"Acting"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Sean swallowed the "Veritaserum" with a mixture of humiliation and stubbornness.

He shook his head, his breathing became heavy, his eyes were slightly unfocused, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead—this was a perfect description of the state after taking Veritaserum.

Pont almost eagerly stepped forward to ask a question, but Professor McGonagall blocked his way with raised eyebrows.

"Mr. Pont, let me ask." Her words carried a warning tone.

Pont glanced at her and forced a smile.

Professor McGonagall turned to Sean gently and asked, "Child, who are you?"

"Sean Wallerup," Sean replied quickly, without any hesitation.

Professor McGonagall straightened up. "Alright, as this lady just said, if the corruption of the soul is not removed, then Tom Riddle's memories will also answer. Now we can prove Sean's innocence, right?"

Everyone: "..."

Even Sean, who was pretending to be confused, couldn't help but wipe away his sweat.

Professor McGonagall, you're way too blunt—just asking my name and that's it...

The healer from the Guard Corps stepped forward and nodded. "It's pretty much the same. Just ask two more questions."

She turned to Sean: "Are you Tom Riddle?"

"No."

Do you know how you became possessed by Tom Riddle's soul?

"I don't know," Sean replied in a flat, emotionless tone. "I don't know what happened."

Professor McGonagall stepped between the two, looking sternly at the witch. "Now you can prove my student's innocence, can't you?"

Pont nodded to the group, but secretly made a hand gesture behind his back.

Snape tilted his head back and glanced at Sean, then quickly said, "Lucky kid, not only was the parasite completely removed, but his soul itself was also unharmed."

Pont frowned and asked, "Professor Snape, how did you determine that? I've heard that some Dark Wizard can find ways to escape the effects of Veritaserum— "

His next words caught in his throat as Snape stared at him with a dark and cold gaze.

"Are you doubting my Potions skills?" Snape looked down at him.

"That's not what I meant..."

Snape flicked the sleeve of his robe in annoyance. "Wallerup is a Hogwarts student. In England, it is against the rules to use Veritaserum on underage wizards—your people told me you have special permission from the International Confederation of Wizards, but I still have to remind you to go and explain to Dumbledore."

After saying that, he stormed out of the room.

And then there's Dumbledore... Pont forced a smile at Professor McGonagall, and finally nodded helplessly.

Just as Professor McGonagall was helping Sean out of the office, the Guard Corps who had been standing silently by the door suddenly asked, "Do you and Grindelwald have any way to contact each other privately?"

"No." Sean answered without hesitation, but after saying it, he revealed his anger and gave the other person a cold stare.

"Mr. Pont!" Professor McGonagall's voice was already tinged with anger.

Disappointment flashed in Pont's eyes. He strode over and berated the team member, then smiled apologetically as he saw off the angry Professor McGonagall and the gloomy Sean.

He greeted Professor Rosier, who had a slight sneer, and then led most of his team toward the castle gates.

On the way, the teammate he had just yelled at whispered to him, "Wallerup didn't hesitate at all, and his voice was emotionless. He's definitely still under the influence of the Veritaserum. Boss, it seems like he really is just an innocent victim."

Pont sighed, "That kid definitely has a connection with Grindelwald, but it might not be the kind of connection we imagine. Maybe it's true, as he told me before, that Grindelwald was eager to nurture talent and that's why he privately mentored him. After that night, he probably couldn't contact Grindelwald anymore."

Once outside the castle, he instructed, "Take some Potions and Galleon to that boy. We can't let Dumbledore's relationship with us deteriorate further. Also, send Mr. Snape a Cauldron's worth of Veritaserum ingredients. Send gifts to Professor McGonagall and Professor Rosier as well; they saved many of our men tonight."

"Yes, boss." The subordinate replied, then asked, "Are you coming to the hospital with us later?"

Pont sighed, "I have to go back and report. I hope they'll drop their suspicions about that kid. Merlin's beard, I never want to get involved in this mess again!"

