In the centre of the cemetery, Jacob finally found Queenie among the gathering crowd.
"Let us go, baby."
Jacob looked at Queenie with deep concern, gently cupping her face in his hands.
"Oh, honey, we should stay and listen to what he has to say."
At this moment, Queenie, already bewitched by Grindelwald's persuasive influence, did not want to leave at all. She was intoxicated by the grand vision he had painted.
Outside Père Lachaise Cemetery, a large group of Aurors was positioned and ready for action.
The British Ministry of Magic was launching a cross-border arrest operation in France with unprecedented boldness.
Torquil Travers was completely immersed in his own smugness over the power he had seized through political manoeuvring.
He completely failed to notice that the French Ministry of Magic, their century-old rivals, had actually permitted their armed forces to enter the French homeland to arrest criminals.
Although it appeared to be a typical example of international wizarding-friendly cooperation on the surface, what was the underlying reality?
Grindelwald walked from the dark stone passage into the venue, and the surrounding wizards began cheering and jumping for him with fanatical enthusiasm.
But what no one noticed was that in the crowded corner of the cemetery, a man in platinum robes and a boy with dragon horns stood side by side, observing everything.
"So you are just watching him manipulate public opinion like this?" The Director was somewhat surprised by Aiden's passive stance.
"And what exactly are you and that old fox Dumbledore planning?"
"I remember you are not much younger than Dumbledore either." Aiden raised an eyebrow with amusement.
"He is in his forties; I am just thirty. Wait, you almost led me off track—why do you all speak in riddles?"
Aiden looked at him with an amused expression, thinking of how this man had acted like a riddler the last time he borrowed the Regression Pendulum.
"You are really too young. Wizarding society has been repressed to the extreme by the Statute of Secrecy. Even if Grindelwald did not appear, there might be Tom, Tim, or other such people to stir up conflict."
Aiden picked at his nails while scrutinising Grindelwald with an evaluating gaze.
"So Dumbledore and Grindelwald are working together!"
Several exclamation marks seemed to appear above the Director's forehead in shock.
"They used to be, I guess. I estimate this plan was completed by the two of them together, but Dumbledore later withdrew or changed his mind for some reason." Aiden maintained his previous posture while speculating calmly.
"A plan devised by the two strongest wizards of our time." The Director's voice trembled slightly with the implications.
"Why do you look like the sky is falling? You are the Director of the Department of Mysteries. If even you are like this, how can you expect your subordinates to pull themselves together to fight against the Deep Realm?" Aiden patted his shoulder reassuringly.
The Director shook his head, calmed himself down, and focused his gaze on Grindelwald in the centre of the venue.
Grindelwald stepped onto the stage with theatrical confidence, opened his arms wide, and the wizards below cheered and applauded with increasing fervour.
"My brothers, sisters, my fellow wizards—your applause is not for me, but for yourselves."
One had to admit, Grindelwald was extremely skilled at speeches and stirring hearts with carefully chosen words.
He immediately aroused all the wizards' emotions at the opening, making the wizards go wild for him with passionate devotion.
"Your presence here today is for the longing and faith in your hearts, to explore a completely new path."
Grindelwald raised his hand toward the surrounding wizards with mesmerising authority.
"Some say I hate Muggles—those without magic—but I do not hate them. I never fight out of hatred. In my view, Muggles are the majority, just a group of people different from us. They also have value and should not be disposed of casually, but they should be treated specially."
Grindelwald's words were full of disdain for the Statute of Secrecy while maintaining a veneer of reasonableness.
"Magic is a miracle that blooms only in a few souls. Think carefully, my friends: what kind of world will we create? And please remember this one thing: we live for freedom, for truth, for love."
Grindelwald beckoned to Vinda Rosier, who brought him an intricate alchemical device.
"If we do not rise up to resist and realise our ideal world, this will be the consequence."
Grindelwald took a deep breath from the alchemical device and exhaled forcefully.
Smoke enveloped the entire venue, and vivid images began to appear in the swirling mist.
Countless Muggle soldiers fought with firearms, aeroplanes, cannons, and tanks, which were developed one after another in an endless cycle of warfare.
Tens of thousands of people were displaced from their homes, and finally the sun's radiance bloomed on the ground in nuclear fire.
"This is what we must resist; this is our enemy! They are arrogant, greedy for power, existing like beasts. Before long, they will turn their weapons on us. Now remember my words: do nothing, stay calm."
The Ministry's Aurors entered the venue, and Grindelwald narrowed his eyes with calculated satisfaction.
"Did you anticipate that Muggle technology would develop so rapidly?" The Director turned to ask Aiden with genuine curiosity.
"Killing has always been humanity's most effective means of progress. Why do you think our magical technology has advanced by leaps and bounds? Abandoning cumbersome but powerful ancient magic in favour of efficient, economical modern magic?" Aiden looked at the Director with knowing insight.
"It is to pursue the most efficient and quick killing." The Director frowned with grim realisation.
"Yes, this is humanity's inherent flaw. Do not look at Grindelwald mocking the Muggle authorities—how much better can our wizarding authorities really be?"
Aiden pointed with his chin at Travers walking in, his expression from eyebrow to eye corner revealing nothing but disdain and mockery.
The two just watched this Torquil Travers, who viewed magic as might makes right.
In a sense, Torquil and Grindelwald could be seen as the same type of people—they both viewed violence as the only means to achieve their goals.
However, they both forgot that this was an idealistic world, where mental resistance was far more powerful than they imagined.
And Aiden maliciously speculated that perhaps it was precisely because of the existence of this idealistic divine couple, Grindelwald and Dumbledore, that made Travers so disgusted with both of them.
And now, the first believer in violent authority would soon meet his doom, because the trap had been carefully set.
"Aurors, welcome." Grindelwald opened his arms as if seeing old friends arrive.
"Fellow countrymen, although they have killed many of my followers and imprisoned and tortured me in New York, this is only because they, like us, are people who pursue truth and facts, but have temporarily taken the wrong path. You will be angry, and you will desire revenge—this is also natural."
With Grindelwald's seductive words, the fury in a witch's heart was completely ignited.
She slightly raised her wand, but the Auror was faster—a green flash shot out, and the witch fell to the ground lifeless.
At this moment, Aiden felt emotions of desire for retribution, complaint, and tit-for-tat revenge surge in the collective unconscious sea.
In the desolate courtyard of the first layer of the Deep Realm, Hell's power was continuously strengthening with each act of violence.
It wanted to break through the boundary between illusion and reality and descend upon the object of the wizards' prayers—Grindelwald.
However, the radiance of prophecy suddenly appeared, capturing and dividing Hell, compressing it into a sphere of pure light.
A hand holding a wand made of elder wood appeared in the zeroth layer of the sea of consciousness—the Mirror of Erised.
With a flick of the wand, Hell's power was instantly captured and entered the arm.
The entire process had not the slightest impact on the real world, while Aiden felt Grindelwald's magical power begin to expand geometrically through this supernatural absorption.