Austria, Alps.
The cold wind was howling, and jagged mountains were crisscrossing each other. On the west side of the ridge was a parallel deep valley. Dense stratus clouds were surging in the sky, blocking the peaks.
It should be a hot summer day now, but the snow on the top of the mountain is still icy cold, forming smooth veins along the ridge.
Close to the snow line, there is a lonely black tower standing on the edge of the cliff, dilapidated and dusty, as if it has been silent for centuries.
Suddenly, a beam of silver light like a diamond penetrated through the clouds, and a beam of moonlight illuminated the entire mountaintop, illuminating the snow on the top of the mountain and adding a rare color to this lonely tower.
In the highest and darkest room in the tower, there was a thin, wrinkled old man lying on the cold and hard wooden bed. He raised his head and looked at the only window in the room, which was narrower than a human head.
The bright moonlight poured in through the window and shone into the old man's cloudy blue eyes.
In the moonlight, a hint of surprise flashed across the old man's lonely eyes.
He saw an elegant bat flying lightly in the light and flying into the dim room with the moonlight.
The bat landed on the only tattered blanket in the room and transformed into a tall, silver-haired man.
"Gellert Grindelwald?" he asked quietly.
The room was too low, and Dracula couldn't even stand up straight. He could only lower his head to look at the old man with sunken eyes, wrinkled face, and lying on the hard bed like a skeleton.
"Oh, if you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten my name." The wrinkles on the old man's face squeezed together, and he forced out a sarcastic smile and said hoarsely.
"To be honest, I thought I would see a great wizard who was still strong and powerful after years of hard work," Dracula was silent for a moment, and then said in a calm tone, "I didn't expect to see an old man who was down and out."
He glanced around with disdain, waved his hand, conjured a chair out of the tattered blanket and sat down, then he finally straightened his back.
"If you're comparing me to that vile, lying bastard, I'm sorry to disappoint you." Grindelwald didn't even bother to move, and spat at the bed with contempt. "I spent fifty years in this garbage dump, while he lived happily for fifty years."
"As far as I know, Dumbledore has not had any chance to enjoy himself in the past few decades." Dracula corrected, "After dealing with you, the first generation of the Dark Lord, another Dark Lord appeared a few years later. His evil is even worse than yours."
"It's just a baby that Dumbledore found from an orphanage," Grindelwald sneered. "I have to thank that little thing. If it weren't for asking me how to deal with him, I'm afraid Dumbledore wouldn't even bother to write me a letter."
"You two are still communicating?" Dracula asked in surprise.
"It's just a meaningless act to kill time." Grindelwald said self-deprecatingly, "Or maybe it's just a little bit of kindness from him to me, a defeated man, out of pity."
"So... Have you ever thought about escaping from such a miserable life?" Dracula's eyes flashed red, and his tone was somewhat seductive, "Are you willing to stay here for the rest of your life, until you die of old age in a dim room in a high tower?"
Grindelwald looked into Dracula's eyes, his eyes confused for a moment.
But the next moment, he laughed hoarsely, as if he was not affected at all.
"Is this the charm magic of the vampire clan?" Grindelwald laughed hoarsely, "Count Dracula really thinks highly of an old man like me."
Dracula stared into Grindelwald's cloudy blue eyes and frowned slightly.
"Do you know me?" Dracula asked.
"Of course, it's too obvious."
Grindelwald finally moved, sat up from the bed, and leaned against the rough wall beside the bed.
"In the few letters Dumbledore wrote to me in the past few years, besides Voldemort, you are the one he mentioned the most." A look of hatred or envy flashed across his face, "It seems that he is very happy to bring you to the same camp..."
"I've never been on the same side as him." Dracula retorted casually, "I'm not interested in a good man who is willing to use his life as a pawn to survive for others."
"Heh, good guy..." Grindelwald's mocking expression became more intense, and he sneered, "Just because he is a good guy, he has to break up with a bad guy like me?"
