Chapter 773: Chapter 773

In the infirmary, Felix said something similar to Harry.

Knowing that Dumbledore's body had been properly placed, Harry still felt choked up. The thought of Dumbledore lying alone in a coffin, his death itself a secret kept from outsiders, tore at his heart.

"He deserves a grand funeral, not to be silently buried away in some corner," Harry said, staring at the white sheet on the bed, a stain marring it. He thought of Regulus Black; now everyone knew Regulus had faced the darkness alone, but how much longer would it be until people knew of Dumbledore's sacrifice?

"This is what Dumbledore wanted to happen," Felix said, his gaze lowered.

After a while, they discussed other matters.

"Professor Snape—did you say he regained consciousness during the transfer process? How did he manage that?" Harry asked in surprise.

"I'll remember to ask him about it next time we meet," Felix said, dragging his chin, also puzzled, as he watched Valen arrange a pile of candies into a smiley face. Harry stared blankly at the pattern, then had a sudden realization about Neville's Mirror.

Though he and Hermione couldn't find any issues, perhaps the professors could spot something?

He shared his speculation with Felix, but the response was lukewarm.

"Professor? Have you figured something out?" Harry asked, holding his breath.

"If that's the case, then this line of thinking is too clever," Felix murmured, his eyes brightening. He thought of a possibility—there could be a better method, but none as straightforward as this, exploiting people's blind spots.

Neville's Mirror might have played a role.

It wasn't to remind Neville, but the hair belonging to Grindelwald, placed in the Mirror along with a few broken magical pathways, together constituted another part of a Mirror.

Felix had introduced seven different types of Mirrors in class, one of which emitted a warning when the Mirror was near its owner's hair. This type of Mirror was usually used as a prank toy but could also be useful at times.

For instance, when Sirius was still a fugitive, to prevent him from approaching the castle, Felix made three Mirrors containing his hair.

Perhaps Grindelwald did the opposite. When two Mirrors moved away and exceeded a certain distance, one would sound the alarm. Felix quickly simulated it in his mind and felt confident he could pull it off.

Thinking deeper, the warning might not necessarily be sound; it could be vibration or some other strong stimulus. Thus, when Grindelwald was forced to leave Neville (effectively moving away from Hogwarts), the Mirror would automatically activate.

This was just Felix's conjecture in a moment; he wasn't sure how well Grindelwald understood ancient runes. Grindelwald had never demonstrated his expertise in ancient runes, but he had looked through ancient runes magazines, occasionally chatting with Felix about their content, albeit without touching on magical techniques.

If Grindelwald had this idea from that time, it would be quite frightening.

Of course, Grindelwald could have easily taken another student's hair to make the Mirror, perhaps even more discreetly, but Dumbledore or Felix might have thought of this and conducted targeted checks.

Grindelwald, with limited information, chose the most conservative and what he thought was the safest option.

And it worked. Felix checked his office, his belongings, possible magical attachments to his skin, but overlooked the possibility of him swallowing a Mirror. The truth, unknown even to Felix, was that his Stunning Spell was indeed powerful enough. Whether the Mirror itself could awaken Grindelwald from his coma was still unknown, but it would certainly be later than he anticipated, thanks to the weakening effect of the Stunning Spell by the International Confederation of Wizards Enforcement Squad's several stinging spells... Get full chapters from novel fire.net

It was the combination of these factors that allowed Grindelwald to almost wake up as soon as he got on the carriage. But he was still bound by the spells of the enforcement squad, unable to move, except for the Mirror in his stomach, which would twitch every now and then. Later, when Dumbledore and Felix cast the transfer spell key, he also felt everything.

"Professor? Professor?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I thought of something, but I can't confirm it for now—anything else?" Felix snapped back, coming to his senses.

"Well—I wanted to ask: why didn't Professor Dumbledore transfer the spell earlier, or postpone dealing with the trouble on me? That way, maybe Grindelwald wouldn't have escaped," Harry asked, "He didn't tell me directly, so I can only guess."

