Wild child

On the way to the eighth floor, Fanny kept thinking whether to strangle herself to death.

Then she stood in front of the stone beast guarding the gate again, took two deep breaths, and then reached out and hit the wall twice.

Boom.no response.

Maybe he's not around, and he's been around really rarely lately.Fanny thought.

Boom.Still no response.

How could he not be here?at such a time?Fanny thought.

dong dong.

dong dong.

dong dong.

dong dong dong dong.

Fanny guessed she must have looked like a madman, punching and kicking against a wall next to the stone beast.

Until Fanny stopped panting, the stone beast did not respond.

Fingers and toes ached, Fanny limped away, staring at the air for a while, determined to stop her stupidity.

It's not the end of the world, what are you doing.

Then came the sound of the stone beast jumping away, and Fanny turned around for a moment, but she didn't see him, but saw a big nose first.

Uh, shame on Slytherin...

Why did Snape always bump into her when she was most embarrassing?It was the only time since she was four years old that she cried aloud and was watched from the beginning to the end, and the first thing she saw after throwing a tantrum against the empty wall was the old bat again.

"What are you doing here, Sanchez?" Snape surveyed Fanny from head to toe with his hard black eyes.

Of course Fanny knew what she was doing right now: her hair was messed up, her hands were bruised, and she looked like a kid who just got out of a fight.

"I want to talk to Principal Dumbledore, but I don't know the password," Fanny said.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your foolishness," Snape said.

You dare to hurt me again.Fanny gritted her teeth secretly.

Then Snape walked away with his hands behind his back. He always walked with the wind, his black robe fluttering behind him.

I didn't expect the old bat to have such a sensitive look, and Fanny took an extra look before slipping in just before the door closed and the stone beast jumped back.

Now you can turn around and go back, Dumbledore will definitely not come here to ask what's the matter.Standing in front of the steps leading to the headmaster's office, Fanny thought.Then she went to the room she had no intention of entering.

As soon as he entered the door, the smell of potions came over his face.

The business she planned to do backed away, and Fanny subconsciously stood at the door and guessed the ingredients of the potion.

For a long time, she was absent-minded when preparing potions, sniffing and throwing things down, so that it had become her instinctive reaction to judge the composition of the medicine by smelling it.

Dumbledore waved lightly at Fanny, "Sit down, Fanny. What's the matter?"

Fanny couldn't help noticing that the moment Dumbledore waved his hand, the unique elegant aroma of the white smoke from the silverware around the room suddenly became stronger, quickly covering up the smell of the potion.

"You're..." Fanny came back to her senses, sat down opposite Dumbledore, gritted her teeth, and said, "At school—uh, no dessert, thank you."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, and another glass of ice water with lemon slices appeared in front of Fanny.

Fanny glanced at the milkshake in front of Dumbledore, obviously two drinks appeared at the same time, but this time he conjured up his own drink first.But I have to say that this little trick is quite effective. Once interrupted by the milkshake, she can no longer maintain a serious and dignified atmosphere.

"What's the matter, Fanny?" Dumbledore said with a smile on his face.

Fanny once again felt that it was not enough for her to be so entangled in such a trivial matter.

"Oh, there's a Death Eater at school," she said.

"Oh, I know that," said Dumbledore.

"Oh, he's Malfoy."

"Oh, I know that too."

"Oh, he caused those two attacks."

"Oh, I know that too."

"Oh, his real mission may be to kill you."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure about that."

"..."

"..."

Fanny glared at Dumbledore, who had a calm expression on his face. For a moment, she thought that what was mentioned just now was Bibi's flavored bean-flavored milkshake or something.

"There's a Death Eater at the school planning to kill you and two people have been accidentally wounded," Fanny repeated.

"Fortunately, both Katie and Ron recovered quickly." Dumbledore said calmly.

"and then?"

"Then what?"

