Dumbledore paid no attention to the bewildered Hermione and led Tom straight to his office. In the blink of an eye, the two were sitting in the office.
Once seated, Tom shifted his position discreetly: the small bow Hermione had tied was tight and uncomfortable.
But he didn't dare to take it off without permission, after all, Hermione had told him not to.
At that moment, Dumbledore handed him a scroll, indicating that he should look at its contents.
"A confidential report..." Tom furrowed his brow, pensive.
"Tom is plotting something big again, he's always ambitious." Dumbledore chuckled under his breath. Perhaps he had planted the seed of violence in his mind the first time they met. Hearing Dumbledore's "Tom," Tom felt uneasy. He knew "Tom" meant Voldemort, but it still felt distasteful.
Tom finished reading the confidential report and reached the same conclusion as Dumbledore: Voldemort was about to take action.
The confidential report brought two pieces of news: first, Voldemort had formed an alliance with the Japanese Ministry of Magic and a mysterious external force; second, Voldemort was planning to attack Azkaban to free his followers imprisoned there.
"Professor Dumbledore, I believe we don't have much time," Tom placed the scroll on the table and tapped it gently with his index finger.
Although Voldemort's progress was rapid, it was not surprising. If he were Voldemort, Tom would also attack Azkaban immediately to free his most loyal followers.
This valuable information was now in Dumbledore's hands, which meant that Voldemort could head to Azkaban at any time, perhaps next week, maybe tomorrow, even right now.
Time was running out for Dumbledore's side.
Dumbledore sat silently in his chair, hands folded, listening carefully to Tom's analysis.
"We should do something," Tom voiced his viewpoint.
In the original timeline, Dumbledore faced Voldemort's resurgence and adopted a modified version of the four-step tactic of the British Foreign Office.
When Harry was in first grade, the Voldemort possession incident occurred; in second grade, the Chamber of Secrets incident happened, and Voldemort's Horcrux was shown to Dumbledore, but he did nothing, pretending that nothing was happening.
In fourth grade, Voldemort returned, Cedric died, at this crucial moment, Dumbledore called the Order of the Phoenix and engaged in a war of words with the Ministry of Magic... Meanwhile, Voldemort called his followers, attacked Azkaban, and began collecting that year's prophecy.
After Fudge's downfall, Dumbledore started searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes, which resulted in him being cursed. Throughout Harry's sixth year, he was searching for Horcruxes and accelerating Harry's training. Finally, there was the battle in the astronomy tower, and Dumbledore perished.
When reviewing the whole process from a third-party perspective, Dumbledore's reaction was a bit slow, almost like the British government facing an unexpected event.
But that was also understandable, after all, Dumbledore was not like Tom, lacking necessary information. For example, after the diary was destroyed, Dumbledore probably thought Voldemort was dead. Who would have thought that a mad wizard would make seven Horcruxes? In the past, dark wizards typically only made one or two Horcruxes. Who would make seven at once? Voldemort truly opened Dumbledore's eyes.
Due to a judgment error, Dumbledore did nothing throughout the third year, and Hogwarts had no major incident except for the whole school being nervous due to Black's escape.
It was only when the fourth year was nearly over that Dumbledore realized something unusual and understood that Voldemort had returned and that Harry was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. Dumbledore began to take action. However, at that time, someone was hindering him.
Cornelius Fudge, with his own power, managed to stop Dumbledore and ruined his preparations, temporarily ousting Dumbledore from Hogwarts.
If it weren't for Fudge's interference, Dumbledore would have been able to do much more in the fifth year, instead of battling the Ministry of Magic. In the end, all the valuable time was wasted because of a clown.
During this year, Voldemort's power expanded like never before, but at least there was some good news: Dumbledore finally got rid of the hindrance. After resolving the Fudge issue, Dumbledore spent a year investigating the information, but his own life also came to an end...
During this period, the Ministry of Magic seemed disconnected.
With so many people obstructing him, it's astonishing that Dumbledore was able to obtain so much information. It seems that there isn't much to blame Dumbledore for, as he did his best. He lost because he was too upright, which resulted in the Ministry of Magic hindering him.
The current situation is much more favorable than in the original timeline, at least two Horcruxes have already been destroyed, and the other three have leads. Most importantly, the Minister of Magic has been replaced by Bones, who is more compliant, solving some issues.
Dumbledore's position now is much better than in the original story. It can be considered a small advantage.
Although they have a significant advantage, Tom believes Dumbledore should also take action. If they keep delaying, they'll lose the best opportunity.
"It's a great opportunity, don't you think? We have Voldemort's trail," Tom's eyes lit up, as if there was a fire burning within them, "Let's make Azkaban his grave."
Voldemort is elusive, but if he wants to attack Azkaban, he will definitely have to appear there. Otherwise, with his followers, he would only be feeding the Dementors. So why not take advantage of his appearance and carry out a decapitation operation?
Why wait until he's ready and both sides gather for a big battle?
Anyway, after Voldemort had taken Harry's blood and been resurrected, they had achieved their goal, so they could close the net and deal with Voldemort, the big fish.
Dumbledore raised his head; behind his half-moon glasses were deep eyes.
"It seems a bit reckless to do that, and if I leave Hogwarts, I am very likely to suffer an attack by Riddle," Dumbledore gave a rather conservative response, but not outside Tom's expectations.