— — — — — —
A week passed quietly.
On Saturday, Tom finally walked out of the Meditation Room. He looked no different on the surface, but only he knew how much he had gained during that week.
Well… Andros, Grindelwald, and even Ravenclaw probably had quite a bit to say about it too, considering how badly they had been "tested" this week.
The fact that his credits were almost completely drained said enough.
"Huh? Why is no one home?"
After leaving the basement where he had been staying for a week, Tom noticed that the entire Flamel estate was empty. Nicolas and his wife were gone, and even the house-elves had disappeared.
What was this? Had they packed up in the middle of the night and fled?
He quickly headed over to the neighboring Scamander estate, only to find that place empty too. Tom scratched his head in confusion.
However, when he returned to his own house in London, he found Nicolas, Newt, and everyone crowded together in his living room, each holding a teacup and drinking lazily.
"…Wait. Why are all of you in my house?"
"Your house?" Nicolas set down his cup and shot the boy a sideways glance, tapping the rim with a finger. "So you still remember this is your house. Then why weren't you doing your magical research here instead of going over to my place to cause trouble?"
"Tom. I know you've got your eye on my inheritance, but you don't have to be that obvious."
Hearing Nicolas' sarcastic jab, Newt and the others burst out laughing.
Tom quickly understood what had happened. The disturbance he created must have affected the old man.
When Rayquaza's bloodline erupted, the disturbance wasn't confined to the study space alone. The entire mountain range had trembled.
Creatures throughout the forests trembled in fear. Birds scattered in panic while beasts hid in their dens.
At the time, Nicolas had been leisurely enjoying an opera in his study. When the dragon aura spread through the area, the old man fainted on the spot.
It was only after Perenelle returned home that she found her husband unconscious in the opera room.
Similar incidents happened several more times afterward. Eventually Nicolas and Newt from next door couldn't take it anymore, so they packed up and temporarily moved into Tom's house to avoid the chaos.
"Professor, you should be happy," Tom said without the slightest trace of guilt, standing up straight and speaking with righteous confidence. "The reason the disturbance was so big is because I've improved. Your student is getting stronger and stronger. Shouldn't a teacher feel proud instead of complaining?"
"Oh please," Nicolas snorted. "Every time you get one point stronger, the world becomes three points more dangerous. If I told Dumbledore about this, he'd probably lose sleep for days."
"Heh…" Tina suddenly chimed in, barely hiding the schadenfreude in her voice. "Nicolas, you've got that wrong. Dumbledore hasn't been having a good time lately. Even without Tom causing trouble, he probably can't sleep."
She turned to Tom.
"Tom, Quahog wasn't killed by Dumbledore, right?"
"No." Tom answered with complete certainty. "If the headmaster had gone out to make an example of someone, he wouldn't hide it. He forced Pierce to his death. Do you think he'd lie about Quahog?"
Tina nodded unconsciously when she heard that, but her brow soon furrowed with worry again.
"Then who abducted Quahog? Could it be Grindelwald? Is he secretly stirring up conflict between the wizarding world and Dumbledore?"
At the moment, the Magical Congress was essentially leaderless. They were barely managing to keep the wizarding world from being exposed in the United States, while internally everything had descended into chaos.
Some people wanted to find Quahog as quickly as possible. Others wanted to take advantage of the turmoil to hold new elections and redistribute power.
There were even radicals who wanted revenge against Dumbledore, hoping to restore the pride of the American magical community. But those voices were quickly suppressed.
Anyone who wanted to die was welcome to do so alone. No one else planned to join them.
Right now Dumbledore was even more dangerous than Grindelwald, like a rabid hound. Who would dare provoke him?
Pierce's miserable fate was warning enough.
Even Tina had been dragged into the mess. Many people approached her, hoping she would step forward to stabilize the situation and use Newt's relationship with Dumbledore to ease the growing tension.
But ever since she had been forced out during the political infighting last time, Tina had completely lost faith in the Magical Congress.
She ignored them all.
The only thing she still worried about was how the chaos might affect ordinary wizards. The struggles of the powerful shouldn't force innocent people to pay the price.
Tom blinked innocently. "Quahog is with me."
"…What?"
Tina and Newt both stared at him with wide eyes, shock written across their faces.
Even Nicolas' hand trembled slightly as he held his teacup, spilling a few drops onto his robe.
This kid had just admitted it so casually.
---
At Hogwarts
Inside the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore and Grindelwald sat across from each other. Both of them looked tired.