"Why does the smartest person in the world always like to pretend that he is stupid at critical moments?" Fanny blurted out, "Are you going to test his strength? See if he can find the right way to complete his homework? Or are you going to wait?" He confessed so he could learn more about Voldemort?"

Dumbledore chuckled, leaving Fanny confused and doubly annoyed.

"Say something! Say you're going to take the time to help him finish it, or just tell me it's none of my business."

Dumbledore, however, is the kind of guy who makes you pissed off like a pus-swollen Bubbo tuber about to squirt, and he's closed his eyes.Fanny almost wanted to put her fingers in his eyes.

"I see," Dumbledore opened his eyes after a while, "that you never doubted that I would leave him alone."

"Leave him alone Voldemort will definitely kill him for not completing his mission... and maybe other students will suffer. You won't... er, will you?" Fanny tried to read a little bit from his face. .

No one could read anything from Dumbledore's face.

"What on earth are you trying to do? You're going to arrange for him and his family to hide abroad or somewhere else when he can't keep going, right? You didn't intend to let him be killed, did you?" Fanny almost shouted up.

Dumbledore's expression was unfathomable.

"Fuck you! What the hell are you planning, Albus Dumbledore?!" Fanny swept the cup on the table to the ground, and the clear sound of shattering reminded me of the past principals who closed their eyes and meditated on the wall. There were voices of dissatisfaction.

The slow tone of a very aristocratic-looking old man can easily arouse Fanny's association: "Look at what your students have become, Dumbledore. When I'm here, I will never allow—"

"Thank you, Phineas," said Dumbledore politely.

"Okay, okay. Then I'll take a guess." Fanny completely gave up the fake aristocratic airs she had insisted on for two years, and leaned on her desk, "This is conditional, isn't it? You want him to do it." What you planned to ask me to do? Impossible, even I can see that he is not that material, and I can visit his grave in less than two months. I have to do it. But you want If he protects him, he is useless, even me. With my bloodline and value, I can't get involved at all, so what can you get from me?"

"Apart from that, what else can I give you? You don't intend to let him be killed, and you won't send him abroad, you..." Fanny froze for a moment, then raised her head abruptly, "You...you Are you going to keep him... the status quo? Let him... even help him... complete the mission?... No, you won't...unless...?"

Dumbledore showed a slight wry smile, and she guessed it faster than expected.As long as she has the heart, Fanny is actually more sensitive than anyone else.

"What were you doing before I came in?" Fanny asked.

"Severus brought me some health drinks."

"Health?" Fanny's voice was a little high, "The smell of the main ingredients can be smelled by the nose, the combination and dosage can be good for health, and there will be no dead people in this world! That's for suppression Illness, right? The spell on your hand can’t be cured, so you can only use this method to hold on! Please tell me that I’m wrong in some places!”

After six years in the wizarding world, Fanny broke through the Chamber of Secrets and the Forbidden Forest, smashed through the den of Death Eaters, and tricked the Minister of Magic.Even if the experience is not as good as that of Harry's trio, it is not too little in the whole wizarding world.She wasn't the most timid person she knew, but now she felt like she was about to cry at the thought in her head.

"You were going to die, so you pushed the boat along the way, so that the status of the Malfoy family could be restored? Increase the use value? You plan to let Draco kill you?" Fanny's voice became louder and louder, "Are you crazy? ?Did that spell fuck your brain too? Do you know what it means to kill?! Are you going to let him be destroyed instead of being killed?"

The gilded perch on which Fawkes was standing shook slightly, the silverware on the surrounding tables began to rattle, and Dumbledore's sleeves on the table shivered slightly with reflections from the clean fabric of the sleeves.

"Calm down, Fanny," said Dumbledore quietly.

"Go—your—calm down!!" The chair fell to the ground with a bang, hula la, like a hurricane passing through, all the unfixed things in the office flew up, and then smashed to pieces on the floor or wall.

All previous principals covered their faces with their sleeves and scolded; Fox flapped his wings and screamed at Fanny in dissatisfaction; silverware, porcelain, and glassware continued to make crisp or dull cracking sounds, just like a symphony.

