"I really don't know what kind of upheaval the magical world is going to face from now on…"
In the Hufflepuff Common Room, an upper-year student sighed as he sipped his black tea. "The Headmaster's speech today practically offended more than half of Britain's pure-blood nobility, didn't it?"
"Not necessarily," someone replied after thinking it over. "At the very least, the Headmaster acknowledged the historical glory of pure-bloods, which is effectively an acknowledgment of the legitimacy of their inherited wealth and influence. He didn't touch their core interests."
"Interests are one thing, beliefs are another… They've always believed themselves superior, and now the Headmaster practically called them out by name. They'd be strange not to be furious. And don't forget—the Board of Governors is mostly made up of pure-blood families. Who knows what they'll think after hearing that speech…"
"That said, Dumbledore is the Headmaster of the only magical school in the country. It really does seem like he has the ability to eradicate blood purity ideology completely…"
"What I care about more is the Dark Lord—well, Voldemort now. He was actually a half-blood wizard? I wonder if those pure-blood Death Eaters who followed him will faint on the spot when they hear that."
"…"
It was already evening. The year-end feast had concluded without incident, and the reporters and Ministry officials had all departed. Fortunately, thanks to the bombshell Dumbledore dropped at the end regarding Voldemort, nearly everyone was engrossed in discussing Tom Riddle and the declaration Dumbledore had made to the entire magical world.
As a result, almost no one came bothering Avada with questions, granting him a rare moment of peace.
At this very moment, Avada was sitting alone on his dormitory bed, idly flipping through a book while anxiously waiting for something.
"What exactly is Professor Dumbledore planning to give me, to go to such lengths and use such a secretive method? He even separated the five of us one by one…"
Boom—
Suddenly, a burst of crimson flames erupted in front of him, making him jump. Within the fleeting blaze, a gold-and-scarlet feather appeared, slowly drifting down through the air.
"Finally."
Avada let out a breath of relief and reached out to grasp the feather. Instantly, flames wrapped around his body once more. It was as if he evaporated, vanishing from the dormitory in an instant. His vision was filled with fire for a brief moment—and when it faded, the strange furnishings of the Headmaster's office came into view, along with Dumbledore's kindly face.
"I'm here, Professor."
"Mmm."
Dumbledore nodded, gesturing for him to sit down. With a wave of his hand, two teacups floated over. Smiling casually, as if chatting idly, he asked, "What did you think of my speech tonight? Rather stirring, wasn't it?"
"Stirring, yes," Avada said awkwardly, scratching his head. "But the thing is, Professor—I'm a Muggle-born who's only been part of the magical world for less than two years. All that talk about pure-blood supremacy, discrimination, and prejudice… I haven't really seen or experienced any of it myself, so I don't know much about it."
"That only means you've been fortunate," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Experiencing such things firsthand is hardly pleasant. In fact, I hope more and more people will find it difficult to grasp the gravity of what I said tonight—that would mean discrimination has truly begun to fade."
"Oh—but back to the point. Take a look at the gift I prepared for you."
He opened a drawer in his desk and took out a slightly yellowed book.
"This is it."
"This is…?"
Avada took the book with some confusion. Its cover was made of parchment, completely blank—not a single word written on it. It was even cruder than the most basic stitched books.
At Dumbledore's nod, Avada opened the book in front of him and began reading. Inside, the text was packed tightly together, with virtually no formatting. Short phrases crowded every page so densely that, viewed from a distance, the pages looked almost entirely black.
But as Avada read line by line, his expression grew increasingly astonished. Finally, he flipped through the entire book at speed, then looked up at Dumbledore in disbelief.
"This book… it's all tables of contents?!"
"Exactly," Dumbledore replied, clearly pleased by his reaction.
"Merlin…"
Avada gasped softly. The book contained at least tens of thousands of titles. Even if each one represented nothing more than a lengthy academic paper, it would be enough to fill the entire Headmaster's office.
And if his Magical Perception wasn't mistaken…
"Let me show you how to use it," Dumbledore said, taking the book from his hands. He casually opened to a page and continued, "If you wish to read any of the works listed inside, simply tap the corresponding title, like this…"
He lightly touched one of the titles with his fingertip. With a pop, the crude book instantly transformed, becoming much thinner and far more refined. The title he had tapped now appeared in elegant gold lettering on the cover of a finely bound volume.
"So this is essentially a compressed library?" Avada asked.
"That's one way to put it," Dumbledore replied. He continued demonstrating, "If you want to return it to the directory, simply run your hand along the spine like so…"
With that motion, the refined book instantly reverted to the original directory.
"Oh, and I added another useful feature," Dumbledore said. "To prevent the contents from becoming overwhelming and difficult to search through, I enchanted the cover with a spell for quick reference. Like this…"
He traced a word onto the blank cover with his finger.
Dragon blood.
When he opened the book again, the text inside immediately enlarged, the spacing widened, making it far easier to read. Displayed were either titles containing the term "dragon blood" or passages within other works that mentioned it.
Good grief… a search engine?
Avada marveled inwardly at Dumbledore's forward-thinking approach, then couldn't help asking, "So… Professor, what exactly is recorded in this book to give it such an enormous amount of content?"
"Oh, you've finally asked the right question," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "If you hadn't, I'd have had to explain it myself."
"This is nearly a lifetime's worth of research notes from my old friend, Nicolas Flamel."
"What?!"
"He asked that it be given to you personally, as thanks for your contribution to sealing Voldemort. I also added some of my own research notes and compiled them into this volume."
"To be honest, in Nicolas's and my original plan, the Philosopher's Stone was meant to be destroyed—which would inevitably have led to his and his wife's deaths. For those who had lived for six hundred and fifty years, death was like going to bed after a long, exhausting day—another great adventure about to begin…"
"But after hearing about what happened here, they changed their minds."
"They decided to continue living, to use their knowledge and influence to help me bring about meaningful change in the magical world. They want to see that future with their own eyes."
"You mean… to completely eradicate 'Voldemort'?" Avada asked.
"Precisely," Dumbledore said, nodding approvingly.
"Then did Baron, Harry, and the others receive books like this as well, Professor? May I discuss the contents with them?"
"No," Dumbledore replied, shaking his head. "Their rewards were different—things well suited to them and of great value. But to be frank, none of them match the worth of this book."
"Then why—"
"The reason I gave this book to you is based on two conjectures," Dumbledore said. "If they prove correct, the future may unfold in ways beyond imagination. And even if they do not, possessing more knowledge is never a bad thing."
He smiled mysteriously, lowering his voice slightly. "As for one of those conjectures—you already know the answer yourself."
"…And the other one, Professor?"
"That one is far too vague. Calling it a conjecture would be generous—it's more of a gamble. So I think I'll keep that from you for now."
He looked at Avada with a twinkle in his eye. "Tell me, Ken—are you satisfied with this gift?"
"…"
(End of Chapter)