Nature is a very fond of playing with people.

Although there were innocent victims such as Neanderthals and the shame of mammals such as dolphins and seals in evolution, there are still some patterns in the whole.

At least in Gawain's opinion, even the many magical creatures in the wizarding world that were big enough to make Newton pound his chest didn't go beyond that. Thestrals are just bigger, flying horses, Basilisk is a python with strange functions, and as for the Tree Guard...

"Well, it's really just a tree guard. ”

Gawain scratched his ears with some hesitation.

"You thought about it, didn't you? The Winged Demon is probably not a creature from our side, or even a creature that can be called a creature. There are actually some creatures that exist in this form, but most of them are unknown. ”

Dumbledore's right hand slashed in the air, fluoresceing into a milky white chromophore, forming the appearance of magical creatures.

"Winged demons, basilisks, five-legged monsters, and... But, Professor, aren't five-legged monsters and basilisks creatures born out of failed Transfiguration and dark magic?"

Gawain didn't know all of them, but he recognized some of them.

"Exactly. Their presence supports my view that magic itself may be the reason for the creation of new creatures. And the creatures created by the rampant, chaotic magic will be even more..."

With a flick of Dumbledore's wand, the patterns of the magical creatures disappeared.

He didn't finish his sentence, but Gawain could understand the word he hadn't uttered—"danger."

"After 'that night,' His strength was strengthened and He had a new servant. Although we all know that our old friend, who will not be willing to submit to Him, will actively seek an opportunity to come here and take the Philosopher's Stone to create a new body for him. But until then, he will provide him with a living ground. ”

Dumbledore's face was wrinkled and looked even more aged in the glow of the torches.

"We've spent too much energy in the Forbidden Forest these days to get rid of the core of the magic that came from his restoration, and the twisted creatures that those cores created. But even so, there are still some special ones that have not been discovered by us, or have escaped. The Winged Demon is perhaps the most unique of them all—it already has its own 'core' and has taken the most important step towards being truly alive. ”

He went on with himself.

This made Gawain, who was listening, feel more and more awkward.

"I wanted to wait until you were older and had made your 'choice' before revealing these secrets to you. Can... I don't think I still have that kind of room to spare. Are you ready to get into the deepest histories and secrets of the wizarding world?"

Dumbledore lowered his body, looking at Gawain with his blue scary eyes, his eyes bottomless, but like a bright morning star.

"But how so?"

Gawain felt as if his chest was filled with cold water, and a sense of powerlessness spread out to his limbs.

Dumbledore's attitude was undoubtedly a vague revelation - even he, the strongest white wizard of the century, the headmaster of Hogwarts, and Albus Dumbledore who defeated the first Dark Lord Grindelwald, was not sure that he would be able to survive the ensuing conflict.

"Does this have anything to do with my reckless exposing Riddle?"

Gawain suddenly thought.

If he hadn't recklessly exposed Quirrell's disguise without telling Professor Dumbledore in advance, maybe he would have easily subdued Riddle in the castle and not been fled to the Forbidden Forest...

"Of course not, of course not. No one would have imagined that Riddle would be desperate enough to seek the unicorn's 'forgiveness'. No one could have imagined that He would take a huge risk and forcibly intervene in this process. It's not anyone's fault, in fact you've done more than I could have imagined, much better. ”

As if to understand Gawain's hesitation, Dumbledore smiled and shook his head.

"But Gawain, if you are not ready, or do not want to take on this burden, I fully understand and will respect your decision. ”

He took Gawain's shoulders and looked at him.

Dumbledore could fully understand how overkill it was to expect a first-year child to accept all of this. These should have been carried on their shoulders as elders and teachers.

"There are so many variables. ”

Out of the corner of his eye, he unconsciously glanced at his right hand, his five fingers slender and thin. After "That Wand" refused to respond to his call, he already felt that the dark clouds hanging over Hogwarts had become increasingly difficult to control.

When people are desperate, they will subconsciously grasp all the straws that may save their lives, and this is no exception even for the powerful Dumbledore.

The straw he chose this time is called "trust".

To Dumbledore's surprise, the time it took for Gawain to make a decision was unusually short.

