"What, tell them not to cut down the tree?" Dumbledore's expression turned serious. "That isn't something I can decide. That tree is already a serious threat to the secrecy of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade Village. Its existence will draw Muggle attention."
"That tree won't keep growing for now," Leonard said.
"For now?"
"Yes, for now. And even if it does grow, it won't cause any trouble." Leonard's tone was perfectly sincere.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore was not persuaded.
He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. Much as I would like to help you, I'm afraid I have very little say in that matter."
"Tsk, you've misunderstood." Leonard raised a brow. "More precisely, I mean they shouldn't go looking for death."
Leonard spoke in a completely matter-of-fact tone. "That's no ordinary tree. Anyone who dares attack it will die."
The atmosphere in the Headmaster's office abruptly turned heavy. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall both stared at Leonard with grave expressions.
"May I take that as a threat?" Dumbledore asked slowly.
"No, it's just a statement. Ordinary wizards can't possibly harm that tree. Anyone who attacks it should be prepared for retaliation. I simply don't want too many people dying around it."
Leonard smiled, as though he were discussing something utterly trivial.
At this moment, Leonard was being rather unrestrained, even arrogant.
But his arrogance was not baseless.
After recovering the memories of his past and understanding the truth of his previous and current lives, Leonard suddenly found Dumbledore far less frightening than he once had...
Well, more accurately, after meeting Odin, the Eternal Wizard, he had suddenly realized that so-called legendary wizards were not all that impressive.
At this point, Leonard really could beat Dumbledore.
With his memories restored and the World Tree's true form revealed, the so-called system had fully opened, and all of its abilities had been unlocked.
Or rather, those abilities had always belonged to the World Tree. Leonard had merely taken them back.
So the current Leonard was effectively a walking World Tree. With a gesture, he could command countless plants.
As for mere legendary wizards, he could now proudly ignore them. Only those at the highest tier, the Eternal Wizards...
Those, he still could not beat.
Otherwise, given Leonard's temperament, he would already have gone to smash up Odin's lair.
That old bastard had forced him all the way into "reincarnation." If Leonard ever got the chance to kill him, he would absolutely not show mercy.
Leonard's answer left Dumbledore deeply surprised. He stared at Leonard as though seeing him for the first time.
Where had that polite, humble, kind, diligent student gone? All Dumbledore saw now was an overbearing and insolent troublemaker.
"So what you're saying is that you cannot control that tree?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.
Having watched Leonard behave humbly for three years, Dumbledore found it hard not to doubt what he was seeing.
"No, I can control it. I just don't want to." Leonard spread his hands, looking completely casual.
In his previous life, Leonard had once seen a hypothetical question. If you gained the power to crush the entire world, would you become someone like Superman, protecting peace and justice?
Leonard's answer had been simple. Spend the first day being Superman just to confirm that he really could crush the world. Once that was confirmed, spend the second day becoming the ancestor of all humankind. The world's grand ancestor.
It had only been a joke, of course. Leonard had no intention of using his power to destroy the world.
But being a little willful? That gave him no psychological burden at all.
Dumbledore fell silent. He glanced at Professor McGonagall and, sure enough, saw the displeasure in her eyes.
Professor McGonagall had always been very strict with students. There was no way she could tolerate this kind of behavior.
"Mr. William, your conduct is highly improper," Professor McGonagall said. "If you can control that plant, then you ought to cooperate actively with the Ministry of Magic."
The moment those words were spoken, it was as though Leonard's position, which had seemed aligned with Hogwarts, abruptly shifted.
"Minerva..." Dumbledore had just started to stop her from continuing when Leonard cut in with a distinctly impolite refusal.
"Why should I?" Leonard shoved his hands into his pockets, his eyes turning unfriendly. "One sentence and I'm supposed to obediently do as I'm told? Isn't that a little too overbearing?"
"Mr. William!" Professor McGonagall was furious. "This is not a matter you can refuse!"
She instinctively raised her wand, only for Leonard to look back at her with amusement.
In the next instant, Professor McGonagall's wand suddenly sprouted leaves and branches, transforming in her hand into a lush little tree.
"Calm down, Professor McGonagall." Leonard casually plucked a flower from the stunned woman's transformed wand.
The Headmaster's office went so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Everyone stared blankly at the thing in Professor McGonagall's hand, which could more accurately be called a sapling than a wand.
Professor McGonagall herself looked down at the wand that had accompanied her for decades with something close to helplessness.
Could this... could this wand still even be used?
She tried to flick it, but quickly discovered it was hopeless, because the wand core, the carrier of magic, had already been squeezed out by the little tree.
At a glance, no one would think it was still a wand. It had roots, branches, leaves. It looked as though you could plant it in soil and watch it keep growing.
Leonard smiled as he watched her try, then let his gaze drift across the others.
Even Dumbledore could not help subtly hiding his own wand, afraid it might meet the same fate as McGonagall's.
"Anyway, I really don't mean any harm. That tree won't disturb anyone for the time being." Leonard shrugged.
"But the Ministry of Magic won't see it that way," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "I don't have the power to dictate what the Ministry can or cannot do."
"Isn't there Peter Pettigrew?" Leonard pointed at the unconscious man on the floor. "With a problem like that on their hands, the Ministry will soon have more than enough to deal with. By then, Headmaster, you'll only need to mention it once, and they should be happy to go along, shouldn't they?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"You're right... and the most urgent matter is still Sirius's situation. But there is one promise I'd like from you."
"What promise?" Leonard asked.
"Don't go around hurting people," Dumbledore said meaningfully.
Certain things came to mind. Draco Malfoy and his cronies, who had died horribly after offending Leonard. Harris Raymons, who had been Petrified by the Basilisk the previous year.
Dumbledore seemed to understand something, but chose not to say it aloud, because it would do no good. It would only intensify the conflict and provoke this boy whom even he could not fully fathom.
"Don't worry, Headmaster." Leonard bared a row of white teeth in a grin. "In theory, I'm still a very peace-loving person. Provided, of course... that no one goes looking for death."