Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 309 Vaughn: Grindelwald? He's too narrow-minded!

His only worry was whether Vaughn Weasley would accept his advice and stop bothering Mars.

Otherwise, his community would likely fall apart.

Fortunately, Vaughn Weasley kept his word as he had heard—the rumor mainly came from the Hidden Ones, a group of man-eating hybrid monkeys with a terrible reputation even among magical creatures, since almost all the wizards' large-scale extermination campaigns against magical creatures were caused by these man-eating beasts.

Two months ago, after the Hidden Ones were captured by Vaughn Weasley, many magical creatures spread rumors that the monkeys were doomed.

As a result, a group of them actually came back recently, and they were all well-fed and had shiny fur. They were no longer the sneaky creatures that used to lurk in the swamp.

According to the Hidden Ones, Vaughn Weasley forbade them from attacking humans. He promised to provide them with food as long as they could suppress their instinctive impulses and also set a series of "performance tests." Those who met the tests could receive a potion from him periodically.

How many magical creatures have ever taken a magic potion in their lifetime?

Aragog had lived for decades and had never seen such a wizard or such a thing.

He had some doubts before.

But now—

After thinking for a long time, Vaughn raised his head again and noticed Aragog's faint anxiety. He assured him, "Don't worry, although I'm very curious to know who those wizards are, since you're cooperating, I can promise you I won't cause trouble for Mars."

Aragog breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Weasley."

"But I still have some questions that I need you to answer."

"Please speak," Aragog said cooperatively.

Vaughn thought for a moment and asked, "When were those wizards last here?"

Aragok didn't hesitate for a moment: "They only came once, more than three months ago, and I haven't seen them since. Trust the caution of an old spider; my signal threads are spread throughout this woodland."

Huh?

It was another unexpected answer.

Vaughn was somewhat confused: "So, what about Mars instructing Araclew and Allavi to attack Harry today?"

Before he finished speaking, he understood.

Aragog replied, "Although I don't know what kind of cooperation Mars has with them, yesterday I clearly heard Mars instruct Aragrace that tomorrow is the day Harry Potter arrives, and to proceed according to plan." — I've heard that centaurs can observe the stars and make prophecies; wizards should have similar methods.

Yes, a prophecy—

This is Vaughn's only weakness, which also causes him to subconsciously avoid thinking in this direction when faced with problems. After all, those who are obsessed with fate will inevitably be played by fate.

Tom's experience serves as a stark reminder, and Dumbledore's vigilance and fear regarding prophecy and fate remain fresh in our minds.

A group of wizards speaking American English, just over three months ago, shortly after he finished his trip to North America, came to the Forbidden Forest and contacted Mars, the eight-eyed giant spider, instructing him to attack Harry Potter today, just over three months later.

Vaughn frowned.

Although he knew this was the real world and that things couldn't go exactly according to the "plot" he remembered, this development still caused him some distress.

Unfortunately, Aragog didn't know much. He didn't know whether Mars and that group of American-accented wizards had further "cooperation" or whether it was still related to prophecy.

After all, he didn't really care who Harry Potter was or whether he was alive or dead.

So he didn't pay much attention at the time. Knowing he wouldn't live much longer, he was delegating power to his children. How they chose was both their own decision and an essential step in their growth as leaders.

"Hasn't Vaughn returned yet?"

In the forest, the cold mist drifting from Black Lake still lingered stickily.

Hermione, who was closely watching the movements in the woods, heard Harry's question for the umpteenth time beside her. She turned around, glanced at him, and gently shook her head.

Harry sighed.

They were sitting under a sturdy oak tree. Its rough, plank-like roots served as flat, dry benches, allowing them to rest without their robes getting soaked by the damp, cold ground shrouded in mist.

Harry had one arm around Ron, whose face was frighteningly pale.

He hadn't yet recovered from the fear of facing the giant spider, and he looked dazed and confused. Except when he was being helped, he could walk on his own, and when the fire cupping jar was handed to him, he knew to hold it. Otherwise, he seemed to have completely entered a state of unconsciousness.

Not far away, Hagrid was arguing with Professor Kettleburn, but the two were deliberately lowering their voices, so it was impossible to hear what they were saying.

The main problem is that Hermione wasn't in the mood to investigate.

She was worried about Vaughn.

Hagrid had come back alone saying that Vaughn wanted to talk to the giant spider named Aragog, and now they've been talking for quite some time.

There's been no movement from over there.

Even though she knew that Vaughn's magic was no match for the eight-eyed spiders, Hermione still couldn't rest easy knowing that Vaughn was alone with such a vicious creature, especially since he had just been attacked by spiders and surrounded by a group of them.

After a while, as Harry asked again, a clump of bushes in the distance swayed a few times, and through the light mist and dark green leaves, Hermione finally saw the familiar red hair.

The girl ran over and hugged Vaughn tightly.

