"You didn't run."
Grindelwald said.
There was a subtle appreciation in his tone, as if he were looking at a bird that had not flown away as expected.
"Headmaster Dumbledore invited you here."
Sean said.
He was not asking a question.
In fact, although the matter was shocking, it was also within expectations.
The wizarding world was becoming more and more dangerous. The second war had already begun. How could Hogwarts' safety be guaranteed?
Sean could only think of two wizards.
"He told me to come, so I came."
Grindelwald laughed carelessly.
This smile was even more casual, and the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened with it.
"Oh."
Sean did not know how to respond.
"You're his favorite student?"
Grindelwald tilted his head slightly.
"Tell me, if I kill you here, will Dumbledore mourn you?"
Sean shrank back a little.
He began thinking about whether he could defeat the Dark wizard in front of him.
Perhaps the first Dark Lord.
In the end, he reached a conclusion.
He could run.
"Young wizards can never take a joke."
Seeing the young wizard look as if he were facing a great enemy, Grindelwald curled his lips, then sat down in the chair.
A fleeting light flashed deep in his eyes.
The young wizard in front of him quickly regained his calm. Grindelwald knew that a wizard's calm could only come from the confidence brought by great magical power.
Just as he had expected, this was an especially interesting young wizard.
"Did Dumbledore tell you I would come?"
Grindelwald sat leisurely and asked casually.
"No. But you are sitting here, and you are using your real name. This castle does not allow Apparition. Anti-Apparition wards cover every entrance. In the portrait corridors, seven former Headmasters' portraits take turns patrolling. If Professor Dumbledore did not know you were here, you would not have made it to this chair."
Sean said calmly.
"There has never been a place I wanted to go that anyone could stop me from reaching."
Grindelwald seemed to have heard a joke.
"This is Hogwarts."
He heard the young wizard in front of him say softly.
"And?"
He laughed wildly.
Then, with some surprise, he saw the black-haired wizard take out his wand.
"Oh—"
He suddenly took a step forward and stared at this somewhat overconfident young wizard.
Wind passed through the examination ground.
The leaves at the edge of the Forbidden Forest rustled. In the distance, the surface of the Black Lake shimmered in the sunlight.
Sean's wand was still in his hand, its tip slightly raised.
Facing this Dark wizard second only to Voldemort in the history of European magic, he did not retreat or cry out, as any normal third-year student should have done.
He simply stood where he was, looking at Gellert Grindelwald with an unusually calm gaze.
"He brought out a fairly decent Gryffindor."
The oppressive air around Grindelwald suddenly loosened. He lazily looked away. In those emerald eyes, he saw a lion ready to emerge.
"You've mistaken me. I'm a Ravenclaw."
Sean silently put his hand behind his back.
"Hmm?"
Grindelwald frowned.
"I knew it. That old thing has been used for so long, it should have gone wrong by now. Tattered, filthy—"
Then his brows smoothed out.
He looked like a wizard who never worried about anything.
"I hope you enjoy your stay at Hogwarts."
After confirming that the Dark Lord before him was indeed as he had imagined, Sean concluded that Headmaster Dumbledore remained wise.
So Sean prepared to leave.
At the same time, he relaxed slightly.
With Grindelwald here, at least Hogwarts was safe.
"You plan to leave?"
Grindelwald said.
Sean looked at Grindelwald with a strange gaze, thinking about what this Dark Lord, who never acted according to common sense, intended to do.
Was he really planning to make Headmaster Dumbledore mourn?
If he had never thought of doing that, how could he make such a joke?
"Do you want to—"
"In that case, oh, I can only give your exam a zero."
Silence lasted between the two of them for about three breaths.
Sean felt this was the first time he had thought too badly of someone.
"Sorry, sir."
"You think you judged me too harshly?"
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Grindelwald."
Sean felt somewhat guilty.
The other party had come to Hogwarts to help them resist the danger that would arrive soon.
