Chapter 17 The Conversation with Dumbledore

"Kiwi pudding."

At the entrance to the Headmaster's office, Professor McGonagall spoke the password for the day. The stone beast heard it and leaped aside, causing the stone wall behind it to split in half, revealing a spiral staircase leading to the Headmaster's office.

The staircase rotated automatically, carrying the group to the entrance of the Headmaster's office.

"Please come in." Dumbledore's elderly voice came from inside before anyone had a chance to knock on the door.

Professor McGonagall pushed open the door and entered, followed by Maca and Severus Snape.

"How's the situation?" Dumbledore smiled at Maca, then looked at Professor McGonagall.

"The students have all gone back, and the giant creature has been taken care of—by Mr. McClain." Professor McGonagall glanced at Maca and informed Dumbledore of the details.

Dumbledore nodded as he listened, and once Professor McGonagall finished speaking, he began to speak.

"Oh, yes, I understand." Dumbledore said, "Miss Miller, continue the search to see if there are any students still outside."

"Severus, go help Professor Quirrell get rid of the giant creature."

"I don't think it's necessary. Quirrell can handle it on his own." Severus Snape said expressionlessly.

"I think it's necessary." Dumbledore said, looking at Severus Snape.

"...If you insist." Severus Snape stared at Dumbledore for a moment before turning and leaving.

Maca noticed that it was only him and Dumbledore left in the room, which made him feel a bit uneasy, but he didn't show it.

"Would you like some kiwi pudding?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

"Um, why not?" Maca adjusted his emotions and tried not to think about irrelevant things.

It had to be said that the headmaster had good taste. In no time, a pudding made its way into Maca's stomach, while Dumbledore just watched him with a smile, not saying a word.

"Well, it tastes good." After a while, Maca said somewhat awkwardly.

"I think so too." Dumbledore finally spoke, "So, how do you feel about your life at Hogwarts?"

"It's interesting and fulfilling, and I've made a lot of friends." Maca tried to choose optimistic answers, although he didn't know if it would make a difference.

"To be honest, you are the cleverest child I've ever met, without a doubt." Dumbledore shook his head, seemingly unconcerned with Maca's answer. "No one has learned as much as you have at the age of eleven, not during my tenure as a teacher, and not in the history of teaching at Hogwarts."

"Um, thank you for your praise, but... isn't that a bit exaggerated? For example, my Transfiguration skills are just average." Maca tried to recall his own situation.

"I don't think so," Dumbledore said. "I've been keeping an eye on you since your first accidental outburst of magic. Based on your actions and experiences, I believe we can have a relatively equal conversation as adults."

This time, Maca couldn't hold back. He looked surprised and said, "Accidental outburst of magic? I've been meaning to ask since I received my acceptance letter, but I don't remember when I had an accidental outburst of magic."

"Oh, yes, because your outburst of magic happened at a very unfortunate time." Dumbledore sighed. "Although I'm not sure if I should say this—"

Maca was stunned by his words and suddenly stood up. "It was my mother... back then?"

"Yes, your magic suddenly surged to protect yourself during the car accident." Dumbledore looked kindly at Maca

, with a hint of pity in his eyes.

"In other words, even if she hadn't...?" Maca muttered in a trembling voice, as if all his strength had left him and he collapsed back into the chair.

Dumbledore silently watched Maca, seemingly regretful about it, but also observing his reaction.

Suddenly, Maca snapped back to reality and let out a deep sigh.

"The departed have passed... that's why I'm even more eager to obtain the power to protect others." Maca suddenly raised his head and looked directly at Dumbledore, speaking firmly.

"That's your true nature, and I can feel it." Dumbledore nodded in satisfaction, once again revealing a gentle and wise smile. "Death is usually the end of life, but it can also become the starting point for others. Remember, death is not something to be feared."

Maca knew that Dumbledore saw the shadow of Voldemort in him, but fortunately, he genuinely had no evil intentions and had passed this test.

Dumbledore and Severus Snape were actually similar types of people. They never lacked power and ambition, but they would sacrifice everything, including their own lives, for "love." The difference between them was that Dumbledore's love was universal, while Severus Snape's love was only open to Lily.

As for Maca, he didn't know what kind of person he would become.

