Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 214 Dumbledore's Hesitation and Dilemma

Dumbledore was stunned: "How—how did you guess?"

Vaughn nodded: "It's a very simple deduction. You yourself said that all the legendary wizards who saw Wilkinson in person judged that he would not live long. This means that the basis for the judgment is a certain condition that is recognized by all the legendary wizards, and there is no difference between them."

"I hate logical reasoning."

Dumbledore muttered something, but instead of elaborating on it in response to Vaughn's curious gaze, he changed the subject: "You're interested in that little girl, not because you're after those werewolves, but because you're eyeing the twelve purebloods who have been left behind, are you? Sigh—remember what we said? Those like me allowed me to take you, and they allowed you to take those werewolves away, provided you don't cause any more trouble!"

Vaughn ignored his complaints and led him to the black market in the sewers once again. He found a table and sat down. In the distance, just like last time, Mr. Joker was sitting on the stage, presiding over the auction.

Soon, the other party noticed him.

But unlike the enthusiasm last time, the moment their eyes met, Vaughn sensed the astonishing killing intent and—fear—in the other's gaze!

Vaughn smiled and waved to the other side.

Joker made several attempts to draw his wand, but ultimately failed to muster the courage.

Moreover, he also noticed Dumbledore next to Vaughn!

That made him even more wary.

After teasing Mr. Joker for a moment, Vaughn stopped there and instead beckoned to the bartender, saying, "Why can't I have my eye on them? You saw it yourself, that little girl has awakened her magic. Letting her go is a waste. There are countless people like her throughout America—I think you should submit a motion to the International Federation to thoroughly investigate the lost wizarding bloodlines in America. Hmm, I've even thought of a reason for you—to prevent the birth of Obscurians among these awakened descendants!"

Obscurity is a mistake, stemming from wizards being oppressed by their external environment, denying themselves and the magic they possess. It is born from the fear and dark experiences caused by persecution.

Dumbledore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose: "—It's not like 100 years ago anymore; the persecution of wizards and wizarding bloodlines isn't as rampant now—"

Vaughn interrupted him: "Really? Should I replay what I saw of the human experiments in Jack Graves's memories?"

Dumbledore had nothing to say.

After a long silence, he said, "In short, I cannot support your interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Yes, America has problems, artificial wizards, Wilkinson—but that is not a reason for us to interfere. Don't forget, the 12 purebloods and the natives all have their own legendary wizards."

"Their usual reluctance to deal with worldly affairs doesn't mean they'll never care. In fact, they've been quite lenient with you and me. You killed so many pure-blood American wizards, and I trespassed into North America without permission—normally, even the most indifferent person wouldn't allow themselves to be humiliated like that. They didn't take action because they know that the cause of this outcome wasn't us, but Wilkinson, DeSantis, and the arrogance of the Magical Congress hidden behind the scenes."

"The current outcome can be considered the price that the Magical Congress and Josiah Parker paid for their arrogance. If they hadn't colluded with Muggles, they wouldn't have been fooled into the disappearance of Michael Graves and the others."

"If it weren't for their arrogant desire to seize WAC's achievements, so many purebloods wouldn't have perished in the Alabacia Mountains—these reasons were our excuses for each other, so after I arrived, they suppressed the pureblood families, tacitly allowed us to escape, and prevented all the conflicts from escalating further, returning everything to its original state."

"This is partly out of fear of my strength, and partly because they need to free up their resources to investigate what's really going on with Wilkinson and DeSantis—but if you remove the face-saving barrier and continue to press your advantage, leaving everyone humiliated, believe me, my dear, the proud legends will absolutely show you just how terrifying they can be when they go berserk!"

Vaughn remained silent.

He rationally understood what Dumbledore was saying, but his previous encounter with Wilkinson made him realize that he had been manipulated by a group of behind-the-scenes manipulators.

The other side used him as a pawn to successfully throw the Magic Council into chaos and take the opportunity to weaken the power of the pure-blood families.

He gained nothing but a group of werewolves.

I'm not really able to accept it emotionally.

"strength----"

Vaughn knew very well that the main reason for this result was that he was not strong enough.

He wasn't one to wallow in self-pity; it was an objective fact that he was less capable than others, and Dumbledore had no reason to support him unconditionally.

Therefore, after a brief attempt and discovering that Dumbledore was unwilling to proceed according to his wishes, Vaughn said no more.

At this moment, the black market bartender hesitated for a while. Seeing that Mr. Joker did not make any move, he had no choice but to call over Mr. Anonymous, the intelligence merchant who had traded with Vaughn last time.

