Grindelwald had already used up all his strength. His flaming bat had grown even more intense.
However...
Dumbledore's fire phoenix, though it appeared less fierce than the bat, continued to hold back the flaming bat's onslaught with unwavering stability.
Even as the fire bat began to fracture and lose control from the overwhelming amount of magic poured into it, it still couldn't overcome the fire phoenix.
Seeing that Grindelwald still refused to give up, Dumbledore let out a soft sigh and gave his wand a slight flick.
The fire phoenix tilted its head gently, and a large chunk of the fire bat's wing was instantly torn away.
Grindelwald's magical power had always been slightly inferior to Dumbledore's from the start.
Only with the aid of the Elder Wand had he been able to stand on equal footing with the Dumbledore of the past.
But now… against the Dumbledore who had found enlightenment, the gap in magical strength between them had become painfully obvious.
In a battle of raw power like this, Grindelwald was at a clear disadvantage from the start.
And under Dumbledore's overwhelming might, even trying to play tricks was utterly futile...
He could only watch helplessly as his flaming bat was gradually consumed by the fire phoenix.
A wave of weakness followed closely behind...
Pfft!
Just as the fire bat was completely devoured, Dumbledore gave a flick of his wand, and the now-enormous fire phoenix vanished in an instant.
At the same time, a wand spun up into the air in a slow arc...
In that moment, time seemed to freeze.
Within the Chamber, all those still conscious silently witnessed this historic scene.
Pa...
Dumbledore reached out and gently caught the knotted, weathered wand—the Elder Wand.
Grindelwald stared at his now-empty hands, his eyes vacant, as if all the strength in his body had been drained away with that soaring wand...
"I... I lost... I actually lost..." Grindelwald murmured to himself.
"Gellert... let it go. The future you foresaw was never real. Why do you still cling to it so desperately?" Dumbledore said softly as he slowly approached Grindelwald.
"You... stay back! Don't come any closer..." Grindelwald roared.
Dumbledore stopped in his tracks, and the coldness in his gaze gradually gave way to something softer—pity.
Grindelwald looked up at him weakly.
That sentence from Dumbledore had truly broken through his defenses...
Back then, the reason Grindelwald pursued the Deathly Hallows, the reason he wanted to rule the world...
It was because, in his youth, the moment he first heard the term "Deathly Hallows," his gift of prophecy had shown him a vision.
In that vision, he had successfully become the master of the magical world.
That was why, from a young age, he began plotting to obtain the Hallows.
And it was precisely because he was searching for them that he came to Godric's Hollow, said to be the resting place of one of the Peverells—and there, he met the young Albus Dumbledore.
And now, Dumbledore... the partner who once shared his ideals, was telling him that the vision he had seen wasn't real.
It was like violently shattering a lifelong belief.
"My prophecies have never been wrong! You know that, Dumbledore!" Grindelwald gasped.
"No one is infallible, Gellert. Give it up… you've already lost, and the Elder Wand is now in my hands. That alone is the strongest proof," Dumbledore said with pity.
"My personal defeat doesn't mean my prophecy was wrong! That scene I witnessed—it will become reality! The wand taken from me, I will reclaim it one day! Just because you've taken the Elder Wand doesn't prove anything!" Grindelwald shouted angrily.
"…Then there's nothing more to say," Dumbledore replied quietly.
"I know you won't kill me. You want to drag me off to stand trial… But even if you're stronger than me now—if you won't kill me, do you really think you can hold me?"
Grindelwald sneered, and a large black shadow suddenly burst from his pocket!
Dumbledore's brow furrowed. With a flick of his wand, the black shadow exploded in midair!
A sharp, piercing scream rang out from within the dark mass.
It turned into a massive sheet of black gauze, sweeping toward Dumbledore.
By the time he tore through the gauze, blue blood splattered across the floor.
And Grindelwald, who had been standing before him just moments ago—was gone.
Dumbledore's expression darkened, and he immediately gave chase.
In an instant, the once-chaotic chamber fell silent again, leaving only three conscious children behind.
Anne quickly turned to look at where her aunt had been lying, trying to think of a way to help her escape.
But then she realized—Vinda Rosier, who had been on the ground just moments before, had somehow disappeared without a trace!
Anne was shocked and overjoyed all at once. At last, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Wade grinned. "Tom, take notes. Whether it's villains or heroes, after winning, you should never talk too much. As they say... villains die from monologuing. Mm, and heroes fall into the same trap! See? Professor Dumbledore talked too much, and Grindelwald got away."
Tom glanced at Wade but didn't say anything. In his opinion, the one who talked the most was this bastard Wade.
Because after every stunt he pulled—good or bad—he always had to say a few words to show off...
Hmm... still, that lesson was worth remembering. When he was stronger than Wade in the future, he definitely wouldn't waste his breath.
After a moment of silence, Tom finally said, "Grindelwald ran off and you're still so happy? After how badly you pissed him off today, you're seriously not afraid he'll come back for revenge?"
