Early in the morning, the Daily Prophet brought this sensational news to every wizard.

Thinking that the war had stopped, Hagrid, who had just returned from the giant tribe, read the words on the newspaper one by one in disbelief. The large newspaper looked only the size of a palm in his hand.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "If Dumbledore resigns, who will do the work?"

"Of course it's Cyrus." Harry and a few others were invited to visit him. When they looked at Hagrid, they were all worried, because he was not in a good condition. His body was covered with scars and his entire face was almost black and blue.

"Are you all right, Hagrid?" Hermione asked again.

"It's okay. Dragon meat will make me feel better. Besides, my physique is much better than that of ordinary people. This little injury is nothing." Hagrid just put down the newspaper, stretched out his huge and rough palm, picked up a piece of bloody meat from the table, and put it on his face. "But Cyrus, well, he is not bad. Apart from Dumbledore, he is the only one."

He nodded vigorously, his knotted beard tangled together, fanning the wind like a fan.

"But I don't think it's easy. Some people don't support him." Hagrid added, "It's no wonder. Who made him want to break the Statute of Secrecy?"

Now, Cyrus is the person Hagrid admires most besides Dumbledore.

The intersection between him and Cyrus is in Fantastic Beasts. Cyrus had introduced him to Newt before, which made Hagrid very grateful to Cyrus. But more importantly, Cyrus saved Harry several times and defeated Voldemort.

He knew deeply how terrible Voldemort was, but Cyrus accomplished a feat that even Dumbledore could not accomplish.

Who else could be the President of the International Confederation of Wizards?

Unfortunately, internationally, not many people recognize Voldemort's ability. In their hearts, the devil is always Grindelwald. In this regard, those people's recognition of Grindelwald is no less than that of a saint.

A threat of mere power would eventually be defeated, but men like Grindelwald control minds.

Of course, Cyrus also defeated Grindelwald.

But because of this, the international community is more cautious about whether or not to allow Cyrus to become the next president of the International Confederation of Wizards.

He is so good! He has the most powerful power in wizard history, and like Grindelwald, he is trying to break the Statute of Secrecy. No one can guarantee that he will not follow the same path as Grindelwald.

Fifty years ago, Grindelwald still had Dumbledore to stop him, but what about now? Even Dumbledore is no match for Cyrus.

"I say, he really shouldn't even think about breaking the Statute of Secrecy," Hagrid said. He couldn't support Cyrus on this point.

As a half-blood giant, he seems rough inside but is actually very sensitive. He knows what it feels like to be an alien. Be it her, Maxime, or even Lupin...

Once their bloodline is exposed among wizards, it will be difficult for them to survive in wizard society.

Even though those people clearly knew that werewolves could only lose control of themselves during a full moon, even though they knew that wolf poison potion already existed, even though they knew that a half-blood giant could also be kind...

But they still cannot tolerate those who are different.

Even wizards are like this, let alone Muggles? Once the Statute of Secrecy is broken, wizards will be werewolves in another sense. Magic and wands are their claws. Wizards can kill people just by moving their wands and chanting spells. Maybe they can live in harmony with Muggles, but for Muggles, why should they bet their lives on you being a good person? "But there are always benefits, right?" Harry wanted to say something for Cyrus.

He thought that if the Statute of Secrecy was really broken, then he would be able to use spells in the Muggle world as well. He could cast a little jinx or two to tease Dudley instead of just pretending to wave his wand a few times.

Unfortunately, with Hagrid's intelligence, he is unable to understand such profound things.

He just thought that the current situation was good, so why did he have to make changes? "It would only bring him trouble," he said. "I think many people would not like to see him take office. Many people would write to Dumbledore or even come to the school directly to ask him to take the position of president again."

Hagrid was right about this.

Since Dumbledore officially announced this, hundreds of owls have been knocking on the window of the headmaster's office with their beaks every day. Now that piece of glass has been restored several times by him using spells.

He would read every letter carefully, many of which were from his old friends. Whenever he saw these, he would write down his trust in Cyrus and believe that Cyrus could handle these things.

He had never given such a huge sense of trust to anyone.

Perhaps on the one hand he was persuaded by Cyrus, and on the other hand he might also want to let go and take the burden off his shoulders.

The entire magical world cannot be carried on the shoulders of one person. He is indeed wise and powerful, and he cares for every person in the magical world who deserves to be loved like an elder.

But the elders always let go and let their children go out on their own.

In fact, he was very glad that Cyrus and Voldemort were not the same kind of people, although Cyrus wanted to break the Statute of Secrecy because he wanted to rule two different worlds. But Voldemort wanted a chaotic world that absolutely obeyed him, while Cyrus wanted order.

"Perhaps I should have let go a long time ago and let the world develop on its own and see what it becomes," he wrote lightly in the letter. "In fact, it may not necessarily get worse."

He finally finished writing the last letter, stood up from his chair, and stretched his slightly stiff hands.

It was already late, he looked out the window, then at the wand on the table.

The Elder Wand.

In the last battle, Dumbledore gave it to Harry, and then Cyrus took control of it, but in the end, neither of them coveted the power and returned it.

In the end, he still held on to the thing and refused to let go, just like Grindelwald secretly took away Voldemort's magical heritage.

Always thinking of keeping a backup plan.

He laughed, and his laughter was full of contempt for himself.

He thought that he would no longer need this thing from now on - when his life was over, the Elder Wand would lose its magic with his natural death because no one would defeat him anymore.