The young wizards here were, more or less, receiving his protection.
"I suggest you think of me as badly as possible. Perhaps even that will not be enough."
Grindelwald walked closer, his smile carrying obvious malice.
Then Grindelwald raised his hand and drew his wand from inside his cloak.
It was a dark brown wand, slightly shorter than a standard one, its handle worn smooth and shiny.
He casually drew an arc in midair.
"Shall we begin?"
he said, then sat down on the chair in the center of the lawn and took out a piece of paper.
"Third-year Defense Against the Dark Arts practical exam, final group. Exam content includes: Shield Charm, defensive reactions against unknown spells, and—based on the substitute professor's on-site judgment—possible additional optional items."
Sean walked to the center of the examination ground.
The ground was packed earth, and the dew from early morning had not yet dried.
Mist surged at calf height around him, making him look as if he were standing in a sea of clouds.
His wand was already in his hand.
Grindelwald looked at him and said,
"Shield Charm. I don't need to tell you what to do."
Sean raised his wand and clearly recited the incantation.
A transparent barrier spread out before him. It was the common silver-white color.
The edges of the barrier were clear and stable, without the slightest ripple.
Grindelwald said nothing.
He rose from his chair, walked over to Sean, and drew a wand. That wand was not taken from a pocket; it slid from his sleeve directly into his palm.
The movement was as smooth as breathing.
The tip of the wand lightly touched the golden barrier.
The barrier hummed, but it did not shatter. It did not even crack.
Grindelwald withdrew his wand.
"Pass."
"Next item—"
He drew his wand again. His movement was very slow, slower than any professor demonstrating a spell, as though he had deliberately broken the entire motion of drawing a wand into separate frames, allowing one to see clearly how his fingers slid across the handle.
"Reaction against unknown spells—"
he said, and casually released two spells.
Sean reacted quickly. The instant he cast the Shield Charm, he also dodged the second spell.
Grindelwald snorted.
"Shield Charm and evasion can only buy time when facing true Dark Magic. They cannot win a duel. Your professors will not teach you this—this is not part of a standard wizarding curriculum. But I think you need to know one thing."
He walked up to Sean and stopped.
"You avoided those spells just now, but you did not counterattack."
"I didn't know what those spells were."
Sean said after thinking.
"When facing unknown spells, prioritize defense or evasion. Do not counterattack rashly."
"That does sound very much like Hogwarts teaching."
Grindelwald grinned.
"But that is for ordinary students. You are not ordinary."
Sean said nothing.
"When facing an unknown spell, your opponent will not give you time to identify it. At the same moment your opponent casts one spell, he is already preparing the next.
"If every time your opponent acts, you only defend, you will always be passive. You need to counterattack—not after you recognize the spell, but the very moment it leaves your opponent's wand."
He paused, then said lazily,
"Again. This time, I will not use only one spell."
Grindelwald stood ten steps away from Sean.
The thin morning mist churned between them.
Then he attacked.
It was a chain of three spells. The first was a Stunning Spell, red light shooting straight forward. The second was a Blasting Wind Charm, a massive wave of wind pushing forward like a wall. The third was a silent spell. Sean saw the tip of his wand flash once, but heard no incantation.
Sean did not retreat.
A Shield Charm blocked the Stunning Spell. At the same time, his wand tapped the ground—earth exploded upward into a dirt wall before him, absorbing most of the impact from the Blasting Wind Charm.
Facing the third silent spell, he did not choose defense.
His wand drew an arc through the air. A faint light surged from the tip and shot directly toward Grindelwald himself.
Sectumsempra passed through the spot where Grindelwald had been, but Grindelwald was no longer there.
He had shifted two steps to the side at an almost invisible speed. The spell brushed past the edge of his cloak and struck several mice at the edge of the examination ground.
Grindelwald steadied himself and ignored the mark the spell had left on his cloak.
