None of what Kate said was fabricated. Even with a hundred times her nerve, she would never dare make up stories about Dumbledore's old flame to his face.
Before arriving at school, she truly hadn't touched the diary at all — but on the very first morning of term, she'd found its cover inexplicably scorched.
Startled, she had of course run every test she could think of on it, and found nothing wrong.
It was that which had decided her: hand it over immediately.
But even before handing it over, she had done some calculating.
If this thing wasn't Voldemort's diary at all — if Lucius had simply picked up the wrong ordinary journal — then turning it in without more certainty would only make her look like a fool.
So that morning, as a precaution, she had conjured a Phantom Clone, and operated the clone to carry on a written conversation with the diary while she herself stayed safely at a remove.
Even if the Horcrux's Legilimency was stronger than her Occlumency, all it would find inside the clone was a blank and empty mind.
And if the clone were somehow ensnared and controlled, she could simply recall it at will.
So she had the clone write in the diary: I am Gellert Grindelwald.
And as it turned out, her caution was justified. The diary's Legilimency was indeed more powerful than her Occlumency had been at the time — roughly Rank 6, by her estimate.
If the Kate of today were the one to converse with the diary, it would probably be no problem at all.
Back then, however, all the diary had seen in the clone was a stretch of blank, empty memory. This seemed to puzzle it — but it didn't take long to sort out the difference.
A powerful wizard with Occlumency stronger than its own Legilimency, and a hollow, brainless Phantom Clone — that distinction, at least, it was capable of making.
It dropped one cutting remark about Grindelwald, then flatly refused to answer anything else the clone wrote down. The message was unmistakable: Talk to me in person, or don't bother.
And then Kate had handed it over to Dumbledore.
Yes — she had never been so grandiose as to imagine she could dig out all of Voldemort's secrets from a diary on her own.
Besides, whether in novels or on television, the person who knows too much almost always dies first. So she chose to stop there.
"Professor, I thought I had been careful enough," she said, bowing her head with a look of genuine guilt. "Was I still being influenced by it, after all?"
She heard what sounded like a soft sigh from Dumbledore, and then he turned and gave her shoulder a gentle pat. "You did very well — in every respect."
An ordinary young wizard would never have developed such strong suspicions about an outwardly unremarkable diary. And even fewer, upon realizing it was no ordinary object, would have been able to hand it over to an adult wizard without a moment's hesitation.
Kate arranged her face into the expression of someone on the verge of tears. "But I talked back to a professor, and I had a row with Hermione... she must despise me now."
"She won't," Dumbledore said warmly. "A true friend doesn't abandon you simply because you were touched by something dark."
"Really?" Kate looked up at him, eyes reddened. "If I went to find Hermione right now — would she make up with me?"
Dumbledore's eyes crinkled. "Of course. Though it rather depends on your approach."
Kate's heart gave a little jolt. She always had the feeling that when Old Man Dumbledore said things like that, there was a second meaning lurking underneath.
Surely he couldn't know that Hermione had already come to her to apologize?
She managed to squeeze out two genuine-looking tears. "Then, Professor — am I still under the diary's influence right now?"
Dumbledore circled her slowly, twice. "I believe you should be quite all right. You had limited contact with it, and you haven't done anything too far outside the ordinary."
"That's a relief."
She sniffled, gave Dumbledore a deep bow, and started walking toward the door — then paused, as if something had just occurred to her, and turned back. "Professor, is there nothing else you wanted to say to me?"
Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "I don't believe there is."
Yes, there is.
Kate inched forward one slow step at a time, waiting for Dumbledore to call her back. Not a single sound came from behind her.
Finally, on the very threshold of the door, she gritted her teeth. Wearing the expression of someone who had just fought and lost a brutal internal battle, she turned around with sudden resolution.
"Professor — I want to help you uncover the diary's secrets!"
"Oh?" Dumbledore asked, with something that sounded like genuine surprise. "I thought, after you refused me last time, that you would never want to think about it again."
Tch. Old fox.
Kate quietly pinched her own hand and trotted back to him, her face a picture of righteous indignation.
"No — that diary made my temper absolutely foul, and I intend to make it pay for that!"
She even shook her little fist in the air a couple of times for emphasis.
A flicker of amusement passed through Dumbledore's eyes — but even so, he reached over and ruffled her hair before shaking his head.
"I've now realized the diary's influence is more dangerous than I initially thought. I'm afraid that further contact on your part would only put you at risk again, so it would be better if you —"
"Professor!" Kate cut him off urgently, her face written over with the desperate anxiety of someone who absolutely refused to be turned away.
Dumbledore stopped. Those brilliant blue eyes met hers and held the gaze for a long, quiet moment. "Give me a reason, child."
