Only after more than half an hour did Link finally get away from the enthusiastic crowd, and under Emily and the others' escort, he stood in front of the headmaster's office door.
The stone gargoyle at the entrance was still pretending to be dead.
This made Cedric and the others look rather unhappy.
In their view, Dumbledore must have taken back control of Hogwarts.
And this was all their fault.
They had failed to stop Dumbledore from returning and failed to hold Hogwarts.
"You all go back first. Leave the rest to me." Link glanced at them and spoke calmly.
Hearing this, Cedric and the others nodded and all turned around with gloomy faces, heading toward the nearby Room of Requirement.
Only after everyone had left did Link look again at the stone gargoyle by the door.
Had control of Hogwarts been taken back by Dumbledore?
Of course not.
As the shadow headmaster of Hogwarts, Link knew this better than anyone.
The mysterious power inside him that controlled the various permissions of Hogwarts had not decreased at all after Dumbledore's return.
On the contrary, it had even increased a little.
This situation already represented some of Dumbledore's attitude, so Link was not worried at all.
"Open the door." Link spoke expressionlessly.
The stone gargoyle turned its head as if it had just noticed Link, then said dryly, "Password."
"Password my ass!"
"Uh…"
After being scolded by Link like that, the stone gargoyle showed a very human-like trace of grievance, pouted, and slowly stepped aside.
"Password… correct."
Link went up the stairs step by step and walked straight through the open wooden door into the headmaster's office.
The furnishings inside the headmaster's office remained the same as before.
The only difference was that this time Dumbledore was not sitting behind the eagle-foot desk, but standing beside the perch, teasing the phoenix Fawkes.
Under Dumbledore's skillful stroking, Fawkes had its eyes closed in enjoyment.
Even so, the moment Link came in, it was still the first to notice him and gave a friendly cry toward him.
"It seems it really likes you," Dumbledore said to Link with a smile. "People it likes are not common in this world."
Hearing this, Link slightly narrowed his eyes.
He had also done some research on phoenixes.
Being liked by a phoenix, such a supernatural creature, was more than just uncommon. It was extremely rare.
People like that could be counted on the fingers throughout the entire history of magic.
Many people believed that phoenixes must have their own unique sense of judgment.
They never judged people by appearance, but by their souls.
Only the bravest and kindest people could win their affection.
However, this was wrong.
In fact, if you reviewed the past several hundred years of history, you would clearly discover that the people famous for commanding phoenixes all had one thing in common.
Either their surname was Dumbledore, or their families had once intermarried with the Dumbledore family.
From this angle, phoenixes were practically the patronus of the Dumbledore family.
So Dumbledore was actually hinting that the Flamel family might also have intermarried with the Dumbledore family in the past?
Thinking this, Link still smiled and said, "Welcome back, Headmaster Dumbledore. Although I had expected it before, I truly didn't think you would return in such a straightforward way."
Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Hogwarts is my home."
"Indeed, you lived at Hogwarts for decades and devoted your whole life to it. You've practically become a part of this castle," Link said meaningfully. "But some things aren't better just because they're older."
Dumbledore placed a dried stalk of dragon-blood herb into Fawkes's beak and said, "You're right."
"Old rules do bring stability, but they also tie our hands and prevent us from making progress. Sometimes, proper change helps us move toward a better future."
"So you approve of the changes we made?"
"Of course. You've done very well. Hogwarts is flourishing under your leadership," Dumbledore said with a smile. "So far I haven't seen any bad signs. In that case, why would I oppose you?"
Link put away his smile and said, "If that's the case, then why did you come back?"
"I already told you, this is my home. I lived here for decades." Dumbledore winked at Link.
"I heard that you allowed Trelawney, a dismissed professor, to continue living at Hogwarts on the grounds that Hogwarts is her home."
"If that's the case, then you should also allow an old man like me to return home to live, shouldn't you?"
"Dumbledore! You're shirking responsibility!"
The portraits of former headmasters on the walls finally could not hold back any longer. One witch with silver curly hair shouted angrily at Dumbledore.
Several other headmasters beside her also looked gloomy.
They had already understood the meaning behind Dumbledore's words.
Dumbledore was telling Link that he would not participate in the struggle over the headmaster's authority.
Dumbledore had given up his power.
A headmaster of Hogwarts having his authority taken by his own student.
This was an unbearable humiliation.
Old Black was different.
This eccentric man was already dancing excitedly inside his portrait, and while dancing he kept winking at Link.
He had long disliked Dumbledore, the left-leaning headmaster.
In his opinion, the "benevolent policies" Dumbledore carried out were nothing but fake kindness.
What was the point of turning Hogwarts into a paradise cut off from society?
After seven years of school life ended, wouldn't those students still have to face the harsh beating of society in the end?
Falling instantly from heaven into hell, that was the cruelest thing of all.
Rather than that, it would be better to implement harsh education from the beginning.
If a few students died, then so be it. It would only be reasonable elimination, nothing serious.
The most important thing was to train the students into hungry wolves, so that after graduation they would have the ability to hunt for themselves and survive on their own.
That was why Old Black liked Link so much.
He had clearly already treated Link as the hope that could restore Hogwarts to greatness.
However, looking at the noisy portraits of the headmasters and at Dumbledore's sincere face, Link laughed.
More accurately, he laughed in anger.
Although those magical portraits possessed most of the memories of the former headmasters, strictly speaking they were not the former headmasters themselves.
