Lynch's hand, holding the teacup to his lips, stiffened, then continued to bring the tea to his mouth.
He placed the teacup on the table, then looked up at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sat steadily on the sofa, his azure eyes calmly meeting Lynch's gaze.
The old man's hands, which had been idly rubbing his thumbs over his abdomen, now stopped and overlapped, becoming perfectly still.
He straightened his body almost imperceptibly, a slight movement that made the gaze penetrating his half-moon spectacles even more piercing.
The fresh scent of green tea still permeated the air, and the only sound in the Stone house was the faint crackling of wood burning in the fireplace.
Lynch's lips curved slightly, his gaze locked with Dumbledore's, unwavering.
He raised his right hand, palm facing himself, and lightly pointed his index finger behind him.
As if touching an invisible barrier, small ripples spread through the air.
Lynch gently pulled his index finger forward, and at the top of the bookshelf behind him, a similar large ripple appeared, and a massive, black-bound book slowly emerged from the ripples.
The book flew between the two men, landing on the small square table between their teacups.
Dumbledore leaned forward to examine it.
It looked like a very ordinary book, with nothing particularly eye-catching about it except its enormous size.
It was almost four times the size of a regular book, with a pure black cover of an unknown material, certainly not the dragonhide commonly used in the magic world.
There were no patterns on its surface, only the indented, pale silver words in the middle that read: “A Comprehensive History of Dark Arts Development.”
Dumbledore frowned: “I thought keeping you here would cut off your opportunities to continue researching Dark Arts.
Now it seems you've circumvented my restrictions with the help of a friend.”
Lynch pointed to the massive magic book and explained: “This book was originally a precious collection of an ancient Pure-blood families, gathering almost all powerful Dark Arts that have appeared in history, including those... most forbidden knowledge.”
“Don't worry, Headmaster Dumbledore, I study Dark Arts only to better deal with Dark Wizard, because only by understanding yourself and understanding your enemy can you win every battle.
I have never intended to fall into becoming a Dark Wizard.”
Lynch continued: “On that night ten years ago, when you found me, I was indeed studying Dark Arts, but that was because Lord Voldemort had muddled my mind during the battle in Glencoe Valley.
He is a master of manipulating thoughts, and I fell for his trick during the battle; my way of thinking was twisted by him, and I only realized this after you confined me.”
He added: “Now this will not be my weakness anymore, please rest assured, Headmaster Dumbledore, no one in this world despises the existence of Dark Wizard more than I do, and I will never become one of them.”
He paused, seeing Dumbledore's brows slightly unfurl.
So he extended his right hand in a 'please' gesture, “Now, allow me to introduce to you the top-tier Dark Arts invented by the despicable Ancient Greek Dark Wizard, Herpo the Foul, and also Lord Voldemort's ultimate secret to being unkillable—the Horcrux!”
The enormous black-bound book moved on its own, its pages rapidly flipping before suddenly stopping.
On the open page, a dark half-figure was about to let out a scream, but Lynch's eyes narrowed slightly, and with a gesture, the page fell silent.
Looking at the nauseating text and illustrations on the open page, Dumbledore took a deep breath, his azure eyes glowing intensely.
His voice, slow and deliberate, was grave: “Are you saying... Horcrux is the fundamental reason why Lord Voldemort cannot be destroyed?”
“Yes,” Lynch replied, “I know, Principal, you have also been searching for the reason why Lord Voldemort can defy death, and I believe you must have vaguely guessed the secret behind it, but have been unable to find evidence to prove your conjecture.”
“Now, I can provide that proof for you.”
“How will you prove it?” Dumbledore pressed.
Lynch looked into Dumbledore's eyes, “You know, when Lord Voldemort's power was still rampant, I started hunting down Dark Wizard everywhere.
Sometimes, very fortunately, I would save some people from their hands, and among them, there was one person who had seen Lord Voldemort's Horcrux.”
Dumbledore leaned forward, staring intently at Lynch, “Tell me the name of this person and the time and place he saw the Horcrux.”
Lynch met Dumbledore's gaze directly, his dark eyes showing no concealment, “For that person's safety, I cannot tell you his name.”
