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Chapter 185: Grindelwald
Chapter 185: Grindelwald
Vidal certainly wouldn't refuse. He shook Dumbledore's hand.
The aged Fawkes suddenly let out a clear, piercing cry.
Vidal heard the ticking of the clock and the rustling of turning pages, and the surroundings suddenly became illusory, changing rapidly like a kaleidoscope.
It felt like they were Apparating, but without the uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a tube.
Suddenly, Vidal's body swayed, and the surroundings stabilized.
They appeared in a strange building, with thick stone walls covered in scratches. Torches were mounted on the walls, burning with a hiss.
This place was very cold, and although Vidal couldn't feel it, he saw that the people coming and going were all wearing thick fur coats, their breath forming white clouds in the cold air.
However, their faces remained blurry, as if they were captured by a low-quality surveillance recording.
"What kind of magic is this, Professor?" Vidal asked.
"A type of memory magic..." Dumbledore hesitated, "A rather complex application, to be precise."
"So...are all these people from someone's memory?" Vidal surveyed the people around them.
"To be exact, I once witnessed someone's memory and am now recreating it in this dramatic fashion."
Dumbledore explained, "Although I could have used a Pensieve to immerse you in that actual memory, it would have taken too long."
Memory fragments often contain redundant information and boring conversations. Even if one were to piece together short segments of a few minutes each, it would eventually become too lengthy. He guessed that Vidal probably wouldn't want to spend that much time on it.
Moreover, what Dumbledore wanted to show him wasn't those trivial details.
As they spoke, the two of them followed a few professors and students in scarlet robes, walking down a dim stone corridor, turning one corner after another and descending flight after flight of stairs, until they finally stopped in front of a wooden door.
On the door was engraved the symbol of the Deathly Hallows—a circle, a triangle, and a straight line.
A tense-looking wizard at the front of the group pointed his wand at the door, and it exploded with a boom, sending everyone rushing inside.
In the room, there was a handsome young man with blond hair and pale skin. His blue eyes were like translucent gems.
Among the crowd of blurry faces, he was the only one with a distinct appearance, as if he didn't belong to the same layer as the others.
He had his back to the door, gently waving his wand as if dancing. Hearing the commotion, he turned around in surprise, then furrowed his brows.
In front of the young man, and on the shelves around the room, were numerous bottles and jars of various sizes, reminiscent of Snape's Potions classroom at first glance.
However, upon closer inspection, some of the containers held distorted figures, while others emitted black smoke that wailed miserably. Just one glance made one feel sick and uneasy.
And on the open book on the table, there were bizarre drawings of people being subjected to cruel torture.
"Gellert Grindelwald!" Someone in the group shouted coldly, "Someone reported that you were secretly conducting evil experiments at school. I thought it was a slander against you, but I never expected it to be true!"
The blond-haired young man, Grindelwald, looked at one of the students in the crowd with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. That student shrank back and hid behind a professor.
The young man was dragged out forcefully, and someone said, "Just wait! You'll definitely be expelled this time! Even in our school, your behavior is absolutely unacceptable!"
"Oh, is that so?"
Grindelwald sneered, and when someone tried to take away his wand, he lashed out. The light of the spell exploded, sending his attacker flying.
Blood splattered, and someone screamed. A violent fight broke out, and some people fled in a hurry, probably to get reinforcements.
Blue flames blazed up, and a student rolled on the ground while Grindelwald flew backward, crashing into a shelf by the wall. Bottles and jars smashed to the ground with a clatter.
Grindelwald raised his head, and blood trickled down his temples and nose, but even so, he looked breathtakingly handsome.
There was a striking beauty about this person that transcended gender.
The young man suddenly lifted his head, and a column of red light shot out, striking the person in front of him.
Immediately, Vidal felt his perspective shift as if he, too, had been hit by the spell.
In the blink of an eye, the surroundings changed completely.
The young man with blond hair, his face still bearing bruises, looked back at the majestic and cold castle of Durmstrang. The castle stood like a sword embedded in the black mountain peak.
The young man turned and carved a symbol on the wall, then left without hesitation, taking long strides away from the castle.
Vidal and Dumbledore followed him for a while, and it felt like they had traversed endless distances in an instant, arriving at a new place.
It was a valley bathed in brilliant sunshine, with lush green grass that seemed almost endearing. Two young men were strolling through this picturesque setting.
"...And then I was expelled!"
The young Grindelwald recounted his experience, shrugging his shoulders and continuing in a proud and disdainful tone, "Stupid school! I thought Durmstrang would be more enlightened than the others, but it turned out to be full of cowards as well."
Next to him was a red-haired teenager, around fifteen years old. His features were not very clear, but one could still make out that he, too, was exceptionally handsome, with bright, starry blue eyes.
Vidal looked up at Dumbledore beside him. The half-moon glasses on the old headmaster reflected the light, hiding his expression.
Vidal had no intention of probing the inner thoughts of a centenarian, so he turned his head back to the two young men.
The red-haired teenager listened to the person beside him with a smile, his gaze focused and attentive.
Grindelwald was expressing his opinions: "We wizards are endowed with power. Why should we hide like rats in the gutter? The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy is the most ridiculous law!"
"It makes us wizards feel like thieves when using our own abilities, living in constant fear. Albus, your sister was harmed by Muggles, and what wrong did your father do by taking revenge for his daughter? Yet those fools imprisoned him without considering the context!"
"We should strive for a ruling position! Wizards should rule over Muggles, rule the world! We shouldn't be pushed into an ever-shrinking corner by the growing Muggle population! If necessary, we should, of course, use force. This is the right bestowed upon us by the heavens..."
The smile on the red-haired teenager's face gradually faded, and he pressed his lips together, nodding slightly as if he deeply agreed with what was being said.
(End of Chapter)
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