After leaving Chairman Picquarty's office, Dumbledore sighed again, her expression filled with worry.
Tom glanced at Livid, for he seemed to have predicted it correctly once more.
Undoubtedly, Chairman Picquarty was trying to recruit Dumbledore…
Clearly, she was one of those powerful figures who wanted to orchestrate a conspiracy to solidify Grindelwald's crimes.
However, as Livid had predicted, Dumbledore didn't join.
Moreover, not only did she not join, she warned them against it…
Initially, Tom had thought the success rate of their conspiracy was quite high.
But when Chairman Picquarty said they had a meticulous plan and would not make any mistakes, Tom knew she might not succeed.
This could be considered his intuition, or perhaps… a subconscious understanding.
He himself had once had a plan he believed to be perfect, only to be utterly defeated by Livid…
When someone is overly confident in their own perfect plan, that's the beginning of their downfall.
This was Tom's lesson learned.
In this world, there is never a perfect plan!
As long as the plan is executed by humans, mistakes are possible! A plan can never be perfect!
Soon, they arrived at the lodgings arranged for them by the Magical Congress.
After closing the door, Li Wade said to Dumbledore, "Her distrust of you is a mistake."
"Hmm," Tom nodded, "She should have focused her main efforts on Grindelwald and his associates, not on guarding against you.
I just saw several Aurors watching us..."
Hearing this, Dumbledore's worry deepened.
To prevent Grindelwald from infiltrating her existing forces, President Picqueri had indeed recently recruited many new people...
Her methods were peculiar and effective; many didn't even know they were being recruited as Aurors an hour before joining the Magical Congress.
While this eliminated the possibility of Grindelwald infiltrating the team, it inevitably meant that the team's abilities would be uneven...
Their surveillance couldn't even fool eleven-year-old Tom, so how could it possibly fool Grindelwald and his associates?
If these are the people carrying out the plan…
Dumbledore thought it was no different than handing Grindelwald a knife!
Grindelwald needed a sharp knife to cut the ropes binding him!
After a moment of restless contemplation, Dumbledore suddenly strode towards the door.
He couldn't stand by and watch Chairman Picquart walk into the abyss.
"Professor… I know you want to help Chairman Picquart, but she might not trust you now," Livid suddenly said.
"I know… but we can't just do nothing. They're planning to use some less-than-honorable methods to convict Grindelwald," Dumbledore frowned.
"I see, no wonder they're so wary of us.
She's worried about your relationship with Grindelwald…" Livid nodded, "But precisely because of this… rather than worrying that Grindelwald will discover her plan, she's probably more worried that you'll reveal her so-called plan to Grindelwald."
"How could I do that?"
Dumbledore said helplessly.
"In her opinion, you shouldn't have refused her offer…if that's what she was suggesting," Li Wade said.
"Since you refused, everything you do will arouse her suspicion. She even warned you when we were about to leave."
Dumbledore sighed again. He hadn't considered what Li Wade was saying.
Even two junior wizards, outsiders, could sense Chairman Picqueri's distrust; how could he not?
But…how could he just watch his ally fall into the abyss?
"We're not worried about anything else. I'm only worried about one thing…if their plan fails, will they blame you?"
Li Wade said.
Regardless of how close Chairman Picqueri and Dumbledore had been, she was still a politician…and what politician is good?
At crucial moments, stabbing an ally in the back is perfectly normal.
Dumbledore slumped back into his chair, not worried about being blamed, but rather… because after hearing Livid's words, he realized that whatever he did now, even if he went back to President Picquart and offered to join her plan, would be seen as an ulterior motive and would only backfire.
Unlike when he helped the Magical Congress investigate the U.S. Magical Party, now no one in the Magical Congress would cooperate with him.
In other words, he seemed powerless.
At this moment, Tom finally understood why Livid had said that Grindelwald actually hoped those important figures would use intrigue and trickery.
And now… President Picquart had just started her plan, and Dumbledore had lost trust and been completely shut down because he hadn't joined.
If Grindelwald knew about this self-destructive move, he would surely laugh himself to death…
Just as Tom was thinking this, Dumbledore stood up again and walked towards the door.
"Remember, absolutely do not go outside!
I will place some magic at the door…" Dumbledore said, and went straight out the door.