"Afraid of what? Tsk tsk.. Tom, pull yourself together. We're under Professor Dumbledore's protection! We can hold our heads up high!"
Wade said this cheerfully as he ran over to the unconscious Alliance members lying on the ground. He reached out with greedy hands and happily began looting his spoils of war.
"You... what are you doing?" Anne tried to stop him but then quickly remembered her own position.
"They were taken down by me and Tom, so all the equipment on them belongs to me... and Tom!" Wade said as he patted Tom on the shoulder. "Failing to loot after a battle is basically begging to be struck by lightning!"
Tom's body stiffened. "No... I had nothing to do with this. You were the one who knocked them out... You brewed the knockout potions, and you made the dung bomb knockouts too... Everyone knows my potions earlier only knocked me out! So these so-called spoils are all yours. They've got nothing to do with me!"
Wade might not be afraid of Grindelwald's revenge, but Tom definitely was...
Anne was someone sent by Grindelwald. There was no way Tom dared admit he had taken part in the takedown of the Alliance members in front of her.
What if she went back and reported him? He'd be the one getting hunted down!
Just remembering that moment when Grindelwald's wand was pressed against his throat, with that flash of green light—Tom shuddered. The mere thought terrified him...
Until he was strong enough, he absolutely couldn't afford to put himself in danger.
"Tom... how did I never realize what a coward you are?" Wade snorted. "You think that just because you don't admit it, Grindelwald won't come after you? Didn't you see just now? The guy's already lost it!"
While scaring Tom, Wade fished out a large gold pocket watch from an Alliance member's pocket.
"Ooh, nice. Want it?"
"No, I don't," Tom said quickly, his face still pale as he shook his head.
"Then it's mine!"
Tom and Anne watched as Wade finished his looting spree and began tying up the unconscious Alliance members tightly with coarse hemp rope.
"Huh? Why are you two just standing there? There are still a bunch of unconscious professors at the entrance! Shouldn't you be helping them?" Wade said discontentedly.
Anne and Tom both rolled their eyes at the same time.
Who was the one so obsessed with looting that he completely forgot about the unconscious professors?
Still, even though they were grumbling inside, neither of them stayed idle any longer.
While Wade tied up the Alliance members who had been knocked out by the professors, Tom and Anne were in charge of reviving the unconscious professors.
But faced with the professors who had been stunned by Grindelwald himself, both Tom and Anne found themselves helpless.
They couldn't tell what spells the professors had been hit with, and none of the standard counter-curses seemed to work...
By the time Wade had all the Alliance members strung up, he turned around and was met with Tom and Anne's pleading looks.
"Alright, alright... let me take a look," Wade muttered, crouching down in front of Headmaster Dippet.
He first tapped the headmaster's body with his wand, carefully scanning him. Then he pried open one of Dippet's eyelids to examine further.
After checking, Wade's expression shifted—he immediately understood what was going on.
Grindelwald's Dark Magic was indeed strange, but fortunately, the Somnolen family's private library just happened to contain records of it.
Zing!
A streak of purple shot from Wade's wand and struck the headmaster's forehead.
"Whew…" Headmaster Dippet let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes.
Wade's knowledge left both Tom and Anne stunned.
They were quite certain that nothing like this spell was ever covered in the school curriculum—or even in the Hogwarts library.
And yet Wade was able to break it without a hitch.
Clearly, Wade must have absorbed a vast amount of knowledge from sources far less... "legal."
As far as Tom was concerned, this had to be the deep-rooted foundation passed down from that mysterious "family" Wade never talked about.
Hah... pure-blood families! So unfair.
"Ugh.. Has Albus returned?" Headmaster Dippet asked the moment he opened his eyes.
"Yes, Headmaster. He's back—and he managed to defeat Grindelwald. But Grindelwald escaped. Professor Dumbledore is pursuing him as we speak," Wade replied.
"That's wonderful to hear... Hm? Oof... Eh?"
Headmaster Dippet checked over his own body.
And then he was startled to discover that the strange Dark Magic afflicting him had been completely lifted!
"Was it you who woke me?"
"Yes. I happened to know a bit about that particular spell," Wade answered honestly.
Headmaster Dippet looked quietly at Wade for a long moment before letting out a sigh. "The younger generation truly is formidable..."
Wade didn't explain further. He knew Dippet would naturally assume that his understanding of Dark Magic came from that "family" Wade had once fabricated—a family that didn't actually exist.
Otherwise, there'd be no way to account for the source of his knowledge.
Wade hadn't expected that the fake "family" he made up on a whim would continue to benefit him even now.
Looks like from now on, whenever there's some knowledge I can't explain... just blame it on that mysterious Reynolds family.
A tree grown from an unintentional seed...
Headmaster Dippet quietly stood up, picked up his wand, and began treating the other professors.
That had been Wade's plan from the start—reviving the headmaster first meant he wouldn't need to do the rest himself.
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