After saying that, he disappeared from the spot with a loud bang.

Inside the castle, Professor McGonagall helped Sean to her Common Room. She gently instructed him, "The effects of Veritaserum usually last for ten minutes. Just to be on the safe side, stay here a little longer. After all, nobody wants their secrets to be revealed, right?"

Sean almost blurted out his thanks, but he quickly changed the subject. "Yes."

Professor McGonagall patted him on the shoulder and went to the door to stand guard for him, leaving Sean alone in the room.

He sighed, his mind racing, but his face remained expressionless. There were still a few minutes before the effects of the drug wore off, so he had to keep up the act.

However, after tonight's events are over, at least he has been cleared of all charges and no longer has to be a fugitive like Grindelwald.

Currently, the Wizarding World is still led by the national Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards. Unless you can truly single-handedly conquer the world, you still need the approval of official institutions to live a normal life in the Wizarding World.

Sean wants to further develop his power and strengthen his strength, and also to prepare for the future outbreak of the Prophecy. Going underground now is indeed not a good choice.

Thankfully, tonight was a close call. I got my revenge and cleared my name, so it wasn't a complete loss.

As he thought about it, he suddenly felt his eyelids getting heavy, and an irresistible drowsiness gradually crept in.

In a daze, Professor McGonagall walked in again, Sean heard her words, sometimes soft and sometimes loud.

"The effects of the medication have worn off, Mr. Wallop. You can rest here with me tonight."

"Okay... thank you, Professor..."

Upon hearing this, Sean, unable to resist his sleepiness any longer, fell into a deep sleep.

Germany, Berlin, headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards.

Inside the dark black-walled conference room, the seats, which rose gradually around the perimeter, were packed with people. A heated meeting was taking place at the Confederation headquarters.

"... Grindelwald has been well-behaved for decades! It took the combined efforts of the Confederation and Dumbledore to subdue this lawless man. Hasn't he done enough all these years?!" A white wizard in his fifties spat as he spoke.

Across from him, someone adjusted their glasses and said in a strange tone, "But Grindelwald's crimes are unforgivable."

"A fig leaf! Do you really think you're upholding justice? Look back at your respective countries' Ministry of Magic, which one hasn't accepted bribes from Pure-blood families to exonerate their members?!" The wizard roared furiously, his voice drowning out everyone else.

Many people's expressions turned ugly, and the chairman, sitting at the head of the table, pointed sternly at the irritable wizard.

"Watch your words, Mr. Chapman."

Chapman snorted angrily, but did not continue on the topic. Although he had a bad temper, he was not stupid. He could take offending a group of people as being outspoken, but if he continued, he would really incur the wrath of the crowd.

After a brief moment of awkward silence, the group resumed their debate about how to deal with Grindelwald.

No matter how much they argued, one group couldn't convince the other. The neutral wizards, besides trying to break up the fight, never said a word until finally, the chairman, who hadn't said much throughout the meeting, made the final decision.

"The arrest warrants continue to be issued, but Grindelwald's former subordinates should not be made to make things difficult anymore. We need to discuss the specific handling plan more. Also, the Wizarding United Guard needs a new leader."

Meeting adjourned.

At the Floo Powder window, someone caught up with an angry Chapman.

"Mr. Chapman, what should we do? The chairman hasn't given any opinion."

Chapman's large red nose twitched twice, and he said angrily, "What can we do? What's the point of issuing the arrest warrant? Are we even going to discuss how to deal with Grindelwald?"

"Pah!" he spat on the ground. "We haven't even caught them, what's the point of discussing this? What kind of bullshit justice is this? Do you think I don't know? There are definitely people behind the Guard Corps. They've already ruined decades of peace!"

The man sighed, "I don't know what the Chairman is thinking."

Chapman glanced around casually, and finding no one nearby, he lowered his voice slightly but still said angrily, "What else could you be thinking? The Chairman has been in this position for decades, don't you know how he got there?"

The man gave an awkward smile, "We know, but the public doesn't."

