"Coincidentally, I also thought of a plan, but soon I discovered a serious flaw in it—that if you were present, it could never be implemented. As I struggled to come up with a countermeasure, I discovered that map."
Dumbledore's voice was very calm.
"Everything went smoothly thereafter; you were trapped and couldn't leave. But I hadn't expected Malfoy to hesitate again, he didn't summon his Death Eater companions immediately, instead waited until yesterday to begin action.
"What surprised me even more was that you came out at just that moment."
At this point, Dumbledore suddenly sighed and looked even more fatigued.
"Plan?" Kael frowned, "Don't tell me that letting Malfoy kill you was your plan."
"No, no, no," Dumbledore shook his head, "Although I would love to start a new adventure, Malfoy couldn't kill me; even if he used the Killing Curse, at most he would only make me lose a few whiskers or hairs."
Kael believed this statement.
Besides the malevolence in one's heart, the Killing Curse is also directly linked to magic power.
A sixteen-year-old student who hasn't graduated yet wanting to kill a hundred-year-old wizard with the Killing Curse is basically impossible.
Take Nicolas Flamel for example, he could be said to be the least afraid of the Killing Curse, having accumulated over six hundred years of magic power, perhaps even Voldemort couldn't kill him with it.
Of course, only limited to the Killing Curse.
"So what is your plan?" Kael asked, "Or rather, what kind of plan requires throwing away the wand?"
This time Dumbledore did not answer Kael, he just shook his head silently.
"It doesn't matter anymore." He looked up at a row of portraits above the bookshelf behind him and said softly, "Up till now, all the facts show that my plan was wrong, it was just a selfish decision on my part. I was the only one who naively thought I could accomplish it."
Selfish?
Naive?
Kael frowned, not understanding what Dumbledore meant.
But he seemed to suddenly change his mind and didn't want to discuss the topic anymore.
"Anyway," Dumbledore said, "locking you in the Room of Requirement was my mistake, I sincerely hope you can accept my apology."
"Ah, it's all right," Kael waved his hand.
Although what Dumbledore did was indeed a bit underhanded, thinking it over carefully, it seemed like he didn't suffer any loss. He even attended several more classes due to not being able to leave before Ravenclaw's memory ended.
"What's Fudge's purpose coming here?" Kael voluntarily changed the topic, "He seems overly worried about Hogwarts affairs."
It was just a Death Eater ambush, although it happened at Hogwarts, it wasn't a war personally led by Voldemort, counting the cannon fodder there were only about a dozen involved, does this really require a whole night's discussion?
"He wants me to close Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, his tone full of undisguised disappointment.
"Close Hogwarts?" Kael was also stunned, "What will happen to those lower-grade students, letting them go out to face the Death Eaters alone?"
"Fudge hasn't considered that at all," Dumbledore said, "He insists that the school is no longer safe, that gathering so many people is a mistake.
"But we both know he actually only wants to save himself, I suppose you've read the recent Daily Prophet?"
Kael nodded.
He indeed had read it, and knew that the Death Eaters had recently started targeting the Ministry of Magic frequently, seemingly to establish prestige and spread fear. So far, they had killed more than a dozen Ministry employees, including two Deputy Ministers.
There was also Amelia Bones from the Law Enforcement Department who had encountered an attack; although she managed to defeat the assailants, she paid a heavy price, lying in St Mungo's for two months before barely being discharged.
And as the Minister of Magic, Fudge naturally became a key target, with three attacks reported so far. Fortunately, Aurors managed to arrive in time each time, resolving the crises.
"Could Fudge possibly want you to protect him?" Kael asked.
"Cornelius indeed had this intention, he invited me to become a special consultant for the Ministry of Magic in combating the Death Eaters," Dumbledore said, "But while talking to me, he kept hinting that he is the hope of the Wizarding World, and that the way to defeat Voldemort has become a matter of who can gain more support."
"He's scared," Kael said.
"It's understandable," Dumbledore said calmly, "Previously, Fudge seemed to believe that Voldemort wouldn't dare attack Ministry employees."
"Ha, that's impossible," Kael sneered, mocking Fudge's naive thought.
Not daring to attack the Ministry? Just kidding, if a fight broke out, Voldemort would target the Ministry first, including Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic.
The decision to halt ministerial changes during wartime not only facilitates command in combat but also aims to prevent a Minister from fleeing... while this scenario has hardly occurred in history, there's always a chance.
An escape by the Minister would have enormous repercussions, it's better to be cautious.
Fudge probably was afraid, with so many Ministry employees killed and himself repeatedly attacked, he surely wanted someone more reliable than an Auror to protect him.
And Dumbledore was the best choice, as long as he's beside Dumbledore, he would be absolutely safe.