LightReader

Chapter 148 - Chapter 148 Harry, Wait For Me to Save You!

The farce of the Alliance was completely over.

No matter how many people took Grindelwald's words to heart, no matter how many could truly let go after such persuasion-

After Grindelwald stated that 'the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy protects wizards', the Alliance, which should have disintegrated after the outcome of that duel but had been lingering on until now, was finally coming to an end.

They were indeed a group brought together by an ideal. But in the Wizarding World, to truly achieve change and accomplish something, a great wizard must lead the way.

And now, their leader was gone.

Gone in every sense of the word.

In the prison cell that had become eerily quiet, more and more people chose to leave in silence.

Their eight years of effort and planning had turned into a laughable waste.

The person they had gone to such lengths to rescue simply did not want to be rescued.

That night, Grindelwald's words became their recurring nightmare. Any Boggart that encountered them would undoubtedly transform into the image of this gaunt old man, smiling and saying, "The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy protects wizards."

The cell, once crowded with people, gradually began to empty again.

No one was angry. They seemed heartbroken, not even wanting to look at Grindelwald anymore, descending the spiral stone steps one by one.

The last person to remain was Vinda.

This witch, who was once Grindelwald's most loyal assistant, showed neither hatred nor disappointment on her face. She just stared blankly at the old man curled up on the corner of the bed. After a long while, she finally asked in a voice trembling uncontrollably,

"Yo... Your Mightiness... May I... may I stay here with you?"

Grindelwald met her gaze. They looked at each other for a long time before he responded, seeming intrigued.

"I heard you received funding from Nicolas Flamel and built a welfare home specifically for Squibs?"

"Yes..."

"Why not continue that endeavor, Vinda?" Grindelwald's voice was very soft, "Whatever your reasons, pity for them, or some ulterior motive, you have already persisted for eight years."

Vinda pressed her lips together. This witch, who never bent her back, now knelt before Grindelwald, weeping silently.

Hearing his words, she nodded.

"If you wish to see me do that, I am willing to continue..."

Grindelwald stretched out a withered, long-fingered hand and touched Vinda's hair.

"You can't always dwell on the past. Think more about yourself."

Then, he looked at Nicolas, who was standing to the side with Severus.

"Please allow me to apologize to you on their behalf for this matter, Flamel."

The old man, whose bones were probably all osteoporotic by now, just shook his head.

"I knew the final outcome would be like this from the very beginning. But what surprised me was the rumor circulating outside that the one in Nurmengard had begun to repent for his past mistakes. Both I and Dumbledore only hoped the rumor was true. And it turns out, it actually is true."

"Perhaps it doesn't quite count as repentance…" Grindelwald looked at him, "Just figured out some things I couldn't understand before. Finally, if you truly don't mind them abducting you, then please also refrain from revealing their true identities to the French authorities later."

"This is the last request I can make to help them."

"They took the Inferi you once hid underground to France." Nicolas Flamel shrugged, "The Muggles and children from the monastery were evacuated beforehand. It will cause quite a stir for the Ministry, but no one should get hurt. I can keep the truth from the Aurors, provided no one is actually injured in this incident. Otherwise, the perpetrators must be dealt with."

Severus chose this moment to interject.

"What about that Death Eater, Shafiq?"

"Nine years ago, to force Alvis to serve his so-called master, he tortured Alvis to death with the Cruciatus Curse!" Vinda's voice was icy, "This is the retribution he deserves!"

"And what about Patrick Rosier?"

The name Severus suddenly brought up made Vinda fall silent.

If Shafiq got what he deserved, then Rosier, who also suffered memory charm-induced brain damage, though not as severe, was the person most deeply harmed in this incident.

Especially since Vinda knew she had ultimately sent Narlak and the other two to capture her grandnephew.

"If you are still willing to be Aimee, perhaps Perenelle and I can discuss continuing to fund you to manage a monastery…"

Nicolas Flamel said generously. He genuinely didn't seem to mind Vinda organizing his abduction, instead, he treated it as a very interesting experience.

"But you must make amends to your Squib grandnephew and obtain his forgiveness."

Vinda also left.

Perhaps any compensation she might offer later wouldn't necessarily stem from genuine remorse, but rather from her stubborn adherence to Grindelwald's command.

But even so, as long as she took action, one could judge by the deed, not the heart.

In the end, only Severus and Nicolas remained.

"You could have been more tactful. Did you deliberately say such decisive words?"

Nicolas spoke first. He looked somewhat tired, holding onto the hem of Severus's robe as he carefully sat down on the stone steps, avoiding injuring any of his old bones.

Grindelwald said lightly, "I'm not that considerate. Before this, they actually came here to find me many times, but I never truly gave them a chance to enter."

"What's past is past. Time will eventually wash everything away, and I am here to bear what I should bear."

"But what I didn't expect was that they actually picked up their long-abandoned persistence again."

Nicolas laughed. He didn't say more, but Severus, standing beside him, could sense the old man thought Grindelwald was being duplicitous.

Clearly, he wanted his former followers to completely lose hope, to have no illusions left, yet he refused to admit it.

At this moment, Severus finally had the chance to take out the letter Dumbledore had helped him write to Nicolas Flamel, explaining why he had specifically come to France.

"I have some personal issues with spellcasting and would like to seek your help, Mr. Flamel."

Under the same night sky.

England, Malfoy Manor.

Since Draco was taken away by Severus, the already sparsely populated Malfoy Manor had become even quieter.

