Chapter 679: Deception
A gaping hole broke through the walls of Nurmengard's dungeon.
Moonlight spilled in, but it paled in comparison to the ethereal blue glow inside.
Gellert Grindelwald stared at the phoenix outside the castle.
It was an extraordinary bird. Its body gleamed silver-white, luminous like moonlight, resembling a guardian spirit. Yet its delicate head, long neck feathers, back, and wing surfaces were covered in deep blue flames that flickered and danced. Its eyes were identical to Grindelwald's.
"Go, retrieve my wand, and then we have much to do," he said calmly.
The phoenix soared through the dark night towards the distance. Grindelwald took a few steps outside, letting the outside air rush in. He approached the black wall, standing at the edge of Nurmengard's tower.
Where the distant sky met the ground, it transitioned from pure black to deep blue.
Grindelwald lowered his head to gaze at his left hand.
The curses within his body were stubborn, far from being resolved in a short time, or he wouldn't have been trapped here for decades. Previously, he had burned most of the curses within his body with blue flames, but there were still remnants, difficult to eradicate. Grindelwald could vividly sense them spreading throughout his body, slowly devouring the magic he had painstakingly restored and mastered. If he did nothing, they would soon strengthen once again.The sky gradually brightened. He had to make a decision quickly.
Grindelwald glanced back at the corner of the dungeon. There was no room for hesitation; now was the best opportunity. Dumbledore—or whoever—should have appeared to stop him when he attempted to break free, but no one did.
Oh, he had just incidentally destroyed the wall, and it had nothing to do with Dumbledore, but perhaps the International Confederation of Wizards would get wind of it.
Magic gathered in his left hand, his body becoming hollow, and the small remnants of curses seemed to be attracted, flowing into his left hand, gathering and merging along the way, becoming complete, but Grindelwald let it happen.
Finally, the remaining shards of curses were melded together. They seemed alive, agile and greedy, chasing and devouring the magic in his left hand, sparkling and becoming more complete every moment. It was then that Grindelwald seemed to sense something—through the curses—he vaguely saw a blurry figure.
The person seemed to be aware, lifting their head, their face blurred, but a pair of light blue eyes were striking.
Grindelwald's heart sank, the last glimmer of hope dashed, and he gave a cruel smile.
"Peng!"
The fierce black fire blazed violently, crackling, burning his flesh and completely destroying the last remnants of curses. After doing all this, he was sweating profusely, trembling all over.
But it was all worth it—a new power emerged, a brand-new magic untainted by curses, born from the depths of his soul, seamlessly merging with his almost exhausted body at this moment.
He was reborn.
...
Hogwarts.
Felix glanced out the window, blinking in confusion. He had just seemed to see the old Grindelwald. Was it an illusion? Or a new ability brought by the curses? But he was still a little short of fully mastering the curses... His heart sank; nothing was going wrong, right?
Half an hour later, Felix appeared at Nurmengard.
It was his first time here, and he wasn't quite used to the damp air and the smell of rotting straw, mixed with a hint of burnt scent in the air. He carefully examined the large hole in the wall, where a line of black writing had appeared: "All for a greater purpose."
He felt a headache coming on, and after a while, a dozen figures descended from the sky outside the castle. Felix retreated into the darkness; he didn't want to meet these enforcers just yet. After leaving Nurmengard, he went to several nearby towns, but there was no reaction from the curses on his arm.
Felix stared blankly at his arm. Could this thing be useless?
He had just acquired it.
When Felix returned to the school, the sky was already bright, and the school seemed no different from usual, with some early-rising students having breakfast at the tables. He found Professor McGonagall, who seemed even more excited when she saw him, without a word she pulled him into the staff room.
"Mr. Akingbade received a letter from an owl this morning, and then his face changed drastically. He left in a hurry without even having breakfast," she said hastily.
Felix asked thoughtfully, "Did he say why?"
"No. But his expression seemed very panicked, it must be something very important," Professor McGonagall speculated.
"Ah, Grindelwald escaped last night."
Professor McGonagall widened her eyes, looking very excited.
