The desperate souls are crying... The wave is about to start...

"What about the alternation of the old and the new, the desperate souls and the waves?" Loren asked.

"The transition from the old to the new may refer to time, before the new year. As for the other two, they are exactly the answers we are looking for on this trip."

As they were talking, they arrived at the door of a roadside hotel.

The two-story building has a triangular pointed roof. The outside of the house is covered with black stains, the name of the store on the sign is unclear, and the black double iron doors are closed.

Dumbledore pulled Loren straight towards the closed door, and a magical scene appeared. The iron door seemed to be non-existent, and the two disappeared into the door.

Loren felt as if he had passed through a curtain of water, and felt the water rushing over his skin.

Completely different from the dilapidated outside, there is a spacious hall at the entrance. The white floor tiles set off the bright glass chandelier on the ceiling, illuminating the entire room.

Behind the counter stood a fat-headed, fat-eared goblin who looked like an obese human with dwarfism. His head was almost the same size as his body, his long and narrow nose was like a cone, and his ears were like bat wings.

"Oh, welcome, my dear wizard!"

The fairy's voice was very shrill and harsh, and she spoke words of welcome, but her tone was very uncomfortable.

Dumbledore, who looked like a middle-aged man, threw out a bag of Galleons. "One room."

"Of course!" The fat goblin stretched his hand behind the counter, and a black key-shaped pendant flew into his hand.

The entire transaction took less than a minute. Both parties were very efficient and did not say any unnecessary words.

Dumbledore took the key, but instead of looking for a room, he turned around and took Loren out of the hotel.

Hanging the key around Loren's neck, the two walked into the forest.

"Just hold the key and shake it, and you'll be back in your hotel room anywhere in Albania."

Of course Dumbledore didn't need it. It was an insurance prepared for Loren in case the two of them got separated due to some unexpected situation.

Through Dumbledore's introduction, Loren learned some information about Albania.

This is a place that is difficult for the Ministry of Magic to take care of. Many dark wizards gather here to trade dark magic items or various things of unknown origin.

Many mysterious events have occurred in Albania in history. Legend has it that there are all kinds of dangerous creatures in the forest, including vampires, werewolves, and evil witches who have lived for centuries.

Students at Hogwarts rumored that Quirrell had met a vampire here and was cast under an evil curse by a witch, making him timid, stuttering, afraid of his own students and the subjects he taught.

"It was here that the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron died."

“Honestly, this place has been on my list of post-retirement travel plans.”

The middle-aged Dumbledore winked at Loren, which was more difficult to accept than the old white-haired Dumbledore pretending to be young.

Loren felt as if his eyes were under a magical attack. He resisted the urge to complain and continued to listen to Dumbledore.

Chapter 79 Snake Bone Tree

Albania in deep winter is colder than Hogwarts. Walking along the path where the population is gradually becoming sparse, the snow piles up on the road and melts into the mud.

Not long after Dumbledore took Loren out of the hotel, he began to use magic to wander in the Dinaric Mountains in eastern Albania.

After the two walked a dozen meters, they would shrink into a ball like a whirlpool and disappear on the spot, accompanied by a very slight "pop", and appear a few hundred meters away, and then walk another dozen meters and repeat the previous action.

Dumbledore's Apparition Charm was very sophisticated, and Loren did not feel any discomfort at all after such a short distance teleportation.

This behavior was repeated countless times, and Loren couldn't help asking, "Principal Dumbledore, what are we looking for?"

"Look for some special traces."

They stopped in front of a snow-covered pine tree, which was common in the coniferous forests of Albania.

There were many icicles hanging on the branches, with the tips pointing to the ground, and white snowflakes stuck to the stick-like icicles.

There was a flash of flame, and a ray of fire shot up from Dumbledore's palm, rising along the tree trunk without damaging the branches at all, only melting the ice and snow.

A light rain began to fall beneath the tree.

The icicles on the tree revealed their true appearance: they were snake bones with their tails wrapped around the tree and their heads hanging straight down to the ground.

The snake bones were at different levels of corrosion, some had already decayed and turned yellow, and looked like they had been there for several years, while others still had corroded pieces of flesh hanging between the bones, indicating they had only been dead for a few months.

Some are big, some are small. The small ones are only as long as an arm, while the large snake skulls are almost as big as an adult's head.

