"No!"
Harry obviously had his own ideas. "I think I should go to the bathroom first. Ka`ka-xiao, tax/徃! 'The most? Xin^cockroach￠劫\埂^core^chopsticks'"
The two kids hurriedly carried Harry to the bathroom.
Edward's face turned serious at this time: "Professor Dumbledore, you asked your brother and Fawkes to protect Harry closely, right?"
"Yes, they do."
"...I didn't see them. In other words, Harry and the other two may have been in danger of being unprotected since they were kidnapped by Barty Jr."
"!!!"
Dumbledore's expression changed drastically: "How is it possible... Even if Aberforth is no match for the Death Eaters, Fawkes can still lead them to escape. Could it be that they..."
With a flash of fire, Fawkes the Phoenix appeared with Aberforth, who was a scribbled version of Dumbledore.
"Damn it!"
Aberforth cursed as soon as he landed, "That bastard, I don't know what method he used to make Fawkes and I escape to America when we Apparated..." He suddenly glared at Grindelwald and said angrily, "Why are you here, old man?!"
Grindelwald said calmly, "Albus asked me to help."
"Shit!"
Aberforth snorted and muttered, "Those kids, are they okay?"
"fine."
"Okay, I just saw that the Death Eaters were also beaten back, so I'll go back first."
Aberforth said and turned away, not wanting to see Grindelwald for even a second.
Fawkes then jumped onto Dumbledore's shoulder and chirped non-stop. Dumbledore had no choice but to stroke his head gently and comfort him with a gentle voice.
Then he looked at Edward and asked, "Is everything going well for you?"
"It didn't go well. Voldemort escaped."
Edward shook his head. "It's not just that he escaped. It seems that his conspiracy succeeded."
Here he paused and glanced at Grindelwald.
Grindelwald sneered, "Oh, it's inconvenient for me to listen, right? Fine, I'll leave."
"Come together."
Dumbledore sighed. "It must not be an easy task to get you, Edward, to come back specially using a time-turner."
Grindelwald was stunned. Edward asked in surprise: "How could you..."
"When you made your move just now, I happened to notice that there were two of you at the same time. Is there any other explanation other than the time converter? Let's go to my office."
...
Hogwarts Castle, 8th floor, Headmaster's office.
Edward told them what happened:
"…So I used the time converter that the professor gave me to go back to the afternoon of the 19th, and then I kept staring at my past self, because I first suspected that he might have traveled through time for some reason."
"But no, this morning he... uh, I? Woke up and had breakfast normally, then went to the room where the Philosopher's Stone was as planned."
"We heard other children shouting, so we both went out to take a look and found that the Death Eaters had appeared in the castle."
Dumbledore said guiltily, "I'm sorry, I really didn't expect... that the Death Eaters would come in this way, and hide for more than ten days so smoothly."
"Then I went to find Audrey because I was worried, and I couldn't help but take action to deal with the remaining Dementors... Then we returned to the room one after another, and not long after, Barty Jr. brought Harry and the others over."
"…Little Barty's condition was very strange. His entire body was severely decayed, and in some places one could even see his internal bones and organs. Combined with his strange behavior, I asked him if he was 'not Little Barty'. He seemed to admit it, but also seemed not to fully admit it."
"Then he cut his palm and read out the inscription carved on the Mirror of Erised. Then a black door appeared in the mirror…"
"…Just like that, my past self was pulled into the mirror, and everything returned to normal."
At this point, Edward added: "It seems that Voldemort wanted to enter the Mirror of Erised from the beginning, and he finally succeeded. Combined with our last speculation, perhaps the black door opened in the Mirror of Erised is the so-called residence of the gods.\s\h~e′n*n\v~f\u+.\co?m+"
After listening to this, the two old men fell into silence for a while.
Grindelwald spoke first. He sneered at Edward and said, "You were so patient. You watched yourself being dragged into an unknown world without doing anything to help."
"Because my spiritual premonition reminded me in time, if I took action, I would probably be dragged in as well."
Edward thought for a moment and said, "And when I came back, Professor Dumbledore specifically reminded me again: 'I am not changing the past, but completing the past.' How should I put it? At that time, I felt that his words were a bit deliberate."
Dumbledore suddenly realized: "So, our conversation today came first, and then I specifically told you that on the 25th?"
"I guess so. By the way, Barty asked me a question at that time. Although it seems like he was just trying to delay time, it is indeed a question." After a pause, he continued, "He asked why he wanted to cooperate with the goblins and find so many Death Eaters to attack Hogwarts. Without them, wouldn't it be more secretive for him to act alone quietly?"
