"Sorry, Harry. I didn't know that night—"
In the school hospital, Maka stood in front of Harry's bed, looking apologetic.
"No, it's okay." Harry said immediately, "What you did later is the biggest gain from this operation. I should thank you!"
"Yeah! If not... Oh! It's scary to think about it." Ron echoed closely following Harry's words.
Apart from Dumbledore, the person present who felt this most deeply was probably Ron. For a young wizard born into a pure-blood family, nothing could be more frightening than the resurrection of Voldemort.
"It's true," Dumbledore also spoke. "Thanks to Mr. Maclean this time, I came a step too late. If he hadn't used his intelligence to trick Voldemort, and even made a decisive move at the last moment, the result would have been disastrous. It’s completely different.”
"Professor Dumbledore, what happened to the Sorcerer's Stone in the end?" Harry took this opportunity to ask quickly.
"Well," Dumbledore smiled, "The Philosopher's Stone has been destroyed."
"Really? This seems to have not changed." Maka couldn't help but think to herself.
"Destroyed?" Harry asked in confusion, "But your friend, Nicolas Flamel—"
"Oh, you actually know about Nico?" Dumbledore asked, his tone seemed very happy, "You have made this matter very clear, haven't you? That's right, Nico and I talked about it, and we agreed that This is the best way.”
"But then he and his wife would die, wouldn't they?"
"They've got some elixirs saved up, just enough to get things sorted out. And then, yeah! They're going to die."
Seeing the shocked expressions on Harry's and the others' faces, Dumbledore couldn't help but smile.
“I know, to someone as young as you, this may seem incredible,” he said, “but for Nico and Perenal, death was actually like the final death after a long day. Go to bed. And, for the sane man, death is just another great adventure."
"You know, the Philosopher's Stone is actually not such a wonderful thing. With it, no matter how much wealth you want or how long you want to live, you can get it! These two things are what human beings want most, but the problem is, human beings just They just like to choose the thing that is least beneficial to them.”
Maka listened, but couldn't understand the meaning.
For him, what he lacks most is probably time. He has a lot of things to do, and a lot of things to study... In his lifetime, I'm afraid he won't be able to -
"No, maybe, death is really the beginning of another adventure."
Maka compared her own tortuous life and suddenly had a vague understanding. Unfortunately, this concept is also out of reach for him. Even though he had experienced it once, he still didn't know anything about it.
He glanced at Dumbledore and felt more and more that this white wizard was really as unfathomable as the rumors said.
"By the way, Maka, what is that war chess level-" Ron suddenly patted Maka's arm and asked.
"Huh? War chess level?" Maka looked confused, but Dumbledore laughed.
"Isn't that a good level?" He smiled and said, "At my suggestion, Professor McGonagall replaced the original ordinary wizard chess with the wizard war chess invented by Maka. That one is very interesting, I personally like it very much."
"Eh?" Maka said in shock, "Professor, although I am very happy that you like my gift, but..."
He wanted to say, is it really okay to change such an important level casually
Dumbledore continued: "Not only that, inspired by you and Harry, I also personally designed the last level. Yes, that's right, it's the legendary story of King Arthur... "
"Oh - I'm sorry about that, it was me who let Voldemort discover the secret." Hermione couldn't help showing a guilty expression after hearing this.
"But you showed bravery because of it, Miss Granger. I don't think this is something ordinary students can do."
"Oh, thank you, but—"
Maka patted Hermione on the shoulder and smiled at her, "It's okay, you've done a good job."
"Yes! If it were me, I would probably be trembling with fear!" Ron said, "Besides, if Quirrell hadn't thought of taking you as a hostage in the end, you might have drowned in the water! "
But Hermione took half a step back when Maka patted her shoulder. In Maka's surprised eyes, she whispered: "Oh, thank you..."
Maka didn't know what happened to her. In fact, he didn't even notice Hermione's existence at that time. Although this is not his fault, it has to be said that the little girl's heart is still very sensitive.
Dumbledore watched their every move, and the warm smile on his wrinkled face never changed.
Later, Harry mentioned Snape again. Although he already knew the cause and effect, he was still worried about it. However, Dumbledore told him that Snape once owed Harry's father his life.
For Snape, there was nothing more difficult to accept than the fact that his love rival saved him. Therefore, he hated Harry's father, but he also hated Harry.
