"Let's go. To St. Mungo's. Emmeline will take good care of you."
Victor Wick, who had been calm, suddenly stiffened when he heard that name.
"Excuse me... which Emmeline?"
"How many Emmelines do you know? Emmeline Vance, of course," Dumbledore said.
A figure flashed through Victor Wick's mind.
It was a young woman, elegant and refined, who favored wearing dark green shawls.
A complicated expression flashed in Victor Wick's eyes.
"Why is she at St. Mungo's? Wasn't she an Auror?"
Dumbledore laughed. "It's all because of you! Have you forgotten? When you rejected her back then, you said you didn't like the Auror type—that you preferred the gentle and sweet Healers at St. Mungo's..."
Victor Wick sighed.
"Professor, I don't think I need to waste time at St. Mungo's. I'd rather help you track down Grindelwald."
Dumbledore looked at him helplessly. "Grindelwald's methods are sophisticated. I really think you should get checked at St. Mungo's..."
"No, no, no... I'll just go to Severus and ask for a potion." Victor Wick was adamant.
Dumbledore sighed. "Oh... Victor... why must you be like this?"
Whether in the Order of the Phoenix or among the Death Eaters, everyone knew that Severus Snape and Victor Wick did not get along at all.
But now, Victor Wick would rather risk being poisoned by Snape than go to St. Mungo's, which was proof enough of his resolve.
"Professor, you're overthinking it. I just ran a check with my Code Magic and didn't find any Trojan horses... so I won't waste St. Mungo's valuable resources. I'll just go bother Severus and grab a few Invigoration Potions. You know I take great pleasure in wasting that man's time."
Victor Wick stood up straight, demonstrating his fine condition to Dumbledore.
"Victor, running away isn't the way to solve your problems..."
"But you can't deny that sometimes running away actually works..." Victor Wick interrupted, his tone complicated.
Dumbledore appeared slightly annoyed. "This is irresponsible!"
"Professor, you might have misunderstood. We only went on a few dates... but she's an ex, after all. It's better if we don't meet again." Victor Wick shook his head.
"Sigh... I truly regret asking you that question back then..." Dumbledore said with a look of remorse.
Years ago, after witnessing Victor Wick's Code Magic, Dumbledore had asked him a question.
"You believe magic no longer stems from one's own subjectivity and emotions, but rather from strings of precise runic sequences. Since you believe logic can define magic, then... can love be defined as well?"
Back then, Victor Wick had tried for a long time upon hearing this question, even begging Dumbledore to cast spells in front of him.
But even though he could reconstruct those spells with one hundred percent accuracy, he ultimately failed to replicate the special power contained within Dumbledore's magic.
The warmth within that power left a lasting impression on him to this day.
This had nearly caused Victor Wick to doubt his own abilities and theories.
So, Dumbledore had given him a suggestion: to first understand what love is before thinking about anything else.
Victor Wick immediately put it into practice...
And then, the Victor Wick who had seemed so honest and pure in Dumbledore's eyes suddenly developed quite the romantic streak...
"When I told you to understand love, I didn't mean just romantic love! Love between family, the care between friends—aren't those all manifestations of love? How did you end up...?" Dumbledore rubbed his forehead in frustration.
Victor Wick gave a bitter laugh. "What could I do? Professor, you know me. I have no family in this world. As for friends... do you really think it's appropriate for a spy to make friends before the mission is over? I couldn't... and shouldn't trust anyone."
Hearing this, Dumbledore felt a pang of heartache. Back then, Victor Wick was nowhere near as powerful as he was now; surviving in one piece had been no small feat...
"But you shouldn't have tried to understand love by dating girls... love with such ulterior motives is hollow. It won't help you."
"I realized that later, which is why... I broke up with all those girlfriends using whatever excuse I could find..." Victor Wick said helplessly. "Only... they didn't seem to agree with my reasons..."
He had finally seen the light, but the romantic debts had already been incurred... Victor Wick felt quite helpless, and he felt it was all Dumbledore's fault!
Dumbledore continued to rub his temples, a headache brewing. "The last time Dorcas came to see me, she was asking about your whereabouts. She said she'd found you, but you managed to slip away... could you tell me where you hid?"
Victor Wick's eyes narrowed slightly as another figure flashed through his mind: Dorcas Meadowes.
She was an exceptionally powerful witch and a fellow member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Back then, Voldemort had even planned to kill Dorcas personally.
It was Victor Wick who found a way to save her life from Voldemort's clutches, and through a twist of fate, it became another ill-fated entanglement...
"I ran off to Azkaban for a few months... naturally, I wasn't hiding from her. I just happened to want to study the magic there," Victor Wick chuckled. "I know what you want to say, but wizarding law... after Sirius was innocently imprisoned, I stopped believing in it."
At that time, as the star undercover agent Dumbledore sent into the Death Eaters, Victor Wick truly knew of Sirius's innocence.
But after the war, only Dumbledore could verify Victor Wick's identity, and the officials who had been promoted for capturing Sirius would never acknowledge his testimony!
Thus... Sirius remained locked away in Azkaban.
However, Sirius was completely disillusioned and hadn't uttered a single word in his own defense.
Dumbledore took the initiative to change the heavy subject. "And what was your reason for breaking up with Dorcas?"
"I said I don't like girls who are too fierce..."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment before rubbing his forehead. "Just how many girls did you lead on?"
"Professor, shouldn't you be considering how to track down Grindelwald right now? How do you have the leisure to gossip about my past love life?" Victor Wick said, disgruntled.
"Hurry? There's no need... I know he will surely return to Nurmengard. It is a pact between us," Dumbledore said.
"A pact? If he really kept his word, he wouldn't have escaped!" Victor Wick frowned.
"He has been in Nurmengard for nearly fifty years and has never broken the agreement," Dumbledore said softly. "If he went as far as breaking it this time just to find you, there must be a reason..."
Dumbledore raised his hand and looked at the ring in his palm.
This was the very ring Grindelwald had given Victor Wick; Victor had handed it over while Dumbledore was watching the 'VCR' earlier.
"What reason do you think it could be?" Victor Wick asked curiously.
"He possesses some degree of prophetic ability. Perhaps he foresaw something momentous... something that forced him to break the agreement. And the key person to this momentous event might just be you." Dumbledore looked at Victor Wick, his gaze sharp.
Victor Wick raised an eyebrow. "You saw the 'VCR' just now. I refused his recruitment and even gave you the ring he gave me."
Dumbledore pressed the ring back into Victor Wick's hand, his eyes full of trust. "I have never doubted you, Victor... Just as you once said, we are brothers-in-arms—comrades!"