Headmaster Dumbledore briefly described the cave and its location, then looked at Sean with a very natural gaze:
"I believe I should go alone."
Sean looked at Dumbledore without speaking.
He knew Dumbledore was implying: I'll go scout ahead, and if anything unexpected happens, at least you know about this.
Just then, Sean felt a strange sensation in his head—a coolness, like a bee flapping its wings just outside the membrane of his memory. He projected a few images.
"You plan to follow me using... a dragon?"
Dumbledore laughed. It had been a long time since he was this amused.
"Yes," Sean admitted.
Dumbledore almost never used Legilimency to probe a student's thoughts. This time was no exception; he was merely knocking at the door like a guest.
"There will be defensive mechanisms, the nature of which I do not know. I have only guesses, which could be entirely wrong," Dumbledore continued. "If you wish to come with me, I must warn you beforehand: this will be extraordinarily dangerous."
"I understand, Headmaster," Sean replied, remaining calm.
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"Very well, then listen. I will take you on one condition: you must obey any order I give you instantly and without question.
Understand this clearly, Sean. I mean you must even obey orders such as 'run,' 'hide,' or 'go back.' Do you agree?"
Dumbledore straightened up.
"..."
Sean didn't answer.
Dumbledore looked a bit troubled.
"If I tell you to hide, will you?"
"Maybe..."
"If I tell you to flee, will you obey?"
"Maybe..."
"If I tell you to leave me and save yourself, will you do as I say?"
"No—"
"Sean Green!"
Dumbledore raised his voice slightly.
They stared at each other for a moment.
"It is always good to be willing to defy authority, but..."
Dumbledore seemed a bit deflated.
"There won't be any problems," Sean couldn't help but add.
"Oh? What did you divine from the night sky of the Borderlands?" Dumbledore asked with a touch of curiosity.
Sean didn't speak.
"Let's hope so. Perhaps those who are not confused about the future all look the same," Dumbledore said, looking a little dazed.
"Do you need to bring anything?"
Dumbledore finally agreed.
He knew that whether he agreed or not, he would eventually see the young wizard at that place.
Of course, this was something he had anticipated.
"No, Headmaster," Sean said.
The night sky was filled with stars. The air smelled of warm grass and lake water.
The old wizard and the young wizard set off.
The method was the Apparition Sean was familiar with.
He gulped down a potion. Even though he thought he had probably adapted to Apparition, whenever he visited his vault, he would still see these potions sitting quietly there, their numbers unchanging over a long period.
Sometimes he felt it wasn't really his vault, but more like a shared vault.
Even though the other two guests never took anything.
Sean's vision began to distort the moment he took Dumbledore's arm...
After an unknown amount of time, Sean smelled the sea and heard the sound of crashing waves.
He gazed at the sea under the moonlight and the starry night sky in the distance, a cold breeze ruffling his hair.
He stood on a high, black rock jutting out of the sea. Waves churned and foamed beneath his feet.
He turned and looked back.
Behind him rose a cliff, its steep face dropping straight down, dark and indistinguishable.
Several large rocks, like the one Sean and Dumbledore were standing on, seemed to have broken off from the cliff face at some point in the past. Everything around was bare and desolate. Apart from the boundless sea and rocks, there was not a tree, not a patch of grass or sand to be seen.
"What do you think?" Dumbledore asked. His tone suggested he was asking Sean if this was an ideal picnic spot.
"He brought the children from the orphanage here?"
Sean asked, holding his lit wand. Dumbledore could see the anger in those eyes.
"To be precise, not here," Dumbledore said. "Halfway up the cliffs behind us, there is a place that barely qualifies as a village.
I believe they took the orphans there to breathe the sea air and look at the waves.
But I think only Tom Riddle and the victims of his bullying ever came to this specific spot.
Let's go..."
Dumbledore ended the topic.
They now had to descend into a cave, but the entrance was underwater.
Judging by Dumbledore's demeanor, he intended to swim down.
"Are you afraid of water?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
"No."
Sean felt Dumbledore was eager to try.
But he opened the Book of Wizards anyway, and Pukwudgie the butler stepped out immediately—under Dumbledore's interested gaze.
With Pukwudgie's Apparition, they easily entered the cave.
Then, they stared at the large door trapping them.
"This is merely the antechamber, the entrance hall," Dumbledore said after a moment. "We need to penetrate the inner cavern... Now, it is not nature but the magic of Tom Riddle that bars our way..."
Before he could finish, Sean had already cut his arm, and bright red blood flowed out.
At the same time, he felt weaker than ever before.
But it was bearable; he had endured weakness far worse than this for a long time.
"Ah... does it hurt?"
Dumbledore was silent for a moment.
"It's okay," Sean said.
There was indeed no other way to open this door; it demanded the weakening of a wizard.
The door opened, and they stood on the shore of a vast black lake. The water stretched out endlessly, so wide the opposite bank was invisible.
The cavern they were in was immense; looking up, the ceiling was lost in darkness. Far away, seemingly in the center of the lake, a hazy, greenish light shimmered, reflected in the dead-still water below.
"Well, it seems we need a boat?"
Dumbledore stared straight at Sean this time, as if expecting him to do something without a word again.
But Sean just followed the old wizard quietly, just like when they first met.
"I must tell you, Sean. Please stand back against the rock wall; I think I've found the place," he said, closing his hand around something invisible in the air.
Dumbledore moved slowly toward the water's edge, and a small boat appeared.
And they were to take this small boat to the other side.