Chapter 130
Dumbledore quietly looked at Soren.
After a long time, he slowly spoke, "You are not wrong in what you say; the pursuit of power is indeed a part of human nature. Power can bring benefits, can bring glory, can bring authority. To put it positively, it can maintain one's dignity and protect those around you…"
"The question lies in whether you possess the ability to control that power, rather than being ultimately dominated by it." Dumbledore's gaze flickered with intense light as he spoke earnestly, "A true strong person possesses power but does not abuse it—have you heard the story of the Peverells? The eldest brother relied too much on power and ultimately brought about his own destruction."
"Professor, you speak too lightly—Harry's father and Sirius are both unregistered Animagi, right? Why haven't I seen you report them and send them to Azkaban, making Potter a criminal's son?" Soren argued, "Professor Moody's trash can attacked Muggles, it was reported in the papers, yet nothing happened due to Mr. Weasley's intervention—this is exactly what we call the abuse of power, isn't it?"
Soren coldly concluded, "It can be seen that everyone unconsciously utilizes the power in their hands to steer things in a direction favorable to themselves." He looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes and softly said, "The difference lies in that you have your sense of justice in your heart, while I have my own justice in mine."
Soren was somewhat tired of this kind of preachy talk, and without waiting for Dumbledore to respond, he continued, "If you came to talk to me today about my signing up for the Triwizard Tournament, then I can honestly tell you—I violated the rules, I broke the age barrier you set, I participated in the Triwizard Tournament, but all I did was pursue greater power, nothing more. I have no interest in ruling this world or pursuing immortality."
Dumbledore's eyes seemed to light up as he smiled and said, "Child, you've misunderstood me. I have never doubted that you would join the Death Eaters, nor would I judge a person's future based on their origins; I believe I can assure you of that."
"Hogwarts is a very inclusive school, and there are indeed students from Death Eater families here. We are willing to accept these students because we believe every young soul is beautiful, and every soul deserves our protection… I am very glad, child, I am truly glad that you are willing to talk about these things with this old man today…"
Dumbledore had untied the first knot in his heart.
One of the reasons he summoned Soren was that he sensed Soren's eager ambition for power, coupled with the impact of Meredith's disappearance on Soren. He was worried that Soren might fall into radical thoughts and the temptation of power, leading him down a dark path, so he specifically called him to discuss his thoughts, hoping to enlighten him and prevent him from going astray.
Of course, this was just one reason.
Another reason was that too many events had occurred recently, enough to make him somewhat uneasy, and he decided to put some insurance on his plans.
Yes, he did not intend to let Soren grow freely anymore; he planned to pull Soren into his own plans.
Dumbledore looked at Soren with a kind gaze and gently said, "Actually, the main reason for calling you today is to discuss your thoughts and see if there's anything I, as the headmaster, can do to assist you."
Hmm? Does this count as passing? Soren thought to himself.
It seems the old man really doesn't know about the Dream Dragon Society and Kingsley!
Despite Soren's grandiose words, facing one of the smartest wizards of the century, if he didn't feel a bit intimidated, it would be a lie.
At this moment, several thoughts flashed through his mind.
It seems Dumbledore is not all-knowing; perhaps after reading too many fanfics in his previous life, he had elevated his perception of him too high.
Dumbledore, of course, did not know the various thoughts turning in Soren's mind.
He continued, "I called you mainly for a few matters, so let's start with the first one! Soren, I vaguely sense a familiar magic in you; although it feels faint, I believe my feelings are not wrong… I guess you have already come into contact with Abattoir, right?"
Soren was taken aback; Dumbledore actually knew about Abattoir and could sense familiar magic in him. Could it be…
When Dumbledore saw the look in Soren's eyes, he knew he was right and smiled, saying, "You don't need to tell me where your Abattoir comes from; I have no covetousness towards it..." Then Dumbledore took a book out of the drawer and said, "Since you have already come into contact with Abattoir, and you may also use this in the upcoming Triwizard Tournament, consider this book as a gift from the headmaster as a reward for bringing glory to the school."
Indeed, what Dumbledore took out was "Abattoir Volume Four"!
A storm of emotions surged in Soren's heart, but he still managed to maintain a blank expression. Although he coveted this magical work, he would not easily accept someone else's goodwill, especially when that person was Dumbledore.
No one would disagree that Dumbledore was the most brilliant chess player in the original story. Even in death, he could still calculate against Voldemort.
When Dumbledore gave him such a great gift, Soren would never believe that he had no ulterior motives.
"Professor," Soren said cautiously, "As the saying goes, no work no gain. First of all, my signing up for the Triwizard Tournament has already violated the rules, and I may not necessarily win this competition for Hogwarts. Don't forget that the opponents are all adult wizards... I think it would be more appropriate to discuss this gift after I have made some contribution, right?"
"Is that so?" Dumbledore's gaze flickered with an inscrutable light. "I don't think so!"
"I have high hopes for you, Soren," Dumbledore said softly. "I believe your strength is no less than theirs. To be honest, I think you are the strongest warrior in this competition!"
Soren slightly lowered his head and fell into silence.
One could only say, as expected of Dumbledore?
This semester, Soren had been exceptionally low-key. Yes, although his collaboration with Draco was impressive, it was after all a joint effort using a family secret spell. Who knew if the spell would have a combined effect when cast by practitioners of the same bloodline?
As for resisting the imperius Curse in Dark Arts class and successfully casting the Switching Spell in Transfiguration class, those were at most just the performance of an excellent student, hardly anything astonishing.
