"Of course we do." Dumbledore looked at the thin boy before him, a barely perceptible curve forming at the corner of his mouth. "Hogwarts always welcomes generous donations of all kinds."
"???"
Holy cow. This was outright robbery.
Roger almost choked. How could a massive school like Hogwarts have the nerve to freeload off a poor student?
Dumbledore, do you have any idea how much a unicorn is worth? Are you seriously expecting a poor student like me to just "donate" it to you and be done with it?
Dumbledore remained calm, his blue eyes studying Roger through his half-moon spectacles.
"To my knowledge, all unicorns currently live within protected reserves designated by the Ministry of Magic and are classified as strictly protected XXXX-rated magical creatures. Every piece of unicorn material in circulation must have a record of its legal source, must it not?"
His tone was gentle, yet carried undeniable authority.
Roger's heart sank. Indeed, an entire unicorn carcass of this size practically screamed illegal acquisition. The wizarding world had laws, after all, and Hogwarts even taught Magical Law.
If this reached the Ministry of Magic, the materials would certainly be confiscated.
He pouted, turned around, and walked toward the door, saying in a deliberately casual tone, "Fine, then I'll go to Knockturn Alley another day and sell it slowly. Two hairs a day, and I'll eventually sell it all."
"Wait." Dumbledore's voice sounded behind him.
The corner of Roger's mouth curved upward slightly. It worked. Dumbledore still did not want his student having too much contact with Dark Wizards.
"This is a XXXX-rated magical creature," Dumbledore stepped forward, his smile carrying a hint of inquiry. "Can you tell me how you acquired it?"
He scrutinized Roger from head to toe, his gaze full of suspicion. "Don't tell me you caught it yourself." Although appearances could be deceiving, a wizard's magical power usually grew with age, and someone Roger's age could never have captured a unicorn alone.
It's working.
Roger immediately turned back, quickly pulled up two chairs, and sat down, adopting a solemn expression.
"My mentor, Enrico Foley, brought it back. I don't know the specifics of how he acquired it. But he was a very powerful Dark Wizard, and in my mind… he was even comparable to… You-Know-Who…" He lowered his voice appropriately, conveying a hint of awe.
Before magical schools became widespread, the apprenticeship system had been the main method of wizarding inheritance. Even now, many young wizards still studied under mentors.
After hearing this, Dumbledore nodded slightly, as if piecing together the clues.
A powerful Dark Wizard named Enrico Foley had somehow obtained this unicorn and used its blood to brew a potent healing potion. While heading to Knockturn Alley for a transaction, he had been targeted, eventually killed, and the potion stolen.
"I regret to inform you that your mentor was most likely killed just three days ago in Knockturn Alley."
"Dead?!" Although Roger knew this was coming, he still had to act shocked and grief-stricken.
His eyes instantly reddened, and his voice choked with sobs. "That day… the Tracking Mark he left on me suddenly vanished… I knew something had happened… I didn't dare go to Knockturn Alley… Before he left, he said he would use the money from selling the materials to fix up our house… Oh, my beloved mentor…"
Dumbledore looked at the boy's sorrowful state and understood. In the world of Dark Wizards, an apprentice's life was already difficult. Losing the protection of a mentor would only make it more perilous.
"Ten thousand Galleons." Roger looked up, his eyes red, his lips trembling slightly as he held up one finger. "For just ten thousand, the entire unicorn is yours…"
Dumbledore was genuinely surprised by the price.
To be fair, it was not outrageous. Unicorn materials were strictly controlled by the Ministry of Magic, supply could not meet demand, and many parts were never publicly sold.
A single unicorn hair cost five Galleons. A whole unicorn had nearly a thousand usable hairs, not to mention the priceless horn and hide. The total value would certainly exceed ten thousand Galleons.
But that was the retail price.
If Hogwarts bought it at that rate, not only would they fail to make a profit, they would also tie up a large amount of valuable teaching funds that could not be recovered quickly.
After all, Hogwarts' funding came from the Board of Governors and Ministry of Magic allocations. Every major expenditure had to undergo strict auditing. A purchase made purely for storage, with no direct benefit to teaching, would never pass review.
"Five thousand," Dumbledore said, raising his hand and spreading his five fingers, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "You know, transporting this much unicorn material safely is not easy. The risk is considerable."
Deal.
"All right. Five thousand it is!" Roger agreed at once, afraid the other man might change his mind. Galleons had tremendous purchasing power. This sum was more than enough for him to live comfortably throughout his student years.
Just as Roger was secretly rejoicing, Dumbledore stood up, his gaze sweeping over the scattered books and parchments in the room. These were Enrico Foley's belongings, which Roger had been studying for the past few days, along with his own scattered notes.
It was clear that this was a rather diligent and studious young man.
Dumbledore casually picked up a book and flipped through it. The cover read prominently: Imperio, Crucio, the Killing Curse — The Soul's Scalpel. His brows immediately knitted together.
This child usually read things like this? The three Unforgivable Curses?
