After the words fell, Link and Dumbledore both fell into a long silence again.
Link's eyes, flickering with a faint blue glow, stared fixedly at Dumbledore as if trying to see his true thoughts.
In contrast, a layer of golden light also seemed to cover Dumbledore's eyes.
The two looked at each other for a long time before Link finally spoke, "Why? You don't need to do this."
This was what confused Link the most.
Dumbledore clearly had no obligation to accompany him to France on such a dangerous trip, yet he had still made this suggestion.
From a purely practical standpoint, this would be an enormous help to Link's trip to France.
But there is no such thing as kindness without a reason in this world.
If Dumbledore was suddenly being this attentive, then he either had some hidden agenda or something to gain.
Hearing this, Dumbledore frowned slightly, as if thinking about how to brush Link off.
Seeing this, Link put on a stern face and said, "You'd better tell me the truth, Professor Dumbledore."
"Deception would seriously damage our alliance. And right now, it would probably be very hard for you to fool me, especially with some hastily made, sloppy lie."
Dumbledore seemed amused by Link's words.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
But it quickly dropped again. He sighed deeply and said seriously, "You're still too young, Link."
"I understand what you're thinking. You want to use Trelawney's prophecy to accomplish something, just like I do."
"But as for how exactly to do it, you're actually completely lost."
Dumbledore's words didn't really answer Link's question, but Link still nodded because what he said was true.
He really didn't know what to do.
For a period of time, he had even forgotten about Trelawney's existence altogether.
Seeing Link nod, Dumbledore smiled again and said, "But that's alright, because you're actually already walking the path toward fulfilling Trelawney's prophecy."
"Even if you're very unclear about it, even if your trip to France is only for obtaining more King's Blood, the fact remains that up to now, everything you've done perfectly matches Trelawney's prophecy."
"After all, the prophecy she made was originally just one possible future timeline for you."
"However, since you personally don't have the ability to precisely control its progress, you still need a supervisor to correct your mistakes in time."
"To prevent you from becoming a slave to the King's Blood, and also to prevent the King's Blood inside you from turning into the true Demon King's Blood mentioned by Trelawney!"
"So," Link said expressionlessly, "you want to be that supervisor?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"This trip to France is extremely important for you. A good supervisor would be a great help to you."
A smile finally returned to Link's face as he slowly said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Professor Dumbledore. I believe you'll definitely play the role of supervisor well."
While saying this, Dumbledore had also opened part of his mind.
So Link could tell that Dumbledore wasn't lying.
At least, most of what he said wasn't lies.
That alone was sincere enough.
At their level of strength and status, it was impossible to truly open one's entire mind to someone.
Unless it was to a spouse or truly close family.
Since that was the case, then letting Dumbledore come along was fine.
After all, France, as the nest of the Shadow People, was indeed very dangerous.
Having Dumbledore as a helper was a very good thing for Link.
"Then it's settled. It's getting late. You should rest early."
As Dumbledore spoke, he walked toward the exit.
But just as he was about to leave the Room of Requirement under Link's gaze, he suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back,
"Oh right, Link. Before we depart, we'd better visit Trelawney. The only thing she learned from her father is her habit of always holding something back and never saying everything at once. The prophecy she gave you is probably the same. I've suffered from that before."
"Understood, Professor Dumbledore. I'll go tomorrow."
Link nodded in agreement.
Only then did Dumbledore finally leave the Room of Requirement with peace of mind.
But the moment the door closed behind him, the smile on Link's face was instantly replaced by a heavy, serious expression.
Among everything Dumbledore had just said, there was actually a very important piece of information.
Link had already suspected it before, but because he had been dazzled by huge benefits, he had temporarily ignored it.
Now that Dumbledore reminded him, he immediately remembered it again.
The King's Blood has side effects.
And these side effects are extremely terrifying.
Link himself was the most typical victim.
It was just that his willpower was extremely strong, so the King's Blood's influence on him had been reduced to the lowest level, only revealing its brutality when Link completely lost emotional control.
Making him become extremely violent in moments of rage.
This wasn't really a big problem for Link.
Because his personality already leaned toward absolute rationality. When facing targets that deserved to die, he never felt any strange or unnecessary mercy.
And thanks to the continuous upgrades of Occlumency, the King's Blood's influence on him had now been suppressed to a level that could almost be ignored.
But when it came to ordinary people, it could almost instantly change their minds, turning them from possessors of the King's Blood into slaves of the King's Blood.
Violent, murderous, cruel, completely emotionless…
Almost every vicious word in the human vocabulary could be used on such slaves of the King's Blood without exaggeration.
Because in a certain sense, they could no longer even be considered human.
They were monsters.
Monsters born only for slaughter.
The most terrifying part about these monsters was that this endless killing would cause the King's Blood holder's strength to grow without limit.
This was actually reflected in Link as well.
That is, his system.
Based on the system's achievement logic, there would definitely be achievements for killing people.
For example, killing one hundred wizards might grant some kind of title, plus several skill points.
Killing one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand…
The rewards for that achievement would increase directly with the number of kills.
Or for example, killing Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, George and Fred the twins…
These "important plot characters" would probably also have corresponding rewards.
Continuing along this line of thought, with his current power and influence, it wouldn't be impossible for him to slaughter all the wizards of Hogwarts and even the entire British magical world.
And if it really came to that point, he probably wouldn't even need to go to France to fight the Shadow People.
These massive rewards would push him straight onto a divine throne.
Making him the most terrifying existence in this world.
At this thought, Link even felt a bit excited.