After expressing her fear and relief through physical gestures, Hermione vaguely realized that Vaughn seemed somewhat absent-minded.

Feeling Vaughn's stroking of her hair slow down, the girl looked up, her eyes wide with anxiety: "Vaughn—"

Vaughn seemed to finally come to his senses and smiled at her: "It's nothing, I just heard some confusing news from Aragok."

Puzzled?

These were words Hermione rarely heard from Vaughn; in the past, Vaughn always had a clear idea of ​​what to do.

But she could tell that Vaughn didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't pry and obediently nodded.

Subsequent events proved her judgment correct. After returning to the group, Vaughn urged everyone to return to the castle, without even bothering to comfort the still-frightened Ron.

After leaving the Forbidden Forest, saying goodbye to Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn, and then seeing her, Harry, and Ron off at the entrance of the university hospital, Vaughn hurriedly left.

Judging from the direction he left, it should be the principal's office?

The principal's office is on the eighth floor of the castle.

During Dumbledore's absence, this place was closed for most of the time. The key was kept by Vice-Headmaster Professor McGonagall, and only she and Vaughn would come occasionally.

Today, the long-quiet office is once again lit up with fire, a roaring fire in the fireplace, and orange light spills out of the window, illuminating the snowy night sky.

The first snow of the season has just arrived in the highlands.

"—You believe someone predicted Harry's movements, contacting the Octopods over three months ago and having them attack Harry today? This is beyond my comprehension, dear. I should have told you, prophecy isn't a very precise form of magic. Predicting the course of fate is extremely difficult. That kind of conceptual information doesn't have clear visuals like a wizard's memory or a Muggle movie; it's imagery, vague. Even the greatest prophet can only see a part of it, which is why prophecies need to be interpreted—"

The temperature was chilly in the snowy weather, and gusts of cold air kept emanating from the huge bay window. The warmth brought by the fireplace flames could not dispel them.

Vaughn moved his chair close to the fireplace, warming himself by the fire as he pondered.

Dumbledore once suspected that he had some kind of prophetic bloodline, but Vaughn knew, of course, that he didn't, and that his talent was actually quite poor.

At this point, he didn't care about exposing his "weakness" and asked directly, "Is your conclusion absolute? Is there any prophetic magic that can accurately predict the future?"

"Of course, you know about Sybil's situation. Her great-great-grandmother, Cassandra, was one of the greatest prophets in Europe in the last 200 years. When she died, she donated her life's research on prophecy and destiny to Hogwarts. I have read her essays and records, and at least in her case, prophecy was no different from how I understood it."

Hearing Dumbledore's confident words, Vaughn did not give up. After pondering for a while, he asked again, "What if the process of prophecy is aided by 'fate'?"

"How is this possible, fate—"

Dumbledore instinctively tried to refute, but he stopped abruptly as the flames outlined his face in the fireplace, their contours shifting and undulating with the flickering flames.

Vaughn didn't care. He had no interest in how to achieve accurate predictions—it wasn't his area of ​​expertise, and he didn't know where to begin if he wanted to study it.

For him, what he really wanted to know was whether those people were actually from North America, to be precise—

Is it related to DeSantis, Wilkinson, and their group?

On the other side, after a moment of silence, Dumbledore spoke again: "—I need to have someone verify the idea you proposed."

He didn't specify who he was verifying with, but Vaughn immediately understood: "Someone? Grindelwald?"

Dumbledore did not answer, but his attitude itself was the answer. Yes, Cassandra Trelawney was the most famous Celtic prophet in England, and her fame spread throughout Europe. Even such a great figure was only the greatest "prophet" of the last 200 years.

.

That's because Gellert Grindelwald is another "one of".

Grindelwald was born with heterochromia, and in mysticism, unusual appearances are part of rituals, representing a person's extraordinary talent.

Therefore, Grindelwald, known for his dark magic and Fiendfire, is actually most skilled in divination!

When Dumbledore chose legendary magic on his path to becoming a legend, he picked magic that he wasn't originally good at—the magic of observing the web of fate. One reason for this might have been to counter Grindelwald.

The conversation turned to Grindelwald.

Vaughn suddenly asked, "Didn't you say you'd introduce Grindelwald to me when I visited North America before?"

When?

Dumbledore was taken aback by his sudden change of topic: "—Darling, that was a joke!"

Vaughn thought his reaction was a joke.

"You dare not let me see him, Albus?"

"Who says I wouldn't dare?"

"You yourself, I've always heard you say that Grindelwald and I should get along well, and I thought you were just joking, but now it seems you're serious."

'

'

"But don't worry, as I said, I am who I am, not Tom Riddle II, nor Gellert II, I am not like anyone else."

Dumbledore's face was frozen in the flames, as if the old wizard on the other side had "gone offline".

After a long while, the head formed of flames came to life again. It sighed, and a few sparks flew from the fire: "Can you tell me why you want to see him?"

Vaughn shared his earlier speculation.

