— — — — — —
Laos' return to Hogwarts surprised and delighted many of the younger witches and wizards.
The delight was easy to understand. Even after two years, quite a few students still missed the days when Laos had been their professor. He never lectured in that stiff, preachy way most teachers did. His classes were lively, his jokes effortless, and he somehow made even the dullest defensive spells easy to grasp. Most importantly, if you followed his lessons seriously, you actually learned practical, solid magic.
And compared to the last two disaster professors, his qualities shone even brighter.
The current Moody might surpass Laos in raw strength and experience, and he did teach real material. But his rough, almost violent teaching style—and that explosive temper—made it hard for anyone to actually like him.
Lupin was a werewolf. Though he had a gentle personality, the wizarding world's prejudice against werewolves ran deep. Aside from Harry and a few others who had personal reasons to accept him wholeheartedly, most students still kept a quiet distance.
So when people compared the past few years, Laos still came out as the best Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Hogwarts ever had.
What really shocked everyone this time, though, was the identity under which Laos had returned: Defense Against the Dark Arts professor from Durmstrang.
His life story had practically become legend.
Graduated from Ilvermorny. Taught at Hogwarts. Got someone else's fiancée pregnant and ran off. Then ended up working under the Dark Lord.
Naturally, students were curious about what he'd been doing all these years. Unfortunately, during last week's class, no matter how much they pressed him, Laos only smiled politely and sidestepped every question.
...
Afternoon, when Tom arrived in the classroom with the other students, Laos was already there. He lounged lazily in a chair beside the podium. When he spotted Tom entering, a faint smile flickered in his eyes, almost impossible to notice, and he gave a small nod of greeting.
When the bell finally rang, Laos still didn't bother standing. He casually scanned the room.
"So… what should we talk about today?"
After all, he was only a guest professor. There was no fixed curriculum. Lately he had simply taught whatever came to mind.
The moment he finished speaking, Zabini shot his hand into the air, barely able to contain himself.
"Professor! What do you teach at Durmstrang? Is it the same as when you were here?"
His question was quickly echoed by other Slytherin students, many of them nodding eagerly.
Malfoy had mentioned more than once in the common room that his mother had seriously considered sending him to Durmstrang. In the end, the distance was simply too far—it would've been too inconvenient to travel back and forth.
In fact, plenty of pure-blood families had considered the same thing.
After all, Durmstrang was the only magic school in the world that admitted only pure-blood students.
It was only natural for people to be curious about a school they'd almost attended.
"Well…" Laos thought for a moment. "It's a little different. At Durmstrang, I teach third- and fourth-years Defense Against the Dark Arts. We've already started covering some dark magic that can cause serious consequences."
"Dark magic?"
Almost every Hogwarts student stared at him in shock. Only a handful of Durmstrang students looked unfazed.
"Learning dark magic openly?" Hermione blurted beside Tom, covering her mouth.
She herself had learned quite a bit of dark magic from Tom already—but secretly learning it and teaching it openly to everyone were two very different things.
"Don't look so shocked." Laos spread his hands helplessly with a smile. "Did you forget? Durmstrang is the only magic school officially allowed to teach dark magic."
"But you're the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Pansy Parkinson pointed out, unable to stop herself. Her tone carried obvious confusion. "Doesn't that mean you're… kind of neglecting your job?"
A ripple of laughter spread through the classroom, easing the tension.
"That's where you're wrong." Laos wagged a finger with a grin. "Don't define 'defense' so narrowly. The core of defense is guard. Any type of magic that can protect you in a dangerous moment falls under the category of defense."
"Besides, when you study dark magic directly, you gain a deeper understanding of its principles, its power, and its weaknesses. If a dark wizard ever attacks you, you won't panic just because you see an unfamiliar curse. That in itself is one of the most effective forms of defensive training."
The students nodded in sudden realization.
For the rest of the lesson, Laos demonstrated a special stunning spell that struck the target's mind like a sudden hammer blow.
Ordinary Stunning Spells weren't considered dark magic.
But this particular variation was different. It activated almost silently and carried terrifying power. If used carelessly, it could leave someone permanently mentally damaged, which was why it had been classified as dark magic.
Even after teaching it, Laos repeatedly warned them not to practice it on classmates.
"Otherwise," he said lightly, "even if they recover, they might spend the rest of their lives drooling."
Before long, the class came to an end.
Once he dismissed the students, Laos turned to Tom in front of the whole class.
"Mr. Riddle, it's been quite a while since we last spoke. Care to come to my temporary office for some afternoon tea?"
"Of course," Tom replied with a small nod.
After sending Hermione and Daphne ahead, Tom followed Laos to the east side of the castle. There were no classrooms here—only professors' quarters and a number of unused rooms, which had now been turned into temporary offices for visiting teachers from other schools.
Once inside, Laos shut the door behind them. He raised his wand, preparing to cast a privacy ward—
But Tom casually snapped his fingers.
