Chapter 679: Deception

Chapter 679: Deception

A large hole had been torn in the walls of the prison cell in Nurmengard Castle.

Moonlight streamed in, but it was far less bright than the eerie blue light inside the room.

Grindelwald gazed out at the phoenix beyond the castle walls.

It was a very peculiar bird. Its body was silver-white, as radiant and clear as the moon, resembling a Patronus. However, its delicate head, long neck feathers, and the surface of its back and wings were covered in deep blue flames that constantly flickered. Its eyes were identical to Grindelwald's.

"Go, bring me my wand, and then we have much more to do", he said calmly.

The phoenix soared through the dark night sky, flying into the distance. Grindelwald took a few steps outside, feeling the fresh air blow in. He approached the black wall and stood at the edge of Nurmengard's tower.

In the distant horizon where the sky met the ground, the pure black gradually transitioned into deep blue.

Grindelwald lowered his head and stared at his left hand.

The curses within his body were extremely tenacious and could not be dispelled in a short time, which was why he had been imprisoned here for decades. He had previously used blue flames to burn away most of the curses in his body, but a small portion remained, difficult to eradicate. Grindelwald could clearly sense them spreading throughout his body, slowly devouring the magic he had painstakingly regained and controlled. If he did nothing, it wouldn't be long before they grew stronger again.

The sky gradually brightened. He had to make a decision quickly.

Grindelwald glanced back at the far corner of the cell. There was no time to hesitate; now was the best opportunity. Dumbledore—or someone else—should have appeared to stop him the moment he tried to break free, but no one did.

Oh, he had conveniently damaged the wall, but the magic on the wall was not Dumbledore's. However, the International Confederation of Wizards might have received the message.

Magic gathered in his left hand, leaving his body feeling hollow. The small curses seemed to be drawn to it, flowing into his left hand, merging and becoming whole. But Grindelwald allowed this to happen.

Finally, the remaining curse fragments were fused together. They seemed to have a life of their own, greedily devouring the magic in his left hand. The curses glowed, becoming more complete with each passing second. At that moment, Grindelwald sensed something—through the curses—he vaguely saw a blurred shadow.

The figure seemed to notice something, raising its head. The face was indistinct, but the pair of light blue eyes was striking.

Grindelwald's heart sank. His last hope was dashed, and he smiled cruelly.

"Boom!"

Fierce black flames burst into life, crackling and burning his flesh while destroying the final curse. By the time he finished, he was drenched in sweat and trembling.

But it was all worth it—new power emerged, fresh and uncontaminated magic born from the depths of his soul, perfectly blending with his nearly depleted body.

He was reborn.

...

Hogwarts.

Felix glanced out the window, blinking in confusion. He had just seen the old Grindelwald. Was it an illusion? Or a new ability from the curses? But he still hadn't fully mastered the curses... He felt a sinking feeling in his gut—had something gone wrong?

Half an hour later, Felix arrived at Nurmengard Castle.

It was his first time there, and he was not used to the damp air and the smell of decaying straw. The air also carried a burnt odor. He carefully examined the large hole in the wall, where a line of black text appeared: "For the Greater Good."

He felt a headache coming on. A few moments later, a dozen figures descended from the sky outside the castle. Felix retreated into the darkness, not wanting to meet these Aurors just yet. After leaving Nurmengard, he visited nearby towns, but the curses on his arms showed no reaction.

Felix stared at his arms, wondering if they were useless.

He had just received them.

When Felix returned to the school, it was already fully light. The school seemed normal, with early-rising students eating breakfast. He found Professor Mcgonagall, who, upon seeing him, became even more agitated and pulled him into the staff lounge without a word.

"Auror Bagman received an owl this morning, and his face changed drastically. He didn't even eat breakfast and rushed off", she said.

Felix thought for a moment and asked, "Did he say why?"

"No. But his expression was very worried; it must have been something important", Professor Mcgonagall speculated.

"Grindelwald escaped last night."

Professor Mcgonagall's eyes widened, and she looked extremely agitated.

