In the morning, Dumbledore sat at his desk, picked up the steaming morning tea, took a sip, felt the strong tea flavor blooming on the tip of his tongue, and the muscles on his cheeks trembled slightly. His eyes fell on the parchment on the table, and he took another sip of the strong tea, which finally restored his slightly tired eyes to their former shrewdness.
"It's really strange that you drink strong tea so early in the morning?" A lazy mocking voice came from the right, "A cup of milk tea with plenty of honey would be more suitable for you!
"I need to keep my brain clear." Dumbledore didn't care about Phineas's ridicule at all. "To be honest, it's not easy for an old man who has lived for a century and often suffers from insomnia to get up early."
"It seems that you have guests this morning." The old witch with silver curly hair said gently.
"A student."
"I am really surprised. Let me guess which student could be received so solemnly by the famous Albus Dumbledore?" Phineas, who was wearing a nightgown, said in an exaggerated tone: "I guess it is either your beloved savior Harry Potter, or that greedy brat named Albert Anderson."
"Come on, Phineas." The fat, red-nosed wizard yawned and said, "I remember you were very respectful to Mr. Anderson last time."
Dumbledore didn't pay attention to the daily exchanges between the portraits of past headmasters, and his eyes fell on the parchment. The sender was Albert Anderson, and the content was roughly that the other party wanted to visit him on the weekend morning.
In Dumbledore's impression, this Mr. Anderson obviously would not come to him for no reason. Most of the time, he would invite him over for tea. But now he actually took the initiative to visit him. Obviously, something had happened.
Dumbledore didn't have to wait long before the oak door of the headmaster's office was knocked on time.
"Come in." Dumbledore raised his voice slightly.
"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore." Albert pushed open the door and walked into the principal's office.
"Ah, good morning, Mr. Anderson, please take a seat, would you like something to drink?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.
"A cup of black tea, thank you."
Albert reached out to take the steaming black tea that Dumbledore had conjured out of thin air, took a sip, and said straight to the point: "My intuition tells me that the third project will be very dangerous."
Dumbledore didn't say anything and listened to Albert quietly. The portraits pretending to be asleep in the headmaster's office also pricked up their ears to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two.
"You know, I can tell fortunes, and I trust my feelings more on certain things." Albert looked up at Dumbledore and continued, "This Triwizard Tournament is very unusual. There is a fourth warrior. Although there have been no surprises so far, this also means that the biggest surprise is in the third event."
"Do you think something bad will happen in the third project?" Dumbledore asked tentatively.
"This is an inevitable result. I'm sure you can guess it." Albert looked at the old man in front of him and said calmly, "This incident may affect me and even endanger my life."
"To be honest, this surprises me." Dumbledore was a little surprised.
"You felt your life was threatened and ran to Dumbledore for help?" Phineas's lazy voice came from the portrait.
"I don't know when you lost your basic manners, Phineas." said a shrewd witch, raising an extremely thick wand.
"You can think of it this way. After all, your life has just begun," Albert said calmly, not caring about Phineas's ridicule. "There's no need to lose your life for a championship."
"When did Gryffindor become anything but cautious?" said Phineas, dodging a swung wand.
"Being cautious can help me live longer. This has nothing to do with the academy. It's just my personality." Albert looked at Phineas, who was being chased by the witch, with interest.
"The Triwizard Tournament cannot be cancelled."
Dumbledore thought about what Albert had just said. He actually did not suspect that Albert was lying, because Nicolas Flamel could also sense the crisis before it came.
"I need to improve my strength." Albert said, "I want to learn combat skills from you, and experience and combat skills in dealing with dark wizards."
"As far as I know, you are already quite good at this." Dumbledore did not refuse immediately, but was surprised that Albert would come to him for this matter.
"I do have a lot of magic, and I think I'm pretty good at it, but knowing magic and being able to use it flexibly in combat are two different things." Albert looked at the old man in front of him and said calmly, "My biggest problem right now is my lack of experience due to my youth. This means I can't fully exert my abilities. Moreover, going into battle without any experience is irresponsible for my own life."
"Battlefield? I think you are making this matter too serious, Mr. Anderson." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Is it serious? I don't think so." Albert drank his tea and said indifferently, "I never thought that the third event of the Triwizard Tournament could pose a threat to me. After all, the competition event is just a competition event. Even if it is dangerous, it is just that. Otherwise, the other warriors would have died long ago."
"And I actually had a feeling that the third project would threaten my life. That could only be due to other factors. This is not hard to guess. It must be related to Potter becoming a warrior, and anything related to Potter will definitely involve the mysterious man. I think the threat this time should come from the mysterious man and his minions."
"I don't think Voldemort would be stupid enough to break into Hogwarts on his own." Dumbledore shook his head.
Albert looked at the old man calmly, feeling a little unhappy, because sometimes you don't need to beat around the bush when talking to smart people, unless you treat others as fools.
Didn't he know that it couldn't be Voldemort
Dumbledore's meaning was already very clear. Although he had no expectations from the beginning, he still agreed: "Of course the You-Know-Who wouldn't dare to run to Hogwarts. As everyone knows, the You-Know-Who is afraid of you."
