The warm flames scattered beneath Fawkes' beating wings, and Dumbledore and Leonard stepped out of the fire into the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore then took out the parchment and asked Leonard a series of questions.
What Dumbledore wanted to know was the exact nature of the stone statues described on the parchment.
The method for making them was explained clearly enough, but since he had never seen the real thing, he still had no clear sense of how effective they were or how much they were worth.
On that point, Leonard had plenty to say. Using the Pensieve, he showed Dumbledore one of his memories, edited to remove any trace of Midgard, so Dumbledore could see for himself just how powerful those statues really were.
Giant stone statues that could respond with agility even under ancient magic attacks.
Ordinary-sized stone statues that could endlessly restore themselves and withstand most magic.
Either kind would be an excellent fit for Hogwarts.
Dumbledore lifted his head from the Pensieve, looking very satisfied with what he had seen.
"Thank you very much for your contribution, Leonard. The method for making these statues will be quite useful to Hogwarts."
Smiling, Dumbledore continued, "Perhaps the stone statues around Hogwarts should be replaced in stages. These self-restoring statues would protect the school far more effectively."
"Uh... I'm happy to help the school, but..." Leonard raised a brow, making it obvious he had no intention of contributing for nothing.
"A Special Achievement Award?"
"Headmaster, surely you're joking. What use would it be no matter how many I got? Better to give me something practical." Leonard spread his hands.
"Then what is it you want?" Dumbledore asked.
He could tell now. Leonard was not the sort of young man who could be brushed aside with a few words about honor. He was a very practical person.
"Emmm..." Leonard thought for a moment, then said, "The school is definitely planning to make a batch of ancient magical statues, right? Could you set aside a few for me?"
Dumbledore frowned slightly.
Judging by what Leonard had shown him in the memory, these statues possessed a kind of power that most wizards would find difficult to deal with. Dumbledore did not want to hand something that dangerous to a student.
But when he considered that this was Leonard's own discovery to begin with, he had no solid reason to refuse. Theoretically, Leonard could make such dangerous things himself anyway.
More precisely, even if Dumbledore wanted to make these statues, he would still need Leonard's help, because they required the power of ancient magic to be activated.
Dumbledore was not worried that Leonard would somehow gain control of every statue that was made. The craft of making magical stone statues was already a very mature branch of magic in the wizarding world. These ancient magical statues were merely powered by ancient magic. That did not mean Leonard could control them.
Otherwise, Leonard would not have been so passive when he ran into those statues in the first place. Dumbledore had seen part of that encounter himself through the Pensieve.
"All right," Dumbledore said. "But what do you intend to do with them? These things absolutely cannot be taken in front of Muggles."
Leonard still had to go home every winter and summer holiday. The statues could not be taken with him, and shipping them was out of the question too.
"As for that... Headmaster, you don't need to worry. I have a way to deal with it," Leonard said.
That only made Dumbledore more uneasy. He looked at Leonard, who seemed perfectly calm, with open suspicion, then nodded helplessly.
"Very well. How many statues do you want to keep?"
"Three is enough," Leonard said.
To be honest, the statues' combat ability was only so-so. Leonard had no expectations that they would help him deal with enemies. If he really wanted to handle someone, magical plants were still far more reliable.
The main reason he wanted the statues was to station them permanently in the Botanical Garden and have them help him take care of the plants.
As one batch of plants matured, Leonard planted another in even greater numbers.
Even with magic helping him, handling everything alone was starting to feel beyond him. It would be better to have some magical creations, something like puppets or golems, help him tend the plants.
Ancient magical statues were not made for combat alone. From the very beginning, they had been created to serve wizards. Teach them how to use weapons during the creation process, and they became guards. Give them a gardener's professional code, and they became gardeners.
Leonard had already done the math. At the Botanical Garden's current scale, three statues would be enough to keep everything there in perfect order.
"Only three? Very well." Dumbledore nodded and reluctantly agreed.
Just three ancient magical statues should not be enough to cause any real trouble.
"What are you planning to tell Harris?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm not planning to say much of anything," Leonard said on purpose. "Headmaster, you saw it yourself. This expedition into the ruins really didn't go smoothly. Who knows how much Professor Raymons had to do with that."
"So I plan to wait a little longer and see whether Professor Raymons continues to show his sincerity."
...
One month later.
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Hello, Professor Raymons."
As students passed him one after another, Harris Raymons wore a flawless smile and nodded in response to each greeting.
Every girl who received a response from Harris Raymons lit up with excitement.
This Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was extremely popular at Hogwarts now. He was witty and humorous, yet in class he showed just the right amount of seriousness, and his lessons were lively and varied.
That had earned him no shortage of admirers.
But none of that mattered. The students' praise and worship meant nothing to him. What mattered was that Leonard William still held a prejudice against him.
According to the feedback from Professor Dumbledore, Leonard William's exploration of the ruins had gone poorly. Leonard William seemed to have pinned that failure on the Ravens, believing they had tampered with something along the way.
Heaven help him, they had never even entered the true ruins. How could they possibly have meddled with anything there?
Harris Raymons wiped the cold sweat from his face. Recently, he had been using the Pensieve every day to probe Voldemort's memories, enduring the erosion of dark magic day after day.
He could still hold on, but every time he removed dark magic's influence, he had to let blood, and he was starting to feel a little anemic.
Forget Leonard William for now. Before dealing with that, he had better investigate the other task first.
Leonard William was not going anywhere, after all.
He left the castle and headed for the cliff to the north.