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Chapter 14: Lest there be no chaos in the world

"And when you have time, please give Fluffy a bath. It's so dirty now, it affects the feel of the touch." Dumbledore patted the three-headed dog's large head and said, "Fluffy, move your fat belly aside; you're blocking the door."

When Dracula entered the room, he noticed Fluffy was standing on a trapdoor, clearly guarding something.

Fluffy obediently shifted to one corner of the room, clearing a path for Dracula and Dumbledore to reach the trapdoor.

Dumbledore waved his hand, and the ring on the trapdoor was lifted by an invisible force, opening it up.

The hole beneath was pitch black and deep. However, with a vampire's excellent night vision, Dracula could clearly see what was below.

"Tsk, a whole area covered with Devil's Snare. Professor Sprout must be worried that intruders might get hurt falling down," Dracula remarked with a glance at Dumbledore. "Moreover, there can't be many wizards who haven't learned the Slow-Down Charm. Perhaps this is a test specifically for younger students?"

Dumbledore smiled and said nothing, floating down lightly to the floor below the trapdoor.

Dracula, meanwhile, gracefully fell into the hole and landed softly on a bed of Devil's Snare.

"The precautions for intruders are quite thorough," he remarked while lying on the Devil's Snare, which quivered slightly in the presence of the dense darkness.

Dracula got up and walked with Dumbledore along the stone corridor in front of the Devil's Snare, reaching the end where a brightly lit room awaited.

The room had a high vaulted ceiling, with countless little birds sparkling like jewels, fluttering about. Opposite them was a heavy wooden door.

"Setting up a wooden door but leaving the key behind, and even thoughtfully providing a few broomsticks," Dracula observed, looking at the magical birds and the brooms. "Turning the protective measures into a game of sorts, you really outdid yourself."

Listening to Dracula's sarcastic remarks, Dumbledore could no longer maintain his calm demeanor and laughed helplessly.

"I knew I couldn't hide this from you, Professor Dracula," he said. "Actually, you might have guessed, I never intended these obstacles to keep genuine intruders out. They're merely tests and challenges for students."

"Tests for whom? And who are they meant to train?" Dracula chuckled. "If I'm not mistaken, it's for the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, right?"

"As expected, you see through everything," Dumbledore sighed and said, "I do want to train Harry; he is an essential part of the process to defeat Voldemort."

"So I must ask you not to make the upcoming challenges too difficult. I don't want Harry to lose confidence before he even faces Voldemort because of the challenges set by his own professor."

Dracula nodded indifferently. He was more interested in uncovering some secrets about the savior.

How could a one-year-old child defeat the most powerful dark wizard in the world? Dracula was very curious about this.

The two waved their hands, unlocking the heavy wooden door, and then passed through a large puzzle board to arrive at a room that still faintly smelled of decay.

"There used to be a troll here, which Quirrell just had removed yesterday," Dumbledore explained. "So the smell is still quite unpleasant. Please, Professor Dracula, set up the next challenge here!"

Dracula surveyed the empty room.

"Before setting up the challenge, I have one question. What kind of difficulty level would allow a young wizard like Harry Potter to pass?" he asked bluntly. "After these classes, I'm afraid I can't praise Hogwarts' spell-casting levels. First-year students' casting abilities seem close to zero?"

Dumbledore masked his embarrassment with a smile and said to Dracula, "I believe that under your guidance, the young wizards will make rapid progress."

Dracula shook his head, no longer interested in setting up a playful obstacle course for children.

"Forget it. Let Quirrell give the troll a bath and then put it back," he said lazily.

With that, Dracula walked directly to the next door.

Dumbledore shrugged and followed Dracula.

The next room had only a table with seven differently shaped bottles.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, a wall of fire erupted behind them, sealing the door.

This fire was unusual, being purple. At the same time, black flames leaped up at the doorway ahead, trapping them in between.

"Setting Snape's potion challenge as a simple logic puzzle—didn't he make you work hard for it?" Dracula looked at the parchment next to the bottles with a smirk.

The parchment didn't contain questions about potions but rather a logic puzzle, which made the correct potion choice directly accessible to the intruder.

Neither Dracula nor Dumbledore was particularly afraid of such moderate flames, and they passed through the black flames to reach the final challenge.

The final challenge was simply a very grand mirror.

The Philosopher's Stone was hidden inside this mirror.

At the top of the mirror was an inscription: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." It had to be read backwards to reveal its true meaning. Reversing the letters and breaking the words properly revealed the sentence: "It shows not your face but your deepest desire."

Dracula paused, his interest growing as he looked at the mirror.

"The Mirror of Erised shows the most intense desires—usually the fulfillment of a goal or ambition. But just as everyone is unique, what the mirror shows each person is different," Dumbledore explained with a smile.

"So, can you tell me what you saw, Professor Dracula?"

Dracula was silent for a moment, then he chuckled softly.

"I saw endless fun coming right towards me," Dracula said softly.

Dracula didn't tell the truth.

What he saw in the Mirror of Erised wasn't himself, nor was it any concrete object.

He saw a war sweeping through the magical world, a chaotic situation.

Was this what he truly desired? Finding amusement in chaos, stirring up trouble in conflicts...

Creating disorder in the world!