Harry Potter and the Secret Treasure

Page 496

But no, he and Dumbledore appeared, and what appeared in front of them was a desolate town.

Although flustered, there are still traces of human activities, but it is not so pleasant.

Speaking of which, this place is a bit like Knockturn Alley.

In the night, the dirty path stretches around, and all you can see at the end is darkness.

The ground is piled up with gravel like slag, and the shops and houses on both sides of the street are all piled up of black rocks. They are built in strange shapes, arbitrary and irregular, like monsters with teeth and claws.

As for the shops themselves, they were all black magic shops.

Shrunken human heads are displayed in a shop window closest to Aiwen, and they are placed there in rows.

The face of the human head is painted with different oil paints, waiting for customers to choose.

A dead body was hung outside the house next to this shop. The body was battered and its skin was brutally peeled off.

Ivan looked at it for a long time, but couldn't tell what kind of creature it was.

It looked a bit like a human being, a dismembered corpse, but with two large horns on top of its head.

Dark red blood and unknown mucus slowly descended down the corpse and landed on the ground, making a patter, patter sound.

This was the only sound Ivan heard, other than that, there was no sound at all in this scary town.

Even though it was late at night, it was still unusual.

The surroundings were deadly silent, even the sound of the wind stopped here.

At the end of the alley, figures swayed, and several hooded wizards walked quickly, proving that there were still living people here.

But no one dared to speak, and even held their breath, for fear of waking up some terrible monster.

"Professor, is this Nurmengard?" Ivan whispered, "It looks like a gathering place for dark wizards."

"This is a small town on the outskirts of Nurmengard, called Gardeburg." Dumbledore said, leading Ivan down an alley, "When Gellert was the strongest, he Nurmengard was built as a symbol of his evil rule, the strongest fortress of dark forces, many dark wizards and greedy people attached to it, most of them did not have the strength and qualifications to join Gellert's army, but he did not chase Let them go, but let them stay on the outskirts of Nurmengard. Finally, it developed and gradually became the town in front of you. After Gellert failed, the town was not abolished, but became the largest dark wizard in Germany Gather."

"Does the German Ministry of Magic not care?" Ivan said in surprise, "They let dark wizards gather here?"

"Existence is reasonable, Aiwen, we all hate black magic and oppose the use of those evil spells, but it does not mean that everyone is like this, and it is impossible to erase a magic category that has been passed down for thousands of years." Dumbledore Lido said, "How to say, it's like Knockturn Alley and the Underworld in the UK. You've been there, and the Ministry of Magic let them exist, but they can't cross the bottom line."

Indeed, the wizarding world is not simply black and white, nor is it as simple as Hogwarts. There are school rules that clearly prohibit students from learning black magic. Everyone thinks it is a bad thing, resists it, and does not discuss it publicly.

In real magical societies, the lines between good and evil are blurred.

Light and darkness blend with each other and exist in each other.

It is unrealistic and impossible to eliminate all black wizards and black magic.

As long as they don't do illegal and evil things, the Ministry of Magic has no reason to arrest them and sentence them.

But if it is not evil, is it still black magic?

Going straight along the alley, after passing a shop, Ivan saw a tall and majestic building appearing in front of him.

The building seems to be a palace, among which there are many towers, the most striking being the main tower in the center.

The main tower stands tall and extends to the clouds, with no end in sight, which is daunting.

A mysterious atmosphere enveloped its surroundings, which seemed to be a kind of power, and the people staring at it all quickly shifted their sights.

To be honest, this building is nothing short of a miracle, a miracle built by Grindelwald.

Nurmengard is located on an island in the middle of a lake, surrounded by a huge pool of black water, calm and deep.

The other dark wizards in the town seem to be very afraid of this lake and dare not approach it easily.

They hid in the dark doorway, and when they saw Dumbledore and Ivan walking straight there, they all showed uncontrollable panic expressions.

What is hidden in this calm black water that makes these black wizards so afraid?

"There is Nurmengard, the real wizard prison!" Dumbledore said simply.

Following the direction of his gaze, Ivan looked at the dark main tower, where Grindelwald himself was imprisoned, confessing his sins at the highest end.