Dumbledore's long hair, robe corners, and beard were all dancing in the strong wind, and he sat in place without moving a bit.

And the blue flames in those eyes were burning with too many emotions, and it was no longer possible to record everything around them.

"You're going to die! You said I was a witch, and I believed it; you brought me here to school, and here I am; you taught me to control my magic, and I did; and you told me to blend into this damn place, and I did. ;You want me to make friends, and I will! But, now, now, you, tell, tell, I, you, want, die?!" Every time there is a pause, there is a strong vibration of magic power centered on the two diffusion.

Fanny once swore to herself that she must restrain herself, but now she no longer cares, she no longer cares.

"When Draco and I were together, we only thought about how to kill! You never bless me, you only think about how to use me! Now you tell me that you are going to let him kill you! What did I do wrong?! I What did you do wrong?!"

Dumbledore looked at her.

"You're right, boy," he said.

Fanny glared at Dumbledore, and even in her fury she realized that he had really aged too much, and that he looked unbelievably weak and tired.Dumbledore has never been an old man. Even if everyone knows that he is more than 100 years old, few people will associate him with the word "old man", let alone the same meaning as "weak". words are connected.

Fanny looked at him, and the past more than a century seemed to return to him at once.There were so many lines on his face, and the bridge of his nose was twisted for reasons no one knew.His fingers are facing each other, and his chin rests on the fingertips. This iconic movement now looks like he can hardly support the weight of his head and neck.

The life of more than a hundred years in this world is about to end, there is still a war that has just begun, and there are so many things that cannot be let go.

What does it feel like?

Perhaps it was this question that led Fanny to calm down. She lifted the overturned chair and sat down where she had been sitting a while ago.Then she buried her eyes in her palms, blocking Dumbledore's gaze.

"I don't know... I can't do anything, I mean your death... I don't know what I want to say." After a while, Fanny's voice came from under her palm, "It's just... …Don’t be Draco, okay? I know you can do it. I’ll…I’ll make up for it, and I’ll do what I have to do.”

"What will you do for me?" Dumbledore asked.

"whatever."

Even the soft discussions of the principals on the wall and the subtle sound of Fox combing his feathers stopped, and the office fell into silence again.

Dumbledore sat at his familiar desk, looking at the girl who refused to look at him.

She was the one he had watched grow up.

At first, he didn't take her very seriously, convincing her, finding Bella, and taking her shopping was just a matter of effort.

There were countless people more difficult than her, and Fanny Sanchez didn't impress him too much in this regard.

She stands out for other children, she is alone, she is good at covering up, and she ridicules him in front of him.

She was often in the company of bullies, she didn't refuse his offer to take him to Diagon Alley, she always blurted out her feelings, she paid him respectful words easily.

So she is just a child with a little sense of justice, a little withdrawn, a little smooth, and a little rebellious.Pretty ordinary, nothing special to note.

Change gradually after entering a peaceful environment, make friends, and find what you want to do.It sounds vulgar, but that's usually how things go.

The existence of nature cannot be denied, and on this basis, the influence of environment is decisive.The good part of the environment creates advantages, and the bad part creates defects. The difference between the good people among ordinary people and the good people among bad people comes from this.

Even he himself is not immune.He was a Gryffindor, and he'd believed it his whole life.Sitting in the current position, he has used and seen all kinds of methods, but the voice that reminded him of courage, sense of justice and standing up has never disappeared, no matter how far he deviates, when he wants to return to the right path There is always an inner drive guiding him.

So when the Sorting Hat shouted "Gryffindor" on Fanny's head, he was a little lucky.

The subsequent book lists and guidance are just a whim, without much effort.Even if he left it alone, the child would grow up by himself, and he didn't worry too much about Fanny's growth.

And then, the development of things deviated from the "right track".