It seemed that Dumbledore, like Merlin, had seen something in himself. These old monsters, clearly without the Eye of Magic, still had a bunch of unknown detection methods, which was quite puzzling.
Dumbledore looked at Soren's reaction and smiled with satisfaction.
"Before you accept this gift, I would like you to listen to me for a moment," he said. "Do you know the story of Abattoir?"
"Yes, Professor," Soren replied. "Abattoir has a long history; it is said to have appeared before Hogwarts was established, the author is unknown, but it is likely completed by more than one person. Later, during a war, it was divided into eight parts and scattered across various places, with even some publishers in the Muggle world printing parts of the fragments... Each volume corresponds to a magical field: Charms, Magic Theory, Transfiguration, Enchantment Studies, Protection Studies, Curses, Mind Studies, and Soul Studies..."
"You truly amaze me; everything you just said is correct," Dumbledore nodded. "The volume I have here is the Transfiguration chapter, corresponding to the field of Transfiguration magic. I heard you are learning Human Transfiguration from Minerva; this book can help you... Lastly, I want to ask if you have heard of the Six Great Books?"
"The Six Great Books?" Soren said in confusion. How could such a thing exist? It sounded like a trope from web novels in my past life; could it be that the old man is just rambling?
Dumbledore slowly said, "The so-called Six Great Books are not just a legend but truly exist. However, very few people know about this, and I heard about it from an old friend of mine..."
Another old friend? Perhaps an old lover? Soren thought darkly to himself.
"The Six Great book are six ancient books of magic, and it is said that all our magical theories have developed from the records within them," Dumbledore continued, "The Six Great books are the Book of Truth, the Book of the Phoenix, the Book of Druids, Abattoir, the Book of the Dead, and the Dark Revelation. The first three are books of white magic, while the latter three are books of black magic. Of course, I am not criticizing these books; after all, it ultimately depends on the person using the magic. Learning black magic does not necessarily make one a dark wizard."
Soren curiously asked, "May I ask, Professor, do you know the origins of the Six Great books? Where are they now?"
"The Book of Truth is the pinnacle of alchemy; my old partner, Nicolas Flamel, once held half of it," Dumbledore smiled and said, "I have reason to believe he passed it on to you before his death."
Ah! Soren couldn't help but think of the locked book he received from Nicolas. The cover of that book had no name and was locked with a special alchemical lock that could only be opened using alchemy, and despite studying it for so long, Soren still had no clue.
Soren's alchemy was already quite impressive; given a sample, he could even replicate the Invisibility Cloak of Death, but he was still at a loss with this alchemical lock. At this thought, he couldn't help but feel admiration and longing for Nicolas Flamel's true power.
At the same time, Soren thought of another question, "Professor, are you suggesting that Mr. Flamel's astonishing alchemy was only learned from half of the Book of Truth?"
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded, "This is also why Nicolas's alchemy has its flaws—though he is revered as the most powerful alchemist of his time, the hardships behind it are known only to him..."
"Because his inheritance is incomplete, the successful creation of the Philosopher's Stone was merely an unrepeatable coincidence. He cannot create another Philosopher's Stone nor can he teach this knowledge to others."
"Ah?" Soren was shocked, realizing this was the reason why Flamel only created one Philosopher's Stone!
But what does this have to do with taking on apprentices?
Dumbledore noticed Soren's confusion and explained, "Nicolas had good intentions; he didn't want to sever the inheritance, but he was more worried that if the inheritance fell into the wrong hands, and that person could not resist the temptation of endless life and infinite wealth, they might attempt to create the Philosopher's Stone but without Nicolas's luck—wasting materials in failed attempts is trivial, but it could likely trigger a series of unknown disasters..."
"I see. So, is there any news about the other half of the book?" Soren asked.
Dumbledore fell silent, gazing meaningfully at Soren, his eyes flickering with uncertain light.
After a long pause, Dumbledore slowly spoke, "Speaking of this, are you familiar with the Hohenheim family?"
A glimmer of understanding flashed in Soren's eyes; it was indeed related to the Hohenheim family!
Soren replied, "I know a bit. They are a famous pure-blood family in Germany, renowned for their ancestral healing magic and alchemy. Their ancestors are said to be the mysterious Parsers."
Dumbledore smiled, "You probably know more than that... Don't you know the main focus of their alchemy?"
Soren pretended to think, remaining silent for a while before saying, "Human transmutation?"
Dumbledore's gaze deepened as he quietly said, "That's my guess—it's well-known that the ultimate goals of alchemy are 'immortality,' followed by 'resurrection,' and finally 'transcending eternity.' Nicolas barely reached the first stage, and I suspect..."
"The reason Nicolas remains at this stage, even relying on luck to take shortcuts, is that his inheritance only contains the part of 'immortality.' As a result, while he can barely maintain the immortality of his soul and body, he inevitably faces aging. This aging reflects not only in his body but also in his soul, leading to emotional loss and spiritual numbness..."
"I suspect that the second half of the Book of Truth contains the secrets to overcoming the flaws of the Philosopher's Stone." Dumbledore's eyes suddenly brightened, "And the Hohenheim family, which is dedicated to the study of human and soul transmutation, has become my subject of suspicion..."
"Professor suspects they possess the second half of the Book of Truth?" Soren began to understand Dumbledore's meaning; after all, what could resist aging more than reconstituting the body and soul?
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