Faced with Wentworth's question, Juma Kalembo appeared to have long been prepared. Calmly, he replied:
"Because we hope that, should Uagadou establish a Board of Governors one day, one of its members will bear the name Dumbledore."
This time, Wentworth was truly stunned. He stared in disbelief, then said slowly:
"You... you all?"
Juma nodded, repeating:
"We. This proposal came from the leader of the Kalembo tribe, my father. And the heads of several other major tribes have all agreed to it."
Hearing this, Wentworth exclaimed in astonishment:
"You must be joking!"
But Juma replied with perfect seriousness:
"We would never joke about something so important."
After a moment of silence, Wentworth let out a dry chuckle and said:
"I'm sorry, Juma. Just like you said before, every right comes with responsibility. The Dumbledore family may be a pure-blooded line in Europe, but if we're being honest, we're nowhere near as wealthy as you might imagine. Supporting a school of this scale… well…"
But before Wentworth could finish, Juma interrupted firmly:
"We're not asking the Dumbledore family to pay. The funding, leave that to us."
Wentworth inhaled deeply. After a pause, he asked:
"Then what do you want out of this?"
Juma smiled openly, then raised his glass and lightly clinked it against Wentworth's before explaining slowly:
"What we want is the Dumbledore name, its reputation in Europe. Uagadou wants to integrate with the wizarding world of Europe. For that, we need a family held in the highest esteem by European wizards. Without that, in your eyes, we'll always be backcountry bumpkins."
"We want the Dumbledore family's experience in running a magical school. Albus Dumbledore isn't just the greatest white wizard in history, he's widely regarded as the best Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. That kind of experience is priceless."
"And we want the influence your family holds at Hogwarts. If a member of the Dumbledore family were to sit on Uagadou's board, I believe it would ensure a long-lasting, friendly relationship between our schools. We could even begin more frequent academic exchanges."
Juma paused here, as if recalling something, and then added with a faint grin:
"I learned a Muggle term that fits perfectly here. They call it, equity by expertise."
After hearing Juma's explanation, Wentworth couldn't help but admit, clearly, the Kalembo family's preparations for this so-called Uagadou Board of Governors were far beyond anything he'd imagined.
Now that he understood Juma's intentions, Wentworth felt the night had not been wasted. With a show of hesitation, he replied:
"This is far too big a decision for me to make alone. Don't worry, once my grandfather returns to Uagadou from Hogwarts, I'll be sure to tell him everything."
Wentworth was just about to rise and bid farewell when, to his surprise, Juma smiled and said:
"No, Wentworth. This decision, you can make it yourself."
That made Wentworth freeze mid-movement. Puzzled, he asked:
"Juma Kalembo… what do you mean by that?"
Swirling the red wine in his glass with a half-smile, Juma replied:
"Because this seat was prepared for you, Wentworth Dumbledore. Not for Albus Dumbledore."
Wentworth frowned, but Juma quickly continued:
"Please, hear me out first."
"Albus Dumbledore is unquestionably a respected wizard. But he is, after all, Headmaster of Hogwarts. It would be impossible for him to join the board of Uagadou. You, however, are different."
"Let me be clear, Wentworth, we didn't go digging into your background deliberately. It's just that Albus Dumbledore is such a prominent figure that much about him is already common knowledge."
"To the best of our knowledge, the Dumbledore family had three siblings in Albus Dumbledore's generation. His sister passed away many years ago, so that leaves Albus and his brother."
"As for his brother, we discovered that he had a son many years ago, one who has been missing from the public eye for quite some time. Albus Dumbledore himself never married and has no children."
"So if you have no other siblings, then you may very well be the only heir of this generation. In other words, you represent the future of the Dumbledore family."
Juma's eyes gleamed with intensity as he looked at Wentworth and said:
"You are the one we are truly inviting, Wentworth Dumbledore. If the Uagadou Board of Governors does come to be, and if you accept, then you shall be one of its members."
"Just think about it, Wentworth. Uagadou's history is no less grand than Hogwarts'. Becoming a governor of such a prestigious and ancient institution, that's a lifelong aspiration for most wizards. But for you, it's right there, just a nod away."
By the end, Juma's voice was filled with temptation.
And Wentworth had to admit, at least for a moment, he was tempted.
Though not for the reason Juma might have assumed.
What stirred Wentworth's heart wasn't the Dumbledore legacy…
It was the truth of his identity.
For Wentworth Dumbledore was a lie. The real name was Wentworth Grindelwald.
As the heir to the Grindelwald family and the leader of the Alliance, the thought crossed his mind—if Uagadou could become a school under the Alliance's influence, it would be a powerful foothold. After all, every movement needed fresh blood.
But the moment he imagined Dumbledore's piercing, soul-seeing eyes, Wentworth forced himself to calm down.
After a long silence, Wentworth finally said slowly:
"I'll need some time to think about it."
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]