The commotion from the battle outside the secret passage was loud, but the Grindelwald-affiliated witches and wizards inside remained methodical in their work.
By the time they had completely dug through the passage, the sounds of fighting outside had gradually diminished.
"Should we wait for the Professor?" Oliv asked.
Vinda shook her head. "The faster we act, the better. No need to wait. Go in first and clear out anything that might get in the way. Once the Master finishes up outside, he can come straight in and take what he needs."
"Got it."
Vinda was one of Grindelwald's most trusted aides.
When she gave instructions, the others listened.
They lit their way with their wands and cautiously stepped into the chamber.
The chamber was pitch black. Even with wandlight, it wasn't fully illuminated.
Vinda took a few small orbs from her pocket, gave them a shake, and let them go.
The orbs began to float upward, gradually glowing brighter as they rose.
As the orbs floated up to the ceiling, they automatically drifted outward, and the light they emitted completely illuminated the once pitch-black chamber.
The Alliance members extinguished the light at the tips of their wands one after another, but their attention was soon drawn to a large metallic sphere in the distance.
Even from afar, they could feel powerful magical waves emanating from it.
It was like an ordinary person seeing a high-voltage electrical box sparking with blinding currents—immensely oppressive.
The path leading to the metallic sphere was strewn with rubble and collapsed walls.
It was clear that a fierce battle had taken place here long ago.
"Come on, let's go have a look..." Vinda said, carefully moving forward.
After cautiously passing a few fallen stone pillars without incident, they began to relax.
Everyone thought that even if there had been traps or mechanisms, they must have been destroyed in that long-ago battle.
Just as they, now at ease, were gradually approaching the metallic sphere..
Suddenly—
Pop!
Vinda heard a faint popping sound from the stone pillar beside her, like a balloon being pricked.
Just as she felt that something was wrong, several of the Alliance members at the outer edge suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Watch out!" Vinda shouted, warning the others as she cast a Shield Charm on herself.
The place was already in ruins—there were still traps?
But Vinda had misjudged. What struck them wasn't a magical trap, but a pervasive sleep-inducing gas.
She had only taken a few steps back when the world began to spin. Her body went limp, and she fell to the ground. An overwhelming drowsiness followed.
Just before she lost consciousness, she saw all the other Grindelwald followers around her fall one by one.
"Oh.. It's over…"
That was her final thought.
…
Outside the secret passage.
Only Grindelwald and Headmaster Dippet remained standing.
The Grindelwald-affiliated wizards and the professors who had rushed to help were all lying unconscious on the ground.
"Huff.. huff.."
Headmaster Dippet was shaken to his core.
Hogwarts professors were all exceptionally skilled, and the few Grindelwald followers were no match for them.
After taking down several of the wizards, the professors charged in together, launching a righteous many-on-one assault.
At that moment, everyone believed victory was within reach...
BUT!
Only then did they truly witness how terrifyingly powerful Grindelwald was with the Elder Wand in hand.
It wasn't that Grindelwald completely overwhelmed them with raw magical strength—if it were a direct contest of power, at best, he could fight them to a draw.
However… the Dark Magic Grindelwald used was far too strange.
Many of the spells he cast were ones the professors had never even seen before—so there was no way for them to defend against them.
With the added boost of the Elder Wand…
The weakest among them, Professor Garrick, was knocked out by Grindelwald in a single move.
The others were stunned and didn't dare hold back anymore, throwing themselves into the fight with everything they had.
Even so, the professors continued to fall one after another.
Even the strongest among them—Professor Hicks and Professor Slughorn—didn't hold out for long...
Headmaster Dippet stood in place, panting heavily, facing Grindelwald, who looked calm and composed.
At this point, the only one barely able to withstand Grindelwald's bizarre attacks was Dippet himself, the most learned wizard present.
"Huff.. Despicable as your actions are, I have to admit—your talent is truly astonishing..." Headmaster Dippet said in awe.
"Haah.. I'll also retract my earlier underestimation of you, Professor Dippet," Grindelwald replied gently. "If you were a few decades younger, you would've been quite the challenge."
"That compliment stings more than any curse..." Dippet gave a wry smile as he raised his wand once again.
"You still won't give up, Professor? Are you sure you have the strength left to continue?" Grindelwald asked.
"I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts. How could I possibly talk of giving up in the face of an intruder?" Though his voice was weak, Dippet's gaze remained firm. "Piertotum Locomotor..."
