On Halloween morning, Lucius Malfoy woke up and saw a big brown barn owl parked by the window. The four-color wax seal emblem on the seal of the letter showed the place where it was sent, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Lucius, what's wrong?" Narcissa yawned and hugged her husband's waist from behind.
"It's okay, it's just a notice of the school board meeting."
Lucius Malfoy took a breath and said calmly.
Where his wife couldn't see him, he clenched and unclenched his fists, and his eyes stayed on the last paragraph of the letter.
"...The Hogwarts Ghost Patrol is responsible for guarding and patrolling the castle and the surrounding areas of the school. It is committed to creating a good and safe learning environment for students, free from the influence of outside dark wizards, dangerous magical creatures, etc..."
Unlike those teaching reforms at Hogwarts, this newly established "Ghost Patrol" proposal was not included in the annual work schedule at the beginning of the semester. Although Lucius Malfoy often said that Dumbledore was a little confused, but
He actually knew the old wizard's wisdom very well in his heart, and Dumbledore was not the kind of person who thought things through.
Whether it is the selection of patrol team personnel, the planning of work content, the reasons for its establishment... there is nothing to be picky about.
If his guess was correct, this was probably one of Dumbledore's hidden cards.
As for why the old wizard suddenly chose to play his cards at this point...
Lucius stared at the letter coldly and narrowed his eyes.
Ah
Dark wizards, dangerous magical creatures...
The knocks, threats, and faint sarcasm almost seeped out from the letter paper. If he couldn't even read this hidden meaning, the Malfoy family might have become like the Lestrange family.
The whole army was wiped out.
But on the other hand, this also confirmed part of Lucius Malfoy's guesses from the side.
Dumbledore definitely has a lot of information. Even before the public trial of Peter Pettigrew, people had speculated that Albus Dumbledore had a large number of informants in various places in the wizarding world. Anyone who graduated from Hogwarts
Wizards are all suspected, and no one knows how much the old man knows about the dark history and shady deeds of wizards.
Lucius Malfoy did not believe that Dumbledore had not secretly interrogated Peter Pettigrew beforehand.
As a man who holds the key to the Lestrange vault, he has been planning for decades, using Hogwarts as a bargaining chip, and is one step away from completely destroying the financial market of the wizarding world and provoking a war between goblins and human wizards.
The Dark Lord's number one strategist.
It's not surprising that Peter Pettigrew knew some of the Dark Lord's back-end plans.
There is no doubt that the key to unlocking the "secret room" is definitely a very important counterattack weapon.
"Oh, the greatest wizard in the magic world today is just a despicable villain with no bottom line."
Lucius Malfoy put on his pajamas, held the envelope and came to his study.
During the short ten-step journey from the bedroom to the study, Lucius combined his previous vague guesses and roughly spelled out in his mind Dumbledore's little moves behind the scenes these days, and the look on his face became colder and colder.
.
Perhaps in the eyes of most wizards, Dumbledore is a gentle, kind, and kind old wizard.
But the Death Eaters, especially "core members" like Lucius, know very well how terrifying Dumbledore is, unlike any normal wizard, family, love, friendship, reputation, career, rights... even
Decades of eternity have passed, and people have never found that the old man cares about anything particularly.
And this means that Albus Dumbledore has no weaknesses that can threaten him.
What about Harry Potter, what about summer camp, what about Uncle Black... These were a series of conspiracies planned by Dumbledore from the beginning, with the purpose of bewitching the naive Draco and letting him steal the "Chamber of Secrets" key from home.
.
"It's just...unbelievable..."
Lucius Malfoy took a deep breath, spread out the parchment on the desk, and took out the quill.
As a former Death Eater, the past experience was a black spot that he could not erase, but as a father, he could not stand Dumbledore's despicable behavior of taking advantage of children's innocence and friendship.
Lucius's bottom line was that he had to respond positively and make Dumbledore give up his subsequent plans.
If someone had to pay for past mistakes, Lucius didn't want to involve Draco.
…
"Dear Professor Dumbledore..."
"...I understand what you mean, but I solemnly ask you to restrain your students..."
"...If you have any ideas, confusion, or even demand some price, you can directly raise it with me. But the students in the school are innocent, and they should not be involved in any issues related to the dark forces...
"
Hogwarts Headmaster's Office.
"Oh...are you going to gang up on me?"
Grindelwald raised the letter in his hand and glanced at Dumbledore.
"Sure enough, this is a somewhat troublesome reply? It seems that there are many smart people in this world..."
"Lucius was very smart when he was in school, especially with Mr. Malfoy's recent role change. As a father, it is normal for him to guess some things... I am not reading this letter to you to listen to you making sarcastic remarks.
of."
Dumbledore took off his glasses and rubbed his eyebrows in distress.
"The question is, what should we do now..."
"Very simple, three ways."
Grindelwald shrugged, raised three fingers, grinned and said slowly.
"First, let the little guy who caused the problem come over and let her figure it out..."
"At least not this time. We finally managed to get her to calm down a little bit. If this continues, all the Death Eaters may be incorporated into the 'Destiny Group' by her, right? Don't think I don't know about Lockhart and your previous negotiation skills.
."
Dumbledore rejected the first proposal without hesitation and rolled his eyes at the old devil angrily.
Intimidation, inducement, and unlimited forgetting spells repeatedly test the bottom line.
Before this, Dumbledore had never realized that the Forgetting Curse could have such a terrible effect after being abused, which was like a small-scale time regression, so that in the past few weeks he had been calling for legislation to restrict the Forgetting Curse.
Compared with the Imperius Curse, this method of playing with people's hearts is really terrible. There is no "voluntary" intention to break the curse.
A situation similar to Xenophilius Lovegood's happened once.
This is Hogwarts, not the Devil's lair.
