Harry and the three others have left, leaving only Aumann in the office. The candle flickers, casting shadows on the walls that sway with its movement. He quietly watches the surveillance wall, following them until they return to the public lounge before looking away.
In early March, the climate is no longer that bone-chilling cold, yet the flames in the fireplace are still as vigorous, making the room slightly warm and stuffy.
Aumann walked to the window and pushed it open. His gaze wandered aimlessly, suddenly feeling that this quite comfortable office was so quiet that it made him... restless.
The ancient castle stood silently on the high ground, and not far away was the vast forest, witnessing countless legends of past splendor that once lit up an era but have now vanished into thin air. Aumann gazed at the rolling forest and suddenly thought of Voldemort, who sought eternal life at any cost, even at the expense of his own powerful soul.
"Eternity?"
Aumann chuckled self-deprecatingly. From the moment the universe was born, it has been racing towards its own destruction, and life in the vast time river is but a fleeting splash. Among the boundless universe, what could possibly be comparable to eternity?
For muggles or wizards, the only companion for their brief lives is solitude... Aumann tried to convince himself of this.
Discouraged for a moment, Aumann closed the window and turned around, but at the very instant he lifted his foot, his figure halted, and his brow suddenly furrowed.
In the invisible magical world, stored within the space, like a leisurely swirling sea of clouds, the magical energy suddenly attracted by an unknown force, surged towards Aumann's body in an instant, as if a hidden pit appeared on the calm surface of the lake, causing a sudden whirlpool.
Aumann's handsome face showed a hint of pain. His lavender eyes turned into rapidly spinning whirlpools as he tried his best to absorb the magical energy.
............
"What are you planning, Dumbledore?"
In the Headmaster's office, Snape leaned on the desk with both hands, his two dark, hollow eyes fixed intently on Dumbledore, who sat in a soft chair with his fingers touching, trying to detect any clues in the deep, mysterious blue of Dumbledore's eyes.
"Oh, quite interesting, Severus."
Dumbledore responded to Snape's gaze with a calm smile,
"You actually dared to attempt Legilimency on me, but forgive me for my lack of modesty, you will never succeed, even when I'm as old and toothless as I can no longer enjoy candy."
"Not only Aumann is puzzled by this question, I am also very curious, Dumbledore!"
Snape's cheeks twitched, he slightly withdrew his body, his eyes no longer as impolite as before, but his tone remained harsh and ominous.
"From what I know of you, you wouldn't agree to either Aumann monitoring the young wizards in the school or to whatever he proposed that the young wizards should be dealing with in class... yet you have agreed to both."
"Dumbledore, when did you become so tolerant? Last year when Cho Chang was in this school, you were much more cautious than you are with Aumann!"
"Severus, are you going to discuss with me the difference between Cho and Aumann?"
"You're dodging the point, Dumbledore!"
Snape's veins on the back of his hand bulged, and his yellowed cheeks flushed with a faint red.
"The tolerance you show towards Aumann is far from your usual style, and apart from the fact that you are planning something, I can't think of any other possibility!"
Fox was all too familiar with the sound of shouting that came every now and then. While it was fast asleep, it didn't even open its eyes. It spread its wings, brimming with a rainbow of light, skillfully tucking its head into them, and after a soft squawk, it continued its pleasant dreams.
"Severus..."
Dumbledore's silvery eyebrows and beard on his pale face twitched slightly, his tone carried a hint of helplessness. Just as he was about to explain something, he was suddenly drawn by something outside the window. So, closing his mouth, under Snape's puzzled gaze, he quickly walked to the window and peered into the boundless darkness beyond the ornate glass frame.
Silence descended suddenly, enveloping this uniquely styled office. For a moment, no one spoke.
"Extremely impressive..."
After what seemed like ten minutes, Dumbledore's slightly furrowed brows finally unfurrowed once more, his deep blue eyes twinkling with a light-hearted smile. He murmured something only he could hear.
"Without a doubt, since the time of the four great founders, over a thousand years, you might just be Hogwarts' most outstanding student..."
Hu...
The turbulent magic returned to calmness. Aumann breathed a sigh of relief, and when he fully recovered his composure, he realized that within the short span of ten minutes, his inner cotton undershirt and the outer wizard's robe were drenched with sweat!
"What's that?" Aumann asked with a smug, absurd smile.
"I guess this counts as... an epiphany?"
For wizards, after the initial magical turbulence of their childhood, the magic in their bodies enters a state of steady growth with age. Unless they consume powerful magical potions with significant side effects or undergo dangerous physical transformations, ordinary potions for enhancing magical power can only result in minor increases in the magic within your body. And once the potion's effects wear off, your magic will revert to its original level.
Perhaps it's because the inheritance of wizards has been broken off, or perhaps no one has ever summed up the secrets of artificially increasing magical power. In any case, every opportunity for a breakthrough in magical growth is something to be encountered but not sought out.
"Is it that I can't bear the loneliness and really should find a partner for myself?"
Aumann shook his head and chuckled at the thought of the rare magical growth process he had just experienced due to a change in his mood.
"No, women would only distract my spell-casting speed!"
Aumann, who had calmed down, spoke to himself.
Suddenly, Aumann's eyelashes fluttered. With his heightened senses, he felt someone observing him from the shadows. He stared into the dark window, focusing on the spot where the sense of being watched was emanating.
After a long while, Aumann's frozen gaze finally thawed. He took the teapot from the shelf above the fireplace and held the steaming cup of tea aloft in a toast towards the window, as if to honor someone outside.
"To the Lonely Traveler--"
Aumann chuckled softly and then downed the tea in the cup.
...........
"Do you guys feel?"
On Monday afternoon, during the first and second year's Defense Against The Dark Arts class, Hermione squinted at Aumann, who was looking up to the upper platform with a more agile movement than usual. There was a glint of suspicion in her eyes as she turned to Harry and Ron behind her and said,
"Is Professor Black's eye color a bit deeper than last night?"
"I've never been able to figure out why Professor Black's eye color is different from what it was when we were in school--"
Even with glasses, Harry's eyes are not as sharp as Hermione's, so he shrugged his shoulders. However, Ron hesitated before nodding.
"Perhaps he couldn't sleep well last night because he wrote too many replies to the fans of the great liar Lo Hart, and he had a nightmare?"
Hermione glared at Ron sharply, disapproving of his absurd and nonsensical guess.
"Perhaps next weekend, we can ask him. Professor Black is very approachable, and maybe he will tell us."
As the formal class was about to begin, Hermione filed this idea away, clearing her agile mind and focusing her full attention on Professor Black who was talking eloquently.
