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Dumbledore's face was no longer adorned with the previous polite smile; instead, it bore an unprecedented solemnity as he stared intently at the photograph in his hand.
Morris always felt that Dumbledore was somewhat frightening now.
He asked hesitantly, "What's wrong, Principal?"
Dumbledore seemed to be startled by these words, his gaze quickly shifting from the photograph, a smile returning to his face.
"It's nothing, Mr. Black," he said calmly, handing the photograph to Maurice. "Could you tell me where you obtained this photograph?"
Morris seemed to be deep in thought.
Judging from this behavior, Dumbledore must know something.
However, he doesn't want to reveal the secrets of the gap world yet; he'll just make up any excuse.
"I found it," Maurice said cautiously. "It was tucked inside a secondhand book I bought from Diagon Alley. Maybe it's a celebrity… Do you recognize the person in the photo?"
"I recognize him," Dumbledore said.
"Who is it?" Morris blurted out almost immediately.
Dumbledore glanced at Maurice, as if stating something perfectly ordinary, "A long time ago, everyone called him the Dark Lord."
Dark Lord?
Morris knew perfectly well that the title referred to Voldemort.
However...
"Is this Voldemort?" Morris blurted out instinctively, his face contorted in disbelief.
In his memory, Voldemort was clearly an ugly creature without a nose.
Who is this handsome, unruly, and charismatic blond man?
Dumbledore seemed amused by Maurice's reaction and corrected him, "No, not him, it's another one."
"Gellert Grindelwald".
Chapter 65 The Troubles of Poverty
After telling Maurice the name of the person in the photograph, Dumbledore did not answer any further questions from Maurice.
He simply said, "It's been too long; I've forgotten."
Morris had no solution to this.
He could sense that Dumbledore was just giving him the runaround.
Adults often use this vague excuse when dealing with children.
However, he did not press the matter further.
Even just knowing a name is a huge step forward.
In fact, Maurice had a vague recollection of the name Gellert Grindelwald.
He had once read a book called "The 100 Most Famous Wizards in History," and in the chapter on Albus Dumbledore, there was a description of Gellert Grindelwald.
Unfortunately, a long time has passed, and he only has a vague impression of it; he has forgotten the specific details.
Fortunately, the book was currently lying under his bed in his dorm room, and had not yet been thrown into the trash can.
Back in his dorm, Maurice immediately found the old book under his bed.
He recalled that the book was priced at only three sieverts in a secondhand store in Diagon Alley—a cheap price for a secondhand book.
Having found the relevant chapter, Morris quickly flipped through it.
There's not much about Gellert Grindelwald, just a few sentences.
"In 1945, Albus Dumbledore defeated the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in a legendary duel. This victory was the pinnacle of his great career and a key turning point that freed the European wizarding world from Grindelwald's reign of terror."
"After the war, Grindelwald was imprisoned in Nurmengard Prison, where he remains to this day."
From this description, Maurice could roughly determine Grindelwald's identity:
A dark wizard who once opposed Dumbledore, and who is likely still alive, is being held in a prison called Nurmengard.
If he could, Maurice would love to ask Grindelwald about the Gap World right away.
As we all know, standing on the shoulders of giants allows us to see further.
Since the other party was able to leave a photo in the gap world, they probably have some understanding or research on that world.
Perhaps Nurmengard would allow a stranger to visit him in prison?
Well, in fact, Morris knew very well that since Nurmengard held such important criminals, it was definitely not a place that could be freely entered and visited.
He doesn't even know where Nurmengard is now.
However, once he has a goal, he will find a way to achieve it; this has always been Morris's style.
After clearing his mind, Maurice stretched.
This matter cannot be rushed; he is not capable of doing it at his current level.
Right now, his main task remains learning more.
"Meow!"
"Coo coo coo!"
"Click-clack!"
At that moment, a commotion in the corner of the room caught Morris's attention.
Sometime later, the canned food and fireworks returned and were playing happily with the skeleton dog.
The canned food stomped on the skeleton dog's bare ribs, while Fireworks fluttered its wings nearby, trying to peck at the two flames in the skeleton dog's empty eye sockets.
The skeletal dog, now a second-tier undead creature, offered no resistance to these impolite acts, simply lying there motionless.
The hierarchical relationship between them seems quite clear.
Morris wondered what the canned food and fireworks would become after completing the undead creature advancement ritual. He couldn't help but feel a little excited.
...
A few days later, on Tuesday.
At noon, Maurice was eating a baked potato with butter in the restaurant.
With the Christmas holidays approaching, the students seemed somewhat distracted, and a lighthearted, restless atmosphere permeated the air.
These days, he went to the interstic world to gather some energy crystals, but the amount was far from enough to carry out another undead creature advancement ritual.
The last remaining stock of the Life-and-Death Water has been used up.
He is trying to think of a solution.
Just now, Professor McGonagall asked him if he wanted to stay on campus for Christmas, but he declined because he wanted to try his luck in Diagon Alley.
He also received pocket money from Professor McGonagall, which was the money he saved from buying secondhand items at the beginning of the semester.
The annual grant Hogwarts gives him varies flexibly based on teaching needs and there is no fixed amount.
One payment per year, and it's very tight.
This money, plus what he had saved up, amounted to only a dozen or so Galleons.
It doesn't look like much, and it's actually not much either.
They were even somewhat pitiful.
So Maurice turned and approached the Weasley twins at the next table.
"What are some ways to earn Galleons?"
Fred was slightly taken aback after hearing Morris's question. "Why did you think of asking us?"
Morris said honestly, "Because I think you are as poor as I am, there might be a way."
He had heard bad things about the Weasleys from some Slytherins more than once.
"Poverty" is the most frequently occurring keyword.
However, he did not think the word itself was insulting; rather, he saw it as an objective description.
Even under such "poor" circumstances, the Weasley twins were able to research so many strange and wonderful magical gadgets, which must mean they had their own source of research funding.
Fred and George exchanged a strange look.
"Are you in a bad financial situation?" Fred asked, his tone more serious than usual.
"Yes," Morris nodded matter-of-factly, "after all, I'm an orphan."
Fred didn't think this was something that could be openly discussed.
But Maurice's expression was too calm, as if he weren't talking about himself.
Poor child.
For a moment, they all felt a little sorry for Maurice.
George cleared his throat and lowered his voice, "How much money do you have left? And how much do you need?"
Morris sighed, "There are only a dozen or so Galleons left, along with some Silver Sickles and Bronze Nats."
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