He seemed to have been waiting here for quite some time.
"I've said it many times: the Dark Lord has always believed I am a double agent he planted by your side. Therefore, our occasional meetings can be perfectly open. There's no need to come to the rooftop every time..."
Dumbledore turned around as Victor Wick appeared beside him, seemingly out of thin air.
"When one stands at a great height, their thoughts are always more concentrated and focused, Victor... So much has happened recently that I must think things through carefully."
"And have you thought of anything?"
"No, it is a tangled mess," Dumbledore admitted honestly.
Gellert Grindelwald's sudden intervention had filled the matter with mystery.
"Did the old man not tell the truth?"
"He told a little, but it made no difference whether he said it or not... However, it is certain that he indeed saw glimpses of the future."
"What do you want me to do?" Victor Wick asked.
"Then do as Grindelwald said; act according to your own will," Dumbledore replied calmly.
"Fine... Every single one of you is so mysterious. The thing I hate most in this life is people who talk in riddles."
Dumbledore shrugged. "I hate them too... which is why I gave him a bit of punishment."
"Punishment? Did you tell him you won't talk to him anymore?" Victor laughed.
"If he hadn't suddenly come looking for you, I wouldn't have planned to talk to him at all," Dumbledore whispered.
"I don't quite understand. How can a man like him still be alive after his defeat..." Victor asked the question that had puzzled him for a long time.
Even if the crimes Grindelwald committed back then weren't as many as Voldemort's, for the wizarding world, they were still too numerous to count.
Logically, he shouldn't be alive. His enemies had no reason to let him live.
Yet this old man was living quite well, and no one had come seeking revenge...
"He is a symbol, Victor, and so he must remain alive. Otherwise, the world would have fallen into chaos at the time," Dumbledore explained helplessly.
"A symbol?"
"His revolution attracted many wizards... Unquestionably, his ideals were very appealing to many young and ambitious wizards. Therefore, even though we defeated him, we could not kill him."
"I think I understand... If he died, as the founder and spiritual leader of that revolution, his followers might continue to cause trouble under the banner of avenging him and fulfilling his legacy. Peace would have been difficult to achieve. But if he remained alive after his defeat and was imprisoned, it proved that he himself had surrendered. Since he had conceded and felt his ideology would not succeed, his followers could no longer cause trouble in his name, and the world returned to peace..."
"That is roughly it. You are as sharp as ever, Victor." Dumbledore gave Victor Wick an appreciative look.
After a long moment, Dumbledore saw that Victor was still in deep thought and remained silent, so he couldn't help but ask, "I heard... Gringotts was attacked..."
Victor Wick sighed. "Yes... it was attacked. That fellow fired two Killing Curses at me and the Gringotts goblins. Several goblins lost their lives later on. If it had been that big fellow Hagrid instead of me, he might have succeeded. As you know, Hagrid isn't very good at handling such situations..."
"Was it Quirrell?" Dumbledore asked gravely.
"If it were Quirrell, I would have caught him already... That attacker was likely Voldemort." Victor's tone was very cold.
Dumbledore turned around abruptly. "Are you certain?"
"Even though he had his head and face completely wrapped up, I still remember his every move! How could I fail to recognize him? It's just that his magical power seems far inferior to what it once was." Victor looked at Dumbledore helplessly. "If you weren't so lazy and had gone to Gringotts yourself to fetch the Philosopher's Stone, maybe you could have caught a weakened Voldemort today!"
Dumbledore frowned deeply. "Reasonably speaking, it shouldn't be possible... After Voldemort was hit by his own rebounding curse, how could he possibly restore his body to such a state so easily?"
"Besides that, there is one more thing I don't understand, Professor," Victor said.
"What are you thinking?"
"I find it suspicious..." Victor continued. "Based on my knowledge of him, he has always been an extremely cautious man. Logically, before he regained his full strength, even if he recognized me, he wouldn't easily reveal his identity! Because he couldn't be sure if I was still loyal to him!"
"He let you recognize him on purpose?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes... It would have been very easy for him to escape, even if his magical power is much weaker than before. However, he didn't flee immediately. Instead, he chose to fight me for a while... Did he not know that doing so would allow me to recognize him?"
"He might have been testing you, seeing if you were still loyal to him," Dumbledore mused. "Actually, this is a good thing. The fact that he decided to risk testing you proves that his expectations of you are higher than for any other Death Eater! He hopes you remain loyal and wants your help."
"I'm starting to think so too..." Victor nodded.
"If that's the case, our future actions must be more cautious... We will proceed with the original plan and must not reveal that we know he has returned." Dumbledore stared at Victor. "Furthermore, you absolutely cannot let him discover that you truly belong to our side! At the critical moment, you must cooperate with him! Your identity is of vital importance! This way, even if he eventually returns at his peak, we still have plenty of room to maneuver..."
"I know. That's why I started preparing the moment you mentioned he might not be dead. Otherwise, where did my notoriety come from? Who in the underworld doesn't know that Victor Wick still secretly smuggles Dark Arts artifacts and searches for the Dark Lord's whereabouts?" Victor said with a sigh.
Dumbledore relaxed, a slight smile appearing on his face once more. "That is perhaps why he decided to risk testing you. Heh... I knew you were as reliable as ever."
After a period of silence, Victor said, "I will find a way to figure out his so-called method for 'immortality.'"
"I trust you, Victor... By the way, how is that boy, Harry?"
"He is indeed a good kid. Growing up in such an environment, he hasn't become warped at all... Haven't you already sent people to watch him? Why ask me?" Victor said.
"You knew?"
"Otherwise, you wouldn't have suddenly called me to pick him up..." Victor frowned and said, "Since you knew about his situation long ago, why haven't you intervened? If Lily and James knew..."
"I originally intended for him to have a better childhood, so I didn't plan to tell him the truth so early."
"Do you think his childhood was good?" Victor stared at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sighed. "I'm sorry, it was an oversight on my part... I originally thought that family affection should be the most beautiful emotion in this world..."
"Professor, you're far too idealistic! You can't even handle your own brother... Aberforth has scolded you in front of us more than once."
Dumbledore rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "I still think he's just stern on the outside but soft on the inside. He's a good brother..."
Victor had no intention of discussing family further with Dumbledore and brought the conversation back to the topic at hand.
"Right, regarding Voldemort, I have one more thing to say. At Gringotts, the strength he initially showed wasn't great. I even easily backed him into a corner. Later, seeing that he was about to be caught, he suddenly became powerful! This change in performance was as if he had become a different person..."
Hearing this, a spark of brilliance suddenly flashed in Dumbledore's azure eyes.