"Let's go to the Room of Requirement."
He made the suggestion.
After all.
If they were to duel right here in the corridor, who knows how much of Hogwarts' structure would be damaged. Ian regarded Hogwarts as a buddy and certainly didn't want to do anything to harm it.
"You know about the Room of Requirement?"
The young Albus Dumbledore was visibly surprised upon hearing Ian's proposal, as this was one of those school secrets that many students and even professors were unaware of.
He had only come across that room by chance.
"I'm no intruder. I'm a proper Hogwarts student, though not quite as you might imagine," Ian said, noticing the increasingly curious look in the young Albus Dumbledore's eyes.
"To learn the truth, you'll have to beat me." After finishing, the little wizard eagerly transformed into a swirl of white mist and rushed to the floor where the Room of Requirement was located.
He couldn't be blamed for his impatience.
It's just that he rarely encountered opponents who were evenly matched.
This made it difficult for Ian to thoroughly analyze his own strength; perhaps through the duel with young Albus Dumbledore, he might find his own shortcomings and weaknesses.
"Dumple running, looks like it's my Prince who wins..." Ian was initially proud of the magic he showed off, but upon reaching the eighth floor, he found young Albus Dumbledore already standing at the door of the Room of Requirement. Stunned, his prideful words were swallowed back down.
"A self-created magic?"
Young Albus Dumbledore curiously observed the transformed Ian.
"How did you get here so quickly?"
The little wizard was quite dismayed.
Clearly, when he set off, young Albus Dumbledore was still standing in place.
"It seems your understanding of Hogwarts isn't as thorough as you thought," young Albus Dumbledore chuckled, not directly answering Ian's question.
Perhaps even from his youth, he enjoyed being the Riddler. Living to over a hundred years without being overpowered likely relied on his unparalleled strength that no wizard dared to challenge.
"Laugh a few times now, but you'll surely stop smiling later." Ian was confident he would win. He wasn't a gentleman or the type who sought defeat without complaints.
Because of this.
The Patronus Charm would be Ian's ultimate trump card.
Don't bother with whether it's sneaky or not.
Though the peak of magic power might be Level 9, nine ranks, this isn't the wizard's limit. The little wizard always believed in having more tricks than the Ninth Rank Wizard—anyone who knew him could predict this, but today's young Albus Dumbledore clearly knew nothing about Ian.
"Confidence is a good thing, but... kid, excessive confidence might destroy you." Young Albus Dumbledore had yet to understand what he was up against.
He casually bantered with the little wizard as they stepped into the freshly reset Room of Requirement, which quickly transformed into a vast arena with towering stone walls on all sides and an expansive dueling area in the center.
The ground was covered in soft sand to reduce the impact during the duel. Of course, this meant little to wizards, but it did add a certain sense of dueling atmosphere.
"Ready?"
The two stood at opposite ends of the arena, the distance between them just right.
They each raised their magic wands, the tips brushing the ground as if saluting this ancient Land of Magic—a necessary preparation before a duel.
"Remember to bow before dueling."
Young Albus Dumbledore reminded Ian with a jovial grin.
He demonstrated first.
However.
Upon raising his head, his expression froze slightly.
"Why is your wand-holding posture so strange..." Young Albus Dumbledore noticed Ian holding his hand out, seemingly pinching the wand between his fingers in an odd manner.
He had never seen anyone brandish a wand in such a... showy way.
"Sorry, you mentioned bowing, and I instinctively thought of an old acquaintance." Though Ian said this, he didn't change his wand-holding hand gesture.
"To be honest, I usually wouldn't duel someone your age." Young Albus Dumbledore nodded, not detecting anything peculiar in Ian's words.
He merely gazed at Ian with deep and piercing eyes.
"But you clearly are an exception... though you seem to be no more than first or second year in age, I sense from you an aura that chills my heart."
"That's worth some curiosity." Saying this, young Albus Dumbledore and Ian completed the duel salute, and then both nearly simultaneously raised their magic wands.
"Expelliarmus."
Both simultaneously cast the spell, but young Albus Dumbledore disregarded the little wizard opposite and also ignored the wand aimed at him by the little wizard.
He aimed his wand to the left, where there was no one, only a stretch of land with sand. The crimson burst of the Disarming Spell surged through the air.
It seemed as though it collided with an invisible force.