Archaeologists at Hogwarts

Chapter 219 War without smoke

Everything has answers now.

It was Gertler Grindelwald who was studying ancient magic. Lockhart and Regulus were both his people, and it was he who replaced Dumbledore's current position.

But why did Grindelwald do this?

How is it done?

Hasn't he been locked up in Nurmengard since he was defeated by the principal?

In the ancient magic office, Banban, who was locked in a cage, couldn't help but fall asleep due to fatigue. Angela and Al also fell asleep on the sofa.

Only Toby was still awake.

He was staring at the three items on the table - the diary, the locket, and the pen of access. He remembered what Dumbledore had told him during the holidays - to use these three items to find a way to find Voldemort's identity.

Locations, and many more similar items.

Could this be a clue?

After all, since the explanation that day, Dumbledore has never asked Toby about this matter again. Of course, it is also possible that that person has become Grindelwald.

Could it be that the principal is staying with Voldemort? Or is it that the principal has other items related to Voldemort that he has secretly hidden?

In this way, after Toby succeeds, he can find the principal?

wrong

Toby suddenly turned his attention to the motionless pen of admission. He picked up the quill, then picked up a blank piece of parchment and scrawled on it: "Principal, can you see this?

?”

Among these three items, only the Pen of Access is most closely related to the position of principal. Even if Dumbledore is missing and the password to the principal's office is known to Grindelwald, Grindelwald is still not the real principal.

Toby waited patiently for a while, and just when he was about to give up, he suddenly found that the pen of admission floated by itself, and then Toby's question on the parchment continued: "It seems that you already know, my original prediction

At least a week, now - let me see, it's only been one day since school started. He's right, I have a great student."

The pen of admission stopped and didn't move.

Toby read the words on the parchment carefully. As he gradually relaxed, he once again held the pen of admission and wrote: "Headmaster, where are you now? Are you imprisoned in Nurmengard?"

"

"No." Dumbledore replied on the parchment: "I was in Azkaban and was trapped here by Grindelwald in disguise. He persuaded all the dementors in the prison to do things for him. Once I refused

, will use them to cause war. How about your side?"

"Fortunately." Toby wrote: "I abolished the school board and established a Black Devil Foundation. Lucius is now my subordinate. Oh, by the way, I also found out that Black was framed.

Yes, Peter Pettigrew was the one who really leaked the secret, and now I have caught him. In addition, Peter still leaked the secret under the threat of Grindelwald. I now suspect that James and Lily may not be dead, and I don’t know what to do.

You shouldn't have rushed into the principal's office to interrogate Grindelwald."

The other end of the quill was silent for a long time, so long that Toby thought Dumbledore had fallen asleep.

"Principal, are you still there?"

"Toby, I'm only leaving for a month, not a whole year, right? Maybe I should leave for a longer time, so that you can be more secure in your position as principal. Maybe even the Minister of Magic will listen to you.

The transfer order. I told that person that we could see who would sit in the principal's seat when I come back, but I didn't expect that I still underestimated you."

"Now is not the time to praise me, principal! You can save these words for later. Isn't it time to think hard about how to catch Grindelwald?"

"I'm not really complimenting you, but, well, this problem really needs to be solved urgently, which is why I deliberately left this quill for you."

"Then when do you plan to take action again?"

"Now."

Toby stared at this answer for a long time.

This time, it was Dumbledore who came to question him.

"Are you still there, Toby?"

"No -" Toby erased this line and wrote quickly: "Are you serious?! Even I never thought that I could subdue the first generation Dark Lord by myself! What I just said

It’s just a joke to interrogate him!”

"But I'm not joking." Toby wrote at the same speed after seeing the pen of approval: "I know Grindelwald and I know clearly that he will not make decisions easily. Now we have two doubts.

, one is the reason why he really decided to escape from trouble, and the other is how he managed to develop his subordinates in Nurmengard many years ago."

"As for the first point, the reason Grindelwald gave me was that he foresaw two different prophecies."

"Many years ago, Grindelwald foresaw his own death. But just some time ago, he told me that the prophecy had changed, and the place of his death had also changed. Not only him, but my death prophecy also appeared,

And we all died at your hands."

Toby read this passage twice carefully. He had no intention of killing Grindelwald because this man was too far away from him.

As for killing Dumbledore with his own hands?

Forget it, even when Toby was at his craziest, he only wanted to steal the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts, and had no plan to actually kill Dumbledore.

In this comparison, Toby feels that he is quite kind.

Obviously, Dumbledore thought so too, and he continued to write in his control pen: "I occasionally fantasize about my own death, but I never thought that I would die in your hands. Do you know why?

?”

"Why?" Toby asked curiously.

"Because I don't think I will survive that time."

With a very philosophical answer, Toby decided to move on to the next topic.

"What about your second doubt?"

