The Dark Lord Was Defeated

For the next two days, Gavin opened the black diary after dinner and wrote a few paragraphs in the persona of Justin Finch-Fletchley.

The diary showed no sign of using magic. Gavin couldn't tell whether Tom was too weak or whether something else was going on.

Occasionally, he could feel it trying to drain his life force.

He had experienced an Obscurus draining his life force before, so he could easily recognize the sensation.

An ordinary person might not have noticed.

But Gavin's awareness and control of his own body were far sharper than most people's. Whenever it happened, he found an excuse to leave.

A creditor had come knocking again.

He had to take another under-the-table job or he wouldn't be able to pay his tuition.

Or he needed to send money to the younger children at the orphanage.

Yes, Gavin had added "just a tiny bit" more to Justin's backstory: "both parents dead," "raised in an orphanage," "worked to pay his tuition," and "deep in debt to loan sharks after helping everyone at the orphanage."

In short, if it made his life more tragic, Gavin added it.

Tom had no feelings, but after hearing all this, he seemed a little more patient with "Justin."

With that groundwork laid, Gavin finally told Tom what he cared about most on the third day.

"Grindelwald has returned and turned Nurmengard into the largest stronghold of Dark Wizards."

"He's taken Voldemort under his wing. Voldemort is now living in exile, dependent on Grindelwald, and serving as his deputy. His main duties are watching over the magic books in the basement and bringing coffee."

"The Daily Prophet, which claims to understand the Dark Lord better than anyone, even reported in an exclusive interview that Grindelwald called Voldemort 'small-minded, with the mentality of a