Just when Professor Lupin was teaching the little wizards.

As far away as Austria.

Geralt was a little overwhelmed. This was the first time he did this kind of tracking. He didn't have to turn on his witcher senses and search hard for lost footsteps, breath, or personal belongings. He didn't even have to hide his body carefully. He just followed the person he was tracking openly.

No matter what noise they made, no matter how close they were, that person seemed completely invisible. If the distance was too far, he would stop and wait for a while.

"Geralt?" Dumbledore picked at the pile of cockroaches. Without Harry and Fawkes, he could enjoy the sweets he had just bought from the candy store. "Would you like some?"

He grabbed a handful.

Pitch-black arthropods crawled around in his palm.

“No thanks.” Geralt shook his head.

Dumbledore was very enthusiastic and greeted him: "Really? Don't let its appearance fool you. It tastes great."

"Thank you, but no." Geralt did not hesitate at all. A second later in answering would have been disrespectful to the life he had lived in this world for some time.

Dumbledore shook his head, somewhat regretfully: "You are the same as Harry."

“Sometimes I feel that way,” Geralt replied quietly.

Dumbledore and Geralt talking.

This was also a very strange feeling for Dumbledore.

Geralt looks very young, about the same age as Lupin, and is almost as handsome as Sirius. Dumbledore always ignores his age.

Whenever he said something with the attitude of an elder and with great earnestness.

Geralt nodded and said, "I think so too. I saw it when I was young..."

This made Dumbledore feel a sense of time disorientation, and it took him a while to react. The witcher in front of him was about the same age as him.

This made him even more sad.

Years and time have not changed him much; his strong, young body still allows him to maintain a young mentality.

Not like myself.

Under the ravages of time and years, the body is half a step into the coffin, and even the mentality is the same...

But more than that, I feel grateful and relieved.

Time can change many things. More than ninety years ago, Dumbledore felt that he would never have thought that he would spend the rest of his life in Hogwarts, nor would he be willing to stay in Hogwarts. He was worried and afraid that Harry would change in the future. Although he was indeed reassuring now, who could predict the future?

But Geralt is a good example.

They are of the same kind, and the habits of the same kind will not change much.

Dumbledore enjoyed chatting with Geralt as much as he enjoyed chatting with Harry.

It's a surprisingly fun thing to do.

They were chatting happily when Snape suddenly stopped, waved at them and made a gesture.

Almost there.

Dumbledore waved his wand and cast an Disillusionment Charm on himself and Geralt, and also tightly wrapped up the magic power and aura that escaped - he had never paid attention to these things before, at most he would restrain his magic power, but after meeting Harry, his worldview was opened, and it turned out that there were people in the world with such a keen sense of smell.

When I talked to him in the evening, as soon as he opened his mouth, he could smell what he had eaten in the morning and what kind of mouthwash he used at noon.

Although Snape gestured.

But they continued walking for more than an hour before they arrived at a wooded area.

Snape walked in without hesitation, and in the blink of an eye he was swallowed by the dark shadows.

The two of them stopped.

One thing is for sure, Voldemort now would not place the remaining Horcruxes in the same location.

In fact, it is very likely that Voldemort's Horcrux is not here.

Snape's identity has not yet been exposed, and they need Snape to steal those things that are hidden deeply.

Dumbledore looked forward. Without any magical power, he waved his wand lightly, but did not detect any faint soul, and continued to move forward.

There was a slight noise nearby and he turned to look.

He cast the Disillusionment Spell and was able to see things hidden under the Disillusionment Spell.

Geralt reached into his back pocket and pulled out his steel sword.

"What's wrong?" Dumbledore's face immediately became serious.

“There are snakes. Lots of snakes.” Geralt shook his head, gripped his sword, and stepped forward cautiously.

snake?

In this forest, there are many snakes that do not belong to this ecology.

When Snape stepped into the forest, he was instantly horrified. Dense swarms of snakes swarmed out from all over the forest, spitting out forked tongues like slender steel forks, and staring at him with pairs of cold and gloomy pupils.

A snake with shiny black scales twisted its head, raised its head and hissed.

Severus didn't understand the snake language and looked at it coldly.

Dumbledore stood behind, his lips moving but no sound came out.

The black snake hissed twice more.

"I don't understand what you are saying." Snape said coldly, not sure if the snakes could understand him speaking human language. "I'm here on behalf of Barty Crouch Jr."

The black snake was a little impatient.

Turning his head, he heard two hissing sounds under Snape's feet.

