Ailina looked down at the unwrapped hard candy in her palm. The square candy had a light orange, amber-like sheen. It smelled like quite a bit of caramel had been added as the main ingredient. The girl licked her lips—it looked very sweet...
No, no, she was supposed to be angry!
The silver-haired little loli shook her head abruptly, snapping back to reality. If the candy hadn't already been unwrapped, she would have thrown it away without hesitation.
Was he really treating her like a kindergarten child to be coaxed?!
Just then, she felt a gentle pat on her head again and heard Dumbledore's particularly serious and earnest voice next to her ear.
"Of all the young wizards I have met, your powerful magical potential shines as brightly as the sun in the sky. However, such great talent is not always a good thing. Without proper guidance, it can even turn against your body and transform you into a terrifying, inhuman being..."
Speaking of which, Dumbledore frowned slightly, looking troubled. He pondered how he should explain her current physical condition to the girl.
After all, as it stood, Ailina's control over magic was much better than he had imagined.
Dumbledore didn't want to create a sense of alarm by describing too many terrible consequences.
"...Obscurial, I know."
To Dumbledore's surprise, Ailina nodded knowingly and replied dryly.
As a fan of the Harry Potter film series, she had at least seen the first film of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* before she crossed over, and had a particularly deep impression of Credence, the Obscurial in it. After all, there weren't many who could go one-on-one with Grindelwald, the strongest dark wizard in history.
Young wizards, in order to escape their fate, would suppress their magical powers, but due to a lack of guidance, they had not learned to harness and control their powers, thus creating a parasite - the dark magical force "Obscurus."
Once the wizard was subjected to extreme emotional fluctuations, the Obscurus within would erupt, and the Obscurial would turn into a black, formless cloud of darkness with extremely powerful destructive power.
However, in the historical records of wizards, apart from Credence the Obscurial, no case had proven that an Obscurial could live past the age of 10.
And Ailina was now, coincidentally, ten years old.
Ailina subconsciously clenched the hard candy in her hand and said somewhat nervously, "But I've been secretly using my abilities all along, although before I received the owl, I always called that [Charm Humanoid Creature]. Professor Dumbledore, do you mean I'll turn into that?"
The half-Veela bit her lip hard and said somewhat unwillingly.
"So, if I refuse to join Hogwarts..."
If she wasn't mistaken, this was probably the trump card that Dumbledore had prepared to get her to enroll—join and get treatment, or leave and be at the mercy of fate.
Dumbledore shook his head, raised his hand to stop the girl's next words, and said seriously, "Even if you don't join Hogwarts, I will still teach you how to control your magic. A person's life is not a bargaining chip to be traded."
"However, apart from this, Hogwarts and the wizarding world will not provide you with any protection or knowledge-based assistance."
Dumbledore continued logically, "Furthermore, when you pose a threat to the non-magical world or the peace of the magical world, I will not interfere with or advise the Ministry of Magic's reasonable actions."
"..."
Ailina took a deep look at the old man, known as the guardian of the wizarding world, who was squatting in front of her, moved her lips, and forcibly swallowed the "thank you" that was about to blurt out.
Turning her head away, avoiding Dumbledore's gaze, the silver-haired little loli kicked the thick carpet fluff and muttered in a low voice, "You make it sound like if I join Hogwarts and cause trouble, you'll take the blame for me."
Take the... blame?
A flash of helplessness passed through Dumbledore's eyes. He had discovered another problem that always seemed to arise in his conversations with Ailina—too many strange Muggle words.
Even if he could hear every word clearly, he couldn't accurately understand what the girl was trying to express.
You see, one of the advantages that Dumbledore had always prided himself on in his youth was that he was always able to understand most people's (and also various intelligent magical creatures') thoughts accurately.
Perhaps, just as many people were saying, he was really getting old and starting to fall behind the thinking of young people.
Dumbledore shook his head, put the thoughts out of his mind, met Ailina's eyes, and said with an extremely firm tone, "In fact, what I want to say next is: If you become my student, I am willing to do everything in my power to protect you, and impart to you all the magical knowledge I know, without reservation, until you grow into a witch who can stand on her own."
"Protect? Magical knowledge... all of it?"
Ailina raised her eyebrows and repeated, she didn't think Dumbledore would be confused enough to not distinguish between the words "protect" and "guard," nor would she naively think that all Dumbledore was talking about only included O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) and N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) content.
"That's right, you deserve it all." Dumbledore smiled calmly.
"But... Professor, what's the price?"