That night, Maca lay in bed, his mind filled with countless thoughts. He had encountered many things today and learned a stunning fact from Dumbledore, which made his mind race. He finally fell into a deep sleep in the late hours of the night.

...

After entering November, the weather became very cold. The mountains surrounding the school were covered in a gray haze, covered in ice and snow. The surface of the lake was as cold and hard as tempered steel. Every morning, the ground was covered in frost, and students had to be careful not to slip and fall.

Maca sat at the dining table, eating breakfast, surrounded by people.

It was probably Ron who spread the news—almost half of the students had heard about Maca's glorious feat of single-handedly defeating a twelve-foot-tall giant creature! It was simply unbelievable!

Maca had become a celebrity now, and many students crowded around him to talk, and a few first-year girls even came up to ask for his autograph!

Maca felt very much enjoyed being surrounded by people, and it wasn't just because of vanity. He genuinely felt warm in such a situation!

It's not an excuse, believe me! I'm telling the truth! If you don't believe me, find a group of people to surround you and try it.

Recently, Hagrid was wrapped in a long mole fur coat, wearing rabbit fur gloves, and huge beaver fur boots. He was de-icing broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch.

It was evident that the Quidditch season had begun!

To be honest, Maca actually wanted to join Hufflepuff's Quidditch team, but unfortunately, he had been too busy. Besides, Quidditch teams generally don't allow first-year students to participate.

"Believe me, Harry is just an exception." Maca looked over at the Gryffindor table, where Harry and Ron were whispering to each other. Maca guessed they were probably talking about this.

But what Maca was more concerned about was that he hadn't heard any news about Harry joining the Gryffindor team as a Seeker. Could it be that Gryffindor's team captain, Wood, intended to use Harry as a secret weapon or something?

"They've done a good job keeping it a secret." Maca muttered with a muffled voice, chewing and swallowing his food.

However, when the day of the match arrived, Maca was a bit dumbfounded when he saw Harry, just like him, walking towards the spectator stands.

"What's going on?" Maca stared blankly as Harry disappeared up the stairs leading to the Gryffindor stands, his face showing an undisguised expression of astonishment.

"What's wrong? What are you looking at, Sir Knight?" Charlotte, a senior student, hooked her arm around Maca's shoulder and said with a smile, "Are you looking at your Gryffindor princess?"

"Um, ah... no." Maca shook his head, took another glance at the Gryffindor stands, then turned around and climbed the stairs on his side with Charlotte.

The Quidditch match was exciting, but Maca didn't have much mind to enjoy it.

He occasionally glanced at the teachers' stands - without Harry in the Quidditch match, he didn't know how Cho's actions would change.

It wasn't until the match ended with a winner that there were no surprises in the game. Without Harry, it seemed that the possibility of Cho taking action was fundamentally cut off, but Maca couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't seek another opportunity to target Harry.

"At least, it relieves an inevitable crisis, which is a good thing, right?" Maca couldn't be sure if that was the case, but he also had no clue about this matter for the time being.

The Gryffindor versus Slytherin match was over, and as Maca glanced at the scoreboard while leaving, it showed a score of 60 to 210. At the moment when the scores were tied, Slytherin's Seeker caught the Snitch, ending the intense match.

Maca didn't have time to care about that, but after just taking a glance, he headed towards the crowd of Gryffindors.

"Hey, Harry!" Maca tried to appear normal as he said, "Don't worry, the match isn't over yet. It's just getting started."

"Oh, yeah. But losing to Slytherin is still disappointing," Harry sighed.

It seemed that even without being on the Quidditch team, he still loved the sport.

"Yeah," Maca sorted out the speculations he had thought about during the match, and then asked, "I heard that Neville

almost fell during your first flying lesson. Is that true?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah! If it weren't for Madam Hooch's quick reaction, Neville would have definitely ended up in the hospital, I'm sure."

"Yeah! He shot up so high!" Ron gestured with a laugh beside them.

"And what happened afterward? Did Malfoy give him a hard time?"

"Oh, yeah, exactly! That git always mocks others, I wish I could curse him with a monster!"

"That night's duel was because we had a fight in class." Harry also spoke angrily.

"Yeah, that guy is really not a good person."

As Maca casually agreed, he gradually sorted out the cause and effect of the situation—so that's what happened!