"Felix... you mean, Gellert Grindelwald?" Her voice trembled slightly, and Felix realized that she had also experienced Grindelwald's most active years and was well aware of his influence. Felix recounted the events briefly, including Grindelwald's disguise and his teaching at the school.
Professor McGonagall gasped, clutching her chest tightly, her body trembling.
"I never imagined! He was Professor Bagshot... but why?" She paused, memories flashing in her eyes, seemingly finding evidence from past interactions with Grindelwald, such as his advanced knowledge of magic and his hostile attitude towards Muggles.
Professor McGonagall struggled to calm down. "Albus... why would he do this?"
"I think it's because of a prophecy," Felix said softly, reaching out to show her the anti-wizard protest scene, "A year ago, Grindelwald escaped from Nurmengard and came to Britain. He obtained an exclusive wand from Future World in Diagon Alley — the qualifications at the time were not as strict as they are now — and then, perhaps seeing a recruitment advertisement in the newspaper, he demanded to teach at the school for a year in exchange for what you see in this picture."
"... The current Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards, Mr. Akingbade, also knew about this. They sent someone to check Grindelwald's physical condition last summer and confirmed that he was still magically bound and his power was greatly diminished. In the end, they agreed to this arrangement."
Of course, the reality is much more complex.
Felix still doesn't know whether Dumbledore agreed to this condition out of rationality or emotion, but in any case, the school has gained a new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
From Felix's judgment, Dumbledore probably endured a lot of pressure — the people of the International Confederation of Wizards would certainly not mind deceiving Grindelwald, finding out what he knew, and then sending him back to the bleak and damp, sunless prison. Grindelwald certainly knew this, so he found Dumbledore as a guarantee.
"Was there a problem with the transfer last night?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
"Yes, Dumbledore has a way to monitor Grindelwald's condition, somewhat similar to a two-way mirror..." Felix briefly explained the principle that the imprisonment magic and the monitoring key are related, "I guess he didn't consider transferring the enchantment to someone else when improving this magic, so there was a loophole. Of course, it's hard to say for sure. If Dumbledore didn't have this key in his hand, Grindelwald might have escaped from prison in the first few years..."
The process of transferring the enchantment key only cut off the connection with Grindelwald, but did not disable the imprisonment magic, so Felix's words are highly credible.
"Alright, I understand," Professor McGonagall slowly accepted this reality. She had previously celebrated a year of peace at the school, only to find out that there was turmoil behind the scenes, and she had worked with the dark wizard Grindelwald for a year without realizing it. She even filed several reports to Dumbledore...
"So, nobody knows where Grindelwald is now?"
"I haven't found him in Nurmengard, but..." Felix hesitated for a moment, remembering the inscription on the wall, shaking his head, "He won't be content to hide. I'm more concerned about another issue—"
"What issue?" Professor McGonagall asked, rubbing her forehead in distress.
Felix slammed two boxes of letters on her desk, "We need to categorize these letters. To be honest, there are quite a few, and it's just the two of us, we can't ask for help."
"Why not ask for help?" Professor McGonagall glared at him, putting on her square glasses, as if preparing to dutifully complete the tasks assigned by the former headmaster before officially becoming headmistress.
Felix felt a faint unease in his heart.
He wasn't sure if these letters would still be useful, as Grindelwald probably guessed Dumbledore's death. The question is, will he expose the fact that Dumbledore is still alive? This question has been lingering in his mind since he left Nurmengard, so he did something—about a fifth of the letters in the box were written to Grindelwald, and Felix kept them.
They continued with this task until noon.
Grindelwald is now nowhere to be found, hiding in some corner, probably recuperating. Felix had seen how weak Dumbledore became after the transfer enchantment, and Grindelwald certainly couldn't be in perfect condition. Even if he still had some power left, there would be a big question mark.
If it were him, Felix would definitely find a picturesque place to secretly recuperate. After a few years, he believed his strength would be more mature, and time would be on his side.
"Oh, by the way, Voldemort died last night. He had been lingering on with some extremely dark magic, only to be secretly imprisoned. But everything came to an end last night, he's completely, permanently dead."
In the gaps between work, Felix announced another bombshell calmly...
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