"I disagree!"
However, just as Vice-Principal Monte agreed to Grindelwald's participation in the principal election, another voice interrupted him.
Grindelwald turned around and saw that Krum, who had originally moved to the stage, had returned to the podium again, looking at him with resentment in his eyes.
"How can we let him run for the principal? He's a murderer!" Krum shouted, "He was the one who killed my grandfather sixty years ago!"
“Victor, stop talking nonsense… Get down from there!” Monte was startled by Krum’s sudden protest and hurriedly stopped him.
He was afraid that Grindelwald would be unhappy and kill the Quidditch star player on the spot.
At the same time, Monte had a glimmer of hope in his heart—
If Grindelwald really killed Krum, the student union president of Durmstrang, out of anger, he would naturally be on the opposite side of the students of Durmstrang and it would be difficult for him to gain their support.
If things really develop in this way, Monte believes that he still has a slight chance of becoming the principal...
However, decades in prison did not reduce Grindelwald's ability to deceive people in the slightest.
Instead of being angry, he showed a gentle smile with a hint of apology in his eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Grindelwald said softly, "I understand how you feel, Mr. Krum... The death of a loved one is an extremely sad thing."
As he spoke, he sighed deeply, "Many people died in that war, including members of the International Confederation of Wizards, Aurors from various ministries of magic, and many wizards who disagreed with my ideas..."
"But!" Grindelwald suddenly changed the subject, "But... my friends, my many brothers and sisters also paid a heavy price. Many of them died for our common ideals, just like your grandfather."
"I don't agree with your assessment of me, Mr. Krum. Rather than calling me a murderer, I consider myself a fighter! A fighter fighting for a great ideal!"
"I have hurt others, that is undeniable - but everything we sacrifice along the way is for the greater good, so that wizards can no longer hide and can appear in public..."
"Do you think I did anything wrong, Mr. Krum?"
Grindelwald looked at Krum deeply, with that compassionate, gentle smile still on his face.
Krum opened his mouth, but nothing came out... He was not good at speaking, and faced with Grindelwald's sharp words, he couldn't think of any angle to refute.
"You... you are just quibbling!" Krum could only stutter in his reply.
"Yes, I am indeed quibbling." Grindelwald not only did not object, but admitted it openly, "Because I lost the war in the end. No matter how I quibble, I am the loser... and history is written by the victors."
"For this reason, I would like to ask everyone here - do you really believe that everything described in the history of magic, the evaluation of me by the International Confederation of Wizards, and the criticism of me by my elders... are all correct? Are they all true?"
As Grindelwald finished speaking, whispers gradually began to rise in the hall.
The Durmstrang students, who already had many admirers of Grindelwald, could not help but begin to doubt the authenticity of history... How could such a charismatic wizard, who spoke to everyone in a gentle and calm manner, be as unbearable as the outside world judged
Some of the passionate young wizards even became loyal fans of Grindelwald, and felt that all the negative comments about him were caused by deliberate smear campaigns by the victors of the war.
Vice Principal Monte saw it more clearly.
He knew that Grindelwald's speech had already begun when Krum rushed onto the stage.
The Dark Lord doesn't need to choose a suitable time and place. He can convey his thoughts to everyone present at any time and anywhere.
Krum wanted to continue to refute, but Grindelwald did not give him the chance to disrupt the atmosphere and looked at him with his blue eyes.
"Mr. Krum, please go back to your seat first. Leave this to me." Grindelwald said gently.
His words seemed to have magic power. Krum suddenly lost his mind, nodded obediently, walked down from the podium, and returned to his seat in the first row.
Grindelwald has never been a kind person, and the silent Imperius Curse is just right for use here.
The atmosphere on the field was gradually becoming heated. No one cared about Krum's abnormality. They just thought that he was persuaded by Grindelwald and chose to let go of the hatred of his grandfather's generation.
Grindelwald raised his lips into a satisfied smile, took two steps forward, and came to the front of the podium.
He did not stop the students from whispering to each other, but directly began his speech in this enthusiastic atmosphere:
"Dear outstanding Durmstrang juniors, it's nice to meet you!"
"Durmstrang is one of the greatest magic schools in the entire wizarding world. I used to be a student of this school... Of course, I am a little worse than these graduates in the audience because I was expelled by the headmaster before I finished my studies."
There was a good-natured laugh in the hall.
Grindelwald's self-mockery undoubtedly brought him closer to his students and made the image of the unreachable Dark Lord more real and visible.
"We all know that Durmstrang never recruits Muggle-born wizards. Everyone here has the purest wizard blood flowing in their bodies. You are all the most loyal and determined people in the wizarding world, and you will keep fighting for the continuation of magic."
"Everyone present knows that I lost that war to Dumbledore."
"At that time I thought I had done something wrong, so I promised him to disband the organization I had worked so hard to build and not to start a war again. Then I was tied up in a small cell for fifty years."
"Until today, I came out and saw that the current situation of the wizarding world is no different from that of fifty years ago. It has even been compressed into a smaller size by the accelerated development of the Muggle society... So I am sure again that what I did at that time was correct."
"If we allow the wizarding world to continue to compromise with Muggles like Dumbledore did, then our living space will be suppressed by Muggles again and again; sooner or later, there will be only a small corner of the wizarding world, with only a few wizards left to survive under the oppression of Muggles!"
Grindelwald raised one hand high, his expression solemn and serious.
