"Many similar 'nodes' still existed."
The Vampire stared at the little "lamp" at his fingertips and said softly, "For example, if Sirius Black had not changed the Secret-Keeper to Peter Pettigrew in the summer of 1981, then the Potter couple hiding in Godric's Hollow would not have been killed by Tom. There would have been no Third British Dark Wizarding Rebellion nineteen years later, no so many wizards vanishing, dying, or suffering torment for the rest of their lives... That thought which flashed through Sirius's mind at the time was one of fate's nodes."
"Tiny and fragile, yet carrying immense significance."
"Change that thought in his mind, and history changes. In an impending war, the most important thing for the side holding the advantage is to reduce 'variables' and ensure that reality is not utterly altered by changes to certain historical 'nodes.'"
"That is the purpose of the 'nail.'"
"So, before a large-scale wizarding war, the disadvantaged side will do everything it can to alter those nodes in history, allowing chaos to engulf order. The side with the advantage, meanwhile, must dispatch enough hunting parties to guard the nodes within the River of Time... This 'preliminary war' began before anything even happened."
"That is why I said the storm had already arrived. It had merely fallen beyond our sight."
At that, Duke Milton let out a soft breath, raised the Burgundy glass in his hand, and took a deeply satisfied gulp of red wine.
He felt that he had truly made a showing before the goddess today.
Su Shijun waited patiently for several seconds.
Then she noticed that the Vampire seemed to have no intention of continuing. Her expression darkened with displeasure. "And then? 'Things have roots and branches; affairs have beginnings and ends. Know what comes first and what