"Damn it... what did you say?"
For the first time, Grindelwald's expression changed when he heard those words.
"Was I not clear enough? Dumbledore will die before you," Leonard said.
"That's impossible!" Grindelwald's expression turned visibly savage. "I'm trapped here, barely fed and barely clothed, and I still have decades left to live. On what grounds would he die before me? Is he going to be worked to death by Hogwarts?"
"I'm afraid not." Leonard spoke calmly. "In the prophecy, he is murdered."
The moment the words fell, Leonard sensed the surroundings change. The once peaceful environment rippled outward from the tower as though magic itself had erupted.
The warm sun seemed to be blocked by something unseen. Its light lost its warmth. The sea of forest nearly froze in place. The once vibrant woods fell into complete silence, and even the sounds of birds and insects vanished.
Leonard even felt his connection to the forest weaken, and the sight he had been maintaining through the Aurors hidden in the woods grew fainter as well.
That was absolutely not something ordinary magic could accomplish.
Leonard narrowed his eyes at Grindelwald, who showed no outward change, and formed a rough guess about the magical harmony Grindelwald had mentioned.
The magical disturbance came fast and faded just as fast. In almost an instant, peace returned to the surroundings, and the sunlight looked exactly as before, as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion.
"How am I supposed to know you're not lying?" Grindelwald suddenly calmed down and fixed Leonard with a stare.
"You have no way to know. Or you could try using prophecy yourself." Leonard shrugged. "This is a prophecy, not a newspaper article. I can't prove it. I can only tell you that under normal circumstances, it is destined to happen."
In Leonard's view, Dumbledore's death was inevitable. Even without Draco Malfoy betraying things from within, it would have happened anyway.
The Resurrection Stone held too strong an attraction for Dumbledore. Strong enough to make even the old Headmaster lose his reason and forget just how cunning Voldemort was.
And once cursed, Dumbledore would certainly choose, just as in the original course of events, to give up his life for the sake of Snape's undercover mission.
So Leonard's prophecy was not wrong.
"Destined? Nothing is destined. If prophecies were certain to come true, then the one ruling this world should have been me."
Grindelwald closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had already regained his composure.
"I can't think of any reason for you to deceive me. I'll answer your question." He stared at Leonard. "If you can tell me more detailed contents of the prophecy, I'll tell you more in return."
"Let me hear your answer first," Leonard said.
"Fine." Grindelwald thought for a moment before speaking. "Let's start with things I've come into contact with that relate to the Eternal Wizards. You know the Saints, so you should know their symbol, yes?"
"I do. Isn't it just the Deathly Hallows?" Leonard answered casually, then suddenly reacted. "You mean..."
"That's right. The so-called Death who created the Deathly Hallows in legend was actually an Eternal Wizard. There are no gods in this world. Whether it is Odin from Norse mythology or this Death, they were both Eternal Wizards."
As Grindelwald spoke, a reflective look appeared on his face. "In legend, the Deathly Hallows are powerful magical artifacts created by Death and bestowed upon the three Peverell brothers. But that is only a polished version of the truth."
"Then what is the truth?" Leonard was interested now.
"The truth is that it was nothing more than a case of patricide." Grindelwald let out a cold laugh. "The Eternal Wizard called Death was actually the father of the three brothers. The three of them coveted the immense power of their father, an Eternal Wizard, murdered him, and stole the source of his power."
"Patricide..." Leonard froze.
He did not think Grindelwald would lie to him about something like this, just as Leonard would not lie to Grindelwald about a prophecy. There was no point in it.
But if what Grindelwald said was true, then the tale recorded in The Tales of Beedle the Bard was, beneath all its polish, a complete tragedy.
And a brutally cruel one at that.
Grindelwald slowly recounted the story stripped of all its ornate embellishment and magical color, telling how the three brothers killed their own father to seize his power, and how they later died under the pursuit of an Eternal Wizard.
"The Eternal Wizards transcend the very concept of ordinary wizards. To a certain extent, they are immortal, unless the object they are anchored to is destroyed or split apart..."
"Death. I usually call him Old Peverell. After dying, he gained a brief resurrection. As long as he reclaimed the Deathly Hallows, he could truly return to life."
"He killed the eldest brother and reclaimed his magic, the Elder Wand. He killed the second brother and reclaimed his soul, the Resurrection Stone. But he could not find the third brother, because the youngest had draped himself in Old Peverell's corpse, the Invisibility Cloak."
Grindelwald sighed. "In the end, he could only die for good, because even in that temporary resurrection, he still could not see through his own invisibility magic."
Leonard fell silent.
He marveled at the greed of the three brothers, and also at Old Peverell, the Eternal Wizard known as Death.
That man truly had been absurdly hard to kill. Even after death, he could climb back out to claim lives. He really did live up to the name of Death.
It was just a pity that in the end he had been betrayed by his own ability. Not even being able to see through his own magic. Dying like that was almost too humiliating.
"As for the other Eternal Wizards..." Grindelwald glanced at Leonard. "There is Tiamat, the source of Blood-wizards. She lived the longest out of all the Eternal Wizards and created many magical creatures. Then there is Odin, the source of ancient magic..."
"Wait, you said the source of ancient magic? Odin?" The moment Leonard heard the familiar term, he cut in at once.
Grindelwald nodded. "That's right. Odin is the source of ancient magic. Though more accurately, he was only its disseminator. The true source of ancient magic is actually the World Tree."
"The World Tree? You know about the World Tree? Then do you know where it is?" Leonard asked urgently.
The World Tree. That was the World Tree.
If he could grow a World Tree, would he not soar instantly?
The experience granted by the System was directly proportional to a plant's rarity. If there was only one World Tree in the entire world, just how much experience would that be worth?
And it was also the source of ancient magic. If he had a World Tree, would he not immediately crush whatever stock the Ravens had in reserve?
Driven by greed, Leonard became a little too eager.
"You'd be better off asking the Ravens about that. I'm only a scholar who occasionally studies history. They're the true scavengers of history," Grindelwald said with a shake of his head.