Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 363 With what countenance should one face the returning dead?

"There's more?! This..."

Dumbledore couldn't think of anything this time.

Dali had no choice but to be direct: "I'm asking you, how old were you and your brother when your parents passed away? What did you look like? And what about your sister when she passed away?"

As you just saw, Aunt Lily and Uncle James have only been dead for eleven years. Seeing your old faces, Sirius and Lupin, they couldn't tell you apart and didn't dare to directly acknowledge you.

Not to mention your Dumbledore family members, who died even earlier.

If recognizing each other is a minor issue that can be resolved with explanations, then are you and your brother really going to live with family members much younger than you, looking all old and gray?

"This is indeed a problem that needs to be solved."

Dumbledore suddenly realized the problem that Dudley was worried about.

But how to solve this problem stumped Dumbledore.

He knew, of course, that Dudley could quickly restore him and his brother to their youthful appearance.

But what specific age should one revert to for the most appropriate appearance?

It's worth noting that his father, Percival Dumbledore, and his mother, Candra Dumbledore, both died in their forties, two years apart.

His sister, Ariana Dumbledore, accidentally used magic when she was young, which was seen by three Muggle boys, and she was bullied by them.

This led to inner repression, causing him to resist his own magic, and eventually, an Obscurial brewed within him, making him an Obscurial who could unleash a terrible magical outburst at any moment.

His father, Percival, hated the three Muggles so much that he disregarded the law that wizards must not attack Muggles and punished the three Muggle boys. As a result, he was imprisoned in Azkaban and eventually died in that terrible wizarding prison.

He was sixteen when his father died.

The Dumbledore family did not originally live in Godric's Hollow, but in a place called Fertile Ground.

It was because of this incident that his mother, Candra, moved her family to Godric Valley.

But the tragedy did not end with the move. Nearly two years after their father's death, Ariana, an Obscurial who had not attended school, went out of control at home, unleashing a destructive Obscurial that took their mother's life.

That year, he was eighteen years old.

In the same year, two months after his mother's death, his younger sister Ariana accidentally stumbled into the battleground between him, his brother, and... Gellert Grindelwald. She was likely killed by the magical energy he emitted, and her life was forever frozen at the age of fourteen.

Therefore, after resurrecting his parents and sister, in order for them to recognize him and his brother at a glance, he needs Dudley to restore him to his appearance when he was eighteen years old.

His younger brother, Aberforth, was two years younger than him, and Dali had to restore him to his appearance at sixteen.

But... he's already 110 years old this year, how can he go back to being 18?

Leaving aside whether he himself can adapt, can the wizards in the magical world adapt?

At that time, apart from the professors who know the inside story, who would believe that an eighteen-year-old handsome young man is the old, kind, and highly respected Albus Dumbledore?

His younger brother, Aberforth, lived a secluded life, wielding little influence in the wizarding world. Only the wizarding residents of Hogsmeade knew him as the owner of the Hog's Head pub.

The key question is, his brother's appearance has returned to that of a sixteen-year-old, and his parents and sister can recognize him, but will his nephew, his brother's son Aurelius, be able to recognize him after his resurrection?

It should be noted that Aberforth was already over sixty years old when Aurelius died.

After his resurrection, Aurelius, who appeared to be in his twenties, had to call Aberforth, who appeared to be sixteen, "father." The scene was...

It's embarrassing just thinking about it.

Aurelius was separated from his family at a young age and wandered for many years, becoming an Obscurial. He was extremely introverted and withdrawn. He miraculously survived to adulthood, only to be used by Grindelwald to deal with him.

She went through many hardships before she was reunited with her younger brother.

The two were not very close to begin with, and if Aberforth were to return to his sixteen-year-old appearance, the relationship between the younger brother and nephew would become a major problem.

Dumbledore stood there thinking for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a proper solution.

He was momentarily distracted and saw Dali standing to the side.

In an instant, it was as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun, and my mind became clear.

With Dudley around, why would he bother with this?

"Dali, according to our alliance, you need to help me devise a plan, so... you should already have a solution to this problem, right?"

Dumbledore smiled, a smile reminiscent of Dudley's cheeky demeanor.

"Huh? Hahaha... You're really something!"

Faced with Old Deng's reaction, Dali first expressed surprise, then burst into laughter.

He has just come up with a fairly comprehensive plan.

We're just waiting for Old Deng to ask!

However, after marveling at Old Deng's little scheme, Dali didn't immediately reveal his plan. Instead, he quickly reached out and plucked several of Old Deng's white beard hairs.

"Ouch!" Old Deng winced in pain, hissing in surprise. "Dali, I asked you to come up with a solution, why are you pulling my beard?"

Dudley stroked Old Dumbledore's few white beard hairs and said, "This is part of the method I've come up with, a way to make it reasonable for you to appear before the wizards of the magical world with a youthful appearance."

"A beard? A solution? Could it be a compound decoction?"

Dumbledore, following Dudley's conditions, fell into thought again. This time, he thought quickly and soon guessed, "You mean..."

After I become young again, I drink a compound decoction mixed with my old beard, and I turn back into my current old self.

Then hold another press conference, claiming to have developed a magic potion that can restore youthful appearance, and publicly drink a manifestation potion that can counteract the effects of the compound decoction, as proof?

So, I can then legitimately present myself as young? And use the same excuse to cover for Aberforth, Sirius Black, Lupin, and all the other professors and friends you want to become younger?

"Yes and no."

After hearing Old Deng's plan, Dali replied, "I do want you to become younger, then use the compound decoction to restore your current appearance and go to Diagon Alley to hold a press conference to explain it to the public."

However, the reason cannot be attributed to the development of a magic potion that can make one younger.

Potions require a recipe and can be made repeatedly.

Your current image is that of a gentle, kind, and resourceful uncrowned king of the magical world. You have developed such a magical potion, but you do not reveal the formula. Wouldn't that just needlessly arouse the wizards' resentment and covetousness towards you?

Who wouldn't want such a magical potion? What if a wizard wanted to pay money or pull strings to get it from you?

Making excuses like "materials are hard to find, we have no stock" might work once or twice, but if you use it too often, people will think you're hypocritical and selfish.

"So what do you mean? You're not using potions as an excuse, are you going to use spells? No, spells have the same problem. They're alchemical items? Are you saying I accidentally obtained an ancient, broken magical item, and that this ability can only be used a few times?"

That won't work either. If I pretend to use it in public, it will be considered showing off, and the allocation issue will still exist..."

Dumbledore came up with a few new ideas, but this time he rejected them himself before Dudley could veto them.

Seeing this, Dudley stopped Dumbledore from overthinking and gave his answer directly:

"When making an excuse, we don't need anything else, just the ancient and mysterious Hogwarts!"