"Felix... you mean Gellert Grindelwald?" Her voice trembled, and Felix suddenly realized she had lived through Grindelwald's most active years and understood his influence. Felix recounted the events, including Grindelwald's disguise as a teacher at the school.

Professor Mcgonagall gasped throughout the story, clutching her chest tightly, her body swaying.

"I never expected it! He was Professor Basharat, and yet—", she paused, her eyes shining with memories, recalling evidence from her past interactions with Grindelwald, such as his advanced magical knowledge and his hostility towards Muggles.

Professor Mcgonagall tried to calm herself. "Albus—why did you do this?"

"I think it was because of a prophecy", Felix said softly, extending his hand to show her the image of the anti-Wizard parade. "A year ago, Grindelwald escaped from Nurmengard Castle and made his way to Britain. He obtained a special wand from Future World Company in Diagon Alley—back then, the eligibility checks weren’t as strict as they are now. Perhaps he saw a job listing in the newspaper and offered this image as a condition to teach at the school for a year."

"…The current President of the International Confederation of Wizards, Auror Bagman, also knew about this. They sent people to check Grindelwald’s condition during the summer break last year, confirming that he was still bound by magic and that his powers were severely weakened by contamination. In the end, they agreed to this arrangement."

The reality was, of course, more complex.

Felix still wasn’t sure whether Dumbledore’s decision was driven by reason or emotion, but the school did end up with a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

From Felix’s assessment, Dumbledore must have faced considerable pressure—after all, the International Confederation of Wizards wouldn’t have minded tricking Grindelwald, extracting the information he knew, and then sending him back to the dark, damp, and lightless prison. Grindelwald, of course, was well aware of this, which is why he sought Dumbledore’s guarantee.

"Was there a problem with the transfer last night?" Professor Mcgonagall asked sharply.

"Yes, Dumbledore had a method to monitor Grindelwald’s condition, something similar to a Two-Way Mirror…" Felix briefly explained the principle that the binding magic and the monitoring key shared a common origin. "I suspect he didn’t consider the possibility of transferring the curse to someone else when he improved the magic, which led to the loophole. Of course, this is hard to confirm, but if Dumbledore hadn’t held the key, Grindelwald might have escaped in the early years of his imprisonment…"

The process of transferring the curse key merely severed the connection with Grindelwald without nullifying the binding magic, making Felix’s explanation highly credible.

"Alright, I understand the situation", Professor Mcgonagall slowly accepted the reality. She had previously felt relieved that the school had been peaceful for the year, but now she realized that there had been a storm brewing beneath the surface, and she had been completely unaware of working alongside a Dark Wizard for an entire year. She had even reported to Dumbledore multiple times…

"So, no one knows where Grindelwald is now?"

"I didn’t find him at Nurmengard Castle, but…" Felix hesitated, recalling the message he’d seen on the wall. He shook his head. "He won’t be content with hiding. I’m more concerned about another issue—"

"What issue?" Professor Mcgonagall asked, rubbing her forehead in distress.

Felix slammed two boxes of letters onto her desk. "We need to sort these letters. To be honest, there are quite a few, and we’re only two people, so we can’t get help."

"Why can’t we get help?" Professor Mcgonagall glared at him, putting on her spectacles as if determined to complete the task assigned by the former Headmaster before she officially took over.

Felix felt a nagging unease.

He wasn’t sure if these letters would still be useful, as Grindelwald probably guessed Dumbledore’s death. The question was whether he would expose the illusion that Dumbledore was still alive. This question had been on his mind since he left Nurmengard Castle, and he had taken a specific action—about one-fifth of the letters in the boxes were addressed to Grindelwald, and Felix had kept these aside.

They spent the rest of the morning sorting the letters.

Grindelwald was currently nowhere to be found, likely hiding somewhere to recover. Felix had seen how weak Dumbledore was after transferring the curse, and Grindelwald was certainly in no better shape. It was questionable how much of his power he had left.

If it were him, Felix would have found a picturesque place to secretly recuperate. In a few years, he believed his strength would mature, and time was on his side.

"Oh, by the way, Voldemort died last night. He had been barely surviving through some extremely dark magic, and had to be kept in secret confinement. But last night, it all came to an end. He is now thoroughly and permanently dead."

