Chapter 21: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
"I'm very sorry. I promise, next time before taking them out, I'll report to you first," Dumbledore said sincerely to Mrs. Cole.
"Alright... since they're back, let's leave it at that. You have no idea how worried I was! It's so dangerous outside... kidnappers everywhere!" Mrs. Cole said, glaring at Tom and Theo, who were hiding behind Dumbledore. "You two are not allowed to eat dinner tonight, that's your punishment!"
"Yes... Mrs. Cole," Theo and Tom responded weakly.
After Mrs. Cole left, Dumbledore turned to the two of them. "Alright, now it's time for you to tell me what you went through today."
"Okay... let's go to Tom's room, we can sit down and talk," Theo said.
"Let's go to your room instead, your room is nicer," Tom quickly objected. He didn't want to see Dumbledore in his room again... who knew if he'd burn something to scare him?
"Alright, then let's go to my room..."
A moment later, the three arrived at Theo's room. Theo pulled over a chair for Dumbledore to sit down, and then he and Tom sat on the bed.
"I imagine you must be hungry. However, Mrs. Cole has punished you by not allowing you dinner tonight, so I can't really go against her rules. Let's have something to drink instead," Dumbledore said, picking up an old umbrella from the side and placing it on the floor.
"Whoosh!"
In the next second, the umbrella transformed into a coffee table. This trick made Theo and Tom's eyes light up. Dumbledore waved his hand, and three drinks appeared on the coffee table, no one knew where he had hidden them before.
"I believe you can guess that I didn't just happen to be here to bail you out," Dumbledore said.
Theo and Tom nodded. Dumbledore pushed two glasses of pumpkin juice towards Theo and Tom.
"This morning, in an alley two kilometers from the Leaky Cauldron, Muggle police found two people tied up tightly..."
Theo nodded. "We did it."
Dumbledore was slightly taken aback, he didn't expect Theo to admit it so readily.
"Can you tell me why? I think I told you the other day that we absolutely do not allow wizards to use magic on Muggles," Dumbledore's tone became stern.
Tom said anxiously, "They're kidnappers! They were trying to kidnap us! We couldn't just stand there, could we?"
Theo patted Tom's shoulder, signaling him not to get so agitated.
"According to Article 3 of Chapter 1 of the newly revised 'Ordinance for the Protection of Minor Wizards' in 1928, minor wizards can use magic to protect themselves when in danger."
"And Article 1 of Chapter 1 stipulates that a minor wizard, as referred to in this ordinance, is a wizard under the age of eighteen."
"Tom and I are only around eleven years old this year, so we should both be protected by this ordinance."
"In other words, in the face of being kidnapped, Tom and I used magic for appropriate resistance, which fully complies with the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 1 and should not violate the Ministry of Magic's regulations..."
"So, Professor Dumbledore, we shouldn't be questioned about this."
Dumbledore was a bit stunned by Theo's words. Tom, on the other hand, stared blankly at Theo, completely unaware of why Theo was so familiar with these so-called wizarding regulations.
"How... how are you so familiar with these?" Dumbledore couldn't help but ask.
Theo shrugged. "We went to Diagon Alley today, and I spent more than two hours in Flourish and Blotts."
Tom looked at Theo in shock. "So, you really memorized all the books you were interested in? You weren't bragging?"
"Not all of them, after all, time was limited, I couldn't flip through all the books I was interested in..." Theo said regretfully, "I'll have to go to Diagon Alley again next time."
"So... you can memorize so many books just by flipping through them once? You... you..." Tom was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
Dumbledore was also a bit shocked. In other words, the content Theo was quoting now was all memorized after he flipped through it today... Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that he knew what he had done today, and went to find that ordinance and memorized it.
"Your talent is truly amazing, Theo... You're right, I can't question you about this. And your actions were indeed justified self-defense, you didn't do anything wrong..."
"However..." Dumbledore changed his tone, "Did you go to 39 Strand Street afterwards?"
"Yes, we did it too," Theo admitted again straightforwardly. Since Dumbledore came to find them today, it meant that what they did today had come to light. Any concealment would be futile. If Dumbledore didn't have enough evidence, he wouldn't have come here. It was better to admit it directly.
"Why did you do that?" Dumbledore asked with a frown.
"We all know how terrible it is to fall into the hands of kidnappers... They sell good-looking children to rich perverts, and those who are not so good-looking but clever are trained to be pickpockets, while those who are less clever have their limbs broken and are driven to the streets to beg..."
"So, after learning that there were still children in the hands of kidnappers, I dragged Tom along. We wanted to save people," Theo said calmly.
Tom was a little surprised that Theo had taken all the responsibility on himself this time. Dumbledore opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word of reproach.
After a long while, he slowly said, "It's right for you to want to save people... but you shouldn't have gone like that. I'm not saying I doubt your and Tom's abilities. But... wizards and magic must never be exposed to Muggles. This is a serious violation of the International Statute of Secrecy."
Dumbledore looked up at Theo, "I think since you've memorized these things, I don't need to repeat them to you, do I?"
"Yes, Professor... but we hadn't gone to Diagon Alley at that time and didn't know that our actions violated the International Statute of Secrecy."
Theo looked at Dumbledore, then lowered his head and said softly, "But I don't regret my actions at that time. If there are people who need help, and I happen to have the ability to provide it... then I can't just sit idly by. I always believe in the principle that with great power comes great responsibility."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "With great power... comes great responsibility..."
After another long while, Dumbledore spoke again, "Those captured kidnappers have all been driven mad and can't reveal anything about the wizarding world, so you were lucky this time and didn't violate the International Statute of Secrecy... Alright, tell me about the whole operation."
So, Theo and Tom told the story of the raid on the kidnappers' lair this morning from beginning to end, including the gold bars, Tom's Parseltongue, and Nagini, who was attracted by the Parseltongue. It was impossible to hide it, so it was better to tell the truth directly.
After listening to the story, Dumbledore sighed, "I have to say, you were lucky today... I used to know Nagini, she was a very unfortunate person... struggling between bestiality and humanity, it's hard to imagine how much pain she's in."
Tom asked quickly, "What exactly happened to her?"
Dumbledore said, "She's a Maledictus... Alright, we'll talk about her later, let's talk about the dozen or so gold bars you got."
Hearing this, Theo was still calm, but Tom couldn't help but widen his eyes, afraid that Dumbledore would confiscate the gold. Tom, who wasn't strong enough yet, now understood the importance of money very well. After all, he wasn't the future Lord Voldemort yet...
Dumbledore smiled, "I'm not going to confiscate your gold, I just want to remind you... can an ordinary kidnappers' den really have so much gold? You should know how much money that is after exchanging the gold today."
Theo immediately reacted, "Professor, are you saying we've gotten into big trouble?"
(Note: The so-called Ordinance for the Protection of Minor Wizards of the Ministry of Magic is made up by the author. Because there is no related information...)
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