"Then where do you think we are?" Harry said a little unconvinced.

"My dear boy, I don't know. As they say, you are the one involved."

Harry didn't understand what this meant. Dumbledore was becoming irritated. Harry stared at him, then remembered a much more pressing question than where they were.

"Deathly Hallows." After saying this, he was happy to see the smile on Dumbledore's face disappear.

"Ah, yes," he said, even looking a little distressed.

"What's wrong?"

This was the first time since Harry met Dumbledore that he didn't look like an old man. At that moment, he looked like a little boy who had been caught doing bad things.

"Can you forgive me?" he said. "Can you forgive me for not trusting you? for not telling you? Harry, I was just worried that you would fail like me. I was just scared that you would make the same mistake as me. I

I beg your forgiveness, Harry. I've known for some time that you're a better person than I am."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, surprised by Dumbledore's tone and the sudden tears in his eyes.

"Hallows, Hallows," murmured Dumbledore, "a desperate man's dream!"

"But they're real!"

"True, and dangerous, a fool's bait," said Dumbledore, "and I am such a fool. But you know that already, don't you? I have no more secrets to hide from you. You know that."

"what do you know?"

Dumbledore turned his entire body towards Harry, his bright blue eyes still sparkling with tears.

"Conqueror of death, Harry, master of death! In the end, am I better than Voldemort?"

"Of course," said Harry, "of course - why do you ask? You never kill anything if you can avoid it!"

"Yes, yes," said Dumbledore, like a child seeking comfort, "but I have also sought ways to conquer death, Harry."

"It's different from him." Harry said. He had been full of resentment towards Dumbledore, but now he was sitting here, sitting under the high dome, defending Dumbledore against his self-blame. What a strange thing.

."Holy weapons, not Horcruxes."

"Hallows," Dumbledore murmured, "are not Horcruxes. That's right."

There was a moment of silence. The creature behind them was still whimpering, but Harry didn't turn to look at it.

"Grindelwald also searched for them?" he asked.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and nodded.

"This is what brought us together in the first place," he said softly, "two smart, arrogant teenagers with the same obsession. I believe you have guessed it, he was for Ignotus Petra

Freel's Tombs just came to Godric's Hollow. He wanted to investigate the place where the third brother died."

"So, is this true?" Harry asked. "All this? The Peverell brothers -?"

"——The three brothers in the story," Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes, I think so. As for whether they encountered death on a remote road... I think it is more likely that Peffer

The Leal brothers were both very powerful and dangerous wizards who succeeded in creating these incredibly powerful artifacts. To me, the story of the Deathly Hallows is like some kind of legend that emerged around these inventions."

"The Cloak of Invisibility, as you know by now, has been passed down from generation to generation for ages, from father to son, and mother to daughter, down to the last living descendant of Ignotus, who was like Ignotus

, born in the village of Godric's Hollow."

Dumbledore looked at Harry with a smile.

"I?"

"You. I know you have already guessed why the Invisibility Cloak was in my hand the night your parents died. Just a few days ago, James showed it to me. No wonder he couldn't get away with it after committing those disciplinary violations in school.

Someone had discovered it! I couldn't believe my eyes, so I asked to borrow it back for study. At that time, I had already given up on my dream of owning all the sacred artifacts at the same time, but I couldn't resist and couldn't help but take a closer look.

...This invisibility cloak is different from anything I have ever seen before. It is very ancient and perfect in every aspect... Later, your father died, and I finally got two sacred artifacts, completely mine!"

His tone became extremely painful.

"However, the invisibility cloak will not help them survive," Harry said quickly, "Voldemort knows where my parents are, and the invisibility cloak cannot help them resist the curse."

"That's right," said Dumbledore, "that's right."

Harry waited, but Dumbledore didn't speak, so Harry prompted him.

"That is to say, when you saw the invisibility cloak, you gave up looking for the holy artifact?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said weakly, as if he was forcing himself to meet Harry's gaze, "you know what happened. You know. You can't despise myself more than I do."

"I didn't look down on you—"

"Then you should despise me." Dumbledore said, taking a deep breath. "You know the secret of my sister's poor health, you know the things that Muggles do, you know what she has become. You know that I

The poor father paid the price in order to avenge her and died tragically in Azkaban. You know that my mother gave up her life to take care of Ariana."

"I resented it all at the time, Harry."

Dumbledore's story was frank and cold. At this moment, his gaze passed over Harry's head and looked into the distance.

"I'm talented, I'm good. I want to escape. I want to stand out. I want to shine."

"Don't get me wrong," he said, pain appearing on his face, making him look older again, "I love them, I love my parents, I love your brothers and sisters, but I am selfish, Harry,

More selfish than you, a very selfless person, can imagine."

"So, after my mother died and I was left responsible for a disabled sister and a wayward brother, I returned to the village full of resentment and bitterness. I thought I was stuck and wasting my time! Then, needless to say, he came...

