Grindelwald's Apology

Grindelwald seemed to be able to see through everyone's eyes, which were smugly narrowed. He immediately gave out a location.

"This is a place I discovered when I was young. It's secluded and deep, perfect for one-person contemplation—and also a suitable burial site. As for what can convince my other self, I'll probably put it at the bottom of the lake."

"However," Grindelwald's tone became serious, "It is a memory, a memory that only Grindelwald can see. When you give it to him, he will naturally understand. Remember, the reading of that memory must be done under a spell that can conceal its existence, otherwise the world will change drastically."

Sean nodded silently. The location was fine; the place where Young Grindelwald was currently located had already been enchanted.

"Once he has seen this memory, he will naturally understand everything. Of course, even if he cooperates in extracting the memory later, such an action will still cause disturbances in the world, but according to my judgment, it will be within a controllable range."

Just like what Professor Dumbledore once told me...

"After doing all this, we can achieve a basic consistency in our memories. But as a point in time, memories alone are not enough. What is most important to a wizard? What distinguishes a wizard from other species?"

Of course, it's the magic power that can cast spells.

"Yes, magic—I've done research on why previous Time-Turner only allowed wizards to go back a maximum of five hours. The most important thing, of course, is not to disrupt time or modify history. Another important point is consistency."

Grindelwald waved his wand, and two smoky figures that looked exactly like him appeared.

"We were just talking about memory—" He waved a spell, and the brains of the two smoky figures glowed faintly. "After resolving the issue of memory, the next step is magic. This is a very important distinguishing feature of a wizard—"

Glowing veins appeared on the smoky figure, with pale silver magic surging within them.

"If memory can represent a person's soul on a certain level, then magic can represent a wizard's body. Have you ever felt, Sean —that your magic is different from others? If two people use the same spell, the same wand gesture, and output the exact same amount of magic on the same spell, then even a first-year student and Albus Dumbledore will get the same effect."

"Albus stronger because he had a deeper understanding of spells, was more skilled at casting spells, and had a stronger emotional power. Under such circumstances, many people believed that every wizard had the same amount of magic, and the difference lay only in the size of the Magic Power Source and how the master of the magic used it."

"But..."

Grindelwald waved his wand again, and one of the puffs of smoke Transfiguration into the shape of Sean.

Upon closer inspection, the pale silver magic flowing within the glowing blood vessels seemed identical, but Grindelwald gently blew a breath, and the blood vessels within the two smoky humanoids floated and magnified before his eyes.

At first glance, nothing seemed different, but upon closer observation and listening, Sean discovered that the magic seemed to be breathing...

But the rhythm of their breathing is completely different!

Grindelwald leaned lazily against a broken stone pillar, on which the Hogwarts flag was still burning.

"Yes, just as you saw, magic actually has a kind of 'activity' that humans or even wizards cannot accurately describe. This is also a fact I found. Everyone's magic is different. Even if you perfectly inherit your parents' appearance, talents, etc., your magic is still different. Just like wizards, everyone is an absolutely different individual."

"When a wizard can clearly recognize this, can accurately recognize his own unique magical imprint, he may be able to create spells that are unique to him and can only be used by him," Grindelwald said earnestly.

Sean listened and nodded. He had had this vague feeling before, but he didn't expect it to be confirmed in Grindelwald's memory today.

Thinking about it, he shook his head with amusement.

The old man didn't forget to teach him more things.

Grindelwald smirked. "That's why I was just saying the Time-Turner only allows a maximum of five hours of travel. It's because a wizard's magic increases naturally, and five hours is a point in time when that natural increase occurs. And that slight increase in magic might cause the same person at two different points in time to not be in sync. The probability of this is extremely small, but for safety reasons, the Ministry of Magic prohibits time conversions longer than five hours."

"For me, for Albus, or even for you right now, this slight increase in magic is a drop in the ocean compared to my total magic power. We can ignore that extremely small probability, but the problem is—"

Sean frowned. Yes, a problem had arisen.

Old Grindelwald lived a full ninety-seven years longer than Young Grindelwald. The increase in magic power from five hours is negligible, but the magic power accumulated from hundreds of thousands of five-hour periods is terrifying.

In other words, judging solely from magical power, the Old Grindelwald is now far stronger than the Young Grindelwald.

This will prevent the two from reaching an agreement.

How can this enormous difference in magical power be bridged...?

Sean racked his brains but couldn't figure out how to replenish Young Grindelwald's magic. He had seen many magical items in the Wizarding World, but none of them could directly increase a wizard's magic limit.

The Magic Power Source can only be accumulated over time, through one's own talent, and through continuous training.

He did consider whether it was feasible to parasitize Young Grindelwald with Obscurus, but ultimately concluded that it was unrealistic.

Obscurus are an aid, not the wizard's own magic. Although they can be used as magic and that power is very strong, as Grindelwald just said, the magic of Obscurus does not contain the wizard's own unique magical imprint.

He looked at Grindelwald from his memory with a puzzled expression.

The other person was holding one wrist with one hand and placing it on his waist, just like Dumbledore, and then looking at the open space where he was standing with a smile.

This old man... could he have prepared for this as well?

This is too much...

Grindelwald grinned. "You must be thinking, this old man actually prepared for this, and doesn't even know how to praise my perfect plan—ha, my disciple, I allow you to praise it loudly now, even though I can't hear you."

Damn, this old man... Sean couldn't help but laugh.

"Let's get back to the main point. Yes, just like you think, things that can raise the limit of magic power in the Wizarding World are extremely rare—but you must have seen them."

