Young Dumbledore

Dumbledore watched from the sidelines, seeing clearly that the initiative throughout the duel had remained firmly in Isaac Waldore's hands.

For an ordinary wizard, trying to deal with a seer who could "read the script" at any moment, a spell like Stupefy was simply ineffective.

As long as the seer was on guard, let alone the Cruciatus Curse, even the Killing Curse would be useless if it couldn't land a hit.

There was only one way for a Dark wizard to defeat Isaac.

They would have to cast wide-range offensive spells, using the area-of-effect damage to grind Isaac down.

Yet, such an approach ran contrary to the Dark wizard's original intent in coming here.

The Dark wizard's opening spell upon seeing Isaac was Stupefy.

This indicated that his primary goal for this visit was not to harm Isaac.

He wanted to subdue him.

Stupefy was easily dodged by Isaac, and the subsequent triple-cast of the Cruciatus Curse failed to land a single hit.

There was even a half-hearted attempt at a Killing Curse afterward—the Dark wizard's brain must have been truly fried by Dark Magic; any normal wizard would have sensed that something was wrong by then.

Either leave or change tactics.

But he was stubborn to a fault, swapping the Cruciatus Curse for the Killing Curse instead.

When you can't hit your target, it doesn't matter if you're using the Killing Curse or the Avada Lightning Chain; it's all useless.

Finally, there was that spell of Isaac's: Protego Fiendfyre.

Aside from the color and power, the Waldore Gas Stove was indistinguishable from the Grindelwald Gas Stove in every other way.

Isaac's casting gestures, combined with his Grindelwald-esque elements...

For a fleeting moment, Dumbledore almost mistook him for a young Grindelwald locked in combat.

Protego Fiendfyre was Grindelwald's signature spell, a hallmark of masters of magic like them.

Had it not been taught personally by Grindelwald himself, Isaac would never have been able to self-study such a spell with his current level of knowledge.

Even if it was only a "youth version" that combined the Fire-Making Spell with Transfiguration.

Thus, this spell was clearly a "greeting" from Grindelwald.

Who will love you now, Dumbledore?

There was no time to mourn Dumbledore's lost love, for next to Apparate into our presence was a trio of Aurors from the British Ministry of Magic's Auror Office!

The three Aurors arrived in the courtyard of Isaac's home via Apparition, and the moment they "landed," they spotted Dumbledore and Isaac standing in the hall.

The three were startled and hurried toward them.

"Professor Dumbledore, we received an alert that the Unforgivable Curses were used here.

What exactly is going on?"

Dumbledore turned his head to look; they were all familiar faces.

"Gawain, Kingsley, and John? Long time no see, how have you been lately?"

The arrivals were none other than Gawain Robards, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and John Dawlish from the Auror Office.

Gawain was the Head of the Auror Office and a capable deputy to Rufus Scrimgeour.

He was effectively the second-in-command of the Auror Office.

Had it not been for the detection of a wizard using Unforgivable Curses in a Muggle area, the investigation team would not have been of such high caliber.

"Er... we're fine, Professor.

So, what is this all about?" As the three Aurors walked into Isaac's home, they discovered a wizard lying on the floor of the hall, his fate unknown.

Isaac, Dumbledore, and a Dark wizard—this combination of the old, middle-aged, and young, coupled with the eruption of Unforgivable Curses...

Forgive their lack of experience as Aurors, but they hadn't seen a scene like this since Voldemort "died."

"It happened like this... I received a letter from Mr. Isaac Waldore at my office today, stating that a wizard was targeting him.

So, I rushed to his home.

But I arrived too late; by the time I reached the scene, Isaac had already subdued this Dark wizard."

Gawain realized the truth likely rested with this young man, so he asked in a gentle, friendly tone:

"Waldore... oh, do you mind if I call you Isaac, child?

Can you tell me what happened here?

How did you manage to subdue this criminal?"

Isaac was surprised that Dumbledore had omitted part of the truth.

According to Dumbledore's version, Isaac's adventure had evolved from one under Dumbledore's protection into a fledgling hero drawing his sword against evil.

Though he didn't understand why Dumbledore would do this, Isaac knew that Dumbledore must have his reasons.

Compared to these three Aurors, they were the ones on the same side.

"It all started in Diagon Alley..." Isaac began by describing the moment he sensed he was being followed in Diagon Alley.

From the discovery of being tailed to borrowing an owl from the owner of the Owl Emporium to send a message to Dumbledore.

Then, his departure from Diagon Alley to return home.

Isaac had not expected that the dark wizard would dare to show up at his doorstep.

Since Isaac did not yet know any escape spells and Dumbledore had not yet appeared at his home.

He had no choice but to find a way to deal with the dark wizard himself.

"I dodged his first curse, then used the Levitation Charm..."

Isaac recounted everything up to his "self-created spell," Protego Fiendfyre.

As the listener, Gladwin felt his worldview being constantly shattered.

Especially when he heard that Isaac had dodged the Cruciatus Curse three times in a row and even forced half of a Killing Curse back down the dark wizard's throat, the way he looked at Isaac changed entirely.

Could this boy be a young Dumbledore?

Isaac's story sounded absurd, like a third-rate wizarding adventure tale.

Yet, Gladwin knew that in this world, sometimes the more absurd something sounded, the more likely it was to be the truth.

"Isaac, you did a great job! At your age, I couldn't even cast a single spell."

Gladwin first affirmed Isaac's actions, then feigned a look of helplessness.

"However, according to the regulations of the Ministry of Magic, we still need to examine your wand, is that alright?"

"Of course, Mr. Auror."

Isaac nodded and handed his wand to Gladwin.

Gladwin raised his own wand and tapped it against Isaac's.

"Prior Incantato."

The first spell to emerge under the effect of the reversal spell was Protego Fiendfyre.

Gladwin was, after all, an elite of the Auror Office; unlike staff in other departments of the Ministry of Magic who couldn't even cast a proper Shield Charm, he could more or less see through the nature of Isaac's version of Protego Fiendfyre.

"Is this a variant of the Fire-Making Spell combined with Transfiguration?"

He then waved his wand again, and the spells Isaac had cast flashed back once more.

It flashed all the way back to when Isaac had been frequently practicing Transfiguration.

Gladwin glanced at John Dawlish, who nodded to indicate that the situation had been recorded accurately.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Isaac. Here is your wand."

One of the parties involved had been checked, and next was the dark wizard on the ground.

While John Dawlish recorded the magic on Isaac's wand, Kingsley began to examine the dying dark wizard on the floor.

"Robards, you need to see this!" Kingsley pulled on the dark wizard's left forearm, revealing the inner side to his superior.