Chapter 326 Talking with Dumbledore

Dumbledore waved his hand to remove the light of the Patronus Charm, and came forward with interest. His deep blue eyes were full of inquiry and curiosity: "Can you hear me, Loren?"

Although the principal was close at hand, the sound that Dementor Loren heard was far away, with a long and vague echo. He turned his head left and right, experiencing this truly wonderful feeling.

The power of confinement disappeared, and even the burning feeling of the patron saint curse disappeared. The scene in front of him seemed to be separated by a layer of mist, hazy, and the touch of the body returning was very slow, with only the same coldness and a slight Appearing stiff limbs.

Dumbledore asked again: "Can you hear me, Loren?"

Dementor Loren concentrated his attention, mobilized his stiff limbs and muscles, and tried to make a sound from his throat. However, what came out when he opened his mouth was a dull exhalation: "Huh...lu..."

Loren was stunned for a moment when he heard this voice. The dementor's body has two vocal organs, the throat and the tongue. Logically speaking, it should be able to speak. He tried again: "Hul...lu..."

"Don't worry, Loren. Although Dementors are very similar to human bodies, they are completely different creatures." Dumbledore seemed to understand what he meant. "If you can control its body, try other people first." Actions."

Dementor Loren slowly moved his head hidden under the hood, the movements were slow and stiff, and he controlled his two stiff, rotten hands to wave downwards in an attempt to fly.

The next moment, Loren suddenly felt a little dizzy. After a while, the feeling of the Dementor disappeared and was replaced by a down-to-earth feeling. Just after breaking away from the stagnant and cold body of the Dementor, Loren only felt that his whole body said no. Out of ease.

The feedback from the whole body is warmth and flexibility. There is no need to worry about stiffness in the hands and feet. The ears can hear my strong heartbeat and breathing. The tongue and throat are completely normal, and the vision in the eyes is clear.

"Sorry, Principal, I seem to have quit." Loren said, putting the tip of the wand against his temple again. He wanted to construct a false memory from his mind again, so as to enter the body of the Boggart Dementor again. .

But Dumbledore fed a memory first, but nothing happened.

"Principal?" Loren shook the wand in his hand, "Then let me try again?"

Dumbledore shook his head at him and smiled gently: "No, that's enough."

Lorenton was overjoyed and couldn't wait to ask: "Principal, have you seen the secret hidden by Bogtree?"

"Well... not yet." Dumbledore waved his hand to drive the Boggart back into the box and fastened the two buckles one by one. "But at least I can confirm that the Boggart is safe for you."

"Can you be more clear?" Loren followed Dumbledore and sat back on both sides of the desk.

Dumbledore picked up the teapot, shook it, poured himself a cup of black tea, and then looked up at Loren: "Orange juice, pumpkin juice, black tea? Or something else?"

"Oh, just pumpkin juice." Loren had to sigh that the old man was so patient. He was so anxious that he felt like Crookshanks was fighting with Fang, but Dumbledore could still drink tea calmly.

Dumbledore shook the teapot in his hand again, and the liquid poured into Loren's cup turned into pumpkin juice:

"I have also studied Boggarts. Unlike those black magic creatures with obvious biological characteristics, these guys seem to appear suddenly. They cannot reproduce or eat... Although they can turn into things that people fear, they are They don't feed on fear, they are very similar to dementors, but completely different..."

"Judging from the various characteristics it exhibits, we can conclude that it is a magical creation of some kind of wizard... No matter what the purpose of the wizard who created this creation is, it is to extend life, pass on memory or something else."

Dumbledore put down the teapot and spread his hands, "It seems that everything has failed now."

Loren took a sip of the warm pumpkin juice and asked doubtfully: "Then why is it that only my consciousness can enter the Boggart's body?"

"Do you know about magical portraits?"

Dumbledore pointed to the old principals on the wall behind him. Just when the old principals were about to speak, Dumbledore waved them over and locked them up facing the wall.