Felix casually announced this major news during their work.

...

In the Hospital Wing, Felix told Harry something similar.

Even after learning that Dumbledore’s body had been properly placed, Harry still felt a heavy weight in his chest. The thought of Dumbledore lying alone in his coffin, his death a secret known only to a few, was like a knife twisting in his heart.

"He deserves a grand funeral, not to be buried quietly in some corner." Harry stared at the white sheet on the hospital bed, where a stain had formed. He thought of Regulus Black, who was now known for his solitary fight against the darkness. But how much longer would it take for people to recognize Dumbledore's sacrifices?

"This is exactly what Dumbledore wanted to see", Felix said, lowering his eyes.

After a while, they moved on to other topics.

"Professor Hep——you mean to say that Grindelwald regained consciousness during the transfer? How did he manage that?" Harry asked, surprised.

"I'll be sure to ask him the next time I see him", Felix said, resting his chin in his hand, equally puzzled, as he watched Warren arrange a pile of candies into a smiley face. Harry stared at the pattern, lost in thought, and a sudden idea struck him. He thought of Neville's Scrying Mirror.

Although he and Hermione couldn't find any issues, maybe the professor could spot something?

He shared his theory with the professor, but the professor's reaction was lukewarm.

"The Scrying Mirror is broken, no doubt about that. Out of a dozen runic circuits, only a few are correct. But the problem is that any single error would render the entire Scrying Mirror ineffective, making it unable to even trigger an alarm..." Felix's voice trailed off.

"Professor? Did you think of something?" Harry asked, holding his breath.

"If that's the case, then this is a very clever trick", Felix murmured, his eyes brightening. He had an idea—a better method, but none as straightforward as this, which exploited a psychological blind spot.

Neville's Scrying Mirror might have played a role, but not to alert Neville. The key was the strand of Grindelwald's hair placed inside the Scrying Mirror. This hair, along with the few incomplete runic circuits, formed the positioning component of another Scrying Mirror.

Felix had introduced seven different types of Scrying Mirrors in class, one of which would trigger an alarm when it was close to the owner of the hair. This type of Scrying Mirror was usually just a prank toy, but it could be useful in certain situations.

For example, when Sirius was still a fugitive, Felix created three Scrying Mirrors containing his hair to prevent him from getting close to the castle.

Perhaps Grindelwald had done the opposite. When two Scrying Mirrors were separated and exceeded a certain distance, one of them would trigger an alarm. Felix quickly ran through the scenario in his mind and believed he could replicate it.

Thinking deeper, the alarm didn't have to be a sound; it could be a vibration or some other strong stimulus. Therefore, when Grindelwald was forced to leave Neville (and, in turn, Hogwarts Castle) beyond a certain distance, the Scrying Mirror would activate automatically.

This was just a fleeting thought from Felix, and he wasn't sure to what extent Grindelwald understood Ancient Runes. Grindelwald had never demonstrated his expertise in Ancient Runes, but he had flipped through Ancient Runes magazines and occasionally chatted with Felix about the content, though never about magical techniques.

If Grindelwald had conceived this idea from the beginning, his mind was truly formidable.

Grindelwald could have used another student's hair to create a Scrying Mirror, which might have been more discreet, but there was a risk that Dumbledore or Felix would think of it and conduct a targeted inspection.

With limited information, Grindelwald chose the most conservative and secure method he believed in.

It turned out to be successful. Felix had checked his office, personal belongings, and any magic that might have adhered to his skin, but he overlooked the possibility that Grindelwald had swallowed a Scrying Mirror. What Felix didn't know was that his Stunning Spell was indeed powerful, but whether the Scrying Mirror alone could wake Grindelwald from his coma was uncertain. It certainly delayed his expected awakening time, but the Stinging Hexes from the International Confederation of Wizards' enforcement team weakened the Stunning Spell's effect.

Due to these combined factors, Grindelwald was nearly awake by the time he boarded the carriage. However, he was still bound by the enforcement team's spells, unable to move, except for the periodic pulsing of the Scrying Mirror in his stomach. He felt everything when Dumbledore and Felix transferred the key to the curses.

