Chapter 662: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2 in 1)

"Geez, is that true? Is that what Dumbledore really said - that he would solve the fragment of Voldemort's soul in you tonight?"

The next morning, Hermione said with a start when Harry told his companion about last night's episode. Ron, next to him, was too shocked to speak, his eyes fixed on Harry's face.

Harry nodded silently as they stepped onto the soft grass and strolled around the Black Lake. The sun outside the castle shone warmly and Hagrid could be seen working busily in the vegetable garden from a distance.

"So, did he say what he is going to do? What do you have to do to prepare?" Ron asked impatiently.

"He only told me that I have to do a brave thing, the rest will have to wait until after dinner tonight." Harry said.

"But why?" Ron asked in puzzlement.

"Could it be something to do with the O.W.Ls exams?" Hermione guessed, "The last exam just happens to be over today so that it will free up Headmaster Dumbledore completely."

Harry couldn't think of a reason to refute or agree. In fact, he had been looking forward to this day, and the idea of spending the last week of the school year with Ginny on a sunny June day simply fascinated him.

They walked around the black lake, stopping every now and then to watch the giant squid spouting jets of water and the sunlight reflecting off arching rainbows, which faded away again in a moment.

At times, they discussed with interest the methods Dumbledore might use, and Ron guessed that Harry would have a thrilling duel to the death with Voldemort while Dumbledore and Professor Hap circled them, but Hermione didn't think the two professors would put Harry through such a risk, so Ron quickly revised his idea to Dumbledore and Professor Hap first beating Voldemort half to death before putting Harry on the spot.

"Why don't you just say that they would simply fight each other barehanded, two people fighting each other with their physical strength, and Voldemort looks like he lacks exercise." Hermione said with a stony face.

Harry burst out laughing.

He laughed even more especially when Ron said stiffly, "It's not impossible". Afterwards, the three of them spent the afternoon at Hagrid's hut, drinking tea and giving comments on the design of the canvas trousers Hagrid had prepared for Grawp, in a very pleasant mood.

It was only when it was about time that Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to the castle.

They managed to be perfectly on time and when they arrived in the entrance hall there were already a number of students who had finished their charms practical exam present and were chatting enthusiastically in small groups as they cheered loudly, celebrating the end of a hellish year. After a few more minutes of waiting, Ginny appeared at one of the side doors of the great hall.

For the brief time when the door was open, Harry clearly heard the loud voice of Professor Marchbanks announcing the end of the exam.

"I've always felt quite at a disadvantage with this family name." Ron muttered, "Can't take advantage of it in any alphabetical order."

Ginny, who had approached, rolled her eyes at Ron and wrapped her arm around Harry affectionately. Harry looked away not feeling comfortable and saw Colin Creevey leaning against the alcove where the House point hourglasses embedded in it, as if he was being interviewed by Mafalda.

At that moment the wide black hem of Snape's coat swished past them.

Harry just gave him a curious look before his attention was drawn to Ginny's words, "I'm going to be a bridesmaid!" Harry was in a trance for a moment, Snape's shadow thrown out of his mind, and he couldn't help but picture Ginny in her bridesmaid's dress in his mental image, wondering how it would look different from a bridal outfit?

But over the next few minutes, one professor after another appeared, and even Hermione, who was feverishly discussing the wedding dress design with Ginny, and an impatient Ron noticed that something was out of place: the professors passing by seemed to be too frequent after all.

So when Hagrid's wide figure walked in from outside, Harry called out to him.

"Hagrid, what are you doing here?"

"A meeting," Hagrid said in a jarring voice, the wet mud still clinging to his boat-like boots as if he had been busy in the vegetable field again after they left. He stomped his way into the great hall and a few people looked at each other, Ginny volunteered to leave for a while and came back and said, "Hagrid went to the staff room. I had a look and there are a lot of people in there, it seems all the professors have been invited."

...

As Felix took a seat next to Snape, he swept a look around the room; all the professors in the school have present here, along with two other unfamiliar faces, sitting expressionlessly in the corner, not saying a word.

The room gradually quieted down, and all eyes were focused on Dumbledore in the main seat. Dumbledore looked around the room with a smile on his face and spoke.

"Before the meeting begins, allow me to introduce you to two witnesses, Vader and Chester, who are the representatives of the school board."

The two men nodded their heads in greeting.

The professors in the room exchanged surprised looks with each other as if something big is about to happen.

"What I am about to say next has been agreed to by all the members of the school board: ladies and gentlemen, I am resigning from my position as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore said seriously, and the room burst into an uproar as he continued as if he hadn't noticed it, "In the meantime, I am very grateful to the board for acknowledging my recommendation, that Minerva McGonagall will take my place as the new headmaster."

