Alina looked at the opened hard candy in her palm, which had an amber-like orange luster. From the smell, it seemed to be primarily made of caramel, and the girl couldn't help but lick her lips. It seemed to be very sweet...
Wait, wait, she was supposed to be angry!
The silver-haired girl shook her head and came back to her senses. If the candy hadn't already been unwrapped, she would have thrown it to the floor.
Was she being soothed like she was a preschool girl?!
At this moment, she felt a hand lightly patting her head and Dumbledore speaking in a grim and serious tone.
"Among all the young witches and wizards I've seen, you have a powerful magical potential, as dazzling as the sun in the sky. But strong talent is not always a good thing. If you lack proper guidance, it might even backlash onto your body and turn you into a frightening and inhuman existence..."
Dumbledore creased his brow in vexation as he tried to think of a way to explain to this girl the current condition of her body.
After all, it seemed like Alina's control over her magic was far better than he had imagined.
Dumbledore didn't want to describe the horrifying results only for the girl to think that he was trying to frighten her with alarmist talk.
"...Obscurial, I know."
To his surprise, Alina nodded and dryly replied.
As a fan of the Harry Potter movies, she had gotten a chance to see the first part of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' before crossing over, and the Obscurial known as Credence had left an extremely deep impression on her. After all, there weren't many existences who could take on Grindelwald, one of the strongest Dark Wizards in history, in a duel.
To escape misfortune, young witches and wizards would suppress their magic. Still, a lack of proper guidance meant that they never learned how to control their magic properly, thus allowing a parasite to be born, a being of dark magic called the 'Obscurus.'
When a witch or wizard felt intense emotion, the Obscurus in their body would erupt, transforming into an incorporeal black fog with immense capacity to deal with the damage.
But in the written history of wizards, there was no Obscurial with the exception of Credence, who had lived past the age of ten.
And Alina happened to also be ten years old.
Alina instinctively clenched the candy in her hand as she began to speak nervously.
"But I've always been secretly using my magic, though before the messenger owls came, it was always concerned with 'charming human-like creatures.' Professor Dumbledore, do you mean that I will also turn into something like that?"
The half-Veela girl bit her lip and said with great unwillingness.
"In other words, if I refuse to enter Hogwarts..."
If her guess was correct, this was probably Dumbledore's trump card to get her into school: enter and get treatment or leave your fate up to God.
Dumbledore shook his head and raised a hand to stop the girl, speaking in a stern tone.
"Even if you didn't enter Hogwarts, I would still teach you how to control your magic. A human's life is not a chip that can be traded around.
"But besides this, Hogwarts and the Magic World would not offer you any other protection or knowledge."
Dumbledore began to clearly explain, "Moreover, if you threaten the peace between the Non-Magic and Magic Worlds, I would not advise or the Ministry of Magic or attempt in any way to disrupt it from taking a reasonable course of action."
"..."
Alina profoundly glanced at this elder known as the guardian god of the Magic World. Her mouth had opened and was about to say 'thank you' when she immediately swallowed those words back.
Turning her head to look away from Dumbledore's gaze, the silver-haired girl kicked at the carpet and mumbled, "It sounds like if I enter Hogwarts if I get into trouble, you'll carry the pot for me."
Carry...the pot?
A hint of helplessness appeared in Dumbledore's eyes. He had realized a small problem in communicating with Alina: there were simply far too many strange Muggle terms.
Even though he could clearly hear every word, he could understand what the girl meant by them.
One had to realize that when Dumbledore was young, one of his greatest points of pride was his ability to accurately understand what the majority of people were thinking (including various intelligent magical creatures).
Perhaps it was as many people outside said. Maybe he was getting old and could no longer keep up with the minds of the youth.
Dumbledore shook his head, casting these thoughts aside. His eyes meant Alina's as he spoke in a firm and serious tone.
"In truth, what I was going to say was this: if you become my student, I am willing to do all I can to guard you and to teach you all of my magical knowledge without revolution, all the way until you become a witch who can hold her own."
"Guard? Magical knowledge...all of it?"
Alina raised an eyebrow as she repeated Dumbledore's words. She didn't think that Dumbledore was so senile that he didn't know the difference between 'protect' and 'guard.' She also wasn't so innocent as to believe that Dumbledore would only teach her the contents of the O.W.L. (the standard wizarding examination) and the N.E.W.T. (the higher-level wizarding examination).