He watched as the young wizard narrowly dodged that silent spell, his expression odd.
"You're really not a Gryffindor?"
"I am a Ravenclaw."
Sean said.
For the first time, something other than scrutiny appeared in Grindelwald's blue eyes, as if he had seen another person in Sean.
Someone from a very long time ago, someone used to replacing defense with counterattack.
Someone who, without needing him to think too much, made him move his prison.
The silence lasted several seconds.
Then the corners of his mouth formed a complete curve—the first genuine smile Sean had seen from him during this exam.
"What is your name?"
he asked, fully aware of the answer.
The name was written on the parchment on the wooden table, but he still asked.
"Sean Green."
"Green."
He repeated the surname, as if putting the name into a certain drawer of memory, alongside other names.
Then he said,
"Say it again. What is your relationship with Dumbledore?"
"He is my Headmaster, and also my teacher."
Sean felt things had become somewhat strange.
Silence.
Then Grindelwald narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Oh, he is your Headmaster and your teacher. How rare."
He curled his lip and put away his wand.
"Full marks."
All the exams were over.
Even Grindelwald's strange exam.
But compared with Grindelwald's sudden appearance, Sean cared more about where Professor Snape had disappeared to.
If Lucius had been exposed, then Voldemort's choice would be easy to infer.
"You looked carefully, didn't you? That new substitute professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
In the Great Hall, many young wizards were discussing the suddenly appearing substitute professor.
"He's probably not an easy professor to get along with."
A blond young wizard looked somewhat frightened after the fact.
"I wonder where Professor Snape went—"
Justin said to Hermione with hidden meaning.
"I hope he never comes back."
Ron, sitting not far away, answered instinctively.
It was obvious that he was quite excited.
Sean frowned slightly, looking worriedly at the window as rain began to fall again.
Deep in the Forbidden Forest, inside Hagrid's hut,
a fire was rarely lit.
The fireplace crackled, mixing with the patter of raindrops striking the window.
"Severus, how is it going—"
This was a low, full voice.
"Recently, there have only been people I was powerless to save."
A cold voice, trembling slightly, said.
"Severus, over all these years, how many men and women have we witnessed die?"
The low, full voice spoke slowly.
Silence lasted for quite a while.
"The Ministry must change because of this. This is far from enough. Dumbledore, even if there were only fewer deaths—"
Severus's face flickered between light and shadow in the fireplace glow.
Dumbledore stared straight at him, as if confirming whether he was becoming more and more like that young wizard.
"After this period passes, you must return."
Dumbledore said.
"What?"
Snape looked somewhat agitated.
"Soon."
Dumbledore's tone allowed no doubt.
"You think I am a coward?!"
Snape glared at him viciously.
"No. Quite the opposite, Severus."
Dumbledore said calmly.
"Your task is finished. There is something more important for you to complete—Severus, can I trust you?"
Snape gave a cold snort and did not answer.
"He is here—"
After a long while, he finally spoke in a low voice.
Soon, footsteps sounded at the door. The person seemed to hesitate and knock, then the door opened by itself.
Snape disappeared as well.
"Cornelius, you're here."
Dumbledore said.
"Of course, Dumbledore. You invited me."
A plump figure squeezed in.
"The deaths of those people were not accidents, Cornelius. Voldemort has restored his body."
Dumbledore got straight to the point.
Fudge turned pale with shock, as if someone had struck him head-on.
He blinked dazedly and stared blankly at Dumbledore, seeming unable to fully believe what he had just heard.
He stammered, his eyes still fixed on Dumbledore.
"You-Know-Who—has returned? Nonsense. Don't joke, Dumbledore—"
Dumbledore calmly looked at him.
"Listen to me, Dumbledore,"
Fudge said. A hint of a smile actually flashed across his face.
"You—you cannot truly believe that rumor, can you? You-Know-Who—returned? Don't joke. Don't joke—
"Needless to say, those people—how could it be—"