Professor McGonagall let out a loud cry, "No, Dumbledore it-"

Dumbledore stopped her with a look.

"Let me finish, Minerva. The new appointment also includes - Felix Hap, who will continue to hold the position of Professor of Ancient Rune, along with the position of Deputy Headmaster."

After he had finished, Dumbledore touched the tips of his ten slender fingers together, and then looked politely at the rest of the crowd, as if waiting for someone to ask a question. The room fell silent for a moment as everyone tried to digest the shocking announcement and no one rushed to break the silence.

Felix didn't react much to the position that had suddenly fallen to him; even without the position of deputy headmaster, he had the ability to promote some changes in the school. He frowned slightly as he gazed at Dumbledore, his heart sinking a little lower.

He had had his suspicions before, but he had just been unable to reach a conclusion. Especially when he had recently learned that Dumbledore had used the power of the Resurrection Stone to conjure up projections of the souls of two of his loved ones from the hearts of the living, it was even less likely that Dumbledore would give up on life.

If Dumbledore had made up his mind to die, what was the point of doing so?

But now that Dumbledore had suddenly made this decision, it couldn't be to enjoy his retirement, could it? With that in mind, he looked at Grindelwald in the opposite direction, maybe he knew something? At that moment Grindelwald's brow was furrowed, and he looked intently at Dumbledore, whose gaze did not deliberately avoid him, but did not pay too much attention to him either.

He felt ominous, as an icy coldness seeped into his internal organs little by little.

"Dumbledore, you should have discussed this with me beforehand!" At that moment, Professor McGonagall said with exasperation, "I can't accept such a hurried decision from you, it's ridiculous, and I'm sure the other professors are not the least bit mentally prepared for it, even if you had plans to retire, you should have left a cushion of time instead of suddenly bringing it up and startling everyone."

"Minerva, there are still two hours before the dinner starts, we have plenty of time to clear up any doubts, but my decision will not be changed."

"Of course there are doubts!" Professor McGonagall said sharply, "Let's start with when you got this irresponsible idea, and also, what will you do when you leave the school? You've spent most of your life here."

"It's a grand topic, Minerva, and I don't want to expand on the details, that's too wordy, and two hours won't be enough. Simply put, I planned a trip." Dumbledore announced cheerfully, with a hint of mischievous triumph in his tone, even from Felix's point of view. "Of course, you can also assume that I have been planning it for a long time."

"A trip, a tour?"

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Professor McGonagall seemed confused, while Grindelwald looked up perceptively, travelling? Dumbledore had mentioned this to him privately, two days ago, when he had talked about his aborted graduation trip, and his words dripped with the slightest hint of regret.

He talked fluently about the route he had planned.

Starting from the UK and passing through France, Greece, Egypt, and Brazil ... nearly covering all the famous wizarding towns and magical sites around the world. Of course, the most important thing is still the people, he is very interested in the magical ecology of other countries and would not refuse a short stop in some of the beautiful scenery ...

A twinge of longing stirred in Grindelwald's heart.

For the rest of the time he was distracted by the whole thing and his thoughts were all over the place. When the meeting was over, all the professors walked woodenly out of the staff room and the students in the great hall were already seated at their tables. Then the dinner began and it ended with Dumbledore standing up to speak and announce the shocking news.

The students at the foot of the gallery were dumbfounded; they finally knew why all the professors seemed to have a little appetite today - and this naturally included Grindelwald, except that his thoughts were very different from those of the other professors.

When Dumbledore said he was giving up his post as headmaster, he knew that the plan he had been working on for a year had gone down the drain and that he would be too shut off from the outside world at Nurmengard Castle, but that was exactly what he had wanted, and he had taken the initiative to cut off contact with the outside world. In the beginning, some reluctant acolytes sent their messages by various means, but after realizing that there was no response, they gradually disappeared, and his world became simple and quiet, and he spent his days relying on the memories of the past to pass the time.

Many years passed in a flash. It was only when he accidentally heard rumours of the Elder Wand from the mouth of the house elf, Bondi, that he could not resist the impulse to have Bondi deliver a letter because he knew that the Elder Wand had fallen into Dumbledore's hands half a century ago and given his character it would never change hands.

He smelt a conspiracy.

Sure enough, the youngster who called himself Voldemort began to stir up the storm. Grindelwald watched the battle that took place outside Hogsmeade village through the eyes of the house elf, but the doubts in his mind were not verified; Dumbledore was old and did not show the power of the Elder Wand at all. However, the Elder Wand was indeed still in his possession.

After that, he got in touch with Felix Hap.

In the constant tussles and exchanges, he became acutely aware that another great age is coming in waves. The last great age was a century ago. At that time, the speed of Muggle development grew faster and faster, making not only the insightful members of the wizarding community feel threatened, but even the ordinary wizarding populace was able to find their sphere of activity becoming narrower and narrower, and the regulations of Statute of Secrecy becoming increasingly more stringent.