From the fact that he treated Kerexis, it can be seen that he has a certain freedom.

As a powerful dark wizard, it is almost impossible to completely control him.

Therefore, Grindelwald was imprisoned here, in the fortress he built himself, completely voluntarily.

But Ivan still doesn't understand, not everyone is Grindelwald, and will be imprisoned in this wizard prison voluntarily.

This place is so close to the gathering place of dark wizards, what protective measures does Nurmengard have in place to ensure that no one escapes from prison?

Facing the main tower, the main building also stretches forward on the ground, presenting a symmetrical L shape with each other.

The main body of Nurmengard's building was stretched, running through more than half of the lake, and built in front of them, where the gate of Nurmengard was also located.

As soon as Ivan walked over, he saw a sentence engraved on it: For the greater good!

Chapter 1094 Dumbledore's past

"For the greater good!"

This sentence seems very reasonable and profound, but what is the greater good? !

No one can answer that the greater good is different for different people and at different times.

For Dumbledore in his early years, the greater interest was to prove his talents and promote the glory of the wizarding world;

For the current Dumbledore, the greater interests maintain the peace of the magic world and repent for what he has done;

For Voldemort, the greater good was immortality and conquest;

For Minister Fudge, the greater good is power in hand;

For Snape, the greater good was his love for Harry's mother Lily;

For Barty Crouch Jr. and Bellatrix, the greater good is the master's trust;

For a pure-blood wizard family like Malfoy, the greater interest is the supremacy of family power and pure blood;

For Alvin, the greater good is protecting those he loves.

Different people have different purposes and needs. Of course, in a comprehensive comparison, the latter can only be said to be selfish desires.

Leaving aside whether these benefits are really great, after determining the goal, what should be done next?

Needless to say, all else can be sacrificed, all can be given up for the greater good.

But is this too extreme?How many people can really do it?

"For the greater good!" whispered Dumbledore, looking at the letters on the mottled stone wall.

He showed a look of nostalgia, and the deep wrinkles on his face made him look older than usual.

"Grindelwald engraved it here and regarded it as the truth. He found a beautiful excuse for his actions and despicable behaviors, hoping to prove to the world that his ideas and practices are correct." Dumbledore He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, "But this sentence is actually wrong, it's just the arrogant slogan of a young and energetic fool, used to deceive and blind his own conscience, so that he can be on the path of depravity Go farther and farther, and finally pay a painful price for it..."

Ivan was not sure how to answer, he knew that this sentence was originally proposed by Dumbledore.

And the youthful fool he was talking about just now was referring to himself.

Unlike the headmaster who is usually full of wisdom, Dumbledore's current appearance is too abnormal.

Many things tonight have touched the deepest secrets hidden in his heart, touched those past events that have been dusty for a long time.

At this moment, he looked extremely old, and his mood fluctuated violently.

The Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows, Ariana who was summoned, Nurmengard who imprisoned Grindelwald, and the slogan he put forward when he was young, represent his dreams and regrets. The weakest part of Lido's heart.

When they are all put together, one can imagine Dumbledore's mood at this time...

In particular, the appearance of the resurrection stone, one of the three holy artifacts, completely extinguished Dumbledore's dream for many years.

His hopes of resurrecting his sister had failed, and the summoned dead only made him sadder.

Not surprisingly, Dumbledore can't help but use the resurrection stone again after he goes back.

As long as one has experienced life and death, no one can resist that temptation. This is human nature.

In repeated cycles, he will become more and more sad, and finally terminate himself, and fall into the arms of death.

Looking at the old headmaster, Ivan suddenly felt that it was necessary to remind Dumbledore of this point, and it was best to keep the resurrection stone with him for safekeeping.

He has no dead to miss, this stone is of no use to him...

Although Dumbledore did not explain his own story, Ivan felt the need to talk about it.

"Shall we go in, Professor?" Ivan said, looking at the closed door.

"No, Nurmengard is a wizard's prison, and we don't have permission to enter." Dumbledore explained, "Wait here, he will come out in a while."