Ailina said leisurely. She didn't think that she had any of the kingly aura from those transmigration novels that would make Dumbledore suddenly believe in her unreservedly, especially after Dumbledore had personally witnessed the growth of more than one Dark Lord.
"There is no price, you only need to make a vow: guarantee that you will never start a war between the non-magical world and the magical world, and when the two worlds merge, stand up and guide everything towards peace. Always uphold the interests of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the magical world."
Dumbledore replied fluently without thinking. It could be seen that this was not an impromptu remark, as if it had been prepared long ago, just waiting for Ailina to appear.
Ever since Tom Riddle, a young wizard with a promising future, gradually went astray and became Voldemort more than a decade ago, Dumbledore had been reflecting on this issue. Exceptionally talented young wizards were often more easily tempted by power, and at this time, if there was a line of defense in their hearts to help them hold the bottom line, perhaps everything would turn out differently.
"Professor Dumbledore, I think you may have overestimated me."
Ailina smiled somewhat awkwardly. She had no interest in becoming any kind of guardian or savior of the magical world. Her only interest was to be able to eat and drink happily, and then, after waiting for her fourth year, sneak off to America to watch the growth of those young internet tycoons.
"Or perhaps, underestimated... Ailina, you don't know how great the potential within you is." Dumbledore winked cunningly, not giving Ailina any wishful thinking.
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
There was absolutely no way to communicate, the topic went around in a circle and came back again.
After a few seconds of silence, the silver-haired little loli's eyes darted around, and she suddenly found a loophole in Dumbledore's words.
"Besides, this isn't reasonable. You, such a powerful wizard, can certainly have various ways to make me abide by the vows I make, but there are no rules to bind your promises. What if you go back on your word later and don't teach me magic, or don't protect me?"
"One-sided vows of restraint, no matter how embellished, are actually a kind of unequal treaty. I don't want to sign any kind of slave contract."
With such a disparity in strength, all promises were impossible to establish - agreements only occur under equal circumstances.
In Ailina's view, as long as a huge gap in strength existed between the two sides, then Dumbledore's idea was ultimately just an unguaranteed fantasy that depended entirely on the constraint of his own credibility.
Dumbledore smiled slightly and said easily, "Of course, all vows should be two-way. Have you heard of an ancient magic called the Unbreakable Vow?" [Note 1: Click to view]
As for this magic, which in the fanfiction circles of her previous life, had almost been twisted into all the wizards' marriage declarations, Ailina naturally didn't need Dumbledore to explain it to her. If Dumbledore was willing to make this almost law-like, idealistic vow, then there would naturally be no more problems.
"But," Ailina shrugged, "The Unbreakable Vow also needs a Bonder, who can have the magic and the qualification to constrain you, who are already at the top of the entire wizarding world..."
Dumbledore didn't answer directly, he gently picked up the wand placed beside him, his slender fingers stroking the wood grain on the wand, and suddenly asked a strange question.
"That symbol next to the piano just now, you actually know what it is, right? I don't think if it were just an ordinary pattern, you would look back at it several times in one conversation."
Ailina's pupils contracted slightly. She suddenly remembered that there was indeed another powerful wizard in this world who could be compared to Dumbledore.
"You can't be serious, right?"
"It seems that I don't need to explain it further." Dumbledore nodded happily. "In fact, he may be even more eager to see your appearance than I am. After all, in a sense, there are still many similarities between your ideas and his."
*Glurp*
The silver-haired little loli swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and finally understood why Dumbledore's attitude towards her was so strange. So, after all that, she was being treated as a candidate for a new Dark Lord?!
"Actually, there must be some misunderstanding, Professor Dumbledore, listen to my explanation..." Ailina raised her little paw weakly and said.
"Time is running out, let's go, remember not to scare poor Fawkes again."
Dumbledore grabbed Ailina's little hand with one hand, and tightly held Fawkes' long golden tail with the other, and said clearly, "Please, Fawkes, take us to Nurmengard Tower."
"Wait, why don't you reconsider..."
With a flash of flame, the two disappeared from the headmaster's office.
————
(Cute Yumeng is begging for food, new book is asking for recommendation tickets! Nearly 6,000 words a day, confidently asking for recommendations!)
(Update complete, Miao Tou Ying evolution - two-update beast!)
(Seeking recommendations, seeking collections, seeking chats, if you have any book lists, please help me include one, mwah ~~ pen core ~~)
Ying~ Thanks to the author of *Global High Martial*, Eagle Boss, for the chapter recommendation~ Meow~