Even so.
Abeforth's talent, in their time, probably only second to the two great masters of their era — you need to know this guy almost wasted his whole life yet still managed to be stronger than most wizards, which already says quite a lot about the issue with talent here. Abeforth Dumbledore's worst aspect is likely his deep understanding of magic.
This is evident from the fact that Abeforth Dumbledore's name appears on Ian's Living Map, and Ian stood outside the Headmaster's Office for such a long time, pondering so many things, yet Abeforth inside was steadily sitting at the desk, completely oblivious that Ian handed over a fake Resurrection Stone.
Abeforth's deep exploration of magic likely stalled during his youth... Ian could even picture a scene where Abeforth, fearing he's still using reading glasses to study the fake Resurrection Stone Ring, muttering nonsense like "how does this thing work."
"The only trouble is if the real headmaster discovers the Resurrection Stone Ring is with me, I'd surely face the consequences from the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Our professor actually advised me to make sure Dumbledore never knows." Ian repeatedly ensured Abeforth didn't come after him before he lifted his foot and walked towards the direction of the staircase.
He quickly thought of a strategy to deal with it — speak honestly, but disregard the timeline, he could completely tell Albus Dumbledore that he had handed over the real Resurrection Stone Ring to Lady Ravenclaw.
The dear headmaster surely wouldn't go to that volcano to seek confirmation from Lady Ravenclaw, right? Even if one day the truth were really exposed, Ian only omitted the part where Lady Ravenclaw returned the ring to him afterward.
"This is the art of language!" Ian looked down from the moving staircase, seeing quite a few little wizards heading to the Great Hall, as it perfectly coincided with the time Hogwarts's little elves served meals.
He originally planned to avoid it, detour to the little elves' kitchen to have a hot pot, but unexpectedly, sharp-eyed Ravenclaw little wizards blocked him directly at the end of the staircase.
This group of people had eyes that shone frighteningly bright, not asking anything, just surrounded Ian as if crowding around him, but Ian felt he was being coerced into the Great Hall.
The aroma of food filled the whole space of the Great Hall.
The long tables of the four colleges had already been seated by students arriving one after another, except everyone eating wasn't particularly energetic, all clustering in twos and threes, endless whispered discussions.
The Prefects wanted to maintain order while eating, yet it was utterly futile; Ian faintly heard students from all age groups discussing what happened in the Forbidden Forest.
Faintly, the word "Dragon" was repeatedly mentioned. And when Ian was forcibly brought into the Great Hall, many students' eyes immediately shifted to him.
Eyes held disbelief, shock, awe, and fear — Ian finally couldn't hold back anymore and grabbed a familiar little wizard nearby to ask.
"What's up with you guys? And why do they all look at me so strangely!" Ian was quite speechless, even noticing a little witch burst into tears just from him looking at her.
"We're waiting for you, Young Professor, to tell us what happened; we're betting you'd brag voluntarily; Michael opened a bet market in Ravenclaw College."
The person who Ian caught turned out to be the Chocolate Frog boy, who swiftly answered Ian's doubts, "As for others from other colleges... it's probably that Miss Greengrass, after class, told almost everyone she encountered the story she concocted; this story seems to have been further widely spread by Gryffindor."
The Chocolate Frog boy's words made Ian slightly stunned.
"What story?"
Ian had a bad feeling rising in his heart.
"Miss Greengrass said you fought against three hundred adult wizards in the Forbidden Forest, and killed them all..." The Chocolate Frog boy clearly didn't believe such a tale.
Other Ravenclaw little wizards felt the same.
How could their Young Professor kill anyone? This Young Professor was the gentle boy who repeatedly reminded them not to hurt others while teaching them relatively harmless Evil Curse spells!
"Those Slytherin snakes are just so nasty!"
"The version I heard was the Young Professor fought Grindelwald... Grindelwald was beaten and ran away with his tail between his legs, I think since Grindelwald has a tail, he might be a succubus."
"Oh? I heard it was the Young Professor being chased by Grindelwald riding the Mysterious Man? It said the Mysterious Man reincarnated into an ostrich in the Forbidden Forest!"
"Gryffindor's twins even said they saw you wandering out at night instead of sleeping, claiming whenever you're unhappy at night, you'd go to the Forbidden Forest to catch a few centaurs or unicorns to eat."
...
With the Chocolate Frog boy speaking, other Ravenclaw little wizards couldn't hold back any longer, chirping and adding things they knew.
Ian listened more and more confused, his eyes almost popping out like an alien's.
Goodness! Only how long has the incident in the Forbidden Forest lasted?
Rumors already have such a wide variety of versions!? What kind of nonsense was Grindelwald riding the Mysterious Man! Gryffindor's twins could spread even more absurd versions?!