Would You Be Willing to Sacrifice?

Grindelwald, as always, kept his hands behind his back. He habitually crossed his hands when he did this, and then gently rubbed the knuckles of his left hand with his right thumb. This was probably a habitual action he took when he was thinking.

He rubbed his knuckles, his tone relaxed. "In my opinion, if we can achieve the final goal, it is perfectly acceptable to sacrifice some people."

Sean touched the tip of his nose somewhat awkwardly. He was never keen on this kind of topic— Grindelwald's words about sacrifice were absolutely true, and the sacrifice included himself.

If a spell were to suddenly appear, granting the caster's wish at the cost of their own life, Grindelwald would do everything in his power to study its principles and then attempt to modify it using his Seer abilities—if the spell could not be modified, he would stand before everyone, laughing, and unleash it.

Grindelwald was such a person.

Grindelwald ignored Sean's silence and continued, "But since we chose a different path and a different method back then, I will continue to do so. Sean, you're lucky; at least you won't die now."

Sean sighed with a wry smile, "Then I should thank you for sparing my life, huh?"

"Of course not. One of my strengths is that I'm very concerned about my image most of the time," Grindelwald said with a smile.

In other words, if necessary, you can be completely shameless, right...? Sean thought to himself.

The old man to the side turned his head, a happy smile on his face, "Sean, do you remember what we talked about the Prophecy when we first met?"

Sean nodded, then asked with a hint of doubt, "You said you hadn't decided whether to believe the Prophecy, but since then, sir—you've been working to resist the Prophecy of world destruction."

"Keep calling me teacher, or I'll cast a curse on you," Grindelwald first corrected Sean's form of address, then stroked his chin and said with a hint of smugness, "Sometimes I cheer myself on— Albus? The more people know about this Prophecy, the more people believe in it, the more likely it is to come true."

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore told me that, but I've never quite understood what it meant..."

Grindelwald said slowly, "To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, this Prophecy is a delayed spell from the world. This spell only has the incantation, without any magical infusion—the person within the spell is the magical infusion, and the more powerful the person within the spell, the more magical infusion they receive. When the magical infusion reaches a critical value, the delayed effect disappears, and it will trigger immediately."

Sean nodded as if he understood, then asked, "But, whether it's you or Professor Dumbledore... I may be being a bit blunt, but... you're both trying to lead me in a certain direction, which is different from what you just said."

"No, no, my child. You can think of Prophecy as a balloon. The more people who know about it, the more likely it is to burst. You are a needle inside that balloon. Perhaps the needle tip is already at the edge of the balloon, one more step and it will burst. Albus and I are trying to change the trajectory of you, the needle. Of course, our methods are different. Albus to make your needle tip smooth and soft, so that even if it pricks the balloon, it won't burst. As for me—well, to be precise, I want you to remain sharp. You can choose to burst the balloon and then control the force of the explosion yourself. The analogy isn't quite accurate, but your clever little brain should understand."

Sean rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully, and finally nodded slowly. "I understand. So, can we use this analogy as follows: the Sin within me is another thorn trying to pierce my body. The shape of the thorn is controlled by me until it breaks through. Once it breaks through, its shape cannot be changed, and the balloon will definitely burst violently?"

Grindelwald showed an appreciative expression. "A clever, simple yet accurate description."

"Oh... I see. But, you didn't answer my initial question?"

Grindelwald laughed heartily, "How could I not believe in Prophecy? If I didn't believe in Prophecy, would I be this damn headmaster?"

"So that's what you said to me at the beginning?" Sean asked, puzzled.

"Because of magic," Grindelwald tapped his forehead lightly with a finger, "I altered my memories, planting the seed of 'questioning the Prophecy ' deep within my subconscious, and then weaving my true thoughts into external memories and stuffing them into my brain—the clever use of the Memory Charm and the Memory Charm. Albus immense magical power; even though we are as old as can be, the size of our Magic Power Source will only slowly increase. These two enormous 'airs' will destabilize the balloon. However, the Prophecy tests believers based on the subconscious; you can understand it as me using a little trick to lie about the Prophecy."

Grindelwald spoke casually, but Sean's heart was in turmoil.

He obtained a notebook in the Chamber of Secrets of the Slytherin Common Room; the notebook's owner was a wizard skilled at manipulating memories.

Sean had naturally studied the Memory Charm and some memory-related magic, and to be honest, he could cast it now, though not at Lockhart's level of expertise—which is why he understood how terrifying Grindelwald's "little trick" was.

He's deceiving the Prophecy representing the World Will in a magical Magical World... Merlin's Iron Underpants...

Sean looked up and muttered to himself... If Grindelwald is involved, then Professor Dumbledore will definitely do the same to limit Prophecy. The two old men's strength might be even more terrifying than he imagined.

My goal of hanging "Riddler, get out!" signs all over the two castles is still a long way off...

Grindelwald looked completely unconcerned, stretching lazily and letting out a yawn: "Ah—"

"This annoying old body... By the way, Sean, before we end our conversation tonight, let me ask you a question."

"Of course, teacher."

Grindelwald moved a little closer, Sean noticed that his signature heterochromatic eyes had somehow returned to normal.

Only then did Sean notice that Grindelwald, like Dumbledore, had a pair of deep, lake-blue eyes.

"Sean, are you willing to sacrifice yourself?"

This seemingly random statement confused Sean. He wasn't worried that the other party would sacrifice him now; Grindelwald had already done so much, and he wasn't the kind of person to change his mind on a whim.

