Tver and Dumbledore shared a bit of lighthearted banter before Dumbledore smoothly steered the conversation back to Transfiguration, formally beginning their discussion for the evening.
To Tver's surprise, however, Dumbledore didn't linger on Transfiguration for long. Or rather, his questions became far more pointed.
"I've noticed that the way your Transfiguration functions seems to have changed," he said casually, as if it were an offhand remark.
Tver had already prepared himself to be noticed, yet Dumbledore's calm attitude made it hard to read his intentions.
He took a sip of pumpkin juice to cover his reaction, but Dumbledore across from him remained perfectly composed, as though the question hadn't even come from him.
Impossible to read…
"That's right. I've been studying some aspects of ancient Transfiguration recently. It's a bit more cumbersome, but the ancient system has a higher ceiling."
"So I've been learning it casually," Tver replied in an even more indifferent tone.
Dumbledore wasn't surprised by the answer. In fact, his own mastery of Transfiguration had begun at a similar stage.
The difference was that, unlike Grindelwald's highly specialized approach, Dumbledore had explored the entire Transfiguration system from top to bottom.
If Tver knew what Dumbledore was thinking, he would probably be shocked.
Unlike Tver, who had been able to build on existing foundations, Dumbledore had relied entirely on his own abilities.
He had effectively deduced an entire Transfiguration system by himself.
Of course, that was also because of the vast difference in how long they had studied magic.
Give Tver another twenty years, and he could reach the same level.
But by then, pushing things further would only become exponentially harder.
"That's a very sound line of thinking," Dumbledore said softly. "To be honest, I've never seen a young person as outstanding as you who still continues to explore the mysteries of magic."
"More outstanding than me, and even more so than your teacher."
Dumbledore let out a brief sigh of reflection, though his intention was clearly not just to praise Tver.
"If you don't mind me rambling a little, I'd like to talk about my past with your teacher…"
"Of course not," Tver said at once, his eyes lighting up. "My teacher rarely talk about things like that with me."
He immediately slid his chair forward, leaning closer to Dumbledore.
He even moved the little cakes and pumpkin juice out of the way, as if preparing to "watch" Dumbledore's story with his eyes.
Dumbledore smiled helplessly at the gesture and ignored it. He leaned back instead, letting himself sink into his memories.
"That year, I had just graduated from Hogwarts."
"Forgive my arrogance, but at the time I was hailed as a prodigy in the wizarding world. Many great wizards who corresponded with me believed I would one day become its leader."
"You did, didn't you?" Tver said, offering sincere praise.
Even though he was wary of Dumbledore, and even though Dumbledore had defeated his own teacher, Tver had to admit one thing.
Dumbledore was the unquestioned leader of the wizarding world, both in the past and in the present.
Yet at those words, Dumbledore's expression suddenly dimmed.
"But I feel ashamed of it."
"My achievements were built on defeating Grindelwald."
"What people don't know is that because of what happened to my sister, I once agreed with his ideas wholeheartedly. In fact, some of those ideas even came from me."
"I was like an ambitious man who propped up a rival for himself, only to enjoy the praise of the world after defeating him."
"I am ashamed of it."
He emphasized the word "ashamed" again, his voice ringing out with a force completely out of proportion to his age. It even startled Fawkes, who was resting nearby, into flapping his wings.
Tver finally understood why Dumbledore always shut himself away in the castle.
At heart, he was filled with guilt.
For figures like Dumbledore and Grindelwald, the resonance between their ideals had far outweighed anything as simple as love.
Yet for Dumbledore, whether it was helping Grindelwald stray down the wrong path or betraying the ideals he had once believed in, both were unforgivable mistakes.
Every bit of praise people lavished on him sounded like mockery in his ears, stabbing relentlessly at his heart.
"But you didn't choose this path deliberately, did you?" Tver said gently, trying to calm the visibly agitated Dumbledore. "You only did what you thought you should at the time."
"And honestly, even without you, my teacher would still have developed ideas about ruling over Muggles."
"On the contrary, it was precisely because of your involvement that he didn't become so extreme. You made him realize that even if wizards ruled Muggles, they would still have to bear corresponding responsibilities."
Since his teacher wasn't here, it didn't matter if he put it a bit bluntly.
And he truly believed that without Dumbledore acting as a counterbalance, his teacher might really have gone down a path as extreme as Voldemort's.
The sorrow on Dumbledore's face vanished almost instantly, as if it had never been there, replaced by a grave seriousness.
"And what about you?"
"Your teacher and I both once wanted to rule over Muggles. And you? What do you intend to do to them?"
He slowly took out a newspaper. With just a glance, Tver knew what it contained.
Professor Burbage had already begun hinting at the potential threats posed by Muggles, though she did so in a restrained way, not yet causing any real stir in the wizarding world.
But that sort of subtlety was meaningless in front of Dumbledore.
"Many of Charity's ideas are very similar to yours. Or rather, they seem to come from you."
"So can you explain what kind of threat Muggle technology poses to wizards?"
"And how should wizards respond to those threats?"
Dumbledore lowered his head and pointed at the article, his expression hidden from view.
So that's why he brought up the past. He was waiting for me here.
The corners of Tver's lips lifted slightly.
The reason he had encouraged Burbage instead of speaking to Dumbledore directly was precisely to use someone else's voice to remind him—
Muggle progress wasn't something a handful of people could decide through discussion alone. Listening to the broader public was the most legitimate approach for the wizarding world.
To put it bluntly, he was using public opinion to morally corner Dumbledore.
"I don't know, Headmaster."
"If you've read the papers, you should know there are all kinds of opinions in the wizarding world. I think we need to wait for them—"
"I want to hear your opinion. Your real opinion!" Dumbledore suddenly looked up, his gaze surging toward Tver.
"I know you've been in contact with the Ministry. I know you're courting pure-blood families…"
"You're building your own followers!"
"Do you understand what that means, Tver?"
"That's exactly how Grindelwald and Voldemort started!"
"And you're doing it even more carefully than they did!"
To be honest, Tver had originally planned to bring up this topic with Dumbledore at a better time.
He hadn't expected Dumbledore to bring it up himself. It seemed the greatest wizard's instincts were even sharper than he had imagined.
"But it's more amicable, isn't it?" Tver leaned forward, meeting Dumbledore's gaze head-on, his eyes steady and resolute.
This was a moment he had to endure. If he backed down now, persuading Dumbledore later would only become harder.
Fortunately, the knowledge he had recently gained from Salazar Slytherin had given him far more confidence than before.
...
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