The nameless man was terrified. He took off his hat and clutched it tightly in his hand: "Dear Mr. Weasley, and—uh, dear Mr. Dumbledore—"

He looked so nervous he was about to break down.

He was an intelligence dealer, in the business of selling information. He had the best eyes and ears. Although the battle in the Alabacia Mountains was secret and unknown to the outside world, it did not include people like him.

In fact, less than half a day had passed when the Magical Congress's failed attempt to stop the werewolves in the Alabacia Mountains, resulting in a massacre by Vaughn Weasley and heavy losses, swept through the entire North American magical world like a hurricane.

And Dumbledore.

His act of breaking through the Dreamcatcher's blockade and entering North America was made without any attempt at concealment, and any wizard with alchemy talent could clearly sense it at that moment.

Mr. Anonymous never imagined that the client of the easy business he had casually taken on a few days ago would be such a fierce and ruthless person.

"Relax, son. You could call the bartender over and order a couple of gurgling shots. Speaking of which, America is the birthplace of gurgling. I've heard it's really exciting, but unfortunately I've never tried it," Dumbledore suggested kindly.

The nameless man forced a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Your suggestion is excellent, excellent—Will, two shots of chug-chug, one for Mr. Dumbledore, it's on me!"

He eagerly ordered from the bartender in the distance, as if that would alleviate his fear.

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head: "That's not a good idea, is it? It sounds like I'm coercing you into something."

"Absolutely not, it's my pleasure to offer you a drink—uh, Mr. Weasley, what would you like to drink?"

Vaughn, who had been watching Dumbledore's amusement with a cold eye, tapped the table impatiently: "Mr. Nameless, you should know why I'm here. I'm not in the mood for small talk."

"Yes, yes, I understand."

The anonymous man pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, his face somewhat pale. "But I'm sorry, of your two requests last time, we only completed the one about finding the Thunderbird. The request to find someone hasn't made any progress yet—no, to be precise, we did find traces that resembled Queenie Kowalski and Jacob Kowalski, but—"

We cannot be sure————

"What do you mean?" Vaughn frowned.

The anonymous man gave a wry smile: "About three days ago, two detectives from our agency used Guardian to send us information that they had discovered the target during their investigation. However, they quickly lost contact. When we contacted them again, they had returned to the vicinity of our agency's headquarters in New York, in a daze, and did not respond to any questions. One of them even asked in a panic what year it was—"

He sighed and said, "It's obvious that their memories have been tampered with. Someone used a very powerful mind control technique to invade the minds of those two poor bastards and manipulate everything in their heads like playdough."

Vaughn said expressionlessly, "I remember reminding you that Queenie Kowalski is a natural Legilimency master. She doesn't need to chant spells or use a wand to know the thoughts of anyone around her."

"—Sorry, this was indeed our oversight."

As he spoke, the anonymous man pulled out a money pouch and reluctantly handed it back to Vaughn: "I heard you are about to leave America, so we probably won't be able to complete this commission. Here is the deposit, which is also returned to you."

Vaughn stared at him for a moment, and just as he was about to break out in a sweat from nervousness, he finally took the money bag.

The anonymous man breathed a sigh of relief and quickly pulled out a slip of paper, handing it to him: "The Thunderbird family you commissioned to investigate is still in Arizona. Our people have pinpointed their activity range, and the specific locations are recorded here. If you're going, please do it as soon as possible. Because they are frequently hunted by pure-blood families, the Thunderbirds are quite wary of wizards. Our investigation may prompt them to migrate—"

The specific details were explained.

After the bartender brought the drinks, the anonymous man took a sip with the bartender, confirmed the transaction was complete, and then hurriedly left.

They didn't even want the final payment.

Faced with Vaughn Weasley, a "ruthless bandit" who slaughtered hundreds of wizards in the Magical Congress in one fell swoop, even if you put Galleons in his hands, he probably wouldn't dare to take them.

Vaughn didn't press the issue; he simply unfolded the slip of paper and looked at the records on it.

Dumbledore, having happily taken two sips of strong liquor, let out a loud burp and asked Vaughn, "Why didn't you ask that nameless gentleman where those two wizards who might have been in contact with Queenie are? With our expertise in memory magic, perhaps we can find something out of their heads."

"There's no need."

Vaughn said, "When I made the commission, I said that it was Tina who was looking for Queenie. She hacked into the minds of those two wizards and must have already known the details of the commission, but she still chose to hide. Obviously, she doesn't want to meet Tina. I don't necessarily have to find her. It's enough to make sure she's safe and not being imprisoned or coerced."