"He was able to abandon our promise fifty years ago, so he can naturally abandon his own life fifty years later... All for the so-called protection, for the so-called justice!"
It was unknown what he remembered, but Grindelwald's mood became no longer calm, and his cheeks, which had not been exposed to the sun for many years, became sickly red.
"Ha! When I saw that letter fifteen years ago, I knew that he would one day lose his life for what he called 'atonement'!" Grindelwald straightened his back from the wall and said excitedly.
"He is such a great, supreme man, he can take care of everything!"
"What are you talking about?" Dracula asked with a frown, not quite understanding what Grindelwald was saying.
"You know what? I know Dumbledore better than anyone else in this world." Grindelwald's voice suddenly calmed down. "He blamed himself for all the minor characters who died in the war with Voldemort..."
"He felt that he could have done a better job when Voldemort was still a student, and he felt that he could have protected more people in the event of a war."
"As for that kid who was called the savior, Albus thought he owed him because he had failed to protect his parents... so he was willing to sacrifice his own life in exchange for that kid's. It's ridiculous!"
Dracula understood this time.
What Grindelwald meant was that the reason why Dumbledore was willing to save Harry's life in exchange for his own was not only because of his sense of responsibility, but also because he felt guilty for not protecting Harry's parents and causing Harry to lose his happy childhood.
But Dracula was puzzled. How could Grindelwald know all these things so clearly? Wasn't he imprisoned in this small, dark room in Nurmengard
Or... did Dumbledore write to Grindelwald to inform him of all the recent events in detail
Did he trust the previous Dark Lord to this extent
As if noticing Dracula's surprise, Grindelwald smiled with some pleasure.
"Don't worry, I'm just a useless old man. Dumbledore can't tell me everything." He said, "It's just that my eyes can occasionally see things that haven't happened yet."
As a great wizard who was famous for his predictive ability decades ago, Grindelwald is certainly not comparable to a half-baked prophet like Sybill Trelawney.
Even though his magic power was sealed and he couldn't cast any spells, his gift of foresight still made him see many fragmented images of the future.
Grindelwald once lay on an old hard bed and saw Dumbledore fall from the Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts...
"Predicting the future?" Dracula's chuckle interrupted Grindelwald's recollection. "What a great ability."
Dracula was somewhat disdainful of this ability.
This is actually the same as the prophecy that Harry brought back from the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort deliberately wanted to avoid it after learning the prophecy, but it was precisely his risk-avoidance behavior that caused him to fail on a baby.
In fact, the same is true of Grindelwald.
During the Global Wizarding War, he was deceived by Dumbledore's anti-vision because he relied too much on his precognitive ability.
"Enough of the small talk. I just want to ask you one question—" Dracula interrupted Grindelwald's sentimental thoughts and asked directly, "Are you willing to spend the rest of your life in this dirty garbage dump, and no one will care about you until you die of old age..."
"... Or, would you like to regain a few more years of glory and add fuel to the chaos in the wizarding world?"
Dracula snapped his fingers lightly.
It seemed that in an instant, all the ice and snow in the Alps melted away, and the frozen magic power in Grindelwald's body turned into a rushing river, instantly pouring into the dried blood!
Grindelwald raised his head, and his natural Metamorphmagus talent was immediately activated. The wrinkles on his face quickly faded away, and his pale, tangled hair and beard became smooth and neat.
He stood up from the worn-out bed and silently stretched his stiff body which had not moved for a long time.
"It seems like your choice is pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?"
Dracula also stood up from his chair, a happy smile on his face.
…
A piece of news that shocked the entire wizarding world appeared on the front page of the Daily Prophet -
"He Who Must Not Be Named is back!"
Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed in a brief statement on Friday evening that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back in the wizarding world and was active once again.
"It is with deep regret that I must announce that the self-proclaimed demon wizard - oh, you all know who I mean - is still alive and active among us again."
