Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 379 Dumbledore's Whereabouts

Nighttime, Durmstrang.

The Hogwarts Express lay silently on the meadow not far from the castle, all the windows dark. Beauxbatons' enormous carriage was nearby—although the Triwizard Tournament had ended, according to a tradition established by some unknown mental state, visitors from the other two schools were required to stay with the host school until their final exams were over, supposedly for better interaction between the students…

However, Avada believed that this was merely a delaying tactic by the British Ministry of Magic to buy time and keep Dumbledore in Durmstrang for a while longer. After all, the three champions were making such a rapid advance, and the true significance of this Triwizard Tournament far exceeded the Ministry of Magic's initial expectations.

Putting everything else aside—Goshak's speech alone was broadcast live from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, and it was also recorded. A few days later, it was to be featured in the Daily Prophet for wizards all over Europe and even the world to watch!

Undoubtedly, this will also have a huge impact on Avada himself, who is currently in the spotlight – after all, this university appearance was just an attempt to ride on his popularity.

So, in Dumbledore's office.

"...I knew you would come looking for me."

Albus Dumbledore, dressed in a pink bathrobe and wearing a rather avant-garde nightcap, smiled as he looked at Avada, who had just sat down in front of him.

"Of course, Professor."

Avada gave a wry smile: "After all, I'm about to be in the spotlight again, but there are still a lot of things I don't understand..."

"Who told you to give me such a big surprise in the first place?"

Dumbledore's smile held a hint of amusement: "A special admission to Nobiridge University—I was quite shocked when I first heard about it, after all, it means someone could infiltrate Hogwarts right under my nose, the headmaster..."

"……cough."

Avada coughed nervously.

"Haha, don't be nervous. I don't intend to pursue this matter. Anyway, it's your own future—tell me, what did you want to know by calling me here?"

"Uh, that's a bit much."

Avada rubbed his temples, a headache forming. During the day, he had tried to use the identity of Kru Impry to approach Grindelwald again and find out the truth behind the matter. But when he asked Principal Nurmengard of Goshak whether the ban had been lifted, he received a reply that left him speechless…

"The ban has been lifted—but Grindelwald made it clear that he shouldn't ask him any questions; he needs to rest now..."

What exactly has he been doing in the tower these past few months that leaves him without even the strength to answer his own questions?

Since Grindelwald was ignoring him, he could only turn to the other person who knew the most about the truth, namely Dumbledore. Headmaster Goshak was more willing to answer his questions, but on the one hand, his position in the university wasn't the highest, and the information he could reveal was limited; on the other hand, the mountain of documents piled up on Goshak's desk made him reluctant to waste the old headmaster's time and energy...

So, after the Triwizard Tournament ended, the professors of Nobiridge University left after another round of publicity, and the students' restless hearts gradually calmed down as night fell. He stood at the door of Dumbledore's office once again, and was called in by Dumbledore before he could knock—he had been predicted once again.

"More is better, after all, even the plan I left for you in the feather is only a small part of this operation..."

Dumbledore's smile remained unchanged, as if the day's fierce battle had left him no more tired than before: "Then let me guess, your first question is—what have I been doing all these past few months?"

"Uh...yes, Professor."

Avada hesitated for a moment before agreeing with him—actually, he wanted to ask Peter Pettigrew about the situation first.

"Well, since only one person knows that Professor Moody has been pretending to be me here for the past few months, it's perfectly normal to have such questions."

Dumbledore nodded, then gestured for two cups of hot tea to be placed on the table. He picked up one of them and took a sip: "For the past few months, I've been playing Gellert Grindelwald at Nurmengard Castle."

"Playing...Grindelwald??"

The answer to the first question caused Avada's brain to freeze for a moment.

He knew all along that Dumbledore's disappearance was directly related to Grindelwald—but he actually took half a year in jail for Grindelwald.

What's the point of all this? What is the real Grindelwald doing? He can't just officially become the vice president of Norwich University and make a public appearance, can he? What's the difference between that and announcing that the university is actually a terrorist organization?

"Most of what I said during the day was true."

Dumbledore continued, "Under the university's influence, those die-hard pure-bloods did indeed secretly contact Grindelwald, intending to ask him to deal with me..."

"Wait, under the influence of universities?"

Avada interrupted Dumbledore's statement with surprise.

"That's right, under the influence of Jason Shafik, a member of the board of trustees of Norwich University, who is also Mr. Shafik's father."

Even Dumbledore looked wistful when this was mentioned: "Although the Shafik family hadn't joined Voldemort's forces a dozen years ago, as one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans, he was still on good terms with the other pure-bloods. After the Chamber of Secrets crisis, when a large number of important members of pure-blood families entered Azkaban, Shafik approached them, saying that the pure-blood families now shared the same interests and should cooperate sincerely and work together, and that he was willing to join them to kill me and resurrect Voldemort. He also brought them news of Grindelwald."

"You heard what I said to Alastor on the screen, right? Shafik relayed something similar to what I said back then, that Grindelwald was unwilling to accept defeat, that he was secretly developing his power in the prison, and that he was always ready to overthrow me... Then he said that Grindelwald was willing to help them and provide them with the power to eliminate Dumbledore—this message greatly increased the confidence and sense of security of those pure-blood families, and directly led them all into the trap."

"You weren't involved in these programs?"

"no."

Dumbledore shook his head: "I only learned about this during Christmas, and about the existence of Nobiridge University—before that, I did arrange some things to set traps for the pure-blood families, but the effect was definitely not as good as this."

"So, before Christmas, Grindelwald was in Newmont Gardley negotiating cooperation with the envoys of the Pureblood Family Alliance. He would also accept the resources they brought to restore his strength, and there were even sparring partners who would come to him regularly to stretch his muscles and prevent him from becoming rusty after not fighting for too long... He finally managed to get on their good side, and those guys really went to great lengths."

"..."

Now Avada knew why Grindelwald hadn't let him go to Nurmengard back then—it turned out that Nurmengard was full of pure-blood families at that time.

(End of this chapter)