“Evening, Hagrid.” Leo raised a hand in greeting.
“Leo?” Hagrid sucked in a sharp breath.
His thick beard began to tremble, and tiny beads of sweat appeared across his forehead.
“…Did you do all this?” “It was self-defense.
They attacked first.” Leo pointed toward the centaurs.
“They can testify for me.” “Wait…
lad…” Hagrid’s voice began to stammer.
He turned toward the centaurs instead.
“Kampa, what happened here?” “Fetch Dumbledore, Hagrid,” Kampa said gravely.
“This is beyond anything you can handle.” “All right.
I’ll get him now.” Hagrid hurried back toward Hogwarts Castle.
While they waited for Dumbledore, Leo turned toward the centaurs.
“So, which one of you is the strongest fighter?” Every centaur immediately fell silent.
Not one of them answered.
The awkward silence lasted until Dumbledore finally arrived.
“Mr.
William, it would appear you did not take my previous advice particularly seriously,” Dumbledore said wearily after learning what had happened.
“I understand.
Don’t worry, Professor.
There won’t be a next time.” Leo nodded with perfect obedience.
Dumbledore sighed.
For perhaps the first time, his deep blue eyes looked genuinely tired.
“At least I left one alive for questioning this time.” Leo pointed at the dark wizard lying on the ground, whose arms he had broken.
“Oh…
Merlin’s socks.” Dumbledore’s mouth twitched slightly as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking as though he could physically feel his blood pressure rising.
“Mr.
William, I would like you to accompany me to the Headmaster’s office.
Are you available at the moment?” “Now?
Won’t that interrupt your sleep?” “…It’s quite all right.
Older people rarely sleep as much as the young.” “Then why aren’t I asleep at this hour?
Is staying up this late going to stunt my growth?” “I doubt you have much to worry about on that front.
You are already quite tall enough.” Leo pointed at the surviving dark wizard.
“Is it all right to leave him here?” “Severus will be along shortly to deal with him,” Dumbledore replied.
“Any other questions?” “Nope.
Looks like I’m not getting out of this one.” Leo sighed.
“Getting summoned to the Headmaster’s office for a private conversation this early in the school year…
There’s a lot of pressure on a model student like me.” “I assure you, the pressure on your teachers is rather considerable as well…” ..
When they reached the corridor outside Dumbledore’s office, the stone gargoyle took one look at Leo and immediately jumped aside.
Leo scratched his head.
“This statue’s learned fast.” “I suspect we should have a conversation about respecting school property,” Dumbledore remarked.
“But that discussion can wait.” He led Leo up the moving staircase and into his office.
“Would you like some tea or pumpkin juice?” Dumbledore asked as he pulled out his chair.
“Got any Coke?” Leo made himself comfortable in the chair across from Dumbledore’s desk.
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Dumbledore tapped the desk, and two glasses of cola appeared before them.
“I bought some during one of my visits to the Muggle world.
I must admit, the flavor is quite pleasant.
It reminds me somewhat of champagne, though it has a sort of licorice sweetness unlike any champagne I’ve tasted, and of course there is no alcohol in it…” He took another thoughtful sip.
“Though I do find it a little lacking in sweetness.” Dumbledore promptly finished the entire glass.
“Burp.” A long belch escaped him.
Leo stared for a moment before laughing.
“All right, Headmaster.
We might as well be direct about this.” He took a drink of his Coke.
“You want to talk about what happened tonight.
More specifically, about the fact that I killed people.” “They were dark wizards, and Kampa told me they used Unforgivable Curses on you first,” Dumbledore said gently.
“You defended yourself.
Killing them under those circumstances was not wrong.” “So you’re worried about what it did to me mentally?” Leo took another drink.
“You don’t have to be.
I’m not bothered in the slightest.
You could put a glass of tomato juice in front of me right now and I’d still drink it.” “If you were disturbed by what happened, I might actually be less concerned, Mr.
William.” Dumbledore’s tone turned more solemn.
“Life is precious, is it not?” He reached over and gently patted Leo on the head.
“Of course.” Leo nodded.
“Don’t worry, Professor—” Dumbledore waved one hand and let out an exhausted sigh.
Leo paused.
“Looks like this conversation isn’t going anywhere.” Then his eyes brightened.
“In that case, Headmaster…
how about a fight?” Dumbledore stared at him.
“…What on earth are you talking about?” “And I have no intention of fighting one of my own Hogwarts students.” There was another reason Dumbledore had no desire to demonstrate his strength to a child.
He had once done precisely that before, and the consequences still haunted him to this day.
“There’s no such thing as someone simply being unwilling to fight,” Leo said as he rose to his feet.
“People just like inventing reasons for battle until they convince themselves those reasons were necessary in the first place.
But fighting never needed a reason.” His grin widened.
“I came to Hogwarts for this.
I’ve already held myself back for more than a week.
So show me what you can do, Dumbledore—the strongest wizard alive!” “You truly are a troublesome student.” Dumbledore sighed softly.
“Very well, child.
If you insist that there must be a reason, then what is your reason for fighting?” “To become stronger, so I can challenge even stronger opponents.” Dumbledore was silent for a moment.
“Very well.” ..
The next morning.
Gryffindor dormitory.
Leo slowly opened his eyes.
His mouth and throat felt dry, his head was spinning, and he had no idea when he had fallen asleep.
“Morning, Leo,” Harry said.
“You’re up really late today.
Not surprising, I suppose.
You came back pretty late last night.” “Wait.” Leo suddenly sat upright, immediately regretting it when another wave of dizziness hit him.
“Where am I?” Harry stared at him.
“In the dormitory.
What’s wrong with you?
Still half asleep?” “What?” Leo looked around, then groaned.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
That was terrible!” The memories of the previous night came rushing back.
He grabbed his hair in frustration and sat there for several seconds.
Then, little by little, the irritation faded.
An excited grin spread across his face.
“Dumbledore really is insanely strong!” Harry froze.
He remembered that Dumbledore himself had brought Leo back to the dormitory last night.
His face slowly turned horrified.
“Wait…
What are you saying?” Then his eyes widened.
“You challenged Dumbledore?” “Yeah.” Leo nodded.
“What?!” Seamus, Neville, and Ron immediately turned toward him.
“So who won?” Ron asked.
Neville gave him a flat look.
“Do you hear yourself?
Why would you even need to ask?
Obviously Dumbledore won.” “Oh.
Right.” Ron realized he had asked a spectacularly stupid question.
“Yeah.” Leo looked down at his hands, where a faint soreness from the previous night still lingered.
“Honestly, I feel kind of bad about it.” The others stared at him.
Leo sighed regretfully.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make Dumbledore fight seriously enough to enjoy himself.”