Hogwarts Castle, the eighth-floor corridor.

Aileen stopped in front of a huge gargoyle and paused for two seconds.

"Dumbledore left you a gift. The password is your name—as compensation for leaving without saying goodbye."

Before Grindelwald left, he relayed Dumbledore's apology to Aileen, as well as the gift to make amends.

Obviously, just like when the old man left in the original timeline, the headmaster was always so composed and thoughtful.

Since Dumbledore temporarily left Hogwarts, the headmaster's office has been automatically closed. Professor McGonagall and the Ministry of Magic tried it a few hours ago.

Strictly speaking, Dumbledore has not really relinquished his responsibility as headmaster, and Hogwarts' "soul"—if it exists—has not received any information about the rotation of the new headmaster. Minerva McGonagall still firmly believes that Dumbledore will return, while the Ministry of Magic officials have not yet figured out how to deal with it. They may have to hold meetings for a few more days to discuss it.

So… what is that spicy old radish thinking?

Aileen frowned slightly, carefully examining the gargoyle.

"I am—Aileen Kaslana," she said.

This didn't sound like a password Dumbledore would use.

As a rule, the password to the headmaster's office is usually something sweet, or at least related to food.

However, the next moment, the gargoyle suddenly came to life.

It shook itself nimbly and jumped aside. The wall directly behind it split open, revealing the rotating staircase that was slowly moving upward.

The Hogwarts headmaster's office is located in a separate small tower above the main castle, which is somewhat similar to the tower in Nurmengard Castle.

Following the movement of the automatic rotating staircase, Aileen quickly reached the top.

A gleaming oak door stood quietly there, with a griffin-shaped brass knocker.

Before Aileen could raise her hand, the knocker trembled, emitting a strange chirp that she had never heard before, and slid open silently.

Dumbledore's "active disappearance" had not affected this office. Everything here was as peaceful and orderly as she had seen before.

The exquisite silverware was displayed on slender-legged tables, quietly rotating and emitting fine water mist.

The portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses were snoring in their frames, their heads lazily leaning back on armchairs or against the sides of the frames, but Aileen knew that most of them were awake.

Since she had successfully launched several rounds of "forced team fights," most of the past headmasters started to pretend to be asleep when she appeared.

After all, as the little witch said, they couldn't rush out of the paintings to bite her, and in the end, it would be the elderly people living in the portraits who suffered.

Not far away, the phoenix Fawkes stretched its slender neck from its wings, and its bright eyes glanced at the direction of the door, emitting a melodious cry.

With the previous generation's rebirth, this "completely new version" of the phoenix was practically raised from "small" by Aileen.

In Fawkes's heart, Aileen's status was second only to Dumbledore, who had an ancient contract.

"Gift… gift…"

Aileen looked around. Nothing seemed unusual in the office.

There were no notes or letters on the desk in the center. A quill made of golden-red phoenix tail feathers leaned against the pen rest, occasionally flashing a gleam.

The bookshelves on both sides of the circular room were missing quite a few books, or rather, many books had been "replaced."

After all, as a wizard over a hundred years old, besides the knowledge in his mind, Dumbledore's most valuable possessions were the magical books he had collected over the years.

These were much more powerful than the books in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. Aileen had long coveted the knowledge contained within.

Referring to the way horcrux-related books were handled, any high-risk, difficult, or unique books were likely to be stored in Dumbledore's bookshelf using the headmaster's privileges.

Hmph, that spicy old radish didn't forget this.

Aileen's eyes swept over the bookshelves. Magic had given her not only power but also an all-round improvement in physical fitness.

She might not be able to have the photographic memory of "Index," but with this large-scale replacement, she could directly compare the differences in her memory without even getting close…

Wait?!

The books on the bookshelves were replaced?!

Before the indignation in Aileen's heart could dissipate, she immediately captured that inspiration.

She quickly walked forward, looking at the Sorting Hat on the tripod table not far away. Sure enough, she saw a small note next to it.

[Please treat this old, wise, and somewhat talkative magic hat kindly—it is the most important treasure of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.]

