Everyone climbed the stairs upwards. Along both sides of the stairs, in the hallways, there were portraits hanging everywhere. As they passed, the people in the portraits whispered and pointed at them.
As he proceeded, Hacker couldn't help but recall the earlier experience because this was immortality! The ghost he had just seen had existed for at least seventy years and still retained its consciousness and memories intact. Wasn't that immortality?
So, he began to ask questions.
"It's true that the wizarding world can achieve immortality." To Hacker's surprise, Tom had no intention of hiding it and was straightforward. He told Hark plainly that in the world of magic, immortality was indeed possible.
Hacker got excited immediately; this was immortality! It was one of humanity's greatest desires. If he could obtain the secret of immortality from wizards, he would become the most powerful person in the world. He could offer this method first to the queen and allow her to live eternally to maintain the last glimmer of British greatness. In Hacker's eyes, the queen was already nearing seventy, and she probably didn't have much time left. Once she died, the Commonwealth would completely crumble. Shouldn't he, as the Prime Minister, try to save the declining empire?
"Get to the point, get to the point," urged Hacker anxiously, his accent changing.
"The ghost you saw earlier is considered neither alive nor dead. Although they can think and have memories of when they were alive, they can respond to external stimuli; they are actually spirits and cannot eat or even smell food. Their movement is limited to the places they were in life. The most desolate part is that once they choose to become ghosts, there is no turning back. Therefore, every wizard has the power to choose, but only a very small number of wizards who still have attachments to the world choose to stay," explained Tom.
Hacker nodded without fully understanding. He still couldn't comprehend why wizards made those decisions. From his perspective, being alive was better than being dead, and if given the choice, he would definitely choose to become a ghost, no matter what they said.
"There are still two relatively common methods to achieve immortality in the magical world. One is using the Philosopher's Stone, and the other is Horcruxes."
When he heard the word "Horcruxes," Professor McGonagall looked at Tom and paid attention to their conversation.
"Horcruxes are extremely evil; I don't want to talk much about it. Their principle is similar to what you mentioned before: splitting the soul and placing it in other objects to avoid death. To create a Horcrux, you have to kill without any psychological burden."
Upon hearing this, Hacker suddenly abandoned the idea of obtaining immortality through Horcruxes.
"As for the Philosopher's Stone, you shouldn't hold out hope. That thing has already been lost."
Hacker: !!!
"It seems that immortality is just a human desire," he sighed.
"Life is not about its duration but its breadth. Your life is already broader than most people's," Tom comforted Hacker.
At that moment, they reached a staircase. Hacker was about to continue forward, but he was stopped by Professor McGonagall.
"Wait a moment." McGonagall looked ahead with seriousness.
Hacker was puzzled, and in the next moment, he saw the staircase in front of him start moving and spinning until it aligned with the opposite platform. After a few seconds, another staircase rotated and took the place of the original one.
Why did they turn a perfectly good staircase into that? Hacker thought for a moment and then realized, "Is this to deter enemies? If the castle's stairs can move at will, invaders would surely be confused and wouldn't know where to go."
Professor McGonagall remained silent for a moment and then nodded without speaking. Originally, she wanted to say that this was just a prank by the founder Rowena Ravenclaw, but hearing Hacker's ideas, she didn't dare to reveal the truth.
Next, Hacker experienced more of the wonders of Hogwarts Castle. In addition to the stairs of different sizes and the swinging ones, there were also many doors with human-like sensibilities: yes, literally human. Because if you didn't ask them politely to open or didn't give them the right touch, they wouldn't open. Hacker even found out that the armor in the castle could move.
Finally, Professor McGonagall led them to the headmaster's office. All the way, Hacker felt like he was participating in a hiking obstacle course.
Unlike usual, Dumbledore was not locked in his office but was standing at the door, silently waiting for Hacker.
Dumbledore wore a dark blue wizard's robe adorned with golden stars. Along with his waist-length white beard and his penetrating gaze capable of reading people's hearts, Dumbledore's appearance fully met Hacker's expectations of how a wizard should look, inspiring deep respect in him.
But why did he have a crooked nose?
"Professor Dumbledore, pleasure to meet you." Hacker stood upright and respectfully shook Dumbledore's hand.
Contrary to what Hacker had imagined, Dumbledore turned out to be quite affable and didn't display the haughty attitude of a great wizard. He had a gentle smile on his face and warmly welcomed Hacker. He also seemed very interested in whether Hacker had stumbled on the tricky stairs when climbing up. Instead of appearing as the White Mage King of the wizarding world, Hacker felt that the man in front of him resembled Santa Claus more.
He's really kind and approachable! It was completely different from what he had imagined.
Following Hacker's preconceived idea, Dumbledore should be that elderly recluse living atop the wizard's tower, unconcerned with outside affairs and completely dedicated to exploring the secrets of magic. Wanting to see him was like having to go through countless challenges and trials or just hearing him without being able to see him in person. But when he met the real person, he realized that he had gotten everything wrong beyond his appearance.
"Minerva, go and tend to your matters. Mr. Hacker, let's go upstairs and chat comfortably." Dumbledore invited Hacker to Hogwarts for a very important purpose: he needed to personally see the future Prime Minister, even if Hacker hadn't taken any actions yet; he was already destined to become the next leader according to the magical world.
"Pile of cockroaches." Dumbledore spoke the password, revealing the entrance to the headmaster's office.
Hacker: !!!
His understanding of Dumbledore was renewed.