Victor Wick was slightly stunned when he heard Dumbledore's words.
"Professor... why do you have to be so sentimental every time you talk to me? Also, I wasn't acting. That's just who I am!"
"Oh, quite right. You weren't acting. I understand," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye and a beaming smile.
Seeing him like this, Victor knew his protests were futile.
"Forget it. Let's talk business. It's not good to dally; Professor McGonagall is waiting for me in her office," Victor urged.
"Very well..." Dumbledore rubbed his face, appearing to try and straighten his expression to match the seriousness of the conversation.
Victor pulled the wrapped Philosopher's Stone from his pocket and placed it on the desk.
"Oh? Finished your research already? I heard Nicolas gave you some excellent advice," Dumbledore said pleasantly.
Victor couldn't help but sigh. "Do you really trust me that much? This is the Philosopher's Stone we're talking about..."
"If I didn't trust you, the wizarding world wouldn't have enjoyed these past ten years of peace." Dumbledore looked at the Stone on the desk and added, "Besides, you don't actually need it, do you?"
Dumbledore's words were pointed, making Victor wonder if the Headmaster had discovered something...
"Can you tell me your plan, Professor?"
"Which plan would you like to know about?"
"You let Quirrell in despite knowing something was wrong with him... Don't tell me you don't have a plan." Disbelief was written all over Victor's face.
"Oh, that... Of course, there is one. You told me before that the dark wizard who attacked Gringotts seemed like two completely different people at different times. I've thought about it a lot since then... and I suddenly realized there might only be two ways for a wizard to display such inconsistent behavior."
Instead of revealing his plan directly, Dumbledore brought up the point Victor had raised earlier.
Victor stared at Dumbledore, waiting silently for him to continue.
To make a plan, one first had to understand the opponent's condition... this was indeed crucial.
"The first possibility is that Voldemort was wearing a mask. When he realized his opponent was you, he decided to test you and dropped the act," Dumbledore said.
"No," Victor shook his head. "Recognizing someone's fighting style isn't easy. Besides, given the Dark Lord's pride, he'd be more likely to kill every witness on the scene rather than hide. He wouldn't believe anyone could escape."
This was true. Even if Voldemort's magic wasn't what it once was, his mastery of the art remained profound. Killing all the goblins and guards who came to help would have been child's play.
If there were a wizard he feared on the scene, like Dumbledore, he wouldn't have made a move at all.
As for pretending... he would find it beneath him.
"True enough..." Dumbledore nodded. "He is no longer the boy he was in school; he has no need to hide from anyone anymore."
"He went to Hogwarts?" Victor frowned.
"Oh... yes, of course... I remember well. I wasn't the Headmaster then. I was the one who went to the orphanage and brought him through the gates of the wizarding world... Failing to guide his character and watching him stray onto a dark path has always been one of the greatest regrets of my life." Dumbledore appeared quite melancholy.
Victor looked at Dumbledore in shock; this was news to him.
"Very few people know about his origins or his original identity. He became very defensive about that information later on and never mentioned it to anyone..." Dumbledore said.
"Why? Why go to such lengths to hide his birth and his name? Was his past really that shameful?"
Victor didn't understand. Why would such a powerful Dark Lord care about his background? No matter how ignoble it was, who would dare use it against him?
"Few know that Voldemort's original name was Tom Riddle. And Riddle... is a Muggle surname." A glint flashed in Dumbledore's eyes.
"Holy... shit..." Victor was stunned by the revelation.
The Dark Lord, who constantly preached blood purity, had a Muggle father? What kind of sick joke was that?
He understood now why the Dark Lord kept his past a deep secret...
After all, the Dark Lord's contempt and hatred for Muggles—and even Muggle-born wizards—was well known.
No wonder he abandoned his original name for 'Voldemort.' It was because of that Muggle surname...
Even Grindelwald never changed his name...
Since they were on the subject, Dumbledore went ahead and told Victor more about Voldemort's past.
For instance, how he was conceived through a Love Potion and was thus naturally incapable of understanding love; or how he had been a model student at Hogwarts, beloved by all the professors except for Dumbledore, who remained wary of him...
These details of Voldemort's past were largely unknown, and Victor felt a profound sense of shock after hearing them.
"In my opinion... he was much wiser in his youth than he became later..." Victor finally voiced his thoughts after a long pause.
Young Voldemort's charisma had been no less than Grindelwald's in his prime. But everything changed after Tom Riddle became Voldemort.
"It's only natural. For those full of ambition, excessive power causes them to inflate with pride, blinding them to the dangers that such power brings," Dumbledore mused. "Once Voldemort grew strong, he became a complete slave to that power. He blindly believed his strength could grant him everything..."
Victor nodded in agreement. When a person finds themselves so powerful that they can solve any problem through brute force alone, they stop considering the consequences. There simply is no need.
'My super-brain tells me it's time to use super-strength...'
"We're getting off track, Professor. What was the second possibility you thought of?" Victor brought the conversation back.
"The second possibility... is that Voldemort hasn't actually recovered to the extent we imagine." Dumbledore interlaced his fingers, resting his chin on the back of his hands, his half-moon spectacles glinting.
"What do you mean?"
"His current state might not be as stable as we thought. Or rather, he might just be a lingering spirit, possessing someone through some form of Dark Arts... That would explain the inconsistent fighting style you witnessed. Moreover, such a method might take a massive toll on him..." Dumbledore said gravely.
"Are you saying Voldemort... might be possessing Quirrell?" Victor stood up, pacing back and forth as he frowned in thought. "While the idea is outlandish, if it's true, then many of the inconsistencies finally make sense."
Victor had been puzzled; if Voldemort had recovered enough to cast spells freely, he wouldn't have stopped after just attacking Gringotts.
Although his power at Gringotts was a far cry from his peak, in terms of raw combat ability, he was still formidable.
Theoretically, no matter how cautious he was, once he had the means to protect himself, he should have been contacting Death Eaters in secret... Why bother testing Victor at all?
Combined with the fact that Quirrell's personality had done a complete 180 after returning from the forests of Albania, Dumbledore's theory made perfect sense!
Only if he couldn't easily act—or if acting cost him dearly—would a man like Voldemort remain so quiet.
"Professor Dumbledore... you truly are wise. I really didn't consider that! So... what is your plan?"
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