Nurmengard

William had assumed that the background check would be extremely difficult in order to meet the first Dark Lord.

Not to mention going back three generations, any immediate family member who has had contact with Grindelwald, made dangerous remarks, or committed a crime is strictly prohibited from seeing him.

That would require at least an eight-person interrogation, scrutinizing everything, even their underwear, to repeatedly confirm the reason for going to see him.

But none of that happened. After reading Dumbledore's letter, Minister Soros naturally agreed to William and Hermione's prison visit.

It was as if the two of them were visiting some nobody, someone insignificant.

This vetting process... it's harder than even visiting Death Eaters in Azkaban!

William could only sigh inwardly: the original Dark Lord is truly past his prime.

Sure enough, we still have to look to Voldemort, England's ultimate star of popularity who's back in the water for the second time and is still young at heart.

William thought he could finally get rid of Missandei, but to his surprise, she still followed the two of them.

The minister's orders were executed perfectly.

As William was about to leave the Hofburg Palace, he stopped his carriage and ran into an unexpected acquaintance.

Mera Picquery.

Standing next to her was an elderly woman with white hair, who appeared to be Newt's rumored girlfriend and former president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America.

William remembered that when Newt went to United States, he took Tina with him.

A chaotic scene, a chaotic scene indeed... This is what William wants to see.

As expected of Pegasus, Granian was no slower than Thestral or Abraxan, and arrived at the Führer's hometown of Braunau in just two hours.

At the entrance to the town, there is a stone tablet:

furfede

uie

niewiederfashismus

llioemahnen

Hermione leaned on William's shoulder, gazing at the stone tablet, and asked curiously, "What does it mean?"

William translated softly. "For peace, freedom, and democracy, may *** never happen again. The deaths of millions remind us of this."

"You actually speak German?" Missandei gazed at him intently.

"Yes, I know many languages." William smiled.

If you've been stuck in a time loop for eight years, wouldn't you need to learn several more foreign languages?

As for who to learn from?

The wizards in Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are mostly from other countries... You can learn a foreign language from any young lady you pick up.

William is highly experienced in this regard.

Upon entering the town, we were surprised to find a large number of police officers.

After getting off the carriage, William went to inquire about it.

An old man with white hair, so thin he looked like he was just skin and bones, was squatting there watching the commotion.

He quickly explained:

"Sunny, the bar owner, killed two drunk men."

He spat and said angrily, "He deserved to be hacked to death. He tried to seduce Sunny after just a few drinks."

William glanced at the indignant old man and thought:

I wonder if this behavior would be considered excessive self-defense in Austria?

Upon seeing the stranger, the police tried to question him, but William secretly cast Confundus Charm to get rid of him.

The carriage continued its journey, passing through the town and heading towards a hillside.

Soon, a black castle came into view.

Grindelwald's aesthetic sense is quite good; the castle is filled with cool colors, giving it a strikingly austere feel.

Above the entrance, there is an inscription in German: furdash? herewohl!

" For the For the Greater Good," William murmured.

He suddenly remembered what Dumbledore had said to him every time he entered a time loop, "For a greater purpose."

The carriage stopped at the castle gate, but no Auror appeared.

"Isn't anyone guarding it?" Hermione asked, looking around.

Missandei took out parchment and a quill, and quickly wrote something on it while explaining:

"The only Auror guarding this place are outside the castle, but not to keep Grindelwald under guard; rather, to prevent Muggle from accidentally getting lost and wandering in."

The Muggle-Repelling Charm isn't always effective; occasionally, Muggle will get lost and wander in.

Hermione exclaimed incredulously, "This is where Grindelwald is imprisoned? Such a dangerous dark wizard, and there aren't a lot of Auror guarding him?"

Missandei said calmly:

"There's no need. Back then, there was a witch named Vinda Rosier who led a group of Grindelwald's Acolytes to break into the prison."

Grindelwald didn't leave; he stayed there.

From then on, everyone knew that he really wouldn't leave this prison.

"Who brings him food?"

"The Ministry of Magic provides him with meals, and I come here occasionally too," Missandei said matter-of-factly.

"There's no one here now, maybe they went to eat. They sometimes leave their posts without permission."

Missandei quickly finished writing the note and stuck it on the carriage.

William and Hermione peeked out... Wow, good heavens!

It reads:

I brought a wizard to visit you in prison. Since you are not here, I parked the carriage at the gate. Please do not impound the carriage, otherwise your staff will be held accountable.

William was speechless.

This is similar to banning traffic police from issuing tickets... I've learned something new.

Pushing open the black gate, William was the first to enter the long-neglected castle.

All around was darkness, and then the three wands lit up.

Missandei had indeed been here many times, and she warned, "Watch out ahead, there's a gap here."

"What's this for?" Hermione asked curiously.

Missandei explained, "For a long time before Grindelwald's downfall, flames burned down here."

Fire? Inside this castle?

"Yes." Missandei nodded.

"To be precise, it's more like a great torch, Eternal Fire, burning in the underground cave below, symbolizing light spreading to all corners of the world."

Later, Grindelwald was defeated, and the flames were finally extinguished.

William thought for a moment, realizing that Grindelwald was also a person who valued rituals.

As the three of them climbed higher, the air gradually became heavy, and the ventilation equipment seemed to be completely ineffective.

William found it hard to believe that someone could survive here for more than half a century, especially since that person was once the Dark Lord.

What power could possibly confine him to this self-imposed prison?

They continued walking, their footsteps echoing strangely and unevenly in the long corridor.

There were doors in the corridor, some closed, many ajar. Many of the rooms seemed to be abandoned.

"This is where Grindelwald imprisons wizards," Missandei said.

The three of them seemed to be walking along the long river of history, and the relics here told the story of a history that had been buried.

Finally, Missandei stopped at the door of the highest room. The door had a number, but it had faded and was almost illegible.

William straightened his clothes; he had already prepared his opening lines, as well as the message Dumbledore had asked him to convey.

This is a historic meeting!

When William pushed open the door and went in, he looked straight ahead, but in the blink of an eye, his expression froze, and his feet stood firmly rooted to the spot.

Something is very, very wrong.

The cell was empty; only the sound of the River Salzach flowing could be heard.

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