When Ivan returned to Hogwarts, he was greeted by the sight of a large crowd of Aurors surrounding the castle, several professors and Ministry of Magic officials gathered in front of the Great Hall to discuss something, even the acting Minister, Pierce.
"Sir Harls, you're finally back…" Dawlish, who was guarding the entrance to the hall, was relieved to see Ivan and hurried over.
"Tell me, what happened?" Yvonne asked, although she already had an idea.
Dawlish did not try to hide anything from them and told them everything that had happened during the attack, although he did slightly alter the ending to make it seem as if Grindelwald had retreated voluntarily and been beaten off by the Aurors.
Having personally experienced Grindelwald's prowess, Ivan was well aware of the slight exaggeration in Dawlish's words, but he chose not to point it out. Instead, he went on to ask about the most important casualties, as his friends were still at Hogwarts.
"The four professors sustained minor injuries while fighting off the attackers, frightening most of the students, but fortunately, no one was killed," Dawlish reported, revealing that Snape had been treated for snake venom and that Harry Potter was being hunted by the attackers.
Ivan was relieved to hear that the students were only mildly frightened.
Even though he had guessed Grindelwald would try to steal something, he did not expect him to move so quickly. Continuous, high-intensity combat would only worsen the effects of Dark Magic on the body, and given Grindelwald's condition, he would almost certainly lose his life in battle again!
Furthermore, if he returned to Hogwarts in the middle of the war, Grindelwald would most likely die there.
Apparently aware of this, however, the attacker acted decisively and without hesitation. After defeating Harry and regaining control of the Elder Wand, they immediately retreated.
As for the fact that there were no casualties, Ivan was somewhat surprised, but on second thought, he guessed that Grindelwald had held back.
After all, Hogwarts was home to hundreds of young wizards and witches, as well as hundreds of wizarding families, and Grindelwald prided himself on being the saviour of the wizarding world.
"Do you know who the attacker was, Sir Harls?" Dawlish asked curiously when Ivan seemed lost in thought.
"The attacker was Gellert Grindelwald!" Ivan said.
"Grindelwald?!" Dawlish muttered, frowning. He had a vague feeling he had heard the name before, but he could not place it.
"Grindelwald? The Dark Lord who terrorised Europe decades ago?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she led the professors to join them. "Are you absolutely sure it's him, Harls? As far as I know, Grindelwald was defeated by Albus over fifty years ago and should be in custody in Newmungard…"
"You're right, but the problem is that now that Headmaster Dumbledore is gone, a prison alone is not going to hold him," Ivan said with a shrug.
McGonagall, Flitwick, and the others looked at each other with a chill in their hearts. Unlike the younger generation of wizards like Dawlish, many of them had lived through that era and knew exactly what Grindelwald's escape meant—the man who had single-handedly thrown Europe into chaos!
Pierce was having a headache. Britain was in enough trouble as it was, with the Grindelwald before their own Dark Lord, Voldemort, could be dealt with…
England… it's over!
Ivan noticed the worried looks on their faces and, to boost morale, he said, "By the way, I almost forgot to mention that Voldemort is dead!"
"What?! You-Know-Who's dead?" Pearce, Dawlish, and the others froze, wondering if they had misheard.
As if suddenly remembering something, the professors asked, "Grindelwald told us this before. Is it true?"
Ivan nodded. "I saw Lord Voldemort die in Newmengard!"
"Could Grindelwald have killed him?" When he heard that Lord Voldemort had died in Newmengard, McGonagall immediately guessed that Grindelwald might have been responsible, and that Grindelwald had the power to do so!
However, none of them were happy about it. In their eyes, Lord Voldemort was a monster that was too powerful to be defeated, and Grindelwald was able to kill him.
"Don't worry, Grindelwald might not be as good as Voldemort. Harry and Snape were the main reason why he won so well!" Ivan half-joked, half-jokingly.
McGonagall and the others had been briefed by the two of them before, so they were not surprised by this news. They quickly confirmed it with each other and believed it.
"So are we going to report this? And what about You-Know-Who's death? Can't say Grindelwald did it, can we?" Pierce asked worriedly.
Grindelwald would not be able to hide the fact that he had caused such chaos in the castle. He had even predicted that his desk would be covered in howler letters from his parents tomorrow!
The only good thing was that none of the students died, or he would have been in a worse position.
"Killing Voldemort was the work of Harry Potter, Professor Snape, and the Ministry of Magic… Grindelwald could not have done it without all of them working together to push Voldemort over the edge," Ivan said, setting the tone.
Now that Grindelwald had said he didn't want the credit, Ivan wasn't going to hold back.
"As for his attack on Hogwarts…" said Ivan, after a moment's thought. "Put Grissom in the papers and inform the International Confederation of Wizards that Grindelwald's escape is not just a British matter, nor is Nurmengard our concern. Let these people suffer for a while…"
If he had been Grindelwald, he would not have foolishly chosen to grow his influence in Britain after taking control of the Elder Wand.
After all, Grindelwald had made this place a solid fortress, and trying to recruit believers in Britain would be met with an all-out crackdown. In contrast, going to the Continent where there were no rivals was the best plan!
The British Ministry of Magic had limited influence on the Continent and could not reach that far, nor could it send a large number of people to search for Grindelwald, so it was better to blame the International Confederation of Wizards and encourage them to go after Grindelwald…