Chapter 339: Tom Grindelwald?
Whether the God of Death had truly lost himself remained a question mark.
Even when Alexander Smith employed thinking, he could only sense that such a possibility existed—nothing more. There was no way to fully confirm it.
The reason was simple.
He was too strong.
Strong to an unreasonable degree.
So powerful that He no longer resembled any modern wizard Alexander had ever encountered.
With that thought lingering in his mind, Alexander ground his teeth slightly and stepped through the gate of Smith Castle, the passage controlled by the Lord God that led directly to Ravenclaw Tower. In the blink of an eye, he returned to the dormitory.
It was already early morning.
Everyone was still asleep, as if the faint squeezing sound from earlier had never existed.
Of course, that sound had never been physical to begin with. Only wizards with sufficiently sharp magical perception could hear it.
Alexander yawned and glanced toward Harry, who lay sprawled on his back, sleeping soundly.
Strange, Alexander thought. He should've heard it.
Yet Harry slept peacefully, utterly unaware.
Originally, Alexander had planned to wake him, pretend to be "accidentally" discovered, and then use the Resurrection Stone as an excuse to give him a lesson.
That impromptu plan, however, had clearly failed.
Left with nothing better to do, Alexander picked up the Daily Prophet and began reading to pass the time.
To be honest, ever since Sirius had taken control of the paper, it had changed significantly. The gossip pages had been sharply reduced, while the international section had expanded.
News from the foreign wizarding world filled the pages.
Most of it was negative—but notably, not fabricated.
As for domestic news, it focused heavily on Arthur Weasley's reforms and the positive changes following Madam Bones's rise to power. The overall tone gave the impression that while the world abroad was in turmoil, Britain was steadily improving.
One particular article caught Alexander's eye.
[According to German magazine Der Spiegel, Gellert Grindelwald—currently "imprisoned" in Nurmengard—has recently shown a remarkable appetite, consuming several steaks in one sitting. This is rumored to be connected to a controversial British publication titled Magic in the Muggle World, now used as teaching material in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.]
[The headmaster of Hogwarts is none other than Albus Dumbledore, the wizard who once defeated Grindelwald—who has recently been rumored to have had an intimate relationship with him. Meanwhile, Arthur Weasley, a known associate of Dumbledore, has risen to become Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.]
[Additionally, the life history of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Tom Riddle remains shrouded in mystery. Some speculate that his true surname may in fact be Grindelwald.]
[We therefore have reason to suspect that Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald belong to the same faction. After winning the wizarding civil war, Dumbledore chose a path of "peaceful evolution." Cornelius Fudge discovered this alleged conspiracy and refused to become a puppet. Alongside Dolores Umbridge, he resisted Dumbledore's influence—only to be exposed and dismissed this year.]
The further Alexander read, the more outrageous it became.
Even he—who had been reading purely for amusement—couldn't help but put the paper down.
Grindelwald eating well had somehow spiraled into an entire political epic, with Fudge and his followers being portrayed as tragic heroes.
This was somehow even worse than The Quibbler.
"Harry, look at this—what is this nonsense?" Ron suddenly said, pointing at the international section Alexander had been reading.
This wasn't surprising.
Ever since Draco mocked him for not gathering intelligence properly, Ron had developed the habit of reading newspapers the moment he woke up.
And the page in question was impossible to miss—featuring a photo of a middle-aged Dumbledore in a suit and tie waving to a crowd, alongside a sharply dressed Grindelwald bowing elegantly.
By now, it was already eight o'clock. The other boys in the dormitory had woken up as well.
Harry fumbled for his glasses, slipped them on, and squinted at the paper.
"Germany reported this?" he said, instantly waking up. "Isn't this the Daily Prophet? Sirius owns it—how could it publish something like this?"
"It's from Der Spiegel," Ron replied casually. "They do wild speculation every week based on whatever Grindelwald did the week before. The founder started it in 1947, two years after Grindelwald was defeated and locked up in Nurmengard. Probably figured Grindelwald would just… stay there forever."
"The funny part," Ron continued, "is that they also publish in the Muggle world—but with different content."
"It's got a great reputation among Muggles," he added while skimming. "Known for investigative journalism. Exposing political scandals and social problems."
"That's it?" Harry yawned, running a hand through his messy hair.
"Exposing scandals and social problems?"
"So basically… the old Daily Prophet," he muttered.
"It's cool, okay?" Ron protested.
"Think of it like our paper publishing articles mocking Voldemort every week!"
"If it weren't foreign, I'd read it daily!"
"Sirius did great!" Ron concluded proudly. "We even get foreign news in the Daily Prophet now!"
Harry climbed out of bed and headed toward the bathroom.
After realizing the report was essentially exaggerated nonsense, he had no interest in arguing further with Ron.
After all, he still had classes that morning.
And worse—Charms, taught by their own Head of House.
Given that his actual level of learning had long surpassed the material taught in class, Harry knew he'd need a proper shower just to stay awake.
As the water ran, Harry reflected quietly.
The reason newspapers dared to mock Grindelwald like this was simple.
Compared to Voldemort, Grindelwald was far too gentle.
Harry understood very well what kind of person Grindelwald truly was.
He wasn't a madman—just a wizard supremacist who didn't kill lightly.
A man who had witnessed Muggle progress and lost faith in the future of wizardkind.
So he chose to strike first.
Grindelwald was wrong—but not alone.
A group of American wizards had foreseen the same stagnation, trapped by the wizarding world's rigid traditions. They also predicted the resistance they would face if they tried to merge magic with Muggle technology—especially within the even more closed-off American magical society.
So they changed themselves instead.
And quietly left for the Moon.
Grindelwald was closer to a politician than a tyrant, imprisoned for decades in a cage of his own making.
If Der Spiegel were truly as fearless as it claimed, why had it taken two full years to establish itself?
In the end, it was only bold because Grindelwald didn't kill indiscriminately.
If he had been anything like Voldemort, this article wouldn't exist at all.
Ron's analogy, Harry decided, was completely inaccurate.
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