Dumbledore had expected Bryan to react with panic, anger, or dread when he voiced his guess, but he was taken aback by the young man's calm demeanor. Bryan showed no signs of panic or fear, only a faint weariness that clouded his eyes. Dumbledore, who had lived for more than a century and seen countless secrets and lies, could not tell if Bryan was hiding his true feelings behind a mask of Occlumency.
What had Bryan gone through in his life, what secrets did he conceal in his heart, and how did he manage to keep such a composed facade? Dumbledore was curious and intrigued by these questions, and he hoped to find some answers in their conversation.
"Let's discuss them one by one, Headmaster Dumbledore." Bryan rubbed his forehead, and spoke with a slight fatigue in his voice.
"Of course–" Dumbledore smiled warmly and said, "You have been back at Hogwarts for quite a while now, Bryan, and I have learned a lot about your habits."
He stood up and flicked his wand out of his sleeve, conjuring a cup of steaming green tea on the slender-legged desk in front of Bryan, while he prepared a cup of honey water for himself. He knew that Bryan liked green tea, especially after a long day of studying and practicing magic.
"Please allow me to recommend you a very interesting and delicious food, Bryan–" He said cheerfully, as he walked towards the table where the sorting hat was placed. He picked up a jar from the table and turned around, holding it in his hands.
"The owner of Honeyduke's candy shop, Ambrosius Flume, and I are acquaintances. He knows my hobby, so he often asks someone to bring me some new products from his shop for me to taste."
As he said this, he opened the lid of the jar and rolled up his sleeve. He reached into the jar and began to grope for something, but his hand did not come out for a long time. He looked like he was catching bugs in a jar, and Bryan could not help but chuckle at the sight.
"Are you catching bugs, Headmaster Dumbledore?" He asked, amused.
But soon he couldn't laugh anymore.
"Oh, there it is, these little guys are really more sensitive than you can imagine–"
Dumbledore said as he looked at Bryan and winked, as if he had a secret to share. He finally pulled out his hand from the jar, holding a squirming and squeaking thing in his palm. He offered it to Bryan, who recoiled in horror.
"This candy is called Cockroach Cluster, and its inventor, Mr. Flume, is still hesitating whether to introduce it to the wizarding world." He explained, as if he was presenting a rare delicacy.
"I think Mr. Flume should think carefully," Bryan said, turning his face away in disgust. "By the way, I think he also needs to go to St. Mungo's to check his brain."
Dumbledore chuckled and shrugged, as if he respected Bryan's opinion, but did not share it. He brought the candy to his mouth and bit into it, making a loud crunching sound. He closed his eyes and savored the taste, as if he was enjoying a fine wine. Bryan felt a shiver run down his spine, and he wondered how Dumbledore could eat such a disgusting thing. A few seconds later, Dumbledore's face stiffened, and he opened his eyes.
"This little guy might have taken one of my teeth," He said, touching his mouth with his tongue. "And I think I swallowed it, oh, this is a terrible loss."
Bryan rolled his eyes and thought, 'Enough, old man, are you still playing around?!'
The atmosphere in the office was more lively than before, but it was also tense and awkward. Dumbledore and Bryan leaned back on their chairs, each holding their own drinks, pretending to be casual and relaxed looking like they were discussing tomorrow's weather.
Bryan took a sip of his bitter tea, feeling the heat and the sting in his throat and the warmth in his stomach. He sighed slightly, and decided to break the silence.
"Your previous guess, Headmaster Dumbledore, I noticed that you described it as: 'vaguely sensing a power that does not belong to me'. So, that is to say, you are not sure whether that thing is a piece of a wizard's soul, or a Horcrux?" He asked, looking at Dumbledore with a calm and steady gaze.
Dumbledore met his eyes, and nodded slowly. He put down his cup of honey water, and looked up at the colorful patterns on the circular dome above them and spoke in a solemn and serious tone.
"We all know what a Horcrux is, Bryan," He continued. "A piece of soul that is protected by powerful and evil magic, and separated from the body. Every person's soul is like our magic, Unique, unless that soul originally belongs to you, otherwise, they can only cling to each other and cannot merge."
"You mean, what you observed was, that thing and my soul were blended together?" Bryan asked, trying to understand what Dumbledore had seen in his mind.
"I think so." Dumbledore nodded, gazing at Bryan with a penetrating look, as if he wanted to confirm his hypothesis.
"It is a very close connection, it lurks in your soul. Like-" He paused, searching for a suitable analogy, and his eyes wandered around the office, until they landed on the cup of green tea that Bryan was holding in his hands.
"Like two drinks of different colors, unable to mix with each other. Of course, we still can't rule out the possibility that it is a piece of soul, because, my guess is only based on theory, and Horcruxes are the most complex and unpredictable dark magic, we can't claim we really understand it."
Bryan nodded slightly, agreeing with Dumbledore's assessment of Horcruxes. Indeed, in the current wizarding world, the person who knew the most about Horcruxes was Voldemort, not him and Albus Dumbledore.
'Memory, memory again.' Bryan thought, falling silent.
Dumbledore fell silent, too, and Bryan didn't say anything either, thinking gloomily.
Whether it was a Horcrux, or something else, the 'foreign object' in Bryan's soul, undoubtedly came from a wizard's hand, but he had no memory of this aspect.
"If you really know nothing about this thing-" Dumbledore looked at Bryan, hesitantly, "If you allow me-" He gestured towards the Pensieve, which was sitting on a nearby table, filled with silvery liquid.
"Thank you for your kindness, Headmaster Dumbledore-" Bryan interrupted Dumbledore's words, he met Dumbledore's gaze, and said firmly, "I will not allow anyone to examine my memory."
Dumbledore was not surprised by Bryan's answer, this was natural, even the closest partner, probably could not stand the other party knowing all their memories. He respected Bryan's choice, but he also felt a twinge of regret and disappointment.
About the thing in Bryan's soul, whether it was a piece of soul, or something else, based on the information they had at present, it was impossible to make an accurate guess, but there were some things that they could at least verify.
Thump- The bottom of the glass bottle hit the table and made a sharp sound, just looking at the bottle that was completely black, the portraits of the former headmasters on the wall all gasped in unison.
"For so many years, I have been under your watchful eye countless times, Headmaster Dumbledore,"
Bryan said, looking at the bottle with a calm and curious expression. He remembered the previous summoning of the Patronus on the Quidditch pitch, the inexplicable palpitation in his heart. He fixed his eyes on Dumbledore, who was solemnly looking at one of the most evil creatures in the wizarding world, the Dementor, and said slowly, "But you never noticed anything wrong with me, until just now when I summoned the Patronus in front of the Dementor."
"I understand what you mean, Bryan." Dumbledore sighed slightly, "As for the origin of the Dementor, a creature that cannot be destroyed by magic, and even the Patronus can only repel but not annihilate, there has never been a consensus in the wizarding world.
Some people think that it was the dark wizard Ekrizdis who created the Dementor in the fifteenth century, but according to some records from the Ministry of Magic, the investigators of the Royal Magic Society, the predecessor of the Ministry of Magic, when they landed on the island of Azkaban, they found some clues that suggested that this creature seemed to have existed there for a long time.
We don't know when it appeared, nor do we know whether it is a magical creature that evolved from nature, or from the whim of some dark wizard. Oh, but from the current situation, they are most likely artificially created, of course, you must have thought of that, their creators probably have some mysterious connection with you, but that doesn't make sense, does it?"
He looked at Bryan with concern and said, "Even if the terrifying creature that can take away people's happiness really came from the hand of that dark wizard in the fifteenth century, then why would it have anything to do with you?"
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