Chapman scoffed. "Every long-time employee at headquarters who's worked there for decades knows that his grandfather was the former chairman!"

"Mr. Chapman, it's best to avoid saying such things..."

"So what if I said it?" Chapman's beard twitched. "He was able to win the election because of the old chairman's help. It's just that the other candidates back then were too bad."

"But the Wizarding World has been relatively peaceful during the chairman's many years in office..."

Chapman grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, still grumbling, "Peace was brought by Grindelwald and Dumbledore! He's just like his grandfather, doing absolutely nothing!"

"Sir, sir, please keep your voice down..."

"What are you saying?!" Chapman sprinkled Floo Powder into the fireplace, the green light dancing on his face. "The new chairmanship hasn't been long, isn't he just trying to leave a good reputation during his term? So he does nothing, just drags things out, anyway, as long as he drags it out until the end of his term, that's something the next chairman will have to worry about!"

"But the leadership transition hasn't happened yet..."

"Snort!"

"Ugh—" Sean opened his eyes, sat up straight with his eyelids drooping, and then stretched out a big yawn.

I slept well, but I was terribly hungry.

He glanced at his watch and was surprised to find that he had slept for over twenty hours; it was already the morning of the third day.

Just as I was about to get up, the wooden door was gently pushed open.

Daisy and Hermione walked in carrying two plates.

"Sean, you're awake?" Daisy's eyes lit up, and she skipped over.

"Good morning," he greeted with a smile.

Hermione brought over the plate and said, "Professor Snape did something to you. You'll be unconscious for more than 24 hours. Daisy went to ask him later and said it would be good for you."

Daisy sat on the edge of the bed, her slender legs swinging back and forth. "The professor said you were possessed by a soul. A good night's sleep is good for your health. I calculated the time, and you should be awake by now, so Hermione and I went to get you breakfast. You must be starving."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Sean's stomach rumbled.

He chuckled and picked up the sandwich from the plate to eat.

After swallowing a large chunk Sean looked at the two girls who were watching him eat and said with a smile, "Did you two go to see Professor Snape?"

Daisy nodded quickly. "Hermione came up with a solution right away. She even distracted the guards so that I could get through safely."

"Thank you, Hermione." Sean patted Hermione's hand.

The girl gave a proud snort, "That guard even tried to use the Prior Incantato to investigate whether my wand was really malfunctioning. I had already cast Confundus Charm on my wand. He didn't even have an excuse to lock me up. In the end, he let me go."

"Yes, yes, Hermione is so smart," Daisy chuckled.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at her. "You're not bad either, you easily persuaded Professor Snape, and he even gave you a lot of Potions afterwards."

"Hehe, I'll give the professor a return gift at Christmas."

The two girls smiled at each other and then gave each other a high five.

Sean found it amusing, but a warm feeling rose in his heart; it felt so good to have someone genuinely care about him.

After finishing breakfast, they told the two about what happened that night, and only after confirming that Sean was alright did they leave.

He first went to Professor McGonagall to thank her sincerely, but she felt sorry for his suffering, which made Sean, who had been acting the whole time, feel quite embarrassed.

As Sean left Professor McGonagall's office, he began to ponder what gift to buy for the respected professor.

As they were discussing things, they suddenly bumped into Professor Rosier at the corner.

Sean's eyes lit up and he quickly stepped forward. "Professor, I was just about to look for you. Thank you so much for what you did last time."

Professor Rosier maintained her aloof demeanor. She glanced at Sean, nodded casually, and then said, "You're very good."

"Um, thank you."

Rosier chuckled and leaned close to his ear, "Your acting is just as good as Lord Grindelwald's, but you are you and he is him. Do what you think is right, and he will contact you when he has something to say."

As expected, the two had been in contact. Sean nodded knowingly and patted his chest in thanks. "Thank you for your guidance, Professor. I understand."

"Very good." Rosier raised an eyebrow, then resumed her usual aloof demeanor.