"Now I have to ask about your ancient magic. Do you think you can destroy the blood alliance with the help of magic array?"

Blood alliance?

Toby understands that this magic is related to the contract.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because before Grindelwald was imprisoned in Nurmengard, we made a blood pact so that Grindelwald could stay in prison honestly. I know very well that he alone cannot destroy this.

It is a blood pact, but it will be different if there is a magic circle. Because as long as he learns the magic circle, he no longer needs to use a wand, and can destroy the blood pact just by casting spells without a wand."

"How could he learn the magic circle? This kind of magic has not appeared for a long time, at least it was the first one I discovered in thousands of years."

"I also know this, Toby. But what about the magic ball? Why did Grindelwald take the magic ball? I now suspect that the prophecy scenes he showed me later were all illusions he created through the magic ball. Then

It's so lifelike that it doesn't look fake at all. And as long as he has the magic circle, he can break through the guards of Nurmengard, because a prison cannot strictly guard magic that has never appeared before."

"It's even more impossible for him to control the magic ball! I have completely occupied the magic ball through ritual magic. No one can control it-unless."

Toby suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Unless Grindelwald knows what the magic ball is made of, it is currently in a damaged state and cannot use the seven-pointed star magic circle. However, Grindelwald successfully repaired it, so it can be used.

"

Dumbledore replied: "This is what worries me the most. Even Grindelwald has begun to study ancient magic in depth. You and I both know how dangerous it is."

Of course Toby knew that ancient magic threatened not only the people who cast magic, but especially the dark side of ancient magic - don't expect wizards from thousands of years ago to behave as they do now, when even the Unforgivable Curse was legal.

He hurriedly asked: "Then what's your plan?"

"It's very simple."

Toby didn't know where Dumbledore's confidence came from.

"This problem can be looked at separately. One comes from Grindelwald, and the other comes from the dementors who obey his orders."

"What about his men?"

"Those people are not important now, at least not the most important."

Toby thought of Lockhart and Regulus. Also, Grindelwald would definitely not have many men, otherwise he would just make a comeback with great fanfare, and there would be no need to be sneaky.

"Grindelwald formed a blood pact with me, which prevented me from actively contacting you, but you could contact me through the Pen of Access. This was a loophole I deliberately left. Correspondingly, the blood pact also did the same to Grindelwald

Without restrictions, he cannot harm anyone in the school, so you are safe for the time being."

Toby asked while silently postponing the calculation of the headmaster position: "Then what we really have to deal with next are the dementors?"

"That's right, including the dementors in Azkaban and the ones in the school. I'll handle it here in Azkaban. As for the school - in order to avoid alerting the enemy, now you go find Severus. His

The patron saint is extremely powerful and can protect you for a long time."

Can someone like Severus summon a Patronus?

Toby never knew about this.

"What does his patronus look like?"

"You can ask him and he will tell you personally if he is willing."

"Okay, I'll give it a try when I get the chance. What about Grindelwald? It's also to avoid alerting the enemy, so you plan to let me face him alone?"

"You are indeed my most amazing student, Toby. You can figure out the key to the problem in no time."

Toby took two deep breaths and forced the curse words that flew to his lips back into his throat.

"Listen to me, Toby, you are the safest. Both Severus and I need to face hundreds, or even thousands of dementors in my case. And you only need to withstand Grindelwald's

The first attack - then he will destroy the blood alliance without permission, and I can rush back to help you deal with him. I know very well who is the greater threat. There is no doubt that no matter how many dementors there are, they can't keep up with one who is good at deceiving people.

Grindelwald."

"Moreover, I know very well that you have the ability to do this, otherwise I would not assign you such a task. You also know your own abilities very well."

Toby remained silent.

After a while, he continued to write:

"Are you referring to the devil? But Harry Potter and I are different. Once you successfully summon it, it is difficult to take it back."

"I will help you, Toby, just like I did when you were at school. Severus will be willing to do the same."

"Don't mention him, my devil doesn't like him - well, Headmaster, I will go find Grindelwald, as long as you don't blame me for the destruction of the castle office."

"If it's just these costs, I'm willing to bear it. Go ahead, Toby, we are ending a war that hasn't started yet, go ahead."

A flame ignited in Toby's palm, burning the parchment full of writing, and then scattered the smoke into the air.

He stood up, walked to Al, and pushed it gently twice.

"Huh?" Al asked drowsily.

"Give me the scepter." Toby said softly.

Al's eyelids moved, and he suddenly opened his eyes and looked straight at Toby.

"If there is any danger later, take Angela and leave Hogwarts quickly. Don't forget to take the cage with you. It's hard to make sure Peter didn't lie to us."

Under Al's worried eyes, Toby held the wand tightly and cast the Disillusionment Curse. After thinking about it for a while, he handed his wand to Al, just in case.

