Volume 9: The reins handed over Chapter 548 The Reins Passed Out (End)
"Hey, if you sleep any longer you'll miss it."
The familiar voice in his ear made Jon open his eyes.
He was sitting in the carriage at this time, which was Hagrid's driving seat. In the small cabinet in front, Jon even found a half-eaten rock cake that he had not finished.
The carriage was galloping, and the eight thestrals were spreading their bat-like wings and running with the help of the wind.
There were endless white roses all around him, and the whole world seemed to be occupied by these flowers. No matter how fast or far the carriage ran, these were the only views he could see.
An old hand brought him a glass of lemon soda. Bubbles were constantly rising from the transparent liquid, and a bright lemon slice was pinned on the edge of the glass.
"A cup of this is perfect for this occasion. Let me look for it. Hagrid's is usually hidden here... Well, you probably won't like the rock fart cake. Then... wow, how about the cream cake?"
Dumbledore placed the small cake in front of Jon. He held the reins with both hands, looked at the endless white in front of him, with a comfortable and relaxed smile on his face.
Jon rubbed his forehead, where Voldemort had pressed hard just now. He turned his head to look at Dumbledore, who he had never seen so relaxed before. In the end, he chose to pick up the glass of lemon soda first.
"Are we meeting in the world of the dead, Professor?"
"If you used the power of the Three Sacred Relics, then we did meet here."
Dumbledore shook the reins to slow down the Thestrals, and then picked up the lemon soda in front of him.
He leaned comfortably on Hagrid's large seat and looked at Jon.
"I've always emphasized love to Riddle, but for you, you've taken it a bit too far, Jon."
"Too much?"
Jon scooped a small spoonful of the cream from the cake and put it into his mouth. The satisfying sweetness made him squint his eyes involuntarily.
"Yes, love is devoted, selfless, and willing to give, but we can't spend every bit of our thoughts on others, right?"
Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Riddle's desire makes everything he does serve himself alone. You are the exact opposite of him. Most of the time, you do things for others."
Jon turned to look at him in confusion.
"Isn't this good?"
"Once something is taken to an extreme, it won't have a very good outcome. Sometimes you should think about yourself."
Dumbledore murmured, his eyes shifting away from Jon and looking at the sky ahead.
Jon followed his gaze and looked over there. There was no sun but the sky was still blue. Suddenly, a shining meteor appeared in the sky!
Meteors covered half of the sky. They left long tails swaying in the air, streaking across the sky from an unknown height of several meters, and finally disappeared at the edge of the white roses.
"These are the souls of the dead," Dumbledore said softly. "Those who no longer have any attachment to the world of the living will begin a new journey from here."
Jon looked around in surprise.
"We are now..."
"We?" Dumbledore laughed . "We haven't even reached the starting point yet!"
He took hold of the reins again.
"So, do you want to think about yourself? You've done enough. Let the living world handle their own affairs. How about we look at other things here?"
Dumbledore invited Jon.
The meteor shower seemed endless, and it really was like heavy rain continuously streaking across the sky.
Jon stared at the sky in a daze, as if he was thinking seriously about Dumbledore's words.
Indeed, since he came into this world, he seemed to have been on the move, in a carriage, in Hogwarts Castle, on a ship, in the Arctic, in Durmstrang, in the Triwizard Tournament...
It seems like he makes every decision by himself, but not everything is purely for himself.
But in the end, Jon shook his head.
"Sorry, Professor, I don't think I've finished anything yet."
Dumbledore didn't seem to want to continue persuading. He just stood up from his chair, waved the reins in his hand, and suddenly threw it towards the location of the meteor shower in the sky!
The reins seemed to be infinitely long, extending continuously towards the horizon.
Jon followed the reins and looked over, but found that he could not see clearly where it would finally land.
"There's no need to apologize. Students always have their own ideas. As a professor, I certainly won't hinder their wishes. As long as it doesn't harm others, I will tell them to go ahead and do it."
Dumbledore turned around, smiled, and handed the reins to Jon.