"Professor? Professor Hep?"

"Oh, I had an idea, but I'm not sure yet—anything else?" Felix asked, snapping back to reality.

"Um—why didn't Professor Dumbledore transfer the curses earlier, or delay solving my problem?" Harry asked. "That way, Grindelwald might not have escaped."

"He didn't tell me directly, so I can only guess", Felix said softly. "I suspect that Dumbledore found it increasingly difficult to use magic in the last stages of his life. The transfer curses had a significant impact on him—do you know that magic can flow between a wizard's body and soul?"

Harry shook his head blankly, completely unfamiliar with this concept. He wanted to remind the professor that he wasn't Hermione.

"Well, now you do", Felix said casually. "Dumbledore used the Resurrection Stone as a medium and delved deeply into the study of the soul, managing to actively integrate most of his magic into his own soul." Just like the Dumbledore he had seen that night, lighting up Hogwarts Castle with his soul.

"Why did he do that?" Harry asked, swallowing hard. He felt that the magic he knew and the magic the professor described were two entirely different things.

"Perhaps for experimentation. I suspect it wasn't the first time he ventured into that 'limbo between life and death,'" Felix said calmly. "Don't ask me, I have no proof, but in solving the issue of the soul fragment within you, my approach aligns closely with Dumbledore's: to maximize the chances of success, to ensure absolute certainty."

"Success rate?" Harry repeated, lowering his head.

"Exactly", Felix said. "We considered several possibilities, such as having Voldemort use your blood to resurrect. Dumbledore believed that the protective curse from Lily would then also manifest in Voldemort, strengthening it significantly, given your quasi-sibling relationship..."

"But that didn't happen, right?" Harry felt a shiver run down his spine and quickly added, "Voldemort used someone else's blood to resurrect."

"True. I think the pressure we put on him was too much, and he couldn't wait", Felix nodded. "But even if it had happened, it would have introduced more uncertainty. Your connection was already unusually strong, and sharing a protective curse would have made it impossible for outsiders to predict..."

Felix left Harry, who was lost in thought. He had asked Madam Pomfrey, and Harry was fine, expected to be discharged by the afternoon.

As Felix left the Hospital Wing, he ran into Harry's classmates who had come to visit him. He pulled Neville aside and asked to borrow the damaged Scrying Mirror, which Neville had on him. "Professor, is there something wrong with it?" Neville asked softly.

Felix looked at him, shook his head, and chose a different reason: "The International Confederation of Wizards needs it as evidence. I'll hold onto it for now, and return it if they don't need it."

Ron and Hermione, standing in the crowd, exchanged worried glances. Could there really be something wrong with the Scrying Mirror? Ron gave Hermione a nod and stepped forward, "Oh, Professor Hep, I have a question..."

...

Felix didn't rush to leave the school to search for Grindelwald. With less than a week left in the school year, he could focus on finding Grindelwald's whereabouts from some of the Saints. He wasn't in a hurry, and he didn't think Grindelwald would act immediately.

But things didn't go as planned.

In the evening, Amelia Bones rushed in with bad news: Grindelwald had escaped from Nurmengard Castle—something Felix already knew—but the message in the German newspaper she held truly surprised him.

A creature resembling a Patronus, but covered in Grindelwald's signature blue fire, had broken into the Gringotts Bank in Germany, burning through a vault before the goblin guards could react, and left calmly.

Felix stared at the photo someone had taken: the phoenix-like firebird breaking free from magical chains, carrying something in its mouth.

"That's— a wand?"

"The owner of the vault has been identified, a Saint who died decades ago. When Gringotts and local Aurors questioned his family, they had no idea about the vault's existence, indicating it was a secret one. As for the wand—"

"Grindelwald's first wand?" Felix asked in a grave voice.

Before Grindelwald obtained the Elder Wand, he certainly didn't cast spells barehanded. After he became famous and during the public duel in 1945, he always used the Elder Wand, and no one knew what had happened to his student wand.

"I thought the same", Bones said, her face stern.

Felix's expression grew serious. The wand itself wasn't the main concern; what alarmed him was that Grindelwald couldn't wait even a few more days.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end