Sean hesitated for a moment before slowly replying, "I don't quite understand what you mean. If you mean I should sacrifice myself, then I probably wouldn't be willing, because I don't have such lofty dreams. Sometimes I have double standards, sometimes I'm arrogant, sometimes I'm reckless, and sometimes I'm selfish enough to make people frown. I'm not a saint, I'm full of flaws—and the key is that I haven't lived enough."

Grindelwald smiled slightly, "Didn't Albus always teach you about love and justice? I see that you do very well. Your classmates all like you. They think you are excellent, kind, and wise, just like Albus's classmates did when he was young."

"This has nothing to do with whether or not I have to sacrifice myself," Sean innocently, spreading his hands. "People are selfish."

Grindelwald's smile deepened, "Albus often says that with great power comes great responsibility. The world is fair; if you are given more, you should bear more."

Sean made an indifferent expression and said slowly, "There has never been fairness in the world, not even Professor Dumbledore could achieve it, whether it is fairness or justice—but he can take on more responsibility, which is something I admire about him very much."

Grindelwald laughed heartily after hearing this, "Good, good, even if you've heard it many times, I still can't help but emphasize it again—it's such a pity that you went to Hogwarts."

"It's alright. When you're speaking to others, you can say you're my teacher, and I can give you exclusive authorization," Sean kindly reassured him.

Grindelwald laughed heartily for a while, then asked, "What if the sacrifice doesn't mean that?"

"You're not asking me to sacrifice myself?" Sean pondered for a moment, stroking his chin. "So you're asking me if I'm willing to sacrifice others? Then I have even less right to answer. Maybe I have the ability and the right to make decisions for good or bad people, but isn't the only one truly qualified to answer?"

Grindelwald turned his head away, and where Sean couldn't see, his heterochromatic eyes reverted to their original color.

"Yes, only the person concerned can make the decision."

Back in his dorm, Sean was still pondering Grindelwald's words. After their final conversation, he had brought him back and then disappeared into the castle.

Sean held Dave the Swooping Evil in his hand; the other had just had a big meal and wanted to do some exercise to digest.

Sean tossed Dave out like a yo-yo and brought him back in, his hand rhythmically moving back and forth in sync with Dave's thought of "Wuhu".

"The teacher's acting a bit strange today..." Sean wasn't paying attention and used too much force, and Dave's thought turned into "Whoosh!"

"Sorry, Dave." Sean returned to his original rhythm, pondering the meaning behind Grindelwald's words earlier that day.

Did something unexpected happen to the things related to the Prophecy? Or has something recently affected him? Of course, the possibility that the old couple had an argument cannot be ruled out...

Hmm—could it be something I was thinking about before?

Sean recalled his earlier suspicions: the actions of the Wizarding United Guard since its inception demonstrated a commitment to holding wizards accountable for past violations of discipline.

Considering the Aiken Family's hatred and fear of Grindelwald, and how Little Aiken dared to openly choose Sean, who had Grindelwald's backing...

Sean considered that the Wizarding United Guard might want to hold Grindelwald accountable.

After all, before Grindelwald became the headmaster of Newmontgard, he and his followers had already carried out several earth-shattering attacks in Europe.

Hugo said that his grandfather had witnessed the fires in Paris, which proves that Grindelwald's remarks about the Statute of Secrecy had already been leaked.

Sean didn't know how Grindelwald reached a reconciliation with the various Ministry of Magic back then. Dumbledore was most likely involved, but he knew nothing about the details from decades ago and couldn't get any more information.

If the Wizarding United Guard's ultimate target really is Grindelwald...

Sean imagined the scene for a moment, then immediately dismissed the audacious idea.

Please, that's Gellert Grindelwald!

Even if the Wizarding United Guard really dares to take action, Grindelwald is not a reasonable person who will reason with you.

Sean suspected that Grindelwald might very well fly all the way to the Guard Corps's headquarters on fire and burn everyone there to the ground...

After letting his mind wander, Sean finally dismissed his unrealistic speculations and then fell into a deep sleep, clutching the Swooping Evil Dave.

Three days later.

Hermione held up the newspaper and showed it to Sean: "Look, the verdict has been announced."

Sean took the newspaper; in the very center of the page was a middle-aged man in prison clothes with a sinister expression.

"The Wizarding United Guard – Justice will not be absent!"

"At yesterday's International Wizarding Joint Trial Assembly, Franz François, a wizard from Italy, was sentenced to life imprisonment. His crime was the torture and death of six Muggle tourists in the Italy town of Manarola over a period of fifteen years. He also used Imperius Curse to control the local Muggle police chief and stage the incident as an accidental drowning. The facts of the case are clear, and after a trial by the Confederation, the evidence is conclusive, leading to the sentence of life imprisonment for Franz François."

Sean frowned and thought back. He had been in contact with Bella every day recently, and she also remembered this Franz François, who had been transferred out of the cell below yesterday.

Just as I guessed, the next level of the prison holds the real criminals, or more precisely, the wizards who haven't cooperated with the Wizarding United Guard...

"Pretty!"

"That's right, this kind of scum should be punished!"

"The Wizarding United Guard is truly admirable!"

Around them, the students who had also received the newspapers began to discuss it excitedly. Naturally, there were many Half-blood Wizard in the school, and in the past, it was rare for Pure-blood Wizard like Franz François to suffer a severe trial.

In their eyes now, the Wizarding United Guard is naturally a righteous official organization fighting for social justice.

One student said worriedly, "I wonder if this is just for show."

"Stop joking around, look at the newspapers, how many people have been arrested recently?" someone retorted.

"Indeed, the actions of the Wizarding United Guard have proven their ambition."

"Hmph, some wizards have been able to get away with their crimes by relying on their power and strength. They deserve it."

Excitement and roars gradually grew louder.