So he walked out of the principal's office empty-handed, or actually not empty-handed, as he took the extra resurrection stone.

Even though he knew that the resurrection stone couldn't really bring a person back to life, he still wanted to use the power of this thing to see Ariana. He didn't intend to resurrect her, he just wanted to see her.

He wanted to find a place that was secretive enough so that no one would discover his little selfish thoughts.

Actually, the principal's office would have been nice, but it was too small.

His poor sister Ariana had been locked up at home since she was a child. How could he bear not to let her see a wider space?

He walked slowly through the dim corridors and ran into Fred and George who were out at night. He winked at the two energetic children and put his finger to his mouth to indicate that he would keep it a secret.

Later, he somehow ended up at the Astronomy Tower.

Perhaps it is because this is the place closest to the stars in Hogwarts, and the vast world can be seen just by looking up.

Dumbledore spun the Resurrection Stone three times in the light of the Goblet of Fire.

Then, there seemed to be footsteps in the darkness - she came closer, and Dumbledore seemed to hear two footsteps, but his mind was in a daze at the moment and he couldn't think much, especially when he saw the small shadow walking out of the darkness.

She was very thin, with sunken cheeks, and her eyes contained pain and fear.

But she seems particularly cheerful and brave.

She was not even half as tall as Dumbledore, and her tattered floral dress had no color at all because her body was translucent and she was completely gray.

Dumbledore opened his mouth, his lips and teeth were trembling, and his vocal cords seemed to be pinched and he could not make any sound.

Instead, it was Ariana who spoke first.

"Hi, Albus."

It seems so incongruous that a girl who looks less than ten years old calls an old man with gray hair and a beard that can even be put into his belt "brother". It doesn't seem real at all. It's an illusion, a dream.

"You still recognize me?" Dumbledore forced a smile on his face, but his eyes were filled with tears.

"I've been watching you," Ariana said.

"You should go back and see Aberforth."

In his youth, Dumbledore would occasionally visit his illiterate but far superior brother during school holidays, but after 1945, when Grindelwald murdered a member of Dumbledore's family, Aberforth's son, they rarely saw each other again.

Especially in order to fight against Voldemort, it was necessary for Dumbledore to hide the relationship between himself and Aberforth to prevent any accidents.

Over time, not seeing each other has become a habit.

"I'm afraid he won't welcome me," he said sadly.

But he couldn't blame anyone.

Dumbledore knew that most people in the world thought that he was shining from every pore, and everyone thought he was great. But in fact, he was not like that at all, and Aberforth was probably the only one who knew his dark side.

He didn't dare go back at all because he was afraid.

Not that he was afraid of Aberforth's fist breaking his nose, that was the least of his worries.

What he feared was that Aberforth would reveal his bloody scars, tear off the majestic veil on his body, and let him see how selfish he was.

He is a bastard who cares about himself more than his family. Not only was he determined to abandon his sister and leave in Godric's Hollow a century ago, but even now, when he looked at himself in the Mirror of Erised, he saw himself hugging Grindelwald.

So this is the punishment. He deserves to stay alone in Hogwarts. He deserves to receive countless magic books every Christmas. How ironic! Isn't that what he longed for when he was young? At that time, he felt that he was talented, but was dragged down by a miserable family. He wrote letters day and night to people who were very prestigious in the magic world at that time, hoping to be appreciated by them.

He indeed succeeded.

In the dark night, the two were silent for a long time. Dumbledore slowly walked under the starry sky and to the edge of the tower. He did not notice that Ariana seemed a little strange at the moment.

She seemed unstable, as if the resurrection stone model receiver was about to be disconnected from the world of death. Her body was distorted and her expression turned into worry.

In the shadow of the dark tower, another tall figure slowly approached.

Ariana looked terrified, she must have wanted to say something, she wanted to warn Dumbledore, but she couldn't.

Until Dumbledore asked that question -

"Ariana, do you remember?" Dumbledore said without turning around. The words swirled in his throat for several times before he uttered them with difficulty. "Do you remember who cast the spell that hit you at that time?"

The answer to this question has tormented him for nearly a century, and he really needs to know the truth.

However, he once worried that it was he who killed Ariana, but now, out of his selfishness, he hoped that the spell was caused by his mistake, so that Grindelwald and Aberforth would be innocent that day.

Dumbledore was willing to take all the blame.

But there was no response from behind.

His heart was in torment. He turned around and saw Ariana standing in front of the Goblet of Fire. The light from the Goblet of Fire shone through her translucent body, making it less clear.

"Ariana?" He noticed something was wrong and frowned.

"Albus..." Ariana's expression had begun to become painful, and she looked at him sadly, as if she was mourning for him.

She felt sorry for the old man.

Then, Dumbledore saw another phantom overlapping with Ariana's shadow.

The figure was mostly grey, wrapped in a robe, and with a slight wave of his hand, Ariana's form twisted.

"Ariana!" Dumbledore rushed over nervously, trying to grab something, but Ariana disappeared like sand.

Now, the appearance of the dark shadow became clearer - Dumbledore's eyes widened.

"Cyrus?"

The man who looked exactly like Cyrus shook his head disdainfully.

"I am not Cyrus," he said. "You may call me Albus Dumbledore, the God of Death."

He picked up the Elder Wand from somewhere and pointed it at Dumbledore's heart.

"boom!!!"

In an instant, a huge bolt of lightning struck the gray tower!

(End of this chapter)