Have you seen him before? Sean frowned.

Grindelwald gave a cold, indifferent look, stroked his chin, and said nonchalantly, "I've already made up my mind to travel to the distant future, so this means one thing—"

He stretched out his hands, as if embracing the world.

"This world will become a bubble in my memory. I no longer need to linger here, nor do I need to think about any... creatures."

Biology? Sean suddenly looked up.

It's not that there's Sickle increase a wizard's magical power limit; there is one thing that I have indeed seen before.

Qilin... Qilin's Blood!

In the Ministry of Magic's ranking of dangerous magic, Qilin's Blood ranks sixth.

The Ministry of Magic's records state that wizards who have interacted with the blood of the Qilin have gained extremely powerful abilities!

So, Grindelwald is preparing...

Just as Sean had predicted, Grindelwald revealed a rather cruel smile, "Yes, as long as the imprisoned me consumes enough Qilin blood, the difference in magical power will be erased..."

Sean took a deep breath. He only recognized one Qilin, the one that had once bowed to him...

To solve the immediate problem, should I kill that innocent life...?

The thought made Sean's breathing heavy.

Currently, there seems to be no other good solution.

The problem is urgent; the world's will is already very sensitive, and there isn't much time left before Grindelwald actually travels back to 1996.

In just over a year, how did Young Grindelwald acquire such immense magical power?

That's unrealistic...

Sean's heart sank immediately.

Grindelwald had truly thought all of this through... but...

I heard loud, cheerful laughter.

Grindelwald couldn't see Sean at all, but he still pointed ahead and laughed.

"Oh—oh—, my dear Sean, you must be agonizing over how unacceptable it is to sacrifice innocent lives. Ironically, whether it is me, whichever Albus, whichever period of Albus, I would never hesitate when faced with such a choice."

Sean remained silent; he couldn't refute it.

Yes, he couldn't make up his mind. But Grindelwald and Dumbledore, those two weren't even afraid to sacrifice themselves.

Grindelwald stopped laughing, but his happy face and raised eyebrows annoyed Sean.

That old man is infuriating...

"Ha—" Grindelwald laughed loudly, "Alright, alright, I won't joke with my favorite disciple. You idiot, my name is Gellert Grindelwald."

His smile turned cruel and ruthless, "Although it is your duty as a student to run errands for your teacher, I don't want to put you under so much pressure—I can't bring myself to do it if you can't."

A ring that Sean recognized flew out of nowhere and landed in Grindelwald's hand.

That's my ring... Sean touched his finger; the ring was still on.

Grindelwald opened the ring and then waved his wand.

Two adult Qilin struggled to float out.

Both of these Qilin were much larger than the cub Qilin that Sean had seen, and were clearly adults.

Sean's pupils contracted; Grindelwald was about to...

They didn't even give Sean time to think.

With a wave of the wand, an invisible blade sliced open the throats of the two Qilin!

Blood gushed out!

Grindelwald didn't even blink; it was as if he had rehearsed this scene beforehand.

The tip of the Elder Wand emitted a faint light, and the two adult Qilin were unable to even utter a mournful cry. Their struggling strength waned and waned as their blood was lost.

All the blood was concentrated at the tip of the staff. Grindelwald used some kind of magic, and the originally huge amount of blood gradually condensed, eventually becoming a fist-sized ball of light red blood.

Grindelwald chuckled softly. "Sean, sometimes you should understand that your teacher, me, has been known as the Dark Lord for many years—for me, that's what I'm capable of doing."

Sean could only sigh silently in the end.

This is so Grindelwald.

"However, it's not good to travel through time with such a huge Magic Power Source —so I have to disguise this thing."

Grindelwald rummaged through the ring and finally pulled out a potted Asparagus Fern.

Under the control of the magic wand, the blood slowly seeped into the small Asparagus Fern, and the originally emerald green bamboo stalks gradually turned into a light blood red.

Sean was dumbfounded.

This thing... is lying inside my ring!

Grindelwald continued, "However, this thing can't stay with me forever. I'm planning to erase my memories—if it stays with me, I can easily figure out what's so special about it, and then I might use it myself."

"Hmm, let me think, how about we put it where the Qilin was found? Haha, don't worry, without my spell, no one can use this cute little thing."

"Alright, Sean, this task is now yours. Find this thing and then give it to the other me. The memory I left behind contains a method for using the blood of the Qilin. As Grindelwald, he will naturally understand it."

If it weren't for being trapped in his memories, Sean would have loved to open his ring right now and take a look.

He didn't need to search for that pale red Asparagus Fern at all; it was already in his hands!

Is this... is it a coincidence or some kind of destiny?

Having done all this, Grindelwald's smile returned.

He looked at the open space in front of him, his smile gentle, "I've talked and done so much—but what can I actually guarantee?"

"No, no one can guarantee the future. What I can guarantee is that I will do my best—so I believe that the person standing here listening to all this must be you, my disciple, Sean."

Grindelwald seemed to want to say something more, but he suddenly looked up at the ceiling with a large hole in it, his expression becoming serious, with a hint of sadness that Sean couldn't understand.

"It seems I can't say any more to you... Go back, Sean, the world and I are in your hands."

A loud sonic boom, as if the air had been torn apart, was heard, and the previously brightly lit Great Hall suddenly became dark!

Sean whirled around. What was that?!

The surrounding scenery slowly faded, leaving only Grindelwald's last words.

"Ha—if everything gets out of control, then kill me, Sean. Oh, and remember to tell Albus for me."

"Feel sorry."