He closed the door gently, not even disturbing the portraits in the corridor, and walked silently all the way to the first basement floor of the castle and walked to the potion office.

"Severus, it's me." Toby knocked lightly on the door.

There was a slight noise from the room, and a few seconds later, Snape opened the door and walked out.

He looked at Toby with strange eyes, and then looked at the safe door.

"You actually learned how to knock on the door?" He was obviously mocking Toby's past of kicking in the door: "It seems that you have regained your composure today and are polite."

Toby just looked at him and said: "Go to the playground and keep an eye on the dementors and don't let them break into the castle. Can you do this alone?"

"What are you talking about -" Snape suddenly gave up the idea of ​​going back to sleep. He stared at Toby closely and asked in a deep voice: "How did you know that I know the Patronus Charm?"

"I also know what your patron saint is." Toby said with raised eyebrows.

Snape stared at him for a moment with squinted eyes.

"No, you don't know." He turned around and put his coat on his pajamas and asked, "Are you going now?"

Toby said regretfully: "Yes, go now. How do you know that I don't know?"

They came to the corridor side by side. Snape clenched his wand and said in a cold tone: "Because you are as stupid as a troll, a brainless guy who only knows how to study those ridiculous ancient magics."

"You're not any worse than me." Toby immediately said sarcastically: "A guy who doesn't wash his hair is as dirty as a slug. He will hide wherever he goes in the crowd. Even the rats in the sewers will just hide.

Run after you."

They walked up the marble stairs and came to the door of the auditorium.

Before he was about to let go, Toby suddenly turned around and said: "I'll tell you a good news and a bad news. I won't ask you which one you want to hear first - the good news is that Lily might still be alive, and the bad news is that

Maybe James is alive too."

Snape's face suddenly turned as white as paper, his eyes froze, and his body froze completely, as if he was under a petrification spell.

"Don't be so excited." Toby said with a bad smile: "It's just a guess, an interesting guess."

After saying this, he turned around and left, ignoring Snape's angry face, and walked all the way up the stairs.

The long and tangled hair hangs down, blocking the eyes.

Toby was surprised that he didn't feel nervous at all, and even had an even stranger idea - what if Grindelwald used a magic ball to deal with him?

Is this the day when the winner between magic circle and ritual magic will be decided?

"Ice rat."

The sleepy stone beast moved out of the way, revealing the spiral staircase behind it.

Toby lifted his steps and walked up. He began to think about some more serious questions - such as how did Grindelwald know the material of the magic ball? Toby tried many experiments for this, but none of them succeeded.

Is this the strength of the first generation Dark Lord?

I really want to open his head and take a look.

He kicked open the last oak door, held the scepter in front of him, and laughed loudly: "I have wanted to do this for a long time - Principal, it's time to retire, don't force me to do it! Principal? Principal?"

!”

The office is empty.

One of the portraits on the wall yawned and said: "Is it Toby Highmore? Dumbledore is not at school. He left something for you. It's in the cabinet. It's mysterious. I don't know what it is.

What."

playground.

Snape stood alone in front of the gate of the castle. Just from the look on his face, it was clear how unpeaceful he was. However, he didn't know how much impact Toby's last two pieces of news had.

But in any case, it is definitely not as serious as facing hundreds of dementors alone.

Because until the end, Snape was not attacked by any dementors.

Azkaban.

Dumbledore looked at the broken blood pact in his palm, which meant that Grindelwald had broken the contract without authorization.

He raised his head and looked at the gray sky.

From beginning to end, the dementors in the prison were still guarding the cells, and none of them showed signs of losing control.

In a flash of fire, Fox and Dumbledore appeared in front of the tower of Nurmengard, arriving at an area they had not been to for a long time.

It is unusually quiet here, almost the same as it was decades ago. The only difference is that there is only one prisoner left in the prison.

Dumbledore finally appeared in front of the cell on the top floor and saw the figure curled up on the wooden bed.

That is Gellert Grindelwald.

"Is it you, Albus?"

Grindelwald turned over and asked, showing his old face: "Are you finally willing to come see me?"

"Don't tell me it's just a joke," said Dumbledore, looking angrier than ever.

"I don't understand what you are talking about." Grindelwald shook his head and said, "You obviously don't want to see me. Maybe you should go back, go back to your Hogwarts."

Dumbledore glanced at Grindelwald one last time, and Fawkes let out a loud chirp, turned into a burst of fire, and disappeared with Dumbledore.

This time, Dumbledore appeared directly in the principal's office, and Snape arrived just in time after waiting in the playground for a long time.

At the same time they saw two Tobys standing in the house.

There were expressions of ecstasy on their faces.

The two men turned their heads, one looked at Dumbledore, the other looked at Snape, and said in unison: "Guess which one is Toby Highmore?"

"Who is the black devil?"