Wayne was a magnanimous person who never cared what others said about him.
So what if they called him the Dark Lord? A few words wouldn't make him lose any flesh.
But as Headmaster, Lawrence needed to maintain the dignity and decorum of his position.
Thus, he had no choice but to reluctantly deal harshly with his good friends.
"Aunt Molly, George and Fred said I resemble the Dark Lord as Headmaster. Do you think I do?"
"What?! How dare they spread such rumours about the Headmaster!"
Molly, who had just arrived today, furiously assigned them a week's worth of detentions. Since it was Monday, it would start that very evening.
"Wayne, you're terrible."
The twins returned dejectedly after their scolding. Their detention involved copying all the achievements of the outstanding alumni of this century—an idea Professor McGonagall had suggested to their mother.
"Who told you to slander the Headmaster?" Wayne sat beside Hermione, looking at the two with amusement. "I was considering reforming Quidditch, but seeing how tired you are, perhaps we should forget it."
"Quidditch?" Their eyes lit up simultaneously. "How were you planning to change it?"
"The single round-robin has too much luck involved. Why not make it a double round-robin, with the two teams having the highest points playing a final after the term ends?"
"Brilliant, brilliant!"
It wasn't just the twins who responded; Harry, Angelina, and others nodded enthusiastically as well.
"Let's do it. We've long thought there were too few matches – only three per year now." Angelina's eyes sparkled with excitement, already planning how to get revenge on Hufflepuff.
Wayne simply spread his hands in a bear-like gesture. "That would be for next academic year anyway. This year..." He glanced at the twins, "Certain people seem quite dissatisfied with me as Headmaster."
Thump!
Angelina immediately transfigured her wand into a Beater's bat, flashing a professional smile. "Headmaster, just watch."
"Arghhh! Help!"
The twins immediately fled the Great Hall, wailing, drawing curious looks from many young wizards. The professors at the High Table glanced over, too.
When they saw it was Wayne causing the commotion, they silently lowered their heads again.
Never mind, can't control it anyway.
Who could blame them when their Headmaster was still a child?
It was perfectly normal for him to be playful and enjoy roughhousing.
"Wayne, make sure you handle the competition reforms promptly. I guarantee you won't see George and Fred in one piece tomorrow."
With that, Angelina hurried off in hot pursuit, leaving Harry and Ron trembling.
So terrifying... Since Wayne became Headmaster, his methods of tormenting people had become even more brutal.
Ron even felt... he might not see his two brothers again that evening.
Wayne, meanwhile, took Hermione's small hand. "Want to accompany me to the Hog's Head this afternoon?"
Dumbledore's letter had also mentioned Aberforth, requesting that Wayne must keep an eye on his foolish brother.
Aberforth was probably the person who hated Grindelwald most in this world.
He killed his sister and manipulated his son.
Upon hearing news of Grindelwald's prison break, Dumbledore feared he might do something reckless.
His younger brother had always overestimated himself, never understanding who held real power. When Dumbledore was around, Grindelwald was merely playing games, but now he was no longer at Hogwarts.
If these two were to meet, Aberforth would definitely be thoroughly humiliated.
Wayne planned to take a stroll there this afternoon and check on Ariana again while he was at it.
But this would be the last time he needed to go.
Soon Ariana's soul would fall into his hands, and then... even if he pointed at old Dumbledore and called him the Dark Lord, Dumbledore would have to fire off a few Killing Curses on the spot to prove he was right.
"I won't go," Hermione shook her head. "I still need to study this afternoon."
"But there's still a month left?"
"Professor McGonagall said this exam is completely designed to OWL standards. I must prepare properly."
Wayne never expected that his scheming would eventually backfire on himself.
Fortunately, he had other options.
Arriving at the Slytherin table, the rich girl immediately agreed without hesitation when he asked if she wanted to go out with him.
...
After classes ended in the afternoon, the two sneaked off to Hogsmeade.
It happened to be snowing, and Astoria became playful, insisting on stepping in each of Wayne's large footprints. They took a full hour to reach the town.
Once there, they didn't go directly to the Hog's Head but first visited their own café to have dinner with Nagini.
As darkness fell, the Hog's Head had a "Closed" sign hanging at the entrance. Wayne ignored it completely, pushing the door open and walking straight in. As soon as he entered, he heard an angry voice from upstairs.
"Can't you read? We're closed today, out!"
Acting as if he hadn't heard, Wayne took the rich girl's small hand and sat at the bar before shouting, "Aberforth, a butterbeer and get me a water!"
The cursing from upstairs stopped. After a moment of silence, footsteps were heard as Aberforth came down, walking behind the bar with a fake smile.
"If it isn't our Headmaster Lawrence?"
"Hurry up," Wayne waved his hand, pretending to be impatient. "Get me my drinks quickly, or I'll have students coming here every day and never leaving."
Aberforth's face darkened.
His bar didn't make money from selling drinks - the commission fees from smugglers were his main source of profit. If students kept coming around, the traders would naturally feel unsafe.
"Wait."
Aberforth glared at Wayne irritably. Two minutes later, he brought over the drinks, also grabbing a bottle of vodka for himself. He sat opposite Wayne and took a large swig.
"What are you doing here?"
"Dumbledore asked me to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't do anything stupid," Wayne said truthfully.
"The Headmaster is back?" Astoria's ahoge stood up straight as she asked curiously.
"Former Headmaster," Wayne corrected her small mistake. "He hasn't returned; he just had Fawkes deliver a letter to me."
