He'd slept soundly in the dorm all night.
Neither Harry nor Ron had returned.
The same was true even the next day.
However, the young witches and wizards who had been all set to take the Hogwarts Express home in the morning were suddenly informed by their Heads of House that their plans were off.
They still needed to remain at Hogwarts for exams.
This left the students of all four houses both bewildered and with a hint of anticipation.
Could it be that...
The crisis of the Chamber of Secrets and the Heir had been resolved?
Soon, the latest news arrived.
Ginny had been saved!
The Boy Who Lived, Harry, had rescued her!
After breakfast, Dylan returned to his dorm.
He waited and waited, but no new developments emerged.
He couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief.
He figured old Dumbledore and the professors must have their hands full with Calthus.
"Actually, I really should do some more things as Calthus right now, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, better not," Dylan mused to himself with a slight sigh.
He was rather keen on figuring out a Double spell.
If he could develop a duplicate of himself, possessing the exact same abilities, to do things for him, then he'd have a much easier time of it in every aspect.
"Why couldn't I have gotten an 'One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones' achievement reward?" Dylan grumbled.
In the morning, just when he thought his part was done and was about to head into his trunk space to do some research, a melodious and clear call came from outside the window.
Dylan was the only one in the dorm at the moment; everyone else was out and about.
He instinctively looked up.
He saw a figure, like a flash of fire, dart past the window, so fast it was almost impossible to see.
By the time Dylan registered it, a phoenix was standing on his bed.
"..."
Dylan's eyelid twitched.
"You... haven't washed your feet."
Fawkes: ...
It lifted a claw, as if wanting to hop onto the floor.
Dylan reached out and gently pressed it back down. "Never mind, you're already up there. Even if you get down, my bed is already dirty."
Fawkes tilted its head, and its claws reflexively tightened before quickly releasing, realizing it was bunching up the sheets.
Clearly, it was a little awkward.
"Chirp~"
What to do now?
Being a phoenix, even though Dylan couldn't understand its words, Fawkes could convey its emotions through its calls.
So, Dylan could roughly figure out the message it was trying to send him.
Dylan sighed softly, and as he withdrew his hand from Fawkes, he accidentally plucked one of its tail feathers.
"Chirp!"
Fawkes gasped inwardly.
This little wizard had actually yanked out one of its feathers!
Ouch! That hurt...
"Oops, sorry, that wasn't intentional. You're not angry, are you?"
Dylan flipped his hand, and the feather vanished in his palm. He then looked at Fawkes with a concerned expression.
Seeing that this little wizard was about to reach out with his magical claws again, Fawkes quickly flapped its wings and hopped onto Harry's bed.
"Chirp!"
Fawkes raised its beak at Dylan.
Dylan stopped his attempt to pluck more feathers, raising an eyebrow.
"You mean, Dumbledore... the Headmaster, wants to see me?"
Fawkes nodded.
Dylan's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive.
"What does the Headmaster want with me? I heard the Chamber of Secrets business has been sorted. Surely Professor Dumbledore doesn't think *I* was the one who solved it?" Dylan said to Fawkes with a joking tone.
Fawkes tilted its head again, looking at Dylan strangely.
It seemed to be saying, "Do I look like I can answer that?"
Dylan chuckled.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Since the Headmaster wants to see me, let's get a move on. I was up late reading last night and was hoping to catch up on some sleep after finishing my book."
Dylan didn't have anything to pack. He grabbed his Nimbus Two Thousand leaning against the wall and swung his leg over it.
"Whoosh!"
Dylan flew straight out of the window.
Fawkes flapped its wings and followed.
The boy and the bird flew up one floor.
Fawkes stayed close behind Dylan.
The sound of the wind rushed past their ears.
Soon, Dylan arrived at the window of old Dumbledore's office.
Going up the stairs would require the password, so Dylan simply flew over and knocked.
"Knock, knock."
Dylan raised his hand and tapped on the window.
After a moment, a familiar figure appeared behind the glass.
A full head of silver hair, and a long, flowing beard.
Half-moon spectacles perched on his nose, and through the lenses, his blue eyes twinkled with a gentle light.
It was indeed old Dumbledore.
He slowly walked over, raised his hand to open the window, and looked at Dylan. A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes, and a small smile played on his lips. He couldn't help but remark playfully, "You certainly have a flair for dramatic entrances."
Although Dylan was always worried that old Dumbledore was like a cunning old fox, capable of uncovering his secrets at any moment, they had been around each other for quite some time now.
So far, Dumbledore hadn't seemed to notice anything amiss.
He had no idea why he'd been summoned this time. If his secrets had been discovered, Dylan didn't think Dumbledore would be calling him over so gently.
Therefore, Dylan wasn't flustered. A smile also tugged at his lips, and he retorted without backing down, "Well, you did send Fawkes to fetch me, didn't you?"
Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh. "Indeed, I did. Come in, come in, my boy."
Dumbledore stepped aside, and Dylan, still on his broom, flew directly into the office. "Headmaster, you wanted to see me about something?"
After landing, Dylan held his broom upright in his hand.
He looked around.
Old Dumbledore wasn't the only one in the office.
Harry was standing to one side.
To Dylan's slight surprise, Veela was there too.
Dylan nodded to Veela as a greeting.
The atmosphere in the office was relaxed.
Neither of their expressions was serious.
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It seemed like he wasn't in any trouble.
Dumbledore, with a kind smile, said, "Nothing too serious, my boy. Just a few questions I'd like to ask you."
Dylan nodded. "Go ahead, Headmaster."
Dumbledore didn't pose a question right away but turned to look at Veela and Harry who were standing nearby.
"This is an Auror from the Ministry of Magic."
Dylan nodded again. "I know."
Dumbledore asked with a smile, "Do you two know each other?"