“At the same time, I also cannot tell you the time and place he saw the Horcrux.”
Without waiting for Dumbledore to press further, Lynch continued: “What I can tell you is that that Horcrux is still in the place where my friend last saw it, but unfortunately, we cannot go to retrieve and destroy it.”
“Is that place very dangerous?”
“Yes,” Lynch replied, “Lord Voldemort has set up a large number of powerful magic to ensure the safety of his Horcrux, and approaching there is not an easy task.”
He then said: “But the main reason why we cannot go is that we cannot alert the enemy.”
“Based on our understanding of Lord Voldemort, he is extremely resistant to death.
I think, no, I am certain, Lord Voldemort must have made multiple Horcrux!”
“So, before we determine how many Horcrux Lord Voldemort possesses and their hiding places, simply obtaining one of them will only make Lord Voldemort more vigilant.
He will move the remaining Horcrux to more concealed places, and by then, it will be even harder for us to eliminate him.”
“Right now, our advantage is that Lord Voldemort does not know we have uncovered the secret of his escape from death.
We should maintain this advantage, secretly investigate how many Horcrux he has made and their locations, then launch a surprise attack and obtain all the Horcrux.”
Looking into Lynch's dark eyes, Dumbledore's rich life experience of over a hundred years told him that Lynch was not lying about the Horcrux, and Lynch's act of lynching many Dark Wizard ten years ago indicated that he could never side with Dark Wizard.
Dumbledore gently pressed his fingertips together, forming a steeple-like shape.
His chin rested lightly on his fingertips as he began to think.
The firewood in the fireplace was almost burnt out.
After waving his hand to add a few more pieces of wood, Lynch sat on the sofa, a Galleon spinning between his fingers, and began to wait quietly.
A long time passed.
Finally, Dumbledore let out a long breath, emerging from his deep contemplation.
He looked at Lynch.
Lynch looked up and met his gaze.
“You are right, Mr. Lynch, defeating Lord Voldemort indeed requires patient and thorough preparation.
The idea of determining the Horcrux information before acting is reasonable, and the task of both countering and confusing Lord Voldemort while secretly searching for his Horcrux is something I cannot accomplish alone.”
Dumbledore then said: “Now, we can discuss the contents of the Unbreakable Vow.”
Clutching the Galleon in his palm once more, Lynch smiled and began: “I need a legitimate reason to be active at Hogwarts.
Coincidentally, I have some magic theories that need practical verification, and I think in the coming years, I will need some truly practical methods that can save my life in a crisis.
So, before the Unbreakable Vow, I have one request—I want to open a new course at Hogwarts and teach it myself.”
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, then replied: “You may, but all the content of your courses must be approved by me before they can proceed.”
“Of course,” Lynch's smile grew even more genial... as the sun moved to the center of the sky.
With a creak, the wooden door of the Stone house opened from the inside, and Dumbledore and Lynch walked out.
When they reached the edge of the white flagstones, Dumbledore drew his wand from his robe sleeve, held it upright in front of him, and then, after lightly drawing a line in the air from top to bottom, he tucked his wand back into his sleeve.
Lynch felt that as Dumbledore's wand traced its path, a gap opened in the invisible yet deadly dividing line at the boundary of the flagstones.
Dumbledore nodded to Lynch, then stepped across the boundary of the white flagstones.
After taking two steps, he suddenly turned around and said to Lynch, who was standing at the edge of the white flagstones: “I will bring a witness tomorrow morning to complete the vow and completely lift the restrictions here, but before then, I think you can go visit your friends and also see the outside world.
You come from Muggle society, and I hear they've changed a lot in these ten years.
Perhaps you'd be interested in seeing it for yourself?”
With that, he turned and left.
Leaving the invisible crack at the boundary of the white flagstones.
Lynch stood still, watching Dumbledore's figure disappear into the Forbidden Forest.
His left hand was tightly clenched into a fist behind his back, his neatly trimmed nails digging into the flesh of his palm, but he never took a single step forward.
After waiting a while longer, forcefully suppressing his turbulent thoughts, he finally turned and said to the nearby bushes: “You can come out now.”
