Night, Durmstrang.
The Hogwarts Express still lay quietly on the grassland not far from the castle, all its windows dark. Beauxbatons' enormous carriage was nearby as well. Although the Triwizard Tournament had already ended, according to a tradition formulated under who knew what state of mind, the guests from the other two schools still had to remain with the host until the end of final exams. Supposedly, this was to allow better communication between students...
However, Avada felt this was merely a delaying tactic by the British Ministry of Magic to make Dumbledore stay at Durmstrang a while longer. After all, the three champions had pushed the progress far too quickly, and the true significance of this Triwizard Tournament had definitely gone far beyond the Ministry of Magic's initial expectations.
Nothing else needed to be said—Goshawk's speech alone had been broadcast live to Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, and it had also been recorded. A few days later, it would appear in the Daily Prophet for wizards across all of Europe, and even the entire world, to watch!
Without question, this would also have a tremendous impact on Avada himself, who was standing at the heart of the storm.
After all, the university's appearance this time had ridden on his popularity.
And so, inside Dumbledore's office.
"...I knew you would come looking for me."
Albus Dumbledore was dressed in a pink nightgown and wore a rather avant-garde nightcap. With his glasses on, he smiled cheerfully at Avada, who had just sat down in front of him.
"Of course, Professor."
Avada gave a bitter smile.
"After all, I'm about to stand right in the center of the storm next, and there are also quite a few things I don't understand..."
"Who told you to give me such a big surprise at the very beginning?"
A trace of amusement entered Dumbledore's smile.
"Leach University's special admit—when I first heard about this, I was quite startled. After all, it meant someone had managed to infiltrate Hogwarts right under my nose as headmaster..."
"...Cough."
Avada gave a guilty dry cough.
"Haha, no need to be nervous. I have no intention of pursuing that matter. In any case, it is your own future. Tell me, then. What do you want to know this time?"
"Er, quite a lot."
Avada could not help rubbing his temples with a headache.
During the day, he had tried to use his Nathan Clarke identity to find Grindelwald again and ask about the truth behind this matter. But when he asked Headmistress Goshawk whether Nurmengard had now been unsealed, he received an answer that left him dumbfounded...
"It has been unsealed, yes—but Grindelwald made it very clear. If you have any questions, don't go ask him. He needs rest right now..."
—What exactly had he been doing in that tower these past few months that he did not even have the energy to answer my questions now?
Since Grindelwald was too lazy to pay him any attention, he could only go find the other person who knew the most truth: Dumbledore.
Headmistress Goshawk was actually quite willing to answer his questions, but on the one hand, his status within the university still did not count as high-level, so the information that could be disclosed to him was limited. On the other hand, the mountain of documents piled on Goshawk's desk at the time also made him reluctant to further waste the old headmistress's time and energy...
And so, after the Triwizard Tournament concluded, after the professors of Leach University had made another wave of publicity before leaving one after another, and after the students' restless minds gradually calmed with the arrival of night, he once again stood before the door to Dumbledore's office.
Then, before he could knock, Dumbledore called him in.
He had been predicted again.
"The more questions, the better. After all, even the plan I left for you inside the feather was only a small part of this operation..."
The smile on Dumbledore's face did not diminish at all. It seemed that the great battle during the day had not made him any more tired at night.
"Then let me guess. Is your first question—what exactly have I been doing these past few months?"
"Er... yes, Professor."
Avada stiffened for a moment before following along with his words.
In truth, he had originally wanted to first ask about the situation with Peter Pettigrew.
"Well, after all, only one person knew that Professor Moody had been impersonating me and staying here these past few months. It is perfectly normal for you to have such a question."
Dumbledore nodded, then casually raised his hand and summoned two cups of hot tea onto the table. He picked up one of them and took a sip.
"During this period, I have been at Nurmengard Castle, playing the role of Gellert Grindelwald."
"Playing... Grindelwald?"
The answer to the very first question made Avada's brain decisively freeze for an instant.
He had long since known that Dumbledore's disappearance had to be directly related to Grindelwald—but he had actually taken Grindelwald's place in prison for half a year?
What meaning did that have?
And what had the real Grindelwald been doing? Surely he had not officially taken up the post of vice headmaster at Leach University and planned to appear publicly, right?
How would that be any different from announcing that the university was actually a terrorist organization?
"Most of what I said during the day was true."
Dumbledore continued to explain.
"Under the influence of the university, those stubborn pure-blood factions did indeed secretly contact Grindelwald, intending to ask him to take action against me..."
"Wait, under the influence of the university?"
Avada interrupted Dumbledore's statement in astonishment.
"That's right. Under the influence of Leach University's board member, Johnson Shafiq—in other words, Mr. Shafiq's father."
Even Dumbledore looked rather emotional when this subject came up.
"Although the Shafiq family did not join Voldemort's forces more than ten years ago, as one of the members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, he was still able to speak with the other pure-blood families. After the Chamber of Secrets crisis passed and a large number of important members from pure-blood families entered Azkaban, Shafiq sought them out. On one hand, he expressed that the pure-blood families now shared aligned interests and should cooperate sincerely, weathering the storm together, and that he was willing to join them for the sake of killing me and resurrecting Voldemort. On the other hand, he brought them news about Grindelwald."
"You heard what I said to Alastor on the screen, didn't you? The contents Shafiq relayed were more or less the same as what was said at that time. It was all about Grindelwald being unwilling to accept defeat, secretly developing his forces from within his prison, and always preparing to overthrow me... Then he said that Grindelwald was willing to help them and provide power for the elimination of Dumbledore. This piece of news greatly increased the confidence and sense of security of those pure-blood families, and directly led all of them into the trap."
"You did not participate in these plans?"
"No."
Dumbledore shook his head.
"I only learned of this matter, and of Leach University's existence, during the Christmas holidays. Before this, I had indeed arranged some things to dig pits for the pure-blood families, but their effects certainly would not have been as good as this."
"So, before Christmas, Grindelwald had been in Nurmengard negotiating cooperation with the envoys of the pure-blood alliance. He would also accept the resources they brought to restore his strength, and even had sparring partners go over regularly to let him stretch his muscles, avoiding his limbs growing rusty after going too long without fighting... Having finally found themselves a powerful backer, those people really put in a great deal of effort."
"..."
Now Avada understood why Grindelwald had not let him go to Nurmengard back then.
So at that time, all of Nurmengard had been full of people from the pure-blood families?
(End of Chapter)