Hogwarts: I am the White Demon King

The dampness and cold in the air made Fawkes feel uncomfortable, so it chirped twice and stood directly on Dumbledore's shoulder.

Dumbledore stroked Fawkes's wings and sighed casually.

"Sebastian, you don't have to use Fawkes as transportation every time; it's starting to complain."

As if to confirm Dumbledore's words, Fawkes echoed him, chirping at Sebastian twice, as if saying, 'Exactly!'

"Don't be so fussy, Fawkes. We're busy tonight, so please bear with us," Sebastian chuckled, taking out Fawkes's favorite snack to replenish its energy.

Seeing this, Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head, carefully examining the surrounding rock walls.

"Sebastian, is this the place you mentioned where Tom hid Slytherin's locket before?"

"There are indeed traces of magic. It seems this is the entrance hall. We need to overcome the obstacles Tom left behind to get inside."

"Sebastian, there's still plenty of time. Don't reveal the answer yet. Let me see what challenges Tom has left here."

Dumbledore became interested and began to walk slowly along the right side of the cave, his eyes carefully scanning everything in the dim light. Seeing this, Sebastian directly took out a magic lamp to help the old man with his decryption game.

Dumbledore's hand gently brushed over the rough, uneven cave wall, his palm feeling the subtle changes in each texture. Occasionally, he would stop at a certain spot, his fingers carefully moving up and down along the uneven stone surface, as if trying to capture some hidden clue.

Finally, he stopped in front of one spot, his brow slightly raised, as if confirming something.

"Found it." He raised his wand and gently waved it at the rock wall in front of him. The surface of the rock began to tremble, and the outline of an archway slowly emerged, but before he could do anything, the archway disappeared again, as if it had never existed.

"How disappointing," Dumbledore stared at the stone wall in front of him for a moment, shaking his head dismissively, as if Voldemort's methods had not met his expectations. "Tom is still so unskilled, only thinking of weakening the enemy through physical harm. I thought I would witness some clever magic."

Saying this, he took out a small knife and pulled up the sleeve of his robe, revealing his left arm.

Seeing that Old Dumbledore was about to cut himself like he had lost his mind, Sebastian couldn't stand it anymore and quickly stopped him.

"Headmaster, don't rush. I've been here several times and figured out some clever little tricks."

Saying this, he took out a large bucket of dragon blood from his Undetectable Extension Charm bag, and then waved his wand, letting the dragon blood slowly pour onto the stone wall in front of him.

The archway appeared again, revealing a passage that seemed to hide endless darkness.

A hint of understanding flashed in Dumbledore's eyes.

Yes, blood with magical power could meet the requirements; it didn't necessarily have to be a wizard's blood.

Thinking of this, he laughed self-deprecatingly: "It seems I was confused just now."

To be honest, Sebastian couldn't understand why Dumbledore, who was so clever all his life, would act foolishly here, and even more so when he drank the poison later. He thought about it and could only attribute it all to Old Dumbledore's kindness and sense of responsibility.

"Let me be the guide next," he let the magic lamp float in front of him and took the lead in walking in.

Passing through the narrow passage, they came to the shore of a large black lake. The lake was wide and boundless, almost impossible to see the end, and the opposite shore was hidden in unfathomable darkness. Only a hazy green light floated in the center of the lake, like a mysterious eye, flickering eerily on the surface of the water.

The cave was extremely high, and looking up, the top had long disappeared into the boundless shadows. The surrounding area was filled with a thick, inky darkness, and even the light of the magic lamp could only barely illuminate a few steps away.

Seeing this, Sebastian took out dozens of specially made strong-light magic lamps from his Undetectable Extension Charm bag. He waved his wand, and the magic lamps leaped up like shooting stars, flying into the high reaches of the cave.

Then, he waved his wand again gently. Instantly, these magic lamps burst out with dazzling light like the sun, piercing through the heavy darkness and illuminating the entire cave as if it were daytime.

The intense light disturbed the creatures in the lake. The originally calm surface of the water began to surge, and ripples quickly spread out.

At the same time, shadows suddenly dived down, obviously filled with an instinctive fear of this dazzling light, and retreated to the depths of the lake, hiding where the light could not reach.

"Those are... Inferi?" Dumbledore's expression was very calm, but Sebastian still sensed a burst of angry emotions radiating from his surroundings.

Sebastian nodded, confirming Dumbledore's view, but he didn't say much, instead looking at Fawkes: "Fawkes, please take us to the island in the center of the lake."

He didn't plan to look for the small boat, after all, that small boat relied on magic to weigh it down, and relying on that small boat alone would be too troublesome.

With Fawkes's help, the two arrived on the island in the center of the lake. Only then did Dumbledore see clearly that in the middle of the island was a stone basin similar to a Pensieve, filled with a full, emerald-green liquid, and the light was emitted by this liquid.

"Headmaster, this is the Dark Lord's last resort. The stone basin is filled with poison, and Slytherin's locket is hidden at the very bottom. Of course, the real locket has long been taken away by me. What's left inside now is a fake, to play with the Dark Lord."

Sebastian played the role of a tour guide, carefully explaining the precautions here.

"To retrieve the locket, you can only drink the poison in the basin one mouthful at a time. Of course, it's not fatal, but it will put the person's body into intense pain, and illusions that cause mental suffering will appear before their eyes. Besides that, it will also make people feel extremely thirsty and want to drink water."

"So, Headmaster, when you're acting later, remember to act a little weaker, preferably to the point where you can't even hold your wand. That way, the Dark Lord will believe that you're really in a weak state. That way, he'll feel like his chance has come, after all, he knows the effects of his potion best."

"Also," Sebastian added, "to make the act complete, in order to prevent the Dark Lord from coming here to check, you'd better let Fawkes set a fire, leave the phoenix's aura here, and destroy this place in the process."

Dumbledore had no objection to Sebastian's arrangement and immediately let Fawkes start setting fires everywhere. As for the stone basin, he personally destroyed it completely.

After doing all this, the two returned directly to the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts with Fawkes's help.

"Alright," Sebastian chuckled softly, "Next, I'll go to New Town and wait. Headmaster, you can enjoy the breeze here for a while."

Saying this, he dialed Snape's magic cell phone: "Severus, the plan has begun. Remember what I told you before, don't forget."

"Incessant!" Snape hung up the phone and then dialed a top number again.

"Hello, Master, I have important information here that I need you to know..."