strokinit Chapter 81 Strange Names
Chapter 81 Strange Names
Chapter 81 Strange Names
The cool moonlight streamed in through the high window, casting long, narrow patches of light on the dusty floor and clearly outlining the silhouettes of the two people sitting in the high-backed chairs in front of the mirror.
One of the figures was tall and familiar, with a long, silvery-white beard that gleamed softly in the moonlight. It was none other than Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts.
The other person sitting next to him, dressed in a sharp suit, appeared calm and composed even in the dim light—it was Professor Jim Lynch.
The slight "ouch" sound from the wooden hinges as the door opened, like a pebble thrown into a stagnant pond, broke the absolute silence of the room. Almost simultaneously, the two of them slowly turned their heads, their gazes precisely fixed on the doorway.
The entrance appeared deserted, as if the door had been carelessly blown open by the night wind blowing through the depths of the castle.
But their sharp gazes, like searchlights, pierced through the seemingly empty darkness, naturally and without deviation landing on Harry Potter, who was wearing an invisibility cloak, in the shadows of the doorway.
The gaze made Harry feel uneasy, and he involuntarily clenched his fists, but he was certain that he was wearing an invisibility cloak and they couldn't see him. Then, he saw Professor Lynch shift his gaze to Headmaster Dumbledore.
But Professor Lynch did not speak; he simply gazed calmly at Headmaster Dumbledore.
Noticing Lynch's silent gaze, Dumbledore gave him a wary look, their eyes quickly exchanging some kind of information.
Immediately, Dumbledore's gaze returned to the "nothingness" where Harry was by the door, and his gentle yet undeniably authoritative voice rang out in the silent room.
"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore uttered the title that sent Harry plummeting into an icy abyss, "I know it's you."
Please show yourself.
Harry felt as if his internal organs had suddenly frozen solid.
He hoped that Principal Dumbledore was trying to trick him with words, but the perfectly accurate surname—"Mr. Potter"—shattered all his hopes.
Mr. Potter, Harry doesn't believe there's another Potter at Hogwarts besides himself.
If only there were another Porter, then he could convince himself to fight a little longer.
But there was no other Mr. Potter, so Harry could only tremble as he tore the cool, silky Invisibility Cloak off his head.
His uneasy figure was clearly exposed to the gazes of the two people in the room.
"What is he doing here?" Harry heard Professor Lynch ask Dumbledore, his voice calm and unchanging, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
"It is quite obvious," Dumbledore's voice remained gentle, as if stating something utterly mundane, "that Mr. Potter has been coming here for the last few nights... to look in this mirror."
Dumbledore stretched out his hand and conjured a sturdy low stool on the floor, then beckoned Harry over. "Please sit down, Mr. Potter."
Perhaps because he had been standing stiffly in place, Harry felt his legs were a little numb. He moved his feet and it took him almost a minute to walk to the stool and sit down stiffly.
He looked up and saw that both Professor Lynch and Dumbledore were staring at him.
"Harry, you shouldn't be here," Professor Lynch said.
As expected of Snape's good friend, he was eager to conclude that he had made a mistake as soon as he opened his mouth.
Harry thought to himself.
His mind raced, trying to come up with a plausible reason for his presence here.
But before he could figure it out, Dumbledore spoke up for him.
"It's not a big deal for a young boy to occasionally explore his deepest desires, as long as he doesn't indulge in unrealistic dreams."
He then turned to Harry, his gentle gaze revealing seriousness: "Can you guarantee you won't get addicted, Mr. Potter?"
"I can do it! I promise I won't get addicted!"
Ha nodded vigorously.
"very good."
Dumbledore stroked his beard with satisfaction.
Then he turned to the mirror beside him: "This mirror is called the Mirror of Erised. It allows one to see one's deepest, most urgent, and strongest desires."
He paused, his gaze seemingly piercing through the mirror, looking deeper into its depths. "You've never seen your family, so you see them standing beside you. But that's all this mirror does; it can neither teach us knowledge nor tell us the truth. It can only show us our illusory desires, offering no benefit to our real lives."
"Tomorrow, this mirror will be moved to another place," Dumbledore continued. "I think you shouldn't go looking for it anymore. Can you do that?"
"I can do it! I won't go looking for it anymore."
Harry made a promise to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded. "Alright, I think you can go back to sleep now, wearing your wonderful invisibility cloak. It's late, good boy, you need plenty of sleep."
Harry stood up. "Goodbye, Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Lynch."
He respectfully bid farewell to the two of them.
His gaze unconsciously swept across Professor Lynch's face.
At this moment, his face, which usually wore a warm smile, was expressionless, as calm as a deep pool. Only his deep black eyes gleamed with a cold, hard light under the moonlight, making him appear exceptionally dignified.
When Dumbledore spoke to him just now, he sat quietly beside him, without making any sound or movement, like a statue.
At this moment, facing his farewell, Professor Lin Qi nodded slightly, and then resumed his calm and composed demeanor.
Harry didn't dare linger. He immediately turned around and practically fled through the door.
Just as he stepped out the door, something strange suddenly occurred to him—
Just now, when Professor Lynch spoke, he did not address himself as Mr. Potter like Principal Dumbledore did.
Instead, he simply calls himself by his name—Harry.
Before today, I had never even spoken with Professor Lynch alone on any occasion.
It was quite strange that he would call himself by his own name so naturally and intimately.
But now is clearly not the time to go back and ask for clarification.
So Harry, with the questions that had just arisen in his mind, closed the door.
With a click, the door closed.
Only Dumbledore and Lynch remained in the room.
Except for the extra stool Harry had sat on, everything was exactly the same as when Harry came in.
The room returned to silence.
Until Lynch's calm voice rang out in the room.
"It seems you didn't take my advice; you still want to drag him into this."