047- Accusations

Faced with Ivan's moist eyes, Ron didn't know what to say...

Harry also wanted to call bullshit, but seeing Ivan's sincere expression, the words that came to his mouth were swallowed abruptly.

At this moment, an old and steady voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears.

"It's nothing embarrassing to face the truth... Halls..."

This was Dumbledore's voice. Ivan heard it instantly started using Occlumency. At the same time, he spent 100 academic points to activate the experience card, which gave him a sense of security as he looked behind him.

At the door of the headmaster's room, stood Dumbledore with white hair and aged beard for who knows how long.

"Professor..." Harry said in surprise and then became a little nervous because they had used the mirror without consent.

Dumbledore was not looking at them, but at the Mirror of Erised. Ivan couldn't see any clues from the reflection in Dumbledore's eyes. He only knew that he had seen his sister and was reminiscing for a while before he recovered.

Dumbledore stepped forward and stroked Harry's head with his hand, then looked at Ivan.

"What Halls just said is correct. This is the Mirror of Erised, which allows us to see the strongest desire hidden deep in our hearts. In the past, many people were lost to these false illusions, and they spent their life standing in front of it. Over time, they become obsessed with the false reality, as they didn't know whether everything in the mirror was real or whether it was possible to achieve..."

"I don't want you to be like them," Dumbledore added.

"Halls, do you mind telling me what you saw in the mirror?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

Ivan hesitated for a while, thinking about some excuse, but after hesitating for a while finally told the truth.

"Family..."

"Yeah, I should have guessed that..." Dumbledore whispered, seeming moved.

"Professor, what do you see in the Mirror of Erised?" Ivan asked quickly without giving Dumbledore think for too long.

"I saw myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks," Dumbledore said.

"There can never be enough socks..." Dumbledore continued. "I thought I would receive a few pairs at Christmas, but unfortunately nobody did, everyone insisted on sending me books."

Ivan curled his lips. Although he understood that Dumbledore used the woolen socks as a metaphor for familial affection, he couldn't help but curse in his heart.

'Who just said to face the truth? Professor, where are your morals?'

After delaying for a while, Harry also woke up from the excitement of seeing his parents in the magic mirror, remembering what they had come for, and interrupted anxiously.

"Professor, we are here to report to you that a mysterious man in a black robe got a way to get past through Fluffy from Hagrid a few days ago. He probably wanted to go through the trap door and steal the Philosopher's stone..."

Harry finished speaking in one breath and felt that this alone was not enough, so he told him all about his broomstick being controlled during the Quidditch game, and that he saw Snape's calf injury after Halloween.

Ron and Hermione also added details that he missed...

"Don't worry, you can sit down and speak slowly." Dumbledore seemed to have known and was not surprised at the story. He waved his wand and conjured four chairs, beckoning them to sit down.

Harry and the others nodded, and everyone sat down, Dumbledore asked.

"Can you tell me first, where did you learn about the Philosopher's Stone?"

Isn't it the clue you left behind? Ivan murmured in his heart, but Harry and the others said something implicating Hagrid before he could speak, "We learned from Hagrid that whatever was hidden under the trapdoor was related to a man called Nicolas Flamel. Then Ivan found out that he was the creator of the Philosopher's Stone. "

"Then who do you think would do this kind of thing?" Dumbledore nodded, confirming Ivan's explanation.

"We suspect it's Snape! Or maybe Professor Quirrell ..." Harry said hurriedly.

Dumbledore did not reply this time but fell into a long period of contemplation.

"Professor, don't you believe us?" Ron asked eagerly.

"No, of course, I believe you." Dumbledore comforted Ron and the others, and then said in a deep voice, "but I also trust the professors in the school, they won't do this kind of thing."

Harry opened his mouth and wanted to refute, but Dumbledore waved his hand.

"It's not just the three-headed dog Fluffy that is used to guard the Philosopher's Stone. Every professor has arranged a protective measure under it to safeguard the stone, including Snape and Quirrell..."

"So the Philosopher's Stone is safe," Dumbledore added.

"Then the stone isn't in any danger, then why did you bring it to Hogwarts and set up so many protections here?" Ivan easily found the loophole in Dumbledore's words and asked aloud.

Now that he has found an opportunity to report Quirrell, Ivan was crazily hinting that Dumbledore should quickly resolve this potential threat.

'Given there was a professor-level enemy who was still connected with the Dark Lord access to students who have just entered Hogwarts, Professor com, won't your conscience hurt?'

Ivan murmured in his heart, but he did not forget to use Occlumency with full focus, creating some reasonable false memories outside his shield.

Because just when he answered his previous question, Ivan noticed that Dumbledore had used Legilimency three times, once when Harry told the story, once when he mentioned the Philosopher's Stone and last time when he asked them who they suspected.

Of course, the mental probes did not last long. It seemed he only wanted to confirm whether they were lying or hiding things.

Thanks to the extraordinary bonus his Occlumency received due to the experience card, and Dumbledore was not using his full strength, Ivan had successfully concealed his true thoughts.

"That's because I got the news by accident. There is a very dangerous person who is planning to steal the Philosopher's Stone, but it's not Snape or Quirrell as you suspected." Dumbledore gave Ivan an appreciative look but didn't explain anymore, he got up and looked at the magic mirror of Erised.

"Anyway, thank you for your reminder. I will let the other professors pay more attention to this matter. You should go back first... I am going to put this mirror somewhere else. If you find anything else suspicious, you guys are welcome to tell me again."

"Okay, Professor, let's go now..." After confirming that Dumbledore did not intend to deal with Quirrell now, Ivan just wanted to leave quickly. He didn't want to stay in front of Dumbledore any longer than he had to...

Harry opened his mouth, there were still many questions to ask and many things he wanted to say, but in the end, he left the headmaster's office with others without saying anything.

Just after the four had left his office, Dumbledore stood in front of the Mirror of Erised pondering for a long time, and then suddenly asked.

"Severus... what do you think?"