As he spoke, Wayne handed the letter to Aberforth for him to read.
At first, Aberforth frowned deeply, growing more dissatisfied as he read, muttering curses under his breath. In particular, the part where Dumbledore instructed Wayne to keep watch over him made him explode with anger.
"Does he think I'm an idiot? I'd have to be mad to go looking for trouble with Grindelwald alone."
Wayne didn't respond to him, instead clinking glasses with Astoria.
Reading further, Aberforth's expression softened considerably, because what followed was entirely Dumbledore speaking ill of Grindelwald to persuade Wayne.
"It seems my brother hasn't gone completely senile yet."
After finishing the letter, Aberforth snorted lightly, "Alright, finish your drink and get going. I'm not foolish enough to go cause trouble for him. Tell Albus not to worry about me and to look after himself properly."
Aberforth knew Dumbledore was probably off doing something dangerous again, and could only express his concern in this awkward manner.
"I'll pass that along. Give me the letter back."
Wayne reached out to retrieve the letter—he intended to keep it carefully for future opportunities to show Grindelwald how Dumbledore had described him.
After finishing their drinks, Wayne took Astoria upstairs to chat with Ariana for a while.
Seeing a witch her own age visiting, Ariana was absolutely delighted.
Astoria also knew about Ariana's unfortunate circumstances, and the two quickly established a good friendship.
Watching the smile that never left his sister's face, Aberforth looked dazed for a moment before turning to Wayne and saying quietly, "Since you have so many girlfriends anyway, how about bringing them to my pub regularly? I'll waive your drink charges."
Wayne sighed, "Hermione's busy with revision, Cho's the Quidditch captain... only Astoria has relatively flexible time... Well, next time I could bring another girl. She's blonde like Ariana, too; they'd probably get along well."
Aberforth fell silent, looking at him with the expression one reserves for witnessing a birth.
It wasn't until nine o'clock that Wayne finally left the Hog's Head with a reluctant Astoria, returning to the castle.
...
Over the following days, Hogwarts returned to normalcy. Aside from a picture frame abruptly appearing in the boys' bathroom and Phineas disappearing from the Headmaster's Office, little else had changed.
On Wednesday evening, Wayne kept his promise and taught a lesson to Harry's gathered friends.
To stack his Dark Harvest layers, he gave them each individual combat guidance. While it wouldn't achieve much, it at least showed the students the gap between themselves and a powerful wizard.
With Umbridge's disappearance, Harry's gatherings had become legal and public.
Many students who had previously refused out of fear now regretted their decision and wanted to rejoin, but Harry rejected them all.
As for Smith, he had practically become invisible at school.
After being discharged from the hospital wing, no student in the entire school would speak with him. Even Slytherins looked down on such a traitor.
Wayne had observed him using Legilimency and discovered he already planned to leave school after finishing his exams this year.
A smart decision - if he had to endure two more years in this environment, he'd surely go mad.
With the school entering a stable period, Wayne turned his attention outward, feeling somewhat puzzled.
It had been several days already - what exactly was Grindelwald doing? Why was there no movement at all?
...
Bordeaux, Rosier Manor.
The spacious conference room was filled with over a dozen elderly men and women. Though advanced in years, each remained spirited.
The oak doors swung open as Grindelwald entered with Vinda Rosier. The elderly assembly immediately ceased their conversations, rising excitedly to cry:
"Lord Grindelwald!"
"Everyone, take your seats. How many times have I said it - we're all old comrades here, make yourselves comfortable."
Grindelwald soothed them, patting several people's shoulders before finally taking his own seat and beginning to take attendance.
"Rodriguez, it seems your old bones can still hold up for a few more decades. Excellent."
"Perez, I recall you had a younger brother. How is he doing now?"
"Sir, he has passed away...!"
"My apologies, I remember him being a fine young man. What a pity. And you, Lamachère, how fares your family?"
"Thank you for your concern, sir. My nephew is now the Auror captain in Spain, and likewise your admirer."
Every person Grindelwald greeted would remain excited for a long time afterwards. After he had spoken with everyone, he finally turned his gaze to Vinda Rosier, who stood behind him, and let out a long sigh.
"It's truly wonderful to see you all again."
"Sir," Rodriguez said softly, "many more followers still long for your return. Our younger generations have produced numerous outstanding talents. This time we won't lose again."
"No." Grindelwald shook his head with a sombre expression. "We have no hope of victory. The world has changed."
"Muggle weapons can destroy our civilisation. Mutual destruction was never my goal."
Everyone fell into silence.
Seeing their dejected expressions, Grindelwald rallied his spirits and said with a laugh, "But I didn't come out to do nothing."
"Your will be done!" an elderly woman cried out excitedly. "We followers shall clear all obstacles from your path!"
"Excellent, Jenny, you're still as spirited as ever." Grindelwald praised, then suddenly changed tack:
"Some have told me the times have changed, that there's no place for old relics like me in this new world."
"But I refuse to believe it. Even though you and I are now white-haired and advanced in years, we can still accomplish earth-shattering great deeds!"
"The wizarding world's living space has become too constrained. I want to hold up a sky vast enough for the magical community to thrive beneath!"
"For the greater good!"
"For the greater good!" everyone shouted in unison, raising their arms high as their fighting spirit was completely ignited!
"Sir, what do you need us to do?" Vinda Rosier asked.
Grindelwald gazed into the distance and said musingly:
"What would you think... if I first became a Headmaster?"