Dumbledore knew very well that Minerva McGonagall was angry.
Sending only a silent Patronus was purely to save his face—if he didn't show understanding or couldn't provide a satisfactory explanation, the next thing that would arrive might be a Howler!
So, he hurriedly bid farewell to Fudge and rushed back to the school, where he found Professor McGonagall standing in the school infirmary, her face stern.
Daphne stood beside her, head bowed, but her eyes kept glancing at a hospital bed in the corner of the room.
Behind them, a magical creature made entirely of bones, with flames flickering from its four hooves, was standing idly.
When Dumbledore saw the Necro Unicorn(?) behind Daphne, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised, but he quickly collected himself and focused his attention on Professor McGonagall.
"Minerva, I'm back," Dumbledore said, a gentle smile on his face as he greeted Professor McGonagall. The response to his warm greeting, however, was a cold reception.
She looked at Dumbledore with a blank expression and then pointed to the bed where Harry and Ron were lying.
"Mr. Weasley has a broken thigh bone. Madam Pomfrey has already given him some medicine. Potter hit his head and has a bit of a concussion."
"Oh! It's good that there's nothing too serious,"
Dumbledore said, still smiling warmly. In his view, the outcome wasn't too bad. But judging by Minerva's expression, he realized that a serious conversation was necessary.
He walked quickly to Daphne's side and gently ruffled her hair.
"You're a very brave young girl—"
"If Potter and Weasley hadn't kept slandering Professor Snape, I would never have gone down there with them!" Daphne's words were firm, leaving both Dumbledore and McGonagall a bit embarrassed.
"Now that the truth is out and Professor Snape is innocent, I hope you can correct Potter's misconceptions. Not every Slytherin is as bad as he thinks!"
Dumbledore gave an awkward but polite smile.
He was well aware that over the years, the rift between the four houses had deepened, particularly between Gryffindor and Slytherin—animosity that had only worsened after Tom Riddle emerged from Slytherin, turning the two houses into bitter enemies.
He felt powerless in the face of the current state of the school; this wasn't something he was adept at handling.
Minerva had done well. She had always handled conflicts between the two houses with fairness, but fairness alone couldn't mend the growing divide.
Dumbledore wasn't sure what direction the school would take in the future, but he could only hope that future generations would be wise enough to resolve these issues. For now, he felt cautiously optimistic, especially since Gryffindor's Harry and Slytherin's Daphne had ventured together—this was a promising start.
"You're absolutely right," Dumbledore said with a smile, looking at Daphne and speaking very earnestly. "You have truly inherited the best qualities of Slytherin."
Dumbledore was being a bit crafty with his words; he praised Daphne for inheriting Slytherin's admirable qualities while cleverly sidestepping the house's more problematic pure-blood ideology.
Daphne was embarrassed by Dumbledore's sudden praise.
She blushed and lowered her head in silence: Did she really inherit the spirit of Slytherin? Why not ask Rhys later? He should know more about Slytherin, right?
"So can you tell me what happened?" Dumbledore's half-moon glasses flashed with curiosity. He really wanted to know what happened under the trapdoor.
Daphne naturally would not refuse, and when she told the story, Professor McGonagall stood aside with her eyes downcast, listening quietly - if she wanted to settle the score, she had to wait until Daphne left.
However, Daphne did not tell the whole truth.
When describing the battle with Voldemort, she attributed most of the credit to Nightmare and downplayed her own role in it.
In her description, she was just floating in the sky, occasionally throwing a stone at Quirrell on the ground to disturb him.
"Oh? You got a crystal ball from the Mirror of Erised?" After hearing that Daphne got a crystal ball, Dumbledore hoped that Daphne could talk to him more about the crystal ball.
Daphne was embarrassed.
"Ah, that, that crystal ball was quite beautiful. There's a forest inside, and Nightmare was walking in it..." When she said this, she suddenly hesitant.
"Can I take a look at that crystal ball?" Dumbledore became more interested in the crystal ball that Daphne mentioned, because it was quite similar to a precious alchemical tool he had seen in a record.
Beads of sweat appeared on Daphne's forehead.
After a moment of confusion, she told Dumbledore desperately that the crystal ball was smashed by her.
"I didn't know how to use it, and Quirrell and the monster possessing him were pressing me. What could I do?"
Dumbledore couldn't help but sigh, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes. He comforted Daphne and told her that she was glad that she was okay.
"Does that crystal ball have any special origin?" Professor McGonagall, who was listening quietly at the side, was also intrigued.
"I have read a manuscript left by a medieval wizard, which contains a story."
Daphne: "??"
Did you also get information from medieval wizards' mails and manuscripts?
Dumbledore did not notice Daphne's change of mind. He told Professor McGonagall that the letter recorded that Slytherin once bought a crystal ball from Ravenclaw with a room full of books.
The manuscript of the writer was: [She (Rowena) threw away the books she had read and only kept the ones she had not read and wanted more books she hadn't read. For this reason, Salazar sent me a letter and bought hundreds of books from everywhere to make up the number of books to exchange for the crystal.]
From Daphne's description, what she got was the crystal ball that Slytherin had gone to great lengths to exchange from Ravenclaw.
Professor McGonagall couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
After listening to Daphne's story, Dumbledore understood what happened under the trapdoor. Daphne didn't need to participate in the next thing. So he stood up and asked Daphne to go out and find Madam Pomfrey for a detailed examination. If there was nothing wrong with her body, she could go back to the lounge to rest.
As for the nightmare that Daphne got from the crystal ball, Dumbledore suggested that she give it to Hagrid and let him take care of it.
After Daphne led Nightmare out of the ward, Professor McGonagall could no longer bear it. She walked quickly to Dumbledore and said sternly, "Dumbledore, you will regret this!"
Dumbledore couldn't help but take off his glasses, sighed, and rubbed his sore temples.
"Minerva, please allow me to explain."
Rhys, who was lying in the corner of the ward, pricked up his ears silently and listened carefully to the conversation between the two.
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12 Advance Chapter—Patreon.com/HornyFBI