And in front of the Sorting Hat, which was pretending to be dead and silent, half a step away from Dumbledore's desk, the door of a mysterious black cabinet was not completely closed.

Bright silver light flickered from the gap.

Oh, that thing… was also left behind?

Aileen walked forward and gently pulled open the cabinet door.

Sure enough, there was a shallow stone basin in the cabinet. The basin mouth was carved with mysterious and complex runes and Old French.

Just like the note pressed under the Sorting Hat, there was also a narrow note pressed on the side of the stone basin.

But this time, there was even less content written on it, only a short sentence:

[If you know what it's called, then you are qualified to use it.]

"About… the Seer's 'sight' test?"

Aileen raised her eyebrows with interest, gently ran her fingers over the letters, and calmly recited in a low voice.

"peais?"

"Oh no, maybe it should be… Pensieve."

Accompanied by her whisper, a flash of light quickly passed around the stone basin, and the silver light in the stone basin gradually became clear, revealing its original appearance.

The silver light seemed to be moonlight gathered together, flowing continuously within it, like ripples on the surface of water in a breeze, and drifting away and rotating softly like clouds.

It seemed to turn into liquid light, and also seemed to condense into solid wind.

However, Aileen knew exactly what it was: the memories collected by generations of Hogwarts headmasters.

Undoubtedly, the Pensieve could be said to be one of the most dangerous magical items.

The danger it might bring mainly came from its unique operating mechanism, rather than the magic contained within it.

The Pensieve could vividly present memories, using every detail buried in the subconscious to faithfully reproduce memories, thereby allowing the memory owner or others to enter the memory and move around inside.

Traditionally, a witch or wizard's Pensieve, like their wand, would be buried with them, as it was considered a very personal item.

Unless otherwise requested, any thoughts or memories stored in the Pensieve would be buried with the owner.

However, the Hogwarts Pensieve did not belong to any individual but to the school—its history was even earlier than the establishment of the castle.

For a long time, generations of headmasters had used it, leaving behind life experiences in the form of memories, making it a valuable library that provided various reference data for the current headmaster.

With the unlocked Pensieve, the deliberately replaced books, the advice under the Sorting Hat… Dumbledore's compensation gift was naturally obvious:

The entire Hogwarts headmaster's office, the old radish was giving it to her as compensation.

But…

Aileen felt a touch of vigilance and confusion in her heart, looking around trying to find other clues.

Compared to Dumbledore's departure without saying goodbye, was this gift as compensation… a little too precious?

Unless—

Aileen drew her wand and gently poked the Pensieve that was constantly flowing.

The memories woven from moonlight spun rapidly, and hazy, misty white mist floated silently from the center of the rotating liquid surface.

"Ahem, dear Miss Kaslana, there are a few things I would like to apologize for."

Dumbledore's looming phantom emerged, and the old wizard's gentle, calm voice sounded in Aileen's ear.

"After much consideration, I have decided to invite Mr. Jose Benitez to attend the Hogwarts parents' meeting."

"…Yeah, I already know that."

Aileen snorted softly, muttering under her breath with a displeased expression.

"In addition, I also delayed the delivery of the latest progress in werewolf research."

"The Salzburg Institute of Magical Injuries and Diseases and scholars from the Isle of Incubi have successfully developed the first batch of werewolf serum."

"Although we still cannot reverse the condition of 'lycanthropy,' we can use serum injections to transform new werewolves without relying on werewolf bites."

"…Wait, you old guy wouldn't—"

Aileen was stunned for a few seconds, and a dangerous anger rose in her lake-blue eyes.

Combining Dumbledore's initial words, a terrible conjecture quickly emerged from her heart.

"Therefore, if Mr. Jose Benitez arrives at the castle, it means that he has chosen to voluntarily transform into a were…"

Bang!

Aileen slammed the cabinet door shut, trying to suppress the anger surging in her heart.

If she continued to stare at that old face, she was afraid that she would not be able to resist drawing her wand or destroying the Pensieve in a more violent way.

"You better pray that I don't find you so quickly!"

"Albus Dumbledore!"

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Yay!