Dumbledore's voice was still flat, as if he were saying he'd lost a Knut while out shopping, but the news stirred up a storm in Kael's heart.
"The wand that was stolen… that wouldn't happen to be the Elder Wand, would it?"
"Oh, I didn't expect you to recognize that it was the Elder Wand." Dumbledore looked at Kael in surprise. "Remarkable, I always thought no one knew."
"Is it that hard? Any Wizard who's read The Tales of Beedle the Bard should be able to recognize it, right? It's drawn very clearly in there, after all."
"But Elder Wands all look the same. That's a property of the wood itself." Dumbledore said. He didn't seem to care at all about having his belongings stolen, and instead showed great interest in discussing wand design with Kael.
"That might be true," Kael said casually, "but I've never seen anyone else use an Elder Wand, and I've never seen one in Olivander's shop either. I even suspect he simply doesn't use that kind of wood.
"And most importantly, that wand was being held by the greatest White Wizard of our time."
"Now that's quite an impressive compliment." Dumbledore chuckled, looking almost a bit embarrassed.
"Yes, I have indeed been using the Elder Wand all this time." Dumbledore nodded. "But now Tom has taken it. Someone told Tom the Elder Wand could make him even stronger, so he designed this trap."
"And then he just snatched the Elder Wand?" Kael still found it a bit unbelievable.
How to put it—far too simple.
At least now it was certain that Bellatrix, Barty Crouch Jr and the other Death Eaters were all here, and hadn't left with Voldemort.
One-on-one, even with a trap laid, could Voldemort really beat Dumbledore and steal his Wand?
Kael just didn't quite buy it.
"You're underestimating Tom."
Seeing through Kael's thoughts, Dumbledore explained softly, "Back at Hogwarts, he was an exceptionally gifted student. He finished all his coursework by fifth year. After graduating, he traveled the world, created many unique forms of Dark Magic, and carried out a number of dangerous Magic experiments.
"All of this made his appearance grow more and more terrifying, but at the same time his power increased by leaps and bounds. Even quite a long time ago, I could no longer guarantee I would have a sure victory against him."
Kael shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
He had never underestimated Voldemort. The moment he learned the other man had gotten the Elder Wand, he even started wondering whether he should go say hello to Nicolas Flamel, move some things in advance to Flamel's old house in Paris, and pay a few years' rent up front.
That way, when it was time to run, he wouldn't be so nervous.
But by the same token, he had never underestimated Dumbledore either. Rita Skeeter had once called him the White Lord in her articles, and that wasn't some nickname bought with gold. The color might be different, but it was still "Lord," after all.
"So what exactly happened that day?" Kael asked again.
Besides changing the subject, this was also something Kael was genuinely anxious to know.
"The details don't matter," Dumbledore glanced at Kael, "but I used a wand to save a man. To me, that was a very profitable trade."
"Saved a man?"
"Olivander," Dumbledore said. "Remember? The Death Eaters attacked Diagon Alley once. One of their missions was to capture this Wand Master. He only escaped that time because he happened to be out looking for materials, which let him dodge the blow."
"But I remember he came back, didn't he?" Kael said. "And I don't recall any first-years last year who couldn't buy a Wand."
"Which is why he was taken not long ago." Dumbledore's tone held a hint of helplessness. "Even though we'd warned him many times, he was still noticed by Death Eaters on one of his trips to look for wand materials, and ended up in Tom's hands."
"And then You-Know-Who used him to threaten you?" Kael asked.
"Very much in keeping with Tom's character, isn't it?"
"No wonder he didn't bring other Death Eaters." Kael caught on as well. "The arrogant Dark Lord resorting to hostages to threaten Dumbledore—of course he wouldn't want his underlings seeing that."
"Less than dignified, perhaps, but very effective." Dumbledore said with a smile.
"Also, you can use his name freely here. The Fidelius Charm interferes with Name Magic as well."
"I just want to make it a habit." Kael shook his head. "So I don't slip up elsewhere and drag other people into it."
Kael vaguely remembered that Conna's father had been killed for mentioning Voldemort's name, and everyone else in the pub at the time had been slaughtered by the Death Eaters who rushed over.
It was only because a few quick-thinking people slipped out of the pub early that the news reached them.
By now it was almost impossible to say whether it was Conna's father who'd spoken Voldemort's name or someone else. But that didn't matter anymore.
After learning what had happened, Kael had always been very mindful of this, and slowly trained himself to say "You-Know-Who" instead of "Voldemort."
He himself was certainly not afraid, but calling Voldemort by his name wasn't the only way to prove his courage. He had no desire to hurt others just because he spoke too quickly.