The ice and snow covering the rotten flesh melted, and a faint stench began to spread.

"It doesn't look like Voldemort has had an easy ten years."

Dumbledore carefully examined the remains of the snakes, as if trying to confirm something.

For ten years, Voldemort hid in this forest, possessed by snakes, and survived.

The bodies of ordinary snakes cannot carry Voldemort's evil soul for long. Voldemort has to change his body every once in a while, and these remains are hung here, like some kind of evil ritual.

Dumbledore knew that a man as conceited as Voldemort, who had lived here for ten years, could not have left some traces to prove his existence. These snake bones were the best proof.

The arrogant sense of ritual, even if there is only a remnant of soul left, must prove itself.

Loren looked up at the snake bones and imagined Voldemort crawling through branches and bushes, the scales on his abdomen rustling.

He had no idea about Voldemort, and always thought he was a not very smart villain without a nose. All kinds of strange thoughts popped up in his mind, whether Voldemort needed to hunt, would he swallow mice and rabbits raw with skin and meat?

Dumbledore didn't know that Loren already knew about Voldemort, and he was wondering how much to tell Loren.

After stopping for a while, the two began their previous wandering again.

This is really a small country. Dumbledore took Loren to visit every place in Albania in one afternoon.

Winter is not over yet, the mountains and forests are covered with ice and snow.

The two of them came to a large lake and sat down. There was no ice here.

Lake Ohrid is located in the eastern part of Albania, stretching for thousands of miles. The clear lake surface reflects the clear clouds in the sky and the surrounding mountains.

Gazing at such a wide and clear lake, Dumbledore seemed much more relaxed.

"Nothing looks special here."

All afternoon, they saw no werewolves, no vampires, and no evil witches who had lived for centuries.

"An old wizard's advice is to never jump to conclusions about anything."

Dumbledore waved his hand and turned a stone into a tabletop, on which he placed snacks that he had taken out from somewhere.

Loren watched him pull a pot of steaming tea from his sleeve, then looked at his cumbersome little suitcase, wondering in his heart whether Dumbledore's Untraceable Extension Charm was legal.

He secretly planned to start refining his own spatial items after returning and ask Flamel for help. It should be completed during the summer vacation.

"Voldemort used an evil ritual to put his soul into a strange state..." Dumbledore poured the tea and his voice became erratic with the rising mist.

"…Harry's mother protected Harry with love, a power that Voldemort did not understand…"

The rebounded Killing Curse destroyed Voldemort's body and magic, making him extremely weak. He turned into a wandering spirit and lingered in the forests of Albania for ten years.

Until Quirrell's arrival, Voldemort had no difficulty controlling the power-hungry wizard.

Dumbledore said this and took a sip of tea, "Don't be driven by power, control power."

"Why not just expose Quirrell?"

"Voldemort cannot be killed, and besides, Hogwarts needs a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Dumbledore said this with confidence. No one knew better than him how difficult it was to find a professor willing to come to Hogwarts to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and a new one had to be changed every year.

"Harry and the others are now on guard against Professor Snape, thinking he is going to steal the Philosopher's Stone." Loren looked at Dumbledore.

"Well, although there are some deviations, it is acceptable." Dumbledore pretended to think, and then asked: "What about you, do you believe Severus?"

Thanks to his magical eyes, Loren had seen the abnormality on Professor Quirrell's head and the Dark Mark on Severus. Dumbledore wanted to know what Loren was thinking.

"I think Professor Snape is unlucky that he was the only one bitten by Fluffy."

This answer made Dumbledore pause. He looked at Laurent with gentle eyes and smiled, "Perhaps I should tell Severus how to appease the grumpy little dog."

Loren was still thinking about the desperate souls in his mind. The only souls related to this forest were Quirrell and Voldemort.

"Are those snakes desperate souls?" Loren asked.

"I think not, these are just ordinary snakes."

"Who could that desperate soul be, Voldemort?" Loren didn't want to accept such a choice. The plot of redeeming the villain was too vulgar.

"Voldemort's soul was broken long ago. He will not despair."

He would only grow angrier and more resentful of those who had put him in this situation, whether they were those who had rebelled against him or his useless servants.

Dumbledore looked dazed. He sometimes wondered if the outcome would have been different if he had been friendlier to young Tom when he went to the orphanage.