Since the enemy had come in through a secret passage, many of Hogwarts' protective enchantments had become ineffective.
Now, all he could do was awaken the castle's statues to form a final line of defense for the students.
Even though these defenses might prove ineffective against Grindelwald…
As for himself… all he could do was exhaust the last of his magical strength—there was no other way.
"What's the point of this? I have no intention of harming the students of Hogwarts. I only came to take something—once I have it, I'll leave. You must've heard some of my views… I rarely harm fellow wizards… as you can see, I haven't killed a single one of your people," Grindelwald said helplessly.
"Young man, no matter how principled you try to appear now, it doesn't erase the countless crimes you've committed. You don't seriously think we're unaware of how many lives you've taken, do you?" Headmaster Dippet said coldly.
"Tsk~ Well, if you misunderstand me that deeply, then there's nothing more to say…"
The battle erupted once again. Though the exhausted Headmaster Dippet continued to fight valiantly, in the end, he still fell before Grindelwald.
Grindelwald slowly walked over to the unconscious headmaster and said softly, "In other places, I might resort to any means necessary—even kill. But in Britain… in Hogwarts… the place that gave him hope.. sigh.. rest well, Headmaster."
With that, Grindelwald turned and walked back into the secret passage.
Now, no one could stop him.
Just imagining the power he would gain—so great that even Dumbledore wouldn't be able to challenge him—filled him with excitement.
Soon, the entire world would be kneeling at his feet.
However, as Grindelwald stepped into the secret passage, he quickly realized something was wrong.
All of the Alliance members who had entered before him—were gone!
Logically speaking, even if they had discovered something inside, at least one of them should have stayed behind to wait for him.
Unless… something had happened to them during their exploration.
With that thought, Grindelwald tightened his grip on the Elder Wand and slowly made his way into the chamber.
Clack, clack, clack...
The sound of his leather shoes echoed through the empty chamber.
Grindelwald narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight of his subordinates lying sprawled across the floor.
His first instinct was that Dumbledore had returned and taken them all down.
But he quickly dismissed that possibility.
Based on what he knew of Dumbledore, if the man had truly returned, there was no way he would have stood by and let Grindelwald take down Headmaster Dippet.
Grindelwald slowly walked up to his unconscious subordinates when suddenly, his nose caught a faint sweet scent—and dizziness hit him at once.
"Oh?"
He swiftly swung his wand, and a gust of wind swept through the chamber, dispersing the strange fragrance in the air.
"Sleeping gas? Heh… I see now." Grindelwald began scanning the surroundings. "I nearly forgot—there were two people I was hoping to see. Come out."
His voice echoed through the chamber, but all around remained silent. No one appeared.
Seeing this, Grindelwald chuckled. "Don't tell me you actually think I can't see through an Invisibility Cloak?"
Whoosh!
Another gust of wind.
A shimmering silver cloak was blown across the chamber.
In the corner, two young Hogwarts students stood frozen, faces pale, staring at Grindelwald…
Grindelwald turned to look and saw that the two children were Tom and Anne.
He glanced around the chamber again, a bit puzzled.
Grindelwald had clearly sensed someone just now—hence why he revealed the Invisibility Cloak.
But he had expected there to be three people beneath it. Why were there only two?
Where was the third?
Suddenly, he felt a faint prick of pain in his back, followed by a young voice behind him.
"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Grindelwald. Were you looking for me?"
At some point, Wade had appeared right behind Grindelwald.
The tip of his wand was pressed firmly into Grindelwald's back.
"Oh… it hasn't been long, but your abilities have grown again, Wade. How did you slip past my senses and get behind me?" Grindelwald asked with a smile.
Wade's abilities once again surprised him, and Grindelwald couldn't help but feel the boy had quite the vengeful streak.
Because… this scene felt all too familiar.
Last time, it was Grindelwald who had silently appeared behind Wade.
This time, the boy had returned the favor… though Grindelwald had no idea how he'd pulled it off.
"Take a guess, please," Wade said calmly.
"Alright, I'll guess… a Doppelganger Charm, combined with a little spell to silence your footsteps?"
Grindelwald looked completely at ease, like a professor discussing magic with a student rather than someone being held at wandpoint.
"Wrong answer. Avada Ke—"
"Ha! You little brat!"
_________
Wade: Avada Ke—
Grindelwald: Ayo! Daddy chill! 💀
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