time.

Like death, it is a magical force that exists naturally in this world and is difficult to crack.

They are innate and can be manipulated by non-wizards at will, just as even the most powerful wizards cannot avoid death. Voldemort tried every means to create Horcruxes and reshape his body with the Resurrection Stone, but in fact, he was no longer truly alive after Lily's spell destroyed his body more than ten years ago.

Even considering his half-dead appearance, his life span was not long among wizards, not even ninety years old! "Time-Turner?" Fitzgerald looked over in surprise, "I thought that after the Ministry of Magic's Hall of Time was completely destroyed, the magic of time would no longer be controlled by wizards."

It is not actually the words of the spell inscribed on the converter that make the power of time work, but the sands of time.

Now that most of the Sands of Time have been destroyed, the small converter in Cyrus's hand is theoretically no longer effective. But his magic power is too strong, and time seems to have become a toy in his hands, with the golden halo reversing in circles!

"Are you planning to travel so far back in time?" Percival asked worriedly, "You shouldn't do this. No one knows what the consequences will be."

Of course, Voldemort knew.

He reversed several decades of time and returned to the various eras he lived in. He even avoided the punishment of time...

But at that time he had the help of the Time Hall and transferred the side effects of time. As for now, the price to pay for reversing time will be even higher!

"I don't need to reverse time, I just need to see the past." Cyrus said calmly.

One difference between him and Voldemort is that he still has some respect for many things, such as time and the laws of nature. He is not willing to take risks unless he has to.

Under the power of time, the illusory shadow became clearer and clearer.

Cyrus frowned slightly - the man looked old enough, with sparse and dry hair, and his torso was almost bent at 90 degrees... He was leaning on a cane, but Cyrus couldn't tell which was more shriveled, his wrist or the cane. He was like a moving mummy.

With every step he took, Cyrus wondered if he would stop breathing immediately.

With just this one glance, Cyrus ruled out the idea that he was a transfer student.

If the transfer student really existed, Cyrus didn't believe that a few hundred years would turn a powerful wizard into this state. The person in front of him was destined to be even older and deeply mired in the quagmire of dark magic.

"Do you have any impression of him?" Cyrus asked.

In fact, he felt that this person looked familiar for some reason, as if he had seen him somewhere.

However, the four guardians shook their heads at the same time.

"I'm afraid we've never seen this man, but the question is how he came to be in the Chamber of Knowledge, and what his purpose was," said Rookwood.

"Just keep watching and you'll know." Cyrus continued to release his magic power. His palms were slightly bent and his wrists were turning the knobs, as if he was turning the clockwork of time. He saw the zombie-like man open the starry ground, as if he was taking a step towards the sea of ​​stars.

"He's gone underground," said Cyrus.

“But there is nothing under the ground of the Pavilion of Knowledge.” Sen Bakar said puzzledly.

Until now, they still don't know what the purpose of this mysterious guy is.

They were all waiting for time to continue to rewind, but at this moment, the picture seemed to have suddenly frozen.

"What's wrong?"

Fitzgerald asked subconsciously, but there was no need for Cyrus to answer this question, because the answer was already in front of them -

The old man suddenly raised his head - at this time, everyone could see his face clearly - it was a face full of wrinkles, and the wrinkles on his face were more exaggerated than the uneven bark of the Whomping Willow at Hogwarts.

His eyes were also cloudy, as if rice and flour were mixed together into a paste.

It was hard to imagine what else such eyes could see, but he could not only see the road in front of him, but also see Cyrus in the present across the torrent of time...

He opened his mouth - it was like tearing open a piece of dead skin... Then, countless maggots crawled out of his body...

Celeste suddenly felt creepy.

All the images disappeared.

"He's discovered us!" Rookwood's voice became sharp. He never thought that he had become a portrait, but he was still frightened by the scene just now.

Seeing the future from the past, they couldn't imagine who had such powerful strength. He was no longer a human being, perhaps even a god.

"Who on earth is that?!"

"Whoever that is, I can assure you he's not alive," Fitzgerald said seriously.

In fact, she didn't need to say it, everyone could feel the breath of death lingering around that scary guy. It looked like he had just crawled out of the mud not long ago, with so many rotten worms still hidden in his body.

It took the guardians a while to calm down.

Only then did they realize that Cyrus seemed to have not spoken for a long time. He just stood there with his head down, thinking.

In fact, at this moment, Cyrus was searching all the memories in his brain - every detail from the moment he was resurrected to the present was playing in his mind like a movie.

He was like a bystander, trying to find any traces related to the mysterious man.

But he got nothing.

"Well, did you remember anything?"

Cyrus shook his head.

"My brain is like a living Pensieve. All memories and details cannot escape my eyes. If I really have seen that person, I will find no trace at all." He said, "Let's start from another angle. Please open the magic seal of the Seeking Knowledge Pavilion."

The four guardians nodded, and in an instant, the door leading to the underground opened again in front of Cyrus.

He walked down the spiral staircase - returning to this place again gave Cyrus a completely different feeling.

Most of the huge cave had collapsed, the road was broken by boulders, and there were ruins everywhere. Thanks to the spell, the Hogwarts Castle did not collapse, but everything here was almost buried.

Cyrus walked down while waving his arms. With just a movement of his hands, he could move boulders weighing dozens of tons away from him. With just a thought, he could piece together the broken road.