An invisible wave of magic instantly spread through the entire room, then vanished just as quickly.
"All set. No need to worry."
At those words, Laos's professional smile disappeared at once. The mask dropped, replaced by a relaxed, almost relieved expression.
He sighed with a trace of amazement. "Boss, you're getting more and more terrifying. I honestly have no idea what you just did."
Back when he first met Tom, Tom had helped him drive off the International Aurors. That had been impressive, sure, but still within the level of magic he could more or less understand.
But now, only two and a half years later, Tom had already become a wizard acknowledged to stand on the same level as Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
Maybe the luckiest moment of Laos's life had been the day Tom saved him. After that he joined the Acolytes, stumbled his way into Hogwarts as an undercover agent, and from then on his life had gone nothing but uphill.
Smooth sailing. Exciting beyond anything he'd imagined.
But…
Thinking of something else, Laos's expression darkened again, all the earlier ease draining away.
He gestured for Tom to sit on the sofa, then turned to a cabinet and pulled out a set of delicate teaware. After brewing two cups of black tea and setting them on the table, he dragged over a chair and finally began airing his grievances.
"Boss, are you really planning to send Robert back?"
"That guy's a complete snake. Ambitious, slippery, changes sides whenever it suits him. There's no way he sincerely submitted to Lord Grindelwald."
"These past few months under me he's been completely useless. I give him a job, he botches it. If you send him back with Quahog, I'm worried he'll just betray us outright."
Tom had indeed arranged for Grindelwald to take Quahog away for one last bit of "waste recycling." The plan was to release Robert back into the American wizarding world like a rabid dog and let him tear open as many cracks as possible.
Grindelwald himself didn't care. Tom made the call, and he simply carried it out.
Only Laos felt a little reluctant.
Once Robert had outlived his usefulness, Tom had handed him over to Laos as a reward, just as they had agreed beforehand.
And Laos had thoroughly enjoyed paying back every grudge he held. He'd worked Robert hard enough to make his life miserable.
Now that he'd gotten bored of the game, he still didn't want to see Robert climb back into any position of importance.
"Ah, Laos, you don't get it," Tom said, shaking his head with exaggerated wisdom.
"Anyone who hates me gets a bright future ahead of them. If that's how I treat my enemies, imagine the rewards waiting for loyal ministers like you."
Laos stared at him with the dead-eyed look of a fish and said nothing.
His boss was great in almost every way.
Except sometimes he said things so bizarre that Laos couldn't begin to understand the thought process behind them.
Tom saw the confusion and clicked his tongue, clearly disappointed that Laos failed to appreciate his philosophy of success.
"I know Robert isn't sincerely loyal," Tom said lazily. "But why does that matter?"
"Let a treacherous minister deal with other treacherous ministers. Let the people of America clean their own mess."
"I don't need him to achieve anything. As long as he wants revenge, that's enough for me to get what I want."
Tom took a sip of tea before adding, "By the way, your family already evacuated, right?"
Laos nodded. "Most of them are gone. The majority moved to continental Europe. A small group went all the way to Japan, just in case… leave a few seeds behind."
For a big family, leaving themselves a fallback plan was only natural. Tom had never expected the entire Wilkinson family to devote themselves to him anyway.
After calming Laos down a bit, Tom asked about Solen's situation. When he heard that Solen was pregnant again, Tom gave Laos an impressed thumbs-up.
"Your aim is incredible. While the whole wizarding world struggles to have children, you casually make one every year… truly impressive."
"Hehe~ Boss, stop. You're making me embarrassed. Speaking of which, would it be okay if I named the child Tom Riddle if it's a boy?"
"..."
---
At the same time, in Berlin.
Grindelwald tossed the battered Quahog onto the floor in front of Robert Graves like a dead dog.
Robert stared for a long time before finally recognizing the man. His eyes widened in shock.
This… this was the once-dominant president of the American wizarding world.
He slowly lifted his gaze toward Grindelwald, horror dawning on his face.
So this was the man behind everything.
The real Dark Lord indeed. The terrifying figure who had once toyed with Robert's own ancestor until the man lost all dignity.
Even now, although the British Ministry of Magic was doing its best to clear Dumbledore's name, most people still believed that Dumbledore had secretly executed Quahog. Some had even spun elaborate conspiracy theories around it.
"..."
From Robert's expression alone, Grindelwald could read everything. But he didn't care.
Tom had pulled him out of the tower of Nurmengard for exactly this purpose. Someone had to carry the blame. Once everything was pinned on the Dark Lord, it all became far more believable.
Grindelwald said nothing more. He simply flicked his hand.
Quahog slid across the floor like a sack of rotten meat until he stopped at Robert's feet.
"Whether you want revenge or power," Grindelwald said coldly, turning his back, "I don't care."
"I only have one requirement."
His voice was calm, but utterly unquestionable.
"Turn America upside down."
Robert's eyes filled with vicious light.
He nodded hard.
.
.
.