Chapter 216: Failed to Hunt

Sitting in his office, the real Dumbledore looked extremely exhausted.

The intense hunt for Voldemort for over a month had drained the energy of this over hundred-year-old man.

The worst part was that he let Voldemort escape in the end. It wasn't his fault; Voldemort was just too cunning.

Voldemort was clever about how he used wizards as human bombs during ambushes, and Dumbledore almost got hurt.

He even cut off Bellatrix's tracking magic, making it impossible to find him after he ran away.

This operation turned out to be a failure.

What was more frustrating was that when Dumbledore returned to his office, the portraits of the headmasters were calling Arthur's name.

After a little more than a month, he had been forgotten.

Seeing the real Dumbledore, the portrait of Armando Dippet awkwardly changed the topic and asked.

"How about it? Have you successfully caught that person this time?"

Dumbledore shook his head, and facing the portrait of Phineas Black, he said, "Phineas, could you please summon Gaunt to the office?"

Phineas Black nodded.

Arthur had returned to Hogwarts in his true identity yesterday, and it would be easy to find him in the Ravenclaw common room.

Soon, Phineas Black returned to his frame, and not long after, Arthur entered the headmaster's office.

"Professor, you're finally back!"

Arthur smiled brightly, but he felt a bit guilty. He hoped that Dumbledore wasn't here to cause trouble for him.

"Gaunt, a lot has happened during this time. Although I saw the Prophet Daily, there are still some things that need your explanation."

Dumbledore said with a meaningful tone, almost as if he was about to say, 'confess if you have done anything wrong, and your protest will be punished severely.'

The headmaster portraits on the wall appeared to be resting, but the occasional smiles on their lips showed that they were laughing.

Arthur scratched his head and asked, "Professor, which one would you like to hear first?"

Dumbledore struggled to get his breath going, and his hand trembled...

"Just start from the beginning, and we have time," he said while glancing at Arthur, growing more regretful about choosing Arthur as his replacement.

How desperate must he have been to choose Arthur...

Arthur thought for a moment and decided to tell the story in order.

"Then, I'll start with the Triwizard Tournament. I..."

Before he could explain, Dumbledore interrupted, "What's this about the Triwizard Tournament? I don't know anything about it."

Arthur was stunned.

So Dumbledore knew nothing about it? Well, of course, the Prophet Daily wouldn't know about the secretive Triwizard Tournament.

Did he just expose himself?

Forcing himself to tell his glorious deeds.

"Hoo..."

Dumbledore's heart hurt, and he felt a bit dizzy.

"Professor, are you alright?"

Arthur looked at Dumbledore, who seemed about to be overwhelmed, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Dumbledore was tempted to say, "Do I look like everything's fine?"

But he held back.

It was a done deal now, and saying anything wouldn't change it; it would only worsen his relationship with Arthur.

"So, Ilvermorny agreed to participate?"

"Yeah, they were quite happy and even offered to sponsor some expenses."

"How did you get Fudge to approve the funding?"

"Well, I had Sirius act out a little play with him, and he agreed afterward."

During the conversation, the topic shifted back to Sirius.

Arthur didn't hide anything and told Dumbledore about the deal he made with Sirius during the summer.

After listening, Dumbledore remained silent for a long time. He looked at Arthur deeply, amazed that he possessed the gift of prophecy.

"Can you guarantee that you've destroyed Voldemort's soul?"

In response, Arthur tossed the locket box from Slytherin's locket to Dumbledore, who checked it several times and confirmed that there was no trace of Voldemort's soul.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Returning the locket box to Arthur, Dumbledore asked how many Horcrux he had destroyed.

"Including the diary, four."

Arthur didn't give the details of the other horcrux, and Dumbledore didn't ask further.

Dumbledore now understood why Voldemort had claimed in Albania that his Horcrux had been destroyed.

It turned out that Arthur had taken the blame for him, but Dumbledore didn't mind. He was even happy, as it showed Arthur's mindset.

Dumbledore had a feeling that the next time he faced Voldemort, the Dark Lord would be back to full strength.

The magical world was on the brink of darkness, and a powerful wizard like Arthur couldn't be ignored.

After a detailed discussion of the Triwizard Tournament, Dumbledore let Arthur leave.

As Arthur reached the door, he suddenly remembered something and said to Dumbledore, "Headmaster, I forgot to tell you. Next semester, I invited Sirius to be our Dark Arts Defense professor."

"Also, I've accepted Lupin's resignation letter, and it's on your desk. If there's nothing else, I'll go now."

After speaking, Arthur quickly slipped away.

Once Arthur left, the office erupted in laughter.

"Dumbledore, you see? Arthur is even more qualified than you. The semester isn't even over, and he's already thinking about hiring a professor for the next year."

A headmaster's portrait laughed uncontrollably, leaving Dumbledore with a rather embarrassed expression.

Not to mention the fact that Dumbledore was in the process of looking for the next Dark Arts Defense professor for the next semester.

He chose Alastor Moody at first, but he hadn't talked to him yet.

Unexpectedly, Arthur resolved the matter for him.

However, he had to admit that Arthur had a good eye; Sirius was indeed suitable for the position.

But a certain Potions professor might be upset for a while.

After all, both straight Dark Arts Defense professors would be his arch-nemesis.

...

https://www.patreon.com/Abyssuit

You can find up to 35 advance chapters at my patreon