For a long moment, silence lingered in the headmaster's office until Lakayla Adisa finally broke it, her voice laced with disbelief.
"You're saying… you want me to establish a Board of Governors for Uagadou, and you intend to serve as its chairman? Wentworth, you must be joking."
Wentworth replied calmly, his face unreadable.
"Headmistress Adisa, do I look like I'm joking?"
Seeing his composed demeanor, Lakayla Adisa cautiously asked, "Then who do you plan to appoint to this Board of Governors for Uagadou?"
Wentworth shrugged, utterly unbothered. "Just me."
Lakayla immediately shook her head in protest. "Impossible! Wentworth, absolutely not!"
Then, as if something had dawned on her, she gave a bitter laugh.
"Wentworth, I know the Dumbledore family is one of the most renowned in Europe, but this is Africa. No matter how powerful their reputation is over there, it holds no sway here."
"Even Albus Dumbledore, yes, I admit, he is the most powerful wizard alive in today's magical world, but he's already the headmaster of Hogwarts. Not even the International Confederation of Wizards would stand by and let him seize control of Uagadou as well. Not even if he's its Supreme Mugwump."
But Wentworth only shook his head slowly.
"I said I will become the chairman of Uagadou's Board. This has nothing to do with the Dumbledore family, or Albus Dumbledore."
Lakayla stared at him, utterly perplexed. "You? Alone? Wentworth, what makes you think you alone can stand against the entire Kalembo tribe?!"
But Wentworth simply smiled, as if amused by the question. Reaching into his robes, he drew his wand and said coolly:
"If I alone aren't enough… how about this?"
As he spoke, he waved his wand in the air. A moment later, a sigil formed midair, gleaming coldly with ominous light. It was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.
The light from the Hallows cast a pale glow across Lakayla Adisa's face, and as it touched her, she recoiled in horror, stumbling backwards and collapsing into her chair.
In the next instant, she sprang to her feet again, eyes locked on the floating symbol. She pointed an accusing finger at it and shouted:
"Wentworth! What is the meaning of this?!"
She even drew her wand, leveling it at him.
But Wentworth stood completely still, calm, unflinching. His gaze met the headmistress's without a flicker of fear. The sight of his composure made her hesitate.
"No… no, that can't be right! It shouldn't be possible! After Albus Dumbledore defeated Gellert Grindelwald, the Alliance's wizards went into hiding!"
"You're a Dumbledore by blood, there's no way you would ever join the Alliance! Even if you tried, the moment they saw you, they'd have handed you over in exchange for Gellert's freedom from Nurmengard! How could they possibly allow you to be here?!"
"Wentworth Dumbledore, who are you really?!"
Wentworth's response came slowly, laced with irony.
"A name is just a label. If I wanted, I could call myself Merlin."
"Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Wentworth Grindelwald. Heir to the Grindelwald family. Heir to the Alliance."
As his words sank in, Lakayla Adisa's wand trembled slightly in her hand. Still, she couldn't bring herself to believe him.
"You… you're saying your name is Wentworth Grindelwald? That you're one of them? That can't be true! Why would Albus Dumbledore, the man who defeated Gellert Grindelwald, keep the heir of the Alliance at his side?! Even if he did, surely it would be to keep an eye on you! There's no way he'd allow you to stay at Uagadou, let alone entrust you with something so important!"
The truth was, even Wentworth himself didn't know why Dumbledore had always treated him the way he had. But during his time in Nurmengard, he'd come to realize something: the relationship between his grandfather and Albus Dumbledore was not the one of mortal enemies the world believed it to be.
In fact, Wentworth could feel it, Dumbledore's care was genuine. Like he truly was his grandfather.
And so, Wentworth made a choice: to tell a monstrous lie.
A faint, disdainful smile touched his lips.
"That legendary duel between my grandfather, Gellert Grindelwald, and Albus Dumbledore… did you see it with your own eyes?"
Lakayla blinked, caught off guard. She slowly shook her head.
"But—"
She barely got the word out before Wentworth cut her off, speaking with cold certainty:
"Hearsay is unreliable. Even seeing isn't always believing. The truth is… my grandfather won that duel."
Lakayla gasped, swallowing hard. But then she frowned.
"That's impossible. If Gellert Grindelwald had won, and Dumbledore had lost, then why is Grindelwald imprisoned in Nurmengard while Dumbledore remained headmaster of Hogwarts?"
Wentworth responded without missing a beat.
"Imprisoned in Nurmengard? Don't be ridiculous. Who could possibly imprison my grandfather? Tell me, who built Nurmengard? Who did it belong to?"
Lakayla's expression froze. Slowly, she murmured:
"Nurmengard… was built by Gellert Grindelwald. It belonged to the Alliance…"
Her voice trailed off.
Seeing her falter, Wentworth spoke softly.
"Exactly. My grandfather feigned defeat and vanished into the shadows. He believed the time wasn't right, so he waited... for the right moment. All of it, for a greater purpose."
"As for Albus Dumbledore… ha. The man the world sees now is just a puppet. The real Albus Dumbledore? Even I don't know where he's being held. He may already be dead."
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]