Volume 1 Chapter 56 Professor Dumbledore?
"This outcome was inevitable, Jon, but you really opened my eyes today."
Slughorn stared at John, who had been wrapped up like a dumpling, and at the same time swung the wand in his hand and aimed it at the car window behind him.
There was a sound of glass breaking that was inconspicuous in the storm, and cold and damp air came into the storage room from outside the carriage.
"I will wait beside my student until the day comes when this carriage has reached its end. Considering the fact that I have taught here for two years, I will persuade him to leave you a way out."
After saying the last sentence, Slughorn's fat body rushed out of the car window and completely disappeared into the dark rainy night.
The storage room became quiet. The vines created by the Transfiguration Spell did not disappear after the caster left. John was still tied to the ground and unable to move.
Beech did not leave with Slughorn. He was standing above Jon's head, looking around. In fact, he had no idea what was going on. He just helped a little in return for the reward given by the fat walrus.
There was no sign of frustration on Jon's face at this moment. He was staring at the window through which Slughorn escaped, with a thoughtful expression, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Two or three minutes of quiet contemplation passed before Jon tentatively shouted into the empty room.
"Professor Dumbledore?"
His voice was very abrupt in the room where he was the only one there. Beech, who was standing above him, looked around alertly, as if trying to find out who Jon wanted to talk .
Just two or three seconds after Jon's voice fell, an old man with crescent-shaped eyes , long gray hair and beard appeared in the corner!
Dumbledore stood by the wall, smiling, and looked into John's dazed eyes.
“…”
Jon swore that he really just wanted to give it a try. In the end, Slughorn's method of getting his wand back was so suspicious that he could only expand his thoughts infinitely to guess an absolutely bold possibility.
The mere thought of this possibility in his mind made him feel absurd. When he opened his mouth to call Dumbledore, he felt that he was subconsciously making excuses for his failure.
But when Dumbledore really appeared in front of him, Jon was really stunned.
His eyes were fixed on Dumbledore without blinking, and Dumbledore's blue eyes were also looking at him gently.
"That last Levitation Charm was beautiful, Jon. I have never seen a student use such a basic spell so uniquely. If it weren't for me, Horace would have been embarrassed tonight."
The old and peaceful voice expressed praise for Jon without any concealment, as if he was just a reasonable bystander and the battle just now was just an ordinary exchange between a student and a teacher!
Jon's breathing became rapid. Dumbledore appeared here. If he couldn't figure out who was behind this betrayal, then he would have lived in vain for more than 20 years in his previous life.
"professor……"
He hadn't even finished his words when Dumbledore drew out his wand and tapped the vines that were entangled with Jon at the same time.
"I know you have a lot to ask me, but this may not be a suitable place for a long conversation. Kingsley and the others should have just brought the injured Lily into the carriage, and Filius and Minerva are still searching for Horace's 'body' in the heavy rain. If you don't mind, you can come with me to my office, where we can have a good chat."
As he spoke, he pulled the untied Jon up from the ground, then walked in front and led him out of the storage room.
At this time, Biqi was still lying on Jon's head bored. It didn't have any treasures to steal and didn't want to go find Hagrid, so Jon's hair became its temporary nest.
Of course, Jon didn't care about Beech's behavior. His mind seemed very clear, and he could understand everything after seeing Dumbledore. But at the same time, his mind seemed to be in a mess, and he couldn't understand anything.
He followed Dumbledore into his office.
It was still the same as when he first came, with the golden branch standing next to the desk, the large but shabby wooden cabinet with the lower half used to store wands, the portraits of past headmasters covering half of the wall, and the real Hogwarts emblem above the portraits.
Sitting in the office chair, Dumbledore picked up a piece of parchment from his desk. The words on it were obviously printed from a book, and there was no way to identify any person from the handwriting.
"When I first received this letter, I was wondering who could have such keen observation and profound magical knowledge. At first I thought it was one of Minerva and Filius. But if it was really them, this letter would not have appeared. They should have come to me directly to explain it to me in person."
Jon was careful to notice that Dumbledore did not mention Lily's name.
"What I never expected was that the person who delivered this letter to me was actually a freshman who had only been at Hogwarts for less than a year, and a student that Horace had just accepted."
Dumbledore looked at Jon and then at the letter in his hand, and clicked his tongue in amazement.
Jon took a deep breath. He had now calmed down and was calm enough to ask at the right time.
"So, Professor, you knew from the beginning that the teacher was going to steal the Philosopher's Stone? Or, did you plan with him from the beginning to let him steal the Philosopher's Stone and give it to the Dark Lord?"
Dumbledore crossed his fingers and placed them in front of himself. He calmly answered John's questions.
"Nic Flamel, the owner of the Philosopher's Stone, is a close friend of mine. We once discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood together, and because of that, we developed a deep friendship. During the initial period of exile, he was the one who used the Philosopher's Stone to turn gold into financial support for me, so that I could support the daily teaching and life of this school. But three years ago, after he saw the dark rule of the Dark Lord over Britain and reached a secret agreement with the French magic government, he no longer wanted to stay in this filthy magic world. So he gave me his most precious legacy, the Philosopher's Stone, and then he and his wife calmly accepted their own death."
"Before he died, he went to the British Ministry of Magic under the pretext that the Philosopher's Stone had been stolen and met with the powerful Dark Lord. He ridiculed his governance and ambitions, mocked his self-righteous pure-blood pride, and expressed and vented all his dissatisfaction with Nick for turning the world into what it is now. The Dark Lord has indeed changed a lot compared to before. He was not at all angry at Nick's ridicule, but accepted his criticism calmly, and finally sent someone to escort him home safely. But from that day on, he began to send his men to search for the whereabouts of the Philosopher's Stone."
"He actually knows very well that the Philosopher's Stone can only be in one place, and that is in my hands. In this case, I can certainly find a suitable reason and method to deliver the stone he wants to him."
Jon stared into Dumbledore's eyes. Although Dumbledore's tone was unusually calm when he said these things, his heart beat inexplicably faster.
"The teacher..."
"He is the most suitable candidate. He has been the head of Slytherin for nearly fifty years. Almost all the pure-blood wizards who hold important positions in the Ministry of Magic are his students. People who think they know him well know that he is a coward. In addition, the Slughorn family is one of the most prominent pure-blood families in the wizarding world. There will be no doubt about his identity, bloodline and character. Even if he has taught in this carriage for a year, people will only think that he was tricked into coming here by me."
"If he takes the Philosopher's Stone back with him, he will be welcomed by all the Death Eaters and pure-blood families, and then become the core pillar of the Dark Lord's men. Without anyone knowing, he will provide us with all the intelligence and information he can."