Discontent pervaded all over the world.

He seized that opportunity and thus made Grindelwald's reputation as one of the most dangerous dark wizards of all time. Now almost a century later, history is once again repeating itself, only this time it is not the wizards who are initiating the war, and this time they have no option of retreating, and it seems that it will be difficult to hide the existence of the magical world any longer.

The Statute of Secrecy is in danger, and this time the crisis will not be solved by putting some dark wizard in prison.

Shortly thereafter, he 'saw' some visions, not one. To be precise, three different scenes: the Anti-Wizard Parade; the grand fireworks; and - the scene of him gathering the Acolytes together!

He concealed the latter two scenes and brought out the most visual first one as a condition for negotiation. In the end, he managed to succeed, changing his clothes and his name to become an ordinary wizard school professor.

At first, he was not half interested in the matter of educating the students.

But this thought gradually changed, and sometimes he even thought that it would be nice to go on like this until the prophesied vision became reality. He even found an explanation for the other two visions he had seen: the celebration after the victory, and the gathering of the Acolytes to replace the corrupt and incompetent International Confederation of Wizards when he was exposed in the wizarding world.

It was precisely by figuring out the significance of these three visions that the triple ruling theory emerged in his mind, with Dumbledore, Hap, and him, each of the three men taking an important role in shaping the world.

Dumbledore gained an immense reputation by defeating him and being recognized by the Qilin, an influence that is unmatched to this day.

Felix Hap is a little less influential, but it depends on who he is compared to; he is in fact far beyond the limits of geographical boundaries, both in terms of personal power and prestige, and in just a few years he has spread his tentacles throughout the wizarding world by promoting ancient rune and developing novel magical items, and he even amazed Grindelwald when he studied his biography.

And as for Grindelwald himself, as he said, he united all the forces of the wizarding world to ensure that there would be no internal chaos. If necessary, the Acolytes in his hands would sweep away all threats. This list naturally included the stubborn Muggle authorities, and in his view, even if wizards and Muggles eventually came to peace, it is bound to be after a war.

In the short span of a few decades when he was most active, there had been two world wars, and he knew all too well the evil in human nature.

Wizards must show their power. By an optimistic estimate, it would only be sufficient if they burned one or two countries to the ground. At least the outbreak of a full-scale war would be avoided, wouldn't it? Even if both sides would suffer heavy losses, with the hiding skills of wizards, an ordinary civilian house would be perfectly capable of hiding hundreds or thousands of wizards, as long as someone could organize them.

The unfortunate ones that died would be just the thing to dissipate the hatred of the ordinary Muggle populace.

After a few decades or centuries have passed, when the convenience brought by magic has penetrated the hearts of the muggle populace deeply, wizards will become the de facto nobility, and all the wars that were once fought, all the bloodshed that was once shed will be forgotten, and how many people today can even remember that a small Bulgarian country was one of the initiators of the world war?

This is Grindelwald's preview of the future - pessimistic, desperate, cold, cruel, and the very thought of it would be met with a torrent of verbal abuse. So he omitted the gory statements when he talked about it to other professors before, but he knew Dumbledore himself would have figured it out.

This time it was not him who was bent on starting a war.

He was even happy to say reassuringly, "There are over two hundred countries in the world, and war can naturally be avoided if each one of them made the right choice." He likes to see Dumbledore's speechless expression.

They have lived too long, they have witnessed too many ugly things, and it is only Hap who has the unrealistic illusion of expecting everything to go smoothly. But that possibility ... is too slim.

Both he and Dumbledore were, by nature, utterly pessimistic, and their hearts had long been desolate.

...

In the dead silence, Dumbledore raised his goblet and smiled as he toasted to the crowd.

"If we lose hope, what are we left with?"

The great hall continued to remain silent as if someone had cast a Quietening Charm. Then Dumbledore announced the end of the dinner, but no one moved, everyone stared at him and some of the sentimental girls burst into tears.

Dumbledore was considerably moved, and he took a light breath and said with a shudder, "Everyone can leave now. On a side note, the four Heads of Houses, as well as Professors Hap and Bagshot, please come with me." With that, he led the way through the crowd and made his way towards the door, followed in order by those whose names had been called.

As he passed the Gryffindor students who stood in silence, Dumbledore paused slightly and looked over at the crowd. Four eyes met and Harry understood at once.

He glanced back at the chaotic great hall, exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione, and elbowed his way quietly after them. Behind him came a gush of pushing and shoving and Seamus's angry shout was heard: 'I'm not going! I'm in the sixth year - I'm an adult!"

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