Chapter 764: Chapter 764

Departing from Britain, passing through France, Greece, Egypt, Brazil... almost covering famous wizarding towns and magical landmarks around the world. Of course, the most important aspect is the people. He's very interested in the magical ecosystems of other countries and wouldn't mind making short stops in some picturesque places...

Grindelwald felt a twinge of desire.

For the next while, his mind wandered entirely. When the meeting ended, all the professors walked out of the staff room dazedly, and the students in the Great Hall were already seated at the tables. Then the dinner began, and after it ended, Dumbledore stood up to speak and announced the shocking news. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ nοvelfire.net

The students below were dumbfounded. They finally understood why none of the professors seemed to have much appetite today—this included Grindelwald, of course, although his thoughts were quite different from the other professors.

When Dumbledore announced his resignation as headmaster, Grindelwald knew that his year-long planning had come to naught. He had deliberately cut off communications with the outside world while in Nurmengard Castle. At first, there were Saints who tried to pass on messages through various means, but when they received no response, they gradually disappeared. His world became simple and quiet, relying on memories to pass the time.

Many years passed in the blink of an eye. On one occasion, he unexpectedly learned about the rumor of the Elder Wand from the house-elf Bondy. Unable to suppress his excitement, he sent a letter through Bondy because he knew that the Elder Wand had been in Dumbledore's possession half a century ago, and Dumbledore, with his character, would never relinquish it.

He smelled a conspiracy.

Sure enough, the descendant of Voldemort, who called himself a Dark Lord, began stirring up trouble. Grindelwald observed the battle outside the village of Hogsmeade through the eyes of the house-elf, but his doubts were not confirmed. Dumbledore was old and did not display the power of the Elder Wand at all. However, the Elder Wand was indeed still in his possession.

After that, he made contact with Felix Harp.

Discontent spread worldwide.

He seized that opportunity, thus achieving the reputation of the most dangerous Dark Wizard in history, Grindelwald. Now, almost a century had passed, and history was repeating itself. However, this time, it was not the wizards who were initiating the war, but they had no choice but to retreat. No matter how they hid, it seemed impossible to conceal the existence of the wizarding world anymore.

The Secrecy Law was in jeopardy, and this crisis could not be resolved by imprisoning a single Dark Wizard.

Shortly afterward, he 'saw' some scenes, not one. To be precise, three different scenes: anti-wizarding protests; grand fireworks; and—the scene of him gathering the Saints!

He concealed the latter two scenes, taking out the most straightforward first scene as a negotiating condition. In the end, he succeeded, changing his appearance and identity, becoming an ordinary wizarding teacher.

At first, he had no interest in educating students.

But gradually, his perspective changed. Sometimes he even thought that continuing until the scene from the prophecy appeared wouldn't be bad at all. He even found explanations for the other two scenes he had seen: victory celebrations, and the scene of him gathering the Saints when he exposed the corrupt and incompetent International Confederation of Wizards.

It was because he understood the significance of these three scenes that he, Dumbledore, and Harp formed the Triad Theory, each occupying an important role:

- Dumbledore, by defeating him and gaining recognition from the Kyril for his reputation, has unparalleled influence to this day;

- Felix Harp's influence was slightly inferior, but compared to whom? He actually exceeded the geographical restrictions in terms of both personal strength and reputation. In just a few years, he had spread his tentacles across the entire wizarding world through the promotion of ancient magical texts and the development of novel magical items, even astonishing Grindelwald after studying his resume.

- As for Grindelwald himself, as he said, he united all the forces of the wizarding world to ensure no internal turmoil. When necessary, the Saints in his hands would sweep away all threats. This list naturally included the stubborn Muggle regime. In his view, even if wizards and Muggles eventually moved towards peace, it would inevitably be after a war.

In the short few decades when he was most active, there were two world wars, and he was all too familiar with the evil in human nature.

Wizards must demonstrate their power. Optimistically speaking, burning one or two countries to ruins would be enough. At least it would avoid the outbreak of a full-scale war, wouldn't it? Even if both sides suffered heavy losses, with the wizarding ability to conceal, as long as someone organized it, an ordinary cottage could easily hide hundreds of wizards.

The unfortunate deaths would just happen to dispel the hatred of ordinary Muggles.

After a few decades or even centuries, when the convenience brought by magic became ingrained in people's hearts, wizards would become the de facto aristocrats. The wars of the past, the bloodshed of the past, would all be forgotten. How many people remember that a small country like Bulgaria also participated in initiating a war?

This was Grindelwald's preview of the future—pessimistic, despairing, cold, and brutal. Even saying such thoughts aloud would attract a large amount of condemnation. Therefore, he omitted these bloody remarks, but he knew that Dumbledore would guess.

This time, he wasn't the one insisting on starting a war.

He was even willing to comfortingly say, "There are over two hundred countries in the world. As long as each one makes the right choice, war can naturally be avoided." He enjoyed seeing Dumbledore's speechless expression.

They had lived too long, witnessed too many ugly things, and only Harp would hold unrealistic fantasies and hope for everything to go smoothly. But that possibility... was too slim.

As they lived, they were essentially thorough pessimists, and their hearts had long been desolate.

In the dead silence, Dumbledore raised his goblet, smiling at everyone and offering a toast:

"If we lose hope, what else do we have left?"

The Great Hall remained as silent as the grave, as if someone had cast a Silencing Charm. Then, Dumbledore announced the end of the dinner, but no one moved. Everyone stared at him, and some emotional girls even started crying.

Dumbledore was quite moved. He took a deep breath and trembled as he said, "You can leave now. Also, the four Heads of Houses, along with Professor Harp and Professor Bagshot, come with me." With that, he led the way through the crowd towards the door, and those whose names were called followed one by one.

As they passed by the silent Gryffindor students, Dumbledore paused slightly, looking at the crowd. Their eyes met, and Harry suddenly understood.

He glanced back at the messy Great Hall, exchanged a glance with Ron and Hermione, and quietly followed them. Behind him came the sounds of shoving and angry shouts from Slytherins: "I'm not going! I'm already in sixth grade—I'm of age!"

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