"He said that Hogwarts Castle is not only a castle, a magical creation, but also a seal...it seals something."
Edward looked at Dumbledore: "Professor, what do you think?"
Dumbledore pondered for a moment and said hesitantly: "Judging from the results, the sealed object... should be the Mirror of Erised."
"Um."
"According to him, the magic circle in Hogwarts Castle was originally intended to seal the Mirror of Erised. When the Death Eaters and goblins attacked the castle, Flitwick mobilized the castle's power for defense, which caused the original seal on the Mirror of Erised to fail. Then he read out the inscription... and thus opened up the world in the magic mirror, achieving his goal."
Grindelwald said, "Albus, do you remember why you came to beg me eleven years ago?"
Dumbledore was somewhat helpless: "You don't have to emphasize the fact that I'm going to beg you."
"I am just stating the facts." He said calmly, "At that time, an unknown and dangerous magical animal suddenly appeared in the castle, and you came to me for help, and then we worked together to kill it."
Edward was surprised: "What kind of magical animal is so powerful that it requires the combined efforts of the two of you?"
"It's not that powerful, but it's extremely alert and very fast. Albus is worried that if he disturbs it, it might hurt others." Grindelwald continued:
"At that time, Hogwarts had just experienced an attack by Voldemort's Death Eaters. I think you also used the castle's magic circle for defense."
Dumbledore thought for a moment, "You mean that magical creature might also be related to the Mirror of Erised?"
"Combined with today's situation, this possibility cannot be ruled out."
Grindelwald glanced at Edward and said, "Oh, the stone in your ulna was found in that magical animal."
Edward subconsciously glanced at his arm and couldn't help thinking: Why does that stone look so much like the magic core of the monsters in those fantasy novels?
Is there a magical world in the Mirror of Erised?
Oh my god, these things don't happen in the original book. Did I travel through a fake Harry Potter?
Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald and said, "We cannot be sure that this matter is over yet. Gellert, I need you to stay in Hogwarts for a few more days."
Grindelwald raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "...Okay."
Chapter 255 Ancient Magic
At this time, Grindelwald's five old companions came over. The old man in militaristic clothes held a broken horn in one hand and a limp short man in the other - it was the one-eyed old goblin.
"Mr. Grindelwald, we caught this old creature." He threw the old goblin to the ground. "Unfortunately, it was only alive when we caught it. It died on the way here."
Grindelwald took the horn and looked at it, sneering, "This thing is a dark magic prop that costs one's life. When he blew the horn, it made the goblins and dementors go crazy and fearless, but it was not without cost."
I see. It's probably equivalent to the negative effect of a sealed object.
Dumbledore asked, "Edward, you need to do something about it..."
"Well, let me try."
As he said this he picked up the old goblin's body and Apparated away.
"Okay, let's retreat first. I don't want to see this guy for even a second."
The militaristic old man glared at Dumbledore. Although Grindelwald had let go of what happened in the past, they still held a grudge.
In response, Dumbledore could only shrug helplessly.
On the other side, Edward came to the Room of Requirement and immediately arranged a ceremony to communicate with the spirit - fortunately, the spirit of the old goblin had not dissipated yet.
"Why did you come to attack Hogwarts?"
The spirit of the one-eyed old goblin looked dumb and responded instinctively: "In order to take back what belongs to us goblins, let us goblins control the world."
"What?"
"A mirror."
Is it really the Mirror of Erised?
"What's the use of that mirror?"
"According to the records left by our ancestors, it can allow us to return to our homeland and master powerful ancient magic."
Ancient magic?
Edward vaguely remembered that there was a game called "Hogwarts Legacy" in his previous life, which seemed to mention this. When he first came here, he thought about learning it, but unfortunately he had never found any relevant way to learn it.
"Where?"
"...have no idea."
Edward thought for a moment and asked again, "Is it the abode of the gods?"
"…Perhaps."
"You fairies came from the abode of the gods? Then what is your relationship with the gods?"
"We are the gods' favorites."
This god probably has some aesthetic problem, as he pampers such a bunch of things!
Edward then used dream communication again, and saw the same scenes as the previous two times.
"So, the darkness that the fairies were kneeling in was... the exit to the abode of the gods? The Mirror of Erised?"
Unfortunately, the one-eyed old goblin was not aware of this either.
Twenty minutes later, Edward returned to the office and shared the relevant information with Dumbledore and the others.
"Professor, you didn't know before that the magic circle at Hogwarts was sealing the Mirror of Erised?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Yes, at least I haven't seen any records of it. Not to mention the seal, I know very little about the Mirror of Erised. I found it by chance in the Room of Requirement."