"Yes, of course I remember... Dumbledore."
Dumbledore nodded, glancing out the window, where a snowy white owl was flying towards them.
"Alright, I'll go take a look when I have time," Dumbledore said, sending Fudge into the fireplace.
Fudge put on his ill-fitting hat, nodded, and said, "I look forward to your arrival."
After Fudge left, Dumbledore sighed slightly in relief and walked to the window. On the wall, Everard's portrait looked disgusted: "The Ministry of Magic is truly rotten to the core now; how can such a person become Minister?!
And I had artisans carve 'magic is Might' to be placed at the Ministry of Magic's entrance back then. They probably all think it's just Wizards displaying authority, thus forgetting its meaning of self-admonishment and warning!!"
Dumbledore took the letter Hedwig handed him, opened it, and after reading it carefully, his brows furrowed.
Nagini...
He felt slightly unfamiliar with this name, but soon, he found it from his vast sea of memories.
That was forty years ago.
She was still alive...
And even met Howl and them.
Thinking this, Dumbledore rested his hands on the windowsill, gazing at the white clouds drifting across the sky, his eyes aimlessly wandering, finally settling on Hogsmeade.
A moment later, Dumbledore strolled through the streets of Hogsmeade. He soon arrived at the entrance of a pub.
A dilapidated wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket above the door, and directly above the sign hung a severed wild boar's head, its blood seeping through the white cloth wrapped around it.
Upon drawing closer, one could hear the wind creaking the rickety sign, and passersby were afraid it would fall down at any moment.
If the Leaky Cauldron was an unkempt old man, then the Pigs Head Bar should be a rotting old dwarf.
It was just a small, dark, and very dirty room, emitting a strong smell of goat. The few bay windows were covered in thick grime, allowing almost no light to penetrate, and a few candle stubs lit the rough wooden tables.
On the floor, which was originally paved with stone, centuries of grime had accumulated.
Dumbledore's appearance brought a momentary silence to the entire pub, as if his entry had sucked the air out of the place.
He unhurriedly walked to the bar, where a tall, thin old man with a mass of long grey hair and beard was wiping glasses with what looked like a never-washed rag.
"What'll it be?" He didn't lift his head.
"Nagini, do you remember that name?"
The old man's hand paused imperceptibly, then he turned around to place the barely wiped glass on the shelf.
"Someone found her, a large snake," Dumbledore said.
"What's that got to do with me?" He snorted, and asked again: "What do you want to drink?"
"It has nothing to do with you, but I think Aurelius..."
His words stopped abruptly there.
And the old man standing opposite the bar, Aberforth, his brother, fell silent.
For decades, his brother suddenly came over, and the first thing he said was Nagini... He didn't believe the other party would lie, and today wasn't April Fool's Day either.
The next day, Moonlight Fortress.
A knock sounded, and the door slowly opened. Howl looked out, surprised.
He saw two old men, extremely similar in appearance, standing outside the door.
Tsk...
"Did I oversleep?!" Howl muttered to himself. Harry, who was communicating with Nagini, also turned to look, immediately wondering if he was seeing things.
But soon, he noticed the differences between the two.
Dumbledore's nose bridge was slightly crooked, and his expression was much softer. The other one was clearly much sterner, his robes were very new, obviously rarely worn, and his expression was tinged with impatience.
At the same time, Dumbledore had a large fiery red bird perched on his shoulder.
Clearly, they had openly brought Fawkes here, and presumably used magic to conceal him.
"I believe I invited Fawkes a year ago," Howl stood up: "Come in."
Lucifer carefully opened his eyes to a slit, not knowing if the people who came this time were perverts, then he immediately saw Fawkes.
His entire body rose up, two large eyes in the flames looking at the other party.
Fawkes also noticed him, casting a surprised glance.
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