"Okay, then the second way..."
Grindelwald reluctantly put down a finger, his eyes flashed with a dangerous light, and said softly.
"I'll go there in person and give you the address. Don't worry... No one will suspect Hogwarts. The Death Eaters wandering in the UK are much more reasonable than those abroad. Those boys have experience in this area.
.Anyway, the other party is also a remaining 'suspected' Death Eater, so this is equivalent to a belated 'just trial'."
"Gail..."
Dumbledore frowned and snorted slightly dissatisfied.
"Okay, okay... of course the righteous Professor Dumbledore will not allow such a thing."
Grindelwald spread his hands, sighed, shook his index finger, and said softly.
"Then there is only one way left. Learn from the politicians of the Ministry of Magic and do business as usual."
"Business matters?"
"Well, or rather, official rhetoric."
The old devil slowly opened his mouth, revealing an enigmatic smile.
"Albus, you have never understood this aspect. When faced with this kind of gray world dialogue that cannot be put on the table and can only be understood by each other, the most versatile way to deal with it is to say some impeccable and beautiful words."
"But this..."
"Hey, you are Albus Dumbledore, recognized as the most powerful wizard in the wizarding world today."
Grindelwald patted Dumbledore on the shoulder and said jokingly.
"If that young man is really shameless and has the courage to question you, you can just smile and ask him, 'Young man, are you teaching me how to do things?' This is what Elena taught me, and I think it's quite a bit.
reason."
"..."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, looking at the old guy who had no aura of a demon king quite speechlessly.
Ever since Grindelwald came out of Nurmengard Castle, the Demon King has deteriorated extremely quickly. No one can connect this guy with the all-powerful, ruthless Gellert Grindelwald.
Perhaps the most correct thing he did in the past few decades was to send Elena to Nurmengard Castle.
"...Gail."
"Um?"
"Tell me, what will happen if we answer that girl like this next time?"
"It doesn't matter. You can still eat your "healthy meal for the elderly with less salt, oil, and heat", and I can still eat my granddaughter's loving cuisine. Didn't we agree before? You provoke, and I'll coax. The division of labor is clear."
Grindelwald shrugged, replied matter-of-factly, and glanced at the letter on his desk.
"By the way, the Hogwarts School Board will be held later, will you go or shall I?"
Generally speaking, during this period, there were a lot of meetings with the Ministry of Magic, especially those nonsense, hypocrisy, and useless polite scenes that Dumbledore hated so much. Most of them were attended by "A. No. Dumbledore" on his behalf.
After being imprisoned in Nurmengard Castle for decades, Grindelwald quite enjoyed listening to children talk nonsense.
During this period, if Dumbledore wants to take a walk in the castle, he will turn into "Professor Apopkalis" and patrol the castle, performing some of the duties of a castle administrator... At Elena's suggestion
, during this period, their name directions will also be wonderfully exchanged to avoid leaks under some name magic.
"Oh, I'll go this time"
Dumbledore shook his head, stood up, and put away the envelope on his desk.
"Today is the first day of Halloween. Don't stay in the office. Take a look around the castle. If there are any conflicts or disputes among students, you have more experience in handling this than me. Moreover, that girl will listen to you more.
Some words..."
It was rare to have a day off, so Dumbledore decided to take a good rest.
"What about the specific work arrangements of the Ghost Patrol?" Grindelwald glanced at the schedule and reminded.
"I'll let them come to you directly..."
Dumbledore said, thought for a moment, and looked at Grindelwald seriously.
"Of course, the main contact person is Sir Nicholas. Regarding his true identity, I told you last night. Don't underestimate him too much. He succeeded in doing things that you and I failed to do hundreds of years ago."
"Oh? What about my identity? Which one does he know?"
"Who knows?"
Dumbledore smiled, moved his fingers gently on the table, and said softly.
"There is no trace of Sir Nicholas in history. Just like Otto Apocalis, Miss [Fool] hopes [Tower] can help her find the answer to what kind of person [World] is and what happened in the past."
."
"Yeah, I understand."
Grindelwald's eyes lit up slightly, and the corners of his mouth curved up with interest.
He is also quite curious about the dusty history.
Whether it is Nico Flamel, Paracelsus, or even the existing records in the wizarding world, these have all undergone a certain degree of tampering and exaggeration. No one knows the true status of the war between wizards and Muggles.
What kind of.
Compared with simulated wars on paper, history that actually happened is the most worth learning from.
No one knows what kind of confrontation will occur when a war breaks out between magic and non-magic, as well as the mutual weaknesses, struggles, and turning points of both sides... When the scope is expanded to the world, human nature and the overall choice of society will
It cannot be determined by personal calculations. Grindelwald understood Elena's thoughts almost instantly.
If it were Paracelsus, then Sir Nicholas might not be so secretive.
Just as Elena predicted a long time ago, and he predicted it earlier, sooner or later the magic world and the non-magic world will have a frank meeting with each other. While considering peaceful integration, they must also do
Be prepared for the worst.
The world, with its current level of civilization, cannot withstand a second war lasting several centuries.
"So what if I was exposed? Wouldn't that be embarrassing."
Grindelwald asked softly, looking at the principal who was changing clothes with a half-smile.
"Those watchmen of the old world, those stubborn afterglows, they launched the second 'Operation Dark Lord' in advance. There will be a second or even more Voldemort in this world. This is a big gamble."
"Gambling? Didn't you come back in a big ship?"
Dumbledore looked at the old devil strangely and waved his wand gently.
"Although I have been at Hogwarts these years, I am not a completely isolated fool. You can find out what that big ship is by just looking for a few publications introducing ships in the non-magical world.
Bar."
"You have to confess sooner or later anyway, but... they... it depends on whether you are as powerful as before."