Veela chimed in from the side, "He's a cute little brother who often comes to our place for ice cream."
Upon hearing this, Dumbledore's gaze flickered slightly, and then a relieved smile appeared on his face.
"Ah, I see. Well, that makes sense. With just Foscus running the shop, it would be difficult to keep it going without some young company."
"Oh ho!" Dylan thought to himself, smacking his lips inwardly.
The old fox was as cunning as ever.
A double entendre right off the bat!
Veela snorted softly but didn't deny anything.
The fact that she mentioned her family's shop already said a lot.
It seemed that what Dylan had done last Christmas had slightly improved the relationship between the father and daughter.
Good, good.
Dylan said, "Sister Veela, I'm not that little anymore."
Veela glanced at Dylan, a hint of amusement in her cool eyes. "Only little kids fly in and out of windows."
"..." Dylan paused. "Don't say that. Voldemort seemed to escape through a window last time he ran away."
Veela was taken aback.
Dumbledore then said, "Voldemort was possessing Quirrell back then. Dylan was there too."
Veela blinked, her gaze landing on Dylan. "You? How did you get involved with Quirrell?"
Dylan shrugged. "I believe the professors have already explained it to the Ministry. I was just passing by."
Having said that, he asked with some curiosity, "Headmaster, what happened to Quirrell? Did you manage to get anything out of him?"
Dumbledore's smile remained. "Actually, no. And we later sent him to the Ministry. I'm not entirely sure about what happened after that."
Veela picked up the thread. "Quirrell died last year—oh, and I had just joined the Ministry and was handed that lovely mess. I even had to deal with his body."
Dylan remained outwardly calm, but a perfectly timed expression of surprise flickered across his face. "Ah? Died? Why? He didn't seem to have any injuries after Voldemort left his body."
Dumbledore stood behind Dylan, his eyes twinkling slightly as he observed him, noting that his expression seemed genuine.
Then he spoke.
"You often frequent the Restricted Section, so you should know that when a body is occupied by two entwined souls, the departing invading soul not only takes away the host's life force but also leaves the original soul severely damaged, wouldn't you agree?"
Dylan blinked. "You know I often go to the Restricted Section?"
He scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't tell the other professors about my visits there."
"As for the soul entanglement you mentioned, I did read about that in a general text. However, even if the life force is severely depleted and the soul is shattered, it shouldn't be enough to kill the host completely, right?"
Dumbledore watched Dylan intently for a moment, then chuckled again. "It seems you've been studying diligently."
"Yes, if it were just ordinary possession, even with two souls intertwined, the departure of one wouldn't be enough to cause the death of the other."
"However... you know, it was Voldemort."
"He drained most of Quirrell's life force in his escape. Sadly, I couldn't save him."
Veela frowned slightly. "It wasn't your fault, Professor. He couldn't resist the lure of the Dark Arts. Even as a corpse, there was a strong aura of evil about him—it made me quite ill at the time."
Dylan looked over. "Why would the Ministry have someone who just finished their Auror training, like Sister Veela, handle something like that?"
Veela paused for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe they wanted to test me."
"Actually, I did gain favor with my superiors after that incident and am now the captain of an Auror team."
Harry stood awkwardly to the side, watching the three of them chat back and forth.
Beneath the surface of their seemingly casual conversation, he sensed an undercurrent.
But he couldn't quite grasp it, and he didn't know how to interject.
He could only stand there, feeling rather out of it.
Harry stole a glance at Dylan.
This Auror from the Ministry had taken him on a long tour of the Chamber of Secrets the night before, finding many Dark Arts artifacts that were mostly useless, including the remains of some creatures.
That's how he had met Veela.
She was someone with a very high level of knowledge about spells, immediately reminding him of an adult version of Hermione.
But what he hadn't expected was that Veela was the daughter of that uncle who owned Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour?
And it looked like Dylan had known her for a while already?
While he and his friends were racking their brains trying to figure out how to find the Heir of Slytherin, what on earth had Dylan been up to...?
Harry had originally thought Dylan was a study fanatic.
Even more obsessed than Hermione!
But now it seemed...
Even after spending so much time studying, he still managed to find the time to pop over to the ice-cream parlor in Diagon Alley every day?
It was unbelievable!
"Dylan, the main reason I asked you here is to confirm a few things. There's no need to be nervous," Dumbledore said.
"Helping Hogwarts is my duty as a Gryffindor. Headmaster, please feel free to ask whatever you need—and I'm not nervous at all," Dylan declared righteously.
Dumbledore smiled, but a hint of seriousness flickered in his eyes. "Dylan, have you come across anything about Horcruxes in the Restricted Section?"
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "Horcruxes? Professor, that's something I've always wanted to understand. I've seen the word mentioned here and there in many books."
"Unfortunately, I don't quite grasp what they are—because despite looking through many books, I haven't found any explanation of Horcruxes."
Dumbledore's eyes fixed on Dylan.
The latter also looked up, calm and collected, allowing Dumbledore's gaze to meet his own.
At this point, Dylan had almost completely mastered Occlumency. Even amidst his busy schedule, he had also managed to level up the "Spell Refinement" trait for Occlumency.
——————
**Trait: Got it memorized, you do!**
While you are performing Occlumency, this trait will automatically analyze the logic and structure of any incoming magic. Any magic attempting to invade your mind will become chaotic.
The key information you wish to hide will be scrambled and reorganized, and the magic invading your mind will become trapped in a maze of thoughts.
——————
With this trait, even if Dylan's Occlumency wasn't at its maximum level, he wasn't afraid that old Dumbledore would detect any unusual information from his mind.
As long as he wasn't caught red-handed, Dylan wasn't worried that the old man, whose mind was more intricate than the Yongzheng Emperor's, would discover anything.
(End of Chapter)