The air fell terrifyingly silent in an instant.
Although they had never heard the name Gellert Grindelwald, Hermione's words made it clear that he was an extraordinarily powerful wizard.
In all likelihood, he was even stronger than Hermione.
After two alien invasions, everyone had gained a solid understanding of what wizards could do.
So the claim that he had "swept through half the Wizarding World" was genuinely frightening.
For a moment, the Clairvoyant no longer mattered.
"Gellert Grindelwald? Who is that?" Skye voiced the question on everyone's mind.
Hermione said:
"He was the most powerful Dark Wizard of nearly a century ago. No exceptions."
"He believed wizards were born to rule ordinary people like you, who can't use magic, so he wanted to overturn the international statute of wizarding secrecy and launched the First Wizarding War."
Hermione paused, then added:
"If Albus Dumbledore-the current headmaster of Hogwarts-hadn't stepped forward at the last moment and defeated him..."
She swept her gaze over their increasingly horrified faces, the corners of her mouth lifting almost imperceptibly.
"You probably wouldn't have much say in anything today."
Gulp.
Someone swallowed.
Ruling Muggles? A magical war?
It was so much information that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' mental CPUs were practically overheating.
They had dealt with alien invasions and seen all sorts of superpowered people, but this was the first they had heard of a heavyweight from the Wizarding World who wanted to overturn the entire world order.
Coulson struggled to digest the information, trying to fit Grindelwald into the threat levels he knew.
"Then, compared with your three professors, this Grindelwald..."
He chose his words carefully, trying to work out just how powerful this "strongest Dark Wizard" really was.
Hermione gave Coulson an odd look.
"It seems you really don't understand how vast the difference in power