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Chapter 963: Making the Dead Speak
Chapter 963: Making the Dead Speak
Ivan's sincere words deeply moved Hermione. The young witch immediately threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly for a while before softly speaking. "But... I'm so worried about you!"
"What's there to worry about?" Ivan laughed, feigning confidence. "Don't forget, I'm currently the most powerful wizard in the entire Wizarding World. Haven't you seen the newspapers? Grindelwald has to hide from me!"
Hermione thought about the reports in the Daily Prophet and felt somewhat reassured, deciding not to bring up graduation anymore.
Ivan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Hermione, have you finished watching all the memories I gave you?"
The young witch nodded. She hadn't wasted a single moment in the past few months, watching each memory Ivan had given her dozens of times. Her alchemy skills had progressed rapidly, and she could now create simple magic items on her own.
However, the alchemy technique Ivan had mentioned, which involved infusing pure emotion into magic items to enhance their power, remained a mystery to her. She had tried many times but always failed.
"Don't rush it. I took a long time to master this myself. You have plenty of time, so take it slowly", Ivan comforted her, then began explaining the key points of using emotion magic.
The two of them chatted as they walked together to the Great Hall. As they sat down to eat, a grayish-white owl suddenly flew in from the entrance hall, delivering a package to Ivan.
Ivan opened it and saw that it contained information about Grindelwald and the Death Eaters' activities, likely sent by Pierce.
Hermione, curious, also picked up a piece of the intelligence and began reading. The more she read, the more alarmed she became.
Since Grindelwald's escape, nearly a hundred incidents of wizards attacking Muggles had occurred across Europe. Some of these attacks were carried out by Death Eaters, while others were committed by wizards with radical views who supported Grindelwald's ideology.
This was clearly not a good sign and added a lot of uncertainty to the Aurors' investigations.
Hermione's face grew worried as she read through the reports. Her parents were Muggles, and she herself was a witch. If the Wizarding World and the Muggle world were to go to war, she didn't know what she would do.
Fortunately, Hermione soon reminded herself that the entire Wizarding World was now united, unlike before, and it might not be long before Grindelwald was captured.
Ivan, who had more information, wasn't as confident as the young witch.
Though he had displayed his might at the North American Magic Headquarters, severely wounding Grindelwald, Ivan knew that his victory was due to Grindelwald's significant magical depletion from battling over a hundred Aurors and being caught off guard by Ivan's use of the Key.
If he had to face Grindelwald at the height of his powers, the outcome would be uncertain.
More importantly, Grindelwald possessed a Horcrux, which was Ivan's biggest concern. Without destroying this object, Grindelwald would effectively have a layer of immortality.
But finding and destroying it would be no easy task.
The nature of a Horcrux made it easy to hide. It could be anything—a book, a key, even a button on a piece of clothing. Without any leads, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Not everyone is as nostalgic as Tom Riddle, enjoying the creation of Horcruxes from meaningful items and placing them in special locations.
Even so, in the original story, Harry was only able to locate and destroy the Horcruxes thanks to his ability to sense them.
Ivan stroked his chin, lost in thought. The only thing he could guess was that Grindelwald wouldn't be as deranged as Voldemort, so the number of Horcruxes should be limited, likely just one!
After understanding Ivan's dilemma, Hermione suddenly spoke up. "Do you remember Peter Pettigrew?"
"Of course, what about him?" Ivan asked, puzzled.
"If Grindelwald used the same resurrection method as Voldemort, he would definitely need an assistant!" Hermione unfolded the parchment and explained to Ivan. "So, you just need to figure out who Grindelwald trusted, and then find a way to capture them and search their memories for clues."
"Right!" Ivan's eyes lit up, and he happily hugged the young witch, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Hermione's face turned slightly red, and she quickly added, "Actually, my method might not work. If Grindelwald killed the person who helped him to keep the secret, it would be useless."
"Let's try it anyway. If Grindelwald is that ruthless, there's nothing we can do. We can't make the dead speak, after all..." Ivan shrugged, sounding resigned.
But after speaking, he paused.
Wait... make the dead speak...
Ivan's right hand gently touched the Resurrection Stone hanging from his neck, his expression changing.
He hadn't forgotten what Grindelwald said in the Congress Building. The Resurrection Stone might indeed have the power to summon the spirits of the dead; he just didn't know how to use it correctly.
In Ivan's memory, there was one deceased wizard who surely knew the clue to the Horcrux—Farrell, the former Vice President of the North American Magical Congress!
As Grindelwald's enemy and a component of the resurrection ritual, Farrell would have been conscious throughout the entire ritual.
After all, based on Harry's firsthand experience and the spell—["The blood of an enemy, forcibly given, will revive your foe"]—it seemed that the person had to be alive during the ritual for it to work...
With this thought, Ivan immediately sped up his lunch, deciding to go back and review all the legends and resources about the Three Hallows!
...
A few days passed quickly, and Christmas Holidays were slowly approaching. Ivan's research on the Resurrection Stone had made little progress. Extracting relevant information from numerous legends and texts was no easy task.
However, Ivan wasn't about to give up so easily. Besides his regular teaching duties, he spent most of his time in the library, even pulling out "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" to read through it carefully a few times. He also wrote a letter to Pierce, asking him to investigate which Death Eaters Grindelwald had valued the most.
On the last day before the holiday, Ivan slowly closed the "British Legends Collection", gathered the notes and materials he had collected over the past few days, and prepared to return to the staff Common Room as usual. However, as he turned a corner in the corridor, he unexpectedly ran into Luna, whom he hadn't seen in a while...
(End of Chapter)
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