Except now, it was deathly quiet.
Even the portraits of the former headmasters on the walls had ceased their whispering.
Professor Slughorn led Victor Wick into the office.
At a glance, Victor saw Dumbledore slumped weakly in his chair, with Snape kneeling beside him, scrutinizing his right hand.
That right hand was as black as ink, looking as though all life had been drained from it.
"Ah... Victor, you've come." Seeing Victor, a flicker of a different light returned to the depths of Dumbledore's eyes.
"What's going on?" Victor frowned as he looked at the blackened hand.
In his eyes, a complex rune sequence swirled around the hand. Before he could even get close, his firewall began blaring warnings, alerting him that he was approaching an unknown, lethal Trojan.
"It is a curse... a very dark one. Even with Professor Slughorn's help, I can only suppress it temporarily. And... it won't hold for long," Snape said, standing up with a deep scowl.
The joy brought by Lily's resurrection was instantly dampened in this moment.
Snape knew very well that Dumbledore was the backbone for everyone.
If he fell... the consequences would be catastrophic.
But now... Dumbledore was on the verge of falling.
He was like a central pillar that had been suddenly charred through by fire—ready to collapse at any moment.
"With your capabilities, who could have successfully cursed you?" Victor grabbed Dumbledore's right hand, quickly recording the Ancient Rune code upon it.
If Dumbledore were that easy to curse, the Dark Lord wouldn't have been so helpless against him all those years ago.
"I did it to myself," Dumbledore said with a bitter smile.
This answer surprised Victor. 'What was this old man thinking, cursing himself?'
"I assume the wise Professor Dumbledore wouldn't do something so pointless," Victor said, releasing Dumbledore's hand and looking him in the eye.
"I... I found another one of Tom's Horcruxes," Dumbledore said softly.
Victor glanced at Professor Slughorn.
Slughorn didn't notice Victor's gaze, but he couldn't help but shudder at the mention of the word 'Horcrux'.
"Rest assured, Professor Slughorn is already aware of this," Dumbledore explained, revealing why he had asked Slughorn to stay.
"So, the curse was on the Horcrux... and you didn't notice it at all?" Victor frowned. "Has the Dark Lord's mastery of the Dark Arts reached a level even you can't perceive?"
"I could see it, actually. But... my attention was entirely consumed by the gemstone on that ring..." Dumbledore shook his head bitterly. "That was the ring of the Gaunt family—Tom's mother's family. And the stone on it was the Resurrection Stone..."
"The legendary stone that can show the spirits of departed loved ones?"
"Yes... and so, I was careless." Dumbledore sighed softly.
Victor opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't voice any reprimand.
A wizard of Dumbledore's caliber could usually see through any curse, but this Resurrection Stone had struck exactly at his weakness.
Family.
Victor could guess what Dumbledore was thinking the moment he saw that stone.
"Professor, I told you before... do not ignore your own weaknesses," Victor said helplessly.
Dumbledore smiled bitterly again. "Yes, I remembered your warning the moment I was cursed. But it's too late now."
Victor looked at the curse on Dumbledore's hand again. In truth, any other wizard would have died the instant they touched the ring.
Only a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore could use his own immense magic to force the curse's erosion to stay within his right hand.
However, that was merely drinking poison to quench a thirst.
"This curse contaminates a person's magic... the stronger the magic you use to suppress it, the more magic is corrupted, and the faster you die," Victor concluded.
"I am not afraid of death, Victor, especially since you are here. I called you here tonight because I want to settle a few matters," Dumbledore said, a look of relief washing over his face.
He truly did not fear death, but the burden on his shoulders was too heavy. Now that he had a successor, perhaps he could embark on that last great adventure and leave the burden to the youth.
Professor Slughorn looked at Victor, his eyes full of astonishment.
With his shrewdness, how could he not understand what Dumbledore meant?
Yet it was only today that he realized just how much Dumbledore trusted this young man.
"Professor, we agreed I'd only be working for a short while. Now you're trying to dump this whole mess on me? You're quite the devious old man," Victor said, shaking his head.
"Victor, do you have a way?" Snape's eyes lit up, asking directly.