"Professor, can you tell me what kind of person Grindelwald is?" Ivan nodded, looking for the starting point of the question.

"A radical revolutionary, but it is undeniable that he is also a notorious dark wizard, extremely evil and dangerous."

"But he doesn't look like Voldemort?" Ivan continued, pointing to the words on the door, "For the greater good, Voldemort would never say such a thing, even if it was an excuse, but he would not speak for himself. looking for excuses for what they did."

"Compared with Voldemort, he did not lose his humanity, and he did not fall into purer evil." Dumbledore sighed and said, looking at the top of the tallest tower, "I heard that he was imprisoned alone in Newmont in his later years." Gad showed remorse when he was in the cell, I hope this is true, I hope he can feel how horrible and shameful what he has done, I hope he can atone for his sins in his confession..."

"Professor, haven't you seen him?"

"No!" Dumbledore shook his head, "We haven't seen each other since he was locked up. I'm afraid, afraid to meet him, even in the duel between me and him, there is no difference between us." Speak."

"Are you afraid of Grindelwald?" Ivan blinked, which was indeed beyond his expectations.

"Yes, people say he's afraid of me, but I think I'm more afraid of him," replied Dumbledore. "That sounds incredible, doesn't it? hurt, but fear the truth."

"the truth?"

"This involves the past between me and him. If you are willing to listen, we can talk about it. There is nothing to hide, although I usually rarely talk about this past with other people." Dumbledore Said, "You know, Alvin, my sister Arianna is sickly, not born, but because of an accident, when she was using magic when she was a child, she was hit by three Muggle boys, and the three boys did to her Since then, she lost control of the magic, and the magic was in her body, driving her crazy. My father Percival was imprisoned in Azkaban for revenge, and finally died there. My mother He also gave up his life to take care of Arianna..."

Although Dumbledore's words were simple, the truth was far more cruel and disgraceful.

His father killed the three Muggle boys himself to avenge Ariana.

Ariana, who was tortured madly, became an obscurity, unable to control the magical power in her body.

In the end, because of an accident, she killed her mother herself.

At this point, both parents died, the family's reputation plummeted, and the task and responsibility of taking care of Ariana fell on Dumbledore.

Chapter 1095 The Only Weakness

Such a tragic experience is enough to break anyone down.

Especially for a talented wizard like Dumbledore, his childhood was not much happier than Tom Riddle.

He has every reason to hate Muggles, and at the same time, he has enough power, enough qualifications and the possibility to become an evil dark wizard.

Not to mention, there are many people with ulterior motives around him.

These people admire pure blood, and they believe that the glory of blood and the glory of wizards need to be based on trampling and conquering Muggles.

Because of pure blood, family reputation, and what happened to Dumbledore's father and sister, they took it for granted that Dumbledore was also a Muggle hater, and even praised his father's behavior with relish. Lido can be their leader.

Just like Voldemort did, become the leader elected by these people and lead them back to their former glory.

In fact, for a while, Dumbledore did have this tendency.

Fortunately, he is Dumbledore, he wakes up at a critical moment, which is one of his great places.

Perhaps, such things as personality are really innate, no matter what the fate and the environment are, some people are born with a bright heart, while some people will only complain about the unfairness of fate, degenerate step by step, and do evil things for granted .

They chanted resounding slogans, for the greater good, to hurt others with peace of mind.

Like Voldemort, his so-called pure blood theory just turned him into a monster everyone feared.

But Dumbledore is not such a person, he knows what love is, and the interests he believes in are far higher than others.

"I don't want to say how great I am, Alvin, and I don't want to find excuses for my father's evidence." Dumbledore said, "But I must admit that I resented all this at the time, and I thought fate was unfair. .”

Dumbledore's narration was frank and indifferent. At this moment, his gaze passed over Ivan's head, still on the spire.

A narrow window opened at the highest point of the tower, and Ivan didn't know if Grindelwald was there.

Did he notice Dumbledore's arrival, did he look at his old friend there?

Since that battle of the century, they haven't seen each other for so many years.

But it is certain that they must care about each other, because they once had a common idea.

In other words, something beyond the concept, more pure emotion.