Fudge said this when he addressed the reporters. He looked tired and embarrassed. After this incident, his reputation and prestige in the British wizarding world had completely dropped to freezing point.
In addition, Fudge was turned into a lowest-level vampire by Dracula, and it was difficult for him to completely hide all traces of his actions... For example, he had not given a speech in the sun for a long time, and he had not attended a dinner party for the Ministry of Magic employees for a long time.
For this reason, some senior officials within the Ministry of Magic questioned him. Fudge was so busy that he had to follow Dumbledore's advice in everything.
"It is also with regret that we have to report a massive rebellion among the Dementors in Azkaban, who have expressed their opposition to continuing to work for the Ministry of Magic. We believe that the Dementors are currently working for the Evil Lord."
"We strongly urge the wizarding community to remain vigilant. The Ministry of Magic is publishing a preliminary guide to home and personal defence, which will be distributed free of charge to all wizarding households over the next month."
These precautions and countermeasures were proposed by Dumbledore, and Fudge arranged them exactly as they were.
After saying this, he hesitated and gritted his teeth.
"In addition, we must strive for all the forces we can." Fudge stood on the podium and said with difficulty, "Such as goblins, centaurs, some kind werewolves and giants, and... vampires, they are all forces we can unite with."
"I have expressed my willingness to cooperate with all ethnic groups that are defined as 'human'. I hope that everyone will put aside their past grudges and stop having ethnic prejudices..."
After saying this, Fudge seemed to collapse completely.
The pure-blood families he had worked hard to gain for four years were basically declared bankrupt once these moves were announced - most pure-blood families were never willing to cooperate with other ethnic groups.
Of course, Fudge has now become a vampire, and this is a last resort; moreover, more pure-blood families have joined Voldemort, and whether or not to get the support of pure-bloods is actually irrelevant to Fudge...
The Ministry of Magic's statement has caused alarm and uneasiness throughout the magical community, even though they had just received the Ministry's assurance last Wednesday: "Whatever rumors are currently circulating, the claim that You-Know-Who is once again active among us is pure nonsense."
Few wizards know the details of what prompted the Ministry of Magic to make a 180-degree turn in its attitude.
But one thing is certain, the mysterious man who cannot even be named led a group of followers, who are known to everyone as Death Eaters, into the Ministry of Magic on Tuesday night.
"Albus Dumbledore, who has resumed his positions as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, member of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, has not yet taken the time to accept our interview..."
"He has spent the past year insisting that You-Know-Who is not dead, as everyone had hoped and believed, and has once again rallied his supporters to seize power again. Meanwhile, the Boy-Who-Lived—"
Hermione leapt over the newspaper in her hands and looked at Harry.
They were all in the infirmary ward at the moment, Harry sitting with Ron at the head of his bed as they listened to Hermione reading the front page of the Daily Prophet.
In fact, Ginny, Neville and Luna's injuries were healed by Madam Pomfrey in almost the blink of an eye, but they were all forced to stay in the hospital for observation because they were worried that the Death Eaters' dark magic would cause any additional sequelae.
Rolf also came to the school infirmary and brought Luna the latest edition of The Quibbler edited by her father.
"Harry is the 'boy who lived' again, right?" Rolf sat down next to Luna and joked with a smile, "I remember the newspaper said a few days ago that Harry was a little wizard who was bewitching and liked to show off."
"Yes, they are praising you highly now, Harry," said Hermione, continuing to read the article. "Well... he stood firm and never wavered, and was forced to endure ridicule and slander..."
Just then, Harry's little fan, Colin Creevey rushed in like the wind.
"Harry, did you see that the Daily Prophet has run out a rush edition?" he called out breathlessly.
"What happened? Did Voldemort and his minions start causing trouble again?" Ron asked curiously.
Colin Creevey shook his head and handed over a piece of newspaper with the ink not yet completely dry.
"Emergency notice! Nurmengard's protective magic was destroyed last night, and Gellert Grindelwald is missing!
”
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