Walking into Death

Newmontgard was quieter than usual. A small number of outstanding students had gone to Hogwarts with the headmaster and Mr. Grindelwald to participate in this year's Triwizard Cup. Some of the professors had also been taken away. The remaining students continued to study magic in the castle, adhering to the strict school rules. Most of the students who were bolder and less worried about being severely punished had gone to Hogwarts, so even though the headmaster was not in Newmontgard, the remaining students did not dare to go to places that were forbidden, such as the underground floor or the headmaster's floor.

Of course, they had no idea that a Hogwarts student was secretly pondering something in the room where Newmontgard students were forbidden from entering.

Sean sat down in the velvet armchair by the fireplace, the same spot where Grindelwald had sat when they first met. Of course, the owner of those two velvet armchairs hadn't been back for a long time.

Sitting in his familiar spot, Sean covered his chin, his brows furrowed tightly.

The date Grindelwald officially began his time travel was the same as the date of the final match of the Four-School Tournament?

Of course, there are all sorts of coincidences in the world. If a series of events hadn't occurred, Sean might have had the slightest thought that it was just a coincidence.

However, given the current situation, Sean absolutely does not believe that the similarity of the two dates is merely a coincidence.

Ever since Grindelwald's long-distance time travel incident, Sean has become very sensitive to all sorts of temporal anomalies.

Logically speaking, only Grindelwald knew about his time travel—no, Dumbledore, who had seen Grindelwald's Future Memory, should also know, and Sean should be the third person to know. Besides, based on Sean's understanding of Grindelwald, the old man wouldn't reveal this crucial timeline to anyone else, including his most trusted subordinate, Vita Rosier.

Moreover, Grindelwald's secret of time travel should not have been known to the Returners. After the major event that the World Will watched, the real Grindelwald hid on the island in the middle of the lake wearing Invisibility Cloak, while Sean Transfiguration his appearance to deal with the Returners who came to test him, namely the legendary invincible Andros.

Judging from his own performance and the other party's reaction, the Returners did not realize Grindelwald's important secret.

Sean once asked Grindelwald, since the Returners are obviously connected to various Ancient Greek wizarding families, and those Ancient Greek Seer may also reappear in this world as Returners, such as the two famous Ancient Greek Seer Calchas and Prossos —so is it possible that the Seer could have predicted everything about Grindelwald?

Grindelwald gave a negative answer. The half-human, half-ghost magical form of the Returners might retain a lot of the magical power it possessed in life, and might even have some abilities that normal wizards cannot have. However, the gift of Seer is the greatest gift the world has given to wizards. When your soul leaves your body, the gift will also be lost.

Furthermore, even if the Returners possessed a living Seer, his role would be very limited. Grindelwald himself was an extremely powerful Seer, and it was very difficult for Seer to predict each Seer, especially when one was more powerful than the other. If the Returners found a highly talented Divination, they might be able to see some information about Grindelwald, but the details of Grindelwald's time travel could not be pieced together from a few loose threads to reveal the truth.

After Grindelwald explained, Sean was relieved. As long as Grindelwald's true form remained hidden on the island in the middle of the lake, the time travel incident could be resolved smoothly once the time was up—if the two Grindelwald could indeed successfully merge into one.

However, Sean was immediately caught in a dilemma upon learning the date. He didn't think it was just a coincidence in timing. After all, back in the previous school year, the traitor Lockhart, together with Max Dawson, obtained a portion of the unknown Prophecy from Professor Trelawney.

Although Trelawney usually acts like a charlatan, when her Seer talents truly awaken, she possesses incredibly powerful Prophecy abilities.

Although Sean discovered and stopped the Returners ' plan to obtain the Prophecy from Trelawney, some of the Prophecy was still sent to the Returners.

Now, the coincidence of these two events has led Sean to suspect that the Returners have deciphered some information from Trelawney's incomplete Prophecy, such as that something big will happen on June 24th, that this event is related to Grindelwald, or some other interpretation.

The dates for the Four-School Tournament were decided long ago by the organizers, and the decision-makers should include the principals of the four schools and relevant officials from the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards —this was what Sean found puzzling.

Having seen Grindelwald's memories, Professor Dumbledore should have known this timeline, but he still agreed to the date of the final competition.

Originally, the timing of the final event wasn't a particularly important factor. Given the corruption of Durmstrang and the Ministry of Magic by the Returners, it was generally acceptable for one side to propose a similar timeframe without facing any obstacles.

Wait a minute... Sean frowned.

He forgot one thing: Dumbledore and the Returners are still cooperating, and the Returners haven't yet discovered Dumbledore's hidden intentions. In other words, Dumbledore can't openly oppose the date proposed by the Returners...

As the president of the International Confederation of Wizards, Grindelwald certainly had the right to know the competition's schedule, but he did not use his authority to make any changes...

The two of them tacitly agreed to this overlapping time point...

Sean lifted his chin, somewhat puzzled.

Does this mean that Dumbledore and Grindelwald both felt that this overlapping time point would not affect the important process of Grindelwald becoming one with another?

At present, this can only be the reason...

However, Sean was still somewhat worried, since he still couldn't see the true identity of the big shot behind the Returners, and this overlap in timing always made him uneasy.

But what can the other party do if the timing is merely coincidental?

Sean began to think.

On the surface, the Four-School Tournament have taken up most people's time. Dumbledore, Sean, and others all need to be present. Grindelwald is currently being controlled by a Saints has drunk Polyjuice Potion, and his true form is using a modified Imperius Curse from a distance. In other words, no one will interfere with Grindelwald's efforts to resolve the time travel incident. Of course, no one will be able to provide timely support to him either—if any unforeseen circumstances arise.

