The nas on Ian's self-made Marauder's Map were clearly visible.
Aberforth Dumbledore.
This was, of course, still a Dumbledore, but it was not the Dumbledore that everyone recognized and knew; it was simply the only person in the headmaster's office.
"My damn insight is so charming." Staring at the black dot in the headmaster's office, Ian smirked, but his expression did not change at all.
He had long since noticed sothing was off about Dumbledore, sensing it from the very beginning in the Forbidden Forest, and that sense of unease beca even more pronounced after arriving at the headmaster's office.
Perhaps Albus Dumbledore would temporarily allow Voldemort to operate in secret for certain reasons, but as the headmaster, Dumbledore would not find a hundred excuses to avoid searching for Voldemort just to go back to the office for a cup of tea. Ian clearly felt a sense of fear when he was in the Forbidden Forest.
Could Dumbledore feel fear towards Voldemort?
Of course, that was unlikely!
Moreover, the fact that Ian could sense such emotions so easily was already extrely abnormal; under normal circumstances, this would never happen before Albus Dumbledore lost control of his emotions.
Ian's observational skills were quite sharp; he realized that Dumbledore had been acting as if he wanted to wait a while before addressing anything since the beginning in the Forbidden Forest. It looked very much like the attitude of a sumr worker who was just going through the motions, as long as the problem did not erupt while he was "working," it was considered a win.
Such behavior was too strange, too unlike the headmaster Ian was familiar with!
Furthermore, they had clearly agreed to discuss Voldemort's issues in the headmaster's office, yet upon arriving, Dumbledore, who was busy drinking tea, showed no concern for Voldemort. Not only did he not ask any questions about Voldemort, but he also inquired about the Resurrection Stone, which should have been well-hidden by Grindelwald.
This was also a very suspicious point. It wasn't that Ian thought Dumbledore would not be tempted by the Resurrection Stone, but rather that Albus Dumbledore would never show such eagerness.
How could soone referred to as the White Wizard be so naive? After all, Dumbledore's temptation by the Resurrection Stone and his eagerness to wear the ring was based on the fact that he did not know that his younger sister was doing well in the Twilight Zone, nor had he established a "peaceful end" agreent with his younger sister through Ian's connection.
Their father died in Azkaban, their mother died due to uncontrolled magic, and their younger sister died in an accident... it was the intertwining of these events that drove Dumbledore to abandon his rationality.
The current situation was clearly different; when Dumbledore obtained the Resurrection Stone, he did not even hesitate to seek Ian's permission to consult Ariana, nor did he consider discussing and exploring the secrets of the Resurrection Stone using Ian's special talents. It was as if he did not rember the information Ian had previously revealed to him.
For this reason.
At this mont, Ian was almost certain that the Dumbledore he was facing was an imposter. The way he seed determined to use the Resurrection Stone without wanting Ian to know was the most suspicious.
It was only after sensing the other party's psychological emotions that he realized who the imposter might be. Sure enough, after glancing at the Marauder's Map, Ian imdiately confird his suspicions.
Aberforth clearly had been careless and did not realize that an item like the Marauder's Map existed.
Of course.
He might also have limited magical prowess, unlike the current Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in the underground classroom, who had many tricks and could truly impersonate soone. Based on Ian's brief interactions, he felt that Aberforth's situation likely involved both factors.
"I just wonder how Aberforth Dumbledore guessed that the Resurrection Stone is with ..." Ian stroked his chin, feeling like Hogwarts' Sherlock Hols.
Being able to use the headmaster's office indicated that Aberforth's impersonation likely received Albus Dumbledore's permission, and it was even possible that this was part of Albus Dumbledore's arrangent.
Given the letter sent from the Twilight Zone, the relationship between the two brothers, even if not fully repaired, was certainly much better than being completely estranged. It was entirely possible that Dumbledore had requested his younger brother to make appearances in his na while he was away.
In fact.
Even if sothing happened, Aberforth could serve as a combat force. Aberforth's strength was unquestionable; after all, the Dumbledore house had never produced weaklings.