Kate's mind kicked into overdrive. She knew that her behavior right now must look very strange to Dumbledore — but she couldn't afford to care about that.
If she missed this chance, finding a plausible excuse to get near the diary again would be even harder. Not to mention completing the System's quest.
But... what on earth should she say?
It felt rather like a thesis defense, when the professor tosses you an off-script question at the last second and tells you to speak extemporaneously about your feelings on your own dissertation.
The first thing that came to mind was to invoke her family — the easiest card to play.
But that would paint her as someone willing to tear open her own wounds in order to get revenge — an extreme, unbalanced image she didn't particularly want to project to Dumbledore.
And yet, beyond that, she couldn't think of a better excuse in time.
She stared with slightly panicked eyes at Dumbledore's tall, aged frame — and then something stopped her. She remembered how, just a moment ago, when she had mentioned Grindelwald, his back had curved into that stooped, weighted posture.
If it was like that... then perhaps.
"Because I think it got him wrong!" she said, raising her voice. "Its assessment of the Dark Lord Grindelwald — I think it completely misunderstood the man."
At that, Dumbledore said nothing. He simply guided her to sit down beside him, his voice perfectly composed. "And what do you think? What kind of man was Grindelwald?"
A jealous old codger who used to argue with Newt over who Dumbledore loved most.
Ahem... no, no — wrong answer, try again.
"I've read a great deal of historical literature about that war, and I remember the crimes Voldemort committed.
I feel that, though they are both called Dark Lords, there are many differences between them."
Kate stared, slightly lost in thought, at the diary on the desk.
"Voldemort rules through fear. He despises Muggles; he uses pure-blood wizards as instruments; he stops at nothing and kills without remorse. Anyone who defies him is slaughtered brutally by him and his Death Eaters."
Even as she said the words, she couldn't help thinking of that long dining table — and the faces that had grown fewer and fewer around it.
Voldemort truly was a master of fear. Even she had not been entirely immune to the dread he manufactured.
"Grindelwald, on the other hand — I've read many books about him, and I've come to believe his goal was never to rule the world through terror. His ambition was to build a world of dark order.
He believed wizards were superior to Muggles, and therefore Muggles ought to submit to wizards — that wizards ought to stop hiding and instead lead the Muggle world openly.
He had many followers, but unlike the Death Eaters, who were largely driven by fear of Voldemort, Grindelwald's disciples were more like people drawn to his vision — who chose to follow him of their own accord."
Here, she pivoted sharply. "But Grindelwald was still a Dark Lord, because he too killed. His ambitions would have brought immense suffering to countless people, and so he had to be stopped.
It's only that, compared to Voldemort — who is purely, unreservedly evil — Grindelwald was more like a politician who had a genuine vision, and simply took the wrong path to pursue it."
She finished speaking, turned her head — and found Dumbledore leisurely lifting a cup of tea with milk and sugar, taking a calm, unhurried sip.
"Well said," he remarked with easy approval. "Though it sounds as though you feel Grindelwald merely chose the wrong road — and that his ideals themselves, you rather admire?"
Hiss... got so caught up in it, forgot to actually criticize the first-generation Dark Lord's ideology.
Kate's heart lurched, and she had no choice but to press on. "If I look at it from a wizard's perspective, under his vision, my position would guarantee me a place among the beneficiaries. On the surface, I have no reason to oppose his ideals.
But — as you know, Professor — I grew up in the Muggle world. I rarely went out, but every day I would sit by the window and watch the Muggles pass by on the street.
I knew one child who, from first grade all the way through sixth, would always sneak fifteen minutes on the grass verge by the road before going home. In those short minutes, she was genuinely happy.
I knew a man who wore a suit every single day. Every morning before he left, his wife would give him a kiss, and his little daughter would throw her arms around him.
I've seen so many people — living, breathing lives, each with their own world, each with someone they love. Apart from not being able to use magic, they were no different from us.
So I find myself thinking: to destroy another person's life — or to take it — for the sake of your own gain... that is something I cannot accept."
For a greater good.
That was the phrase that had once brought the young Dumbledore and Grindelwald together.
It was only later, as their interpretations of that phrase began to diverge — and then came the matter of Ariana — that the two of them had gone their separate ways.
What exactly the greater good was, Kate had no particular interest in deciding. What she cared about were the many people like herself — people who simply wanted to live well in this extraordinary world.
"Professor, I want to help uncover the secrets Voldemort hid in that diary as soon as possible — so that more people might be spared an unknown catastrophe."
She rose to her feet and bowed to Dumbledore with great solemnity. "If it's possible, I don't want to see a tragedy like what happened to my family fall upon any other family ever again."
____
________________________________________
🌸 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... 😉