Boom, boom, boom!
There was a knock on the door.
"The door is open."
Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his desk, looked up at Snape who walked into the headmaster's office.
"What do you want from me?"
"The Magic Garden will hold the Magic School Potions Championship this year." Dumbledore said straight to the point, "Do you have a suitable candidate?"
"Miss Isobel MacDougal is a good candidate. If she is willing to participate in the Magic School Potions Championship, she should be able to achieve good results."
"Where is Mr. Anderson?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.
"Anderson, I remember he is not yet an adult." Snape raised his eyebrows slightly and reminded, "There seems to be no precedent for underage wizards to participate in the Potions Championship."
It is "too dangerous" for underage wizards to participate in the Potions Championship.
This is usually a good excuse and works well for most students.
In fact, the potion level of most senior students is much higher than that of junior students, so this situation basically does not occur.
However, Snape didn't know whether this excuse would work on Anderson.
"Someone recommended Mr. Anderson to me." Dumbledore put down the letter in his hand.
"Someone, who?" Snape asked in a suspicious tone. He didn't like Anderson very much. In fact, he didn't like most of the students.
"Mr. Hercule Dagworth." Dumbledore said without hesitation, "He believes that Hogwarts School has not won the trophy of the Magic School Potions Championship for decades. A trophy is needed to tell other schools that the potion level of Hogwarts School is not as bad as imagined."
"Why would Mr. Hertog Dagworth recommend an underage wizard to participate in the tournament?"
"They have been exchanging letters. Hertok said that Mr. Anderson has passed the assessment of the Extraordinary Pharmacist Association and has a good chance of winning the championship. Can you tell me how good Mr. Anderson is in potions?"
"His Potions skills are very high," Snape agreed, "but I doubt he would be able to compete. He is not yet of age, you know."
"I think that shouldn't be a problem," Dumbledore said calmly. "There is no age requirement for the Magic School Potions Championship. The so-called adulthood is actually just an unspoken rule of each school, just like the Triwizard Tournament in the past. No one wants casualties to occur during the competition."
Contestants need to go deep into the magic garden to collect the potions they need, and return within the specified time to refine the potions into medicines.
That is why contestants are required to have a certain level of self-protection ability to avoid getting injured when collecting potions.
"I understand. I will take the time to teach them the techniques for handling those raw materials."
"Is there something?" Dumbledore asked in confusion when he saw Snape hesitate to speak.
Snape was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Are you really going to let that..."
"You mean Professor Lupin?" interrupted Dumbledore.
"They used to be good friends. I think... Professor Lupin is unreliable, especially at this time. We can't take the risk." Snape said gloomily, and his words were particularly harsh when he mentioned Professor Lupin. "Besides, he is very dangerous. If we are not careful, he might... We can't take the risk. Even brewing the wolfsbane potion will cost a lot of money."
"You will help him brew the wolfsbane potion, right?" Dumbledore asked Snape.
"Okay, as you wish." Snape compromised, and before turning away, he said, "But I still insist on my opinion. We should not take such a risk, even if I am appointed as the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Watching Snape's back as he left, Dumbledore walked to the cabinet containing the Pensieve and continued to look through Black's memories.
Ever since he learned that Black's target of escape was Harry, Dumbledore often used the Pensieve to sort out his memories of Black.
More than a decade ago, Black was arrested by the Ministry of Magic and sent directly to prison without trial because he betrayed James Potter and killed Peter, along with half of the Muggles on the street.
Fudge said that Black's target was Harry Potter, but Dumbledore was skeptical. The Dementors said that Black had been saying, "He's at Hogwarts" before escaping.
Does "he" really mean Harry
The newspaper that Fudge gave to Black appeared in the Pensieve. Dumbledore flipped through the newspaper more than once, and the only thing he found related to Hogwarts was the family photo taken when the Weasley family traveled to Egypt after winning the Galleon jackpot. It mentioned that the Weasley children were still attending Hogwarts.
"He" obviously couldn't be the Weasleys, so what did Black read in the newspaper
This is what Dumbledore was wondering about. He must have seen something in the newspaper, so he decided to escape from prison.
As for Fudge's comment that Black was not in a clear mind, Dumbledore did not think so. How could a guy who could escape from Azkaban prison not be in a clear mind
Also, how on earth did he manage to escape from that prison
This matter remains a mystery to this day, and even the Ministry of Magic has not figured it out.
“What am I overlooking?”
Dumbledore placed his wand to his temple and drew his thoughts into the Pensieve, the memory of how he had persuaded James Potter to use the Fidelius Charm.
The secret keeper is Black.
Only if Black leaked the secret could Voldemort find the Potters.
Dumbledore placed another memory into the Pensieve, which was the memory of the four of them at school.
James is dead.
Lupin's life was not easy.
Blake was imprisoned.
Peter was killed by Blake, and the biggest piece of his remains found was a finger.
The biggest piece of Peter's remains the Ministry found was a finger
Dumbledore knew that many dark arts could turn a person into ashes, but... He took out another bottle of memory and put it into the Pensieve. It was the memory of the Auror capturing Black.
A huge hole appeared in the middle of the street, so deep that it broke the sewer pipe below, and there were dead Muggles everywhere, and the Muggles were screaming. And Black was standing there laughing wildly, with a pile of bloodstained robes in front of him
When he saw this, Dumbledore couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
At this moment, there was another knock on the door, pulling him out of his memories.
Dumbledore walked to the door, opened it and saw Snape standing outside, with an Auror beside him.
"The Ministry of Magic has sent someone to look for you." Snape pointed to the Auror beside him.
"Come in, what's the matter, Dawlish?" Dumbledore asked the Auror beside Snape.
The Auror named Dawlish said expressionlessly: "The Ministry of Magic is ready. Dementors will be stationed around Hogwarts from tomorrow. Are you sure you don't need them to be stationed in Hogwarts?"
"No, as long as I am the headmaster, I will never allow them to cross the threshold of the school." Dumbledore said firmly, "Besides, they let Black slip away from under their noses. I doubt whether they can catch Black."
"Dementors have no eyes," Dawlish reminded dryly.
"I know." Dumbledore said coldly, "So I am more worried about the safety of my students now. You should know the character of those Dementors very well. They are never kind people. They don't care whether their targets are my students or not. I don't want them to mistake my students for Black one day..."
"The Dementors are under the control of the Ministry of Magic." Dawlish was a little embarrassed. Dumbledore's distrust of the Dementors was almost written on his face. He also knew that the other party was very unhappy with Fudge because of this.
"That's what I've always hoped for." Dumbledore reminded him, "As someone who often deals with them, you should be well aware of the threat they pose to students. I don't want them to enter Hogwarts without my consent and harm my students."