Dumbledore suddenly appeared beside Kai Adler, a faint glint of amusement in his eye as he winked.
"As Headmaster, one must be afforded certain privileges, wouldn't you agree?"
"Tch."
Kai curled his lip, unimpressed. "Fine, you're the big man in charge, you're always right."
"How did you even know I was here? You weren't following me, were you?"
"Nothing within Hogwarts escapes my attention."
"Except for the location of the Chamber of Secrets, apparently," Kai shot back without missing a beat.
Dumbledore looked momentarily sheepish—a rare expression on the old wizard. "There are… always exceptions."
"As Headmaster, I do have a connection with the castle," he explained. "Through certain enchantments, I can perceive much of what occurs within these walls. However, hidden rooms like the Chamber of Secrets—or the Room of Requirement—are shielded from my sight."
Kai narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "So, you can't see what I do in the Room of Requirement either?"
"That's correct."
Kai studied him. Dumbledore was too much like his old man—a master of mixing truth and misdirection. He couldn't tell if the old wizard was being honest or simply telling him what he wanted to hear.
"Then why didn't you realise Lockhart was the one who opened the Chamber?"
He gestured toward the lifeless body in the corner.
The question made Dumbledore wince slightly. For all his power, he was still just a man. He couldn't monitor every corridor and shadow of the vast castle every hour of the day.
But the real reason Dumbledore had shown up just now? It was because he had been monitoring Kai near constantly.
Kai knew this, of course. But neither of them ever said it aloud. It was a silent understanding between the two of them.
And frankly, Kai didn't mind. Hogwarts was comfortable. He had no intention of returning to that gloomy fortress in the Alps, facing an old man who treated every conversation like a philosophical duel. Besides… he liked being near Hermione.
Kai sighed and asked the question that really mattered.
"Then why did you stop me from killing the Basilisk?"
"Wouldn't it be safer for the students if the creature were dead? Don't tell me it's because you're still afraid I'll kill again."
He gestured toward the creature still pinned in midair. "That's a monster, not a person. What's next—am I to live on vegetables and kindness alone?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, no," he said, his gaze returning to the thrashing beast. "You've already done enough. You blinded it. I intend to turn it into… a trial."
"A trial?" Kai looked at him with a raised brow. "For whom?"
"Harry Potter."
Harry Potter? That wide-eyed boy?
Well… maybe he was a little sharper than Ron. Barely.
"Why are you so focused on him?" Kai frowned. "Just because he supposedly killed Voldemort as a baby? You don't really believe a toddler can take down a full-grown Dark wizard, do you?"
"Of course not," Dumbledore said with a faint smile. "But… it did happen."
Kai gave him a look.
"It's because of a prophecy," Dumbledore admitted.
A prophecy. If Kai had heard that on his first day in this world, he would've dismissed it as mystical nonsense. But ever since he began to inherit traces of Grindelwald's prophetic gift… well, he had to admit: prophecies in this world carried weight.
"Twelve years ago, when Tom—"
"Wait," Kai cut him off, raising his right arm still held toward the Basilisk. "Professor, I'd love to hear your lecture, but perhaps we could take care of that first?"
Indeed, his Transfiguration still required active magic to sustain. Without it, the animated stone pythons would crumble, and the Basilisk would break free.
"Oh!" Dumbledore exclaimed, turning back to the beast. "Quite right. Marvelous spellwork, Kai."
"Thanks for noticing," Kai muttered dryly.
Dumbledore extended his withered hand. "You can let go now."
Kai relaxed his fingers. Without the enchantment sustaining them, the stone serpents disintegrated. The Basilisk shook off the remains and charged toward them again.
But Dumbledore was already moving.
With a single swirl of his finger, the ground beneath the serpent softened into a bog. The great beast sank in before it could react. Then Dumbledore pressed his hand downward, and the swamp turned solid once more, entombing the Basilisk up to its neck. It thrashed and roared in fury, helpless.
"Now," Dumbledore said, as if nothing had happened, "where were we?"
"You said Voldemort, twelve years ago," Kai reminded him.
Dumbledore nodded, then suddenly paused, his brow furrowing.
"How do you know Voldemort's real name is Tom?"
Only a handful of people alive knew that name. Voldemort had gone to great lengths to erase it, and even former professors rarely used it.
Mo—Kai—pointed to the notebook lying near the stone wall. "Your charming former student left a diary behind. Still has a piece of his soul inside, by the way. Not completely dead yet, it seems."
Dumbledore's pupils contracted. With a silent flick of his wand, the notebook flew into his hand.
The moment he held it, his expression darkened.
Kai added casually, "It's a Horcrux, isn't it?"
Dumbledore glanced at him. "Did Gellert tell you that?"
"Mmh. The old man mentioned it once."
"Said it grants immortality, preserves the soul even after death."
"And what do you think?"
Kai shot the diary a contemptuous glance. "Both he and I think it's absurd."
He folded his arms. "The soul is the source of all magic. Splitting it? That's like breaking your wand in half and wondering why your spells falter."
"Even if you can't die, you'll never grow stronger again. And if someone killed you once, they can damn well do it again. What's the point in surviving if you're just going to crawl back as a weaker version of yourself?"
Dumbledore looked at him with quiet admiration.
"You see the truth clearly, Kai."
Kai shrugged. "If someone wants to kill me, I just get stronger and kill them first. That's all there is to it. No need for cheap tricks."
There was a silence between them. A shared understanding.
Then Kai glanced at him sideways. "Wasn't Voldemort your student, though? How could he not grasp something that simple?"
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "Perhaps… he feared death too much."
Kai snorted. "Then he wasn't worthy of life to begin with."
Because to harm the innocent, to murder simply to preserve yourself—that wasn't bravery.
It was cowardice, wrapped in blood and lies.