Dumbledore didn't ask him why he was late, much to Neil's grateful, disappointment.

As he ascended the stairs, he had prepared a narrative about how he pleaded with the statue in the doorway in the most touching language, but received no answer, crying out in despair – nothing to do with the despicable intention of gaining sympathy, but just to take every opportunity to share his creative experience with everyone.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore, who had changed into his dressing gown, didn't seem to have any intention of discussing art at two o'clock in the morning.

"It's late, thank you for your willingness to respond to my request for a meeting at this time." He drew his wand and waved it lightly, conjuring a chair out of thin air across the desk, "Please take a seat, Mr. Ding." ”

It was the first time since his arrival in England that he had been called by his own name, and it was pronounced in a very standard pronunciation. But Neil is not naïve enough to think that this is a preparation to please himself - courting feelings before bargaining is a common technique of businessmen, from this moment on, negotiations have already begun, he is no longer Neil Wan, a first-year Ravenclaw freshman summoned by the headmaster, but Ding Yi, a sword immortal disciple who went to England on the orders of the elders, and must fight for the interests of the sect at all costs.

"Thank you, Mr. Headmaster." He restrained his smile and bowed his back, walked to the front of the chair and sat down, his hands resting squarely on his knees, his back straight.

Dumbledore took his fully guarded reaction in his eyes and smiled disapprovingly.

That Chinese sentence was indeed practiced by him in advance, and the original intention was just a little joke with little meaning, and by the way, he implied that the other party was not ignorant of their sect. But what he didn't expect was that this young man, who had never been idle from beginning to end at the opening ceremony, actually had such a vigilant side, which caused the vigilance caused by the title question to be a little too high.

However, a vigilant ally is better than a bunch of fools who lack a sense of crisis.

Eleven years have passed since Voldemort's disappearance, and one day the most powerful and ruthless Dark Wizard of all time suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight, and his Death Eaters were scattered, giving the wizarding society that was on the verge of collapse a miraculous hope of survival.

It has been said that he listened to a prophecy about his future enemy, but was attacked by some unknown magic when he tried to kill him early; It was also said that Albus Dumbledore, the only man Voldemort did not dare to fight head-on, seized an opportunity to wreak havoc on him; It is also said that the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic came out of their nest and paid the price of more than fifty corpses to defeat them......

But in either case, the final sentence would be added that the mighty Dark Lord had died in a barren mountain, and the Ministry of Magic, in order to prevent any possibility of his resurrection, burned his body to ashes with a fire, and the ashes were placed in a jar with twenty-seven protective spells, permanently sealed in some mysterious department whose name no one had ever heard before.

As if only then could they convince themselves not to be awakened by the nightmare of Voldemort's comeback tonight.

However, Dumbledore knew that the nightmare would come true, and that the deadline was no longer far off. He has tried for years to issue warnings and ask people to be prepared, but it is not easy to do so at a time when everyone is eager to forget about that reign of terror. Especially when he could not reveal the primary evidence of his conviction in all this, lest he put the prophesied savior in danger.

Cornelius Fudge, the current Minister for Magic, is a mediocre bureaucrat whose political wisdom based on peace may be enough in peacetime to last his term, but in the face of the coming storm, it is clear that the top administrator of the wizarding world will need more courage and courage to fulfill his mission.

Fudge didn't like his "artificial panic" approach, which made the preparations even more difficult, and even Dumbledore couldn't accept that Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic should go to war before the Dark Lord returned. He abandoned his plan to assemble his forces against the Death Eaters and instead sought to raise an Assassin capable of taking Voldemort himself.

He finds the prophesied boy who "has the power to conquer the Dark Lord" (not difficult), places him in Hogwarts, a semi-enclosed space that is easy for him to master, and plans to spend the years cultivating his courage, determination, and sense of justice, making him a silver bullet that can shoot at Voldemort's heart at a critical moment.

Some may say that this practice is not humane to the person concerned. But when it comes to Voldemort, the world can't afford to risk failure. Albus Dumbledore never considered himself a saint, but he was not averse to giving his honor and life to the cause. 、

— and a few months after this Plan B was finalized, he suddenly made another serendipitous discovery.

"Mr. Ding, I think you are already very clear about your responsibilities."

