A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 717 The Awakening of Memory

After parting ways with Hermione, Felix returned to his office and then reappeared in classroom number seven.

The space of classroom number seven seemed to expand again, where thought and reality intersected. What might normally be a few steps away would become a street or a beautiful garden in this place... Felix deviated from the path that students usually used to attend classes, passed through layers of mist, and a simple little village appeared before his eyes.

Felix stood in front of an ordinary little house and knocked on the door.

The door was opened by Grindelwald's memory. To Felix's surprise, what stood before him was not the image of a young man, but the face of Grindelwald in his old age, though upon closer inspection, there were some differences.

"I knew you were coming, so I greeted you this way. I've been waiting for you," the old man grinned. He wore a purple morning robe, his expression calm and composed, showing no trace of hostility.

The two sat down facing each other. "You have something to say to me?" Felix asked, then looked at the old man curiously. "Are you whole now? I mean, your memories—"

“Of course, of course,” Grindelwald said. “At this moment, as I speak to you, I feel more complete than ever. You know what? After a while, I’m actually not very happy here.”

Why?

"One reason is: it's too boring. There are only two memory entities in the entire space that have signs of life, which is equivalent to half a living person," Grindelwald said. This surprised Felix quite a bit, because although the memory entities seem to be alive, they are very different from real people in their way of existence, such as their perception of time.

"Your performance surprised me as well; you seem no different from an ordinary person," Felix said, looking at Grindelwald's memory with a probing gaze. The other smiled but remained silent.

"Besides the first reason, what about the one you said was waiting for me, so it's related to me?"

Grindelwald nodded slightly, then slowly shook his head.

"That was indeed my initial thought. After the funeral, I decided to leave the necessary information and be open with both sides, but you never came... Later, the ghosts told me what you had been doing during that time, and I felt there was no need to say anything. You completely understood what I meant."

"So today—"

"Consider it a farewell. Or, would you like to hear me tell a story from the past? You know, I've seen them, but they don't remember me. It's a strange feeling, like time has reversed, everything has started over, but only I remember what really happened. My memory has become a burden."

"Are you referring to Dumbledore, or his sister Ariana and nephew Credence?"

"Aurelius," Grindelwald said slowly, "I prefer to call him that; that boy helped me a lot."

Felix made a gesture as if he was all ears.

“Aurelius Dumbledore,” Grindelwald said, “I remember it clearly… just seventy years ago. At the underground gathering in Père Lachaise Cemetery, he chose to join my group, under my careful planning. You can’t imagine how much I valued him.”

"Because of his background?" Felix asked.

Credence is Dumbledore's nephew, but for a long time neither Dumbledore nor Aberforth knew of his existence. It was a huge secret at the time, and it must have taken Grindelwald a great deal of effort to find out.

"Not only that, he is also an Obscurial, an Obscurial who lived to adulthood. His potential is unimaginable. Without ever receiving a systematic magical education, he surpassed 99% of wizards just through instinct—I originally intended for him to inherit my work."

Felix was surprised by this statement. He looked at Grindelwald, who had no reason to lie. Felix followed this line of thought and untangled many loose threads.

Grindelwald's biggest obstacle at the time was Dumbledore. Even with the Blood Alliance standing between them, as long as Grindelwald did not give up his dream of ruling wizards and Muggles, they would definitely become enemies, and the whole world would force them to do so.

In the end, it was proven that even the most unbreakable blood oaths were shattered.

"I won't sit idly by and wait for Dumbledore to come to me. Instead, I'll take the initiative. My plan is to cultivate wizards who can rival Dumbledore," Grindelwald said slowly.

"To cultivate a great mage? That idea is too audacious." Felix slowed his breathing. He put himself in Grindelwald's shoes and thought the plan would be incredibly difficult.

"It was certainly a bit far-fetched, but I eventually found a way—perhaps the only way, the Silent One."

Felix suddenly realized. Grindelwald knew that Obscurials could live past the age of ten, the evidence being Dumbledore's sister Ariana. Perhaps his initial plan was to find a young Obscurial, take good care of him, and help him subdue his dark magic—the Obscurial—but he never expected to unexpectedly gain the help of Credence, a child of the Dumbledore family who had been living away from home.