She has never shown the slightest remorse for her past theft and deceit, she sneers at those who treat her sincerely, and she can say anything to flatter the portraits on the wall just to get the information she wants.This is obviously far from the Gryffindor in general understanding.

Within two weeks, she had learned to wash her hands less and more, and then a year and a half passed with no change.

Dumbledore discovered that this was a person whose circumstances could not affect him.

Surrounding her with violence and name-calling cannot make her extreme, being around good people can't make her change, and being around the best students in her class can't make her feel inferior.All those worldly views—morality, prejudice, fame—she knew, but they never entered her mind.

She has a deep-seated loneliness, not passively avoiding the environment, but a kind of indifference as if she is in it but does not exist.

Just like a traveler, he doesn't care whether he is in heaven or hell, but only feels the pleasure of walking itself.

He was a little worried, so he offered a warning.

But it wasn't his words that affected her, but the departure of the person she was talking about.

It seemed that only death could really touch her.

She began to change, in the direction he wanted.

She gradually integrated into the Gryffindor group, had friends, and had her own secret little happiness.That's a typical Slytherin kid, which isn't great, especially when he's already smelling troubled times.

Perhaps at this moment, Dumbledore realized that his attitude had changed greatly.Seeing her radiant face, he couldn't help praying quietly, hoping that she would not be hurt.

But there are some aspects he never missed, and the war came as expected.

Contrary to his usual practice, he told her the whole truth.It's a warning that she's not bound by right and wrong, and he's worried that she'll make the wrong choice by getting too caught up in that emotion.

With her intelligence, she must have sensed his intentions, but she ignored it.

From words and deeds to learning attitude, he never thought that she would make such a huge change for a person.Like all girls of her age, she was trapped by love and never turned back.

A sense of powerlessness rose from the bottom of his heart, of course he knew that a child in this situation would not listen to anything.

And then she surprised him again, taking a risk and stepping up, worthy of the Gryffindor name.

But what attracted his attention even more was the article, whether it was the timing of publication, the selected magazine, or the content of the article, all were just right. Even without the accident of the horseman, as long as it continued, her goal would be achieved.

She has already made a choice about which camp she belongs to. A thoughtful and determined person can play a greater role in a war than dozens of brave people.Such people are the scarcest resources in the "justice" camp. Few people are willing to blend into the darkness and not be controlled by the darkness.

And her current status couldn't be better.

She trusts him and relies on him. These emotions appear too much in the eyes of those who look at him, and they can be distinguished with just one look at him.No matter how strong a person is, as long as he has emotions, he has weaknesses.She is not easy to control, but the emotions of worship and dependence are the easiest to use.

Great value.

Ask yourself, are those book lists and conversations setting the stage for this purpose?Is he just cultivating yet another pawn for his own chess game?He'd always known who he was, and he'd seen it as his right to be alone and die alone.However, now that he has discovered another potential help, he feels sad for himself for the first time.

Even when his mother and sister passed away one after another, and his family was ruined, he never felt this way.

Evaluating value is his inherent habit.When a person reaches this age, the era of being nice to a person aimlessly has long passed.And this era never existed for him.

The missing part of his life, because of her, emerged very clearly.

After knowing his purpose, what would she think of him?Would all that concern and guidance be seen as deceit?He was no stranger to such a reaction, but he especially didn't want to see it on her face.

He made the offer anyway.

She wasn't surprised, nor was she as angry as he imagined, she just turned and left.

Then he realized that maybe she knew what he was all along.She trusted him knowing that one day he would become a pawn, and she didn't take any chances.

Just like with that relationship, she knew her choice early on, but she still devoted herself wholeheartedly.

It is said that the authorities are obsessed, but whether it is inside or outside the bureau, those things that other people can only understand or even persist in their obsession, she only needs to take a look to fully understand.

But the choices she made were never influenced by what she knew, and always followed her own heart.

With the original passion, pursuing the original dream, feeling the original experience.So lucid, so stubborn.She has already matured and understood what she really wanted; she was never mature and always willful.