Dumbledore's thoughts drifted involuntarily to the young Tom Riddle.
The same composure, the same precociousness, the same thirst for knowledge, and even… coming from a Dark Arts family. A faint, almost imperceptible worry crossed his mind.
"These items will be kept by me for the time being." Dumbledore's voice remained steady, but his tone had clearly grown more serious. "I do not believe that exposure to the Dark Arts is beneficial to you at this stage."
As soon as he finished speaking, he gave his wand an elegant flick, and all the books in the room that involved the Dark Arts vanished instantly without a trace.
Roger's heart sank.
Under Dumbledore's scrutinizing gaze, he felt as if he were seeing the reflection of another Lord Voldemort. That look was filled with caution.
The thought of being strictly watched as a "potential young Dark Lord" at Hogwarts made Roger's head spin. On the surface, Dumbledore appeared kind and benevolent, but his schemes ran incredibly deep. Even Lord Voldemort had once been led astray by his calculations.
If he were labeled as having Dark Wizard tendencies, he would be endlessly constrained, and life at Hogwarts would become miserable. Not only would he be closely monitored, but many avenues of study and research would also be forbidden.
If his secrets were discovered, Roger was absolutely certain Dumbledore would use Veritaserum, or even Legilimency.
As the White Lord, Dumbledore was more than capable of doing such a thing.
Absolutely not.
"How could you look at me like that?!" Roger cried, deeply offended, his face flushing crimson at once.
This was the critical moment to test his acting skills.
"Do you have any idea what I've been through? No, you have no idea!" Roger's emotions burst forth, his voice trembling with pent-up feeling. "I grew up hiding with my teacher, struggling to survive among Dark Wizards. Now my teacher is dead, I'm all alone, and I can't even scrape together a single Knut!"
He raised one finger and said accusingly, "For a whole month, I haven't had even one proper meal!"
"I was planning to take these things to Knockturn Alley to trade for some money, just to survive. It wasn't until you showed up and bought the unicorn that I finally got a chance to breathe. I was so grateful to you…"
Roger's voice broke, his eyes filled with wounded disappointment. "But you… you actually suspected me!"
"…"
Roger certainly looked miserable at that moment, and Dumbledore was beginning to believe him. Faced with Roger's string of accusations and that look of hurt, Dumbledore could not help but feel uneasy.
He suddenly realized that he might have unconsciously projected his caution toward Tom Riddle onto this innocent child. Such preconceived bias could, in fact, become a dangerous seed.
"My boy," Dumbledore said, his tone softening with a hint of apology and curiosity. "So, what exactly were you studying before?"
His gaze naturally fell on the still-damp parchment on the desk, clearly the materials Roger had been absorbed in.
He picked up the top sheet of notes and glanced at it, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.
These notes were, in fact, a systematic study of werewolf forms and behavioral patterns, even proposing several bold hypotheses. Dumbledore did not know that this was Roger's own compilation and interpretation of the residual documents left behind by the Old Wizard's school of thought.
Roger nodded firmly, forcing himself to stay calm as he handed over the remaining manuscripts, doing his best to look like an earnest student seeking guidance.
Dumbledore took the parchments, his expression like that of someone grading student essays.
He read carefully, and his brows gradually knit together once more.
"This seems to be… a new hypothesis on werewolf transformation?"
"Yes, Professor. And based on this, I've tried to construct a new theoretical framework for Transfiguration magic," Roger replied at once, speaking quickly.
"It is highly original. The perspective is quite unique, and it greatly broadens the conceptual boundaries of Transfiguration," Dumbledore said, looking up with genuine appreciation in his clear blue eyes. "My boy, you are very talented."
Roger knew that this credit truly belonged to the deceased Old Wizard. Still, receiving recognition from the most powerful wizard of the age at least proved that the old man's school of research contained real substance.
"However… these theories are very difficult to verify," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "They involve intricate control of both soul and magic, and their practical applicability seems quite limited at present." He placed the parchment back on the table and pointed to a few places.
"Moreover, these key ideas appear to conflict significantly with Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration…"
Dumbledore sat down again and added gently, "Even so, I suggest you try exploring along these lines. Perhaps they will open up new avenues of thought."
He picked up a quill and began writing swiftly on a blank sheet of parchment, explaining the core principles of Transfiguration and possible points of breakthrough in a way that was both accessible and profound. In no time at all, he had written more than twenty inches of dense notes.
Long after Dumbledore had left with the unicorn carcass, Roger remained seated in a daze, staring at the parchment now filled with priceless insights.
His Bio-computer was running at full speed.
In just that single hour, its analysis resolution for Transfiguration magic had soared to ninety percent. Principles that had once seemed complex and impenetrable were now clearer in his mind than ever before.
Truly, in just one hour, starting from almost no foundation at all, he felt he had genuinely grasped the basics of Transfiguration.
A master teacher really was a master teacher.
This truth held firm, whether in the Muggle world or the wizarding world. Dumbledore's few words had seemed to open a door for him, leading straight into the deeper reaches of the magical universe.
[1915 Words]