Soon, he reached the end of the road.

"Do not disturb the sleeping dragon."

Now the dragon has fallen asleep in Cyrus' body, leaving only the empty mithril shell.

There is nothing here, what is that person's purpose?

He looked around and suddenly realized that there was something missing - " What do you want to do with this thing?"

In the headmaster's office, Dumbledore pushed up his half-moon glasses, stared at the thing in Grindelwald's palm, and couldn't help but ask.

"Don't tell me you want to have an animal, too."

"You call this a small animal?" Grindelwald shook his head and smiled. He picked it up casually, revealing its true appearance - a small black dragon.

It was Morgana's legacy, the part that Voldemort had taken.

After Voldemort's death, this thing did not dissipate, but was taken away by Grindelwald.

"Even I am surprised by this huge magic power - don't you want it at all?" He pinched the black dragon's tail, as if asking: Do you want some French fries?

The little black dragon was naturally a little annoyed by being treated like this, and bent its head to bite Grindelwald's fingers.

"What do I need this for?" Dumbledore asked. He looked extremely relaxed, as if he had suddenly become several years younger. "I think the future is not my time. Strong power will no longer be of any use to me."

"Aren't you worried about Cyrus?" Grindelwald put the black dragon into the pocket of his windbreaker as if he was raising a gecko, then turned around and sat down elegantly on the chair.

"He wants to break the Statute of Secrecy. Over the years, the Statute of Secrecy has protected the wizards' wounds, but it has also completely merged with their new flesh and blood. Once torn, blood will flow!" Grindelwald said with certainty. "In fact, this is not just a conflict between Muggles and wizards, but also a conflict within the wizard community."

He is absolutely right.

Most wizards in this world are old school.

They live day by day, without long-term vision. Just like the British government, as long as the problem has not yet appeared, even if there are hidden dangers, there is no problem. Even if the problem has already appeared, they still make excuses.

Since you can live in the shroud, why bother to remove it? "Now there are a large number of wizards who trust him and regard him as an idol, but his followers are too few, far less than I did at that time." Grindelwald said.

In order to win over believers and expand his power, Grindelwald gave speeches everywhere and instigated the Aurors to rebel. He was like the mustache in the wizarding world, inspiring people. Even when he was arrested and imprisoned, he did not forget to instigate the jailers to rebel.

But Cyrus did very little.

“Once he says he’s going to break the Statute of Secrecy, I’m afraid there won’t be many people willing to follow him,” Grindelwald said.

Dumbledore also groaned.

Opposition means conflict.

"What do you think he will do?" Grindelwald asked.

"I believe Cyrus will not take extreme measures like you." Dumbledore still expressed his confidence in Cyrus.

"Really? How much do you know about him? Do you know why he broke the Statute of Secrecy?" Grindelwald asked again, "For himself, or for the wizarding world?"

Even for the greater good, there are different positions.

Fifty years ago, Grindelwald represented the interests of wizards, while Dumbledore chose to stand on the side of Muggles.

And Cyrus? Maybe he's just doing it for himself.

"Not to mention, does he have any agenda? Any practical plan? Or does he intend to use violence to break through this barrier?" Grindelwald asked.

His words were a little impolite, and even gave the impression that Cyrus was still a child. But in fact, the issues he raised were very crucial.

"His ideas are too general. If he makes a wrong move, Muggles will become enemies of wizards, and conservative wizards will become enemies of revolutionary ones, to prevent conflict even among his own followers!"

Even among the reformists, some are radical while others are moderate.

"The magic world may fall into chaos first. By that time, even if he doesn't plan to start a war, he may not be able to control himself."

Grindelwald's worries also made Dumbledore worried.

He couldn't be said to be a completely selfless person - at least he thought so - but years of work had also made Dumbledore accustomed to considering the overall situation rather than the individual.

"I'll find time to have a good talk with him." Dumbledore's biggest worry still came from Cyrus himself.

He knew that Cyrus had broken the Statute of Secrecy in order to rule both worlds at once.

Cyrus is not as secretive about power as Dumbledore. On the contrary, Cyrus is better at using power and his strength.

For example, Fudge, this opportunistic guy dared to trip up Dumbledore, but he didn't dare to disrespect Cyrus, because Dumbledore would not do anything to him, but Cyrus would really kill him.

Furthermore, the power that Cyrus valued was definitely not positions like the Minister of Magic or the Prime Minister. He wanted more - absolute power, might!

It was hard for Dumbledore to imagine whether the presence of a dictator in two worlds at the same time was a good thing for the world.

"And you, what do you want to do?" asked Dumbledore.

"I didn't intend to do anything." Grindelwald shook his head, his expression very sincere. "I chose to help Voldemort in order to eliminate Cyrus because I saw the prophecy of your death. But now the prophecy seems to have been broken, and there is no need for me to go against Cyrus." He shrugged, "As for the Statute of Confidentiality... that kind of thing."

At this point, he chuckled.

There was bitterness in the laughter. Obviously, Grindelwald was sneering at his former stubborn self.

“I acted on the program you created for me, thinking that was my dream—I got so caught up in it for the greater good that I forgot I wasn’t obsessed in the beginning,” he said.

His greatest obsession was the two months of infatuation he had experienced while living in Godric's Hollow, nothing else.

Of course, it is also the most regretful one.

(End of this chapter)