The whispering and chattering disappeared, and the whole hall was silent.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Grindelwald on the podium, watching him point out the increasingly serious problems in the wizarding world.
Some professors looked very nervous. They were afraid that Grindelwald would say something like starting a war again, and that he would drag Durmstrang into the center of a new vortex.
Grindelwald saw their nervous expressions and smiled softly.
"Don't worry, you don't have to be too nervous." He said, "I'm old now. I have no interest in starting another war to prove myself right or wrong. There is no reason to shed more blood on this road that has no end in sight."
"Now I just want to leave some thoughts for this magical world and pass on my thoughts."
"You young people are the future of the wizarding world. Even if I don't see the day when the wizarding world sees the light of day again in my lifetime, I hope that the seeds of freedom can be passed down from generation to generation among you, making the future of wizards brighter all the way."
"If anyone is willing to pass on this idea, please raise your magic wands!"
The hall was quiet for a moment.
The next moment, all the students present stood up at the same time and raised their wands high.
Countless spark spells gathered together, like countless rising stars, reflecting an incomparable shining light in the sky above the hall.
"Thank you for your support. History will always remember this moment!"
"I have seen that the future of the magic world includes each of you. You make the glory of magic even brighter!"
There is no suspense in this principal election.
Except for students like Krum who really had a deep hatred for Grindelwald, almost everyone voted for Grindelwald. Even some young professors couldn't suppress their inner enthusiasm and raised their wands to cast the spark spell on the ceiling.
Today is indeed a historic day.
The previous generation of Dark Lord actually became the headmaster of Durmstrang School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there was no oppression or coercion or inducement in the process. Instead, he came to the position smoothly in an invincible manner that was popular with everyone!
In a corner of the hall, there was a handsome bat hanging upside down under a beam, watching the scene quietly.
Dracula remembered that Dumbledore once said that Grindelwald had been imprisoned in Nurmengard for fifty years and seemed to regret what he had done.
Judging from Grindelwald's speech and actions today, he actually has no regrets and still believes that what he did is right...
But Grindelwald has definitely changed.
He no longer attempted to solve the problem through violence, nor did he have the idea of starting another war. He just wanted to pass on his ideas.
The magical world is indeed getting smaller, and Dracula feels this most clearly.
A thousand years ago, all places that Muggles could not reach, such as high mountains, deep forests, and the center of large lakes, were territories where wizards could move freely.
However, as Muggle technology continues to develop, the areas that can be explored become increasingly vast, and the space for wizards' activities is correspondingly compressed and narrowed.
Nowadays, Diagon Alley has to be forcibly squeezed out of the Muggle neighborhood by magic to form a narrow alley; young wizards have to enter the Muggle station to go to school, and get on the wizards' exclusive train between two Muggle platforms...
As Muggle technology continues to develop, will they be able to invent a machine that can detect magic
Dracula wasn't sure, but it proved that Grindelwald's theory made sense to a large extent.
Of course, Dumbledore was not wrong.
Everything he did was to protect ordinary people in the magical world from the harm of war. Reducing casualties among wizards was also an important measure to maintain the development of the magical world.
The reason why Dumbledore failed to resolve the conflict between the Muggle and wizarding worlds over the years was that there were always dark wizards like Voldemort causing trouble everywhere waiting for him to deal with, leaving him no time to take care of other things.
By now, it is no longer clear who is right and who is wrong.
…
Just when the previous generation of Dark Lord had just made himself a headmaster of similar status to Dumbledore, another Dark Lord was listening to his subordinates reporting the intelligence he had gathered.
"Severus, are you saying that... the wand Dumbledore is holding now is very likely the legendary Elder Wand?" Voldemort stroked the original wand in his hand, a greedy light flashing in his eyes.
"Yes, Master," Snape said calmly, "I also accidentally discovered that Dumbledore had been studying the Deathly Hallows recently and often compared his wand with the drawings of the Deathly Hallows. That's why I came to this conclusion."
"No wonder... No wonder that old man still has such a powerful force at such an old age." Voldemort licked his dry lips, "If I can get the strongest wand..."
He suddenly suppressed his greed and ordered Snape: "Severus, I need to make proper arrangements for this matter. Don't tell anyone!"
"I understand." Snape nodded.
"Okay, go down now," said Voldemort. "Don't leave Hogwarts for too long, or Dumbledore will suspect you."
Snape bent slightly, then turned and left the dark old house where Voldemort was.
However, just as he was about to Apparate back to Hogwarts, a head of messy black hair blocked Snape's way.
"What is it, Bellatrix?" Snape asked calmly.
"You should know it well, Snape." Bellatrix Lestrange stared at him suspiciously and said coldly, "I don't trust you."
Snape curled his lips and looked sneerfully at Bellatrix's angry face.
"Tell me, there must be a reason," he said, "why don't you believe me?"
"There are a hundred reasons!" Bellatrix glanced at the house where Voldemort was, and made sure that he could not hear the conversation between the two, then she spoke loudly.
"Where should I begin - where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you make any effort to find him after he disappeared? What have you done all these years, living under Dumbledore's spell?"
"Besides, why didn't you come back immediately after the Dark Lord's resurrection? Where were you when we fought bravely to seize the prophecy for the Dark Lord a few weeks ago? And most importantly, Snape, why is Harry Potter still alive? He has been at your disposal for five years!"
She paused, her chest heaving violently and her cheeks flushed.
Snape looked at her dully, then suddenly laughed.
"Is that all?" he asked contemptuously.
…
…