A Twist! Grindelwald's Eloquence

"Newt, do you remember?" Bunty handed Newt the suitcase that actually contained the little Qilin, smiling as she said, "No one can know everything, not even you."

Upon seeing this, Grindelwald's face immediately turned ugly. He glared at Bunty with a dark look, which frightened her so much that she hurriedly slid down from the high platform of the Ancient Authority of Magic.

It wasn't until the real box was handed to Newt that Bunty finally reverted from a calm and decisive witch to her normal personality—kind, warm, and with a touch of timidity and nervousness.

Newt smiled knowingly and bent down to open the box that actually contained the Qilin.

A small animal poked its head out of the box and let out a soft cry.

She has the body of a deer, a tail similar to a calf, and four hooves like a calf. A single, curved horn is embedded in her forehead. The scales all over her body faintly emit a greenish luster. Orange-red fur extends downwards from the top of her head, like a long cluster of burning flames.

The little Qilin that emerged from the box resembled the one that had already bowed to Grindelwald, but its eyes were more lively and spirited.

The little Qilin stood at Newt's feet and gently cried out twice to the one in front of Grindelwald, but received no response.

"Your brother can no longer hear your calls; he has passed away," Newt said to the little Qilin in the gentlest of voices, as if comforting a poor child. "Perhaps, he is listening to your voice in another world."

Grindelwald remained silent, seemingly organizing his thoughts on what to say.

The previous president Anton Vogel, had already lifted the small Qilin controlled by Grindelwald and walked to the audience below the stage, loudly proclaiming, "This is the real Qilin! You can see it for yourselves!"

"Finite Incantatem."

Just then, a voice came from the crowd below the stage.

The Qilin that Vogel held up seemed to lose its vitality with that sound, its entire body going limp in his hands.

Then, a man with reddish-brown hair and a beard, wearing a gray trench coat and a bowler hat, slowly walked out from the crowd.

"Albus Dumbledore, it was you who did this," Vogel said through gritted teeth to the newcomer.

Dumbledore ignored Vogel's intentions and calmly explained the principle behind the Qilin's resurrection to everyone, "This is Necromancy, a type of Dark Magic. It can turn a corpse into a mindless, unfettered being, completely controlled by the caster."

Vogel frowned, his expression turning extremely grim.

Standing beside him were several other representatives from the International Confederation of Wizards, who swiftly passed a resolution declaring the election invalid and requiring a revote.

"Organize the next vote, Anton," one of the key delegates said solemnly to Vogel. "I solemnly inform you that this is your final duty as president!"

At this moment, the little Qilin that had emerged from Newt's trunk began to walk in front of the Ancient Authority of Magic. Inspired by the election venue, the intelligent unicorn spontaneously initiated the true magical ritual of the Qilin Way!

However, to everyone's surprise, after circling around, the little Qilin completely ignored the three candidates on the platform. She walked straight down the steps and stopped in front of a wizard.

The crowd parted, revealing Dumbledore standing below the stage.

"No, no, no, don't do this," Dumbledore murmured, unusually flustered.

The Qilin stood before him, gently lowered its head, bent one of its front legs, and bowed deeply to him.

As it bowed, the emerald scales of the Qilin emitted a faint glow, adding a touch of misty color to the monotonous ground.

Dumbledore was stunned, and so were the audience members.

During the Qilin Way ceremony, the Qilin chose a wizard who was not among the candidates. Such a thing is rarely heard of, and may never have happened before in history!

"Really, I am honored!" Dumbledore knelt down, half-kneeling in front of the little Qilin, and said sincerely.

"But listen to me. Just as you were born as two Qilin together that night, there must also be another one..."

"I must say, many interesting things happened during this election ceremony."

Grindelwald's voice suddenly rang out from the platform, interrupting Dumbledore's words.

Everyone looked up, wondering what kind of trouble he was going to cause this time.

"My fellow countrymen, it seems everyone believes the former chairman brought a fake Qilin, right?" Grindelwald said with a sinister smile to the crowd below. "Then the Qilin Newt Scamander brought must be real?"

Grindelwald's tone was impassioned and resounding.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us consider this: Has there ever been a time in the history of the Wizarding World when, during the Qilin Way ceremony, the Qilin chose to bow to a wizard who was not a candidate?"

"So I now strongly suspect that this Qilin has long been controlled by Newt Scamander and his cronies, and that they are merely using it to fuel Dumbledore's lust for power!"

"Dumbledore has always spread rumors and slanders against me, proclaiming me dangerous and evil, yet he has remained silent about my ideals and goals. My fellow countrymen, I have never been your enemy, neither in the past, present, nor future. I stand here to make the wizarding world more prosperous and flourishing!"

"I have a wish: that one day wizards will no longer have to live underground like rats in the sewers; that one day wizards will no longer have to hide their identities and can live freely and openly in this wonderful world!"

"On that day, we will no longer have to live a life of mere survival, no longer have to suppress our talents, and no longer have to worry about exposing ourselves in front of those weak Muggle; on that day, we will be able to make friends freely, love freely, and no longer have to be separated from our lovers, relatives, and close friends!"

"My ideals and goals make me disdainful of such petty scheming, and I am confident that I can win the election through my own abilities. I can say without hesitation that the fact that Qilin resurrected and controlled the enemy using Necromancy has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

"As far as I know, Mr. Scamander. Newt Scamander has always been a staunch supporter of Albus Dumbledore. And the existence of the second Qilin has always been the one-sided story of this loyal subordinate of Dumbledore. I now have reason to suspect that the Qilin brought by our former chairman was replaced with a fake Qilin, and that they have taken control of the real Qilin!"

"Dumbledore has always cultivated an image of having no political ambition, so why did he send Newt Scamander and his team here? Just to stop my election? No, because the person he fears most in this world is me, Gellert Grindelwald!"

"Only by stopping me can Dumbledore control the entire Wizarding World. Therefore, he has long propagated my danger and evil, constantly telling his followers that only he, Albus Dumbledore, is the only person in the world capable of standing against me."

"But my fellow countrymen! I urge you to think carefully: Did Dumbledore ever dare to confront me? In every instance, did he remain holed up in Hogwarts Castle from beginning to end, never willing to face me in person?"

"He's just a coward, a schemer! He only sends his henchmen to disrupt my plans, but he himself doesn't dare to step forward!"

"Today, before voters around the world, I want to ask Mr. Dumbledore a question personally—"

"I'm standing right here. Do you have the guts to lay a hand on me?"

Grindelwald looked at the diamond-shaped pendant on Dumbledore's wrist and asked with a half-smile.