"Sigh—Queenie has always been very opinionated, so we really can't force her too much."

Dumbledore sighed.

In southwestern Arizona, sandstorms sweep across the wilderness.

Sophia Graves appeared in a phantom on a mountain rock eroded into a bizarre shape by howling winds. A moment later, with a few crackling sounds beside her, a middle-aged wizard also squeezed out of thin air.

Neither of them spoke, gazing into the distance.

Deep in the desert, a sudden thundercloud appeared and swirled on the horizon at the edge of the field of vision. Against the backdrop of yellow sand and the azure sky, the dark, wave-like clouds and blue-white lightning danced wildly.

Its power was like a natural disaster.

It took a long time for the commotion to subside.

"call--"

The middle-aged wizard breathed a sigh of relief. The vast thunderclouds that had previously made him instinctively hold his breath, and even now that they had dissipated, he was still shaken. "Are you sure he and Dumbledore came here just to see a thunderbird?"

-

Sophia shook her head slightly: "The intelligence I got from Boston is this: Anonymous—humph, these guys always use the same code name. Anyway, they wouldn't dare give us false information."

"So, that thundercloud we just saw was created by that thunderbird?"

"—It should be."

"This is terrifying—how could such a powerful magical creature be hiding in Arizona? I've never heard of it before, when did it appear?"

"Its name is Frank, and it's over a hundred years old now. It was a Thunderbird that Newt Scamander rescued in the 20s. It's said that Grindelwald caused a huge mess in New York, which exposed the wizarding world. It was Newt Scamander who used this Thunderbird named Frank to carry the venom of the Winged Demon into the rain clouds. He used the diluted venom to make all the Muggles forget their bad memories."

The middle-aged wizard was taken aback: "Is that so? How did you hear that?"

The details of Gellert Grindelwald's affair have long been kept secret by the Magical Congress. The outside world only knows that he once caused a great disturbance in New York, but the Magical Congress has always remained tight-lipped about why and who resolved the incident.

People from the lower classes, like the middle-aged male wizard, naturally wouldn't know this.

Sophia Graves said calmly, "Gellert Grindelwald was disguised as Percival Graves when he successfully infiltrated Woolworth. Coincidentally, my grandfather was Percival Graves."

'

'

The middle-aged wizard looked a little embarrassed. "Ahem, it seems they're leaving. Shall we continue following them?"

Sofia didn't answer; she simply looked up at the sky.

She had a talent for alchemy, though not very strong; she could only vaguely sense that countless dreamcatcher tentacles were lingering in the sky, as if they were monitoring something, or perhaps they were wary of it.

As she lowered her head again, empowered by the Far-Seeing Spell, she took a deep look at the two figures in the distorted air baked by the scorching sun deep in the desert.

A faint wisp of red hair fluttered in the heat.

Weasley —

A name that confuses her is the one who caused the Magic Congress and various pure-blood families to suffer heavy losses in the Ayebachia Mountains. Of the thousand wizards who accompanied Josiah Parker on the expedition, only a few dozen survived.

Among the survivors who escaped, some witnessed Speaker Josiah Parker being killed by W. Weasley.

Furthermore, Donald Graves, the acting head of the Department of Magical Safety, also pledged allegiance to the boy.

In other words, he single-handedly brought the entire Magic Council to its knees, or rather, it was already partially paralyzed.

No matter how much of a mascot he may seem in ordinary times, the existence of the speaker's position naturally serves a purpose.

At the very least, the speaker can also play a role in mediating conflicts.

Now that the Speaker is in office, Congress is in complete chaos. Ambitious people, lunatics, and people with ulterior motives are running rampant. Before, when there was a fight, at least someone would be banging the gavel. Now, there's nothing at all.

But on the other hand, Sofia also felt some—gratitude—to Warwick Weasley!

What were the results of the Graves family's several clashes with Weasley?

With Michael Graves missing and Jack, Evelyn, and others betraying the family, eight of the twelve Auror squads, the family's most important armed force, were crippled, and six of them no longer needed to retain their designations.

Now, Donald has also betrayed the party, and according to Sophia's information, Jacob Graves has also disappeared, possibly having also defected to Bolton—anyway, Congress is in complete chaos now, and nobody cares about him.

Since encountering Weasley, the family has been like a bleeding ditch, suffering losses time and time again, directly or indirectly, because of Weasley.

Even as one of the twelve purebloods, with such thick blood, the Graves family was finding it hard to handle.

