"Oh, is this true? Dumbledore really said that - to get rid of the fragment of Voldemort's soul in you tonight?"

The next morning, when Harry told his companions what happened last night, Hermione said in surprise. Ron next to him was so shocked that he couldn't speak, his eyes fixed on Harry's face.

Harry nodded silently, and they stepped on the soft lawn and walked around the Black Lake. The sun was warm outside the castle, and Hagrid could be seen busy in the vegetable garden from a distance.

"Did he say what to do? What preparations are you going to make?" Ron asked impatiently.

"He only told me to do a brave thing, and the rest will be told to me after the dinner tonight." Harry said.

"But why?" Ron puzzled.

"Will it be related to the OWLs exam?" Hermione guessed, "The last exam just ends today, so Headmaster Dumbledore can be completely free."

Harry couldn't think of a reason to refute or agree. In fact, he had been looking forward to the arrival of this day. Spending the last week of the school year with Ginny in the sunny June was simply too fascinating to him.

They walked around the Black Lake, stopping from time to time to watch the giant squid in the lake spray out water, and the sunlight reflected into an arched rainbow, which disappeared again in an instant.

Sometimes they would discuss with great interest the methods that Dumbledore might use. Ron guessed that Harry would have a thrilling life-and-death duel with Voldemort under the watch of Dumbledore and Professor Happ, but Hermione didn't think that the two professors would let Harry take risks, so Ron quickly revised his idea and changed it to Dumbledore and Professor Happ beating Voldemort half to death first, and then let Harry go on stage.

"Just use your bare hands, and the two of you will compete with each other in strength. Voldemort seems to lack exercise." Hermione said with a straight face.

Harry laughed.

Especially when Ron said stubbornly, "It's not impossible," he laughed even more happily. Afterwards, the three of them went to Hagrid's place to spend an afternoon, drinking tea, and giving Hagrid suggestions on the pattern of the canvas pants he prepared for Grawp. They were in a very pleasant mood.

Harry, Ron and Hermione did not return to the castle until the time was almost up.

They timed it very well. When they arrived at the entrance hall, many students had already finished their practical exams in Charms. They were chatting in groups of two or three. These people cheered loudly to celebrate the end of the hellish year. After waiting for a few more minutes, Ginny appeared at a side door of the Great Hall.

In the short time when the door was open, Harry clearly heard Professor Marchbank's loud voice announcing the end of the exam.

"I always feel that this surname is disadvantageous." Ron muttered, "It doesn't take advantage in any occasion where the alphabetical order is used."

Ginny rolled her eyes at Ron and put her arm around Harry affectionately. Harry looked away uncomfortably and saw Colin Creevey leaning against the niche with the house cup hourglass embedded in it, as if he was being interviewed by Mafalda.

At this time, Snape's wide black skirt "swish" passed in front of them.

Harry only looked at him curiously, and then Ginny's words attracted his attention. "I want to be a bridesmaid!" Harry was in a trance for a moment, and Snape's shadow was thrown out of his mind. He couldn't help but imagine Ginny wearing a bridesmaid dress in his mind. I wonder what the difference is with the bride's dress?

But in the next few minutes, professors appeared one after another. Even Hermione, who was discussing wedding dress patterns with Ginny, and Ron, who looked impatient, noticed something unusual: the professors passing by seemed to be too frequent.

Therefore, when Hagrid's large figure walked in from outside, Harry called him.

"Hagrid, why are you here?"

"Meeting." Hagrid said in a muffled voice, and the wet mud was still stuck on his boat-like boots, as if he had been busy in the vegetable garden after they left. He walked into the hall with a grunt. Several people looked at each other. Ginny volunteered to disappear for a while. When she came back, she said, "Hagrid went to the staff lounge. I took a look. There were a lot of people in there. It seemed that all the professors were invited."

...

When Felix sat down next to Snape, he looked around. All the professors in the school were present. There were also two unfamiliar faces, sitting in the corner with blank expressions, not saying a word.

The room gradually became quiet, and everyone's eyes were on Dumbledore who was sitting in the main seat. Dumbledore looked around with a smile and spoke.

"Before the meeting begins, please allow me to introduce two witnesses to everyone, Wade and Chester, who are representatives of the school board."

The two nodded.

The professors present exchanged surprised glances with each other, as if something big was about to happen.