"Yes, Mr. Headmaster." Neil replied word for word. If any of his classmates saw his expressionless face frozen at the moment, they might suspect that they had recognized the wrong person, "Before leaving, the Second Elder has already given a special order, and everything is for you." I'll keep an eye on Mr. Potter to make sure he grows as you envision, and prepare for the kind of situation we don't want to see. ”

The words were summed up so concisely that there was not even a hint of tremor in his voice, as if he were sitting in front of him an experienced soldier rather than an eleven-year-old child.

"There's no need to be so restrained, Mr. Ding." Dumbledore held up a hand to stop him, "I made a request to your school to have an insurance measure in place as a last resort, and your school accepted my request—of course, nominally, we are the headmaster-student relationship, and I appreciate your respect, but in private, I hope you can relax a little." You know, our cooperation is equal and mutually beneficial, so please don't put yourself in the shoes of subordinates or servants, okay? ”

"I'll think about it, Mr. Headmaster."

Dumbledore couldn't help but smile wryly, because the other party's tone was clearly saying that I would never think about it, and I didn't even bother to hide it.

"Well, that's just to make sure nothing goes wrong, I'm sure you can take care of everything. Your elders, they must have sent you in high opinion of your abilities, and I am willing to trust their judgment—then, as for what I can offer in return......"

"I'm listening, Mr. Headmaster."

The word "return" was so powerful to Neil Wan that even his unsmiling mask seemed to show signs of cracking.

"The detailed numbers are all written on this piece of paper."

Neil took the parchment with the large number of numbers in both hands, quickly skimmed it aside, then nodded and folded it in half and tucked it into his arms.

"I've also been told that I hope you will be allowed to move freely to a certain extent - including permission to engage in some commercial activities on Hogwarts campus." Dumbledore said, "But I want to get your assurance that you won't put a tool that would harm the students—"

"Mr. Chancellor, when we reached our initial intention of cooperation, we made all the necessary guarantees to you." Neil interrupted him, his voice sounding slightly prickly, "I personally fully understand your cautious desire to confirm it again. But for us, every oath is a test of credibility and character, and it can be quite ............ to make repeated promises to the same question Disgrace. ”

"Oh my God." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow slightly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend...... So, how do I express my apologies? ”

"Simple, Professor." The person whose dignity was offended replied without hesitation, "You can write another letter to the Department of Magical Creatures Management and Control, urging them to send my business license quickly." It may be more helpful for them to understand the urgency of the problem if you can mention in your letter that some of the snow maggot eggs may be hatching if they do not undergo secondary processing. ”

This seemed to be a long-planned request, and the brazen way of threatening, which made several old headmasters who were pretending to be asleep in the picture frame on the wall can't help but jump, but Dumbledore only smiled slightly.

"I will."

"Well, all my current demands have been met, and I'm glad that we've all agreed on various issues tonight."

Neil let out a long sigh of relief—probably mainly because he didn't have a chance to talk nonsense for a long time—and got up from his chair to take his leave, but Dumbledore stopped him with a raised hand.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Ding, I have one last question for you—can you tell me how you managed to fool the Ravenclaw statue knocker and the magic sentry along the way? You know, if there's a hole in Hogwarts' security system, we're going to have to close it as soon as possible. ”

The young man smiled for the first time since entering the room.

"Yes, those defensive spells are indeed very ingenious, but they are too orthodox and too harsh to be recognizable only against human wizards, not even house elves, and my pedigree gives me some natural advantage in this regard."

"Bloodline?"

"Well, to be honest, it's actually a ban on spreading." He shrugged his shoulders and took two steps forward to his desk, holding his hands on the table and bringing his face close to Dumbledore's eyes, "But this is also related to the reason why the sect chose me to come here to restore my life...... So, I guess you have the right to find out about it too. ”

Their eyes met, and right in front of Dumbledore's eyes, the pupils of those dark brown eyes gradually contracted into a slit. And when Neil spoke again, his voice had changed from a child's voice to a dull roar like rolling thunder.

"It is said that in ancient times, the first monks were actually the children of humans and dragons, and to this day, some of the thin bloodlines are still in circulation...... You see, Mr. Headmaster, I trust you, and I'll tell you the secret - don't let me down, can you? ”