For the first time since they had met, Dumbledore dispelled all his relaxation and sternly looked at the seated Alina.
The silver-haired girl was now blushing with shame over her previous slip of the tongue. The fawning look on her face and her clumsy appearance as she tried to figure out what to do made one want to laugh.
But...
Dumbledore's gaze paused on the girl's lake-blue eyes. While they were annoyed and flustered, there was a cleanliness and purity to them like limpid autumn waters.
Whether it was Fawkes, the portraits on the wall, or the office that was slowly repairing itself through magic, none of them was of particular interest to her. The changes in her emotional state were because of events, not because of the world around her.
Dumbledore finally understood the incongruity both he and Professor McGonagall had felt when confronting Alina. She was simply too calm.
As a child who had grown up in the Non-Magic world, Alina showed neither fear nor awe of the unknown Magic World. Even if she had learned of the Magic World before this, the hearing was completely different from seeing.
"I am very curious..."
Dumbledore pushed his half-moon spectacles and slowly said.
"If my guess is correct, this should be your first time seeing a Phoenix. Are you not afraid of its flames and its magical ability to suddenly appear and disappear?"
"Afraid? Why should I be afraid?"
The silver-haired girl glanced at Fawkes and tilted her head in confusion.
"Flames are just a basic natural phenomenon where light and heat are released. Combustion takes place when a flammable object and an oxidizer come together and cause an exothermic reaction. As for spatial transfer..."
Pausing, Alina recalled the scene of Fawkes disappearing and reappearing, then she slowly said, "The sound created when this happens very much like the explosion created when air is suddenly compressed due to a vacuum. I guess that this is something similar to a short-distance planar jump? But, you know, it really is very pretty."
Oxidizer? Exothermic reaction? Vacuum? Planar jump?
Alina's answer only made Dumbledore more confused. If he hadn't seen the serious expression on the girl's face, he would have thought that she was suddenly speaking in a rare language.
"So, how do Muggles currently view magic?"
After a few moments of silence that Dumbledore used to massage his brow and reorganize his words, he asked another question.
Alina somewhat helplessly shrugged. She was truly confused. It was already the 21st century, so why did witches and wizards still think that Muggles would panic over magic?
"Professor Dumbledore, you might have misunderstood something. This isn't a way of looking at magic, but knowledge of the world's fundamental operations. Unlike the world of witches and wizards, which has knowledge similar to that passed down through stories, the Non-Magic World understands the origins of the world through specific domains like chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics."
People from the Middle Ages might have been frightened and alarmed by fire coming from nowhere or water turning into wine, regarding such things as miracles, but their knowledge and thoughts had restricted their understanding of the world.
Superstition and religion had obscured their eyes, so they couldn't understand that the witches and wizards who they regarded as devils or messengers from the gods were humans, just the same as they were.
The oldest and most intense emotion humanity had ever felt was fear, and the oldest and most intense fear was that of the unknown.
The unknown nature of magic that came from the failure of human common sense to explain it had undoubtedly been the firmest wall separating the Non-Magic and Magic Worlds.
But times had changed.
The most important thing bestowed by modern science onto humans was not knowledge, but how humans thought about the unknown.
As human science advanced, the range covered by 'common sense' grew wider and wider, up to the point where people could begin developing reasonable explanations and theories on the majority of unknowns all on their own.
For example, if a modern individual saw someone on the street produce fire from nothing, they would more than half of the time think that this was some performance art. They would clap and cheer in admiration while curiously wondering just which method had been employed to achieve the effect.
In Alina's view, magic was simply an energy source that had yet to be explored. Although it could not be completely understood using the knowledge of her last life, if she simply treated magic like a black box, not focusing on the internal structure of magic and its relationships and only analyzing the input and output, she could easily derive an understanding on how it regularly functioned.
As he looked at the chattering silver-haired girl, Dumbledore suddenly realized that an understanding of the Magic World was not any sort of hindrance towards Alina's understanding and observation of magical phenomena.
To be more precise, she was using a Muggle train of thought to explain magical phenomena to a certain extent. Even if it wasn't accurate, it was enough to neutralize her fear and awe of magic.
In a daze, Dumbledore seemed to see the shadow of a white-haired and self-confident man on Alina.
He thought back to several decades ago. After he had imprisoned Gellert Grindelwald in the highest tower of Nurmengard, a conversation had taken place that he alone knew about. Perhaps one could call it Grindelwald's 'prophecy.'
...
1945, the highest floor of Nurmengard's highest tower.
After being defeated in the decisive battle, Grindelwald was not as hysterical or dejected as others might have imagined.
He still maintained that aura of disciplined refinement. He calmly looked at Dumbledore as if they were two friends having a chat, not a final farewell before eternal imprisonment.
"You can shackle me, Albus, but you can't shackle the spread of my ideals.
"I admit that I underestimated the ability of Muggles, but this also means that they will be even more frightening than in the prophecy I saw.
"Witches and wizards have already missed out on their best opportunity to take the stage. I would rather see Muggles lose their rationality from fear of the unknown and take up arms against us like enraged little beasts.
"Far better than to wait until they have finished with their deliberations and then, like we treat magical creatures with intelligence, solemnly decide to engage in an equal war with us.
"My revolution failed, and you are not someone who can change the Magic World. But I am sure that you're strong enough to protect the Magic World.
"But a day will come when another young man who deeply understands the disadvantages of both worlds will appear.
"This will be someone who will understand the merits and drawbacks of the two worlds from an even more complete perspective, who will possess a potential on par with yours and mine, a young man who will have the influence to lead both the Magic and Non-Magic World.
"When he appears, ensure that he stands on our side, and then use your methods to influence and teach him as much as possible. When the two worlds fuse and collide, make sure that he can allow the wizarding civilization to continue proudly existing in this world.
"We both know that I did not yield to your strength. I am a willing prisoner of this tower.
Because this...is For the Greater Good!
"Promise me! Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!"
"..."
Dumbledore raised his head, the figure of Grindelwald reflected in his eyes.
"I will.
"If all is as you say, it will be."
...