[76] Shattered Peace

"Excuse me. Can either of you tell me what happened?"

Hall and Grindelwald sat on the edge of the bed. Before them stood Dumbledore, dressed in a casual robe, wearing a black and purple pointed wizard's hat, a small ornament tucked into his beard, his smile gentle and friendly.

Unfortunately, this was only a facade.

The shadow behind him had already raised its scythe, ready to strike at any moment.

"Dumbledore, Headmaster... ahaha..." Hall's smile froze.

"Hahaha, Albus, long time no see." Grindelwald was still the best; experience counted.

"Shut up!" Dumbledore's gentle smile turned cold at the sound of Grindelwald's voice.

Grindelwald swallowed hard and shrank back. He no longer possessed the air of his former decline, nor did he resemble the powerful Dark Lord he once was. Instead, he looked like a child being scolded for doing something wrong.

The contrast was so stark that Hall covered his mouth, suppressing a laugh.

"Hall — Weasley." Dumbledore said through almost clenched teeth. "Can you tell your poor Headmaster what happened?! I thought Nurmengard was in Austria — not in the forest at Hogwarts."

"Heh, heh, heh." Hall scratched his head awkwardly. "Headmaster, I just wanted to move the room I was in back home. But I didn't expect..." He pointed to the array on the ground. "Perhaps, deep down, I feel that Hogwarts is my true home. Isn't that right, Mr Grindelwald?"

He turned to Grindelwald for support, noticing Dumbledore's face darkening. He nudged the old man with his elbow.

Grindelwald half-covered his face, pretending to be deep in thought, completely ignoring Hall's pleas.

"Hey, Headmaster, I never knew I loved the school so much, hahaha." Hall's smile had frozen, his heart filled with helplessness and embarrassment.

Oh God.

Merlin!

Merlin, if you exist, strike me down now — no, strike Dumbledore down now. Give me time to move Nurmengard back.

Hall's mind was screaming internally. When he'd been channeling magic, that wretched Grindelwald, for some inexplicable reason, decided to test the flow. Before Hall could speak, two powerful streams of magic surged out like wild horses, veering completely off course. From the Burrow, they ended up at Hogwarts.

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He'd hoped to land somewhere safe! Not the Forbidden Forest. And to make matters worse, they'd run into Dumbledore, who was on duty. They didn't even have two minutes to retreat.

Dumbledore looked at Hall's stiff smile and sighed. At his age, to see a castle fall from the sky and not faint was a testament to his robust health. But he knew Hall was mostly forced into this, and the mastermind was likely the man beside him.

"Hall, my child, I know you've been caught in the crossfire. Never mind — go back to the castle and get something to eat. You know the way."

Sure enough, nothing that happened at Hogwarts escaped Dumbledore's notice.

Dumbledore stepped aside, making way.

Hall jumped to his feet. "Thank you for your wisdom, Headmaster. I'll wait for you at school." Before he finished speaking, he'd dashed out.

Dumbledore's face had looked like he was about to kill Grindelwald. Why would Hall stay to watch?

He'd be better off getting a decent meal. Only Hogwarts could put together a proper feast. It was a rare treat to be back. Why not have a good meal? Wouldn't that be doing himself a disservice?

As for Dumbledore — he'd probably calm down after beating Grindelwald. Hall was just a pitiful, helpless child who'd been kidnapped. Surely the Headmaster wouldn't make things difficult for him.

Hall thought happily as he tucked into his dinner.

He wasn't entirely carefree; this really wasn't a big deal. Had Grindelwald escaped? He was still in Nurmengard. They could just use the magic circle again to move it back.

Hall was incredibly excited — the experiment had been unexpectedly successful. For spatial traversal, the array was already quite perfect. He'd moved an entire castle across thousands of miles.

Time was vertical. Space was horizontal.

The horizontal aspect was complete — volume and distance were all successful. Simply changing the direction meant vertical success was just around the corner.

Meanwhile, on the other side —

"Grindelwald, what are you trying to do?" Dumbledore's tone was ice cold, completely different from when he'd spoken to Hall.

Grindelwald sighed. "Albus, I really didn't do this." He pointed toward Hogwarts Castle. "It was your good student, Hall Weasley." He clutched his head, looking like he had a terrible headache.

"You know that's not what I'm asking." A dark glint flashed in Dumbledore's eyes. With a flick of his wand, a three-legged stool appeared behind him. He sat down and stared at Grindelwald with calm eyes.

Grindelwald couldn't take it anymore. He rubbed his face. "That child is a variable. He might be a turning point for the entire wizarding world."

Dumbledore frowned. A turning point? Before, it was Harry. Now it was Hall. Prophecies — who should be believed?

Grindelwald knew what Dumbledore was thinking. "I didn't mean killing Voldemort — good heavens, that name is awful. I meant that child might be able to give the wizarding world a different future."

Dumbledore wasn't sure, though he was beginning to believe Grindelwald's prophecies were almost always correct. Perhaps he also wanted to change the wizarding world.

"So? You kidnapped him to be your successor?" Dumbledore knew Grindelwald's methods.

"No, I just wanted to see if there was a turning point." Grindelwald waved his hands, almost covering his face in embarrassment. "That brat actually turned down the Saints. He only wants to be my proxy. That damned brat."

He slammed his fist on the bed.

Dumbledore smiled broadly. "Oh, Hall is truly my good boy. You've been rejected."

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