Chapter 77 "Dumbledore's Memory"

Dumbledore was in his office, looking at a document on the table and thinking about something. In addition to the principal of Hogwarts, he has many identities.

For example, the Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and so on. He has to deal not only with Hogwarts's official business but also with other things outside Hogwarts.

Seeing Sherlock walking in, he raised his head, put down the quill, and smiled at him, "Do you want a dessert?"

As soon as his voice was heard, a small pile of cookies and two cups of steaming tea appeared on an empty silver plate on the desk.

"Thank you, Professor. But I just returned from a tea with Professor Sprout at the Three Broomsticks Inn." Sherlock sat down.

"Since you didn't come to accompany me for a tea, what can I help you?"

Without beating around the bush, Sherlock directly stated his intentions, "It's about the incident that has been happening in the castle since the beginning of this semester, Professor."

"Oh? What did you find?"

"The information in the school has been leaked outside, and I heard a rumor in the bar today that I don't know if it's true or not, so I came to you to make sure it's true." Sherlock's face was serious.

After Dumbledore's teacup was brought up, put it down and asked softly, "What's the content of the rumor?"

"Fifty years ago, the Chamber of Secrets was opened, and Hagrid was expelled at that time," Sherlock said he didn't mean to question Hagrid; he just wanted to ask Dumbledore about this matter.

After listening to Sherlock's words, Dumbledore didn't remain silent or hide anything. He nodded calmly as if he was facing a small incident that happened before.

"Yes, it's true. Fifty years ago, when I was just a professor at Hogwarts, I wanted to stop them from throwing that accusation at Hagrid. I can only let him stay in the school first so that he will not be homeless."

"Was the Chamber of Secrets really opened? Hagrid was involved in this?" Sherlock frowned. He didn't expect the Chamber of Secrets to involve three timelines: the ancient times when the founder of Hogwarts created it, fifty years ago, and now.

Dumbledore did not reply to Sherlock immediately but quietly watched him fall into a brief contemplation. Sherlock didn't bother him, waiting for him to think.

After a moment, Dumbledore seemed to be ready to make a decision, and he stood up from his chair. "Since you already know all this, are you interested in seeing what happened back then?"

His eyes were clear, and he sent an invitation to Sherlock. Sherlock nodded without hesitation, indicating that he wanted to know what happened at that time.

Dumbledore took out a basin that looked like it was made of stone from the cabinet and put it on the desk. He aimed his wand at his temple, twirled the wand gently, and pulled out a ray of silver strand from his mind and put it into the stone basin.

"This is a Pensieve. Sometimes, I take out my thoughts and put them here to see more things clearly. It can also allow us to look back on those past events." He looked at Sherlock and guided him.

"You can stick your face into the basin."

Sherlock walked in front of the Pensieve, looked at the silver strands swirling inside, bent down, and slowly buried his face in it. A sense of weightlessness fell from the air, but soon, his feet stepped on solid ground.

The surrounding darkness dissipated, and Sherlock found himself outside the corridor of Hogwarts. The sky outside turned dark. Only the torches hanging on the walls illuminated the surrounding space.

After a while, Dumbledore went to Sherlock's side. Looking at the surroundings, he saw they were completely different from the Hogwarts he knew.

Sherlock took a small breath and asked, "Is this Hogwarts fifty years ago?"

"It is Hogwarts fifty years ago in my memory." Dumbledore said softly.

Just as his voice fell, a tall wizard with long hair and a long beard, who looked a bit like Dumbledore, passed by them. Dumbledore motioned to Sherlock, and they followed him together.

"This is you when you were young?" Sherlock said with surprise.

Dumbledore nodded slightly.

"That's right, I was just a Transfiguration professor at Hogwarts then."

Sherlock didn't ask any more questions; they just followed the younger version of Dumbledore all the way to the foyer on the first floor. A boy with a prefect badge on his chest happened to meet the young Dumbledore, and he greeted the student.

"Why are you wandering around so late, Tom?"

The boy named Tom was calm and replied, "I was going to see the principal just now, sir."

"Go to bed now." The young Dumbledore stared at Tom, "Don't wander around in the castle these days since you know what happened."

He shook his head with a sigh, but Sherlock could hear the meaning.

"The attack has already happened at this time, and a student died because of it?" Sherlock asked Dumbledore beside him.

Dumbledore also nodded, "Yes, at this time, Hogwarts has already begun to plan to be shut down."

While they were talking, the young Dumbledore had said goodnight to Tom, and the two separated. But at this time, Dumbledore grabbed Sherlock's arm, and instead of following his younger self, he stood in front of the hall and explained to him.

"Because this is my memory, we have no way to see what happened to other people without me being there at the time. But soon you will see something."

Not long after Dumbledore finished speaking, a violent explosion sounded at the Hogwarts basement below their feet.