Chapter 73 Looking Glass
Ron was still vomiting intermittently until the sun set, so they simply ate at Hagrid's place, of course, staying away from Ron while eating.
Later that night, it was Harry and Ron's detention time, so the four of them walked out of Hagrid's hut, and when they got near the castle, they split into two groups.
Although the two people's confinement is on the third floor and the fourth floor respectively, it sounds very close, but they belong to different areas. Believe me, you don't want to go around in circles after entering the castle.
So Hermione helped Ron walk towards the tower where the trophy room was located, while the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom that Harry was going to was on the way to the Slytherin Common Room.
"Della, did you know the meaning of that word a long time ago?" Harry couldn't help asking after walking a few steps. It was obvious that he had wanted to ask for a long time.
"Do you think my previous attitude was strange, Harry?" Della hit on the point that Harry cared about.
"Well... and recently, Neville told us about what happened in the carriage that day. I thought you two were still very close." Harry said slowly.
"When Draco first said that word, I roughly guessed what it meant, because he didn't like me at that time. Similarly, I wouldn't care about what people who hate me say." Della paused and squinted her eyes, as if she was recalling something. "Then, something happened. I think we both changed our views of each other. He never called me that again. I respect changes, and I'm not a person who likes to bring up the past."
"And recently, I think that should have been a conflict that broke out a long time ago. You've always felt that Draco and I aren't a good match, right?" Della looked at Harry and chuckled after he nodded blankly. "You're right. I just realized it. I don't want to go through any more trouble, so I took the initiative to express my non-cooperation, and this is the result."
To sum it up in one sentence, Della chose friendship over true friendship and vague affection, but she didn't want Harry and the others to be the ones who blame themselves, so she adopted such a roundabout way of saying it.
"I think he's been very righteous lately. He might cause trouble for you often. I feel a little embarrassed." Della quickly added while Harry was still confused about her words.
"There's nothing to be afraid of Malfoy, he's just a little annoying." As expected, Harry interrupted his thoughts and expressed his attitude at once.
As they were talking, they walked around a corner and saw Dumbledore in a complicated white robe. Looking at the two people who were suddenly stunned, Dumbledore said lightly, "Oh, you are here. I think Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley are also on their way to the detention room."
"Go, Harry, Professor Lockhart must be waiting impatiently," Dumbledore said before Harry spoke. After watching Harry leave, he looked at Della again, "Della, do you want to go to my office for a piece of candy?"
"I haven't done anything recently, have I, Headmaster?" Della said uncertainly as she followed Dumbledore.
"I am a little skeptical now." Dumbledore's white beard trembled into a chuckle. Della was not afraid of him and laughed too. Then she heard Dumbledore say, "I just wanted to talk to you about your summer vacation. Snape said that you seemed to have a good time."
"Snape also said that you are very interested in alchemy. Unfortunately, alchemy is a senior course in Hogwarts. However, I am quite knowledgeable about it, and I think we can have a good communication about it. We need a teacher, don't we?" Dumbledore said as he opened the stairs to his office. His tone sounded very homely.
Della followed him into the automatic staircase. As she listened to Dumbledore's words, her eyes rolled slightly upwards, and it was obvious that she was indeed considering the proposal carefully.
She probably knew Dumbledore's considerations. It was best to guide gifted children because everything could have adverse extremes.
"I do have something I'm interested in right now, Headmaster," Della said calmly as they walked to the side of Nirvana's Fox, staring at the pile of ash, "I want to create the 'Eris' magic mirror."
"Sure enough, simple alchemical tools cannot arouse your interest." Dumbledore paused, and opened the cabinet door on his left hand with his slightly hesitant hand, and took out a small spyglass. "You want to peek into the depths of the soul, right, Della?"
Della stared at the small convex mirrors of different shapes on the table, her pretty eyebrows slightly frowned, "I thought the spyglass was just a gadget, professor?"
"This is indeed a little gadget. I believe many of our students have one." Dumbledore picked up the necklace that looked the least like a looking glass and fiddled with it. "It detects lies and malice. Some looking glasses can even indicate things that are not in line with morality."
"This is actually quite troublesome, isn't it? Jokes and little lies are a good way to spice up our daily lives," Dumbledore said, changing the subject, as if he had become a mischievous boy again. "But the manufacturing of the looking glass is very simple, which makes it a good joke in our daily lives."
"..." Della felt that Dumbledore's prelude to speaking was a bit long, but she was used to Dumbledore's strange words sometimes. She knew that these strange words were probably Dumbledore's guesses about a person's future, and they were often very accurate.
"Well, that's not the point." Dumbledore shook his head and handed the necklace to Della. "The important thing is that it detects the fluctuations of the soul. Those bad things will temporarily change the aura of the soul. The peephole is used to capture these."
Black magic often carries the malice left in the soul of the person who casts the spell.
Della added in her mind that she understood Dumbledore's intention, so she took the necklace and felt it was cold in her hand, "I will take my time, Headmaster."
"And the one in your hand is my work. It doesn't make a sound, but it gets slightly hot. I wore it for a while." Dumbledore narrowed his eyes and spoke in a vague tone, as if he was recalling something. "But I soon found that simply detecting lies would only make me more confused, so I took it off."
"But I am glad that the other mirrors did not scream when I asked you just now," Dumbledore said, sliding his open palm across the empty table where the mirrors were placed. He looked at Della, "for your interest and for your honesty."
In response to Dumbledore's gaze, Della did not speak. The gaze between them no longer contained the suspicion of the previous times, but was more of an interweaving of the past and the present.
"Hiss—hiss—(Kill—kill—)"
The meaningful low snake language brought Della back to her senses, and she subconsciously looked towards the wall on the right where she heard the sound.
"What's wrong, Della?"
The doubt on Dumbledore's face did not seem fake. It was obvious that he did not hear anything. Della frowned and wanted to say that she had heard it wrong, but the low snake language that was different from that of ordinary snakes sounded again, so she looked at Dumbledore, "Professor, do you keep snakes here?"
"I only have Fawkes." Dumbledore shook his head and frowned.
"That's really strange. There's a snake yelling to kill people, and now the sound seems to be getting farther away." Della moved her eyes away, and only looked at Dumbledore after making sure she couldn't hear it. "Professor, that's not the sound of an ordinary snake. At least it's different from all the snakes I've encountered."
"......" Dumbledore frowned even more tightly. He looked at Della, and in his peripheral vision he saw a table of motionless mirrors. "I will investigate it carefully later. Now let's start the discussion."
"Okay, Principal Dumbledore." Della picked up a looking glass from the table. While talking to Dumbledore about her understanding of alchemy, she and the headmaster disassembled several looking glasses to study them.