"Magic portraits can carry part of the wizard's memory, but this requires a special painting method. Generally, when painting, the wizard's blood, ashes from burned hair, or other things are added... In short, the portrait needs to be connected with the wizard .”

Loren's mind was spinning very fast, and he understood it as soon as Dumbledore finished speaking, pointing to the wooden box in disbelief: "Professor, are you saying that the Boggart had a connection with me when it was created? "

"It's not connected to you." Dumbledore explained, "It's the mysterious wizard who made the Boggart. He used the mark to make the connection, and you happen to have it too."

"What is it?" Loren asked quickly.

"Hmm...I'm not sure." Dumbledore's unhurried voice sounded like he was about to die. "Maybe it's the hair color, maybe it's the frequency of the magic power, maybe it's the bloodline, maybe it's something in the soul. The special part… who knows?”

Loren quickly ran through the examples he gave in his mind.

Bloodline?

The blood of the Morgan family?

soul?

The soul of a time traveler?

…

After thinking about it for a while, my head was spinning. It felt like it was possible, but it didn't feel like it was possible.

"Forget it, forget it." Loren waved his hand and sat slumped in the chair, "Principal, you said there is no danger, so let's leave it like this for now."

Dumbledore smiled and suddenly changed his voice, "Last weekend, in order to check the situation in Hogsmeade... Well, you know, the activity week has been delayed for a long time and cannot be delayed any longer. We need to confirm that the floating The dementors outside the school did not affect the village..."

Loren lowered his eyes, the warm pumpkin juice exuded a sweet aroma. It started again, Dumbledore's characteristic speech could not find the point.

Dumbledore muttered a long paragraph of irrelevant words. Just when Loren wanted to remind him of the key points, the old headmaster raised his voice slightly: "I went to the Three Broomsticks pub with Filius. He told me about you..."

Loren stopped drinking the pumpkin juice and raised his head to look at the old principal.

Dumbledore was also looking at him, his eyes slightly narrowed with a gentle smile, looking particularly kind.

"Soul...soul..." Dumbledore picked up the cup and sipped the black tea, with a sigh in his tone, "Honestly, Loren, your exploration speed on the path of magic is far faster than I imagined, and you are even farther than I expected. Many knowledgeable experts in ancient magic are faster."

Loren shrank his head humbly: "Opportunity and luck."

"Filius told me that you asked him about soul magic, and he suggested that you try black magic...Filius also said that there was no follow-up after he asked you to ask me for approval. , asking me if I’m teaching you black magic.”

Dumbledore made an expression of grievance and regret, "What a pity, Filius didn't know that you never came to me at all, and you didn't even talk to me, an old guy, about the subject of the soul."

There was a faint noise from the old principals on the wall. They seemed to be making fun of Dumbledore, how could he act like this without any shame even though he was over a hundred years old.

Loren pondered for a moment, why didn't he find Dumbledore at that time?

Oh, I just finished dealing with Peter Pettigrew, but he still felt uncomfortable meeting the principal... Then there was the soul magic. He always felt that Dumbledore and Flamel were perfunctory with him, so he didn't really expect to get answers from these two people.

Then it got busy.

"Professor, that is dark magic. You are the principal of Hogwarts..." Loren gently reminded him that this was inappropriate, "Let's talk about the issue of soul magic."

Dumbledore smiled and no longer dwelled on the matter: "Remember what I said, love is the greatest magic power. Ms. Ravenclaw said that extraordinary wisdom is the most precious wealth of mankind. Mr. Gryffindor values ​​courage..."

"The soul is the most mysterious yearning of wizards. Even magical magic cannot allow us to see the true face of the soul... But there are always lucky pioneers who have set foot in this field as early as very ancient times." Dumbledore Looking at Loren, his expression gradually became serious, "But no one has unveiled the soul yet, Loren, do you know why?"

"Why?" Loren asked blankly.

"Ms. Rowena Ravenclaw understood the beauty of wisdom. The more she tried to convey this beauty to her daughter, Miss Helena, the more difficult it became for Miss Helena to understand, eventually leading to a legacy that lasted for thousands of years. Regret. Gryffindor tried to make Slytherin understand the core of his courage, and Slytherin tried to make Gryffindor see what he saw..."

