"I'm not surprised, Voldemort. A woman's greatness lies in her resilience."
After leaving the hospital wing with Voldemort and hearing him recount Alice's experiences in the memory world, Dumbledore said without hesitation.
"I think we can see that same brilliance in both Alice and Augusta."
Voldemort stood motionless.
He couldn't tell whether it was real or imagined, but he felt a warmth spreading through the bones in his body.
Perhaps Merope Gaunt would have shown the same glimmers of humanity if she hadn't died in childbirth—though it was difficult for a wizard to die that way unless they wanted to.
The sigh passed through his mind in an instant, and Voldemort quickly composed himself.
"If there's nothing else, let's part ways here, Albus," Voldemort said.
"Wait, Voldemort. There is something I'd like to ask you."
Dumbledore stopped him and spoke before Voldemort could grow impatient. "I want to ask you about all the things that have been happening in the media these past three months. What's really going on?"
"The dispute between Fudge and Crouch?" Voldemort asked.
Dumbledore nodded. That was exactly what he couldn't understand.
The two men's conflict had grown increasingly heated.
Their verbal sparring was a constant presence in the media.
Even foreign newspapers had published reports on their arguments.
And the tabloids, with no regard for the truth, were spreading rumors that the conflict between the two within the Ministry of Magic was even worse than the disagreements reported by mainstream outlets like the Daily Prophet.
Crouch had already gathered a group of people and, without Fudge's approval, begun preparing to resist the Dark Lord.
Mad-Eye Moody, who had returned to Auror Command, had become his right-hand man.
Moody insisted that he had seen the Dark Lord and claimed to have fought him.
Fudge, naturally, opposed