"The human mind is indeed very wonderful, isn't it? Professor Snape can't bear to continue to be in debt to your father. I believe that the reason why he tried every means to protect you this year is because he felt that this way he could He is even with your father, no one owes anything to the other."
"Then he can relive his hatred of your father with peace of mind."
Harry tried hard to think about this, but it made his head hurt sharply again, and he had no choice but to stop thinking about it.
"Okay, enough questions. I suggest you start enjoying these candies, kid! Oh! Bibi's All-Flavour Beans! I was so unlucky when I was younger that I accidentally ate one of those stinky-tasting beans. I'm afraid I haven’t really been a fan of beans since – but I guess you’re always foolproof with a toffee one, don’t you think?”
"I think it's best not to compete with character." Maka looked at the beans in Dumbledore's hand and couldn't help but shake her head, "I've never had anything delicious."
"Character? That's an interesting word to use." Dumbledore said, putting the golden brown multi-flavor bean in his hand into his mouth, and then he choked and coughed, "Bah! Unlucky, it's earwax... It seems that my character is indeed not very good."
Seeing Dumbledore wiping his mouth and walking out, Maka immediately followed.
"I have something else to do, you guys can talk first."
In the corridor, Maka and Dumbledore chatted for a few words, and then they went to the principal's office together. But when he came out of the principal's office, there was a hint of surprise on his face.
He stood at the door of the principal's office and looked back.
"I didn't expect that Dumbledore was so easy to talk to."
…
In the evening, in the main hall of Hogwarts, the end-of-term dinner seemed particularly lively.
Maka sat on Hufflepuff's long table, listening to Darren, the Quidditch captain and prefect, complaining about his absence from the last game, and accepting the harassment and nagging of the beautiful Charlotte, and couldn't help but feel The warmth is better than that of family.
What made him even more surprised was that because of his outstanding performance this time, many students knew about his skillful fight with Professor Quirrell and the protection of the Philosopher's Stone. Although no one knew that Voldemort was involved in it, this did not prevent everyone from showing respect and enthusiasm for him.
This moved him, but it also really dispelled a lot of the haze in his heart.
Even a small group of Slytherins looked at him with awe. After all, not everyone could face off against a working professor, even if everyone was a little disapproving of Professor Quirrell.
Speaking of those little snakes, we have to mention the appearance in the hall at this moment.
The walls on the left and right sides of the hall are being decorated with the silver and green banners representing Slytherin; on the wall behind the guest chair, there is also a huge banner with a Slytherin snake painted on it - this should be Slytherin. Forestry College has won the College Cup for seven consecutive years.
Although because of Maka's excellent results, Hufflepuff received a lot of points. But a person's power is limited after all. Hufflepuff House is still ranked second, only a little higher than Ravenclaw.
After a while, Harry, who was belatedly arriving, stepped into the side door of the hall, and among everyone's expectant eyes, Dumbledore also appeared.
"Another year has passed!" Dumbledore said happily. "Before you enjoy these delicious dishes, I must trouble you to listen to an old man's cliché..."
As soon as Maka heard this, she immediately blocked out the next few sentences. When Dumbledore finished talking nonsense and started talking about the Academy Cup, he continued to listen.
"... Now, as far as I know, we must first conduct the Academy Cup award ceremony. The specific scores of each academy are as follows: fourth place, Gryffindor, three hundred and sixty-five points; third place, Ravenclaw , 426 points; second place, Hufflepuff, 442 points, Slytherin 485 points."
The Slytherin table erupted in a thunderous roar of cheers and stamping of feet.
Maca deliberately glanced at the edge of the Slytherin table. Willy Blois still had the same calm expression, not reacting at all to the noise around her.
I still remember that there was a period of time before the exam, when Maka would often meet her in the school greenhouse. But the other party either turned a blind eye to him or simply left. Even if he tried to communicate with her, she would just stand there quietly. He would answer one or two words when he asked Willie, and then turn around and leave. It was really impossible to communicate.
If Weili hadn't come to him from time to time to ask a few questions, he would have really felt that he had done something wrong and made the little girl angry!
Just as he was thinking about it, he noticed that the little badgers around him suddenly started to boil.
"What's wrong?" Ma Ma pulled Charlotte's sleeve.