Kate's hand, which was just about to lift the milk tea, trembled slightly, though she managed not to spill the liquid inside.
You can't ask that, Old Man Dumbledore!
Glancing at Dumbledore's expression, she tried her best to affect a look of entanglement and confusion befitting a little girl.
"Professor, are you trying to say that I might know this person?"
Composing herself, Kate set down the teacup. She furrowed her small brows and stroked her chin. "I don't know many people outside of school. There's only Grandpa Rand and Teacher Newt, but neither of them has the physical strength to wrestle with a troll."
"As for inside the school, the only ones who could wrestle a troll would be the adult teachers, right? If we're talking about male teachers... perhaps only Head of House Snape or Professor Quirrell?"
Asking someone of Professor Flitwick's stature to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a troll would truly be making things difficult for him.
She blinked her eyes. "Or perhaps, you think female teachers like Professor McGonagall could also wrestle a troll?"
Excellent. In one breath, she had narrowed the scope down to the two best suspects.
Looking at him with expectant eyes, Kate sat obediently in her chair, not moving a muscle. "Professor, what do you think?"
Dumbledore adjusted his spectacles and replied with a straight face, "Miss Shafiq, I never said that the outsider was a teacher at our school."
"Is that so? That's wonderful!" Kate let out a sigh of relief and gently patted her chest. "I knew it! The Head of House wouldn't be that kind of person!"
She only mentioned Snape, making no reference whatsoever to Quirrell.
"Oh? So, you trust him very much?" Dumbledore asked again.
Kate waved her arms exaggeratedly. "Yes! Although the potions he makes me drink are terribly bitter, I believe he would definitely not make a move against Harry!"
The implication was that she did not believe Quirrell wouldn't make a move against Harry.
As for the matter of wrestling the troll, she didn't mention it at all.
No matter how thick-skinned she was, she couldn't possibly argue that a petite wizard like Quirrell could go toe-to-toe with a troll.
The smile on Dumbledore's face widened a few degrees, his eyes twinkling with a strange light. "So, the potion Severus made you drink during your confinement was very bitter?"
"Mn!" Kate noticed he had already shifted the topic. Her small face crumpled as she nodded hastily. "That was probably the bitterest thing in the world!"
While her mouth said this, in her heart, she had already slandered Dumbledore thoroughly.
He was so clear about her drinking medicine during confinement; he must have asked Snape about her situation quite a bit.
And to think she had previously believed he wouldn't pay attention to her.
Heh, from top to bottom, they are all a bunch of drama queens!
"Then next time, I'll ask him to put a little more licorice in the medicine," Dumbledore said cheerfully.
Kate's cheek twitched slightly, and she nodded with a bitter smile.
Before she left the office, Dumbledore called out to her again, speaking a sentence filled with intriguing meaning.
"By the way, Harry won the Quidditch match. His father's trophy is also kept in the Trophy Room. If you have time, you can take him there to have a look."
Kate nodded slightly. "I understand, Professor."
She looked up, met Dumbledore's gaze for a moment, and then quickly left the office.
Once off the spiral staircase, glancing back at the stone gargoyle behind her, only then did Kate realize with delayed reaction that her back was completely soaked with sweat.
As expected of the White Dark Lord. Every sentence he spoke felt like palace intrigue; almost every word held a different, deeper meaning.
Whether it was asking if she feared him at the very beginning, the subsequent speculation about the outsider's identity, or even the seemingly casual chat about the bitterness of the potion later on—he was guiding the progression of the entire conversation.
And she could only be led by the nose, barely managing to cope.
He was reminding her that he was crystal clear about almost all her actions these past few days.
He even knew about Kate being so embittered by the potion that she could only eat Licorice Wands.
And... that final mention of the Trophy Room was also to give her an excuse to go there and retrieve her Phantom Clone.
Damn it!
Even though she knew she and Dumbledore were in the same camp, the feeling of having all her little moves seen through was still very unpleasant.
On a grand scale, he observes the world situation; on a small scale, he even knows what candy she eats.
Now she finally understood why Voldemort feared Dumbledore so much. With such a White Dark Lord standing here, what dark wizard wouldn't panic upon seeing him?
Probably only someone like Harry, who could trust Dumbledore completely, wouldn't feel a guilty conscience, right?
Kate patted her chest with lingering fear, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and quickly went downstairs.
She knew very well that compared to the relatively mild conversation last time, this talk was already a blatant probe.
However, although this conversation made her sweat profusely, Kate could sense that Dumbledore held no malicious intent toward her.
Those so-called probes seemed more like a test for a junior.
regardless, she needed to take some Draught of Peace tonight to let herself have a good sleep, otherwise she would definitely have nightmares!
She certainly didn't want to dream about matching wits with the White Dark Lord in the middle of the night!
Meanwhile, at this very moment, Dumbledore stood before the office window, satisfyingly drinking down the black tea mixed with a large amount of milk and sugar.
Just as he felt the cloying sweetness spreading through his mouth, a puzzled voice came from behind him.
"I really don't understand, Albus. Why were you so aggressive toward a little witch?"
The speaker was a former Headmistress in a portrait, Dilys Derwent.
Dumbledore turned his head. "You also think my attitude toward her was very terrible?"
"Hmph! Just a self-righteous student, that's all. Just like the elders in her family," another Headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, said coldly.
As the most unpopular Headmaster in Hogwarts history, he had never liked students.
Once he opened his mouth, the surrounding portraits also began to clamor.
Dumbledore was long accustomed to their bickering. With a gentle smile, he waved his wand to empty the teacup and returned it to its original place.
Once they had argued enough, he waved his wand again, silencing everyone.
"As I thought, Kate is a very different child," he said softly.
From the first moment he saw that child, he had a wondrous sensation.
Such a sensation had only occurred when he first met that person. Even the Tom of the past had never given him such a feeling.
Training Harry was a decision he had made back when Tom vanished, and for all these years, he had been preparing for this plan.
But when he saw Kate, he suddenly had a marvelous idea.
When the Dumbledore of the magical world dies, can the Savior he raised continue to protect this world well?
Perhaps, he should prepare a backup option?
No, it couldn't be called a backup option, but rather a... successor, a completely different concept from Harry.
Of course, all of this was just wishful thinking on his part. He needed to seek the opinion of the person involved.
If Kate herself was unwilling, he wouldn't force it.
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