Hearing the names "DeSantis" and Wilkinson, Dumbledore wasn't surprised. After all, he had the same concerns when Vaughn mentioned that the wizard Aragog was determined to find the Eight-Eyed Spider and spoke with an American accent.

So far, all the information about "DeSantis" and the like is just speculation between him and Vaughn.

One of them was a legendary wizard who lived to be over a hundred years old and had connections all over the world, and the other had a mysterious intelligence system (at least Dumbledore believed it).

Three months later, the two of them still hadn't found a single clue about basic information such as where the "De Santis" group came from, who started it, what its purpose was, and who its members were.

If Dumbledore hadn't witnessed the werewolves being slaughtered and Vaughn being chased by a "mosaic," he might have suspected that what was happening in North America was some kind of collective hallucination.

The only clue that the two believe has a strong connection to the "DeSantis" group is Grindelwald.

This judgment did not arise out of thin air.

First of all, the existence of the "De Santis" is very strange. Dumbledore is very certain that all the legendary wizards in the world can sense each other at the moment they complete the path to legend and achieve legend.

Such a perception cannot be achieved through magical fluctuations or the like—that would be too far-fetched. No magical fluctuation can cover the entire world. Alchemical artifacts that can cover an entire country are extraordinary things, and represent the limit of what magic can achieve.

The connection is more like a connection at the soul level.

Last year, Vaughn proposed a hypothesis about a soul dimension. He cited Muggle dimensional theory and believed that in higher-dimensional space, there is a dimension in which the soul is active.

At the time, Dumbledore largely agreed with this view, not only because of the research and speculation of wizards in the past about the afterlife, but also because the existence of the soul dimension provided a theoretical basis for the mutual resonance between legends, which also aligned with Dumbledore's own feelings.

Since legends don't just appear out of thin air, then—the two of them inevitably had to consider another possibility!

Where have all those legends who should have aged and died gone in the past 200 years?

Could the likes of De Santis be legends who were supposed to die?

Later, Wilkinson's appearance corroborated their speculation.

However, before Wilkinson, Vaughn and Dumbledore had already identified Grindelwald as a prime candidate for intelligence gathering. If the DeSantis were developed by absorbing legendary wizards on the verge of death, then Grindelwald was the most likely candidate known to be close to death and the most likely to be targeted and persuaded to be recruited.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore's attempts to probe the issue did not go very well.

The cruel twists of fate and the divergence of ideals eventually turned into hostility, creating an irreparable rift between the two closest of friends.

The most irreconcilable difference lies in differing viewpoints.

Ariana was bullied by Muggles, which led to her developing Obscurus. This made Dumbledore inherently hate Muggles. The reason he later changed his mind was that Ariana's death awakened his wisdom and reason, making him realize that hatred would only make things worse.

The worst part is that the wizarding community itself cannot grow and thrive; only by using Muggles as a breeding ground can the wizarding community continue to grow.

Dumbledore sacrificed personal love for the sake of greater love.

These actions are seen as undisputed great ideals by "progressives".

But Grindelwald didn't think so.

Grindelwald is a typical right-wing figure. What Dumbledore calls great love, vision, and magnanimity is seen by the right-wing Grindelwald as a complete betrayal of the wizarding community.

He certainly loved Dumbledore, but it was precisely because of the depth of his love that he hated him so intensely.

If a beloved garment gets stained with an indelible stain, the best solution isn't to leave it there and feel annoyed every time you see it, but rather to burn it!

Let it live forever in the ashes!

This is Grindelwald's vision.

Dumbledore understood this better than anyone else, so he was more wary of Grindelwald than anyone else of his potential "restoration."

If he could, he would want to see Grindelwald die, completely and utterly, more than anyone else.

Before his death, he didn't want Grindelwald to see anyone, especially a genius like Vaughn—the lingering poison of that right-wing ideology was too contagious and too terrifying.

Ideas cannot be killed; they will only grow stronger.

but----

"Perhaps I can persuade him to cooperate with us!"

"Vaughn said calmly."

"In the flames, Dumbledore's head, outlined by embers, remained motionless, staring at Vaughn."

Vaughn remained unfazed: "Grindelwald's fundamental demand is not to enslave Muggles, but to free wizards, or rather magic, from the constraints of the Statute of Secrets and return them to their rightful place in the world."

"You always say that I'm a lot like him. I know you're testing whether I agree with his ideas. I haven't answered you directly before, but I think my avoidance is the best answer in itself—yes, I also think the Secrets Act is a terrible thing."

"But I can also tell you frankly, I will not follow Grindelwald's path, that's too stupid — sorry, forgive me for being so blunt, but Grindelwald's attempt to achieve his goals by enslaving Muggles is actually a double-edged sword."

"When he tries to achieve his goals by inciting hatred and creating conflict, he has already sown the seeds of unrest. I like a quote from a Muggle playwright: 'This brutal pleasure will end in brutality.'"