Dumbledore shifted his focus from the Horcruxes to the pendant itself for a moment, examining the delicately crafted, shimmering pendant in silence. Amortentia did not interrupt, either, lost in thought.
The shadow of Godric Gryffindor that had appeared on the island of Avatar, and the last sentence of the shadow - "There is an answer to every question in Salazar's Chamber" - made Amortentia realize that the four founders of Hogwarts knew about some things that would happen in a millennium later.
So, do they know about Voldemort, about Voldemort turning their respective family's important legendary magical items into evil Horcruxes?
"Follow me, Amortentia..."
Dumbledore spoke without warning, seriously.
"What's the discovery, headmaster?"
Amortentia rose as he was told, asking casually, but Dumbledore gave no reply. He hurried through several corridors, leading Amortentia to the solitary minuscule tower where the headmaster's office was located.
The corridor before the headmaster's office had a row of torches on either side that dispelled the darkness and cold, but they could not drive away the aura of ancient and mysterious atmosphere in the air.
The stone beast at the door jumped aside on seeing Dumbledore, even before he had a chance to say the password.
"Wait here for me, Amortentia—"
He quickly threw that aside and climbed the stairs along the wall, his bedroom was on the top floor, where he was going to fetch some things.
"Tsk, have I been too hard on myself?"
Amortentia sauntered around the spacious headmaster's office with his hands behind his back, occasionally teasing the fox perched on the golden bough, then turning to gaze at the bookshelves, glancing through Dumbledore's collection of books.
"Hey, little guy!"
Suddenly, there was a voice in the silent headmaster's office, with suppressed excitement.
Amortentia turned and followed the sound, his gaze sweeping around several times before landing on a row of magical portraits on the wall.
"Is there something you need to say, Headmaster Black?"
Amortentia's smile widened as he recognized the name carved beneath the frame, nodding slightly.
"Shut up, fool!"
A stern old witch stood next to the portrait of Sirius's great-great-grandfather, shouting.
"Didn't you hear Dumbledore's order before, keep your mouth shut about his things until his grandson's reputation is restored!"
Amon Du Pont, Dumbledore's predecessor.
Amortentia raised his eyebrow, he knew little about this historical figure, but of course he knew that the famous female journalist from the Daily Prophet had written a book titled "Amon Du Pont: Master or Idiot?", which depicted the true nature of Amon Du Pont.
During his years at the school, he was so eager to boost his own power that he would have wished for forty-eight hours in a day, and there was no time for such 'irrelevant books'.
"Your jealousy is obvious——"
Following the usual style, when Dupte headmaster said those words, a 'war' would start, but today Phineas was in an especially good mood, he didn't bother much about the headmaster who didn't like him.
"Don't be shy, little fellow, come here, let's talk!"
Phineas smiled and gestured towards Amortentia.
"What is your command, Headmaster Black?"
Amortentia stood with his hands behind his back, looking up and smiling.
"Oh, what a humble and polite little fellow you are! You are indeed worthy of being a graduate of the great Slytherin House!"
Phineas's eyes were narrowed in a smile,
"I've got to thank you, little one. For many years, I've been trying to tell some of the idiots around me that a worthy descendant of the noble Black family couldn't possibly be a traitorous scoundrel, but some people have chosen to ignore the truth due to their terrible prejudices. But now, they have nothing to say!"
Phineas pulled at his goatee, looking smug,
"We all know about my upright great-grandson's affairs. All thanks to you, Amortentia. I've decided, in appreciation, to recommend you as the next headmaster of Hogwarts before Dumbledore and we go up to the wall!"
"Thank you for your kind offer, Headmaster Black--"
Amortentia laughed happily,
"Little Starlight has already paid me, so you needn't worry about it."
"Oh, has he already paid the reward?"
Phineas was taken aback for a moment, then a look of interest appeared on his face.
"What did my mischievous great-grandson promise to you?"
"Mmm, yes, like this. He mortgaged the old Black family house to me."
"What!" Phineas immediately jumped up in anger, "That worthless scoundrel actually dared to do this, but he didn't even get my permission!"
"He doesn't need to ask a portrait on the wall if he can sell the house, fool!"
Seeing Phineas getting angry, the stern Dupont immediately became happy.
Dumbledore had appeared at the corner of the stairs. Amortentia turned and walked towards the thin-legged desk, while Phineas impatiently pounded on the frame,
"Wait, little fellow, we need to talk about the house!"
"What are you talking about?"
Dumbledore walked down the last step with a box in his hand, asking cheerfully.
"Oh, Headmaster Black is helping me plan how to become the next headmaster of Hogwarts!" Amortentia said with a laugh, "He's given some very constructive suggestions."
"Now is not the time to discuss this, Phineas--"
Dumbledore looked at Black's portrait and said cheerfully in a louder voice,
"At least for the next couple of years, I have no intention of becoming a portrait on the wall."
After a bit of banter, the two people returned to the main topic.
Dumbledore handed Amortentia the box he had fetched and gestured for him to open it. And at the sight of the contents, Amortentia's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression hard to hide his shock.
"Did you fix it?"
What was in the box? It was the Goblet of Fire, which had been destroyed by Amortentia.
But, this time, the crown was no longer in pieces, with black scorch marks on its surface. Instead, it was polished and in its original splendor. Under the candlelight, the central emerald of sky blue shone brilliantly.
Amortentia himself had tried to repair the Goblet of Fire, but the Goblet of Fire, as a legendary magical item belonging to Ravenclaw, was not just a simple accessory. It was not something that could be restored by simply 'putting it back together'.
"Yes, that's what must be done, isn't it? The Goblet of Fire is a precious artifact of Hogwarts history. As the headmaster of Hogwarts, I have the obligation to leave this school its history."
Dumbledore said calmly.
Amortentia shook his head slightly, not minding that Dumbledore was pretending to be dense. He turned the Goblet of Fire over, gazing at the mysterious Runes inscribed on the back of the raven.
After a while, Amortentia suddenly spoke up,
"This crown truly possesses the incredible wisdom as rumored to be? Have you tried it, Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"Of course--"
Dumbledore smiled childishly,
"But perhaps, because of my stubborn and foolishness, even the Ravenclaw crown couldn't bring me any significant improvement. You can try it too, Amortentia; maybe it will give you some inspiration."
Dumbledore's jibe only made Amortentia roll his eyes, as he asked calmly,
"So, what is the purpose of taking this Goblet out?"
"Just now, when you were asking me about the Runes on the Slytherin Horcrux, I suddenly realized something -- how did the Ravenclaw Goblet itself survive in your hands?"
Dumbledore lowered his head to look at the Goblet of Fire in Amortentia's hands, his voice light and airy,
"Do you understand what I mean, Amortentia? After Tom's soul disappeared, what kind of metal can withstand the scorching fire and only split into two pieces without melting?"
I can't think of any metal that could do that, unless there really is magic we can't see protecting it from the inside."
(Chapter ends)
