In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Chapter 118: Reason

Inside the main hall of the Ministry of Magic, which is half a soccer field in size.

Voldemort and Dumbledore were sitting five meters apart, facing each other.

These two people, who should be most hostile to each other within the British wizarding community at present, did not fight as soon as they met, but instead looked as calm and peaceful as if they were really just a student and professor who had not seen each other for a long time and this meeting is just meant to catch up.

"So who did you let infiltrate Hogwarts castle without triggering any kind of warning?"

Voldemort stared into Dumbledore's eyes, his face showed hardly any anger, instead, it seemed as if he was genuinely asking this question due to curiosity.

"Those Age Detection enchantments were set by me personally, it would take an extremely high level of Confundus Charm to fool it, who else but yourself is capable of such a feat?"

Dumbledore still had that same smile on his face, and he spoke softly.

"You sometimes believe in yourself a little too much, Tom, believe in your own magic, and even more in your own judgment."

When Dumbledore addressed him with that name, Voldemort subconsciously narrowed his eyes, he obviously disliked hearing that name, much less the family name behind it.

"Self-confidence is never a bad thing, that's what you taught me back then, Professor Dumbledore."

"But self-confidence is not the same as arrogance, but now I am no longer your professor, if you can't understand some things, it is beneficial to me, is not it?"

The expression on Voldemort's face gradually darkened, his snake-like eyes focused as if he was staring at prey.

"And you, Dumbledore, are you that confident that the person who infiltrated the castle can save that bunch of mudbloods? And also have so much confidence in those bedbugs in Azkaban that they could escape?"

"Your reign is actually a complete mess, Tom." Dumbledore said casually as if he did not see Voldemort's menacing gaze, "you should have felt the power of violence can only get short-lived obedience, to make most people really support you, you need to let them see the benefits. But your awakening time is still a bit short in the end, if you had operated for a longer period of time, perhaps I would not have had such confidence."

Voldemort snickered.

"Now why aren't you mentioning your ridiculous love?"

Dumbledore did not fume at his mockery but had a calm face.

"[For the Greater Good], I deserve part of the credit for coming up with that phrase, I had seen much before you did, what the so-called human nature really is. But magic is supposed to be the existence that allows the individual to transcend the group, and interest can draw the group together, but love - it can make the individual mighty."

"So what?" Voldemort asked with cold eyes and a high tone, his voice echoing in the empty main hall, "You have always said that I could never master the most powerful magic, if I didn't know anything about love. But now, who is the loser? And who is the victor!"

Dumbledore quietly locked eyes with Voldemort.

"No matter what kind of spell, the 'will 'is always the driving force necessary to cast the spell, and love, is the strongest 'will'." When he said this, he suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly, "But you're right, even if I can say more, keep saying more truths, there is no way to hide the fact that I am indeed a loser. The mysteries of magic are infinite, I'm not an omniscient god, there will always be powers that I don't understand that someone else might have mastered, but-"

"Your power is also unstable isn't it?"

A silence fell in the main hall, the atmosphere seemed to have frozen, and only the sound of the moving hands of a large clock hanging on the wall continued to resonate.

"Are you sure I don't dare to fight you or is that incompetent loser also in this city? Did he give you enough reliance to give you adequate backbone?"

After a long pause, Voldemort slowly stood up from his chair, and simply looked at the old man in front of him in a condescending manner.

Dumbledore also looked at him calmly.

"Neither, Tom. I believe you dare to fight me, I also believe that you are not afraid of Gellert and I teaming up against you, but I believe more than that, you have enough rationality now. Your reason will tell you that if we fight in this place, then, a lot of things will go wrong later on, things that are very bad for you."

"Your sanity, which made you have today's achievements, but also for the same sanity, you also have to sacrifice a few things to it."

While he was talking, Voldemort had already pulled out his wand.

But Dumbledore remained motionless in his chair, watching his every move.

Two people just silently looked at each other, the hands of the clock were still moving, Voldemort although holding the wand, it did not seem like he intends to raise it.

And just when the clock's hand pointed to "", Dumbledore also stood up from the chair.

"I'm glad I had such a nice chat with you, Tom, but it's getting late." He straightened his trench coat, "due to the reason that Horace was poached by you, I now have to substitute for his original teaching positions myself, I have two more classes to conduct this afternoon, so that's all for today."

Just as his words ended, a golden-red light flashed abruptly at his side, and Phoenix Fawkes, who had turned into a professional cab, landed on Dumbledore's shoulder.

"Today's matter, will not end in this way, Dumbledore."

Voldemort did not even seem like he wanted to stop Dumbledore from leaving, and just coldly said words that didn't sound very threatening, and simply watched as the radiance completely wrapped him up.

Before disappearing from the main hall, Dumbledore responded in a soft voice.

"I'm looking forward to it."

The glow dissipated.

Voldemort was the only one left in the main hall.

No emotion could be seen on his face, and he slowly sat back in his chair.

His gaze was calm, calmly staring at the chair Dumbledore had sat on earlier.

The sound of the hands ticking on the clock was very rhythmic, he followed that rhythm, the fingertips of his index finger gently tapping the body of his wand.

Just as he fell into contemplation, his mouth suddenly and strangely seemed to open on its own and let out maniacal words that quite contradicted the calmness of his eyes!

"Why didn't you just KILL him! What are you afraid of! Why aren't you killing him! Why don't you kill him!!!"

The voice echoed in the main hall, and Voldemort raised his fist without hesitation, and punched himself hard in the mouth!

This punch was so hard that it directly caused blood to appear at the corner of his mouth.

"Stupid." It was as if he had regained control of his mouth, his voice once again returning to calm and cold, "If it wasn't for you, I would have dealt with him the moment I saw him."

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and dried the blood from the corner of his mouth, then turned around with a gloomy gaze and walked inside the Ministry of Magic.

----

#Archit Sharma, Thanks for all your love and support.

Read advance chapters on P@treon. If you have some extra pocket money, Support me at P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!