A small green snake immediately climbed onto the shoe surface, followed the hem of the robe, got into the robe, and climbed up along Snape's body.

Snape resisted the urge to react.

Slightly has a deep relationship with snakes, and Voldemort is the most special one among the Slightlys. As a Parseltongue, he regards snakes as his symbol.

He looked at the snakes calmly.

The "they" that Barty Crouch Jr. mentioned was not actually referring to this group of snakes as Harry guessed?

The little snake quickly climbed up his left arm, paused for a moment, poked its head out of his collar, and hissed twice.

Snape understood the meaning of this.

This is to confirm that he has the Dark Mark on his hand.

The black snake's attitude was indeed a little gentler, and its hissing was not as sharp as before. However, as a snake, the creepy chill was still there.

He stretched out his hand, pinched the snake by the seven inches, and threw it aside: "Take me to see the man."

The black snake lay motionless, spitting out its tongue.

Snape met its gaze.

For a long time, the black snake had no intention of leading the way, but instead swung its tail impatiently.

Snape said nothing, but took out a letter from his robe. With a wave of his wand, the letter fell lightly in front of the black snake.

The black snake immediately bit the letter, held it in its mouth, and twisted its way deep into the jungle.

Snape took a step forward, trying to catch up.

A group of snakes surrounded Snape, blocking his way and preventing him from moving forward.

Dumbledore quietly reinforced Geralt's Disillusionment Charm and followed.

Snape took a deep breath, retracted his feet, and stood quietly waiting.

After a moment, the black snake twisted back and lazily flicked its tail at him.

This means to drive yourself away.

Snape turned around, took a deep look, waved his wand, and Disapparated away.

night.

Hogwarts, in the headmaster's office.

Harry, who had just finished his last class, pushed the door open and saw Geralt happily chatting with Godric. He greeted him: "Geralt, you seem to have gained weight."

“It seems like there are some.” Geralt pinched his face. “The food was too good, and I stayed in the hotel for almost half a month.”

Life here is so comfortable that I'm almost corrupting myself.

"You're back so soon. Did anything unexpected happen?" Harry looked at Snape.

Snape turned his head away.

His breath became more suppressed, low as a dark cloud, gloomy enough to seep out heavy rain.

"Crouch sent Snape to see a group of snakes," Dumbledore said quietly.

snake?

This word startled Harry. He frowned and looked at the mirror on the wall, which vaguely reflected half of his shadow. "Among Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes, one is a snake?"

Dumbledore nodded: "Yes, this is the only good news."

"but……"

"I couldn't find out more information."

Dumbledore sighed and continued slowly, "Although I have learned some Parseltongue, I am not a natural Parseltongue speaker. After the black snake entered the forest, it opened the letter with a group of snakes, and then a group of snakes swarmed over."

"One of the pythons came over here..."

When he said this, he paused for a moment, and his tone changed a little, with a sigh of melancholy.

"It read the contents of the letter and told the snakes, and then a large group of snakes, at least hundreds of them, ran out and scattered in all directions. No one knew where they went."

"I can't catch up with that swarm of snakes."

Geralt spread his hands and said, "I can, but there are too many of them to handle."

"Do you know that snake?" Harry stared into Dumbledore's eyes.

Dumbledore didn't say anything, his eyes were a little evasive.

"Isn't that a snake?" Harry pressed on.

Dumbledore sighed: "Harry, you are always so perceptive. She... I do know her. I didn't expect to see her at a time like this."

"She? Was she a person? An old lover before you fell in love with Grindelwald?" Harry asked, observing his expression.

Without waiting for Dumbledore's answer.

He denied his own speculation: "It seems not, is it related to the other Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore's eyes subconsciously avoided.

"It seems so." Harry nodded. "She is Aberforth's lover?"

Dumbledore sighed.

"No emotional entanglement with Aberforth?" Harry raised his eyebrows, a little surprised.

Dumbledore shook his head. "It has nothing to do with Arianna. Except for me, the other Dumbledores are normal. She is related to... Aberforth's child. I once promised her something, but I failed to do it. I didn't even take good care of her. This is one of the mistakes I made when I was young that I still regret to this day."

Harry searched his memory. "Aberforth has children?"

Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle, "Why can't he have it?"

"He doesn't look like he has a child." Harry said softly, conjuring a stool to sit on, and conjuring stools for Snape and Geralt. "This matter concerns the commission you gave me. I hope you can be frank. It will be very beneficial to my commission."