"I said it from the start, this boy is an extremely malicious little wizard! I should have sent him to Azkaban right then and there!" the Sorting Hat suddenly said from a shelf behind the desk. At the same time, the portraits of the past Hogwarts headmasters on the wall all began to talk at once.
"He's strange, Albus. We don't know the source of his power!"
"And he's only eleven, how could he possibly know so much?"
"Whoever is behind him, or his teacher, must be someone extraordinary!"
The headmasters chattered away, but Dumbledore had no interest in listening to them. He was staring intently at the spot where Victor had disappeared, his eyes growing sharper. He had clearly heard Victor's final words.
"Everard, would you be so kind as to inform Severus to come here?" Dumbledore suddenly interrupted the portraits' discussion, and the noisy office fell silent. Everard merely nodded at Dumbledore's request, said nothing, and turned to disappear into his portrait.
Less than ten minutes later, the oak door to the headmaster's office was pushed open again, and Snape walked in, his long black robes trailing behind him.
"Headmaster!"
"Severus, do you know about Horcruxes?" Dumbledore asked, getting straight to the point.
"Horcruxes?!" Snape frowned, as if something had just occurred to him. "Are you saying…"
"Exactly. We should have thought of it sooner. His secret to immortality," Dumbledore said coldly, leaning his hand on the corner of his desk. "Did he ever mention Horcruxes to you?"
"Not that I recall," Snape said with certainty. "I must ask, is the source of this information Victor Dreyar?"
"You know about this?"
"On my way here, some students mentioned a ball of fire suddenly appearing in the corridor, and then Dreyar suddenly showed up there," Snape explained. "Are you sure Dreyar can be trusted? He has already caused a lot of trouble in the school in just one week. You know, some of my old friends managed to evade the Ministry's pursuit and are still at large!"
"This is some information I asked a friend at the Ministry to look into," Dumbledore said, handing Snape an open letter. "It contains some details about Victor Dreyar."
"Dreyar seems to have been adopted. A little over a year ago, his last name was Swinton, and his first name was not Victor. Before he was ten, he was no different from any other Muggle child, and he showed no potential to be a wizard. But after he turned ten, he inexplicably changed his name, and his adopted family didn't have any reaction. My friend also pulled the records of magical activity near the Dreyar household for the past year and found that since Dreyar turned ten, there have been more than ten times the magical anomalies around his house."
"You suspect that Dreyar's real family came to find him?" Snape asked after a brief look at the report.
"Yes. If the person who taught Dreyar magic was a Death Eater, the Swintons would not have survived," Dumbledore guessed.
"Then is it possible that the real Dreyar died when he was ten and someone used Polyjuice Potion to take his place?"
"Severus, everyone is responsible for what they say. Don't you think it's a bit childish for a Potions Master like you to say something like that?" Dumbledore's eyes suddenly became stern. "You, of all people, should be able to tell if someone has been drinking Polyjuice Potion!"
"But Headmaster, Dreyar is still very suspicious!" Snape said with a grim expression, not giving up. "I can't trust him. At least for now, there is no reason to believe he is trustworthy!"
"Severus, he is just a boy!" Dumbledore's eyes showed a hint of nostalgia and regret. "I was just like you once, but I was proven wrong. My distrust created an extremely dangerous Dark Wizard. I don't want you to repeat my mistakes. Trust me, Severus! Dreyar is trustworthy!"
Dumbledore wasn't saying this for any other reason. It was because he had learned from the portraits that Victor had once said to Hermione that power could control a person, and that if a person didn't have a mature will and mind, they couldn't control the power of magic.
Based on this simple statement alone, Dumbledore could clearly tell what kind of person Victor was.
Victor Dreyar was an extremely calm person with his own thoughts and will. He wasn't like Tom, who was consumed by power until he fell into darkness. Victor clearly knew what he was doing.
Snape, hearing Dumbledore pleading Victor's case in such a way, had no words despite his deep suspicion. He simply threw the report about Victor onto the table with a scowl, then turned and quickly walked toward the office door.