The difference in intelligence between them was enormous.
So they simply could not see Dumbledore's true meaning.
Dumbledore giving up the headmaster's authority?
Don't joke.
If Dumbledore really thought that way, then he would not have returned to Hogwarts.
Instead, he would have stayed away like he did when he gave up the position of Minister for Magic, hiding somewhere and keeping to himself.
So since Dumbledore had already returned to Hogwarts, the real meaning of what he had just said was this, he acknowledged the committee system Link had created and could hand over most of the authority so that Link could continue as the shadow headmaster.
But at the same time, he also wanted the portion of authority that belonged to him.
This was actually an open scheme.
Because Dumbledore's reputation was too high, Link had no way in the short term to create another figure like Umbridge to reasonably drive Dumbledore out.
But in the same way, Dumbledore also had no way to drive Link away.
This was not only a matter of reputation, but also of raw strength.
With Link's current personal power and the forces under his control, completely eliminating Dumbledore was probably not feasible, but wiping out the Order of the Phoenix and clashing with Dumbledore was still possible.
So this arrangement might also be worth trying.
After thinking this through, Link nodded and said, "If that's the case, then let's add another seat to the original three-party committee at Hogwarts and turn it into a four-party committee. This seat will represent the Hogwarts staff and be filled by you. What do you think?"
"That would be even better." Dumbledore said with a gentle smile.
Hearing this, Link's expression also improved a lot.
Although he had given away some authority, it did not really matter.
Because in the four-party committee, three parties were still his people.
This meant his orders could still be carried out very smoothly at Hogwarts, only with one extra step in the process.
But immediately after that, Link heard Dumbledore change the subject, "You plan to establish such a committee system in the Ministry of Magic as well?"
Link frowned and said, "What, are you planning to interfere in the Ministry of Magic too?"
Noticing the change in Link's wording, Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Of course not. I have no interest in the Ministry of Magic."
"Hogwarts is the hope of the magical world's future. What I mean is, if you want to establish a committee at the Ministry, I might be able to help try to persuade the International Confederation of Wizards."
"After all, I have many old friends there."
Link asked expressionlessly, "Why should I consider the opinion of the International Confederation of Wizards when deciding whether to establish a committee?"
Dumbledore froze for a moment. After a while he finally reacted, sounding somewhat surprised, "You mean you intend to reform the British Ministry of Magic directly without going through the International Confederation of Wizards?"
"Professor Dumbledore, not every old person is as open-minded as you. Most old people are simply too old. Long years have worn away their ambition and left them unable to accept new things."
"The International Confederation of Wizards is clearly made up of such people."
"All they think about now is stability, even if that stability is a slow death."
"After all, their lives are already like candles in the wind that could go out at any time."
"A group like that should withdraw from the stage of history."
Dumbledore seemed unable to accept Link's statement. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Link for a long time before sighing.
"The International Confederation of Wizards will not allow the British Ministry of Magic to break away from their control."
"Although for the sake of regional stability they will not carry out direct military intervention, economic sanctions are almost certain, and that would not be good news for the witches and wizards of Britain."
"But since you insist… then so be it."
"Just as I said, I have many old friends in the International Confederation of Wizards."
"I will help you negotiate with them and try to avoid economic sanctions."
"But on one condition. After the reform, the committee must not cause the social environment of the British magical world to rapidly shift to the right."
"This is a hard line, Link. You must understand."
"The current international situation is fully shifting left. If you suddenly move right, it will provoke public anger!"
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Link's face again.
He sat down on a nearby sofa and said, "This matter can be considered successfully settled. Next, it's time for us to talk again about Voldemort and those mysterious shadow figures."
As he spoke, Link snapped his fingers.
Immediately, two house-elves appeared out of thin air in the headmaster's office and skillfully arranged a pile of pastries and red tea on the coffee table.
Seeing this, the corners of Dumbledore's mouth lifted slightly. He took out a large bag of Fizzing Whizzbees from a drawer and poured them onto a cylindrical tray, then sat down opposite Link.
"Since you've already said that," Dumbledore said after taking a sip of tea, "it seems you must already have some guesses."
Link nodded and said, "There shouldn't be that many wizards in this world with such overwhelming strength."
"Or rather, even if there were, they shouldn't suddenly appear out of nowhere without any reputation. So these people…"
Dumbledore continued, "So these people should all be Voldemort."
"No, they should be fragments of Voldemort's soul. After all, the fragment in Riddle's diary once separated from the Horcrux and occupied a living person's body to act independently."
Link added, "Also, I have another question. How exactly did they become so strong?"
"Just that alone probably isn't enough to prove your theory, is it?"
"Of course it isn't," Link leaned forward and lowered his voice.
"But many Horcruxes mysteriously disappeared before I found them! Other than this possibility, I can't think of any explanation."
Hearing this, Dumbledore's eyes instantly became serious.
"You mean you actually confirmed the locations of multiple Horcruxes a long time ago?"
"Yes. Although I can't tell you the sources of the information, I can confirm that the intelligence is real," Link admitted directly.
"And I took action immediately after obtaining the information. I had no intention of deliberately letting you fight the Death Eaters to wear down your strength."
Dumbledore nodded with a heavy expression. Although he did not believe a single word of the latter part, that was not important right now.
"Those Horcruxes," Dumbledore said, "where were they supposed to be?"
Link thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
"There was one at Hogwarts. It was hidden in the junk room of the Room of Requirement."