"He didn't directly tell me either, so I can only guess," Felix said softly. "I speculate that Dumbledore found it difficult to use magic in his last moments, and the transfer spell had a significant impact on him—you know magic can flow between a wizard's body and soul, right?"

Harry shook his head in confusion, having never heard of it. He wanted to remind the professor that he wasn't Hermione.

"Now you know," Felix said casually, "Dumbledore's research on the soul was quite extensive with the help of the Resurrection Stone, allowing him to actively integrate most of his magical power into his own soul." Just like the night he saw Dumbledore illuminating Hogwarts Castle with his own soul.

"Why would he do that?" Harry asked, swallowing hard, feeling like his understanding of magic was entirely different from what the professor was saying.

"Perhaps for experimentation. I suspect he wasn't the first to venture into what you call the 'gap between life and death'," Felix said calmly. "Don't ask me; I can't provide evidence. But when it comes to resolving the issue of the soul fragment inside you, Dumbledore and I share similar thoughts: to maximize the chances of success, preferably without any margin for error."

"Chances of success?" Harry repeated softly, lowering his head.

"Yes," Felix said. "We've considered some possibilities, like having Voldemort use your blood to return. Dumbledore believed this would transfer your mother's protective charm onto Voldemort, and, well— the charm's power might have significantly increased then, considering your relationship is akin to that of brothers..."

"But that didn't happen, did it?" Harry felt a shiver down his spine, hastily adding, "Voldemort used someone else's blood for his resurrection."

"Indeed. I believe the pressure we exerted on him was too much; he couldn't wait," Felix nodded. "But even if that were to happen, it would bring about more uncertainty. Your connection is already unusually tight; adding a shared protective charm would make it impossible for outsiders to gauge... Harry, Dumbledore wants you alive, using the safest means possible."

With that, Felix left the bewildered Harry behind. He had checked with Madam Pomfrey, and Harry's physical condition was fine; he could leave the hospital later in the afternoon.

As Felix left the infirmary, he happened to meet some classmates who were there to visit Harry. He pulled Neville aside and asked for the damaged Pensieve he had borrowed. Neville indeed had it with him. "Professor, is there something wrong with it?" Neville asked quietly.

Felix glanced at him, shook his head without voicing his suspicions, and gave another reason, "People from the International Confederation of Wizards need evidence. I'll hold onto it for now. If they don't need it, I'll return it to you."

In the crowd, Ron and Hermione looked worried; could there really be something wrong with the Pensieve? Ron signaled to Hermione and walked over, "Oh, Professor Harp, I have a question..."

Felix didn't rush to leave the school; he searched everywhere for any trace of Grindelwald. With less than a week left in the school year, he figured he'd have time then to try to get information from some saints. He wasn't in a hurry these days and didn't think Grindelwald would immediately show up.

But things didn't go as planned.

In the evening, Amelia Bones hurriedly appeared, bringing bad news: Grindelwald had escaped from Nurmengard - something Felix was already aware of - but the news on the German newspaper she held truly surprised him.

A phoenix, likely a guardian but bearing Grindelwald's signature blue flames, broke into Gringotts Bank in Germany, burning through an underground vault before the goblin guards could react, and then left in a blaze of glory.

Felix stared at the image, captured by an unknown photographer: the phoenix-like bird breaking free from magical chains, carrying something in its beak.

"The identity of the owner of the vault has been traced; he was a saint, but he passed away decades ago. When Gringotts and local Aurors questioned his family, they had no knowledge of the place's existence, meaning it was a secret vault. And that wand—"

"The first wand Grindelwald ever used?" Felix asked gravely.

Before Grindelwald acquired the Elder Wand, he surely didn't perform magic barehanded. But after he became famous, and during the public duel in 1945, he always showed off the Elder Wand, with nobody knowing what happened to his student wand.

"That's what I think," Ms. Bones said, her face tense.

Felix's expression grew serious; he saw farther ahead. Obtaining the wand wasn't a big deal, but what truly caught his attention was Grindelwald's apparent impatience, even with these few days.

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