Chapter 177: You're Responsible!
Dumbledore did not agree to Lockhart's suggestion. Not only had a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor already been found months in advance, but even if the position were empty, he wouldn't allow Grindelwald to teach.
The reason was the same as his firm opposition to Tom Riddle joining the faculty: concern about corrupting young children.
In terms of negative influence, Tom was a mere minion compared to Grindelwald.
Grindelwald was the kind of person who could gather a loyal following wherever he went. Even in prison, during his decades of confinement in Nurmengard, who knew how many house-elves had been swayed, replaced batch after batch, making it impossible to guard against.
However, Lockhart's suggestion did give him an idea.
Currently, the only place that could properly confine Grindelwald and prevent him from causing trouble was probably Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Dumbledore expressed a headache.
He had previously evaded such matters, believing that when he eventually died, the so-called Nurmengard prison would no longer be able to hold Grindelwald, and then whether Grindelwald was confined or not would no longer be his concern.
Yes, he had somewhat evaded it.
He didn't want to kill Grindelwald, yet he couldn't release him, so he simply kept him imprisoned until the day he died.
He had lived long enough; it would be soon.
Then Gellert would be free. If the world had the ability, they could deal with him; if not, they might as well follow Gellert's guidance. What else could he do? He would be dead anyway, so he couldn't manage that much.
Only a small unexpected event had occurred.
That disgusting fellow, Tom, had appeared. He, the one known as the 'greatest wizard of the century', had to once again bear this burden, to face and confront.
Almost fifty years had passed in a flash. Grindelwald had been confined to Nurmengard Castle for nearly fifty years, but he, too, had been confined to Hogwarts Castle, enduring those long years day and night.
Dumbledore gazed with a complex expression at the collapsed Nurmengard Castle, suddenly feeling an inexplicable malice from fate—it always urged him to face, to face, to face all suffering!
Sigh~
Sometimes he truly didn't want to shift mistakes onto others, but he genuinely felt that Lockhart's appearance had indeed changed some things.
What made him even more speechless was that he clearly felt the two behind him exchanging malicious glances.
"Young man, you should learn to respect your elders." Gellert's voice was very soft, but he heard it. It was hard not to hear it.
"Heh~" Lockhart scoffed in a low voice. "It's hard to feel respect for an elder like you."
"Don't let me get my wand; I'll kill you!" Gellert's voice was vicious.
"Oh? Is that so? Sorry, if you want to kill me, you'll have to get in line," Lockhart chuckled. "Since you're a Seer, why don't you try a divination and see what I'll do to you in the future?"
"Ha, come on, come on!" Gellert was truly becoming more childish with age, actually bickering like a child.
"Enough!"
Dumbledore roared, turning back to glare coldly at the two troublesome individuals. "Both of you, shut up!"
Oh~
Finally, the world fell silent.
He began to clean up, waving the Elder Wand to repair the ruins before him, even if it could no longer serve as a prison.
Spell after spell was cast: Anti-Recall Charm, detection inhibition, surveillance prevention, attempting to cover up the incident.
He had no choice but to do this. If the world found out that Gellert had left Nurmengard, who knew how much panic and chaos it would cause.
Having finished, he turned back, looking at Gellert with a complex expression. He let out a deep sigh, waved his wand, and dispelled the restraints on the other man. "Both of you, come with me."
Fawkes, the Phoenix, flew, stirring up a large amount of flames. After the blaze, the figures of the three completely vanished.
They first arrived at the Hospital Wing. Mondo, the house-elf, had already taken Crabbe there for treatment. The increasingly elderly Madam Pomfrey had not left school during the holidays and was currently brewing a potion for the unconscious child.
Seeing them arrive, Madam Pomfrey scooped the potion from the cauldron into a cup with a spoon, then placed the cup in a copper basin filled with ice water to chill it. "Nothing serious, he just needs rest."
As she spoke, she occasionally glanced at the somewhat thinly dressed figure among the three, a look of surprise and uncertainty on her face.
"Poppy, long time no see." Grindelwald's face softened considerably.
"It truly is you!" Madam Pomfrey became excited. "Did Dumbledore release you?"