But the next moment, he rapidly shook his head, throwing all these terrifying thoughts out of his mind.
As a human being, there are things that cannot be done.
Once done, he could no longer be called human.
For ordinary people, this concept of losing one's humanity might be philosophical, but for Link, it was literal.
Because the King's Blood existed inside him.
Link had a feeling that if he really did such things, the King's Blood inside him would evolve further, and at that point he would also become a slave to the blood.
And devouring other King's Blood probably carried the same danger. That was likely why Dumbledore insisted on going to France with him.
The purpose was to pull Link back when he faced temptation and was about to lose control.
After thinking through everything, Link let out a long sigh and sat down cross-legged where he was.
In the distance, the magical lamps inside the Room of Requirement were going out one by one.
Link simply sat there with his eyes closed, motionless, letting the darkness swallow him.
———
[The Next Morning]
As the first ray of dawn spread across the horizon, Hogwarts, this thousand-year-old castle, awakened once more.
Bursts of laughter echoed continuously through the castle. Students excitedly put on their casual clothes, carrying big and small bags, and rushed toward the entrance hall despite the early hour.
Today was the day they were going home for summer vacation.
Professor McGonagall had also gotten up early.
But instead of going down to the entrance hall, she held a cup of tea and stood by the window of her office, watching the students below.
Seeing how happy they were, almost dancing with excitement, even her always serious face showed a slight smile.
She understood this too well.
Students always look forward to vacations while in school.
Especially summer vacation.
That two-month stretch of freedom was practically heaven to them.
So the closer summer vacation got, the more excited the students became.
Just like right now.
But after summer vacation went on for a while, things would change.
Students would begin to miss their life studying at Hogwarts.
What had once been a joyful and free vacation would start to feel like a boring cage.
This almost strange, hard-to-understand experience was something nearly everyone had gone through.
Even Professor McGonagall herself was no exception back then.
Even now, whenever she thought back to her student days, she couldn't help but smile knowingly.
Of course, the students in the entrance hall had no idea they were being watched.
They were completely immersed in the joy of the upcoming holiday.
Especially Harry.
He was the most excited of all.
Because his godfather, Sirius Black, had already bought a house on Privet Drive.
This meant that while he could continue living with the Dursleys to maintain his blood protection magic, he could also visit Sirius every day and enjoy real freedom.
To Harry, this news was almost as important as when he first received his Hogwarts acceptance letter.
Seeing how excited he looked, Hermione smiled slightly and teased, "Harry, I'll write to you during the summer. You won't mysteriously fail to receive my letters this time, right?"
Hermione's words snapped Harry out of his daydream.
He said excitedly, "Of course not. Sirius wouldn't stop owls from delivering my mail. But you have to write my new address clearly, Number 13 Privet Drive! Don't get it wrong!"
"Even if I do, it should be fine, right?" Hermione continued with a smile. "With Sirius there, your aunt and uncle probably wouldn't dare treat you like that anymore."
Hearing this, Harry froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Hermione, you're absolutely right!"
"Sirius already told me he visited the Dursleys yesterday and told them he's my godfather, and also that he used to be an important wanted murderer by the Ministry of Magic!"
"They must've been scared out of their minds!"
"Damn, I can't wait to get home and see the looks on their faces!"
"That's definitely going to be hilarious!"
After saying that, Harry fell into another fit of laughter.
Hermione laughed along with him.
She was genuinely happy for Harry.
After going through so much hardship, he deserved a good life like this.
"What are you two talking about? Why are you so happy?"
Ron suddenly appeared, asking in confusion.
Harry didn't react much and stayed immersed in his happiness.
Hermione, however, instantly changed expression.
She shot Ron a fierce glare.
Ron had spent the entire previous night with Lavender and her ghost friends. What exactly they did, only they themselves knew.
After learning everything from her roommate, Hermione had been furious. She had immediately gone to George and Fred to complain, hoping Ron's two older brothers would discipline their younger brother.
However, not only were George and Fred not angry, they even laughed in satisfaction.
They had even said a whole bunch of things to Hermione like, "The men of the Weasley family are just fierce, our abilities are strong, same goes for the women!"
"Otherwise where do you think all those Weasleys came from?" which made Hermione's face turn bright red until she had to cover her face and run away.
Remembering that embarrassment, Hermione gritted her teeth and decided that as soon as she got home, she would write to Mrs. Weasley and tell her all the nonsense her three sons had been up to.
She refused to believe Mrs. Weasley would also confidently talk about "strong abilities" like that.
Ron didn't notice the major disaster about to fall on him. He looked at Hermione, who was grinding her teeth, with some confusion, then quickly forgot about it and excitedly pointed in a direction.
"Hey, look! Something seems different over by the graduates!"
At Ron's shout, not just Harry, but many other students turned to look.
Sure enough, on an open area not far outside the entrance hall, more than twenty graduates were still wearing their Hogwarts uniforms, standing neatly in formation.
In front of them were more than ten flying carriages, each marked with the M-shaped Ministry of Magic emblem.
Several Ministry officials wearing trench coats and M-shaped badges stepped down from the front carriage and walked toward the graduates with firm strides.
Their appearance made the previously relaxed graduates straighten up almost instantly, putting on serious expressions.
Seeing this, the young official leading them, who was clearly an Auror, smiled and took off his gentleman's hat, revealing hair that was already almost half white.
[T/N: For me the best part of bringing you chapters everyday is reading your comments. Be it anything witty or a simple "Tftc", they all keep me motivated to keep posting chapters. So, do comment and please give a REVIEW.]