Even though she had ultimately acquiesced to Lucius's decision to send Draco away, in the days since her only son left home, Narcissa had still been weeping constantly. Only on the day she received Draco's letter assuring her of his safety did she show a smile.

The only one who benefited from Draco's departure was the house-elf, Dobby.

With the young master, who had almost entirely inherited his master's temper, gone, Dobby had much less work.

Although sometimes, when Lucius missed his son, he would still find some pretext to take it out on Dobby, overall, the torment it suffered was much less than usual.

Even though this went against the traditional notions of house-elves, Dobby was itself an anomaly among elves.

It was quite happy with this outcome.

One night, after the master and mistress had gone to sleep, it went alone to a cluttered storage room filled with garbage and junk, rummaging out those newspapers it had cherished for many years.

The newspapers almost all reported on the same person.

The savior who defeated You-Know-Who eight years ago, the Boy Who Lived… Harry Potter!

Even though the master always spoke of the boy with contempt and scorn in private, Dobby worshipped him immensely.

Dobby had secretly collected many newspapers that had reported on the boy over the years. Its master had never discovered this.

In fact, if one day its master intended to do something to harm Harry Potter, Dobby felt it could choose to protect the boy without hesitation!

Just as Dobby was once again reading with great interest the articles praising Harry's exploits while trying to bandage a wound on its forehead, its pointed ears suddenly twitched.

"Who! Who's there?"

Dobby stood up nervously with a start.

"Dobby hears something!"

It hurriedly hid the old newspapers, then mustered courage mixed with timidity, carefully pushing the door open a crack.

Outside on the lawn, a peacock was strutting about. The noise seemed to have come from it.

This made Dobby breathe a sigh of relief.

Dobby had, of course, seen the recent news.

It knew two demons had escaped from the wizards' prison.

Two demons connected to its master!

It had been deeply worried and frightened for a long time, having nightmares every night lately. In its dreams, it saw its master gathering with that group again, them waving their wands and torturing it for fun.

Dobby felt a deep fear about this, but couldn't help worrying about Harry Potter's safety.

'Would those people seek revenge on Harry Potter?'

As the Malfoy family's house-elf began to anxiously ponder these questions, questions no house-elf should be pondering-

Close to the wall of the manor house, a large black dog silently jumped through a window that hadn't been properly closed into the Malfoy Manor.

The pale moonlight reflected in its pitch-black eyes. Its large size and sharp fangs were enough to make anyone who saw it shudder.

It moved silently through the Malfoy Manor, quickly ascertaining the location of the master bedroom where Lucius and Narcissa were, as well as the house-elf's location.

Then, without immediately making a move against anyone, it found Lucius's study.

Transforming back into human form in the darkness, this prisoner of Azkaban, wanted by all the Aurors of Britain and soon to be on the wanted list of the French Ministry of Magic as well, gently opened the study door and walked in.

He didn't turn on the light, instead using the moonlight from outside the window to begin searching through the drawers filled with letters.

But even after rummaging through every cabinet and drawer in the entire study, he found no letters related to the person he was looking for.

This made the already impatient man grow irritable. His gaze turned dangerous as he began considering the possibility of directly kidnapping the Malfoys to extract valuable information from them.

However, just as he was about to leave the room to carry out this plan, a letter lying on the desk suddenly caught the man's attention!

The piece of parchment was simply placed on the desktop, as if the Malfoys had just finished reading it before bed.

Because it wasn't in an envelope, the man had initially overlooked it.

But as the moon moved, a beam of moonlight fell upon the parchment, and the man saw that name!

Because of this, he picked up the letter and read its contents in full.

["Alright, I reluctantly accept your apology.

But you don't need to worry about this. Even in France, those mediocre wizards have to show respect to the Malfoy name!

The Aurors were all obsequiously respectful the moment they heard of my lineage. They even invited me to the Ministry as a guest.

That skinny monkey, Dudley Dursley, also benefited from my influence. He has already witnessed my prowess.

There was also a Squib pretending to be a Rosier. Such an insult to pure-blood honor, of course, I couldn't stand for it. I exposed his false facade and lies on the spot, leaving Snape and Lupin speechless and ashamed.

By the way, Dursley is no match for me at all. I've already tamed him. Now he's utterly respectful towards me, willingly acting as my follower, even kneeling to polish my shoes every day!

I am doing well in every way, Mom and Dad.

- Your son, Draco Malfoy]

Upon reading the latter part of the letter, the man's face twisted into a ferocious and terrifying expression!

He desperately wanted to tear the letter to shreds!

But his remaining reason quickly suppressed that unwise impulse.

After seeing the photo in the Daily Prophet while in Azkaban, he knew 'Dudley Dursley' was Harry Potter!

And now!

'What kind of humiliation had James's son suffered following that Snivellus!'

'How dare this little bastard from Malfoy Family make Harry his follower, make him kneel and polish his shoes!'

'How dare he use the word 'tamed'!'

'And Moony!'

'Did he just stand by and watch?!'

'Watch Harry be treated like this?!'

The escaped prisoner from Azkaban felt his head might explode with fury.

He breathed heavily, forcing his tensed hands to relax, then carefully placed the now slightly crumpled parchment back on the desk, smoothing it out slowly.

"France... French Ministry of Magic..."

The man murmured as he left the study.

"Wait for me... Harry... I will save you... I will definitely save you!"

He transformed back into the black dog and, as silently as he had arrived, left the Malfoy Manor.

More Chapters