Two men who had once stirred the entire wizarding world now looked like they hadn't had a good week.
Dumbledore had been summoned to the Ministry three separate times for intense questioning. Fudge had managed to legally distance himself from the worst of the situation, shifting the biggest problems away through careful interpretation of the law.
Some things couldn't be completely cleaned up, of course.
But when the people in charge control the meaning of the law, explanations are flexible.
Give it a year or so and the matter would quietly fade away.
Dumbledore had also received many letters from old friends. Some questioned him. Some were disappointed. A few even sent charms meant to ward off possession or remove curses.
Reading those had left him half amused and half helpless.
He wrote back sincerely, assuring them he had not been cursed.
In truth, he understood why they thought that way. His recent behavior was completely different from his usual self. Even McGonagall and the others hadn't fully adjusted yet. The way they looked at him now carried a hint of unease.
But that wouldn't make him go back to the way he used to live.
Back then he had been exhausted all the time. From now on, he wanted to live for himself and for his family. Helping others would come afterward, if he still had the energy.
Dumbledore looked at Grindelwald across from him, who appeared to be on the verge of falling asleep. His eyebrows lifted slightly, and his tone carried a bit of teasing.
"Gellert, I endured more than twenty hours of questioning this week and I'm not nearly as tired as you. Don't tell me you've been plotting something behind my back again?"
Grindelwald didn't even open his eyes.
For the past several days he had been serving as Tom's sparring partner. Compared to Dumbledore, he had suffered far worse.
The study space could keep their physical condition at peak performance, but it did nothing for mental exhaustion.
Only he knew how miserable the past week had been.
First he was beaten senseless by Fire Dragon Tom.
Then Phoenix Tom.
Then Unicorn Tom.
Then Basilisk Tom.
Then Thunderbird Tom…
The worst of all had been Rayquaza-form Tom.
The feeling of being crushed and exploded by a single claw was something he never wanted to experience again in his life.
"..."
"Abeforth managed to capture the phoenix," Grindelwald said suddenly, tossing out a topic he knew would grab Dumbledore's attention.
"Oh?"
Dumbledore immediately straightened, most of his fatigue vanishing. He leaned forward slightly.
"He caught it? That couldn't have been easy. Abeforth must have worked hard."
Grindelwald snorted.
"Hard? Your brother was basically freeloading the whole time. Fawkes did the luring. The wild phoenix refused to become a human's pet, so in the end it was Riddle's pet that stepped in and grabbed it."
He smirked. "Though the poor bird was so frightened it triggered a premature rebirth. Right now Abeforth is in Australia raising the little phoenix."
Dumbledore hadn't expected the process to be so complicated, but he still smiled.
He liked this feeling.
Two brothers working hard to make their sister happy.
Though admittedly… the price was rather high.
He glanced at Grindelwald again, who still hadn't opened his eyes.
"Can we change the terms of our agreement? Don't let Abeforth join the Acolytes. Our conflict shouldn't drag them into it."
Grindelwald waved his hand impatiently. "Go talk to your brother about that. And maybe Ariana too. Get one thing straight. I didn't beg him to join the Acolytes. He's the one begging me to let him become my subordinate."
"He's doing it for Ariana," Dumbledore said quietly.
"Since you understand his reason, stop trying to interfere," Grindelwald replied with a faint chuckle. "For your sake and Ariana's, I won't deliberately make things difficult for him. Even if he replaces Vinda someday, it'll be because he earned it."
"That's impossible. He doesn't have the head for—"
Before Dumbledore could finish, the heavy oak door creaked open.
Tom walked straight in.
"Yo, Headmaster. I'm here to report back from leave."
Dumbledore's eyelids twitched.
The past week without Tom at school had felt unusually peaceful.
Now that he was back, even though he hadn't done anything yet, Dumbledore already felt uneasy.
A second later, that bad feeling came true.
Grindelwald opened his eyes and smiled.
"Mr. Riddle, you've returned at just the right time. How about a deal? Hand Quahog over to me."
"Oh?" Tom tilted his head slightly. "And what exactly do you plan to trade for him, Mr. Grindelwald?"
"Tom," Dumbledore cut in quickly before the two of them could openly start conspiring in front of him. "I don't object to however you deal with Quahog. But if you hand him over to Grindelwald, the situation changes."
He spoke seriously. "If he tells the outside world that YOU were the one who captured him, you'll be dealing with endless trouble from then on."
.
.
.