Professor, I Want to Be Headmaster!

The memory had flashed by in an instant. Professor Dumbledore now sat on the sofa, looking at this student before him who seemed somewhat unfamiliar.

"What do you want to do?"

Looking at Adam, Professor Dumbledore felt as though he were meeting him for the first time.

"I want to be the headmaster of Hogwarts."

Adam was blunt.

Professor Dumbledore fell silent for a moment, then began to wonder whether he had grown so old that his hearing had failed him.

"…What?"

"I said, I want to be the headmaster of Hogwarts."

Adam looked at Professor Dumbledore, the seriousness in his eyes impossible for Dumbledore to ignore.

"I have to say, I have some objections to how you handled matters between Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic during your tenure. Now that you have stepped down, how about letting me take over?"

"…What do you want to do?"

The same question, but it did not mean the same thing.

"I want to protect Hogwarts."

Adam said it with complete conviction.

"I don’t think letting the Ministry of Magic take over Hogwarts is a good idea. Do you really think making Umbridge headmaster is a good idea?"

Professor Dumbledore’s thinking had been shackled by his moral restraints. Even though he knew the Ministry of Magic was doing the wrong thing, he did not want the students to learn to resist it—he did not want anyone to think resisting the Ministry of Magic was right, even if the Ministry of Magic was wrong. So he had left Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic.

"You should know that Umbridge cannot truly become the headmaster of Hogwarts, even with an appointment order from the Ministry of Magic…"

The Ministry of Magic had not even existed when Hogwarts was founded. The succession of Hogwarts headmasters relied on ancient contract magic.

"Then will you still secretly carry out the headmaster’s duties, protect Hogwarts, and keep everyone from being controlled by the Ministry of Magic?"

Faced with Adam’s gaze, Professor Dumbledore fell silent.

The reason he had removed himself from Hogwarts was to free himself from the Ministry of Magic’s constraints, allowing him to focus on running the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort.

Besides, although the Ministry of Magic wanted to control Hogwarts, it would at least ensure the safety of the students within Hogwarts… or so Professor Dumbledore believed.

"I can do it, Professor Dumbledore… Hand Hogwarts over to me. I will guarantee Hogwarts’s safety and keep any enemy from disturbing its peace."

The first half of those words was fine, but the latter half…

"Is the Ministry of Magic also an enemy, in your eyes?"

How perceptive, Professor Dumbledore…

"Yes."

Facing Professor Dumbledore’s grave expression, Adam’s face became equally serious.

"Stubborn, corrupt, drunk on power…"

"They will change."

"When? And what about the children crushed during that time? Do you know Umbridge is maliciously punishing students, Professor Dumbledore?"

Adam tossed a quill onto the table.

With Professor Dumbledore’s knowledge, he could tell what the magic on that quill was for without even using it.

"Compared with the children in Hogwarts, who still have limitless hope, do those vermin who have already taken shape deserve to make children wait in pain for them to change?"

"So what? Do you intend to get rid of those ‘vermin’?"

"That would be too extreme. Besides, someone is already planning to do that, so I do not need to concern myself with it, do I?"

Professor Dumbledore’s pupils constricted.

"You…" Were you planning to use Voldemort’s hand to purge the Ministry of Magic?

Once that thought clicked into place, Professor Dumbledore immediately understood even more—such as why Grindelwald was sitting beside them with an utterly unsurprised expression…

Professor Dumbledore gripped the Elder Wand.

"Are you planning to attack me, Professor Dumbledore?"

Adam raised a hand and summoned the Wand of Darkness.

"Before handing me the position of headmaster, you should indeed see proof of my strength. This is not a suitable place for a fight, though. Let’s go somewhere else."

"Expelliarmus!"

With the Elder Wand in hand, Adam ran his fingers over it. It did indeed feel different from last time.

He reversed the Elder Wand and handed it back to Professor Dumbledore, smiling faintly.

"Are you satisfied with my strength?"

Professor Dumbledore said nothing and rose with Adam’s help.

Just now, Adam had stood still and allowed him to attack. Every spell had failed to break through the protective magic around Adam. Then Adam had cast a spell, and he had suddenly been unable to use any incantations. After that, Adam used a Disarming Spell… and there was no after that.

For the first time, Professor Dumbledore realized that he could no longer understand magic.

"Why did you end up on the same path as Grindelwald, Adam?"

Professor Dumbledore sighed. His gaze toward Adam was filled with gravity and sorrow.

"Can wizards and Muggles not maintain the status quo?"

"Although I don’t know what you imagined, Professor Dumbledore, you are probably overthinking it."

Adam frowned in thought, then shook his head.

"I have not considered things that far ahead yet. Right now, I only want Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic to become what they were supposed to be."

Professor Dumbledore: "…?"

"Then you and Grindelwald…"

"Mr. Grindelwald and I made a deal…"

Adam glanced at Grindelwald, whose expression was starting to crack, and smiled faintly.

"I think Grindelwald would be an excellent choice for a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. What do you think?"

Grindelwald: ???

"If I wanted to start a war like Mr. Grindelwald, how could Fawkes possibly help me?"

Adam smiled at Fawkes.

Without question, Fawkes believed Adam’s plan was far more reliable than Professor Dumbledore’s.

"Professor Dumbledore, give me the position of headmaster."

Adam looked at Professor Dumbledore and spoke again.

"I will protect the students. At the very least, while they are at Hogwarts, whether it is the Ministry of Magic or the Death Eaters—even if Voldemort himself comes, I can ensure Hogwarts remains completely safe."

Professor Dumbledore hesitated before speaking.

"If you become headmaster, the parents will not trust you. Those children will be forced to return to their homes… Do you intend to forcibly keep them locked inside Hogwarts?"

"Your thinking really is in sync with Mr. Grindelwald’s."

Adam glanced at Grindelwald with a sigh, then turned back to Professor Dumbledore.

"I will conceal my identity as headmaster. Only the four Heads of House need to know who I am. That way, the parents will believe Hogwarts is still under the Ministry of Magic’s protection, and the Ministry of Magic will make sure they believe it."

After closing his eyes in thought for a long time, Professor Dumbledore opened them and looked at Adam, deep exhaustion in his eyes.

"All right… But before that, there is one more problem."

"What problem?"

"You are still a student at Hogwarts, and students cannot become headmaster. That is one of Hogwarts’s ancient contracts."

"…So?"

"So, when do you intend to graduate from Hogwarts?"