After Harry left the Map Secret Room, he went directly to the Headmaster's Office on the eighth floor without any hesitation.
The entrance to the Headmaster's Office was guarded by an incredibly ugly Dripping Stone Beast, which mechanically turned its head to look at Harry as he approached.
"Password," it said.
Without thinking, Harry replied, "Zizi Honey Candy."
The Dripping Stone Beast had no reaction, and Harry knew that this meant the password was wrong.
"Lemon Sherbet," he tried again.
The Dripping Stone Beast still showed no reaction.
Harry recited all the candy names he knew in the Magic World, even adding Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, but the Dripping Stone Beast remained unresponsive.
"You know, maybe I should try a different password." Harry, losing patience, slapped the Dripping Stone Beast's head lightly and whispered, "Fiendfire."
"Wrong password," the Dripping Stone Beast said with a hint of impatience.
Harry said nothing, a black flame igniting at his fingertip as he brought it close to the stone beast's face.
"That's not the correct password," the Dripping Stone Beast unprecedentedly spoke so many words.
Just as Harry thought it was principled and unyielding, it spoke once more.
"The correct password is Duke Honey Stakeholder, sir."
"Alright, Duke Honey Stakeholder." Harry withdrew the small flicker of Fiery Fire.
"Password correct!" The Dripping Stone Beast jumped aside as if it had been eagerly awaiting this.
The passageway to the Headmaster's Office appeared in front of Harry, and he slipped through it, entering the Headmaster's Office.
The heads were still dozing, Dumbledore's Phoenix as well, only the Old Hat continued to wiggle.
Seeing Harry enter, the Old Hat greeted him softly, "Hey, Harry—how did you get in here?"
Harry walked over and replied just as softly, "I have something I want to talk to Professor Dumbledore about..."
"Oh, missing your old schoolmate, are you?" teased the Old Hat softly, "Rest assured, young man, I didn't tell Albus your little secret, but Dumbledore isn't in the office right now. I suggest you wait here for a while."
"Alright."
Having said that, Harry was about to turn and find a place to sit when he noticed the Old Hat wiggling again.
"What's the matter with you, Old Hat?" Harry asked with concern.
"I'm a bit itchy, you know, always being placed on this shelf, sometimes bugs crawl on me," said the Old Hat, "So could you do an old friend a favor? Give him a little scratch?"
"Alright." Harry reached out and pinched the pointy end of the hat, lifting the Sorting Hat.
He had intended to cast a Cleaning Spell on it but thought better of it, so he patted the Old Hat with his hands.
Contrary to what he imagined, the pat did not stir up much dust—the Old Hat only looked dirty because of age, and it actually had an anti-dust Magic Spell.
"Oh! Just like that!" the Old Hat said comfortably, "Put a little more force into it, goodness, you're not relieving the itch this way..."
Harry patted it two more times before placing it back on the shelf.
"Those couple of dustings felt really nice, Harry," laughed the Old Hat, "Thank you, my old friend."
"Have a pleasant day," Harry said, feeling the Headmaster's Office was unusually quiet, he asked, "Where's Principal Black? Haven't seen him for a while, I really miss him."
The Old Hat yawned and said, "You mean Phineas? He went back to 12 Grimmauld Square, that's their old Black family home, occasionally he returns to sleep at night."
"I see," Harry said, turning and taking a seat opposite Professor Dumbledore's desk.
Although the Headmaster's Office wasn't quiet, Dumbledore had filled it with a lot of buzzing silver gadgets, though no one knew their purpose.
Left waiting and waiting, Dumbledore still didn't return.
Growing anxious, Harry stood and began pacing, until he suddenly noticed a Pensieve not far off.
"What's this?" Harry curiously approached, driven by his curiosity, and dipped his head into the Pensieve.
He felt as if he were spinning in a void, continuously tumbling downwards.
It wasn't long before he felt himself grounded again, appearing at the entrance of the Headmaster's Office.
"What are you doing, Tom, wandering about so late?"
A voice called out, and Harry turned towards the source, seeing a tall wizard with flowing auburn hair and beard greeting him at the marble stairway.
It was a younger version of Albus Dumbledore.
However... this middle-aged version of Professor Dumbledore looked much more stern and intimidating compared to the present-day Dumbledore.
Was he greeting me? Harry wondered.
Knowing the nature of the Pensieve, Harry understood this was impossible; he was merely within Professor Dumbledore's memory.
He turned towards where Dumbledore had greeted, seeing a handsome young man.
The youth looked about sixteen or seventeen, with black hair and eyes, though his face seemed somewhat pale.
However, the young man appeared very presentable, showing no signs of arrogance or aggression, his demeanor was very courteous.