A Brand-New Sky (Series Finale)

Just as the cheers resounded throughout the entire dimension, Dumbledore's eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly raised his wand—

"Expelliarmus!"

The Elder Wand flew from Grindelwald's unsuspecting hand and was caught firmly in Dumbledore's grasp.

The sudden movement between the two great wizards made the surrounding wizards tense up, and they almost reflexively raised their wands.

The Wizarding Alliance included members of the Pure-blood Party as well as members of the International Confederation of Wizards. The wizards, who had been celebrating their victory together, quickly split into two distinct factions, pointing their wands at each other.

The atmosphere gradually became solemn.

Just as tensions were about to rise, Grindelwald burst into laughter.

"Disperse, all of you." He waved his hand dismissively at the shamans of the Pure-blood Party, seemingly having anticipated this renewed confrontation.

Then, he looked casually at Dumbledore and asked, "Are you ready to begin investigating the sins I've committed over the years, Albus?"

"Gellert, your actions have hurt too many innocent people." Dumbledore's expression was somewhat somber, but his tone was unwavering. "Even though you stand with us today, I cannot simply ignore everything that happened before."

"Of course I should know, otherwise you wouldn't be Albus Dumbledore." Grindelwald shook his head and stretched out his hands, letting Dumbledore restrain him.

"That's it then. The Pure-blood Party didn't have much of a chance against you anyway," he said. "Besides, this world, already riddled with problems, truly cannot afford another blow..."

Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald's heterochromatic eyes, a hint of understanding in his own.

This great wizard with precognitive abilities probably foresaw what was happening today, and must have known that Dumbledore would come after him after the battle.

But this time he chose not to resist.

On the one hand, his past attempts to defy the events predicted in the Prophecy had all failed, and he was exhausted; on the other hand, he and Albus had only recently begun to reconcile, and Grindelwald did not intend to be the one to sabotage things this time.

He had already made a mistake once, a mistake he regretted for almost his entire life, and this time he was determined not to repeat it.

"So what are you going to do with me?" Grindelwald smiled, looking into Dumbledore's blue eyes, and asked softly. "Albus, you should know that the wisest choice is to execute me immediately. Otherwise, no prison can hold me."

"I know, I know," Dumbledore said slowly, exhaling. "So I will lock you in your tower in Nurmengard, never to be released."

Grindelwald's brows furrowed slightly, but Dumbledore's next words eased his expression.

"And I will be your jailer for life!"

Three days later, postwar reconstruction was in full swing in both the Muggle World and Wizarding World.

Meanwhile, Xiwen returned to the dimension of Death once again.

Today, this land is still covered with towering, rugged mountains that stretch across the land.

However, unlike before, the blood-red color on the ground had faded considerably, and the surrounding river of blood had gradually returned to its original color. Apart from still being somewhat turbid, nothing seemed amiss.

The endless, skeletal phantoms floating in mid-air ceased their struggle, no longer moving their mutilated bodies. They had found redemption after Death dissipated, their eyes filled with relief and liberation, their forms gradually fading away. Before long, no trace of these corpses would remain in this world.

Xiwen strolled over to the spatial rift that Death had opened before leaving and looked it over.

This was a sturdy passage opened by Death before he exhausted all his energy, and it remained remarkably stable even after three days. Looking behind the crack, one could almost see a clear blue sky.

Just then, a halo of light flashing with golden sparks appeared beside Xiwen, and he turned his head to look to his left.

"Xiwen, you really are here!"

First, a magnetic female voice came from behind the Dimensional Gate, and then the gray-haired witch strode into this dimension of Death.

"Malfoy told me you opened a portal and left Hogwarts, so I guessed you came to Death's dimension," Miranda said with no small amount of pride.

"It seems you've practiced Dimensional Gate quite well; you can even open them from different dimensions with ease," Xiwen praised.

She smiled, then looked curiously at the spatial rift in front of her and asked, "So you came here just for this spatial rift?"

"I suppose so," Xiwen nodded slightly. "I've been thinking about Grindelwald's ideas. What if one day wizards and Muggle really do have an unavoidable conflict?"

"What, were you captivated by Grindelwald's charisma after the battle?" Miranda said with a half-smile.

"I admit his final choice was pretty cool," Xiwen said noncommittally. "Besides, his ideas do have some merit, otherwise he wouldn't have gained the approval of so many wizards."

"So I was thinking, if this spatial rift could reliably connect to another space, wouldn't that create a free world for wizards to explore? Even if a huge conflict were to arise between the Muggle World and Wizarding World, we could use this new world as a buffer to prevent an even bigger conflict from erupting."

"But that's on the premise that you're sure this is a world without Muggle, or Muggle don't reject magic," Miranda aptly put it.

"This is something that requires pioneers to explore the new world before we can draw conclusions," Xiwen said with a smile.

Miranda laughed too, a look of eager anticipation in her eyes.

The next second, she suddenly slapped her forehead and said, "Wait a minute, you almost made me forget the important matter. Professor Dumbledore asked me to pass on a few words to you!"

Xiwen looked at her curiously.

"First, Tom Riddle is a dangerous man. How do you plan to deal with this potential threat?" Miranda asked.

"Don't worry, Riddle is no longer a threat," Xiwen said with a light laugh. "There's a necessary condition for the enhancement of soul power: the integrity of the soul. And Riddle has already created two Horcrux, splitting his soul into three parts."

"Now, he can no longer meet that condition, and naturally, he will never reach the strength of a Grand Wizard in this lifetime. Riddle is a classic example of someone whose cleverness backfired!" M.

Miranda nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "Secondly, Dumbledore has observed that this dimension is still constantly absorbing negative emotions from various regions. After a long period of accumulation, it is very likely that a Death will be born again after thousands of years. What are you going to do about this?"

"Good question, but not difficult to solve," Xiwen chuckled. "My Soul Body, along with Helena, has established a Kamar-Taj School of Magic in the Himalayas. Our students will use the negative emotions absorbed from this dimension to practice their power-borrowing spells. I'm afraid its absorption rate won't even be fast enough for the students to practice using them!"

"It seems you've already thought of solutions to all these potential problems," Miranda laughed, saying cheerfully. "Then there's one last question—"

"Would you like to take me with you to explore this new world?" she asked hopefully, pointing her slender finger to the spatial rift beside her.

Xiwen looked at Miranda, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I am deeply honored that a master of spells is willing to accompany me on this journey!"

Under the bright sunshine, the two smiled at each other and stepped into that brand new, azure sky...

(The End)