"What I am about to say has been agreed to by all members of the board of directors: Ladies and Gentlemen, I will resign as the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Dumbledore said seriously. There was an uproar in the room. He seemed not to notice it and continued, "At the same time, I am very grateful to the board of directors for recognizing my recommendation. Minerva McGonagall will take over my position and become the new headmaster."

Professor McGonagall screamed, "No, Dumbledore--"

Dumbledore stopped her with his eyes.

"Let me finish, Minerva. The new appointment also includes-Felix Hep, who will continue to serve as the professor of ancient runes and concurrently serve as the deputy headmaster."

Dumbledore finished speaking, touching the fingertips of his ten slender fingers together, and then looked at others politely, as if waiting for someone to ask questions. The room was silent for a while, and everyone was trying to digest this amazing news, and no one broke the silence first.

Felix did not react much to the position that suddenly fell on him. Even without the identity of the deputy headmaster, he was able to promote some reforms in the school. He frowned slightly, stared at Dumbledore, and his heart sank a little.

He had guessed it before, but he was never sure. Especially when he recently learned that Dumbledore used the power of the Resurrection Stone to summon the soul projections of his two relatives from the hearts of the living, he didn't think Dumbledore would give up his life.

If Dumbledore is determined to die, what's the point of doing this?

But now Dumbledore suddenly made this decision. It can't be to enjoy retirement life, right? He was moved and looked at Grindelwald opposite. Maybe he knew something? At this time, Grindelwald frowned and looked at Dumbledore intently. Dumbledore's eyes did not deliberately avoid him, but he didn't pay too much attention to him.

He felt bad, and the cold feeling penetrated into his internal organs little by little.

"Dumbledore, you should discuss it with me in advance!" At this time, Professor McGonagall said angrily: "I can't accept you doing this. This is ridiculous. I believe that other professors are not mentally prepared. Even if you plan to retire, you should leave a buffer time instead of suddenly proposing it to scare everyone."

"Minerva, there are still two hours before the dinner begins. We have enough time to resolve doubts, but my decision will not change."

"Of course there are doubts!" ​​Professor McGonagall said fiercely. "Let's start with the irresponsible idea of ​​​​leaving the school. Also, what do you do after leaving school? You have spent most of your life here." "

This is a grand topic, Minerva, I don't want to go into details, it's too long-winded, and two hours are not enough. In short, I planned a trip." Dumbledore announced happily, and even in Felix's opinion, there was a hint of successful mischief in his tone. "Of course, you can also think that I have been planning it for a long time."

"Travel, travel?"

Professor McGonagall seemed confused, but Grindelwald raised his head sharply. Travel? Dumbledore mentioned this to him privately. Two days ago, he talked about his aborted graduation trip, and there was a hint of regret in his words.

He talked about his planned route.

Starting from the UK, passing through France, Greece, Egypt, Brazil... almost covering all the famous wizarding towns and magical attractions around the world. Of course, the most important thing is people. He is very interested in the magical ecology of other countries, and he will not refuse to stay for a short time in some beautiful places...

Grindelwald aroused a trace of desire in his heart.

For the next period of time, he was absent-minded and his thoughts were flying. When the meeting was over, all the professors walked out of the staff lounge woodenly, and the students in the auditorium were already sitting at the dining table. Then the dinner began, and when the dinner ended, Dumbledore stood up and spoke, announcing this shocking news.

The students below were stunned. They finally understood why all the professors seemed to have no appetite today-this naturally included Grindelwald, but his ideas were completely different from those of other professors.

When Dumbledore said he wanted to give up the position of headmaster, he knew that his plan of forbearance for a year had failed. He was very isolated from the news in Nurmengard Castle, but this was exactly what he wanted. He took the initiative to cut off contact with the outside world. At first, there were unwilling saints who passed the news through various means, but when they found no response, they gradually disappeared. His world became simple and quiet, and he spent the whole day relying on past memories to pass the time.

Many years passed in a flash. One time he accidentally learned about the rumors of the Elder Wand from the house elf Bundy, and he couldn't hold back his impulse and asked Bundy to send a letter, because he knew that the Elder Wand fell into Dumbledore's hands half a century ago, and with his character, it would never change.

He smelled a conspiracy.

Sure enough, the younger generation who claimed to be Voldemort began to stir up trouble. Grindelwald watched the battle outside the village of Hogsmeade from the perspective of the house elf, but the doubts in his heart were not verified. Dumbledore was old and did not show the power of the Elder Wand at all. However, the Elder Wand was still in his hand.

After that, he got in touch with Felix Hepp.

