Perhaps Dumbledore had a sudden pang of conscience, or maybe he just wanted to watch Adelaide's predicament. On the night Adelaide brought Hermione back to the old manor, he actually Apparated back himself and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner with Adelaide, Hermione, and Alice.
After dinner, Adelaide slipped into Dumbledore's study under the pretext of "reporting her mission," temporarily escaping the lethal dilemma of choosing between "watching TV with Alice" and "reading with Hermione."
"Mr. Dumbledore, forgive my boldness, but I must ask: why on earth did you arrange for Alice to stay at the old manor?"
As soon as Adelaide entered the study, she went straight to the point. It wasn't even August yet, and Hogwarts wouldn't start for another month. Hermione was difficult enough to handle, and now he had sent her a little Slytherin snake!
Dumbledore replied with a smile, "My dear Adelaide, Alice is a close friend of yours. As they say, the more the merrier. I believe her arrival will make your summer break even more fulfilling."
Hearing Dumbledore's explanation, Adelaide mentally rolled her eyes. Well, thank you very much!
Thanks to you, the entire August of 1991 will be very "fulfilling" indeed.
Adelaide sighed and said somewhat petulantly, "In my opinion, some people just want to watch the drama; and as for me, I am the drama itself, wouldn't you say?"
Dumbledore didn't answer Adelaide's question directly or continue teasing her. He simply gazed at the young Grindelwald before him with a meaningful and slightly complex expression before speaking:
"Adelaide, to be honest, you always involuntarily remind me of your Great-Granduncle in his youth—could this be an innate talent unique to your Grindelwald Family? Although I didn't know Gellert when he first entered Durmstrang, I imagine he must have been as striking as you are, subtly imprinting the name of Grindelwald onto the hearts of those around him."
"And it must be admitted that, in terms of 'love,' you have surpassed your Great-Granduncle... From my observation, whether it's the proud Miss MacFusty or the clever Miss Granger, the diligent Miss Chang or the Rosier family's genius, Armandina, they all seem to hold you in high regard—so, how will you choose?"
Adelaide raised her eyebrows. Was Dumbledore trying to lay his cards on the table?
She knew this old fox's mind all too well. Setting aside Armandina and Cho Chang for a moment, Hermione and Alice likely held important positions in his schemes. Having two pawns he'd placed high hopes on poached by her would certainly leave Dumbledore unsettled.
Of course, when facing Lord Voldemort, the interests of Adelaide and Harry were aligned. They would work together to destroy Lord Voldemort and completely dismantle the power of the Death Eaters—but what about after that?
Regarding the future direction of the British Wizarding World, although Adelaide had been by Dumbledore's side since she was four, he didn't dare gamble.
Compared to a Grindelwald who possessed both independent thought and strength, Dumbledore was more willing to entrust the future of the British Wizarding World to The Chosen One, who was more loyal to him, not particularly bright, but very popular. That would be a safer bet.
Having noticed that both Hermione and Alice had fallen for Adelaide, Dumbledore was attempting to use their deep feelings for her to force her into making a choice.
Once she favored one and neglected the other, he could skillfully lure away the neglected one, thereby mitigating his losses and preventing both of their hearts from being tied to Adelaide.
Heh.
Adelaide couldn't help but sneer inwardly. She was, after all, someone who had experienced the vicissitudes of two lifetimes. How could she not see through the thoughts of these young girls?
Whether it was Hermione, Alice, Cho, or Armandina, every one of them was an exceptionally gifted Wizard. In Adelaide's eyes, these girls were her foundation in the Wizarding World and important partners for her future development—so why on earth should she have to choose between them?
She wanted them all!
However, her current strength wasn't enough to have a final showdown with Dumbledore; she still had to play the part.
Adelaide feigned a look of confusion, her sea-blue eyes staring at Dumbledore with clear bewilderment. "Choose what? You're the one who's always nagging me to make more friends my own age, and now that I finally have, you want me to choose between my best friends? That's just weird!"
Dumbledore was left speechless by Adelaide's words. He opened his mouth, but then suddenly realized that while the Adelaide standing before him was a monstrously clever genius, she had only just celebrated her twelfth birthday.
Although girls matured relatively earlier than boys, it still varied from person to person. In Dumbledore's view, it was clear that Adelaide was not the type to be emotionally precocious. Talking about "romance" and "love" was still a bit too early for her.
Dumbledore shook his head helplessly and said with a bitter smile, "Adelaide, my intention was for you to make sincere and kind friends who could support each other, not... Sigh, I've overthought it. You're still young and don't see many things clearly yet—let's not talk about this for now. I have another urgent matter here."
Seeing things were getting messy, Dumbledore had to change the subject. He took a gold-embossed envelope from a drawer, gave it a light shake, and continued, "The House of Malfoy has sent an invitation, inviting you, me, and Harry to a party they are hosting at Malfoy Manor on the evening of August 13th."
Adelaide's superb acting had successfully made Dumbledore temporarily give up on trying to seize control of the pawns from her. This made her a little smug; she hadn't expected to have evolved to the point where she could act in front of Dumbledore.
As for the invitation from the Malfoy Family... that cunning old fellow Lucius had probably realized that Lord Voldemort's momentum was gone and it would be hard for him to make a comeback, so he was now eager to cozy up to Dumbledore for self-preservation.
It had to be said that the Malfoy Family was among the most shrewd and capable of the British pure-blood Wizard families. Their sensitivity to political trends was astonishingly high; even if they picked the wrong side, they could make timely amends to ensure the family's longevity.
Adelaide was somewhat curious about how Dumbledore viewed the Malfoy Family's overture. She asked, "Mr. Dumbledore, what are your plans regarding this invitation?"
Dumbledore crossed his hands under his chin and fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
After a while, he slowly looked up at Adelaide and said, "I was hoping Harry would have more contact with the Malfoy child, but the summer break is still too early."
"I heard you invited Harry to the Weasley family's home for a birthday party today—you did very well on that point."
"For this summer, let Harry build a good relationship with the Weasley family first. Neither I nor Harry will be attending this time. I'll arrange for Edward to accompany you to Malfoy Manor. I believe you can handle it on your own."
Adelaide nodded in agreement. "Alright, I accept your arrangement."
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