The emerald willow branches swayed their graceful figures with the cool breeze of the night, and the bright moonlight shone on the rippling lake, creating a silver shimmer on the surface. Except for the hospital wing, where a few students still lay unconscious, the dimly lit Hogwarts castle exuded a cheerful and peaceful atmosphere again. The dark clouds that had enveloped the castle's top at the beginning of the night had dispersed cleanly, revealing a starry sky.
Dumbledore and Bryan walked side by side along the lake, neither of them in a hurry to speak, but quietly enjoying the rare tranquility of the moment.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been resolved, Headmaster Dumbledore, I'm afraid I'll have to leave soon."
Bryan broke the silence after five minutes. He stopped under a crooked-necked willow tree, facing the undulating lake, carefully savoring the complex emotions in his chest. He felt a mix of relief, sadness, and nostalgia. He had grown fond of this magical school and its inhabitants, but he knew he didn't belong here.
"Don't you want to think about it, Bryan?" Dumbledore didn't seem surprised, but his old face still showed obvious regret.
He said sincerely, "In my opinion, you are a very competent professor, you get along well with this school, and the young wizards like you very much. If possible, I don't want to lose an excellent teacher like you."
Bryan smiled and didn't say anything. He believed that Dumbledore should be able to guess his choice. He had come to Hogwarts for a specific purpose, and now that he had accomplished it, he had to return to his own world.
Dumbledore looked more tired than any time this semester. He didn't continue this topic. His long life had given him wisdom that was no less than anyone else's. He knew better than anyone what could be changed and what could not. He also knew that Bryan had secrets that he didn't want to share.
"So–"
Dumbledore took out that tattered diary from his pocket. Earlier, he had brought it out of the Chamber of Secrets. Under the moonlight, a drop of water flew into the air with the rising waves and landed precisely on the diary, leaving a clear stain on it.
"I think you must have recognized what this thing is, Bryan?" He asked in a low voice.
"Oh, Headmaster Dumbledore, you might have overestimated me a bit. I know nothing about Horcruxes."
Bryan winked at Dumbledore with a bitter smile. It was not easy to hide something from a person who had a rich life experience and was also a master of Legilimency. Bryan just used a joking way to express that he didn't want to go into depth about Horcruxes.
"Let's just leave it at that."
Dumbledore put the diary back in his pocket. He took a deep breath and looked at the edge of the endless forest, where the dimly lit wooden hut was. There lived Hagrid, the half-giant gamekeeper who loved all kinds of magical creatures.
"There is one thing that I'm afraid you can't pretend not to know, Bryan–" Dumbledore's tone became slightly serious, "I hope you can return that Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets to me."
Splash!
The strong wind carried the waves and slammed them against the shore, making Bryan's neatly combed hair dance wildly. He reached out his hand to hold his head and sighed heavily with the raging wind. He knew this moment would come sooner or later.
Dumbledore knew he hadn't killed that Basilisk. That was obvious. Such a clumsy lie couldn't deceive Dumbledore. Bryan even suspected that the great headmaster next to him had already 'seen' the Basilisk lying in his arms with his unique eyes.
Bryan said that in the Chamber of Secrets just to tell Dumbledore that he wanted to keep this Basilisk. He thought that since he had solved the Chamber of Secrets problem, Dumbledore wouldn't refuse this 'trivial' request.
"I hope you can understand my difficulties, Bryan,"
Bryan's 'stubborn' face made Dumbledore feel helpless, "Hagrid is now locked up in Azkaban. I have to come up with some evidence to prove to the Ministry of Magic that it was not Hagrid's old spider named Aragog that attacked the young wizards fifty years ago and now. This diary has been destroyed. And I don't think Voldemort's Horcrux is very suitable to be presented as evidence either. That Basilisk is a strong proof." He looked at Bryan with a pleading expression.
Bryan's expression darkened. To be honest, he hadn't considered Hagrid.
The situation was a bit tricky. Hagrid was Dumbledore's number one loyal confidant. Bryan knew that Dumbledore would never let Hagrid be locked up in Azkaban. He also knew that the Ministry of Magic was corrupt and biased, and that they wouldn't listen to reason without solid evidence.
But if he gave up the Basilisk, what about his mission? Did he spend months of time and use a very precious voodoo doll to resist Voldemort's curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, only to end up with nothing?
No, this was absolutely impossible.
Dumbledore read his attitude from Bryan's silence and continued, "This Basilisk needs to be handed over to the Ministry of Magic for those two attacks on young wizards last semester. Cornelius ordered The Daily Prophet to remain silent."
He said this in a matter-of-fact tone, as if it was not negotiable.
Heh! Bryan laughed sarcastically and still didn't say anything, but he was already calculating what he should do if things got out of hand later. He knew that Dumbledore was not someone he could easily fool or persuade.
Bryan wouldn't arrogantly think that he could defeat Dumbledore. But since he entered Hogwarts as a student, he had worked hard for so many years and prepared for so many years. He had even gained the trust of Dumbledore himself. If he couldn't even escape from Dumbledore's face, he would be too pathetic.
Ever since he took on this task and decided to enter Hogwarts, Bryan had foreseen this awkward situation. He had always known that there may be a conflict between his mission and Dumbledore's interests. He had hoped that he could avoid it or resolve it peacefully, but he had also planned for the worst-case scenario.
Bryan stared at the rising lake with a gloomy look, and glanced at the school's big iron gate with the corner of his eye. He had already planned that once he started, he would leave Hogwarts as quickly as possible and then flee by Apparition. He had hidden some emergency supplies, equipment and portkeys in a secret location outside the school grounds. He also had some backup plans in case something went wrong.
The tacit understanding between Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge had nothing to do with him. As for Hagrid, he did feel a bit sorry, but he believed that Dumbledore could handle it. If not, he would go to Azkaban himself after handing over the task to Kakus Fawley.
He hoped that Hagrid would forgive him for this. It was just that he didn't have a chance to say goodbye to Professor Snape and Hermione, Harry and the others, which made him feel a bit regretful.
The endless lake water hit the shore. Dumbledore shook off the crystal drops on his silver-white beard. He looked more helpless as he sensed the hostility from Bryan. He frowned slightly, as if he was also thinking about how to resolve the conflict.
"Bryan."
After a while, Dumbledore seemed to have decided something and his expression became cheerful again. He whispered Bryan's name and took out a money bag from his chest and handed it to Bryan. The money bag looked different from the one Dumbledore gave Bryan at the beginning of the semester. It seemed more like a personal item. It was made of leather and embroidered with golden runes. It jingled softly as it moved in Dumbledore's hand.
"What do you mean, Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Bryan squinted his eyes and moved his gaze away from the money bag, looking directly at Dumbledore's smiling eyes,
"Because you can't award me a special contribution medal, so you changed it to Galleons as a reward?"
He asked sarcastically, not understanding what Dumbledore was trying to do. "Not at all, Bryan,"
Dumbledore's unique beard reflected the white moonlight, as if he was radiating light all over. He winked at Bryan in a playful way like before,
"Actually, I didn't plan to tell you this–"
Bryan's eyes widened in puzzlement as Dumbledore spoke cheerfully, "This is not a special contribution bonus, Mr. Golden Viper. This is the payment for the commission task you accepted–"
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