"A child who rivals the Archmage in potential and emotionally restrains Dumbledore is exactly what I need," Grindelwald's memory said slowly, as if he himself were sitting in front of Felix, calmly discussing past plans and unknown secrets with him.

"That gathering also allowed me to exploit a weakness in the Ministry of Magic: an Auror killed an ordinary citizen who came to hear my speech, which gave me the perfect excuse. It wasn't that I sought violence; from that moment on, the Saints began a full-scale confrontation with the existing order of the Ministry of Magic."

"My power has expanded rapidly. Aurelius and a woman who can read minds played a huge role in this. The former received my teachings while appearing all over the world, defeating the Aurors in various countries; the latter—I remember her name was Queenie—used her innate talent to see through a large number of spies planted in her. Her ability was silent and could be maintained indefinitely."

"Everything is moving in a positive direction," Grindelwald said calmly. But Felix knew a turning point was imminent, and sure enough—

"I've been keeping Aurelius's past a secret, using it as a trump card, ready to use it at a crucial moment. But a few unexpected things happened. On one hand, the phoenix that accompanied him on the battlefield became famous. A phoenix—" Grindelwald clicked his tongue, "There's a legend in the Dumbledore family that a phoenix appears when a member is in dire need. Perhaps that's why Dumbledore became suspicious; I had to reduce his outings."

"His good fortune didn't last long. His health deteriorated, and his abilities became extremely unstable. I tried various methods, but could only watch his body crumble. Perhaps this is the fate of the Obscurials… I was very disappointed, and I believe he realized it himself. He volunteered to assassinate Dumbledore, but I refused. He was no match for Dumbledore now. Later… later his girlfriend came looking for him. She was a blood-cursed orc. When they met again, her condition was equally severe; she spent most of her day in the form of a snake. They spent all their time together until one day, Aurelius disappeared for a while, returning empty-handed…"

"That woman's name is Nagini?" Felix asked.

"You know her too?"

"I know her, I've even seen her once, though in the form of a snake. I think Aurelius released her."

"Release her?" Grindelwald repeated in a low voice. "I thought she was dead."

"Remember that mind-reading woman I mentioned? She's in trouble too—oh, not because of her sister who's desperately trying to take her back, but for something else—she has a Muggle… lover who wants them to be together openly, but after so long without seeing any hope, her stance is starting to waver. I noticed her slackness, especially regarding the most important task—the assessment of Aurelius's mental state. When I realized this, I knew the original plan was no longer suitable, and I had to speed things up."

"I decided to run for president of the International Confederation of Wizards that year. In fact, no matter the outcome, I was prepared to wage war against Muggles, but at that time there were still many people who opposed me, and I hoped that they could join my camp."

"I discovered a clue about the Kirin. Its unique magic could increase my chances of winning the election, so I sent out several teams to search for it. In the end, Aurelius brought it back. I turned the newborn Kirin into a puppet and used its blood to see a part of the future... I saw Dumbledore after I warned him. At that time, I had a premonition. Although I gave him the Blood Pact token years ago and he still couldn't find a way to break it, I definitely had a bad feeling."

"The outcome was as I predicted. I was successfully elected president of the International Confederation of Wizards using the already dead Kirin, but the trick was exposed. Newt Scamander brought another Kirin; they were twins. It was all Dumbledore's doing, but he didn't know what he was doing. It wasn't me creating division; it was him creating division. At that moment, I finally made up my mind. I drew my wand, and Aurelius stood in front of me..."

Grindelwald's eyes blurred.

"Everything happened just like yesterday. I, Dumbledore, and his brother attacked at the same time, with an Obscurial standing by who was defenseless. But the result was completely different. Aberforth was irrelevant. My spell and Dumbledore's spells were linked together, and the chains binding his hands finally broke."

"I had a brief encounter with Dumbledore, the first time we'd fought in over thirty years. When my hand touched his heart, I could feel his heartbeat, but I could no longer sense his thoughts. This meant the blood oath was completely broken."

