HR Chapter 103 The Resurrection Stone Part 3

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The mist began to dissipate, but the things within it remained unclear. Recently, Grindelwald hadn't completely deceived Dumbledore; he was also immersed in challenging the highest achievements of the seers.

"Of course, your involvement is essential," Grindelwald added, his smile growing even brighter, his tone heavy with implication.

"Professor, where do you want to take me? Hogsmeade Village?" Ian asked. Although he wouldn't have a small class tonight due to the holiday, he still didn't want to waste the time he usually dedicated to learning new knowledge. 

Time is proficiency, professor! Of course, if Grindelwald only took him to Hogsmeade, he might find an opportunity to retrieve Secrets of Advanced Dark Magic from Snape's cabin.

"Even further," Grindelwald replied, walking to the front of the desk and pulling out a golden box. He tossed it disdainfully to Ian, who was sitting across from him.

"What is this?" Ian asked, examining the seamless cube in his hand. It felt heavy, like solid gold. He considered verifying it by tasting it but hesitated with Grindelwald watching.

"A container. Inside is something Dumbledore doesn't want me to handle," Grindelwald explained, changing his scarf and admiring himself in the mirror for a moment. "It will be useful soon."

After adjusting his attire, Grindelwald walked to the cabinet displaying various collectibles and turned to Ian, silently extending his hand.

"Horcrux?" Ian guessed.

In the next moment, Ian understood the purpose of the enchanted jar of pickled gurdyroot— Grindelwald pinched it with his other hand, and an invisible force seemed to envelop them in the air. Ian and Grindelwald disappeared directly from the office. Clearly, the jar had been turned into a Portkey. 

The surrounding scenery twisted and stretched under a powerful magical force until it completely vanished. The howling wind and swirling colors surrounded Ian and Grindelwald.

Spinning, flying… and perhaps a bit of jumping. It felt like riding an invisible train, heading toward some distant destination. It was much more bearable than Apparition. As the power of the Portkey gradually weakened, Ian's vision cleared, and he found himself in a remote wilderness.

"Gaunt's House once stood here. Do you know where this is?" Grindelwald asked, still maintaining Lockhart's appearance. Since he was technically still a prisoner, he couldn't use his real face, or else the "Grindelwald" locked up in Nurmengard would be hard to explain.

"Professor, are we here to catch a mountain village corpse?" Ian asked, having been tricked by Dumbledore once before. He wasn't going to fall for it a second time. He simply looked around curiously.

On Halloween night, the sky was pitch black, as if soaked in thick ink. The stars were hidden, and even the moonlight seemed to avoid this place, with only a few faint rays managing to pierce through the heavy clouds.

''In the Distance''

A dilapidated wooden shack stood in the wilderness, a sliver of moonlight casting an eerie glow over the mottled old house. The surrounding trees were twisted and dense, as if nature itself bore witness to the curse that plagued this land. 

Their branches hung low, resembling countless ghostly hands silently reaching out into the night, trying to grasp any living being that dared to wander too close. The wind whistled through the treetops, sounding like the whispers of the dead.

"You're not entirely wrong. There's a Horcrux here. We need to keep it from our headmaster, so he doesn't get a chance to come into contact with it," Gilderoy Grindelwald said, leading Ian forward.

His voice carried a hint of teasing. "Of course, I might also take revenge on you. After all, Aurora said you think I'm not as good as Dumbledore. Maybe I'll just bury you here."

Perhaps because there was no one around, Grindelwald deliberately shifted from his Gilderoy persona to his original form. The handsome old man wore a sinister expression as if he were about to ask Ian if he was Dumbledore's favorite child.

"Gulp~"

Ian swallowed hard. How could he not be nervous? At Hogwarts, he really was Dumbledore's favorite!

His hand instinctively reached for his wand. The small movement didn't escape Grindelwald's notice, but it only made him laugh even more.

"Aurora was right. You really do have a lot of guts." With that, Grindelwald walked ahead of Ian, their destination clearly the dilapidated shack looming in the distance.

"We all know how bad Aurora's reading comprehension is!" Ian quickly defended himself as he followed.

"Tsk tsk, you're complaining about my blood relative in front of me. I might just leave you here and make you walk back to Hogwarts," Grindelwald replied, his expression shifting from jest to seriousness in an instant. This was clearly more threatening than being buried alive.

"Aurora and I are good friends. She definitely wouldn't think I'm complaining about her. I promised to get her a Christmas gift. If she doesn't receive it, she'll definitely cry," Ian insisted, trying to lighten the mood.

"Besides, I've prepared Christmas gifts for you and Dumbledore too. You might not care for Christmas gifts, but you wouldn't want Dumbledore to miss out on a proper one this year, would you?" Ian added, his tone dripping with charm, clearly banking on the fact that Grindelwald and Dumbledore were indeed good friends.

"Hahaha~" Grindelwald laughed heartily, startling the creatures sleeping in the forest. Dark figures fluttered in the trees, likely birds disturbed from their rest.

"People," Ian said, spotting several men in suits before they even reached the shack. Instead of sleeping at night, they were following a nun in circles in this wilderness. It resembled a game of "Eagle and Chicks," with the nun leading and the suited men blindfolded, their hands resting on the shoulders of the person in front.

The nun seemed to be guiding them in search of something— when Ian noticed them, Grindelwald's laughter had clearly disturbed their game.

"Wizards!" the nun exclaimed upon seeing Ian and Grindelwald's attire, causing the suited men to immediately pull off their blindfolds.

They reached for something at their waists, but in the darkness, it was hard to see what. A chill ran down Ian's spine, and his wand ignited with blue flames.

But Grindelwald was much faster.

"Obliviate!" he shouted.

This was perhaps the best interpretation of the character he was cosplaying. Gilderoy Grindelwald used Lockhart's signature spell, and in one swift motion, all the Muggles collapsed to the ground, their eyes rolling back as they succumbed to the charm.

"Some say I'm a dark wizard trained at Durmstrang, but I think Durmstrang is far behind Hogwarts when it comes to training dark wizards," Grindelwald remarked, his tone laced with dry amusement. "First Tom Riddle, and now Ian Prince? Tsk tsk, you lot are really something." He turned to look at Ian, who was slowly putting away his wand after extinguishing the Fiendfyre.

"That was a gun!" Ian exclaimed, still shaken. He had actually been ready to cast the Killing Curse.

"I know what they were trying to grab. In fact, these people who use Squibs to hunt us have existed for many, many years," Grindelwald said, giving Ian a meaningful look. "You kids today can hardly imagine what happened to the wizards caught by these people back then… When I was in Japan, I saw them completely dissect a wizard. Every organ was studied to figure out why we can use magic."

"Many say my ideas were extreme, but clearly, some Muggles are even more extreme than I was. The strong prey on the weak—this is an unavoidable conflict between different species," Grindelwald continued, his voice calm but firm. 

It was unclear whether he had deliberately waited for this moment to bring Ian here and "accidentally" encounter these wizard hunters. Whatever the case, he was indeed using these people to lecture Ian. "Look at them. Their immediate reaction upon discovering we're wizards says a lot."

(To Be Continued…)