Dawn pondered his earlier speculation.
Did the twins' bodies really contain the consciousness of his future self?
Was this absurd idea right—or completely wrong?
It sounded ridiculous.
And yet, when matched against reality, the logic strangely held together.
Standing beneath fragmented sunlight filtered through branches, Dawn felt a headache coming on as more questions spiraled from that single assumption.
First—
How many versions of himself currently existed in this world?
One in the present.
One lying beyond the Veil.
And possibly one inside the twins?
After Voldemort had split himself among others, was Dawn now going to flood the castle with versions of himself as well?
That was something he absolutely could not accept.
And then— If he brought his future self out from the Veil, would the consciousness inside the twins disappear?
After all, the Resurrection Stone powder only connected to the thoughts of the dead.
Even if the Veil was special, once his future self returned, he could no longer be considered "dead."
But what if it didn't disappear? Would he have to stage a tragic scene of killing himself?
And even if it did disappear, things wouldn't be that simple.
Because the twins might regain their own identities.
Based on the fact that consuming the Resurrection Stone powder caused people to dream of the deceased's experiences—
They must have dreamed of something related to him.
So—
What exactly did they dream about? And once they regained themselves, would they expose any of his secrets?
There were simply too many things to consider.
Dawn grew increasingly irritated.
He suddenly shook his head hard—
Thud.
The back of his head slammed into a tree trunk, and he stifled a cry of pain.
But the sharp pain cleared his mind for a moment.
There was no point overthinking.
After a brief pause, Dawn transformed into an owl and let the wind carry him toward the Headmaster's office.
He landed on the windowsill and peered inside through the glass.
Inside, Dumbledore sat behind his desk, having just returned from the Great Hall.
Hearing the noise, he glanced over, saw only an owl, and paid it no further attention.
Instead, he continued chatting with the twins.
Fred grinned cheekily.
"Headmaster, our stomachs hurt earlier, so we missed the second half of your speech. Could you repeat it for us?"
"That's right!" added George with equal enthusiasm. "It's unfair that we're the only ones who didn't hear it! We demand a retelling!"
"Why not ask the other students?" Dumbledore asked mildly, clearly unbothered.
George's expression suddenly turned solemn.
"Ask them? Ha! That's naïve, Headmaster!"
For a moment, he even seemed imposing.
"What if they prank us with fake information? What if they trick us into drinking toilet water?"
"Exactly!" Fred nodded gravely.
"People are dangerous. You can't be too careful."
Dumbledore fell silent.
He stroked his beard helplessly and, indulging them, began recounting his speech again.
Outside, Dawn tilted his head.
As expected—
He must have been wrong. There was no way his consciousness was inside these two lunatics.
Still, just in case, he wanted to confirm it one more time.
So he stared intently at the twins.
Come on. If one of you is me from the future, give me a sign.
Blink. Scratch your head. Anything.
Dawn tried to communicate with his eyes.
But—
Five minutes passed.
The twins simply listened, occasionally interrupting with jokes like a comedy duo.
...This is bad.
Dawn felt his vision darken.
He had forgotten... Even if his future self really was inside them, given his own personality, he would never give himself a hint.
Dawn didn't want to give up.
But even after the twins left the office, he saw nothing.
Watching Fred and George step into the eighth-floor corridor, Dawn hesitated.
In the end, he did not follow them to use Legilimency.
Reading his own memories—even potentially—was far too dangerous when time was involved.
He gave Dumbledore one last glance inside the office, sighed, and flew away, intending to return to Avery.
However—
As he passed the corner near the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, Dawn suddenly paused.
He remembered yesterday, when he had followed Avery out of that room and happened to encounter Dumbledore in the corridor.
Although both were on the eighth floor, the Headmaster's office and the Room of Requirement were in completely different directions.
From Dumbledore's direction of travel at the time— He had likely been heading to the Room of Requirement.
Dawn narrowed his eyes.
He recalled their earlier conversation via the two-way mirror about "world correction."
He still didn't believe Dumbledore had known about "collective consciousness" for a long time.
Judging from the fact that Dumbledore had only spoken about it in the Great Hall today—
It seemed more likely that he had only recently gained insight.
So—Was it here?
After a moment of silence, Dawn rolled midair and transformed from an owl into a small insect.
He slipped through an open window into the corridor.
Finding the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, he began flying back and forth three times while focusing his thoughts.
Nothing happened.
Was it because he was in animal form?
After hesitating, he reverted to human form in a corner without portraits and immediately cast a Disillusionment Charm.
"I hope Dumbledore doesn't notice," he murmured.
Taking a risk, he began pacing the corridor.
"I want the room Dumbledore entered yesterday... I want the room Dumbledore entered yesterday..."
He repeated the request in his mind.
Still, no door appeared.
Had he guessed wrong?
Or could the Room of Requirement not be accessed using another person as the condition?
Frowning, Dawn decided to try one last time.
"I want the last room that appeared... I want the last room that appeared..."
This time—
A door handle suddenly materialized on the wall.
"So it does work," Dawn muttered, surprised.
He grasped the handle and pushed.
Creak.
The door opened.
Inside was a vast, empty room.
No decorations.
Only a stone statue of Ravenclaw stood in the center, roughly the same size as the one in the common room.
Dawn's spirits lifted.
This wasn't the newspaper-filled room Avery had used. Which meant it had been used after they left.
Given the short time frame, only a few people could have come here. Dawn was willing to believe this was Dumbledore's destination.
Could this be a room left behind by Ravenclaw?
The thought crossed his mind.
Even if Dumbledore had already taken anything valuable, curiosity stirred.
He stepped inside, closed the door, and circled the statue, examining it closely. But he detected no magical circuits.
In the end, he concluded that it was just an ordinary stone statue.
Strange.
Then what had Dumbledore come here for? After a moment, Dawn raised his wand.
°Rapid Manifestation°
The spell took effect instantly.
Pink bubbles began rising from the floor.
Dawn watched with interest.
Would this reveal the entire past of the Room of Requirement, or only this specific room?
The bubbles formed images.
A stone statue.
An empty room.
Dawn raised an eyebrow.
So it only showed this room. That made things easier. No interference from other rooms.
He focused on the images, comparing past and present.
It didn't take long to spot the difference. In the bubble, the statue held an open stone book in its hands.
But in reality— That book was gone.
Had Dumbledore taken it? Dawn's eyes sharpened.
As the bubble faded, he stepped forward, pointed his wand at the statue's hands, and cast the spell again.
The book must have been there for a long time— Until Dumbledore took it yesterday.
Which meant—
Even if the spell chose a random point in time, the chance of capturing that moment was very high.
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