"The plan was forced to stop, and we couldn't focus on waging war against Muggles for the time being. Dumbledore stood in front of us, even though that was the closest I ever came to success."

"So the blood pact broke because—" Felix asked.

"I don't know either, it was an accident."

"It couldn't be because of love, could it?"

"Ha, perhaps. Blood oaths are based on blood, but they require a strong emotion to solidify the magic. We've been bound by this emotion for decades, and we've tried everything to break free. The only plausible explanation is that Dumbledore back then used a stronger love to transcend the limitations of individual emotions."

Grindelwald's memory stood up and walked to the door.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Felix suddenly asked.

"Perhaps it's because, after today, these will become secrets forever."

Silver light began to emanate from Grindelwald's body, and then his face gradually changed, becoming younger, his back straightened again, and his hair was dyed a brilliant gold. When he opened his eyes, his pupils were a clear blue.

As he said at the beginning, past memories have become a burden, and if he wants to start over, he must let go of unnecessary things.

……

The next day, when the students came downstairs, they found the courtyard shrouded in a white, cold mist. As Harry and his friends passed the bulletin board in the foyer, they saw a group of people pointing and whispering below. Judging from their expressions, the notice said something good.

"Let's go take a look," Ron said.

“No need,” Harry said. “I know what’s on it. If nothing unexpected happens, it should list the schedule for the first Hogsmeade weekend.”

Ron whistled softly.

"That's wonderful! I heard some new shops have opened in Hogsmeade; I definitely have to check them out," he said. "But how did you know?"

"I think," Harry smiled, "it's probably because I put it there myself."

"Ron," Hermione said kindly, "if you look closely, you'll also notice that the handwriting on the notice is very similar to the papers you usually use for 'reference'."

Even though he knew in advance, Harry was still looking forward to the short trip three days later. He simply wanted to get out of the house, clear his head, and even if it was just to have a drink with Ginny at the Three Broomsticks and spend a couple of pleasant hours.

"Hey Harry," Hermione said, "you could take this opportunity to meet Mr. Dorge. Didn't you say you wanted to speak with him face to face?"

Harry glared at him, and after a moment he muttered, "I'll write to him."

"Why don't you guys get a communication mirror?" Ron asked, puzzled.

“Mr. Dorje isn’t used to it,” Harry said. “He thinks writing letters helps him clear his mind.”

At this moment, Neville walked towards them, his face flushed, and he seemed to be a size larger than usual, whether from the cold or from wearing too many clothes, it was hard to tell. They went together to the auditorium for dinner.

Around the same time, Felix appeared at Ivermony School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and shortly after, Horace Greenstinch, the president of the Magical Congress of the United States, also appeared. When they parted, the other two wore particularly somber expressions.

"I will have the Aurors drop everything they're doing," Horace Greenstinch said in a deep voice. "The investigation will be conducted in secret and will not affect the upcoming Federation General Assembly."

The headmaster of Ilvarmani School of Wizardry also stated, "If any young wizards do fall into the hands of the authorities, the most cost-effective approach is not to imprison them or subject them to various experiments, but to let them grow—whether it's to unravel the secrets of magic or to cultivate their own wizarding force, it's better than simply confining them. Moreover, they can use their wizarding status to gather intelligence..."

They talked for a while, after which Felix appeared at the headquarters of the International Wizarding Federation, awaiting the afternoon's meeting. A vague idea formed in his mind; Grindelwald's words made him realize that he, too, had in fact created a division within the wizarding community, although this trend was not yet obvious and seemed necessary—Grindelwald's identity certainly made some things simpler—but there was no doubt that these two forces would eventually have to reunite.

"We need a suitable opportunity..."

Felix and Grindelwald definitely had to meet, but a real-life meeting wouldn't be what they expected, so they changed it to Room 7. Also, out of resentment towards the movie, I modified the plot of the third film with my own ideas and inserted it into the book. I've always wanted to do this, but I hadn't found the opportunity before.

(End of this chapter)