"Of course, Professor. ”

With little hesitation, he simply nodded.

"Well, Gawain, I'm kind of tempted to have some more tea, how about you?"

"Hmm... A spoonful of sugar, two spoonfuls of milk?"

To the cheerful chirping of Phoenix Fawkes, the two of them disappeared together into the hidden passage.

The vaulted principal's office on the eighth floor was still warm, and as soon as Phoenix Fawkes returned here, he flew to its "nest" and ignored the old and the young. Dumbledore clapped his palms, and the tray with the teapot and cup reappeared.

For the first time, instead of sitting at a large desk, they gathered around a burning fireplace.

"I think, Gawain, more or less, you should also know some about some of the 'bizarre' stories in the wizarding world?"

Dumbledore picked up a teacup and played with it in his hand.

"Like what? He told me a lot of things in the Slytherin Chamber before..."

Gawain sorted out some of his guesses, as well as what Slytherin had said at the time, and told Professor Dumbledore.

"Looks like you've learned quite a bit. As you said, when Hogwarts was first built, it was not only conceived as a place to leave seeds for the future of wizarding, but it was also prepared as a prison of the highest caliber imaginable at the time. ”

After listening to Gawain's words, Dumbledore showed a somewhat surprised expression, as if he did not imagine that Gawain would have touched this level of secrecy.

"The story I'm going to tell is going to be mixed with a lot of rumors, stories, and even a lot of speculation. But have you ever imagined how wizards were born?"

He continued to speak to himself, apparently the question was not for Gawain to answer.

- "At some point in history, humans suddenly mastered the power of magic and learned to use them?"

Gawain had conceived about this problem.

But undoubtedly this is not possible.

For if there is a nascent, familiar, mastery, and development process of magic, just as humans have mastered the smelting of copper, iron, and steel, then there must be a traceable written record, or at least a horizontal evolution.

But he had never seen anything like it.

And not just on the wizard's side.

In fact, even in the textbooks of the history of magic, the story of the four founders of Hogwarts is quite early, and the only major events that happened before them were probably the medieval European wizarding meetings.

"As you suspect, magic came out of nowhere, and it didn't come from our world. ”

"At some point in the past, maybe two thousand years, fifteen hundred years, but no one knows.

Our world is in communion with the orbit of another world. No one knows exactly how that process works, but from that world, magic has been introduced here, and along with it, there are many magical creatures.

But this process happened purely by chance, and it didn't last long. ”

"Some of humanity has been influenced by another world, awakened to a talent called magic, and has become a wizard.

The rest of the population is somewhere between ordinary people and wizards, who are smart enough but not sensitive enough to study magic. Their doctrines, though mostly lost today, constitute what we now call the occult. ”

Dumbledore's fingers dotted and the milky white smoke framed the images to help Gawain understand.

But even so, it's still a huge amount of information.

"Professor, the one in the Forbidden Forest..."

Gawain suddenly thought, if this process is not permanent and dangerous, then why is that guy in the Forbidden Forest being "imprisoned"?

"The 'convergence' didn't happen for long. Although there is some evidence that the other world later became aware of our presence. But the 'crack' is not big enough after all, and it is constantly being bridged, far from enough for them to pass through this side. In fact, in the era when the Big Four were born, this 'meeting' should have ended normally. ”

Dumbledore took a shallow sip of the black tea, which was already about to cool.

"Should it be?"

Gawain noticed the word.

And he had a very ominous premonition.

"The unexpected happened. ”

Dumbledore let out a long sigh.

"In this world, a second Merlin has appeared. ”

"I didn't find any information about what happened at that time, except in a few words of legend that the world changed dramatically. ”

He looked deeply at the fireplace flames, as if he were looking at some unsolved mystery.

"I think you probably already know what happened. Gryffindor took his sword and went to the 'other side' to buy more time, while Ravenclaw spent too much effort planning and eventually died of illness, leaving only the kindest of Helga Hufflepuffs, who was alone with the remaining students in the castle. ”

"I only found this sentence about the story of that time. ”

Dumbledore's fingers dotted.

"It's just them, or it's us. ”

"They're crazy. They are all dead. ”