"Professor?"
Everyone was startled by Dumbledore's sudden appearance. Only Snape merely snorted through his nose, casting a cool glance at Lucius and saying flatly, "So you finally caught him?"
"Quite a while ago, actually."
Dumbledore cheerfully set the unconscious Lucius down on the floor, then turned to look at Avada and the group of students who were staring at him with curiosity. The smile on his face grew even brighter. "Thank you, all of you. Well done."
"To call you heroes who saved Hogwarts would already be the most restrained description. Your feat of shattering Voldemort's plot together with that of the hardline pure-bloods has, in a sense, saved the wizarding world itself—saved the future of all Muggle-born witches and wizards. If rewards were to be strictly allocated according to contribution, not only would all four House hourglasses overflow, I fear even this year's Merlin Order quotas might fall short…"
Avada smiled calmly, accepting Dumbledore's praise.
Baron took a subtle step back, though the grin on his face was impossible to hide.
Harry and Ron were beaming foolishly, grinning from ear to ear.
Hermione and Luna were blushing slightly, looking as though they didn't quite know what to do with their hands.
The twins let out an unrestrained cheer and gave each other a solid smack on the backside…
"And my thanks as well for the information you provided me, Ken."
Dumbledore pointed at Lucius on the floor. "Lucius was that 'key source of information.' The single detail of 'a descendant of Grindelwald' was enough for the diary to infer far too much—and it just happened to hit the mark."
Both Avada and Baron twitched at the corners of their eyes.
Who could have imagined that something Mr. Shafiq had tossed out so casually would spiral into something this big? If Avada had truly been an ordinary person, that would have been one thing—but the problem was, he really was a 'seer'…
For something like the diary, which could notice the oddities in last term's events, the information "a descendant of Grindelwald" was practically instant confirmation of Avada's identity as a prophet, prompting a whole chain of countermeasures. Without that piece of information, it was hard to say what conclusion it might have reached.
"And as someone who knew almost everything, and the central figure responsible for liaising with and coordinating those people, Lucius was ordered by Voldemort to hide himself from the very start of term. Even his accomplices didn't know where he was hiding. Voldemort feared that if Lucius were captured, someone might read his memories and obtain the truth directly…"
Dumbledore smiled faintly. "All I can say is that he underestimated human intelligence. Sometimes, the mind is more useful than Legilimency—or even prophecy."
"During this time, my primary task was to gradually determine Lucius's location and seize control of him before he could erase his own memories."
He glanced at Avada with a smile, prompting the latter to scratch his head.
"So," Avada pointed at Lucius, trying to lighten the mood, "can Lucius's memories serve as evidence to uproot the hardline pure-blood faction entirely? If I remember correctly, memories obtained through Legilimency or Veritaserum can't be used as direct evidence, right?"
"That's correct."
Dumbledore nodded. "Skilled wizards can fabricate such things with ease, so they can only be used as leads for investigation. And what influential pure-blood families fear least is investigation…"
"Then you—"
"So I prepared this as well."
With a flourish, Dumbledore waved his hand, and a large suitcase emerged from a burst of flame. He levitated it before the group and opened it, revealing a mountain of documents—letters, ledgers, account books, and various odd items piled inside.
"You didn't think I did nothing before obtaining Lucius's information, did you, Ken?"
"These are…?"
"They are correspondence between the pure-blood families, secret orders given to the investigation teams, receipts for materials purchased to fabricate evidence, and internal information from the institution that 'identified' the augurey… It's rather complicated to explain in detail, but in short, these are the pieces of evidence that truly settle the matter."
"How did you even manage this?!"
Everyone crowded around in astonishment, flipping through the neatly prepared materials. It was hard to imagine how Dumbledore had obtained all of this right under the noses of the pure-blood families.
"It wasn't as difficult as you might think,"
Dumbledore said cheerfully, not stopping them from browsing the documents. "A bit of clever magic, plus some friendly conversations, and it's easily done. Of course, the most important factor was the wealth of intelligence provided by Professor Snape—it saved me a great deal of time and effort…"
"Snape?!"
Not just Avada—even Baron, Harry, and the others all looked up in shock, staring at that taut-faced man whose lips were visibly twitching.
"Didn't he swear an Unbreakable Vow?!"
Seeing their reactions, Dumbledore wore a mischievous grin and pulled up his sleeve. "The Unbreakable Vow you're referring to—do you mean this one?"
Everyone turned to look—
Wrapped around Dumbledore's arm were several threadlike brands as well!
Avada was instantly bewildered. "P-Professor… what exactly is going on?"
"Oh? You didn't figure it out?"
Dumbledore lowered his sleeve and shook his head regretfully. "I thought this would be the easiest part to deduce—after all, you were able to produce such brilliant reasoning and cleverly exploit the properties of Polyjuice Potion…"
"Polyjuice Potion?"
While the others were still processing, Avada's eyes lit up instantly. "Don't tell me—"
"That's right."
Dumbledore grinned like a delighted old child. "The one who swore the Unbreakable Vow of loyalty to the pure-bloods wasn't Professor Snape at all—it was me, after drinking Polyjuice Potion."
"After I was driven out of Hogwarts, I went to France and spent several months working with my old friend Nicolas Flamel, finally removing the effects of the vow from myself. The Unbreakable Vow is indeed one of the most powerful magical contracts—but the techniques behind it are far too ancient, somewhat outdated. By coincidence, Nicolas and I are both rather well-versed in modern magic."
"Though it may sound a bit arrogant, I must say—there are very few spells in this world that Nicolas and I cannot break together. Even so, I paid no small price to free myself from the vow. At the time, I nearly cried from the pain… Thankfully, this old man is still quite healthy."
Avada twitched his lips.
You call surviving a Resurrection Stone curse for a year, forcibly breaking an Unbreakable Vow, and single-handedly wiping out a room full of Aurors "quite healthy"?
"And so,"
Perhaps noticing the looks in everyone's eyes, Dumbledore tugged at his beard, coughed twice, and hurried on, "Professor Snape infiltrated their ranks completely unbound, providing me with vast amounts of crucial intelligence. That is what we accomplished outside the public eye—not so different from what you achieved, I dare say."
He lifted the suitcase in his hand with a hint of pride.
"You've forgotten one thing, Dumbledore."
Snape finally couldn't stand it any longer and cut off Dumbledore's showboating in his usual icy tone. Yet anyone could see the corners of his mouth were uncontrollably rising…
"Oh, right!"
Dumbledore theatrically widened his eyes and smacked his forehead, then looked at the box in Avada's hands.
"All that remains now is to deal with that basilisk."
(End of Chapter)