"Since you choose to love others, Jon, you must also believe that the people you love will love you too. The strength they give you contains expectations, right? Don't reject these expectations. They are not a burden to you, and they will never be a burden to you."
Jon looked into Dumbledore's eyes. This old mischievous boy who was over a hundred years old winked at him. He laughed dumbly. It was obvious that he understood what Dumbledore meant, but he still complained.
"Your riddles are always so irritating, Professor."
“Sometimes life needs these interesting spice.”
Jon took the reins, and he could clearly feel that at the other end of the rope, there was a force trying to pull him out of the carriage.
He was unable to resist this force, and he staggered two steps toward the edge of the carriage.
Jon tried his best to steady himself, but he still didn't let go of the reins, which he was pulling with increasing force. He looked into Dumbledore's sapphire eyes that seemed always clear and bright.
"Will you go down on your own, Professor?"
Dumbledore waved him off and just smiled.
Jon had no way to resist that force anymore. The other end of the reins carried him away from the carriage and rushed towards the vast sky and the meteor showers that were falling like a rainstorm!
The speeding Hogwarts carriage became smaller and smaller in his eyes, and soon turned into a black dot. Finally, he could no longer find its shadow among the white roses on the land!
Jon passed through the star rain and the blue sky. The whole world seemed to shrink in his eyes and finally fell into a silent darkness.
Then, those complicated thoughts flooded into his mind again, and the constant whispering seemed to drive him crazy!
Jon did not try to tear the black fog which was becoming increasingly sticky and seemed about to solidify and seal. He calmed down and tried very hard to listen to what the whispers were saying.
“…”
“…I’m so sad…”
“…I’m so sad…”
"... Dad said Mom would come back in the future... But I know she is gone forever... She died in the end to protect the students of Hogwarts..."
"Why wasn't I the one left behind..."
"...Pomona...you shouldn't have let me go..."
"You are the best Hufflepuff Headmaster..."
"...I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Dedalus...I couldn't get you out of that prison alive..."
"...Ah...it's a perfect starry sky...so intoxicating..."
Listening to those familiar voices, listening to those sad and soft tones, Jon no longer felt any noise.
These are their most unforgettable past and their most anticipated vision for the future.
These emotions will not have any impact on Jon, because what they expect is what Jon expects.
Finally, the voice lingered on the kiss under the moonlight.
"Please...Jon...please be safe...please..."
The fusion of the two Voldemorts' wills made him stand at the pinnacle of wizarding life.
At this time, Jon, who was being expected by countless wills, no longer knew what his current situation was.
When he stopped rejecting, let go of his thoughts, and took the initiative to accept and understand those complicated emotions, he discovered that, in fact, everything was here.
Those he loves, also love him.
The most essential power was mobilizing his magic power, and the black fog that had completely bound him quietly melted away like ice and snow under the sun.
He cut off his right arm and thought he had defeated all Voldemorts, but suddenly turned in shock to look at John who had reappeared from the black fog.
"Tom Riddle, you owe many people and many valuable things. It's time to pay your debt."
John stood under the clouds, looking at Voldemort and stretching out his hand.
Countless spells emerged in his mind. Now, it seemed that as long as he wanted, any one of them could bring about the most fundamental changes to the world. Voldemort in front of him was as small as a small boat in a tsunami in the face of that unrivaled will.
Soon, as if it was a unanimous decision of everyone, a spell came out of Jon's mouth.
"Expelliarmus."
This spell was like an iron rule of truth. The moment it came out of John's mouth, everything on Voldemort that could cause harm to the outside world, including magic, wand, black mist, and even the sharp nails on his hands that had not been trimmed for a long time, all disappeared!
Voldemort became a completely powerless man. He fell from mid-air, and the Death Eaters on the ground who were cheering for their master's victory and suppressing the Wizarding World were all looking at this scene at a loss.
Jon fell to the ground with him. Without the support of magic, Voldemort seemed to have more than half of his bones broken!
But he still gritted his teeth and stared at Jon who had walked back to him, without even a scream coming out of his mouth.
"A temporary advantage does not mean final victory, Jon Green! It's not over yet!"
Jon approached him slowly.
"Are you counting on your new Horcrux?"