"So many great wizards can't see that moving forward in order to become smart will make people deviate from the direction of wisdom; overcoming fear in order to pursue courage is just that the desire for courage exceeds the pressure of fear...the more obsessed you are with getting it, , the more you will lose.”

Dumbledore's blue eyes overflowed with some compassion and sorrow, "There was a poor man who once indulged in the pursuit of the most powerful magic. It was not until he lost everything that he glimpsed a little bit of the magic of love. I try to convey this understanding to Others, but the more I stressed, the further I pushed that person away.”

"Loren, no matter what you think the magic power contained in the soul is, before you actually see it, the more you want it, the further away you will be from it."

After the conversation ended, there was a long silence in the principal's office.

Dumbledore stared blankly at the black tea in the cup, trying to see the long past in the clear tea soup, seeing the people who appeared in his life one after another, and eventually those people left him again.

Loren thought quickly in his mind. He probably understood what Dumbledore meant, but he was still confused.

After a long time, Loren raised his head and asked in confusion: "Then what should I do, sir?"

Dumbledore blinked at him: "Maybe you should tell me the answer."

"ah?"

…

October 22nd, Friday, is one week away from the full moon.

The rainy season that lasted for nearly half a month has temporarily stopped. The sky over Hogwarts shows a clear blue that has not been seen for a long time. The forests and lakes exude refreshing water vapor, making people breathe comfortably.

The little wizards who had just finished a busy week of classes took advantage of the rare good weather to run around outside the castle and breathe fresh air.

There is a low hill next to the north tower, covered with lush and soft lawns. This is a good place that the third-grade wizards discovered after taking a divination class.

There are other good places for the younger wizards of higher grades, and the tradition of Hogwarts is never to reveal the terrain of Hogwarts to the lower grades, so this is now the territory of the third grade.

They wandered on the slopes of the hills, lying flat on uneven rocks... rolling on the lawn, rolling down the hill to the foot of the hill, then laughing, climbing up again and doing it all again.

Draco Malfoy of Slytherin was lying on the grass, with his hands behind his head, looking far-reaching at the boundless blue sky, as if trying to see something in the sky.

Although it had not rained, there were still moist dewdrops and rain on the grass blades. Draco seemed to be unable to feel it, letting the moist magic robe spread a biting coldness on his skin.

Astoria Greengrass stood beside him, with hesitation written all over her little face. After struggling for a long time, the little girl still didn't want to lie down like him, but she quietly sat down.

When she got closer, she noticed that Draco's lips and cheeks were moving. Astoria asked curiously: "Are you eating candy?"

"Mandrake blades." Draco's eyes didn't blink, he opened his mouth expressionlessly, and raised his tongue to show it to the girl.

"Is it delicious?" Astoria's expression was innocent.

Draco glanced at her and said flatly: "It tastes terrible."

"Oh..." Astoria responded weakly, and the next moment, she began to mutter to herself, "I also want to join the Transfiguration Club and learn Animagus. The exam will be after Halloween, but I am only in the first grade..."

"..."

Draco didn't actually listen carefully, but the girl's muttering voice naturally flowed into his ears.

There will be no stupid remarks from Gower, no shrill voice from Parkinson, no...

Draco turned his head slightly and looked at the girl next to him, thinking that this seemed not bad.

…

Loren, who was on the trestle in the distance, retracted his distant gaze, took out a small bottle of tightly sealed potion from his pocket, and handed it to Lupine next to him: "Sorry, Professor, it took me a few days."

Lu Ping pursed his lips and slowly took the Wolfsbane potion: "This time it's the leopard skin flower, right?"

"Yes." Loren paused and warned, "Professor Snape has increased the concentration of the extract. Professor, you'd better go to the infirmary and drink the potion in front of Ms. Pomfrey."

"knew."

The breeze blew by, and Lu Ping's face looked slightly melancholy.