Albus Dumbledore has no children, and has not communicated with other people in a personal capacity for many years. The only two close friends, one brought him the greatest pain in his long life, and the other has a relationship with him for more than five centuries. Age difference and chose to die almost at the same time as he met Fanny.However, this is not the whole reason why he pays so much attention to Fanny.

He knew all too well the pain of being awake.They are so similar, and she chooses to be sober and act from the heart at the same time, doing what he can't.

He hardly ever hides what she wants to know.

He trusts such an uncertain being because he knows she doesn't have any ambitions.

The people who actually protested his proposal were both unexpected and predictable.

"The boy is capable of making his own judgment, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly.

Snape sneered, "What makes you think a 15-year-old is better for the job? Just because she has a Slytherin crush on her?"

"She won't do better than you, Severus. But she can."

"Really? On what basis?"

"Because it's her, that's all."

The other party was still aggrieved, but obviously agreed with the answer.This extremely intelligent man certainly understood what he meant.On that windy summer night, another person saw her soul.

"I've been doing this work for you for so long, Albus. I know what it's like." Snape's voice was calm when he spoke again, "She's just a child, ready or not, She shouldn't have to go through this."

"No one should have to go through this, Severus," said Dumbledore gravely. "This is war, and it's all about—"

"—the Greater Good, yes. Your 'Greater Good,'" said Snape sarcastically, "a great initiative in which the beneficiaries are as much as the victims."

"You know, sometimes we have to choose in order to reduce bloodshed and sacrifice," said Dumbledore. "I know you favor her, but I don't want that to affect your—"

"Prefer her?" Snape raised his voice slightly. "Prefer her? Me, Head Slytherin, prefer a Gryffindor?"

"You've changed, Severus," said Dumbledore, unaffected.

"You've changed," Snape said coldly, "I thought all we were doing was protecting these children and giving them a better future—before you started sending them into battle. "

"Us?" Dumbledore asked back. "Do you remember why you agreed to do the job in the first place?"

Snape said nothing.

"No matter what we want, they will come to the battlefield sooner or later. We can only ensure their survival as much as possible." Dumbledore said slowly, "I hope she bears no greater responsibility than Harry."

"He has no choice!"

"He has it, and you have it, Severus." Dumbledore shook his head, "And when Fanny makes a choice, I hope either of us will respect it."

The conversation ended flatly.Not long after that, he had completed an important part of his plan, while the past from which he could not escape caught up with him and left a mortal wound on him.

No matter how long you've lived or what you've been through, death is a big event for everyone.With so little time left, he suddenly wanted to be willful for a while—he didn't want his legacy to be just the great deeds on the chocolate frog card and the legends in people's mouths.

It was impossible for Snape, who was as insightful as he was, to see that when he learned that he had at most one year to live, his first thought was - how would Fanny react when she heard about this?

Well, now he knows.

She surprised him once more, and the reaction was stronger than expected.He listened to the roar of a heart that had been strong for too long, her lost faith, her hopeless love, her fear of losing, her despair of never getting.

Secretly protecting the portrait on the wall, Dumbledore did not protect himself in any way.And the out-of-control magic almost destroyed everything here, but it didn't hurt him at all.

Rarely has Dumbledore felt so guilty about a person.

At the same time, there is also a little relief and amazement.

Such a situation can be caused by the release of magic power alone. The thin girl with a hostile face at the beginning has grown to where she is today.

Severus was right, she was just a child.

The children he wants to protect, the children he watches grow up.

his children.

Those dark eyes, whether looking at the bottomless night or the eternal day, will always reflect the color of the sky in their eyes.Just like when I first saw it, the lightness of the wind and the agility of the water flowed.

Sometimes he feels that this is all he wants to protect.

Flowers wither and leaves fall, the end of life is just a natural reincarnation.Like all parents, he expects his children to be the continuation of his life and the most precious legacy.

He had so little time left and so much to do.

But he was in no rush, watching her silently, letting the long day pass by.