"Come in!"
There was a deep knock on the door. Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his desk, put down the quill in his hand and looked towards the door.
"Good evening, Professor."
Albert pushed the door open and walked into the principal's office, greeting the old man with a smile.
"Good evening, Albert." Dumbledore said with a smile, "Sit down. Would you like something to drink, milk tea?"
Albert sat down opposite Dumbledore, his eyes swept across The Tales of Beedle the Bard and the parchment manuscript on the table, and said softly, "It seems that I came at the wrong time. You seem to be working."
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Have you ever read this book?"
Dumbledore placed a cup of steaming milk tea in front of Albert, looked at the Tales of Beedle the Bard on the table and said, "This is the original text. The Tales of Beedle the Bard in the bookstore has been revised to some extent. Do you want to take a look?"
As he said this, he handed the book to Albert.
"Are you going to translate it again?" Albert took the book and flipped through it casually. He found that this old book was written in runes, and most wizards' rune proficiency was very average.
"Yes, I plan to translate it again and write my own review." Dumbledore added a large spoonful of honey to his teacup, stirred it slowly and said, "I heard that you also wrote a book recently."
“Yes, many people will need it in the future.”
Albert did not deny it. There was nothing to deny. He pulled out his wand from his pocket, tapped the milk tea in front of him, and after making it disappear under Dumbledore's confused gaze, he made himself a new cup of milk tea.
To be honest, this was extremely rude behavior, but Dumbledore was not angry about it, he was just a little surprised and puzzled.
"Sorry, ever since Umbridge handed me a cup of milk tea, I've been a little... disgusted with drinks handed to me by other people." Albert explained to Dumbledore.
"It seems that time left a bad impression on you." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I guess so." Albert took a sip of the milk tea and said, "After all, no one wants to drink a drink that might have been spiked with something."
"She really did that?"
Albert put down his teacup and said calmly: "No, I won't give her a chance."
"Perhaps, we shouldn't talk about her. It's not a pleasant topic." Dumbledore changed the subject, obviously not wanting to discuss Umbridge's problem with Albert. "Would you mind giving me a copy of your new book? I'll give you one after I finish compiling it."
"Oh, of course."
Albert waved his wand lightly, and after a crackling sound, a book was summoned out of thin air. He reached out to take the book and placed it in front of Dumbledore.
"It seems that you are not optimistic about the future prospects."
Dumbledore took the book, carefully flipped through the table of contents in front of him, and understood what was going on.
"I'm not optimistic. Many people will die, especially Muggle-born wizards." Albert's tone was indifferent, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.
“What a terrible future.”
Dumbledore put down the book in his hand and sighed softly, "I once taught him, but unfortunately I failed to guide him on the right path..."
"The right way?" Albert asked with a strange expression, "What do you think is the right way?"
"At least, it is certainly not right for him to do so." Dumbledore did not answer Albert directly.
"Everyone thinks they are right, especially some people." Albert didn't care about Dumbledore's vague answer, nor did he intend to refute him. Instead, he stated the facts calmly, "When the mysterious man and his minions control the Ministry of Magic and become the final winners of this war, they will be right and you will be wrong."
"The victors write history?" Dumbledore understood what Albert meant, took a sip of milk tea and said softly, "You are right. Whether it is correct or not is still up to people to judge. I think this topic is enough for people to discuss for a long time."
"I heard that something unpleasant happened between you and Severus." He finally mentioned the reason why he came to see Albert today.
"Not very happy?" Albert tapped the teacup with his wand, poured himself a cup of steaming milk tea, and said calmly, "Maybe he thinks so! I won't make myself unhappy because of him."
"He is a little angry," Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, he should drink some sedatives to calm down." Albert ignored Dumbledore's words, waved his wand and conjured up a plate of cookies for himself. He picked up a piece and crushed it in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing it, he said with a smile, "Look at Potter, he's not bad. His bad temper has been restrained a lot compared to before. You can recommend the calming candy I prepared for Potter a while ago to Snape."