Whether it was Ariana or the young man Ian had encountered in the Twilight Zone, who could be considered a kind-hearted reminder that saved all of Hogwarts, he had lived much longer than other Obscurus users, which was undoubtedly due to the powerful bloodline of the Dumbledore house.
Even Aberforth, who seed ordinary to many, was actually one of the top wizards in the wizarding world. In the Order of the Phoenix, which had lost Albus, he could be considered a unique combat force.
"The Dumbledore house has never had diocre individuals..." Ian turns back to look at the headmaster's office again. He might be one of the people who understood the Dumbledore house the most in Hogwarts. For this reason, he was very clear that while Aberforth might not be as invincible as his brother, he was still a rare strong figure.
Moreover.
Aberforth's talent, in their era, was likely second only to the two leading figures of the ti, after all, this guy had almost wasted his entire life yet was still stronger than most wizards, which already spoke volus about his talent. Aberforth Dumbledore's greatest shortcoming was likely his limited understanding of magic.
This was evident from the fact that Aberforth Dumbledore's na appeared on Ian's Marauder's Map, and that Ian had stood outside the headmaster's office for so long, contemplating so many things, while Aberforth remained steadily seated at his desk, completely unaware that Ian had handed over a fake Resurrection Stone.
Aberforth's in-depth exploration of magic likely only stopped in his youth... Ian could even imagine a scene where Aberforth was probably still studying the fake Resurrection Stone ring with reading glasses, muttering to himself about "how to use this thing."
"The only trouble is if the real headmaster discovers that the Resurrection Stone ring is with , the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor will definitely make my life difficult."
"Our professor has warned not to let Dumbledore know," Ian confird once again that Aberforth had not chased him out before he raised his foot and walked toward the stairs.
He quickly thought of a counter-strategy. To be honest, by ignoring the tiline, he could easily tell Albus Dumbledore that he had given the real Resurrection Stone ring to Lady Ravenclaw.
The dear headmaster couldn't possibly go to that volcano to verify with Lady Ravenclaw, could he? Even if the truth were to be exposed one day, Ian would simply say that he has simply omitted the part where the Rowena Ravenclaw returned the ring to him.
"This is the art of language!" Ian looked down from the moving staircase, already seeing many little wizards heading to the Great Hall, as it was just the right ti for Hogwarts to serve dinner.
He had originally planned to avoid the spotlight and take a detour to the elves' kitchen for a hot pot, but unexpectedly, sharp-eyed Ravenclaw wizards directly blocked him at the end of the staircase.
The gleam in their eyes was frightening, and they did not ask anything, just surrounded Ian. It looked like they were crowding around him, but Ian felt like he was being swept into the Great Hall.
The aroma of food filled the entire space of the Great Hall.
Students who had arrived at the long tables of the four Houses were already seated, but everyone seed to be eating without much enthusiasm, all huddled in pairs, whispering and discussing.
The Prefects tried to maintain order during alti, but it was utterly futile. Ian vaguely heard students of all grades discussing what had happened in the Forbidden Forest.
He vaguely caught the word "dragon" being ntioned repeatedly. And when Ian was swept into the Great Hall, many students' gazes imdiately shifted to him.
There were looks of disbelief, shock, incredulity, and even fear and terror— Ian finally lost his composure and grabbed a familiar little wizard who was surrounding him to ask.
"What is going on with you guys? Why do they all look at so strangely?" Ian was quite speechless; he even noticed that a little witch had been so frightened by his glance that she started crying.
"We're waiting for you, little professor, to tell us what happened. We bet you would take the initiative to brag about it; Michael opened a betting pool in Ravenclaw House."
The person he grabbed was the Chocolate Frog boy, who quickly answered Ian's confusion, "As for the other House people... it seems Miss Greengrass has been telling everyone she t after class about her fabricated story, and now it seems to have been glorified by Gryffindor."
The Chocolate Frog boy's words made Ian pause for a mont.
(To Be Continued…)
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