Professor Dumbledore’s Plan

Because the holidays had begun and he no longer had to work every day, Adam had effectively gone off the grid as far as many people were concerned.

He was not in The Office, not in his room; even owls could not find him.

Professor Snape had accepted a new task assigned by Professor Dumbledore, but fate had other plans. Voldemort had suddenly given him several tasks as well, leaving Professor Snape with no time at all to look for Adam.

Left with no other choice, Professor Dumbledore tried once again to contact Adam through the portraits. When that failed, he could only turn to Grindelwald, hoping that perhaps Grindelwald knew where Adam was.

Grindelwald really did know.

"Why are you looking for Adam?"

Grindelwald raised an eyebrow at Professor Dumbledore.

"I have some questions I would like to ask him."

Professor Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald—or rather, Professor Grindelwald. From Harry, Ron, and the others, he had learned of what the man had done over the past year… and he had to admit, his opinion of Grindelwald had improved a little.

Only a little.

"I’m afraid that won’t be possible…"

Grindelwald shook his head.

"Adam is deep in the Forbidden Forest right now. If he does not come out, no one can find him."

Professor Dumbledore’s expression turned somewhat strange. He was only in the Forbidden Forest. Even if Adam had expanded its space, surely it could not be so vast that no one could find him…

"Screech—"

Twisted limbs, bandage-wrapped arms, wings covered in golden eyes, a maw like an abyss… Accompanied by a horrifying cry, darkness blanketed the Forbidden Forest while flames swallowed it whole.

Yet this apocalyptic scene vanished along with the monster in the next instant, leaving only devastation across the ground.

"So it still won’t work."

Adam looked at the closed Creation Card book in his hand and sighed.

"’Creatures’ can truly exist in this world by hybridizing with creatures that already exist in this world. But ‘rules’ cannot. Even if the Creation Card forcibly produces a hybrid creature with the power of ‘rules,’ it will disappear once it loses the support of the Creation Card’s ability."

Creating monsters with nothing but immense energy and physical bodies was easy—at least, it was easy for Adam now.

Whether it was ancient dragons like Xiao Hei, primordial Titans, or the Zerg from StarCraft, all he needed to do was write sufficiently detailed information and have them hybridize with creatures that existed in reality.

But he could not create entities capable of warping the rules of reality.

Aberrations would not work. Containment objects would not work. Rule-based horror stories would not work either. No matter how weak or harmless such beings were, their very existence infringed upon and distorted the rules. Without Adam’s support, they could not independently exist in reality for even a second.

It was like trying to make metal blossom and bear fruit without any continuous external intervention. Adam, as he was now, could not oppose the rules through his own power alone.

"I was being too greedy… To do that, I would probably need to make at least one additional Adam Card. Forget it. I should finish anchoring myself first."

If Adam’s idea had succeeded, he could have accomplished much more during the anchoring process. Unfortunately, it had not, so he could only proceed according to the original plan.

"Hmm?"

After putting away the book and leaving the special area, Adam looked beyond the Forbidden Forest in surprise. Then his body vanished from where he stood.

Some time after Adam left, a tremor arose somewhere within the special area. A small bulge pushed up from the ground, and black eyes peered through a crack to examine the surroundings. Then the carpet-like creature dragged its battered body away at high speed.

"Professor Dumbledore, were you looking for me?"

Hearing Adam’s voice, Professor Dumbledore looked at him and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Adam, just how many times larger did you make the Forbidden Forest?"

"Not that many times, really. You were actually already close to the end. The reason you could not go any farther was something else… The area ahead is protected by magic similar to the Fidelius Charm."

The essence of the Fidelius Charm was to hide certain "information" in another dimension. People could neither see nor hear it, and no magic could perceive the information on the other side of that dimension unless someone who knew it voluntarily revealed it.

"The Fidelius Charm… No wonder I could not contact you by any means."

Professor Dumbledore sighed. In Adam’s hands, the Forbidden Forest had indeed been developed thoroughly… Its development level had long since surpassed one hundred percent.

"Then, Professor Dumbledore, let us discuss this properly in The Office."

Although Adam had come out this time to begin preparing his Elixir of Life, there was no need to rush.

Professor Dumbledore, however, seemed even more anxious.

"There is no need. I only came to ask you one thing…"

Professor Dumbledore told Adam why he had come.

Adam understood at once. It seemed that the Order of the Phoenix had begun to grow impatient as well. Still, they had identified the Horcruxes quite accurately.

As for how to resolve Harry’s problem, that was simple. Adam would offer the Order of the Phoenix every kind of support except actual help.

"Let me use these two little creatures as an example for you, Professor Dumbledore."

Adam stretched out a hand, and a mosquito and a spider appeared in his palm.

Adam had summoned both of them with the Summoning Charm. Otherwise, there was not a single pest left in Hogwarts now.

"Please watch."

Professor Dumbledore looked at Adam’s palm. At a certain moment, the two insects suddenly began to twitch—

After observing them closely for a while, Professor Dumbledore dismissed the idea that they were twitching. The mosquito was actually wriggling its limbs and wings against Adam’s palm, while the spider had begun flailing its legs.

"This is…"

"I exchanged their souls."

Adam clenched his fist, and the two insects disappeared from his palm.

"This is the method I use: exchanging the soul of a precious Horcrux I wish to preserve with that of some ordinary object, such as a leaf or a stone. That way, Voldemort’s soul is no longer in the precious treasure. As for the leaves and stones that become Horcruxes…"

They could simply be dealt with however they wished. Once the vessel was no longer precious, there were far too many ways for the two of them to destroy a Horcrux.

"So that was how it worked."

Professor Dumbledore sighed. In that case, it truly could not be used on Harry. Otherwise, where would Harry’s soul be transferred?

Adam was right. This magic could only be used to deal with inanimate objects that had been made into Horcruxes.

After a moment of silence, Professor Dumbledore spoke again. He described Harry’s current condition and what he understood of Voldemort’s present state, including how Voldemort’s continued existence had prolonged the Passive Resistance Charm on Harry, which should have expired once Harry came of age…

Even with that safeguard, Professor Dumbledore was not at ease. The continuation of the Passive Resistance Charm was ultimately only a conclusion he had inferred from his own knowledge. He could not let Harry risk his life based on that alone.

So he proposed another safeguard—the Elder Wand.

"The Elder Wand will not harm its true master."

Professor Dumbledore’s eyes flickered as he slowly revealed his plan.

"Voldemort places too much faith in power. He believes I am stronger than he is only because of the Elder Wand’s power, so he dreams of obtaining it."

"And once he obtains the Elder Wand and believes he has become its master, he will certainly keep using it… As long as we make him believe that he truly has become the Elder Wand’s master."