Yes, Madam Pomfrey was once a follower of Grindelwald. In those tumultuous years, her relationship with Dumbledore was merely that of colleagues. She wasn't influenced to side with Dumbledore just because they worked together at Hogwarts.
"How is your Muggle husband doing now?" Grindelwald always remembered things about his followers.
"He's passed away," Madam Pomfrey said with a gentle smile, not too bothered by it. "He went peacefully, surrounded by his grandchildren. He was even telling stories to the children before he left."
"Grandchildren..." Grindelwald seemed a bit emotional. "Time really flies. I remember you bravely trying everything to be with your Muggle husband."
In that era, a union between a wizard and a Muggle was no easy feat. He hadn't expected her to even have grandchildren now.
Professor McGonagall, who had just arrived, saw him. Her normally stern expression softened as she observed the scene, her lips pressed together.
Indeed.
So much time had passed.
Some things had long been buried in dust, becoming less important.
She turned to Lockhart with some confusion. Lockhart shrugged innocently. "Mr. Grindelwald and I had a bit of an argument in Nurmengard, and then the castle accidentally collapsed."
"!!!" Professor McGonagall froze, blinking, somewhat unsure of what she had just heard.
Dumbledore was checking on Crabbe's condition. Hearing this, he turned to Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. "From now on, he'll be at Hogwarts..."
Professor McGonagall gasped. "You plan to bring him to Hogwarts? Are you sure he won't cause trouble at school?"
Dumbledore looked a bit helpless. "I'll keep a close eye on him."
Professor McGonagall clearly disagreed with this statement. "I think our busy Headmaster has probably forgotten something: are you even present at school for a third of the month?"
Yes.
Dumbledore was very, very busy.
He couldn't let go of significant affairs at the International Confederation of Wizards; many decisions there would profoundly influence the development of the entire wizarding society. And implementing those decisions through the British Ministry of Magic, even with Minister for Magic Fudge, and people like Kingsley and Arthur in the Ministry, required his supervision.
Not to mention the search for Voldemort's Horcruxes. Throughout the previous school year, Dumbledore had put tremendous effort into this.
And finding the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor; this was also something that absolutely had to be done.
It was very troublesome. Even before Remus Lupin came to take over as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Dumbledore was already looking for candidates for the professor position for the year after next.
Dumbledore had too many things on his plate!
And yet!
He said he'd keep an eye on Grindelwald?
"I'll have someone watch him. In fact, I've found a very suitable person," Dumbledore said, looking at Lockhart.
Immediately, everyone present turned their gaze towards Lockhart.
"Me?" Lockhart pointed at himself in disbelief.
"You destroyed Nurmengard! You're responsible!" Dumbledore sounded somewhat domineering, even faintly annoyed. "You're not the only one who visited him in these past fifty years, but you alone destroyed Nurmengard! Whatever happened behind it, that's the fact."
Huh?
Is that how you're putting it?
Isn't that bullying an honest person?!
Lockhart was somewhat displeased. "I was planning to travel the world!"
"I'll keep Grindelwald with me until the start of the school year," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You'll have plenty of holiday."
Lockhart rolled his eyes, muttering a few disgruntled words. After thinking for a moment, he looked at Grindelwald, then finally nodded. "Alright, but I have a condition."
"Tell me," Dumbledore didn't mind suggestions.
"I want to learn castle magic. You have to teach me." Lockhart truly had nowhere else to learn this type of magic besides from Dumbledore. "Then I'll find a way to completely repair Nurmengard Castle so that this fellow can be locked back in if necessary!"
"What?!" This time it was Grindelwald's turn to be displeased. "Young man, do you even hear what you're saying?"
"Agreed!" Dumbledore immediately accepted, smiling at the two of them. "But I don't have much time to teach you. In fact, when it comes to castle magic, Gellert is the most proficient. Nurmengard Castle was built by him. I'll make him teach you without reservation."
"!!!" Grindelwald's eyes widened. Ha, he was going to teach this young man castle magic, and then this person would repair the castle that imprisoned him?
Dumbledore, do you even hear what you're saying?!
"It's settled then!" Old Dumbledore's voice was very serious.
....
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