HR Chapter 103 The Resurrection Stone Part 4

"Look at them. Their immediate reaction upon discovering we're wizards says a lot."

"I never wanted to exterminate Muggles. I just didn't want Muggles to exterminate us… Maybe there are friendly Muggles, but if the initiative is in our hands, the number of friendly ones would only increase, not decrease. Tolerance and peace? Only when we are the victors can it be guaranteed that by 100%." It had to be said that even after being locked up for so many years, Grindelwald's oratory skills were still as sharp as Ian had seen in Dumbledore's memories.

"Dumbledore told me not to learn this from you," Ian quickly interjected, bringing up the old headmaster. He felt like he was being fed dangerous ideas and didn't want to end up brainwashed like one of Grindelwald's Acolytes.

"He also told me not to kill people," Grindelwald replied with a shrug, glancing somewhat regretfully at the unconscious Muggles. "But he didn't say I couldn't help others regain their youth."

Well, the old man was indeed more ruthless. This was probably resetting someone's memories to their factory settings.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm just telling you some realities," Grindelwald added, and true to his word, he didn't bring up the conflict between Muggles and wizards again.

They made their way to the seemingly ordinary old shack. The walls of the house were covered in moss, and the roof tiles were scattered, revealing the rafters inside. The surroundings were overgrown with weeds, interspersed with some withered nettles, their leaves glowing faintly green under the weak moonlight. 

This was clearly an ominous place. A few nocturnal creatures scurried through the desolate area, their cries sharp and piercing, adding to the terrifying atmosphere.

"Hmph, those people could search for a lifetime and never find this place. Not only is there a gap between Squibs and wizards, but there's also a huge gap between wizards themselves," Grindelwald remarked, examining the legendary house in front of him. It was nestled between two steep hills, half-hidden in the tangled trees.

Ian also observed curiously. The house was surrounded by dense nettles, reaching up to the windows, which were very small and covered in thick, years-old grime. 

The door was nailed with a dead snake in the shape of an "S," symbolizing the pure-blood house of Salazar Slytherin, where Voldemort's mother Merope Gaunt, her brother Morfin Gaunt, and their father Marvolo Gaunt had lived. 

Perhaps the Muggles Ian and Grindelwald had encountered had heard about the existence of wizards in this area from Voldemort's runaway father.

"There's magic here," Ian said, waving his wand. Hidden protective spells became visible. Grindelwald nodded approvingly beside him and also raised his wand, revealing even more protective spells that Ian hadn't detected.

"Hiss~" Ian could already feel how much Tom Riddle valued the protection of this place. If those Squibs and Muggles had actually found this house, they would have met a very, very tragic end. He examined the protective measures on the house. Compared to them, Grindelwald's earlier punishment was indeed a stroke of luck for those people.

"Honestly, he might as well have turned a stone into a Horcrux and tossed it into the sea," Grindelwald sneered, using his wand to dismantle the layers of protective spells. There were so many of them that even someone of his skill took a considerable amount of time to remove them, a testament to Tom Riddle's paranoia.

"I think he might as well have turned the entire planet into his Horcrux," Ian quipped, blinking as the two of them began to casually critique the infamous You-Know-Who, Voldemort.

"If he had that kind of power, would he even need Horcruxes?" Grindelwald retorted, pushing open the door, which was nailed with a decaying snake skeleton. 

A cloud of dust billowed out, forcing Ian to cover his nose in disgust. After casting Scourgify, the room's layout became visible— it was incredibly shabby, with broken chairs and a rickety table scattered about.

The oil lamp on the wall was also covered in grime, and even Scourgify couldn't restore it. Even by Muggle standards, this would be considered a poor living environment. It was hard to imagine that this was where the descendants of Slytherin had lived.

The Gaunt family had once been wealthy and prominent, but their fortune had long been squandered. By the last generation, they were indeed living in such a humble house. The final members of the family included the father, Marvolo, his son Morfin, and his daughter Merope. Merope was the mother of Voldemort, Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"It's here," Grindelwald said, his eyes immediately locking onto a broken cabinet as soon as they entered. This was the skill of a seer.

"Take out the box I gave you and open it," he instructed, walking to the cabinet and pulling open a drawer. Inside was a beautifully crafted ring with a black gemstone on top. He didn't touch the legendary treasure but instead turned to Ian, who was studying the golden box.

"Click~"

It took Ian a moment to figure out the mechanism, but when he triggered it, the golden box opened like petals unfurling. Inside was a locket—the Slytherin locket.

Seeing the locket that should belong to a certain house appears here, Ian's expression turned bewildered. He looked up and saw Grindelwald watching him with a smirk.

"This thing…" Ian's composure faltered, mainly because the situation felt absurd. Harry Potter hadn't even started school yet, and here they were, already finding Voldemort's Horcruxes.

"This ring should be placed together with the item in your box," Grindelwald said, gesturing for Ian to approach. He watched as Ian picked up the Resurrection Stone from the drawer, clearly unwilling to touch the Horcrux himself.

"Although I feel you probably won't be foolish, I still think I should remind you not to think about wearing this ring, at least not before clearing the curse on it," Grindelwald warned earnestly.

Ian nodded, looking down at the two Horcruxes in the golden box, still feeling somewhat dreamlike.

"Resurrection Stone, Slytherin's locket," Grindelwald said, stepping forward to calmly observe the items in the box. There was no hint of the obsession he once had for the Deathly Hallows. "They are closely connected. Our poor Dark Lord didn't even realize this." His words made Ian pause.

"What connection?" Ian asked, clearly out of his depth.

"I don't know either, but you can study it slowly. I just read a lot," Grindelwald replied with a shrug before walking directly toward the door.

"This thing, do you want to leave it with me?" Ian hurriedly followed Grindelwald out of the shack.

"Dumbledore doesn't want to destroy it, and I don't want to keep it here to disgust me. You're the only one I trust, so you must not let Dumbledore see that Resurrection Stone," Grindelwald said firmly. "This thing can't truly bring people back to life, and even the summoned are not the real deceased."

After this final reminder, Grindelwald reached for the enchanted jar of pickled gurdyroot that served as their Portkey, ready to leave the cursed shack behind.

"Wait for me!" Ian quickly raised his hand to interrupt Grindelwald's action. Under the curious gaze of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Ian began to scurry around the vicinity of the Gaunt's old house, like a lost Kneazle searching for something.

"What are you doing?" Grindelwald finally asked after half an hour, his patience wearing thin. He watched as Ian returned, using items from the house to fashion various tools before darting excitedly into the depths of the forest.

"I still need to prepare for tomorrow's class!" Ian called back, his voice echoing through the trees.

Grindelwald regretted not applying a dose of Insect-Repelling Potion before leaving. He couldn't help but remind Ian, who was making a racket in the distance, with an annoyed tone. "Hurry up!"

"Coming! Coming!" A sweaty Ian ran back, a large basket strapped to his back.

"What did you do!?" Grindelwald exclaimed, his voice tinged with shock and horror. It turned out that seers were not all-knowing. The sight before him was no less disturbing than when he had seen Ian brewing a love potion with Snape.

There was no helping it. Grindelwald had seen… a lot of well-preserved human bones in Ian's basket. The quantity was terrifying, with hundreds of detached teeth alone.

"You dug up the entire Gaunt family grave!?" Grindelwald's voice rose in disbelief. Someone was bound to be horrified. Why couldn't it be the first generation?

(End of this chapter)

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