The scene shifted.
Amid the swirl of space and magic, Kai Adler found himself standing in a quiet open field on the outskirts of London. There was no one around—just the wind, rustling gently through the grass, brushing against the old man and the young wizard like a whisper.
Dumbledore turned, his blue eyes calm but sharp.
"The power you used earlier," he said, "the one that destroyed part of Flourish and Blotts… can you control it?"
Kai raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer. Instead, he replied coolly, "How did you know what happened in the bookstore? Were you following me?"
Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Not at all. I just happened to be passing by."
Kai narrowed his eyes, unconvinced.
But before he could say anything else, a sudden force struck his mind like a hammer. His head jerked backward, dizziness flooding him.
"Oh?"
Dumbledore chuckled with mild amusement. "Gellert even taught you Legilimency? Impressive…"
He nodded thoughtfully. "If there weren't a century of experience between us, I might have actually fallen for it."
Kai straightened, still slightly disoriented. "Is that so?"
A defiant smirk curled on his lips.
"Then how about this?"
His right hand lifted sharply.
The temperature in the air surged. A fireball ignited in the space between them, unnatural in both size and color. It wasn't bright yellow—it was an eerie, deep ocean blue, with tendrils of black mist twisting around the edges like a living shroud. Looking into it felt like being pulled into a void.
Dumbledore's expression shifted—eyes narrowing, beard lifting slightly in the rising heat.
Fiendfyre.
Wandless. Nonverbal. And with an Obscurial signature.
"Since you can block Legilimency," Kai said calmly, "and since you're that old man's 'friend'… this shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"
With a motion of both hands, Kai pulled the fireball wider, expanding it with perfect control. The blue flames roared without sound, heat warping the air until even the clouds above seemed to retreat.
High above, the fire reshaped itself into a massive, majestic form—a giant whale of blue flame, its long body gliding through the sky like a creature of myth. Its glowing tail flicked, creating waves of magical heat as it dove down toward Dumbledore.
To anyone watching, the old man would have seemed like a fragile speck beneath the descending beast.
But Dumbledore, unshaken, simply lifted one hand.
He murmured a single word:
"Finite."
A soft yellow light, warm but not scorching, flowed from his fingertip, enveloping the blue fire-whale. No force, no flash—just light, spreading gently like dawn across a battlefield.
Kai held his ground, fingers shaped like a claw as he tried to resist it, but the yellow light swallowed the flame slowly, inexorably.
The whale twisted in the air, struggling to escape. But the light continued to close in.
Within seconds, it had shrunk to a glowing orb.
Pop.
It vanished.
Only the heat left in the breeze confirmed that it had ever existed.
Kai scowled. "Tch. I knew it."
Dumbledore looked at him gently. "Does Gellert usually teach you this way?"
"More or less," Kai muttered. "Though he's rougher about it."
"Yes," Dumbledore smiled faintly. "He can be… quite rough."
Kai's smirk faltered.
Wait. That tone… was he implying something else?
No. No, thank you. He quickly cut off the thought before it spiraled.
"You didn't bring me out here just to talk about my old man's teaching style, did you?"
Dumbledore's expression sobered. "The black mist surrounding your Fiendfyre, and the power that knocked Malfoy across the street in Diagon Alley…"
"You want to ask about that." Kai's voice turned dry. "I should've known. That old man tells you everything. Said it was a secret. Said I couldn't tell anyone."
He grumbled under his breath. "Yet he turns around and tells someone else."
Still, he raised his hand. At his fingertips, a small tendril of dark mist appeared—inky black, swirling like a living shadow.
"This is what you wanted to see, right? The magic that's not supposed to exist."
His voice dropped.
"The Obscurus."
Dumbledore's eyes tightened.
The power was violent, unnatural. A twisted force born of pain and suppression. And yet, it curled calmly around Kai's fingers, no trace of chaos in its motion. Controlled. Obedient.
Kai looked at the mist too, his expression turning grim.
He had discovered this power soon after awakening in this world.
The cost of that discovery?
A quarter of the castle… and nearly half his life.
If it hadn't been for Grindelwald, he would've died within the first year.
"He didn't teach me spells at first," Kai said quietly. "Just one thing—'If you don't learn to control it, it will kill you.'"
He smiled faintly.
"Obviously, I didn't want to die."
He flicked his fingers. The black mist swirled outward, forming an enormous shadow that wrapped around him—a dragon coiling through the air. Then it shifted again, into a soaring eagle, and then into the same whale from before. Each transformation flowed seamlessly into the next.
Finally, it compressed into a tight black sphere in his palm.
"I spent five years learning how to control it."
With a single squeeze, the sphere shattered into mist again, slipping back into his body without a trace.
Dumbledore didn't speak immediately.
He had seen Obscurials before. Children born with great magical potential, forced to suppress it under trauma and fear until the energy within them turned against them—becoming parasitic. Destructive.
And they rarely survived beyond age ten.
But Kai Adler stood before him now—calm, composed, and in complete command of the darkest, most unstable force known to wizardkind.
This has never happened before.
He stared at Kai, silent, almost reverent.
He was handsome. Charismatic. Gifted far beyond his years. Able to summon and control Fiendfyre. Proficient in Legilimency. Clearly trained in powerful and ancient magic. And yet, he didn't feel like Voldemort.
He felt… dangerous, yes.
But not lost.
Not yet.
Dumbledore's heart clenched.
So this is your move, Gellert.
A gamble.
A challenge from one legend to another. You've given me your chosen piece, and dared me to shape him into something better.
Dumbledore finally spoke.
"Kai Adler," he said solemnly, "as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I officially invite you to attend Hogwarts."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you already send me an acceptance letter? For second year?"
"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "But I have a small request."
Kai sighed. "What is it?"
"While at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, "unless absolutely necessary… do not cast Dark Magic. Especially against other students."
Kai shrugged. "Sure."
Unless they ask for it.
Dumbledore arched an eyebrow.
A chill slipped into Kai's mind, sharp and cold.
"Oi," Kai growled, glaring. "How is it legal for a Headmaster to use Legilimency on a student?"
If I could beat you, I'd wipe that smug look right off your face.
Dumbledore only chuckled. "You're not a student yet."
"Fine," Kai grumbled. "I get it."
But secretly, he exhaled in relief.
Just like Grindelwald, Dumbledore couldn't see his true memories—the ones from before. His past life remained hidden, shrouded in a fog that even the greatest minds couldn't penetrate.
Conveniently fitting his excuse of "amnesia."
"You brought me here just to see the Obscurus?" Kai asked.
"That's right."
"Well, now that you've seen it, send me back. Hermione's still waiting for me. And she hits really hard."
Dumbledore's serious expression softened. A gentle look filled his eyes.
"Of course."
As he prepared to Apparate them away, he looked at Kai once more.
That—that—was the difference.
Not his power. Not his skill. Not his training.
It was the way he said Hermione.
There was someone in his heart.
And love, in the end, would always matter more than ambition.
He had no doubt now—Kai Adler would change the world.
Not through domination.
But by leading it, gently, with strength and kindness.
"Ah—one more thing, Kai," Dumbledore said, smiling.
"Would you mind helping me with one small favor…?"