Wade, of course, didn't refuse, taking Dumbledore's hand.
The ancient Fawkes suddenly let out a clear, ringing cry.
Wade heard the ticking of pointers and the rustling of pages turning. The surroundings abruptly became ethereal, shifting rapidly like a kaleidoscope.
It felt like Apparition, but without that uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through a pipe.
Suddenly, Wade swayed, and the scenery around them stabilized.
They appeared inside an unfamiliar building, its thick stone walls covered in scratches, with torches blazing on the walls.
The place was extremely cold. Though Wade couldn't feel it, he saw people passing by in thick fur coats, white mist puffing from their noses with each breath.
Their faces, however, remained blurry, like a low-resolution security camera feed.
"What kind of magic is this, Professor?" Wade asked.
"A form of memory magic... hmm, a rather complex application," Dumbledore replied.
"So... they're all from someone's memory?" Wade observed the people around them.
"To be precise, I witnessed someone's memories and then reproduced them in this dramatic fashion."
Dumbledore continued, "While I could also use a Pensieve to bring you into the actual memory, that would be far too long."
Memory fragments always contain a lot of redundant information and uninteresting conversations. Even piecing together small, minute-long segments of memory would ultimately become too lengthy, and he guessed Wade probably wouldn't want to spend too much time on it.
What Dumbledore wanted him to see wasn't those specific details anyway.
As they spoke, the two followed several professors and students in crimson robes, walking along a dim stone corridor, turning corner after corner, descending flight after flight of stairs, finally stopping before a wooden door.
Carved on that door were circular, triangular, and vertical line patterns—the symbols of the Deathly Hallows.
A grim-faced Wizard in the lead pointed his Wand, and the wooden door exploded open with a bang. Everyone rushed inside.
In the room was a handsome blond teenager, pale-skinned, with blue eyes like translucent gems.
Among the many blurry faces, he was the only one whose appearance was perfectly clear, as if he existed on a different layer from the others.
He stood with his back to the door, lightly waving his Wand as if dancing. Hearing the noise, he turned around in surprise, then frowned.
In front of the teenager, and on shelves throughout the room, were countless jars and bottles of all sizes, looking somewhat like Snape's Potions Class at first glance.
But upon closer inspection, some of those jars contained twisted forms, others emitted wailing black smoke. Just a glance was enough to make one feel nauseous and ominous.
And on a book spread open on the table, there were grotesque drawings depicting people undergoing cruel torture.
"Gellert Grindelwald!" The person who burst through the door called out his name coldly. "Someone reported you were secretly conducting dark experiments at school. I thought it was slander, but it turns out to be true!"
The blond teenager, Grindelwald, gave a half-smile as he glanced at a student in the crowd. That student shrank back, lowering his head and hiding behind a professor.
The teenager was roughly pulled out, and someone else said, "Just wait! You'll definitely be expelled this time! Even at our school, this kind of behavior is absolutely not tolerated!"
"Oh, is that so?"
The teenager sneered. When the newcomers tried to seize his Wand, he brazenly struck out. The light of a Spell exploded, sending that person flying.
Blood splattered everywhere. Someone screamed, and several people began fighting fiercely. Some hurried away, seemingly to fetch reinforcements.
Blue flames ignited. A student rolled on the ground, while the blond teenager was sent flying backward, crashing into a shelf by the wall. Bottles and jars clattered to the floor, shattering.
The teenager looked up, red blood trickling from the corner of his eye and down his nose. Even so, he looked breathtakingly handsome.
This person possessed an intensely impactful beauty, regardless of gender.
The teenager suddenly looked up, and a red beam of light shot out, hitting the person in front of him.
Immediately after, Wade felt his own perspective shift, as if he too had been struck and sent flying.
In an instant, the surroundings changed.
The blond teenager, still with bruises on his face, carried a trunk and looked back at the imposing and cold school. Durmstrang Castle stood like a sword plunged into the black mountaintop.
The teenager suddenly turned, carved a symbol into the wall, then strode away without hesitation.
Wade and Dumbledore followed him for only a short while before it felt as if they had traversed an endless distance, arriving at a new place.
This was a valley, with brilliant sunshine and lovely green grass, where two teenagers were strolling.
"...and then I got expelled!"
Young Grindelwald finished recounting his experience, shrugging with an arrogant and disdainful tone. "Stupid school! I thought Durmstrang would be more open-minded than other schools, but they're just a bunch of timid cowards too."
Beside him was a red-haired teenager in his teens. His features weren't as clear, but it was evident he was equally handsome, with bright blue eyes like stars.
Wade looked up at Dumbledore beside him. The old headmaster's half-moon spectacles reflected the light, obscuring his expression.
Wade had no intention of prying into the emotional scars of a century-old man. He turned his head to continue watching the two.
The red-haired teenager listened to the person beside him with a smile, his gaze appearing very focused.
Grindelwald was expounding his views: "We Wizards are gifted individuals, why should we hide like rats in a sewer? The Statute of Secrecy is simply the most ridiculous law!"
"It makes us Wizards feel like thieves just for using our abilities, living in fear day in and day out. Albus, your sister was hurt by Muggles. What was wrong with your father seeking revenge for his daughter? Yet he was thrown into prison by those idiots, without any sense of right or wrong!"
"We should strive for dominance! Wizards should rule Muggles, rule the world! Instead of being forced into near non-existence by an ever-growing Muggle population! If necessary, of course we can use force. This is the power bestowed upon us by heaven..."
The red-haired teenager's smile gradually faded. He pressed his lips together, nodding slightly, appearing to be in complete agreement.
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