The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 33 Two Conversations with Dumbledore

Totz scrambled to his feet and ran quickly to open the door.

He opened the wooden door and saw the old man standing outside.

"Professor Dumbledore!"

"Toltz blurted out."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Totz," a voice with a distinctive buzzing quality said. "I'm looking for Mr. Lynch. Is he home?"

"Please come in, Headmaster Dumbledore." Lynch's clear voice came from the sofa, as he took a slight breath.

The stone house wasn't large, and the two people at the door heard his words clearly.

Tots immediately and respectfully welcomed Dumbledore into the house.

Dumbledore stepped into the room, his gaze immediately falling on Lynch.

He was still wearing a sharp suit and vest, with a warm smile on his face. Apart from being a little pale, he was no different from when we met in this stone house a few days ago.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lynch," Dumbledore greeted Lynch.

"Good afternoon, Headmaster Dumbledore," Lynch replied, then added apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I haven't had any new furniture for guests yet, so you'll have to make do with this replica."

As he spoke, he reached out and pressed down on the sofa behind him, secretly gathering his strength in preparation for casting the Replication Spell.

"No need for that," Dumbledore gently interrupted him.

Then he took out his wand from his sleeve. The wand had a series of tiny bumps on its shaft, which looked like natural knots on a tree. The wand was light grayish-brown in color and looked very plain.

Lynch's gaze swept calmly over the wand in Dumbledore's hand, and he knew in his heart that this was one of the Deathly Hallows that occupied an important position in the entire Harry Potter story - the Elder Wand, also known as the Elder Wand.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at the chair next to the dining table, and the chair lifted off the ground and flew toward them.

The chair's shape began to change during flight.

When it nimbly passed through the gap between the two people and landed in front of the small square table, it had already transformed into a comfortable single sofa.

The style and color scheme of the sofa are exactly the same as the finished product after he modified Lynch's Replication Charm last time.

Lynch's gaze lingered on the sofa for a moment, then turned to Dumbledore, and he exclaimed in genuine admiration, "What an exquisite Transfiguration Charm!"

"It's nothing," Dumbledore mumbled modestly.

The two took their seats.

Lynch beckoned to Thors: "Thors, make Headmaster Dumbledore a cup of coffee, with extra milk and double the sugar."

Dumbledore laughed: "Last time there was only tea, and now there's coffee. Your standard of living has improved quite a bit since you left here."

Lynch replied with a smile, "I'm a little ashamed, they're all ordinary kinds. The ones Tots brought back from the kitchen of Hogwarts Castle are probably nothing that will surprise you."

At that moment, Tots had brewed the coffee, and with a flick of his finger, the coffee appeared on the small square table in front of Dumbledore.

A cup appeared in front of Lin Qi, containing his favorite Oriental green tea.

Dumbledore picked up his cup, took a sip, and when he looked up again, his sharp eyes gleamed behind his glasses.

Knowing that Lynch would sit there with him and continue talking nonsense all day, he chose to get straight to the point.

"Speaking of surprises, Mr. Lynch, there are probably none more surprising than the reappearance of the 'Mist Hangman.' Can you imagine my astonishment when a friend told me that the 'Mist Hangman' had appeared in the Muggle industrial area of ​​Lancashire?"

Lin Qi picked up his teacup, took a sip of the sweet green tea, and said calmly, "The Stone Tower Merchant Guild will soon issue a statement clarifying that it was not the real 'Mist Hanger'."

Dumbledore placed the cup on the table: "So it really is you... I'm surprised that you broke the Unbreakable Oath and managed to appear outside of Hogwarts."

Lynch looked at Dumbledore: "I did not break the Unbreakable Oath. The reason it was not triggered is entirely because I myself have never left Hogwarts... so there is no situation where I have violated the oath."

"Oh?" Dumbledore became even more curious.

"There's an ancient performing art in the Muggle world called marionettes," Lynch explained. "My method was inspired by this Muggle performing art, except my puppet's strings are long enough for me to manipulate it from halfway across England."

"That raven perched on your shoulder?" Dumbledore's eyes gleamed. "I sensed it wasn't an ordinary alchemical creation... but I never imagined it would have such amazing functions."

Dumbledore sighed, then added seemingly casually, "I know a friend who is quite skilled in alchemy. He also studied something similar, but he couldn't find a way to overcome the distance limit after a long time, and had to give up in despair."

Lin Qi looked up at Dumbledore and met the old man's deep blue eyes staring at him through his glasses.

A knowing smile played on his lips as he continued Dumbledore's words, "Sometimes, the invention of a spell or alchemical item is the result of a sudden burst of inspiration that leads to significant progress. Blindly burying oneself in research may trap one in a labyrinth of thought, unable to find one's way out on one's own."

Dumbledore smiled and said, "A brilliant insight. I will certainly pass on this advice to him: don't dwell on a problem for too long."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and the atmosphere subtly eased for a moment.

But Dumbledore's smile quickly faded, and he brought the topic back to the beginning: "A friend at the Ministry of Magic told me that they have taken thirty-two wizards from that factory on charges of violent assault and attempted damage to other people's property."

Intriguingly, each and every one of them... readily confessed to their crimes and showed no intention of appealing.

Lynch's gaze briefly drifted to the rooftop. After a moment of reflection, he said, "Perhaps there was something wrong with how I subdued them... After all, this is my first battle since I changed my style of operation, and I still need to get used to the boundaries."

You see, I could smell the blood on some of their hands from dozens of meters away. All my energy was focused on controlling myself and sparing their lives; I couldn't give them a warning like an Auror would.

Looking down at Dumbledore, he saw the old man's penetrating gaze fixed intently on him.

Lin Qi understood that he needed to explain more.

"I have to do this."

Headmaster Dumbledore, as you may already know, a significant portion of the Stone Tower Merchant Guild belongs to me.

The Wizard Battle Cards originated from my idea.

When those pure-blood families tried to reach into my plate and take what didn't belong to them.

I have an obligation to make them understand—this is not something they can covet.

I was simply defending my personal property.

“I understand, Mr. Lynch,” Dumbledore’s eyes gleamed behind his half-moon spectacles, “but you’ve put me in a very difficult position.”