"Severus, Horcruxes!" Dumbledore called out to Snape's retreating figure. Snape didn't respond, but Dumbledore knew he understood what needed to be done.
After Snape left, a look of helplessness appeared on Dumbledore's face. He slowly walked to a black cabinet in his office and opened it. Inside, he saw a shallow, hollow basin made of metal or stone, its edges carved with runes and symbols.
It was the Pensieve, in which memories, transformed into bright silver wisps, were stored. Dumbledore bent over the Pensieve, his Elder Wand pointed at his temple. A glowing white wisp was drawn out. Placing the memory into the Pensieve, Dumbledore delved into the past, searching for a future in the moments he had overlooked.
After some time, Dumbledore withdrew his thoughts from the memory. Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything useful. It was because the young Voldemort had been too perfect during his time at Hogwarts.
But there was no such thing as perfection in the world.
Dumbledore thoughtfully closed the black cabinet where the Pensieve was kept and slowly walked back to his desk with his snacks. As he was deep in thought, he opened the glass jar of Cockroach Clusters and reached inside. He found nothing.
"Oh, my goodness! He ate all my Cockroach Clusters!" Dumbledore lamented, staring at the completely empty glass jar. Victor hadn't even left him a single cockroach leg. He would have to have Honeydukes send some over, but before that…
"Fawkes, would you please take me to Nicolas?" Dumbledore wanted to visit Nicolas Flamel. He would know more about the Horcruxes.
As soon as he finished speaking, Fawkes spread his wings, and his entire body burst into golden flames again. After a long cry, the phoenix and the white-bearded old man disappeared from the headmaster's office.
————
Meanwhile, after being engulfed by Fawkes's flames, Victor saw a flash of fire and then found himself in the first-floor corridor of Hogwarts, where he fell on his backside.
"Blast it! I wasn't finished yet!" Victor said, getting up and rubbing his bottom. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting late. He pulled out his mechanical pocket watch and checked the time.
Oh, it's almost six. Time for dinner!
He and Hermione had planned to go to the library together after Potions, but the meddling old man had completely thrown a wrench in his plans. There was no way he could go to the library now. So, Victor took out his wand and gave it a flick. "Go!" A glowing patronus in the shape of an owl immediately flew out.
————
On the second floor of Hogwarts, in the library, Hermione was deeply engrossed in a book. But suddenly, she heard a commotion around her and looked up curiously. A glowing owl had flown in through the window.
"Victor?!" Hermione immediately recognized the magic. He was the only one at Hogwarts she had ever seen use it.
The owl landed in front of Hermione, its body of light suddenly dispersing into tiny particles and reforming into a message on the tabletop: I'm in the Great Hall. It was also accompanied by an image of a bowl of rice with a pair of chopsticks on top.
Hermione was stunned for a moment. Before she could even react, she heard Madam Pince's angry voice from a distance.
"Which little hooligan dares to use magic in the library?!"
A chill ran down Hermione's spine. She quickly packed up her books and ran out of the library. She didn't want Madam Pince to find out the owl was related to her. Even the Weasley twins, who were famous for their pranks at Hogwarts, wouldn't dare cause trouble in the library; it would be a horrible end.
Leaving the library, Hermione hurried to the Great Hall. It was dinnertime, and the hall was packed with people. But Hermione quickly spotted the figure who was being stared at while he devoured his food.
She slowly walked over to Victor and was completely shocked by the mountain of empty plates stacked on his table. What wizard could possibly eat so much? An adult couldn't even eat that much!
But there was a reason why Victor ate so much. Origin did passively increase his magical capacity, but it also consumed a huge amount of his physical energy. If he didn't eat a lot, his own magic would drain him dry!
"Victor!" Hermione said, walking up to him.
"Oh! Hermione, you're here!" Victor swallowed a piece of lamb chop and held out a chicken leg to her. "Here, this is for you!"
"I'll eat later. What did Professor Dumbledore want to see you about?"
"Hmm…" Victor said, a lamb bone in his mouth, looking up at the ceiling of the Great Hall. He then asked, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"