Dumbledore paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Have you had breakfast?"
"Yes," Howl nodded, walked to the desk, and sat down in the chair. "I've recently noticed that there are bad people among the masses."
Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged as he slowly said, "Howl, why are you suddenly saying such things?"
"Because someone just tried to invade my mind and view my memories," Howl said seriously. "And that is the mark of a bad person!"
A flash of awkwardness crossed Dumbledore's face, and he seemed surprised. "Legilimency is a very profound magic. Aside from Professor Snape and me, no one else in this school knows it."
Howl glanced at him, and Dumbledore also noticed Howl's gaze, but his face still held that annoying expression.
"Professor Quirrell doesn't seem like a proper Professor," Howl said. "Or rather, have you not used Legilimency to probe him?"
"Generally speaking, I don't actually probe other people's thoughts casually," Dumbledore said.
Howl could only respond with a smile to such a statement.
Whether it was the test at the 713 vault, his invitation to Hogwarts, or his words at the start-of-term feast, everything indicated that Dumbledore was trying to do something.
Plus Professor Quirrell's abnormality…
Perhaps a unique game of wits had already begun in the school.
"However, since you've said so, I will pay attention," Dumbledore said, uttering a nice platitude.
"Alright, whatever," Howl waved his hand. Since the other party had expressed confidence that everything was under control, what else could he say?
Even Professor Flitwick had noticed Quirrell's abnormality; he didn't believe Dumbledore hadn't noticed.
During their discussion last weekend, he had talked about Professor Quirrell with Professor Flitwick.
According to Professor Flitwick, Quirrell used to be a very confident Professor, and not arrogant. After graduating, he saw many Muggle things, and then came to Hogwarts to teach Muggle Studies.
Anyone who knew him before would not associate his former self with his current self.
They were completely different people!
"Anyway, I'm just here to work. Since the boss says there's no problem, then it doesn't matter," Howl nodded.
"Oh, right, I want to learn about Occlumency. After all, you know, it's too tiring to be with a bunch of people who can use Legilimency all the time. Does the library have any relevant materials?"
"You don't know Occlumency?"
Now it was Dumbledore's turn to be surprised. "Then how did you resist Legilimency before?"
Howl waved his hand. "Another method, some applications of Human Transmutation."
"Human Transmutation?!" Dumbledore's expression became serious. He was quite knowledgeable in Alchemy, but Howl's words still startled him.
"Human Transmutation, hasn't it already been abandoned?"
Since the rise of Ancient Greece Alchemy, people had been researching whether humans could also be transformed into Alchemical constructs with unparalleled power.
Unfortunately, this branch remained only a hypothesis. Humans were, after all, not mere objects, and Human Transmutation seemed too fantastical at the time, and the research methods were too cruel.
So this path was quickly abandoned by ancient Alchemists, who instead focused wholeheartedly on developing Alchemy.
Howl said indifferently, "Perhaps at some forgotten historical juncture, this discipline achieved some results, only to be buried by the torrent of time, and then I was fortunate enough to obtain it."
Dumbledore came to a realization. At his age, he no longer had the desire for in-depth discussion and instead said, "I think Nicolas Flamel would be very happy to discuss Alchemy with you."
Howl's gaze fell upon the strange silver instruments on Dumbledore's desk. Each of them seemed to have a small life of its own, spinning and emitting small wisps of smoke.
"I would also like to learn from the most famous Alchemist in history," Howl said. "I am very curious about the so-called Alchemical grimoires."
After speaking, he turned his gaze to a large mirror on one side and asked curiously, "By the way, what is this?"
"This is the Mirror of Erised. Would you like to try it?"
Dumbledore's tone carried a hint of encouragement, as if he very much wanted Howl to look into the mirror.
Howl stood up and walked to the mirror. The mirror was very tall, over two meters, with an ornate golden frame, supported by two claw-shaped feet at the bottom.
And at its top, there was an inscription. After glancing at it, Howl realized that the specific content had to be read backward to make sense.
"I show not your face but your heart's desire!"
He looked at the mirror with interest, also curious about how magical this mirror was and how well it could analyze a person's inner self.
Then, a thick mist appeared on the mirror, beginning to swirl continuously.
Howl also gradually grew expectant.
The thick mist swirled… flowed…
After a long while, he awkwardly looked at Dumbledore. "Is this thing broken? Why isn't it showing anything?"
Dumbledore was somewhat surprised. He had only recently taken this item out. Before this, it had been idle in the Room of Requirement for many years. Could it really be broken?
He got up in confusion and went to the mirror. After looking at it for a while, he turned his head to Howl with even more confusion.
"Everything is normal, the mirror is not broken."
Howl shook his head with a tsk. "Then it seems I'm broken. Well, that's not surprising. Back to the main topic, Occlumency."
"It's in the Restricted Section, cabinet number three, seventh shelf, in a book called 'Memory and Soul'," Dumbledore said. "However, generally speaking, learning Occlumency still requires some external stimulation."
"Legilimency? Whatever, I'm just using it as a reference, and I don't necessarily have to master it."
Dumbledore nodded slightly, clearly unconcerned by Howl's decision, and instead asked curiously, "How do you feel? Your time at school so far."
"Very good," Howl nodded.
This was truly not a lie, especially after he went to the pub with Professor Flitwick last time, he seemed to have found some kind of feeling… some kind of sense of life.
Initially, he had indeed accepted Professor Flitwick's invitation with the intention of discussing magic, as Howl genuinely felt they had a pleasant conversation during Friday afternoon tea.
So, on Saturday night, he expected it to be the same.
Until Hagrid arrived, various drinking games and gossip stories came one after another. Even though his modified body was unaffected by alcohol and remained clear-headed, he couldn't stop Hagrid's boisterous enthusiasm.
"That's good," Dumbledore smiled, looking at the owl flying in the sky, his deep blue eyes thoughtful.
"Oh, right, if you need to find me again in the future, you can ask the magical portraits downstairs like before. After all, I'm an old man now, and I can't handle such frights."
"Alright," Howl nodded casually, but wasn't very concerned.
He was actually just too lazy to wait, doing it on purpose.
Next time for sure.