"You flatter me greatly," said Dumbledore calmly.
"No, this is not a compliment. As the most powerful wizard in the magic world, your strength and experience are unquestionable." Albert picked up the teacup and drank the tea in it, then stood up and said, "Sorry to bother you. Have a nice weekend, Professor."
"Why don't you go find Professor Moody? I think he is more suitable to teach you combat skills, which is the job of an Auror." Dumbledore asked when Albert opened the door and prepared to leave. "I think you should know Professor Moody's affairs very well."
"Professor Moody is indeed a good choice, but... I don't trust him." Albert closed the door of the principal's office.
"It's not wise for you to do this, Dumbledore!" Phineas looked at Albert's departing back, then looked at Dumbledore who was drinking tea and said, "I dare say that boy will definitely hate you."
"He is not as petty as you think," said Dumbledore calmly.
"In fact, I don't understand why you refuse. That guy believes in giving as much as you get." Phineas's expression became more and more strange. "I know this from my contact with that guy. As long as you are willing to teach him some fighting skills, that guy will definitely repay you."
Dumbledore said nothing, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"I just don't want to hurt him."
"Harm him?" Phineas deliberately lengthened his tone, "Hypocrisy..."
"Shut up, Phineas, Dumbledore has his own considerations." The witch raised an extremely thick wand and hit Phineas on the head hard, causing Phineas to cover his head with his hands in pain.
"You are so concerned about a Muggle-born wizard." The red-nosed wizard thought this was very unusual.
"Muggle wizard, damn it, do you really believe that guy is a Muggle wizard?" Phineas rubbed his head and said sarcastically: "Do you really think a Muggle wizard can get a position in the Wizengamot at that age? Even Dumbledore couldn't do it at his age."
The portraits all noticed that something was wrong. This was indeed very unusual, and there must be some reason they didn't know.
"You speak for yourself, or I force you to speak," the witch threatened, waving her wand.
"That guy should be a descendant of the Smith family, and a direct descendant at that. So, to hell with the Muggle wizards, this kind of thing can only fool fools who know nothing. I dare say Dumbledore must know his true identity."
Since he was blackmailed, Phineas naturally would not do nothing. He used his network of connections and finally got some clues.
"Although I don't want to admit it, Anderson is indeed an amazing guy. He is more like a Gryffindor than those arrogant Gryffindor students who have muscles in their brains. He is very aware of his shortcomings and admits them without hesitation. He also works hard to make up for his shortcomings instead of being proud and arrogant because of his current fame and achievements."
"Do you think that if you reject him, that guy won't find someone else to teach him fighting skills?"
In Phineas's opinion, Dumbledore was confused. A genius like Albert should undoubtedly be won over, and the other party gave you a chance, but you didn't even seize it. Isn't this confused
Dumbledore looked at Phineas in surprise, not understanding why he was speaking for Albert.
"What's the problem?" Phineas asked.
"No, I just didn't expect you to think so highly of him." Dumbledore said in surprise.
"Don't you think highly of him?"
"I actually have high hopes for him, but I am not suitable to teach him." Dumbledore shook his head.
"If you are not suitable, then who is suitable? Moody who likes to capture dark wizards?" Phineas asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, Alastor is more suitable."
"Excuse." After saying this, Phineas was too lazy to say anything more and went back to sleep for a nap.
This is not an excuse. As a former Auror, Alastor has been through many battles and in Dumbledore's opinion, he is more suitable to teach Albert than himself. However, what he got from Albert in the end was: I don't believe him.
Dumbledore overlooked one thing. How could Albert not have considered Alastor Moody
Dumbledore stood up and walked to the fireplace, sprinkled a pinch of Floo powder into the rising flames, and said, "Severus, please come to my office."
A few minutes later, the Potions Professor walked into the headmaster's office from the green flames rising from the fireplace, with an annoyed look on his face.
"Mr. Albert feels that the third task may lead to an accident that threatens his life." Dumbledore said to Snape, "He hopes that I can teach him combat skills, but I am not very suitable. You know I am already a..."
"I still have potion brewing in my cauldron, so you'd better keep your words short."
"I want you to teach Anderson fighting skills. You know, he is too young and has little experience in this area."
"That guy doesn't need anyone to teach him. He is so powerful. I doubt even the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic can be his match." Although Snape did not like Albert, he still had a high opinion of him.
"He lacks experience in fighting wizards," Dumbledore warned kindly.
"Then you should let Anderson go find old man Moody, he is more suitable." Snape said impatiently.
"He doesn't trust Moody," said Dumbledore helplessly.
Snape's face twitched, and he said softly, "Don't believe it?"
"Yes, he doesn't believe it." Dumbledore said helplessly.
"Maybe he thinks that guy is suspicious." Snape trembled his lips, in a good mood.
"How is it?" Dumbledore asked. "I think with Mr. Anderson's talent, it shouldn't take up too much of your time."
"Okay." Snape finally agreed.