In the early morning, the bright sunlight shines through the window and shines on the marble floor of the principal's office.
Dumbledore, who had stayed up late last night, had woken up and was sitting behind his desk, enjoying the morning tea prepared by the house-elf while reading the latest issue of "Transfiguration Today".
Since Albert stopped contributing to the magazine, Transfiguration Today has rarely published articles that catch people's eyes.
There were even a few filler articles in the September issue of Transfiguration Today magazine, which really disappointed Dumbledore.
Putting down his teacup, Dumbledore picked up the latest issue of the newspaper that the house-elf had placed on the corner of his desk.
Unfortunately, there was nothing in the newspaper worthy of his attention, and the content of the headlines ruined his good mood early in the morning.
Yesterday, two more "dark wizards" were sentenced to death by the Wizengamot Court.
To be honest, Dumbledore didn't like the new minister's style of killing people at every turn. Even though Scrimgeour was willing to accept his suggestions on some matters, he always insisted on sentencing "extremely vicious" dark wizards to death and never gave in.
"The Ministry of Magic has been using truth serum to interrogate prisoners. We try our best not to wrongly accuse any good person, but we will never let any extremely vicious prisoners go."
Dumbledore put the newspaper down, recalling the unpleasant memory of the last time he talked to Scrimgeour about executing prisoners.
Scrimgeour's tough attitude towards this matter is truly surprising, and Scrimgeour has never been shy about the specific reasons.
In fact, even the staff of the Wizengamot Court and even the top leaders of the Ministry of Magic knew the reason.
"Even if the Ministry of Magic continues to strengthen the defenses of Azkaban Prison, we will never be able to stop You-Know-Who."
Dumbledore still remembered Scrimgeour's helpless expression when he talked about this in the Wizengamot court.
"Unless, let Dumbledore be the warden of Azkaban, but I think the children in Hogwarts are more important than these bastards."
"Instead of giving these vicious bastards another chance to do bad things, it would be better to prevent them from ever having the chance to harm other innocent people. This is the true responsibility for the entire wizarding world."
"We are at war. Do not be soft on the enemy unless you want to kill those who are fighting bravely on the front line."
From that day on, the Wizengamot did not hesitate to sentence to death those who should otherwise have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Even Dumbledore could not refute Scrimgeour, because he also realized the cruel fact that Voldemort would definitely rob Azkaban prison.
If the Aurors went to great lengths to put them in prison, but in the end these guys were not punished and were instead released by Voldemort, it would undoubtedly be an insult to those warriors who died heroically during the capture.
Perfect rhetoric!
Decisive and courageous.
Scrimgeour is a hero in the eyes of countless people and the best person to lead the wizarding world through its current difficulties.
However, Dumbledore's intuition told him that this was just the surface.
Something must have happened to make Scrimgeour put aside all his concerns and fight against the dark forces.
Dumbledore suspected that this matter was related to Albert, and he was very curious about what Albert had said to Scrimgeour.
It wasn't until last night that Dumbledore got the answer.
"Mr. Anderson told me that I would die in office and be murdered by a mysterious person. He advised me to give up the fight or be prepared for a desperate battle."
Scrimgeour said this cruel answer calmly.
By then, Dumbledore knew everything.
He was sure that Albert had told Scrimgeour on purpose.
As for lying, that is obviously unlikely.
The reason is not hard to guess:
The fact that the Death Eaters tried to kill Albert at his wedding really pissed Albert off.
Although Albert did not kill anyone that day, he used the Ministry of Magic to execute the captured dark wizards one by one.
The trial lasted for more than a month, and was undoubtedly deliberately for show, as if to tell them: This is what will happen to you.
Prevent
Obviously not possible.
Because there is no evidence at all.
Scrimgeour would not tolerate this either. He slaughtered dark wizards so crazily just to weaken Voldemort's power as much as possible.
Dumbledore could not be sure whether Scrimgeour knew that he was going to die, but he knew that Scrimgeour was trying to buy himself a chance of survival.
Try to reduce Voldemort's help as much as possible. The Dark Lord alone is not as scary as imagined.
"Divination?"
Dumbledore took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was almost nine o'clock.
That person should be here soon.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door outside the principal's office.
"Come in!"
The door was pushed open and Albert walked in from outside.
"Sit here," Dumbledore asked with a smile, "What would you like to drink?"
"milk tea."
A cup of steaming milk tea appeared out of nowhere in front of Albert.
"If you have something to say, just say it," Albert took a sip of milk tea, "I have an appointment with someone later."
"It seems that you have been busy recently."
Dumbledore added a large spoonful of honey to his cup of milk tea, stirred it slowly with a spoon, took a sip, and seemed to enjoy it very much.
"No, I just happened to be busy today." Albert also added some honey to the cup. "I have been writing a memoir for the Flamel couple recently."
"Memoirs?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Yes, I can also help you write one if you need." Albert took another sip of milk tea.
"I don't think I'll need that kind of thing." Dumbledore shrugged. "I'd rather you help me divine the exact location of Slytherin's locket."
"You haven't found it yet?"
"I didn't find it. Slytherin's locket disappeared after Sirius killed the house elf. I doubt it's in Sirius's house anymore."
After saying this, Dumbledore took Albert to the cabinet where the Pensieve was placed, took out a small bottle from the cabinet, and poured the swirling memories into the Pensieve.
The Pensieve soon revealed a scene of crimson velvet cushions, upon which lay a heavy golden locket.
"This is Slytherin's locket," Dumbledore introduced to Albert.
"The mysterious man was really handsome when he was young." Albert looked at the handsome young man next to him and suddenly asked, "Is he like this now because of making Horcruxes?"
"Your focus is really surprising." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly. He didn't expect Albert to suddenly talk about Tom's appearance.
"After all, the mysterious man's current appearance is really impressive."
"This is probably because Voldemort made many crazy attempts on himself in pursuit of his eternal power."
"I thought it was because of the division of the soul."
"That was indeed a crazy act." Dumbledore said softly, "I have always suspected that his current state is related to his split soul. The sequelae of abusing dark magic have been affecting Voldemort."
"You don't have to worry about me being tempted by darkness." Albert's tone was full of disgust. "I'm not interested in that stuff."
"I know, but... maybe you can try to divine the location of Slytherin's locket," Dumbledore added.
"I'm not sure I can find it, but we can try." Albert returned to his desk and began to use the crystal ball prepared by Dumbledore to divine the location of Slytherin's locket.
After Albert's hand touched the crystal ball, the white mist inside spun rapidly, and a suitcase came into view.
"So that's how it is. I think I know what's going on now!" Dumbledore said, squinting his eyes as he looked at the suitcase in the crystal ball.
“That’s really good news.”
Albert naturally guessed who took Slytherin's locket.
"In that case, I'll be leaving first." Albert stood up and prepared to leave. "Just give me the notes when you're done sorting them out."
"Wait, Albert."
"Is there anything else?" Albert stopped and turned to ask.
"Malfoy Manor was burned down a while ago."
"I just gave the Malfoy family a deep warning." Albert did not intend to deny that he had burned down Malfoy Manor. He said softly, "I am not you. I am not so tolerant and generous to those who want to kill me."
"Mr. Malfoy plays a very important role in my plan." Dumbledore said suddenly.
"Oh, you're going to let him kill you?"
"It seems that you have guessed part of the plan." Dumbledore shrugged nonchalantly.
"After you die, I will remember to write a memoir for you."