Snape himself hadn't realized that he had unconsciously developed a level of trust in Victor.
"This curse follows the magic and slowly pollutes the soul... Severus, do not make things difficult for Victor," Dumbledore said, shaking his head gently.
Dumbledore's knowledge of the Dark Arts was no less than Voldemort's. He knew his own situation. Using potions to extend his life slightly so he could pave the way for the younger generation was his limit. Even Voldemort himself couldn't undo this curse.
Why waste Victor's energy on a futile effort? Victor was a genius, but he wasn't a god.
However, Snape's gaze remained bright. He knew Dumbledore might be out of options.
But Victor had managed to pull people who had been dead for years back from death's door! Worst case, Dumbledore could just die, and then Victor could resurrect him!
"I don't know if Severus is making things difficult for me, but I know you are." Victor pulled up a chair and sat in front of Dumbledore.
Dumbledore understood Victor's character. He had experienced too much and only wanted a peaceful life; no one could blame him. However...
"Victor, alas... I know this is asking much of you, but..."
"I can save you," Victor interrupted him.
Silence fell over the office again, broken only by the faint clicking of various silver instruments.
"You... what did you say?" Dumbledore looked at Victor in shock.
"I said I can save you, but it will take some time," Victor replied.
Victor's expression was serious. Everyone present could see he wasn't joking.
"Good. Professor Slughorn and I will brew a potion to suppress the curse for now. At a conservative estimate, we can give him another year," Snape said immediately.
"There's no need for that much trouble. Besides, using potions to suppress it, even if it extends his life, would cause extreme damage to the Professor's body," Victor waved his hand.
"You have another way to suppress it?" Snape asked, puzzled.
"Yes... Professor Dumbledore has survived this long by relying on his own immense magic. That proves that as long as there is sufficient magic, the curse can be suppressed. However... the magic currently suppressing the curse comes from his soul. The more it suppresses, the worse the corruption. So... I just need to find a different source of magic. I can suppress the curse directly—permanently, with no time limit," Victor explained.
"But where would we find another source of magic that powerful? We can't ask other wizards to help; the curse would just spread to them," Slughorn interjected.
"This curse targets the soul, so any wizard helping is out of the question." Victor turned to Slughorn. "But... what if the massive source of magic isn't a person?"
Snape and Slughorn exchanged looks, while Dumbledore looked thoughtful.
Victor didn't keep them guessing. He raised his wand and tapped the air.
Suddenly, the office was filled with countless rune sequences, and the walls and floor became transparent.
They could clearly see those rune sequences flowing with extreme order through the walls, floor, and the very air.
"Hogwarts... This castle has stood for over a thousand years. It is a massive source of magic in its own right. And this source has no soul, so even if the curse wants to infect the soul of the magic's origin, it has nothing to lock onto," Victor explained in terms they could understand.
As long as the curse's underlying code wasn't triggered, it was useless.
"So... as long as I don't leave Hogwarts, the curse won't spread?" A smile appeared on Dumbledore's face.
"Yes. As long as you stay within Hogwarts for now, it will buy me enough time to solve this curse for you," Victor said softly.
In truth, Victor felt quite guilty.
Dumbledore had only come into contact with the Resurrection Stone and been cursed today, yet Victor had summoned Ariana's soul long ago.
If he hadn't been so focused on keeping it a secret and had let Dumbledore see Ariana sooner, Dumbledore wouldn't have shown his weakness in front of the Horcrux. The shard of Voldemort's soul within the ring wouldn't have had the chance to lure him into touching it.
"That is wonderful news!" Slughorn nearly jumped with joy.
In fact, when it came to guilt, he felt it more than anyone else present, because Voldemort had learned the specifics of Horcruxes from him!
For years, he had been brooding over it. Fortunately, Voldemort had died, which gave him some peace of mind.
However, when he heard Dumbledore say that Voldemort was on the verge of returning because of the Horcruxes, his feelings were beyond words.
Victor didn't know the full story; he just thought Slughorn was being a bit overly emotional. But assuming he and Dumbledore were close friends, he didn't pay it much mind.
"No time to lose. Once I've finished suppressing the curse for you, I'm heading back to work... and this time, you're paying me triple!"