When Wentworth followed Dumbledore back to the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, the moment they stepped inside, Wentworth immediately began searching the room.
Noticing this, Dumbledore asked curiously,
"Wentworth, what are you looking for?"
Wentworth pointed to a battered old hat sitting in the corner of the office and replied,
"I'm looking for that!"
Dumbledore's curiosity only grew. With a puzzled expression, he asked,
"The Sorting Hat? And why, may I ask, do you need it?"
Without hesitation, Wentworth strode over, and despite the Sorting Hat's vehement protests, he reached his hand inside. Finding nothing, he picked it up and gave it a vigorous shake.
Dumbledore chuckled warmly and said,
"Ah, I see what you're after now. All right then, put the poor Sorting Hat down. Only a true Gryffindor can pull Godric Gryffindor's sword from it! Is it the sword you're after? What are you planning to do?"
Wentworth knew full well his chances of drawing Gryffindor's sword were slim, so he obediently followed Dumbledore's advice and set the hat back down. Then, turning to face Dumbledore, he said, word by word:
"I want to use it to cut someone down."
Dumbledore: "…"
Before Dumbledore could speak again, Wentworth quickly continued,
"Headmaster, I know who opened the Chamber of Secrets and released the basilisk!"
Dumbledore was visibly taken aback.
"You know who it was?"
Wentworth nodded firmly.
"Yes. It was your former student—Tom Riddle."
Had it been anyone else delivering such a revelation, Dumbledore might have immediately dismissed it. But since it was Wentworth, Dumbledore instead paused in thought. After a moment, he gestured for Wentworth to sit. Once both were seated, he asked:
"Tell me everything. What do you know?"
Wentworth began to explain:
"To be precise, it wasn't Riddle himself who did it, but rather a Horcrux he left behind—a diary that contains the memories of his younger self."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, not bothering to ask how Wentworth came to know about Horcruxes. Instead, he fixed his intense gaze on the boy and asked,
"How did you come to learn all this?"
This time, Wentworth did not hide anything.
"I came into possession of the diary some time ago. I intended to destroy it, but none of the spells I tried worked. So, I decided to hide it—in the Room of Requirement."
Wentworth paused for a moment, as if recalling something, and then continued:
"But not long after I hid it, students began turning up petrified. When I went back to look for the diary, it was gone."
When Wentworth finished, Dumbledore fell silent, lost in deep thought. A long time passed before he finally said,
"The next time you come across something so dangerous… bring it to me immediately."
Hearing that Dumbledore didn't press him about why he hadn't sought help sooner, Wentworth let out a silent breath of relief. Whether or not the Headmaster had seen through his hesitation, it seemed he had chosen not to probe further.
Gritting his teeth, Wentworth declared,
"Next time, I swear!"
He then added with fervor,
"But this time, I'm going to cut him down myself!"
Rather than object, Dumbledore simply asked,
"So, what do you plan to do now?"
Leaning closer, Wentworth said,
"Headmaster, although the diary and the memory sealed inside—Tom Riddle's memory—serve as the key to opening the Chamber, they can't act on their own. They need to manipulate someone to do their bidding. And now, it seems that someone is right here at Hogwarts—likely a student."
Dumbledore nodded, indicating that Wentworth should continue.
"We can call each student in one by one," Wentworth suggested. "Whether by Veritaserum or Legilimency, we'll find out who took the diary!"
Dumbledore gave a weary smile and shook his head.
"Wentworth, Tom Riddle was a very clever young man. Unless we already have a clear target in mind, it won't take him long to notice something is wrong. And when that happens, the student he's manipulating could be in grave danger."
Wentworth froze. He realized the flaw in his plan—summoning every student in Hogwarts to the Headmaster's Office would take days, possibly over a week.
He shook his head in frustration. Then suddenly, an idea struck him. His eyes lit up, and he said excitedly,
"Headmaster! What if we asked Professor Snape to brew more Veritaserum and added it to the feast at dinner? Once everyone has taken it, you could ask aloud: Who took the diary? Surely—"
But before he could finish, Dumbledore gently raised a hand to stop him.
"Wentworth, this is Hogwarts—the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. We cannot use Veritaserum on so many innocent students!"
Wentworth was speechless. Two students were already petrified, and yet Dumbledore still held so tightly to his principles?
In that moment, Wentworth found himself missing the members of the Alliance. If this were them, Veritaserum wouldn't even be necessary—they wouldn't hesitate to use the Cruciatus Curse!
But before he could dwell further, Dumbledore added,
"Besides, Veritaserum may not even work. You must remember—memories can be altered."
Wentworth slowly nodded, beginning to understand. Dumbledore wasn't simply being obstinate—he doubted the serum would even yield the answers they sought, and using it would create a scandal disproportionate to any potential gain.
In that moment, Wentworth saw the vast gap between himself and the man before him—the one who had defeated not one, but two Dark Lords. Dumbledore's restraint wasn't naïveté. It was wisdom—and the art of knowing exactly what to say, and when to say it.
Even so, the situation remained deadlocked.
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