As he spoke, Albert took out a small bottle and placed it in front of Dumbledore.
Dumbledore looked a little stunned, and looked at the medicine bottle in front of him suspiciously.
"But, you know, he is a professor, you should give him the most basic respect." Dumbledore's tone was casual. He picked up the bottle, looked at the pills inside, poured out a pill to taste it, and then really took the bottle away.
"Respect is mutual." Albert said gently, "I can get along well with most of the professors, students, ghosts, and portraits at Hogwarts. Even Peeves, who likes to play tricks on others, is no exception. I dare say that the Slytherin friends of all the other Gryffindor students combined are not as many as I am."
"Why don't you ask why Snape is an exception?" Albert looked at Dumbledore and asked with a smile.
Snap!
The sound of cookies being crunched eased the unfriendly atmosphere inside.
"Obviously, the majority of the problem is not with me, but with him."
"Perhaps, he does have some minor flaws." Dumbledore looked at Albert and sighed softly, "You know, everyone has some..."
"I know." Albert nodded to show that he understood. He pushed the plate towards Dumbledore and asked, "But why should I tolerate his little bad habits instead of letting him change them himself?"
"In this world, I never think that anyone will accommodate anyone except your parents." Albert's words were very clear. He was not Snape's father, so he had no intention of accommodating him.
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly. Albert's words were harsh, but that was the reality.
"I admit that I don't like Malfoy or Snape, but I never like to cause trouble," Albert reminded.
"It's Professor Snape," Dumbledore corrected.
"I said that respect is mutual," Albert corrected. "The reason why professors are respected is not because of respect for the professor himself, but because of respect for the knowledge he possesses. Knowledge is worthy of respect."
"As for people, I don't find much in Snape that deserves special respect."
"I have failed completely." Dumbledore said helplessly.
"You didn't fail, it's just that times have changed." Albert made no secret of this. "If it was a long time ago, I never minded calling him professor because it was necessary, but now I no longer need to force myself. The relationship between the two parties is equal. If Snape wants to gain my respect, he must first learn to respect me, instead of always using the ridiculous teacher-student relationship as an excuse."
"If you can't do that, you can just ask him to stay away from me and ignore me. I think there will be no more unpleasant conflicts between the two sides." Albert took a sip of tea and said gently, "After all, I will graduate at the end of June next year, and it will be difficult for us to have any intersection in the future."
"Please forgive me for the fact that young people tend to have bad tempers. I really don't have as good a temper as you do."
"No, you have a much better temper than most people your age."
The whole school knew that Albert was gentle and he rarely lost his temper.
Dumbledore didn't dwell on this matter. Albert had made it very clear that both sides just needed to refrain from interfering with each other.
"I heard that Professor Umbridge fell today." He changed the subject to a lighter one.
"Yes, she is so careless even at her old age." Albert smiled and shook his head. "It's the first time I've seen someone fall into the hospital wing. She is almost making herself a laughing stock in Hogwarts. I don't know why Fudge asked her to come to Hogwarts. Is she here to add to the joyful atmosphere of Hogwarts?"
"You dislike Professor Umbridge very much?" Dumbledore had a smile on his face when talking about Umbridge's misfortunes. He also disliked Umbridge, although he would not show it directly.
"I should say I hate politicians." Albert shrugged. "By the way, it was Umbridge who sent the Dementors to attack Harry Potter."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly, somewhat surprised that Albert mentioned this.
"Do you have any evidence?"
"Do you think I need evidence?" Albert asked back, "I was the one who did Professor Trelawney's divination. You should have guessed it. Just think about the final outcome of the pink toad and you will know how many terrible things she has done."
"The future may not be as predicted." Dumbledore gently reminded: "You should be aware of how complex and changeable the cause and effect of people's behavior is!"
