The tea in the cups ran out, and the teapot took off again from the tray, pouring its fragrant contents into our dishes. A couple of sips, and the Headmaster continued his thought.

“The most unpleasant thing about this is that with full control, empathic sensitivity is lost. Absolutely all wizards and even ordinary people have this very sensitivity. Even the most primitive animals, except insects and others with primitive nervous systems, have empathic sensitivity. For us, intelligent and social beings, this ability is akin to vision in importance. This sensitivity allows us to understand each other much better, sometimes without words at all. Such a phenomenon as the “crowd effect” and many others are based on it.”

“I understand,” I nodded. “That’s why, in my time, I chose to use occlumency to protect my mind, even though there was information on other methods of protection. They deprived empathy completely.”

The Headmaster just nodded, sipping his tea.

“This explanation of mine is an introduction to three topics of conversation at once,” Dumbledore continued. “You must have noticed the sincere and bright emotions students feel when they come to Hogwarts for the first time? This joy from the House’s choice that satisfied them, from the dishes that appeared in their multitude? When you are old, you can no longer enjoy such a thing as the first time, which is why the other teachers and I always attend the first and farewell feasts in full, and in fact, the presence is by no means necessary.”

“Let’s say.”

“Strong Legilimens, whether they want it or not, feel emotions and superficial thoughts much more clearly. It’s like a man with very bad eyesight and a man with sharp eyesight. And so, I was faced with very unusual emotions and thoughts. I found it very interesting that you, Mr. Knight, thought very «loudly» about the correspondences and inconsistencies of what you saw to the movies and the books, the canon, the tale of The Boy Who Lived.”

This made me involuntarily mentally tense up.

“You know, Mr. Knight,” the Headmaster smiled at his thoughts, looking somewhere in the distance. “The phenomenon of reincarnation is extremely rare, and even more so in such a way that a person remembers his past. Usually, it’s just scraps, small details. Having met such a phenomenon, and even with the knowledge of possible events, I was filled with hope.”

“Hope?”

“You know the essence of the prophecies, don’t you?”

“Absolutely, Headmaster,” I nodded, sipping tea and eating a jelly lemon slice.

“After watching Harry, the boy who, according to the prophecy, is capable of defeating Voldemort, and after watching you, Mr. Knight, I have drawn conclusions. Simple conclusions. Tom would have been reborn one way or another because I knew for sure that his soul had not left this world, although I didn’t know how he could stay here. After watching Harry, I came to the disappointing conclusion that in the next ten, fifteen, and even twenty years, he couldn’t be expected to even approach Voldemort’s levels of strength and skill. He could only win by luck.”

“You don’t have to be an experienced sage to understand that.”

“Alas, Harry didn’t live up to even a fraction of expectations,” the Headmaster grimaced.

“But can one of the reasons for this be considered the conditions under which he lived?”

“Absolutely,” the Headmaster leaned back in his chair, his face expressing all his sorrow. “I’ve made a mistake. As many times before, as many times after… You know, Mr. Knight… Before joining the Order of the Phoenix, everyone who is invited is thoroughly vetted. The Dursleys… However you look at them at the time, they were a great family, friendly and loving. Lily,” Dumbledore looked at me, “Harry’s mother…”

“Yes, I know.”

“Lily spoke very badly about her sister, but what do words mean against facts? Before Lily and James joined the Order, an inspection was carried out. In short, Lily herself was not a gift, and both Lily herself and her sister, Petunia, are to blame for bad relationships. But there was nothing that could negatively affect the Dursleys’ attitude towards young Harry. I even asked an old friend of mine to look after them… I miscalculated twice.”

The Headmaster took a dozen lemon slices from the vase and, leaning back in his chair again, brought one to his mouth. His right arm was clearly under an illusion, but it had lost a lot of mobility.

“I hadn’t considered that the Dursleys would treat the boy lovelessly, and my friend… Growing up and living in post-war conditions, in ruin, hunger, cold, and death from any little thing… I hadn’t considered that in her worldview for «living normally, feeling well,» it would be enough that Harry had a roof over his head, clothes, and some food… That was my mistake.”

“I hear you, Headmaster,” I nodded again, holding out my hand for the remaining slices in the vase. “Your gaze has turned to me. But I didn’t feel a «guiding hand.»”

“Would you have accepted attention and help from me? You didn’t trust your own shadow – which is reasonable, in the Magical World.”

“No, I suppose not. That would be suspicious.”

“That’s what I thought. However, I was still looking for any opportunity to give you knowledge. I returned all the books to the restricted section that had ever been seized by all the headmasters. Each Headmaster, Mr. Knight, has the opportunity in his position to withdraw five books that do not correspond to “magical morality that has changed over the centuries.” I was looking for any reason to send you to the Restricted Section. But in your first year, you showed an amazing aloofness from any events in the castle. And in the second year, you’ve managed it on your own, along with Miss Granger.”

“But why?”

“Do you really need me to state the obvious?” the Headmaster smiled a little, flashing his half-moon spectacles. “You, as a «power not of this world,» are capable of ignoring prophecy. That was my bet. I understood what kind of person you are, I understood your aspirations, and I was sure that if Voldemort resurrects, then one way or another, you will not leave it just like that. You have no idea, Mr. Knight, how many times I have tried to personally confront him and win. Every time it turned out some kind of nonsense.. As a result, all forces were thrown into indirect confrontation and containment of his aggression, containment of Death Eaters, keeping casualties to a minimum, depriving him of strength through people, politics, and influence.”