Albus Dumbledore also didn't continue to hide like a riddler, "In the Poet Peter's Story Collection, there's a story about the Three Sacred Artifacts of Death, which tells the tale of three brothers making a deal with the God of Death."
Hearing this,
Ian took out the book from his pocket and turned to the corresponding page.
[Once upon a time, there were three brothers who met the God of Death by a river...]
The story wasn't very long.
It was mainly about the origin of the Three Sacred Artifacts of Death, and how it sparked a fairy tale. The eldest chose the Elder Wand to master fate, the second chose the Resurrection Stone to summon loved ones, and the third chose the Invisibility Cloak to evade everything. Ultimately, the eldest died from the whims of fate, and the second died from his desecration of life and death.
Only the clever third brother, in his old age, left the Invisibility Cloak to his own son and departed with the God of Death like an old friend.
"Does this story have anything to do with Helga Hufflepuff's ancestor's journal?" Ian felt somewhat puzzled, could it be that Helga Hufflepuff also saw the God of Death?
"Yes, Ian."
Albus nodded, his expression falling into reminiscence, "In that journal, there is another story recorded, or perhaps a more credible piece of... history?"
He seemed unsure of his word choice.
After all.
"I can't verify the truth of the records because I've searched many places, unable to find any way to verify what Helga Hufflepuff mentioned in the journal."
Dumbledore's voice was full of regret and a kind of melancholy.
His words made Ian even more curious.
"What kind of events?"
This was clearly a little-known secret, Ian might not be interested in the romantic gossip between young wizards, but he was very keen on acquiring secrets and knowledge unknown to others.
"Just like the three brothers in the Poet Peter's Story Collection, Helga Hufflepuff said she was a witness to a transaction between the other three founders and the Lord of the Dead."
"According to the ancient contract of the Lady Ravenclaw's clan, the three founders each received a gift, but they also had to bear a cost..."
"Helga Hufflepuff didn't elaborate on this point in detail."
"She only boasted smugly in her journal that among the four founders, she was the smartest, having read the story of the three brothers, and therefore didn't get involved in that transaction."
Dumbledore's tone was full of emotion.
"Of course, despite not meaning to offend the founders, judging by Helga Hufflepuff's eventual cause of death, perhaps Helga Hufflepuff wasn't as smart as she thought." Probably only a wizard like Albus Dumbledore would dare to comment on the founders of Hogwarts in such a way.
"The Lord of the Dead?"
Ian's focus shifted elsewhere, as if he had remembered something, his youthful face frowned.
"Just a personal opinion, Helga Hufflepuff loved reading some biographical novels during her lifetime, perhaps that was her alternative name for the God of Death?"
Dumbledore was only speculating.
"In any case, Helga Hufflepuff's journal has provided me with new hope. After all, she was a founder, and the records in the journal can't just be stories made up by herself, can they?"
From Dumbledore's uncertain tone, it was clear that he was now a bit suspicious of Helga Hufflepuff, although this suspicion seemed to have some reasonable grounds.
"For the younger me, if possible, I would naturally have been willing to sign any form of contract with the God of Death, as long as it could undo the tragedy I had brought about, any cost was acceptable."
"I spent a long time researching the history of the Ravenclaw clan, yet I still couldn't find that contract, just as I didn't find the legendary Resurrection Stone."
"As for attempting to communicate with the world of the dead, existing contracts and those from ancient texts didn't work, curses didn't work either, I even thought about creating one myself, but to this day, I haven't succeeded."
Dumbledore sighed heavily, a greater sense of weariness in his tone, though his eyes were brighter than ever.
"I actually decided to seal away my obsession, until your appearance, fate seemed to play a joke on me, showing me a tangible possibility in you."
His voice began to tremble, "Maybe I shouldn't ask, but I really can't bear it... Ariana, what kind of life is she living on the other side."
The pleading look appeared once more.
Ian found it difficult to bear.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, we all know that it's just a waystation there, Ariana is just waiting there, she doesn't seem to blame anyone."
"At least, from what she tells me, when she mentions her two brothers, it's always with joy and remembrance, she's repeatedly told me how good her brothers were to her."
Ian's response brought tears to Dumbledore's eyes, and he even began to choke up.
"It's not like that, it's not like that... I've always been selfish, I even thought that it was enough for Aberforth to take care of her, family was just a burden to me."
"I've never been a qualified brother."
Dumbledore wasn't comforted by Ian's words, instead, he grew sadder and more guilty, covering his face, a side of him that probably no one else had ever seen before.
"I don't know much about that place either, but at least I'm sure of one thing: hatred and resentment are eternal memories, but now Ariana only remembers the good of the past."