Chapter 2: Compensation from the Department of Mysteries

Chapter 2: Compensation from the Department of Mysteries

After traveling between elevators for nearly five minutes, Dumbledore and Avada finally arrived at a luxuriously decorated room. A thin man in a black wizard robe stood in the middle of the room. When he saw Dumbledore coming in, he immediately stepped forward with a smile.

"Welcome, Professor Dumbledore! I'm Crocker, the Mysteries Man of the Department of Mysteries."

"Hello, Mr. Crocker," Dumbledore responded calmly. "I apologize for interrupting your work, but I came here to confirm something important. In some of my investigations, I clearly found traces of the Department of Mysteries in one of my students."

He patted Avada on the back and motioned him to take two steps forward. "Do you know this boy's name?"

"His name is," Dumbledore paused, then said slowly, "Avada Kendavia."

Crocker shuddered when he heard the first three words, and was so scared that he almost pulled out his wand. When he realized things were not what he imagined, his face became strange.

"Avada Kendavia? Wasn't he an abandoned orphan? He was actually a wizard?"

"Merlin's beard, the probability is so small! Or is it because of the name?"

Dumbledore's expression was very calm, showing no emotion. "Then explain it to me and this child, whose future will be filled with troubles."

Crocker spoke awkwardly, not daring to look Dumbledore and Avada in the eye. "The name comes from our research eleven years ago."

"It was at a time when the activities of You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters were becoming more rampant. As a member of the Ministry of Magic, we in the Department of Mysteries also played our part, striving to provide Aurors and Strikers with more powerful equipment and trying to crack You-Know-Who's various tricks."

"After a long period of research, the team I am in charge of successfully cracked the mysterious man's 'name curse', which is the magic that, once his name is called out, will be known to him immediately."

"Oh?" Dumbledore asked in surprise. "You actually broke the spell? Do you have a way to counter it?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Crocker's expression became even more embarrassed. "That magic is very complicated and difficult to cast. After we cracked the spell, we couldn't even make a slight change, let alone counter it."

"However, we had this idea at the time: Can we use the characteristics of this magic to detect the use of Unforgivable Curses and other dark magic?"

Avada's face shuddered; he probably guessed what was going on.

"According to the characteristics of this magic, the object that can be cast must be a 'name'. So we found an abandoned baby who was born not long ago in the Muggle world, sent him to an orphanage for registration, and named him 'Avada Kedavra' after the spell of the Killing Curse."

"Next, we cast a 'name curse' on the child. In our conception, anyone who casts the Killing Curse will be locked in position by us the moment the spell is cast, making it impossible for them to escape!"

"Did you succeed?"

The corner of Dumbledore's eye twitched. He felt that the number of times he had been speechless in the past ten years combined was not as many as today.

"As you can see, none," Crocker simply gave up and said in one breath without any embarrassment. "The spell seems to have special properties and cannot be used as a general name. And if we had succeeded, we could have already caught all the dark wizards in the UK!"

"Have you ever thought about how a person can live with such a name?"

"We didn't expect that a randomly chosen Muggle abandoned baby would actually have magical talent..." Crocker replied with a sad face. "Who in the Muggle world knows the meaning of this spell? He can live a normal life in the Muggle world!"

Dumbledore sighed helplessly, knowing in his heart that the Department of Mysteries could not be blamed entirely. After all, fate was so mysterious and unpredictable...

"Then let's ask the parties involved for their opinions."

Dumbledore turned to look at Avada. "As you have heard, your name is an extremely evil magical spell in the wizarding world. This may bring you countless troubles: being excluded by classmates, unable to find a job, and even being alienated by the entire wizarding society... Changing your name is useless. A person's first name has a special magical meaning that cannot be separated. The admission book will only show your real name."

"The Department of Mysteries in front of you is the one that caused all this, but this was not their intention. If they had succeeded, they would have made an enormous contribution to the entire wizarding world."

"You can decide whether to forgive them or not, and you have the right to seek compensation."

Avada just felt extremely annoyed at this moment.

He had traveled through time and space; why did such a weird thing happen to him? He had read a lot of Harry Potter fan fiction in his previous life, but he had never seen such an outrageous plot!

"Okay." He replied weakly, "I can probably understand that this matter cannot be blamed entirely on them. I can forgive them... As for compensation, I don't know much about the magical world, and I don't know how to decide. How about you give me some advice, Professor?"

"Thank you for your tolerance, child." Crocker breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "I have a compensation plan here; you can refer to it."

"First, direct compensation of three thousand Galleons, as well as reimbursement of all necessary expenses during your time at Hogwarts, including textbooks, robes, wands, cauldrons, and other necessities."

"Also, after you graduate, as long as you are unemployed, you will receive a subsidy of 20 Galleons per month. At the same time, if the Ministry of Magic has a need for personnel, you will be given priority in assessment and admission. And if you plan to open your own shop, the Ministry of Magic can provide a five-year interest-free loan of 5,000 Galleons. What do you think?"

Avada looked at Dumbledore for help - he had no idea of the purchasing power of Galleons.

Dumbledore nodded and said, "It's a very reasonable plan. You can accept it."

"Yes, Professor." Avada nodded in agreement, but he still felt it was absurd: the first thing he did after entering the magic world was to get generous compensation...

He didn't even have a wand yet!

"Then it's settled." Crocker clapped his hands, looking relieved. "I will submit this plan to the Finance Office. With the influence of the Department of Mysteries and the participation of Professor Dumbledore, it will be approved in about an hour. And Mr. Kendavia can go buy a wand and come back to sign the magic contract."

"Then we shall say goodbye for now, Mr. Crocker, if you please." Dumbledore nodded to Crocker, then called Fawkes and took Avada out of the Ministry. With a flash of fire, Avada found himself on a busy street, surrounded by pedestrians in robes of various colors, all looking at him and Dumbledore in surprise.

"Next, it's time to choose a wand for you." After waving to the passers-by around him, Dumbledore turned around and smiled at Avada beside him, which made Avada's heart surge.

Although he could perform a lot of magic without a wand, who could refuse a wand of his own?

Under Dumbledore's guidance, he finally walked to the door of a small and shabby shop. He suppressed his excitement and looked at the golden sign on the door with some paint peeling off:

[Olivander: Making fine wands since 382 BC.]