Chapter 670 Winter Night Courtyard

After walking out of the auditorium, the noisy discussions and the warm fire were shut in together. The cold air overflowing from the foyer and courtyard made people feel refreshed and suddenly woke up.

Loren was about to walk towards the marble stairs when he suddenly caught a glimpse of silver in the courtyard. He paused and walked in the other direction, strolling through the corridor and straight into the courtyard.

On the winter night of November, a few stars hung sparsely in the sky. There was no moon in sight. The sky was bright and dark, enough to see clearly a few shrubs in the courtyard that were still standing strong. I couldn’t name them. The branches and leaves were covered with snow. It was also covered with snow, a silvery world.

But the old man sitting on the bench was wearing a gray cloth robe, with a fluffy beard and gray hair. If you didn't look carefully, you would have thought someone built the snowman.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"It's Loren, good evening."

"Good evening..." Loren greeted politely subconsciously, and then realized, "What are you doing here?"

"I left school in the evening to meet a friend. It was a little late when I came back. I originally planned to go upstairs to the office, but suddenly I found that the courtyard had a very nice view, so I was planning to sit here for a while." Dumbledore brushed aside the seat next to him. The snow on the bed patted the bench woven with vines, beckoning him to sit down and take a look.

Loren sat down next to him: "It sounds like something you would do, but it feels weird."

Dumbledore smiled warmly and took the initiative to talk without waiting for him to ask: "Rufus asked me to meet at the Pig's Head Bar and chatted about Death Eaters..."

The information was similar to what Loren knew. After a period of stalemate between the Ministry of Magic and Voldemort, the incident made some progress.

A few weeks have passed since Voldemort took over the Ministry of Magic. Since there was no manpower around to consolidate and expand his rule, Voldemort proposed to exchange prisoners with Rufus and exchange Ministry staff for Death Eaters. After a period of negotiation or delay, they reached an agreement. A preliminary agreement was reached, Voldemort promised to restore the Floo network connection, and Scrimgeour promised to start the first exchange during the Christmas holidays.

"Voldemort's patience is beyond my expectation..." Loren said with some emotion.

Dumbledore smiled: "He is indeed not in a hurry. According to the information I received, he has been immersed in the Department of Mysteries these days, studying the strange powers in those rooms, especially since he almost turned into a ghost last time. That love house.”

"He won't come up with anything troublesome, right?"

"What can he study?" Dumbledore glanced at him faintly, "The Hall of Time and the Hall of Planets are empty, the Hall of Prophecy has lost its value to him, there is no real wisdom in the Hall of Brains, and he cannot open the door of love. ... There is indeed another kind of extraordinary magic behind the death curtain, but death is also what Voldemort fears most. He is afraid of the door and resists the curtain.

Dumbledore shook his head, with real pity in his eyes: "Poor Tom is guarding the treasure house and can't get anything."

"..."

Lucky Loren, when he went to the treasure house, he almost emptied it out.

Someone lowered his head and glanced at the pendant in front of his neck: "So after the exchange is completed, how are you and Minister Scrimgeour going to deal with Voldemort?"

"I have a well-thought-out plan and I pin my hopes of success on you."

"us?"

Loren was a little surprised.

If it was placed on Harry, it would be understandable. After all, the scar on Harry's forehead contained the last fragment of Voldemort's soul, and he should be responsible for ending the final battle.

Loren looked at him suspiciously: "You won't make any weird plans to lure the enemy. You will die on your own initiative to make Voldemort relax his vigilance or something..."

"Why do you think so?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, his blue eyes deep and unclear.

"I don't know." Loren shook his head and murmured, "I just feel that you old men are always weird, and you always only speak half of what you say, so why should you use this half to hide it? Abstract metaphor, I don’t rule out the idea of ​​sacrificing yourself.”

"Well... I may disappoint you. I'm probably not as noble as you think. Besides, I also dream of traveling around the world after retirement. I have a notebook that records the interesting places I've heard about over the years. , what attracts me most is the place where the snowman appears in Lockhart’s book..."

"Then you should retire early."

"Thank you for your blessing."

Dumbledore looked into his eyes, smiled, and exhaled a white breath. His voice suddenly became brisk, even with a clear smile, "Stop talking about this, let's talk about something happy. I heard that you are in class this afternoon. After defeating Gellert, he must be secretly embarrassed in the office now. Tell me how he did it."

"It was just an accident. I used the power of Hogwarts."

Dumbledore gave a strange look: "Oh? Then I'm even more curious."

"The protective alchemy array at Hogwarts has banned all magic involving space movement in the school, so Professor Bagshot cannot use Apparition during the battle. His profound dodge experience is of no use, and he can only be forced to compete head-on with me." …But he doesn’t know that I have mastered a new kind of space magic that happens to break through this limitation.”

As Loren spoke, he stretched out his hand toward the bushes not far away.

The heavy snow made the branches sink. In the blink of an eye, the snow on them disappeared. The suddenly relaxed branches swayed happily up and down, as if waving in response to Loren.

Dumbledore turned his head and looked again. The ball of snow had appeared in Loren's hand. He kneaded it into a snowball and threw it not far away. It sank into the snow with a puff.

"The magical power of space, this is not an accident, nor is it a trick. Taking advantage of the environment is also an important skill in combat. When I was young, I met an old wizard..."

Being old means rich experience and profound experience. Unlike wizards like Flamel who are not good at dueling, Dumbledore has unique insights and profound insights. Even for such a new magic, he can make his own suggestions.

Loren sat beside him and listened carefully, and gained a lot.

Neither of them noticed the passage of time. It was the noise in the auditorium that brought them back to their senses. Turning their heads, they saw that dinner time was over. The young wizards returned to the common room in groups, chattering, and the corridor stairs were very lively.

Perhaps because Loren's black magic robe did not match the surrounding environment, Hermione saw him at a glance, and then noticed Dumbledore, who looked like a snowman next to him, and called Harry and Ron, and ran over in small steps.

"Loren, Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?"

"The professor came back late from going out, and planned to drink all he could here. I came to persuade him."

Hermione turned to look at Dumbledore next to him: "I have a mango pudding here, professor, do you want to eat it?"

Loren opened his eyes wide: "That's my pudding!"

"You've had dinner."

"..."

Harry and Ron, who ran over from behind, also heard the conversation between the two, and took out snacks from the storage scales, reminding Dumbledore that he could go to the kitchen, where there should be hot food.

Dumbledore looked at the four people in the courtyard, smiled unconsciously, and his eyes were gentle.