"Correct. You are worth all of this." Dumbledore calmly smiled.
"But...Professor, what is the price?"
Alina said after a long while. She didn't think she had the air of a hegemon as seen in the online fantasy novels in her last world that would make Dumbledore believe in her without reservation, particularly since Dumbledore had seen more than once a Dark Lord mature.
"There is no price. All it requires is a vow: you must promise that will never start a war between the Non-Magic World and Magic World, and when the two worlds interact, you will step forward and guide everything toward peace, forever defending the interests of Hogwarts and the Magic World."
Dumbledore smoothly replied. One could see that these were not words he had thought up on the spot. It was like they had been ready and waiting for Alina to appear.
Ever since that time ten-some years ago when Tom Riddle, who had possessed limitless potential, gradually walked down the crooked path and turned into Voldemort, Dumbledore had been thinking about this problem. Young wizards of outstanding talent were more liable to be tempted by power, but if there were a spiritual defense line to help them hold their ground, perhaps they would end up differently.
"Professor Dumbledore, I think you're overestimating me."
Alina awkwardly smiled. She had no interest in becoming the guardian god or savior of the Magic World. Her only interest was in happily eating and drinking, and then once she finished her fourth year, she would hide in America and watch as the young godfathers of the internet matured.
"But perhaps I'm underestimating you...Alina, you have no idea how much potential you have." Dumbledore craftily blinked his eyes, giving Alina no chance.
(╯°□°)╯︵┻━┻
There was no way of communicating with this man! Their conversation had circled back to the very start.
After a few seconds of silence, the silver-haired girl turned her eyes. Suddenly, she found a flaw in Dumbledore's argument.
"And besides, this doesn't make sense. You're such a powerful wizard, and while you surely have many methods of making sure I keep my promise, there's no law ensuring that you will carry out your end. What if you decide to be shameless and refuse to teach me magic or protect me?
"A one-sided promise or contract, no matter how one tries to gloss it over, is still an unequal contract. I certainly have no desire to sign any slave contract."
Given the start contrast in strength, no promises could be made. Contracts could only be signed by equal parties.
In Alina's view, since the large chasm in strength still existed, Dumbledore's words were bound solely by his reputation, and there was no guarantee that they weren't just fantasies.
Dumbledore smiled and softly said, "All pledges should naturally go both ways. Have you ever heard of ancient magic known as the Unbreakable Vow?"
Alina naturally didn't need Dumbledore to explain this magic that had been turned into a marriage declaration in the fan community in her last life. If Dumbledore was willing to make this spiritual vow that almost had the effect of law, then she had no problem whatsoever.
"But," Alina shrugged her shoulders, "the Unbreakable Vow requires a Bonder. Who has the magic and the qualifications to bind someone like you, who stands at the peak of the Wizarding World..."
Dumbledore didn't directly answer. He grabbed his wand, his slender finger stroking the wooden grooves as he suddenly asked a very strange question.
"The symbol on the piano from back then; you knew what it was, right? I don't think that if it was an ordinary symbol, you would have looked at it so many times in the space of a single conversation."
Alina's pupils constricted. She suddenly recalled that there truly did exist a wizard of this world powerful enough to stand on par with Dumbledore.
"Are you serious?"
"It seems that I don't need to explain anything extra." Dumbledore happily nodded his head. "In truth, he might be even happier to see you appear. After all, from a certain perspective, your ideas are rather similar to his."
Gulu~
The silver-haired girl swallowed. She finally understood why Dumbledore had such a strange attitude towards her. After all this, he had taken her as a seed for the new Dark Lord?!
"There's probably some misunderstanding here. Professor Dumbledore, listen to my explanation..." Alina weakly raised a hand.
"There's not much time. Let's go. Remember to not frighten my pitiful Fawkes this time."
Dumbledore grabbed Alina's hand with one hand while the other snatched the Phoenix's long golden-red tail. He requested, "Fawkes, please take us to Nurmengard Castle."
"Wait a moment, don't you want to think it over—"
In gout of flame, the pair vanished from the Headmaster's office.