“I’ve noticed you have a unique ability to turn a bad situation into good news.”
Snape, emboldened by Dumbledore’s presence, had just finished examining the three-headed dog’s wound and began his sarcastic remark.
“A little wizard, beating the three-headed dog like this, maybe he’s the next Dark Lord, and you still have the mood to praise him?”
“If you hadn’t told me that it was a student who broke in, I would have even thought it was Quirrell...”
A flash of surprise passed through Snape’s eyes. He had just discussed Quirrell’s issue with Dumbledore in the office when a portrait burst in, saying that another young wizard had just entered the Forbidden Forest and that Filch had been distracted.
The two of them had come together.
“I don’t think so.” Dumbledore still chuckled, “Tom...”
“Don’t mention that name!”
Snape trembled, as if he had encountered something terrifying.
“Alright.” Dumbledore was a little helpless, “Severus, to completely defeat the Dark Lord, you have to learn to face him, at least, treat him as an ordinary person.”
“Ordinary person?” Snape sneered.
In the whole world, only you have the guts to say the Dark Lord is an ordinary person.
Oh, maybe there is one more, that senior in Nurmengard.
“Let’s get back to the point.” Dumbledore’s eyes reflected a light, his expression became serious.
“The appearance of the Dark Lord was accompanied by many coincidences, a series of wrong choices, leading him to the path he is on today.”
Speaking of Voldemort, Dumbledore couldn’t help but sigh, “If I had properly guided him back then, perhaps the subsequent events wouldn’t have happened.”
Snape scoffed at Dumbledore’s view, “Some people are born evil, if you have the ability, you should have killed him when he was at school!”
“I haven’t killed anyone for eighty-two years...” A hint of sadness flashed in Dumbledore’s eyes.
“Stop reminiscing about the past, who is that little wizard, don’t say you don’t know, the whole castle is your eyes and ears.”
Snape knew very well that, although this old man didn’t care about things normally, there was no secret in Hogwarts that he didn’t know.
The same goes for Quirrell, that fool still thought he was well hidden.
But as soon as he appeared, not to mention Dumbledore, even he could smell the dirty, disgusting stench.
He must have had contact with that guy!
“Actually, I don’t really know.” Dumbledore pondered for two seconds, “I just have a rough guess, but it’s irresponsible to jump to conclusions.”
“Humph, you’re just protecting them.”
After leaving this sentence, Snape was too lazy to waste time with him anymore, leaving two bottles of healing potion, he strode away with his long robe trailing behind him.
In the corridor, only Dumbledore was still using the healing spell to heal the three-headed dog’s wound.
“Wayne Lawrence, what a terrible talent.”
Snape was right, the whole castle was Dumbledore’s eyes and ears, and he was referring to the omnipresent portraits.
Each portrait was commissioned and given the order to serve the current headmaster.
Wayne and the other three’s actions were naturally not missed.
Although he didn’t know the specific situation in the room, Dumbledore knew exactly what the other three were capable of.
Only Wayne, the newly enrolled young wizard, was the right answer.
Perhaps, he should shift his focus slightly and pay more attention to other outstanding students.
....
The next day.
At nine o’clock in the morning, Wayne yawned and went to the bathroom to wash up, changing into a fresh robe, he finally woke up.
He had been too tired after yesterday’s hustle and bustle in the Restricted Section, and it wasn’t until the rooster crowed in the schoolyard that Wayne realized he should go.
This is the real treasure.
Any book that could be placed in the Restricted Section must have its own special characteristics, or the danger of its existence.
For example, Wayne had been reading the book, "Alchemical Souls: Equivalence Exchange", which recorded many dangerous methods of making many items, even risking death.
It was a bit too early for him, he didn't have much knowledge yet.
Without a lot of experiments, rashly making high-level alchemical items is definitely not a wise choice.
However, Wayne was not without gain, one could say it was worth the trip.
He found a school owl, Wayne wrote down a long list of materials names and quantities, and put dozens of Galleons in his pocket, sending the owl to Diagon Alley.
After doing all this, he went to the kitchen for breakfast before leaving the castle and heading towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
The Scottish Highlands in September were already a bit cold, it was a cloudy day today, the humidity was heavy, the fog hid the castle, only the part of the spire could be seen from afar.
Along the Black Lake, Wayne walked through the grass and came to a small wooden hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
It wasn’t exactly small, at least the door was three or four meters high, the style was very rough, giving the feeling that a child had built it in a hurry.
Before Wayne got close, a black dog by the hut barked.
Soon, a muffled complaining voice came from inside the hut.
“Fang, is it another young wizard going to the Forbidden Forest? Quickly stop him!”
Then came a flurry of commotion.
Wayne activated his animal affinity talent, and Fang’s bark instantly turned into a flattering whimper.
This was a little trick he discovered, only when he showed that he wanted to get close to these animals would his talent work.
“Young wizard, stay away from here, the Forbidden Forest is not a place for you to go.”
Hagrid finally came out, with messy hair, tangled beard, looking unkempt, plus his height of nearly three meters and width of two meters, he was a real little giant.
“Hello, my name is Wayne Lawrence, I’m not going to the Forbidden Forest, I’m looking for you.”
Wayne gave another harmless smile, his hands rubbing the dog’s head non-stop.
“Looking for me? Don’t play those tricks on me, I won’t believe you!”
Hagrid remained on full alert, these little wizards would use any trick to get into the Forbidden Forest.
He beckoned to Fang, “Fang, come here!”
To his astonishment, his dog seemed not to hear, still obediently sitting there, allowing Wayne to play with him.
“That’s right, I have something I want to ask you for help with.” Wayne’s smile remained, “Forgot to mention, I’m a first-year student in Hufflepuff.”
“I’m a Hufflepuff, how could I lie to you?