But there are other possibilities, but there are just too many speculations, and Sean can't come to a conclusion that is more likely. He is somewhat annoyed to find that he knows the Returners have a conspiracy, and Grindelwald and Dumbledore know it too, but there is nothing he can do.

Are we simply left to wait and see how things develop on that day?

This isn't Sean's preferred way of dealing with things; he prefers to prepare in advance and minimize all risks.

Of course, there's also a one in ten thousand chance that it's just a coincidence, Sean is overthinking it.

"No, I have to go check..." Sean muttered.

He quickly returned to Hogwarts through the Vanishing Cabinet and then headed for the Headmaster's Office.

Before Sean could even speak, the Gargoyle spoke first, "You're here again? But I must remind you, the headmaster is not in his office, and he didn't leave me any instructions—if you have any news that you need me to pass on to him, you can tell me first, but I must say, the headmaster hasn't been back for a long time."

Sean was momentarily speechless at the Gargoyle's long speech, then replied somewhat irritably, "Professor Dumbledore must have told you to say that, right?"

The Gargoyle shifted its base in surprise, and some dust fell down. "You're really clever."

"...I'd rather be a little dumber," Sean said unhappily.

Dumbledore knew that he would come looking for him after learning about this, so he prepared a template for answering the Gargoyle in advance. The old man was playing the riddle-maker again.

Sean thought for a moment, "Then can I go into the Headmaster's Office?"

The Gargoyle nodded. "Okay, what's the password?"

"Memory."

After Sean gave the command, the Gargoyle readily made way, allowing Sean to go up the spiral staircase to his office.

As Sean entered the Headmaster's Office, he looked around. The layout was basically the same as when he first came in. The oddly shaped silverwares were slowly emitting steam, and a thin layer of dust had accumulated on the empty wooden shelves.

"Didn't this old man leave me any hints..." Sean began rummaging through the Headmaster's Office without restraint, searching everything from the principal's desk to the old display shelves.

The ladies and gentlemen in the framed portraits of past principals watched his actions, and after Sean rudely opened a drawer, Phineas Black shouted somewhat sarcastically.

"Students these days have absolutely no manners!"

Sean ignored him and started rummaging through the next drawer—but Professor Dumbledore really had a lot of candies hidden in the drawer, but wouldn't it be disgusting to see Cockroach Cluster as soon as you open the drawer?

Seeing that Sean ignored him, Phineas Black became even more displeased and shouted even louder, "You brat, you Wallerup brat, the headmasters of Hogwarts are talking to you!"

Sean emptied the drawer but still couldn't find any crucial clues. He turned to Phineas Black and said somewhat impatiently, "Mr. Black, I'm doing serious business. Next time, next time I'll argue with you, okay?"

Phineas, enraged, bristled at his mustache. "You mean, I'm just here to cause you trouble?!"

"Uh, what else?" Sean scratched his head, then started rummaging through another wooden shelf.

"I swear, if I'm still alive, I'll smash this picture frame over your head!" Phineas was furious.

However, the other principals ignored him and even whispered among themselves while Sean searched the place.

"Haven't seen such a bold student in a long time, have you?"

"It's understandable. This kid is Grindelwald's student, and Albus likes him so much. Besides, to be honest, if it were me, I would also be a little annoyed by Albus's way of speaking."

"But Albus..."

Shh, don't let him hear you.

The conversation within the picture frame seemed to take place in some peculiar way. Sean didn't hear the principals' conversation; he was simply persistently rummaging through every cabinet.

But he himself knew that the chances of Dumbledore giving him a hint were extremely slim. On one hand, there was the Unbreakable Vow, and on the other hand, there was the watchful eye of the World Will; both of these factors made it impossible for Dumbledore to provide any concrete clues.

Just as Sean was rummaging through a display case of medals engraved with the honors of past headmasters, Dumbledore's predecessor, Armando Dippet, spoke up.

"Child, child, stop looking. If Albus left you any clues, he wouldn't be hiding them in those nooks and crannies."

Sean didn't even look up, but calmly replied, "There was a very important hint he left behind, which took me a lot of effort to understand, and—he wouldn't tell you those important things, would he?"

"Listen to this! Listen to this! Is this something a student should say?!" Phineas was furious.

The other principals also started talking loudly, saying that Sean's words were very impolite.

However, Sean seemed to have forgotten about manners. He continued, "After all, you are just Portraits —please don't misunderstand, I respect you, after all, you made huge contributions to Hogwarts, but you are all gone now, and the safety of Hogwarts cannot be relied on you..."

Upon hearing this, the past school principals were in an uproar. They all wanted to jump up and hit Sean with a cane, as his words were extremely impolite.

Phineas was furious and shouted, "You're just a child! You don't understand what adults are thinking!"

Sean calmly replied, "Children are entitled to know, especially since I am a key figure in the Prophecy. Although it's not good to say this behind someone's back, I think Professor Dumbledore's thinking, and your thinking, should all be a little more progressive."

Armando Dippet looked very unhappy. As Dumbledore's former headmaster, he had always admired Dumbledore. He snarled and his beard trembled. "That's for your own good! And Albus has made such a great sacrifice; he's practically throwing his life away!"

Sean raised his head.

The other principals paused for a moment, then rushed to Armando Dippet's picture frame and stuffed his mouth with it.

"How could you let it slip!"

"What the hell! Albus warned us about this!"

Sean narrowed his eyes. As he expected, the principals in the picture frame only carried some of their past memories and consciousness; to put it bluntly, they weren't very intelligent.

I tricked myself into revealing it.

But the information obtained through deception...

Sean asked in a deep voice, "Why do you say that Professor Dumbledore is sending himself to his death?!"