[To a certain adventurer gentleman from America:]
[By a fortunate coincidence, just before your parcel arrived, I had finished reviewing and approving the previous batch of correspondence and found myself temporarily unoccupied. As a result, your package immediately caught my attention, and its contents drew my utmost concern.]
[After reading your letter, I felt it necessary to reply and convey my thoughts. Thus, I asked this owl to linger briefly while I read through the records in your notebook at top speed and composed this reply before sending it off—so the speed at which you receive my response may be somewhat surprising. Please do not be alarmed.]
[First and foremost, I must express my gratitude and admiration: the data you provided on Voldemort's mental power is simply invaluable—an unexpected windfall beyond measure. With this data, I believe I can very soon reverse-engineer the method he has used to preserve his life, based on the characteristics of his mental power. After repeatedly calculating and confirming its authenticity, my hands were trembling—I cannot recall the last time that happened.]
—That was four whole notebooks! He read all of them in just a few hours?! And even checked the calculations several times?!
[Moreover, your ability to remain lucid under Voldemort's temptation and possession, and to risk your life to record the characteristics of his mental power, left me utterly astonished—this is among the bravest and wisest acts I have ever witnessed. If you were willing, I would be most eager to meet with you in person, and would even like to offer you a teaching position at Hogwarts. However, as you have your own difficulties, I shall not press the matter further.]
[I have also reviewed the trap magic you provided, and it continues to amaze me. From this spell, I can faintly glimpse the relentless effort of a true genius—only such perseverance could give rise to such an exquisitely precise and ingenious line of thought. I must admit that even I can find no flaw in this magic. If it could be successfully activated, Voldemort would surely have no means of escape…]
[However, I must also say, regrettably, that I currently lack the conditions necessary to employ this magic.]
[Firstly, as you yourself noted, the operation of this magic requires continuous, dynamic adjustment in accordance with the state of Voldemort's mental power in order to seal him completely. That would necessitate the deployment of a vast number of instruments at the trap site to detect mental power, followed by the rapid extraction of meaningful information from enormous quantities of feedback, along with secondary processing and conversion… The workload would be immense, and the presence of so much equipment would render the trap exceedingly conspicuous.]
"…"
[Furthermore, there is another issue: I fear I do not have the time to construct a suitable container.]
[According to the techniques you provided, such a container places extraordinarily high demands on both materials and craftsmanship. Even though I consider myself to have achieved some measure of success in alchemy, this would still be no small challenge for me. I estimate that from the collection of materials to final completion would take at least half a year—yet Voldemort is likely to make his move within a few months…]
[It grieves me to have wasted your efforts. Nonetheless, I must admit that your plan surpasses my own in many respects. Had I received your letter half a year to a year earlier, I would have adopted your proposal without hesitation and sought ways to overcome those difficulties…]
[Please rest assured, however, that I am quite confident in my own plan. I believe it should at least deal Voldemort a severe blow, if not eliminate him outright, bringing a definitive end to this menace we share. I imagine that by this summer, you may receive good news from my side…]
[…]
[Once again, I salute your wisdom and courage. I wish you a pleasant life and good health.]
[Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore]
"…"
Avada very much wanted to dig a hole and bury himself on the spot.
It was only after receiving Dumbledore's reply that he realized there was a ridiculous flaw in his plan—yes, the spell that dragged Voldemort's soul into the Horcrux required real-time adjustment based on Voldemort's mental power. And since others could not directly see mental power the way he could, they would need vast quantities of complex equipment. Only after filtering and processing enormous volumes of data could they indirectly understand mental power through numbers and symbols…
To use a rather inelegant analogy, his plan was essentially asking Dumbledore to take X-rays of someone sprinting at full speed—he would have to carry an entire set of instruments while running alongside the target, take images at sixty frames per second, and simultaneously analyze every single scan with absolute precision…
The image sounded comical, but in practice it would absolutely cost Dumbledore half his life.
"When I designed the plan, I only thought about achieving the best possible result. I completely forgot that this plan was meant for Dumbledore to use…"
"But it's also true that Dumbledore's plan can't actually kill Voldemort—hell, it didn't even cause him any real damage. All the damage got dumped onto Quirrell. And Dumbledore said he could deduce Voldemort's life-preserving method from the data I provided… doesn't that mean he'll figure out Horcruxes very soon?"
"Damn it. I need to deal with the Resurrection Stone as soon as possible. I'll go to Little Hangleton this summer. I don't know if my current level is enough to break the curse on the Resurrection Stone—but even if I can't, I have to move it somewhere else. I absolutely can't let Dumbledore see it before the curse is broken…"
"But I can't just give up on the chance to take Voldemort down either. Mental power is something I can handle, and the container… seems like there's already a ready-made option."
"Fine, then."
Avada somehow produced a dragon-hide glove and shoved his left hand into it with force. "This time, I'll do it myself."
"Huh?"
Even he froze for a moment after saying that. "Why am I putting on a glove?"
He awkwardly put the glove away, rubbing his chin as he continued to scrutinize the letter. "Oh, right—if the same owl is used, the tracking magic on it seems to be able to ignore anonymity and locate the sender directly… Looks like I'll need to develop a spell to shield owls. Anonymity is unavoidable when destroying Horcruxes. If someone follows an owl back to me, that would be a disaster."
"But that means all the problems I originally planned to dump on Dumbledore are now mine to face. There's also the risk of clashing with Dumbledore's own plan. And even if I succeed, explaining everything to him afterward will be a nightmare…"
"Why can I see mental power without instruments? Why do I have a suitable container? Why do I know the full scope of the plan and can carry it out? None of this can be explained away as prophecy…"
"If I don't want to expose Magical Perception, I'll have to work in secret, behind Dumbledore's back. I remember that on the day everything went wrong, he was tricked into going to London. Maybe I can take advantage of that opportunity to seal Voldemort in one fell swoop… But what about Harry? His protective charm will destroy Quirrell's body and force Voldemort to flee…"
"I'll also need to make a trip to see Baron and get his crystal ball, and then explain a whole lot of things to him…"
"Oh, right. I still need to give the unicorn blood sample to Hagrid to warn him to be extra vigilant. And for a while yet, I'll have to keep hunting unicorns with Quirrell…"
"…Since when did I end up with so many things to do?!"
(End of Chapter)