"Has the balance already been broken?" Gellert Grindelwald frowned, his expression turning grave.
"May I ask you a question…" Jon didn't continue that line of thought immediately. Instead, he countered, "If the wizarding world and the muggle world were to go to all-out war, which side do you think would win?"
"If it were a direct, full-scale war, the wizarding world would have no chance whatsoever," Grindelwald replied without hesitation. "I've thought about this question many times…"
"Could you explain why?"
"…First of all, the wizarding world is not a unified whole," Grindelwald said slowly. "There are large numbers of half-bloods, Muggle-borns… and pure-bloods like Albus who lean toward the muggle side. If a total war truly broke out, they wouldn't stand with us—they would side with the muggles. Therefore, before the war even begins, this group of wizards would have to be completely eliminated."
"Don't include me when you say 'us,' please. I'm not on your side," Jon complained.
"All right… my apologies," Grindelwald chuckled, the heaviness on his face easing slightly. "This internal conflict alone would cause devastating losses to the wizarding world, crippling it before the real war even begins. But it would be necessary. Compared to the muggle world, the wizarding world's greatest advantage lies in secrecy. If large numbers of half-bloods, Muggle-borns, and even some pure-blood wizards join the muggle camp, that advantage disappears entirely."
"Exactly. Even Tom Riddle understood that much," Jon said with a smile. "At the very least, he wasn't foolish enough to declare war on the muggle world before fully winning the wizarding world's civil war."
"Who is Tom Riddle?" Grindelwald asked with some curiosity.
"A rather famous Dark Wizard who came after you," Jon explained briefly.
"Oh, I see." Grindelwald nodded casually, then continued. "Even if that war were won, the wizarding world still wouldn't be able to defeat the muggle world. The muggle population is simply too vast. It's absolutely impossible for a single wizard to rule or conquer tens of thousands of muggles."
"…Once the wizarding world is truly exposed to the muggle world, we might gain a certain advantage in the early stages of the war. But as our habits and even our existence become fully understood, our mystique will vanish. The muggles will then rely on their sheer numbers to launch a frenzied counterattack."
"You said 'we' again…" Jon couldn't help muttering. Then he added, "And most adult wizards are only proficient in everyday magic. Very few are familiar with offensive spells or dark magic. In a true life-and-death battle, you'd find they're no different from ordinary Muggle civilians."
"Ah, my apologies," Grindelwald sighed. "That's been the case for centuries. The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy did bring long-lasting peace to the wizarding world, but it also dulled the fangs of ordinary wizards. Even the development of magic slowed dramatically—some areas even stagnated entirely."
"So my original plan…" Grindelwald's gaze suddenly sharpened.
...
"I never intended for the wizarding world to engage in a full-scale war with the muggle world, because I knew it would be suicide," Grindelwald said coldly. "But the muggle world, like the wizarding world, is not monolithic. There are enormous conflicts between different races and cultures. If a war could be ignited within the muggle world itself—a war capable of shaking the entire globe…"
"…let the muggles' steel flood drown their own world; let their shells and bullets slaughter their own kind; plunge them into chaos and terror, and reduce their civilization to barren wastelands…" Grindelwald's eyes suddenly grew frighteningly cold.
"If my plan succeeded, muggle civilization would regress by several centuries. After that, all it would take is provoking such a war once every few hundred years to achieve the same effect. In this way, the muggle world and the wizarding world would be locked into a permanent balance… and all I'd need to do would be something very simple—supporting a puppet ruler in the muggle world."
"But you failed," Jon interjected, lips curling slightly.
"Yes. I made a fatal mistake," Grindelwald's voice suddenly became heavy with dejection. "At Godric's Hollow, I had already gained his trust. I had already made him completely devoted to me. But a moment of impulsiveness led me to accidentally kill his sister… From that moment on, he turned against me, opposing me at every step, until I was utterly defeated."
Grindelwald's voice no longer carried its earlier coldness. Instead, it was tinged with regret.
"No, you're wrong. This wasn't just an Albus Dumbledore problem," Jon said quickly. "If Dumbledore hadn't defeated you in time, the outcome might have been even worse…"
As he spoke, Jon took the silver regular octahedron from his pocket.
At the same time, he extracted a small fragment of memory and placed it inside.
Silver light spilled across the dark stone wall, revealing the image of a mushroom cloud blooming.
"I…" A trace of recollection appeared in Grindelwald's eyes as he gently shook his head. "I've seen this before… I always hoped it could be avoided…"
"No," Jon explained. "Your actions were precisely what led to its appearance. Just two months after you were imprisoned here, the American Muggles across the ocean developed this weapon and used it to destroy two cities. The pressure you placed on them pushed their research forward at a terrifying pace over just a few years."
"So…" Grindelwald murmured.
"If Dumbledore hadn't stopped you in time, if the war had remained in a stalemate back then, that fury would likely have fallen upon all of Europe," Jon said with a faint smile.
"It seems… I truly was wrong," Grindelwald sighed, lowering his head.
...
"And now?" After a long while, the old wizard finally raised his head again, his face noticeably weaker.
"The development of the muggle world is inevitable," Jon said calmly. "They're still advancing at an extremely frightening pace, and the energy they wield has already surpassed anything the wizarding world could have imagined. But this doesn't actually have that great an impact on us."
"How so?" Grindelwald frowned.
"Muggles can't integrate into the wizarding world, because they lack the talent to become wizards," Jon replied. "But for wizards, integrating into the muggle world isn't difficult at all."