Vid was silent for a mont before speaking:
"When I was seven, he dragged out of school, insisting on taking to a fun place—only for us to end up on top of a lighthouse, where he urged to jump off."
Dumbledore furrowed his brow. His eyes, which had shown a trace of regret as he looked inside at the child, now reflected only coldness.
"You didn’t tell your parents?" Dumbledore asked. "They seem to think you two get along well."
"I didn’t jump."
Vid explained, "Of course, I wouldn’t do sothing so foolish. I turned to leave. But as I was going down the spiral staircase, I suddenly heard the sound of a crash—"
Vid paused for a mont and said, "—he had jumped down himself."
Now Dumbledore didn’t know what to say.
He initially thought the child was inherently wicked, but he hadn’t expected it to be sheer stupidity.
Anyway, there was still ti, so Vid went ahead and finished the story.
"I thought he was dead and quickly ran out to check, only to find that he had landed on a haystack and fortunately just broke a leg."
"I carried him to a nearby clinic, but after that, we were no longer friends."
To this day, Vid still couldn’t comprehend Carrel’s thought process, but because of this incident, he drew a definite line between them.
Before the lighthouse jump, they could barely be called friends. Afterward, Vid only thought of him as a troubleso kid from his father’s friend’s family.
However, Carrel seed to believe they had forged a ’life and death friendship,’ often coming over to play until they moved away, leading Ferdinand to think they had a good relationship.
Because in the end, it was Carrel who jumped from the lighthouse and broke his leg. The kid was at least honest enough to take all the bla, without implicating Vid.
Besides, their fathers had always maintained a good relationship, with business ties built on mutual trust and support.
So in the end, Vid also kept the true story from his parents, never ntioning that Carrel had dared him into a deadly act, and rely drew an invisible line in his heart.
Two bats flew in under the cover of darkness, and both Vid and Dumbledore fell silent.
They watched the two bats fly into the guest room, and shortly after, four figures left in haste.
Soon after, the Peregrine Falcon turned back into human form, turned the golden Hourglass, and vanished instantly.
Vid unconsciously felt sowhat relieved.
The past him had returned to the earlier past; at this point in ti, only one "Vid" remained, removing the need for hiding.
However, as Vid prepared to follow those Vampires, Dumbledore suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder, forcibly dispelling Vid’s Disillusionnt Charm.
Vid exclaid in surprise, "Professor?"
"You should go back to rest, Vid," Dumbledore said. "If I’m not mistaken, you have two elective classes tomorrow morning at nine."
Vid could hardly believe it, "You just taught a spell!"
"Yes... but I taught you the spell so you’d know how to protect yourself the next ti you et such enemies, not so you can confront them now."
Dumbledore dispelled the Disillusionnt Charm, appearing before Vid, looking down at him gently:
"Fighting Vampires is not the sa as participating in a challenge match, not to ntion you haven’t truly mastered the Sunlight Charm."
"Vid, you’re still young; you don’t need to face the world’s harsh sides too soon."
"Moreover, there’s a huge secret behind these people that I need to spend so ti investigating. But you don’t have the ti to run around with ."
"—Go back."
Dumbledore said firmly.
—That isn’t what you said when you sent Harry to deal with Voldemort.
Vid thought to himself, glaring angrily at Dumbledore.
He didn’t understand why, when he had already destroyed several of Voldemort’s Soul Artifacts, dealing with a few Vampires warranted leaving him out. Vid didn’t believe Dumbledore’s words were out of concern for his safety...
And as for attending classes—even more reason to dismiss it—the Headmaster knew full well that most courses posed no challenge to Vid. Besides, he could use the Ti Turner to catch up on sleep, so he needn’t worry about missing class.
So what could it be?
Suddenly, Vid was slightly moved, his eyes flashing.
"I get it," he said gloomily. "I’ll go back to school."
"Promise , you won’t quietly follow," Dumbledore said.
"I’m not the Weasley Twins..." Seeing the Headmaster was serious, Vid reluctantly agreed, "I promise."
Sothing promised is not easily broken.
Only then did Dumbledore believe him and strode off in the direction the Vampires had departed, his body changing color and soon vanishing entirely from Vid’s view.
Vid sighed and didn’t follow them, transforming instead into a Peregrine Falcon and flying back to school.
He had figured it out, Dumbledore didn’t think that facing rely four Vampires was beyond his protection. Nor did Dumbledore doubt his ability or character.
He simply didn’t want Vid involved in a potentially bloody battle.
A scene of bloodshed, of once-living beings struggling in the throes of death—that was what Dumbledore didn’t want him to witness again.
This was different from Voldemort’s Residual Soul and the Inferi, as Vampires bleed, scream, plead, or curse, potentially going from lively to lifeless in a snap.
Witnessing such a process could shock an ordinary person trendously, and so could even develop severe psychological issues as a result.
This was what Dumbledore felt he shouldn’t face right now.
Who knows what the bearded man told Dumbledore, the Headmaster knew of his experience using spiders to deal with thugs, yet still treated him like a child.
Vid felt helpless, but he couldn’t possibly argue with Dumbledore—No worries, I’ve experienced it before, more than once. My psyche’s healthy and won’t be affected.
Back at school, Vid naturally made the most of his ti, resting for a few hours. The morning was packed with classes, but it wasn’t until he finished Defense Against the Dark Arts in the afternoon that he found ti to practice his new spell.
The Room of Requirent transford into a gloomy stone room, resembling the Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets. Vid stood before the mirror, practiced a few tis, and finally mastered the correct way to cast the spell.
He raised his Magic Wand—
"Akayas-Tomio!"
The wand’s tip burst with a brilliant, blinding white light, instantly illuminating the entire room.
The light beam sliced through like sharp blades, like searing heatwaves, inundating the room, reflecting and refracting, leaving hardly any shadow.
Even Vid’s back was brightly lit.
This fiery light conveyed no stinging burns, however. It simply felt overwhelmingly warm, like a source of powerful and gentle strength.
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