In the constant bickering and communication, he keenly realized that another magnificent era was about to come. The last great era was a century ago. At that time, the speed of Muggle development was getting faster and faster, which not only made the knowledgeable people in the wizarding world feel threatened, but even ordinary wizards could find that their scope of activities was becoming narrower and narrower, and the regulations of the Statute of Secrecy were becoming more and more stringent.

Dissatisfaction spread all over the world.

He seized that opportunity and made Grindelwald the most dangerous dark wizard in history. Now almost a century has passed, and history has repeated itself again, but this time it is not the wizards who took the initiative to provoke the war, but they have nowhere to retreat, and it seems difficult to hide the existence of the wizarding world no matter how much they hide.

The Statute of Secrecy is in jeopardy, and this crisis cannot be solved by putting a dark wizard in prison.

Shortly thereafter, he "saw" some pictures, not one. To be precise, it was three different scenes: an anti-wizard parade; a grand fireworks; and - the scene of summoning saints by himself!

He concealed the last two images and took out the most intuitive first one as a condition for negotiation. In the end, he succeeded, changed his appearance, hid his name, and became an ordinary magic teacher.

At first, he had no interest in educating students.

But this idea gradually changed, and sometimes he even thought that it would be good to continue like this until the prophecy appeared. He even found explanations for the other two images he saw: the celebration ceremony after the victory, and the call for saints to replace the corrupt and incompetent International Wizarding Federation when he was exposed in the wizarding world.

It was because he figured out the meaning of these three images that he, Dumbledore, and Hyp had the three-element theory. Each of the three played an important role:

Dumbledore gained great prestige by defeating him and being recognized by Kirin. To this day, this influence is unmatched;

Felix Hepp's influence is slightly less, but it depends on who he is compared with. In fact, both his personal strength and reputation far exceed the limitations of the region. In just a few years, he has spread his tentacles throughout the wizarding world by promoting ancient magic runes and developing novel magic items. Even Grindelwald was amazed after studying his resume.

As for Grindelwald himself, as he said, he united all the forces in the wizarding world to ensure that there would be no chaos within. If necessary, the saints in his hands will wipe out all threats. This list naturally includes stubborn Muggle regimes. In his view, even if wizards and Muggles eventually reach peace, it must be after the war.

In the short few decades when he was most active, two world wars occurred. He knew the evil in human nature too well.

Wizards must show their strength. Optimistically speaking, it would be enough to burn one or two countries to ruins. At least the outbreak of a full-scale war was avoided, right? Even though both sides would suffer heavy losses, with the wizards' hiding skills, as long as someone organized, an ordinary house could hide hundreds of wizards.

Those who died unfortunately could just eliminate the hatred of ordinary Muggles.

After dozens or hundreds of years, when the convenience brought by magic is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, wizards will become de facto nobles, and the wars and bloodshed will be forgotten. How many people now remember that a small country like Bulgaria also participated in the war?

This is Grindelwald's preview of the future - pessimism, despair, coldness, cruelty, even saying this idea out will cause a lot of criticism. Therefore, he concealed these bloody speeches, but he knew that Dumbledore would guess it himself.

This time he didn't insist on provoking a war.

He was even happy to say comfortingly: "There are more than 200 countries in the world. As long as everyone makes the right choice, war can naturally be avoided." He likes to see Dumbledore's speechless expression.

They had lived too long and witnessed too many ugly things. Only Hep would have unrealistic fantasies and hope that everything would go smoothly. But that possibility... was too slim.

He and Dumbledore were both thorough pessimists in nature, and their hearts were already desolate.

...

In the dead silence, Dumbledore raised his goblet and smiled as he toasted everyone:

"If we lose hope, what do we have left?"

The hall was still silent, as if someone had cast a whispering spell. Then, Dumbledore announced the end of the dinner, but no one moved. Everyone stared at him, and some sentimental girls started crying.

Dumbledore was quite moved. He took a deep breath and said tremblingly, "Everyone can leave. In addition, the four deans of the college, as well as Professor Happ and Professor Bagshot, follow me." After that, he led the way through the crowd and walked towards the door. Those whose names were called followed one by one.

When passing by the Gryffindor students standing silently, Dumbledore paused slightly and looked at the crowd. When their eyes met, Harry understood at once.

He looked back at the messy hall, exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione, bent over and followed quietly. Behind him came bursts of pushing and Seamus's angry shouts: "I won't leave! I'm already in the sixth grade - I'm an adult!"