…”

Dumbledore looked Harry in the eyes again.

"Grindelwald. You can't imagine how his thoughts attracted and inspired me. The Muggles were forced to surrender, and we wizards were proud. Grindelwald and I are the glorious young leaders of this revolution."

"Oh, I had a little concern, but I comforted my conscience with empty words. Everything is for the greater good, and any harm caused can bring a hundred times the benefit to the wizarding world. Deep in my heart

Does anyone know who Gellert Grindelwald is? I think I do, but I turn a blind eye. As long as our plan can be realized, all my dreams will come true."

"And at the heart of our plan are the Deathly Hallows! How obsessed he was with them, how obsessed we both were! The wand that never loses, the weapon that gives us power! The Resurrection Stone - that means to him

The armies of the Inferi are stalking me, but I pretend not to know! For me, I admit, it means the resurrection of my parents from the dead, relieving me of all responsibilities.”

"And the Invisibility Cloak... somehow we never talked about the Invisibility Cloak, Harry. We both hide ourselves very well without the Cloak. Of course, the real magic of the Invisibility Cloak is that it not only protects and conceals

The master can also be used to protect and shield others. At the time I thought that if we could find it, we might be able to use it to hide Ariana, but our interest in the invisibility cloak was only because it was one of the three elements. According to legend, at the same time

He who possesses these three things is the true conqueror of death, which we understand to mean 'invincible'."

"The invincible conquerors of death, Grindelwald and Dumbledore! For two months I was intoxicated, filled with cruel dreams, and neglected the only two people left in my family who needed my care."

"Later... you know what happened. Reality emerged in the form of my rough, uneducated, but much better brother. I didn't want to hear the truth he shouted at me. I didn't want to hear it.

I am held back by a weak and unstable sister and cannot go in search of the Holy Artifact."

"The quarrel turned into a duel. Grindelwald lost control. Something in his character that I had always felt but pretended not to notice suddenly and horribly erupted. Ariana...

…after all my mother’s loving care and attention…fell dead on the ground.”

Dumbledore took a deep breath and began to cry emotionally.

Harry stretched out his hand, and fortunately, he found that he could touch the other person. He grabbed Dumbledore's arm tightly, and the old man slowly took control of himself.

"Later, Grindelwald escaped, which anyone but me could have expected.

He disappeared, taking with him his plans for power, his conspiracy to torture Muggles, and his dreams of finding the Deathly Hallows, dreams in which I had encouraged and helped him.

He ran away, and I stayed to bury my sister and learn to live my days in the guilt and deep sorrow that was the price of my shame."

"Many years have passed. I heard some rumors about him. It was said that he had obtained an extremely powerful wand. At that time, the position of Minister of Magic was placed in front of me, not just once, but many times. Of course I

Refuse. I already know that the power cannot be handed over to me."

"But you are better than Fudge and Scrimgeour, much better!" Harry said loudly.

"Really?" Dumbledore said in a serious tone, "I'm not so sure. The performance of my youth and vigorous years proved that power is my weakness and my temptation. Oddly enough, Harry, maybe the most suitable

Those who hold power are those who never engage in political maneuvering, just like you who were forced into the role of leader, put on the jersey under the circumstances, and were surprised to find that they actually wore it well."

"And it's safer for me to stay at Hogwarts. I think I'm a good teacher-"

"You are the best--"

"—You are very kind, Harry. While I was busy training young wizards, Grindelwald raised an army. People say he was afraid of me, and maybe he was, but I think I was more afraid of him."

"Oh, it's not that I'm afraid of death," Dumbledore responded to Harry's questioning gaze, "It's not that he's afraid of harming me with magic. I know that we are evenly matched, and maybe I'm slightly better. What I'm afraid of is the truth. Do you understand?

, I have never known who cast the spell that killed my sister in that terrible melee. You may say that I am a coward, and you are right. Harry, what I fear most from the bottom of my heart is

It was learned that I had caused her death, not only because of my arrogance and stupidity, but also that I had delivered the fatal blow to her."

"I think he knows, I think he knows what I'm afraid of. I put off seeing him until finally, and it would be a shame if I didn't show up. People were dying miserably, he seemed unstoppable, and I had to do my part."

"Well, you know what happened next. I won the duel. I won the wand."

There was silence again. Harry didn't ask Dumbledore if he knew who shot Ariana. He didn't want to know, let alone Dumbledore had to tell him. He finally found out when Dumbledore faced the Mirror of Erised.

What will he see, and understand why Dumbledore understands the attraction of the magic mirror to Harry.

They sat in silence for a long time, and the whimpering of the life behind him hardly distracted Harry anymore.

Finally, Harry said, "Grindelwald tried to stop Voldemort from pursuing the wand. He lied, you know, about never having it."
To be continued...