Chapter 117: The Genius Who Created Magic
The sudden halt of the Quidditch match and Dumbledore's hurried departure with the professors clearly indicated that something major had happened.
The students speculated that it must be related to George and Hermione, who had descended from the sky. However, with Professor McGonagall standing guard, they couldn't approach the two directly.
If it weren't for McGonagall's presence, the two would have been swarmed by curious students.
Still, rumors and theories spread like wildfire.
Of course, the most discussed topic was why George could grow wings and fly. Had he learned a new spell, or did he have some bird-like wizard ancestry?
It took two hours before Professor McGonagall allowed the prefects to lead the students back to their common rooms in batches.
It turned out that Dumbledore and the professors hadn't found the basilisk in the castle, but they did discover traces of its attack and corroborated the accounts from the portraits. They concluded that the basilisk had likely retreated to the Chamber of Secrets.
"George, Hermione, come with me!"
After all the students had returned to their common rooms, McGonagall took George and Hermione to Dumbledore's office.
"Should we tell them about Harry and the diary?"
On the way to the headmaster's office, Hermione whispered.
Harry could hear the basilisk's whispers, and there was the matter of the diary and Tom Riddle. These were Harry's secrets, and he didn't want to share them with the teachers yet, so Hermione was conflicted.
Earlier, George had only mentioned their encounter with the basilisk, not Harry's secrets. She wasn't sure if she should come clean when the headmaster questioned them.
George thought for a moment and leaned closer to Hermione:
"Let's not say anything for now. We'll discuss it with Harry later and see what he thinks.
As long as we prove that the monster in the Chamber is a basilisk and not a spider, Hagrid won't be accused of being the heir or killing Myrtle."
He was worried that if they revealed everything, the professors might find the entrance to the Chamber and deal with the basilisk prematurely, ruining his plans.
He didn't need Dumbledore to leave the school for as long as in the original story. Even a single day would be enough for him to memorize the powerful dark magic spells in the Restricted Section.
"Okay, I understand."
Hermione nodded. She also felt that such matters should only be disclosed with Harry's consent.
"Lemon drop!"
At the eighth floor, in front of a hideous stone gargoyle, McGonagall spoke the password. The gargoyle sprang to life, jumping aside as the wall behind it split open.
Behind the wall was a rotating staircase, moving upward like an escalator.
"Follow me."
George and Hermione followed McGonagall onto the staircase, which quickly ascended and stopped at an oak door with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin.
Pushing open the gleaming oak door, Dumbledore's office came into view.
It was a spacious, beautiful circular room filled with whimsical little noises.
Slender-legged tables held many peculiar silver instruments, spinning and puffing out small clouds of smoke.
The walls were covered with portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses, all snoozing gently in their frames.
In the room was a large claw-footed desk, and on a high gilded perch above it stood a beautiful bird with golden tail feathers.
Clearly, that was Dumbledore's pet, Fawkes, the only phoenix in the world that could be reborn from its ashes and never truly die.
On a shelf behind the desk sat a tattered, wrinkled wizard's hat—the Sorting Hat from his first year.
This wasn't George's first time in the headmaster's office. He had been here before to sign the contract for joining the English Quidditch team and had even taken a group photo.
At the moment, Dumbledore and Snape were standing in front of the desk, deep in conversation. The other professors were likely stationed around the castle to prevent the basilisk from reappearing.
"Headmaster, I've brought George and Miss Granger."
McGonagall's voice interrupted their discussion, and they both turned to look at George and Hermione.
"Good, please sit down. George and Miss Granger, could you recount your encounter with the basilisk in more detail?"
Dumbledore's tone was gentle as he gestured for everyone to sit on the sofa by the office. House-elves brought over two glasses of juice for George and Hermione.
George took the juice and calmly began recounting the events.
He didn't mention that Hermione had discovered clues about the basilisk and came to the library for a book. Instead, he said Hermione had come to find him to watch the Quidditch match, and they encountered the basilisk on their way out of the library.
He used the Sectumsempra spell taught by Snape to fend off the basilisk and escaped with Hermione.
"I've always thought it was too early for Severus to teach you such a dangerous spell, but it seems I was wrong. You did very well. But where did you learn the flying spell?"
Dumbledore knew about Snape teaching George Sectumsempra, but Snape hadn't mentioned teaching him a flying spell. Earlier, Dumbledore had confirmed with Snape that he hadn't taught George such a spell.
Moreover, the flying spell George had displayed was different from the one Snape had learned from Voldemort.
Snape's flying spell transformed the body into a shadowy form that flew swiftly through the air, while George's spell created wings that flapped to achieve flight.
George stood up and activated his "Wing" magic, causing the pure white wings to reappear on his back.
"This is a new spell I accidentally came up with in a moment of inspiration. I call it Wing Magic. It allows me to grow wings and fly like a bird..."
The magic of the Harry Potter world and the Fairy Tail world had many differences, but they weren't entirely incompatible.
After some time studying the basic principles of magic in both worlds, George realized that with enough research, the two systems could be integrated.
For example, if Fairy Tail magic were cast using the methods of the Harry Potter world, its power would likely increase significantly with the aid of a wand.
Conversely, Harry Potter magic cast using Fairy Tail's magic circles could eliminate the need for wand movements and incantations.
At his current level of magical ability, George couldn't fully achieve this, but he could at least theorize about it.
So, after demonstrating his "Wing" magic and explaining a small part of its principles using the magical theories of this world, Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall were convinced.
As legendary and top-tier wizards, the three understood that the principles George described for the "Wing" magic hadn't appeared in any magical texts before, and they were indeed feasible.
(End of Chapter)