After hearing what John said, Voldemort's pupils suddenly contracted.
"Mr. Grindelwald has already dealt with it. He will handle it very cleanly. In the other world, the Horcruxes have also been cleared away. You no longer have any means of resurrection, Tom Riddle."
Voldemort could no longer maintain such cruelty. He stared at John with a distorted expression on his face, but soon he suddenly laughed again.
"Do you think that killing me will solve all these problems? I don't know where your power comes from, but can you use it to solve all the hatred in the wizarding world? Solve the relationship between wizards and Muggles? Voldemort is just a title. When the next Voldemort appears, will you be the next Dumbledore?"
He laughed as if he had told a very funny joke.
But Jon still looked at him calmly.
"I just need to solve your problem."
He leaned over and touched Voldemort's forehead with his finger.
The next second, the expression on the face of this devil who frightened the entire magical world froze. He stopped breathing, his heart stopped beating, and there was no possibility of resurrection at all.
The entire battlefield fell silent, as if no one had expected the final outcome to actually happen right before their eyes.
It was not until most of the Death Eaters, who had seen the situation clearly, fell to their knees and threw down their wands, and all the stubborn Death Eaters were eliminated, that the wizards on the Wizarding Horizon burst into earth-shaking shouts!
…
Six months later.
In the newly redecorated Hogwarts Castle, Jon sat in the center seat of the long table in the auditorium wearing the suit that Hermione had specially picked out for him. He said to McGonagall helplessly for the third time.
"I really think that you, Professor, are more suitable to be the headmaster. No one has ever said that whoever has made the greatest contribution should be the headmaster of Hogwarts."
Mag replied seriously.
"But it's not you we chose, it's this castle. If I were the principal, I wouldn't even be able to enter the principal's office."
Although what she said was indeed true, Jon still supported his chin and looked at the students in the auditorium who were already sitting in their seats happily.
These include both new students who were admitted this year and students who have not completed their studies during the exile process.
Now they can finally return to the real Hogwarts Castle and start normal campus life.
Today is the first dinner to celebrate the return to Hogwarts, and Jon was naturally pushed to the position of headmaster.
Although he thought it would be nice to be a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, others said that being a principal and a professor were not contradictory and he could do both.
Hermione was sitting next to him. Hogwarts was now in a period of reconstruction and there was a shortage of faculty and staff, so she stayed and temporarily took over the job of astronomy professor and would consider whether to continue staying in the school later.
"My parents asked me to ask you, are you still going over this weekend?"
She asked quietly in Jon's ear.
Jon shrugged.
"Where else can I go? You want me to make do with the Leaky Cauldron?"
"Didn't Mr. Grindelwald ask you to go to Durmstrang?"
"I went there yesterday. He was still preparing his plan, but we had already agreed before that we would not conduct a large-scale experiment until we were sure it was completely feasible."
Hermione grabbed Jon's hand and they intertwined their fingers under the table.
"Professor Dumbledore shows no sign of waking up."
Jon didn't seem very sad about this, he just curled his lips.
"He just hasn't had enough fun yet. But he's already so old, if he wants to be willful, then let him be so."
Under the long table, before the banquet began, the students who had not participated in the Sorting Ceremony were making up for the ceremony they had missed. Neville and Ron were all excitedly putting on their tattered hats and determining which college they were supposed to be in.
They looked at Jon and called for him to come down so that they could see where the headmaster of Hogwarts should have been assigned.
Under their urging, Jon had to let go of Hermione's hand and put on the Sorting Hat under the gaze of everyone in the hall.
"Ha, it's been a long time since I've communicated with so many young minds!"
"You will have your share every year from now on."
"Thank you! Well, let me see your qualities first, then we can talk about other things. Think about it, what is your most profound experience?"
Most profound experience?
Jon went through his mind. Since he came to this magical world, almost everything he experienced was unforgettable.
What could be more memorable than escaping from a magic school on a carriage and finally returning to the castle?
The Sorting Hat seemed to have sensed what Jon was thinking at the moment. It cleared its throat and shouted in front of everyone in the auditorium.