Tom stared in disbelief as the door closed again.
"He...he just went out like that?
Wasn't he supposed to be incapable of doing anything?"
Livid settled comfortably on the sofa.
"How could Dumbledore do nothing just because he was worried about being blamed?
Even if he seemed incapable of doing anything, he wouldn't give up...that's the real Dumbledore."
"But nobody in the Magical Congress of America believes him anymore?"
"Then why doesn't he just change his identity?"
Li Weide laughed.
"Dumbledore may be rule-abiding, but he's not as rigid as you think.
Is it better to break some rules or just stand by and watch Grindelwald clear his name?
Weighing the pros and cons, isn't clearing Grindelwald's name more impactful?"
"But… a lot of people will be watching his every move."
"Tom, do you know how terrifying a Dumbledore who decides not to follow the rules so much is?
Think of Grindelwald!"
"Hiss…" Tom gasped.
"True… those scoundrels outside have a hard time even keeping an eye on me… how could they possibly keep an eye on a master of Transfiguration like Dumbledore?"
In the dark, sunless dungeon.
Grindelwald was firmly strapped to the restraint chair.
He stared silently at the gas lamp above his head.
Although the light from the gas lamp was dim, it was the only source of light in this dark place.
By this time, he had already endured many rounds of torture.
However, neither the Cruciatus Curse nor the Veritable Essence could extract anything of value from him.
He had anticipated this situation before formally deciding to face trial, leaving many unfavorable memories in Nurmengard.
Yes, he extracted them directly, stored them in the Pensieve, and then modified some of his key memories…
Since all the bad memories were missing, how could the Veritable Essence extract anything of value?
Later, the people from the Magical Congress of America even used the Cruciatus Curse…
However, Grindelwald felt quite pleased. The more unscrupulous the people from the Magical Congress of America were, the more anxious they seemed!
The more anxious they were, the more successful his plan seemed.
Suddenly, a figure appeared at the prison door, interrupting Grindelwald's thoughts.
It was an unfamiliar face; that is, a wizard Grindelwald had never seen before.
But Grindelwald suddenly laughed. "Dumbledore, so you've got your day, impersonating someone else and sneaking around."
Dumbledore reverted to his original form...
For a master of Transfiguration like him, transforming into someone else's appearance required no Polyjuice Potion.
He coldly stared at Grindelwald before him, saying nothing.
"Since you've appeared here in disguise, it proves that Chairman Picqueri no longer trusts you," Grindelwald said cheerfully.
"How do you know she no longer trusts me?"
The old you could come before me anytime, anywhere.
When did you ever need to transform into someone else?"
Grindelwald chuckled.
"Let me guess... um... is it because she's plotting something against me, and you didn't agree?"
Dumbledore sighed.
"You really do know everything..."
Grindelwald's smile faded.
"This time, you can't stop me."
"I will stop you. As long as Picqueri's plan doesn't go through..." Dumbledore said.
"Is that so?
Whatever… Anyway, her so-called plan won't affect me at all," Grindelwald said.
"Even without a knife, I can untie the knot myself… You should know that the key to stopping me isn't in her so-called conspiracy."
Dumbledore was silent for a moment before saying, "Of course I know…"
"Yes, I know you know, so you're stopping her plan just to save her, right?
You know very well that once her plan is exposed, her position as President of Parliament will be over."
Dumbledore said calmly, "Now, there are fewer and fewer people like her in the Magical Parliament… So, she can't fall."
"You are indeed very perceptive, Dumbledore…" Grindelwald smiled.
Dumbledore knew he might not be able to stop Grindelwald from exonerating himself, so now he only wanted to stop Picqueri's foolish plan, at least remove her from it, and save her...
Otherwise, he would lose another ally, a capable assistant who could stand against Grindelwald...
"Dumbledore, if you really want to save her, maybe I can help you?"
"What good would that do you?"
"I can't be without enemies, and you, Dumbledore... someone who doesn't want to get involved in power can't be my ideal enemy."
Grindelwald smiled.
Dumbledore fell silent again.
"Hehehe..." Grindelwald laughed smugly, "What a foolish decision, Dumbledore!
Afraid of losing control, so afraid to get involved in power?
Hahahahaha..."
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