Some "sinners" who had lost the struggle and were abandoned by the family and forced to leave the family center were given a chance to be reused.

That's how Sofia's branch of the family returned.

Thinking of killing him, she took one last deep look at the red-haired figure in the distance, and then, in her distant vision, she saw the boy turn around and look in her direction.

Boom!

Sofia felt her heart skip a beat, but it seemed like an illusion.

Then, the middle-aged wizard beside her suddenly gasped for breath: "Gai Chang, it's the strange magic those who escaped mentioned!"

Sofia was startled and horrified.

She also remembered that the wizards who had fled back from the Ayepachian Mountains had said that Warhoo Weasley possessed a silent magic that could cause blood vessels to burst and orifices to bleed.

It's so strange that it's impossible to detect, and there's currently no way to protect against it.

Was that what just happened?

She quickly touched her nose and ears, and the middle-aged male wizard next to her did the same.

A moment later, the two breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uh, Sophia, maybe we shouldn't follow them anymore—" The middle-aged wizard was a little scared. "Anyway, the lords of Woolworth are too busy fighting for power to give any concrete demands. Let's just pretend we lost them!"

Sofia was reluctant; she was very curious about the boy. "We're not the only ones being followed. Don't you want to know where they're going next—"

The middle-aged wizard interrupted her, shaking his head repeatedly: "I don't want to, I just want to live!"

'

Seeing her companion's resolute attitude, Sophia could only sigh inwardly. In fact, she had been following Warren so that she could contact Donald Graves through him.

She wanted to know why Donald would rather leave the country and break away from his family.

This is a question she has been unable to understand ever since Jack, Evelyn, and others betrayed her.

Unfortunately, it seems there's no chance now.

Deep in the desert on the other side, Wolverine withdrew his gaze and asked Dumbledore, who had been watching him with great interest, curiously, "Was that the Infrasonic Charm you mentioned?"

"Um."

"Are those people who are following us not reliable?"

"It was just to teach them a lesson and warn them that I don't like being constantly watched and exploited."

"What if they didn't heed your warning?"

Dumbledore asked again.

Wow glanced at him without saying a word, but his meaning was clear.

The infrasound spell has a wide reach, and if those people don't heed the warnings, he wouldn't mind letting them truly experience the terror of this curse.

Dumbledore's expression was somewhat complicated. He didn't like Wolverine's actions, but—as Wolverine's magical power increased, his control over him became weaker and weaker.

Vaughn is growing too fast —

This made Dumbledore somewhat worried and hesitant.

The last time I met Grindelwald, my old friend immediately saw through his inner turmoil—he was getting old, and it was hard to say how much longer he had to live.

He had seen his own end in "fate," and he had also seen the twilight that signified the impending end of the legend in the ether.

Everything seemed like a warning from fate.

He will not have a role on the stage of the future "chosen ones"!

Without Weasley, he would probably have accepted his fate, peacefully met his end, followed the final "script," and fulfilled the destiny of the boy born in the month of Plowing in the Dark Lord's battle.

But he happened to meet Walter Weasley and observe that the other's fate was nothingness!

It seemed like there was nothing there, yet it was like the black hole that Wosha had once demonstrated, pulling the net of fate around Yezai and plunging everything into an incomparably deep "darkness".

Dumbledore didn't know what this foreshadowed, but—compared to the already predetermined trend, compared to pushing Harry onto the stage of fate to be toyed with by destiny.

The "differentiation" and "change" represented by Woshuai seem to have broader possibilities.

Moreover, given Warshaw's rapid growth, he is likely to become the third legendary wizard in modern England, after him and Tom.

These factors left Dumbledore in a state of indecision, caught between two conflicting goals.

Severus had previously criticized him for arranging for Woj to visit North America, even though he knew the trip was fraught with danger.

Yes, why is that?

He replied to Severus that the trip to North America was Wolverine's own decision, but Dumbledore knew that was sophistry.

In reality, he supported Warshaw's idea, seemingly subconsciously wanting to send him to dangerous North America.

That might be a manifestation of his inner conflict.

Now, his arrival in North America to provide shelter for the legendary Warwick and handle the aftermath is also a manifestation of contradiction.

Shaking his head, Dumbledore cleared his mind of the jumbled thoughts, pretending not to have caught the subtext in Wolverine's words, and said, "Alright, Frank, you've seen it all, and you've done what you promised Newt. What's next?"

"I'm going to a place next."

"Wald said, drawing his wand and waving it. Soon, a large amount of mist rolled out from under his robes, forming a curtain of thick white fog in front of the two of them in a moment.

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