82. Grindelwald In Paris

"I admire you more than anyone else I know," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You don't crave power, popularity, and fame. You just want things to be as they should be, and you will do whatever it takes for that."

"That's all very well, Dumbledore, but please forgive me for asking: can't you go? Your nephew may be in danger, yet you're not protecting him. And even if you let me go, it's not to bring him back. I'm sorry, I just don't understand," Newt asked eagerly.

Dumbledore shook his head and smiled bitterly. "You all think that I am omnipotent," he said, patting Newt on the shoulder seriously. "Believe me, Newt, I am not omnipotent, and when it comes to this matter, you are more knowledgeable than me. A lot more."

"Are you serious?"

"Okay, I don't blame you. Given your situation, I would probably refuse too. Alright, Newt, I wish you a good night." Dumbledore took the card out of Newt's hand and stood up to leave.

"What? No, wait!" Newt quickly chased after him.

But how could he catch up to Dumbledore?

"Oh, don't be like this," Newt scratched his already messy hair in distress, but unexpectedly found Dumbledore's glove holding a card floating at the door.

Newt had already understood. It was a game of hard-to-get. It was an old trick, but he fell for it every time. Smiling to himself, he let Glove stuff the card into his pocket, patted it, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Dumbledore," Newt couldn't help but laugh, feeling helpless towards the professor.

On the streets of Paris, France, it was empty and sparse. Due to the time difference, it was dark in London and the lights were on, but it was dusk in Paris. Grindelwald and the wizards arrived there.

For three months, they had searched New York and Europe. Aurelius had not hidden his whereabouts, but instead visited many senior officials of the Ministry of Magic using Dumbledore's surname. In the magical world, which has a small population, the connection between nobles and purebloods is even closer. They couldn't find him earlier because the name didn't match the person. But as a large number of Umbrella elites returned to Europe and compared photos, Aurelius's identity naturally emerged. That's why they had wasted more than two months in New York, but it had only taken them more than ten days to locate Aurelius in Europe.

Grindelwald didn't come directly. Credence's true identity had given him some hesitation. The surname Dumbledore had made him extremely alert. He suddenly began to reflect on that prophecy, the prophecy about Aurelius. And he suddenly discovered that the street in the prophecy seemed strikingly similar to the street he was walking through.

"That battle happened here?" Grindelwald was shocked, with an unpleasant feeling lingering in his heart. Before, he believed that Aurelius belonged to him, so naturally he saw the figure fighting Aurelius as Dumbledore, whom he couldn't take action against.

But now, Aurelius's true identity is that he belongs to the Dumbledore family.

Would one Dumbledore help him kill another Dumbledore?

"So...that's me?" Grindelwald asked gloomily.

It felt like two little people were fighting fiercely in his heart.

Grindelwald's sudden stop confused some of the core members of the Alliance Party who were following him.

However, Vinda, Grindelwald's most loyal believer, gently shook her head at the others. She knew that Grindelwald was preoccupied with important matters and signaled them not to interrupt and to continue with the operation.

Abernathy and Krall, who had always looked down on him, brought an ancient hearse to a slow stop in front of a luxurious house.

Shortly after, two green lights flashed in the room, and two coffins were carried out, loaded into the hearse, and driven away.

During this time, Grindelwald didn't even flinch. They were just two Muggles, not enough to catch his attention.

He even wanted to know the truth about the prophecy.

It concerned how he was going to deal with Cred—Aurelius.

The dove had taken over the magpie's nest and entered the opulent room.

His followers found this very strange because Grindelwald initiated these actions, and now they needed further orders for the next step.

And only Grindelwald could give those orders and instructions.

After careful consideration, Grindelwald still felt the need to fight for it, even though his chances were greatly diminished by the surname Dumbledore.

"After we clean up this place, it will be quite comfortable," Grindelwald said as he paced around the room with his hands behind his back. He then turned to a Wiccan and instructed, "Send my greetings to Aurelius Dumbledore. I would like to speak with him."

"With all due respect, sir, why must we treat a young boy with such formality? Let's just capture him," suggested an East Asian man with a long beard, his bald head quite conspicuous.

"...Mr. Sotero, set aside your arrogance. We have joined forces for the greater good. We must secure all the power we can to overcome our greatest obstacle," Grindelwald, who had always been self-centered, surprisingly responded politely to the Eastern wizard.

"Albus Dumbledore?"

"For certain reasons, I cannot act against him. And, of course, he cannot act against me. Credence—or Aurelius—is the one who will aid us in killing Dumbledore," Grindelwald explained.

"I have heard a little about Dumbledore. Over a year ago, you abandoned your family business and went to America in search of the power to defeat Dumbledore. Are you just like these ten young boys?"

Grindelwald felt a surge of anger as he thought about this."No, at that time, I placed my hope on the Obscurus. As long as I was given a little time, I could activate its powerful power to destroy Dumbledore. Unfortunately - just when I was about to visit, those damn arrogant people in the MACUSA ruined everything, and their curse tore Obscurus into pieces."

Grindelwald did not mind sharing his failures. He firmly believed that no one could succeed forever, and this was not the first time he had tasted failure. Failure tastes like a sour lemon.

Vinda wisely presented a skull-shaped snuff pipe.

Grindelwald took a deep breath, and the two dark eyes of the skeleton burned.

For the Greater Good, 1898. It is not only the core idea of the Alliance Party but also the ideal that Grindelwald adhered to throughout his life.

A thick smoke and dust billowed, and a scene he had witnessed nine months ago suddenly appeared.

The devastating Obscurus ravaged the entire New York City but was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of dozens of Aurors.

He set down the snuff bottle and watched as the scene replayed and dissolved:

"Originally, we had two choices, but with the death of the last remaining Obscurial, we only have one choice left."