As the headmaster of Hogwarts.
Perhaps he really knows something that Snape does not.
"What do you mean?"
Snape furrowed his eyebrows.
And Hermione, knowing she didn't have a place to speak, perked up her ears. She loved listening to these kinds of secrets from the Wizarding World, and after Dumbledore appeared, her heart was not so anxious and uneasy.
"You have to know, the four founders found this place back then, rather than creating it... The existence of the Forbidden Forest predates Hogwarts by far, far more."
"From what I understand, the reason the four founders were able to find this place..." Albus Dumbledore was about to answer when suddenly, the chaos vortex on the Bronze Gate began to swirl violently!
The three of them immediately stepped back cautiously, Snape and Dumbledore's wands simultaneously pointed at the door—Hermione, who was initially slow to react, quickly joined in with them.
Even though it didn't seem to be of any use.
But at least she kept pace with the two professors—in the roar, the thick mist within the Bronze Gate spun around, writhing like boiling milk as if it were alive.
"Does it really look like there are living beings?"
Hermione rubbed her eyes.
Both Albus Dumbledore and Snape appeared solemn, staring intensely at the Bronze Gate. In the hazy mist, the silhouettes of figures became faintly visible. Some figures were cloaked in large black robes, hunching over and moving slowly; others stood tall, seemingly gazing toward the gate.
And a childlike phantom skipped by, vanishing in an instant.
The mist obscured their faces, only blurred forms could be seen. They moved with the flow of the mist, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing, as if trapped within, yet seemingly waiting for something.
"A space-time gate?"
Snape speculated incredulously.
"No."
Recently, Albus Dumbledore had been vigorously researching time-space, and of course, he could discern the situation with the Bronze Gate. His eyes revealed an uncertain surprise about the things within the Bronze Gate.
A rare display of emotion.
Yet, he did not explain to Snape what he had thought of or guessed. Just like that, the vortex turned, and the Bronze Gate began its eerie operation again.
However, this time what emerged from the gate wasn't a giant dragon, but a figure so unnerving it left Hermione's gasp stuck in her throat, her face pale with fright.
Snape too felt a chill run down his spine.
The reason was none other than this.
In the center of the vortex, a figure with flowing silver hair slowly walked out, the star pattern on the purple robe exactly the same as the Dumbledore in front of them.
It was another Albus Dumbledore!
"This can't be..." Snape's wand trembled slightly, and the usually composed face of the Professor of Potions was filled with horror, unable to control the hand holding the wand.
There's no way.
Whoever came would probably feel the same.
He simply couldn't believe the sight before his eyes—the silver-white long beard, the half-moon spectacles, even the purple robe embroidered with stars and moons were identical.
"What's going on! Headmaster Dumbledore!"
Hermione gasped.
The Dumbledore standing beside them didn't answer, only narrowed his eyes slightly.
"This is quite interesting."
The Dumbledore inside the gate said softly, his voice identical to the real Dumbledore. Without further ado, the Dumbledore inside the gate suddenly raised his hand.
He didn't chant an incantation.
He launched an attack on the three of them—a violent orange flame erupted from his Elder Wand, transforming into a fierce dragon of fire, rushing towards them.
The real Dumbledore reacted extremely quickly too.
Without a river around.
He surprisingly summoned a surging wave out of thin air.
The wave conjured from nowhere collided with the fiery dragon, creating a mist that obscured the sky. Within the mist, the Dumbledore inside the gate had already flown high, his wand pointed at the sky.
"Boom!"
He was like a Thunder God.
Countless bolts of lightning surged down.
The blinding lightning cut through the mist, striking directly at the real Dumbledore, Snape, and Hermione.
"This doesn't quite seem like something I would do."
The real Dumbledore waved his wand, and a translucent barrier formed instantly. The lightning exploded on the barrier, and the blinding light forced Hermione to close her eyes. When she opened them again, the two Dumbledores were already engaged in a fierce battle, the light and shadow of the magic spells in the night sky weaving into a web symbolizing death.
"There's nothing I can't do—I will replace you," said the Albus Dumbledore stepping out from inside the door, the corners of his mouth turning up, yet his words were incomparably cold.
"Only this way can I survive."
He seemed far "wiser" than the giant dragon that Ian encountered earlier, knowing much more and speaking with certainty, determined to replace the Albus Dumbledore outside the door.
As for Snape and Hermione,
they too must die.
Would this count as silencing witnesses?
In any case, his magic was unleashed with the intention to kill them both, without the slightest hesitation or mercy, making the Albus Dumbledore protecting them flicker his gaze.
"So that's what it is."
He seemed to understand something too.
Only Snape and Hermione still didn't quite understand what was happening.
"What on earth is going on!" Snape's wand remained in a defensive posture, his knuckles white from gripping too hard, unable to find any opportunity to intervene.
What can I say.
Snape was truly shivering.
Not knowing that Dumbledore's strength far surpassed his usual level, he thought he had some understanding of Dumbledore's power, but now it seemed his shock was no less than that of the pale little witch beside him, this terrifying magic was as if a divine spirit had descended upon the world!
"How has Voldemort been able to last so long…"
He couldn't comprehend.
He was not without knowledge of the power of his old master. The collision of spells caused the entire Forbidden Forest to tremble, the world seemed to be fracturing, the ground split open into deep chasms. Hermione and Snape could only be within Dumbledore's protective magic, watching in shock at the battle that surpassed their understanding.
"Is this… is this the true strength of Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione's voice trembled. At this moment, she finally gained a truly clear understanding of the Wizarding World's most powerful wizard.
Snape didn't respond.
His gaze was unusually complex.
His mood was as well.
Being fond of speculating, he couldn't help but wonder, with such strength, could Dumbledore have allowed Voldemort to persist for so long as a method of "raising a bandit to strengthen himself"?
It wasn't unreasonable for Snape to think so.
He truly couldn't find any explanation for how two individuals with such unequal strength could have stalemated for so many years, Snape previously thought Voldemort and Dumbledore were at least a 60 to 40 match!
"Avada Kedavra!"
The Dumbledore from within the door released an eerie, terrifying spell, and the battle had reached a fever pitch, he was going for the kill, while the true Dumbledore's eyes darkened as he twisted the Elder Wand.
The control of the magic was seized by him.
In the next moment.
"A legend, is it…"
In the regretful sigh of the Dumbledore within the door, the green magic was reflected back upon him, and he began to slowly fall, turning into ashes and disappearing from this world.
The Dumbledore within the door had vanished without a trace, and the vortex on the Bronze Gate temporarily returned to calm.
"Albus, you…" Snape's breathing was somewhat rapid, his voice uncharacteristically trembling: "Was that person who looked just like you a duplicate of you?"
His speculation was indeed imaginative. Hermione's face was deathly pale, her gaze darting between Dumbledore and the Bronze Gate, her lips trembling yet unable to speak.
At this moment.
"Rather than saying it was a duplicate of me, it's more like a version of me obliterated in fate… those erroneous possibilities," Dumbledore gently brushed the dust from his robe.
"But… astonishing, isn't it?"
He indeed had a rather certain guess.
With these words.
The little witch's lips trembled even more fiercely.
Snape's eyes became sharp, perhaps thinking the same as Hermione, "In such a situation, how can we be sure… you didn't come out of that door?"
The air instantly froze.
Dumbledore was silent for a moment.
His gaze fell on the Bronze Gate as he spoke slowly.
"I cannot be certain either."
He paused, a deep gleam flashing in his blue eyes.
"However, the one who survives must certainly be the truest version of me." The night wind blew over the scorched earth, bringing a slight chill, and Dumbledore's voice flowed intensely with confidence.