Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 410, Question 404: What if the prison is blown up?

Mr. Weasley, still confused, quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Weasley, please answer a question for me. If our Minister of Magic were as powerful as Professor Dumbledore, as intelligent as another Dumbledore, and firmly stood by Professor Dumbledore's side, do you think everyone would feel at ease? Would the Death Eaters dare to invade the Ministry of Magic? If he and Professor Dumbledore joined forces, could they defeat Tom Holmes?"

"That's for sure, but Fudge is already dead. Even if he were alive, he couldn't possibly join forces with Albus. Even if they did join forces, it would be a miracle if he didn't become a hindrance."

It's not that Mr. Weasley looks down on Fudge; Fudge's abilities are well-known to everyone in the Ministry of Magic—"good for nothing but causing trouble."

"It was 'this' cowardly Fudge who died."

Dudley corrected him, the implication couldn't be clearer.

"You mean," Mr. Weasley finally understood, "but where are we supposed to find someone like that?"

The topic has returned to its most crucial point.

Percy remained silent, Scrimgeour seemed lost in thought, and Dumbledore hesitated to speak.

The three men had different expressions, but it was clear that they knew who Dudley was talking about.

"Isn't there one in Austria? And he's our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor in fifth grade."

"As long as our Professor Dumbledore agrees."

Austria. The only wizard in Mr. Weasley's memory of a similarly powerful figure to Dumbledore was the one from Nurmengard prison.

"How could that be? Wait, how could he be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?" Mr. Weasley clearly realized who it was and quickly turned to Dumbledore, wanting an answer from him: "Albus, is this true?!"

What awaited him was Dumbledore's silence.

That is

it is true.

"Albus, how could you let him become a professor?!"

Mr. Weasley warned, "That's a very dangerous dark wizard."

Although he had never seen Grindelwald in person, it did not prevent him from knowing that the other party was a highly dangerous wizard.

Dudley retorted, "Is it more dangerous than that senior Tom?"

"Aren't you worried that he'll team up with the Dark Lord?"

Mr. Weasley asked again, "Their goal is to dominate others."

Faced with Mr. Weasley's questioning, Dudley answered quite frankly: "Don't worry, their ideologies are different. Professor Gellert, a pure-blood, does not reject half-blood wizards, while Professor Tom, a half-blood, only supports pure-blood theory."

The probability of Grindelwald joining forces with Voldemort is not much greater than that of Dumbledore betraying him and defecting to the enemy. Even without Dumbledore, the two would have had a fierce battle.

"How can you guarantee that?" Mr. Weasley was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Dudley directly posed the question to Dumbledore: "You can ask Professor Dumbledore about that."

"He was a man of his word; he promised me he would stay in that prison for the rest of his life."

After a moment of silence, Dumbledore spoke, neither affirming Mr. Weasley nor agreeing with Dudley, but simply adding at the end, "He won't come out."

In a sense, they were already on Mr. Weasley's side.

"That's right, Professor Gellert will definitely keep his promise."

Dudley agreed with Dumbledore, then changed the subject: "But what if the prison is blown up? What if the location of the restraint disappears?"

"."

"It was bombed? How could that be?"

Mr. Weasley first shook his head in denial, then, considering Daly's current abilities, added, "You mean...?"

"It wasn't me, that was illegal."

"It's Senior Tom."

Dali spoke with righteous indignation, though it was utterly unconvincing.

"The Dark Lord, that's impossible. He wouldn't go to that place even if he were there." Mr. Weasley shook his head like a rattle-drum.

"No, he will go. He will go to Professor Gellert if he wants to figure out the secret of the Elder Wand."

Given Voldemort's abilities, it would be incredibly easy for him to discover that the previous user of the Elder Wand was Grindelwald.

To learn the secret of the Elder Wand, he will definitely go to Nurmengard Prison.

"Professor Gellert would never tell Tom that it's perfectly reasonable for a ruthless killer like Tom to blow up a prison in a fit of rage, right?"

If it were Voldemort, he really would have done something like that.

That thing is a destroyer.

"How can you guarantee he won't reveal the Elder Wand's secret?"

"Gellert wouldn't do that."

It wasn't Dudley who answered him, but Dumbledore: "He can walk out of that prison whenever he wants."

If it weren't voluntary, would Grindelwald be imprisoned?

"What exactly do you want to do, Dudley?"

Dumbledore stared at Dudley with his deep blue eyes, as if trying to see right through him.

"I simply want you and Professor Gellert to team up as an extra layer of insurance against Senior Tom, nothing more."

If Dumbledore and Grindelwald teamed up, Voldemort might actually be a formidable opponent.

He truly did not deceive Dumbledore, nor did he need to be absolutely opposed to Voldemort simply because he repeatedly destroyed Voldemort's Horcruxes and because of his status as Harry Potter's cousin.

The main reason is that Dudley doesn't want to defeat Voldemort purely through the protagonist's halo, as in the original story. That would be too unpredictable, and the slightest mistake could lead to a completely different ending. No matter how you look at it, it's unreliable. So it's better to keep the initiative in your own hands.

Maximize the use of available resources.

"Now you all see Dumbledore as the hope against Tom. But you should know that he is over a hundred years old, and Tom's recent plans have been aimed at Professor Dumbledore, trying to kill him."

"If we don't prepare in advance, what if something happens to the professor? How low do you think our morale will drop? Will anyone still dare to stand up against him then?"

"Who did you rely on back then? Harry? Or me?"

Mr. Weasley and Scrimgeour listened and nodded repeatedly, finding it quite reasonable. Even Dumbledore fell into deep thought.

Only Percy, who had spent the most time with Dudley, showed no reaction. In his mind, Dudley was already synonymous with Voldemort, specifically in terms of strength.

"The more you fear him, the less you dare to resist him, the stronger he becomes."

"If everyone is no longer afraid of him, then is the so-called Black Demon still scary?"

Whether it was Dudley's imagination or not, he had been researching in his spare time lately. He felt that Voldemort's power was abnormally strong, seemingly related to the fear others had of him. The more people feared him, the stronger his power became, just like a certain Yellow Lantern Legion.

(End of this chapter)