"I know that the predicted future can be changed, but it is difficult and requires a great price." Albert shrugged and said, "But I don't think Umbridge's prophecy will change much."
"Maybe you already know some things, but I think it's better to remind you." Albert paused and continued, "Potter recently set up a defense against the dark arts organization called DA. I think you should know what it means. Fudge was always worried that you would organize an army. I think this is why you were kicked out."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, as if he had something in his mind, but he didn't say it out loud.
"If it's alright, I'll leave first."
"I want you to teach Harry Occlumency."
As Albert stood up and prepared to leave, Dumbledore finally spoke.
"I once taught Fred and the other two the art of Occlumency, but unfortunately they didn't learn it. I don't think I can teach Potter the art of Occlumency." Albert shook his head and said, "You'd better teach him yourself."
"Perhaps, you should have noticed something. It is not appropriate for me to teach Harry." There was a gleam in Dumbledore's glasses.
"Believe me, Snape is even more inappropriate than you. Some things are just your wishful thinking." Albert said to Dumbledore, "And I predicted the death of Sirius."
"Are you telling the truth?"
Phineas, the portrait who was pretending to be asleep, finally couldn't help but speak. He couldn't tolerate the Black family's bloodline being cut off.
"have no idea."
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore's expression turned serious.
"Although Peter Pettigrew is dead, as you said, who can predict the future?" Albert kindly reminded, "I suggest you prepare some Felicis Felicis, since you are not short of money anyway. Of course, if you can get some Felicis Felicis, remember to get me one, and I will pay for it. You know, I am not short of Galleons."
"Wait Anderson, let's talk." Phineas said loudly.
"What I can do is limited. At most, I can give you a reminder." Albert pushed the door and left.
As soon as he came out of the gap in the monster statue, he ran into Potter standing outside.
"Come in, Dumbledore is inside." Albert helped Harry into the headmaster's office.
"Harry, what do you want from me?" Dumbledore was a little surprised that Harry was here.
"Sir, I've been having a dream recently. I dreamed of a long and dim corridor. Albert told me that my dream was related to Voldemort." Harry looked at the old man in front of him, waited for a moment and then continued, "He suggested that I learn the brain block technique from you, saying that as long as I master the brain block technique, I will not have the same nightmare again."
"Mr. Anderson's judgment is quite correct." Dumbledore looked Harry in the eye. "He believes that there is some special connection between you and Voldemort, and that the Master of the Occlumency can avoid being affected by it."
"Can you teach me Occlumency?" Harry asked expectantly.
"I'm afraid I don't have much time to teach you in the near future." Dumbledore was silent for a moment, but finally did not agree. "If you want to learn, I can find someone to teach you."
"Who?" Harry asked curiously.
"He is a very capable Occlumency master, Mr. Anderson," said Dumbledore gently, "if I can convince him."
"Anderson said he couldn't teach me and asked me to come to you." Harry shook his head.
"I will try to convince him," Dumbledore said to Harry. "If that doesn't work, I will find you another one."
Originally, Harry wanted to ask why Dumbledore seemed to be avoiding him intentionally, but in the end he didn't say it. He knew that if Dumbledore didn't want to tell him, it would only add to the embarrassment even if he asked.
"Then I'll be leaving first, Professor." Harry turned and left. He could see that Dumbledore was not going to reveal anything more to him.
Maybe the time has not come yet.
Although Harry was annoyed at being kept in the dark, he had been able to control his emotions recently, not to mention that he had just taken a tranquilizer.
"I think you should consider Anderson's proposal." Phineas said to Dumbledore after Harry left.
"I will."
"No, you won't. No wonder Anderson refused to join your Order of the Phoenix." Phineas turned and disappeared. He planned to talk to Sirius. Maybe he should ask his unfortunate great-grandson to pay attention to his safety. Maybe he should have found someone he liked to marry and leave a direct descendant to Black, so that the Black family would not be extinct after his death.