Chapter 131: Dumbledore Got Hard Carried (Patreon)

Dumbledore had arrived early.

Every portrait lining the corridors of Hogwarts served as one of his spies, so not even the slightest disturbance anywhere in the castle could escape his notice.

He kept a close eye on Quirrell, on Elavin, and even on every interaction between the two.

That afternoon, when Elavin was called to Quirrell's office, Dumbledore was immediately informed by the portraits.

He couldn't hear their conversation, of course, but Dumbledore was a cautious man. After noticing their contact, he instructed the portraits to step up their surveillance of the two.

As it turned out, that decision had been the right one!

That night, when Elavin and Quirrell left their respective rooms, Dumbledore received word from the portraits. By the time the two gathered in the fourth-floor corridor, Dumbledore was already waiting for them there.

He had cast a remarkably subtle Disillusionment Charm on himself, so subtle that even Quirrell and Voldemort failed to notice him.

Elavin had noticed him, but didn't expose him.

Of course, he hadn't seen him. He'd heard his thoughts!

Erik's Sound Magic allowed him to clearly hear virtually every sound throughout Hogwarts.

For example, at that very moment...

In the Gryffindor dormitory, Neville was dreaming, murmuring, "Dad... Mum..."

In the Ravenclaw common room, Hermione was still out-studying everyone else, quietly reciting tomorrow's potion formulas.

On the sixth-floor corridor, the Weasley twins had successfully pranked Filch and were hiding in a corner, snickering.

In Professor McGonagall's office, her quill made a soft scratching sound across the parchment as she graded her students' homework.

In Snape's dungeon laboratory, large batches of potions were brewing in the cauldrons, bubbling away continuously.

In the greenhouse outside the castle, Professor Sprout was repotting Mandrakes. Despite her practiced movements, each Mandrake still let out cries like those of a wailing infant.

Meanwhile, deep within the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Malfoy, assisting Hagrid on his night patrol, were arguing over who was stronger, Captain America or Spider-Man.

When Elavin arrived at the fourth-floor corridor, he heard a voice nearby. More accurately, it was someone's inner thoughts, and he quickly recognized the owner as Dumbledore.

He simply hadn't expected Dumbledore to be so patient.

When Fluffy stepped aside to reveal the passage, Dumbledore didn't show himself. He merely muttered inwardly, "Stupid dog."

When Elavin and Quirrell overcame every obstacle and reached the innermost chamber, Dumbledore didn't jump out to stop them. He simply watched everything unfold.

When Elavin and Quirrell fought, Dumbledore remained in the corner, secretly enjoying himself while taking the opportunity to see how strong Elavin really was.

When Voldemort appeared and tried to flee, Dumbledore finally became nervous. Even so, he continued to observe, hoping to better understand Voldemort's current state.

When Elavin stuffed Voldemort's soul into a poop toy, saved Quirrell, and made him obey his orders from then on, Dumbledore's mind was filled with nothing but, "HOLY SHIT!"

Had Elavin not been able to hear Dumbledore's thoughts, he might have believed Dumbledore had never been there at all.

"Professor Dumbledore, you really know how to hold back!"

Elavin crossed his arms and looked Dumbledore up and down critically, as though saying, "You're not getting away without giving me an explanation today."

"You stood there watching from beginning to end. Even after Voldemort showed up, you still refused to act. Were you really planning to wait until he escaped?"

"Ahem... It's not that I didn't want to intervene. I simply had no way of dealing with him."

"Voldemort's mastery of soul magic has gone far beyond mine."

Dumbledore didn't take offense at Elavin's earlier rude remark. Instead, he openly admitted that he had nearly allowed Voldemort to escape.

He was indeed an all-around powerhouse with virtually no weaknesses, but when it came to soul magic, Voldemort had surpassed him by a considerable margin.

Using conventional methods, he was completely helpless once Voldemort's soul transformed into a swirling mass of black wind.

Had Elavin's Enchantment Magic not been powerful enough, Voldemort really would have escaped that night.

Elavin couldn't be bothered dwelling on that.

"So you saw everything?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"To be honest, although I'd always believed you wouldn't be tempted by Quirrell... or Voldemort, what you accomplished tonight still far exceeded my expectations!"

"You actually captured Voldemort and sealed him inside a toy, completely preventing both his recovery and the restoration of his magical power!"

"Do you know how unbelievable that is?"

"And that spell just now..."

"Was it another self-created spell, just like your Plant Acceleration Magic?"

Elavin knew he was referring to Enchantment Magic, so he simply nodded.

"More or less."

"Remarkable!"

Dumbledore exclaimed again.

"I'd love to award you a First-Class Order of Merlin and award Hufflepuff 300 points!"

The moment Elavin heard that, he knew there was a "but" coming.

"But...?"

"Ahem... but Voldemort's situation is simply too important. If possible, I'd like as few people as possible to know about it."

"I completely understand. It's for the stability of the wizarding world."

Elavin had never intended to make Voldemort's capture public anyway.

At least not now, and certainly not by revealing a "captured Voldemort." That wouldn't change the wizarding world in any meaningful way.

He needed to create a better opportunity.

When the right moment arrived, he would bring Voldemort into the spotlight as the wizarding world's final boss, use him to purge the rot within the magical community, then personally defeat him to unite the people, bring the wizarding world into order, and ultimately unify both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds.

Naturally, Dumbledore had no idea what Elavin was truly planning. He simply assumed the boy possessed a strong sense of justice while remaining humble and indifferent to fame, leaving him deeply gratified.

"Good, good..."

"The professors and I weren't wrong about you. You truly are the future star of Hogwarts... no, of the entire wizarding world!"

Only then did Dumbledore remember something he had nearly forgotten. The smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression.

"By the way, you said earlier that the reason Voldemort survived was because he created Horcruxes?"

"That's right."

Dumbledore's heart sank.

For years, he had firmly believed Voldemort hadn't truly died and would inevitably return, yet he had never been able to determine why he had survived.

After all, there were simply too many ways to evade death in the wizarding world.

Tonight, that mystery had finally been solved!