Kai looked at Dumbledore's side profile as the latter looked forward.
Dumbledore was the last person he had imagined to be involved in the Inquisition.
Inquisitor Darth Vader seemed to have already met Lord Black Phoenix, sure enough.
But, in Kai's opinion, it had been for nothing to gather facts related to the Night of Truce, an endeavor that must have resulted in nothing.
In fact, there were high chances that Vader had called out Dumbledore just to observe what the Storyline Character had gone through in the diverged timeline.
Kai couldn't claim how the conversation must have gone between Vader and Dumbledore.
Regardless of that lack of knowledge, he had strong reasons to believe Dumbledore wouldn't be playing a major role in his Inquisition.
First, the Night of Truce had nothing to do with Hogwarts, happening a night before Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express.
Second, Dumbledore hadn't become Lord Black Phoenix until much later.
So, even if Dumbledore carried hate against him now, the wizard hadn't had any reason to linger around the location where the Night of Truce's bloody event had played out, Kai believed.
Third, and perhaps the most important, was the fact that Dumbledore hadn't been aware of the Contestants' existence in the timeline by that point in time. He hadn't known how many Contestants remained active at a given time in a Harry Potter timeline. He hadn't known about the Protectors. And he hadn't known what the lack of such protective Contestants suggested.
Then, Dumbledore truly had nothing to do with the Inquisition.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem the Inquisitors believed the same as Kai, given Lord Black Phoenix's presence in the Courtroom.
…
"Submit your statement, Mr. Dumbledore," Vader commanded. "You have already been briefed on the matter. So, no need to waste time on repeating that."
Dumbledore nodded. "It's true that I did not know of the Contestants' existence in my world when Yellow Warlock carried out the slaughter…"
"That's a lie, Your Majesties," Yellow Warlock interrupted. "I am yet to be proven guilty."
Dracula nodded before looking at Dumbledore. "Stick to the facts and figures, Mr. Dumbledore," he said. "There's no need to let your emotions guide your tongue."
Lord Black Phoenix's lips flattened into a thin line.
It had been… ages since someone had talked to him like that.
The Six of the Order of Immortal Lotus were also figures like these three, and he had also remained a student of Merlin the Sage. However, even then, they had treated him with an uncanny respect.
Dumbledore had thought that it was only Lord Vader who looked down on him.
Now, it felt that he had been wrong. Very wrong. Not only did Vader look down on him, but none of the three Inquisitors even considered him worthy to be looked at.
In their eyes, perhaps, he was but a child… a child who had strayed down the darkest path, Dumbledore believed.
"Apologies, my lords," the Supreme General of the Order of Black Phoenix said. "As I was saying, I learned of the Contestants' existence in the Bubble much later. However, ever since I learned of their presence among my people, and how they interacted and behaved as per their… Missions, I became curious just how many of them were active in my world. I did not pursue that curiosity, I admit. But, after… assuming the title of Black Phoenix, a year later, I finally acted upon that curiosity."
…
Kai frowned.
Despite the Ad Infinitum's processors being in a lockdown, he still had access to Lucky Intuitions, as they were a part of his Mysteries.
The only issue was that he was purposely ignoring them using Facelessness Contrasts.
Because if he didn't, then he would lose his capacity to think, becoming a simpleton on the spot.
Lucky Intuitions were… intuitions.
Not only did they pop up randomly, but they also had no cap on their numbers.
Kai might not have one Lucky Intuition for an entire hour before experiencing thousands in a second. Such a spontaneous generation of intuitions was akin to thousands of thoughts appearing in his mind at once.
Kai was gifted with a brilliant mind.
Without Ad Infinitum to sort out the sheer number of those Lucky Intuitions, though, he would still end up losing his faculties.
So, Kai had no choice but to ignore all the Lucky Intuitions, as he couldn't cherry-pick which ones to have and which not to.
Even then, he had believed that he would have figured out what Dumbledore was up to the moment the wizard opened his mouth.
Kai had forgotten the feeling of being wrong.
Because he had become accustomed to completely avoiding the events and people that he couldn't instantly figure out, or conspire against.
To find it happening now, in the most threatening time of his life, felt… odd.
"Come to the Magical Objects you reported," Vader said. "The…"
"… Time Turners, my lords," Dumbledore replied, making Kai's brows shoot over his head. "I used them to go back in time to when Yellow Warlock had killed me. They helped me resurrect over and over again. That's how I became this strong…"
Aizen snorted out a laugh.
Dracula slightly shook his head. "Continue…"
"… anyway," Dumbledore said, almost sighing, "I used all but one Time Turner, keeping it for the worst-case scenario. I had never thought that I would be using the last Time Turner so soon, though. When I learned about the Inquisitors arriving in the Bubble through the Order of Immortal Lotus, and the purpose of your lordships' arrival, I… took the matter into my own hands. I used the last Time Turner and went back to the time of the Night of Truce and… witnessed everything with my own eyes."
"Ridiculous!" Kai shot back, furious. "Characters cannot become a part of the Night of Truce. I would have…"
"Who said I participated myself?" Dumbledore said slyly. "When I couldn't find my Protector, I… controlled a random Contestant and let him be my eyes."
Then, before Kai could throw any argument, Lord Black Phoenix took out a vial that carried a silvery liquid.
A memory.
"Here, my lords," Dumbledore said, wearing a smile. "You can observe what I witnessed right now."