Under Molly's repeated warnings and relentless scolding, Arthur ultimately could only promise with a defeated expression that he would not teach Lucien any more "dangerous nonsense."
Lucien tried several times to explain that he had been the one asking questions in the first place, but Molly refused to listen.
In her eyes, Lucien was obviously just trying to protect Arthur.
In the end, Lucien could only smile helplessly.
After lunch at the Burrow, he used the Floo Network to travel directly to Diagon Alley.
The moment he stepped out of the fireplace inside the Leaky Cauldron—
"Mr Grindelwald!"
"It's Mr Grindelwald!"
The entire pub instantly erupted into chaos.
Before Lucien could even react, he found himself completely surrounded.
The scene reminded him strongly of Harry Potter's first visit to the Leaky Cauldron in his first year.
Except this was even worse.
Far worse.
The surrounding witches and wizards stared at him with burning excitement, enthusiastically shaking his hand one after another.
"Mr Grindelwald, we saw the Daily Prophet this morning! Thank you for standing up for ordinary wizards!"
"There aren't many pure-bloods left with a conscience like yours these days!"
"That's right! We'll remember your kindness!"
"Mr Grindelwald, we support you!"
"Thank you… thank you, everyone…"
For the first time in his life, Lucien discovered that being too popular could actually become torture.
What should have taken less than a minute stretched into over half an hour.
And throughout the entire ordeal, he had to maintain a polite smile without showing even the slightest impatience.
Some people were not satisfied with shaking his hand once and insisted on doing it again.
Lucien even recognised the same man appearing in front of him four separate times.
Had he not politely pointed it out, the wizard probably would have queued for a fifth attempt.
Eventually, Lucien finally reached the entrance leading into Diagon Alley.
Looking at the familiar brick wall, he suddenly remembered Hagrid's actions years ago.
"Three up… two across…"
As his wand tapped the correct bricks, the wall slowly split apart.
The most bustling magical shopping street in Britain unfolded before him.
"To be honest," Lucien murmured softly, "this is actually my first time entering Diagon Alley this way."
"In the past, we always Apparated directly."
The moment he stepped into the alley, another wave of excited witches and wizards immediately surrounded him again.
By now, Lucien had practically become the ideal pure-blood figure in the eyes of ordinary British magical society.
Powerful.
Elegant.
Polite.
Most importantly, willing to stand on the side of ordinary people.
Countless parents throughout Britain were already using him as an example while lecturing their children.
Poor Lucien had not even graduated Hogwarts yet, and he had already become the public enemy of countless young wizards.
After finally escaping the enthusiastic crowds, Lucien returned briefly to the Saints' shop, where he prepared individual gifts for each Hogwarts professor from the storehouse inventory.
After saying goodbye to Vita, he travelled alone to Hogsmeade before quietly sneaking back into Hogwarts through one of the hidden passages he had previously explored.
Since it was Christmas holiday, most students had already returned home.
The few remaining students were either wandering the castle or hiding in the library, so Lucien's return passed completely unnoticed.
After tidying his dormitory slightly, he used a Shrinking Charm to compress the gifts and slip them neatly into his pocket.
The Hogwarts professors generally possessed exceptionally noble character.
Well…
Most of them did, anyway.
They would never accept gifts purely out of gratitude.
But Christmas provided the perfect excuse.
Lucien's first stop was Professor Flitwick's office.
The tiny Charms professor's humorous personality and relaxed teaching style had always made him incredibly popular among students.
As for strength—
Nobody questioned that.
Flitwick had once been a champion duellist in his youth. The fact that Snape had managed to knock him unconscious during the Battle of Hogwarts was purely due to a surprise attack.
Professor Flitwick looked genuinely delighted upon seeing Lucien.
His eyes especially lit up after noticing the bottle of expensive wine in Lucien's hands.
As a regular customer at the Three Broomsticks, Flitwick's love of alcohol rivalled Hagrid's.
Fortunately, his self-control was considerably better.
"Merry Christmas, Professor Flitwick," Lucien said with a smile.
"I hope my gift isn't arriving too late."
"Hahaha! It's quite rare for a student to still remember Christmas gifts after causing such an enormous disturbance!"
Flitwick laughed heartily before rummaging through one of his desk drawers.
"These are some notes from my younger days," he explained while handing over a thick notebook.
"They contain quite a bit of practical duelling experience I personally summarised over the years."
"They should prove useful to you."
"Thank you, Professor."
Lucien accepted them without hesitation, which only made Flitwick laugh even harder.
After chatting briefly, Lucien visited Professor Sprout and Professor McGonagall as well.
For Professor Sprout, he prepared an extremely rare fertiliser mixture containing genuine dragon dung.
Even dragon reserves rarely bothered collecting the substance due to the sheer danger involved.
Anyone capable of obtaining such materials usually possessed far more profitable ways to make money.
As for Professor McGonagall…
Lucien had agonised over her gift selection for an absurdly long time.
Did elderly cat Animagi prefer Quidditch memorabilia?
Or actual cats?
It was an incredibly difficult question.
In the end, after researching McGonagall's past carefully, Lucien ultimately chose a large collection of precious flower seeds instead.
Looking at the unusually complicated expression on McGonagall's face after receiving them, Lucien wisely chose not to comment and simply excused himself politely.
"The hardest one remains…"
Lucien sighed quietly while standing outside the dungeon office door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Gathering his courage, he knocked firmly.
"Enter."
Snape's cold voice sounded from inside.
The moment Snape saw Lucien, surprise briefly flickered across his face before quickly transforming into familiar mockery.
"It would appear Mr Grindelwald possesses considerable experience sneaking around Hogwarts at night."
"To return to the castle before term begins without alerting anyone… impressive."
Lucien's smile instantly stiffened.
For several seconds, he genuinely did not know how to respond.
"If you came here merely to stand motionless like a decorative statue," Snape drawled impatiently, "then I suggest the Forbidden Forest. There are already plenty of creatures there that resemble you."
"Professor," Lucien said helplessly, "I came to deliver a Christmas gift."
"Merry Christmas."
He placed the prepared items carefully onto Snape's desk.
"No need."
Snape rejected them without even glancing over.
"If you truly have nothing better to do, then process those potion ingredients over there instead. A shipment of slugs just arrived."
But the moment his eyes casually landed upon the desk—
Snape froze completely.
His gaze locked onto a single photograph.
And could no longer move away.
With slightly trembling fingers, he slowly picked it up.
The image showed a little girl with deep red hair smiling brightly in front of a small Muggle photo studio.
Unlike wizarding photographs, it did not move.
It was simply an ordinary Muggle picture.
Yet the tenderness in Snape's eyes at that moment was something Lucien had never seen before.
His fingers repeatedly brushed across the photograph.
He wanted to hold it tightly.
Yet seemed terrified of damaging it.
A long silence filled the office before Snape finally spoke again, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Where did you get this?"
"In the Muggle world," Lucien answered quietly. "A photography shop owner kept it as a display sample after taking the picture years ago."
Snape lowered his eyes again.
"Is there another copy?"
"No," Lucien replied softly. "This is the last one."
The atmosphere inside the office became strangely heavy.
Sensing the shift in Snape's emotions, Lucien wisely chose not to say anything else.
He silently turned and prepared to leave.
But just as he reached the doorway, Snape's cold voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"Don't repeat what happened at the Ministry last night."
Lucien paused.
"Nobody wants to see another Grindelwald rise again."
....
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