Precisely because of the assistance from Fudge and Crest, and after Pavel had spewed at least ten kilograms of spit across countless meetings, they finally managed to drag the dozen or so countries that had once been harmed by Grindelwald onto the war wagon of the Anti-Grindelwald Alliance.
As for these meetings, Dumbledore, in his capacity as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, strictly speaking should have had a seat at the table.
However, the other members of the International Confederation of Wizards, taking into account Dumbledore's relationships with both the First-Generation and Third-Generation Dark Lords, excluded Dumbledore entirely.
This was only natural and expected.
During this period, they had sent more than a few letters to harass—no, to implore—Dumbledore to step forward and face Grindelwald.
Yet these letters were either brushed off with vague evasions by Dumbledore or swallowed up like stones dropped into the ocean, yielding not the slightest response. They had come to understand Dumbledore's stance on the matter clearly.
After all, one could hardly expect a father... err... mother?
Well, whatever. It amounted to the same thing anyway.
From the very beginning, they hadn't held out much hope that Dumbledore would take action against the father and son pair of Grindelwalds; sending letters to Dumbledore asking for help had merely been a matter of trying their luck.
Although Rita had deleted the portion of her article mentioning that Kyle was Dumbledore's son in addition to being Grindelwald's, that did not mean the members of the International Confederation of Wizards were incapable of investigating and discovering the truth for themselves.
After the meetings yielded a concrete conclusion, the International Confederation of Wizards announced that they would hold a press conference.
When numerous high-society figures and news media outlets of the magical world arrived at the headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) upon invitation, no one noticed that several wizards had taken advantage of the occasion to slip inside the venue.
Concealed beneath their wizard robes was a silver pendant—the emblem of the Deathly Hallows.
The press conference was held at the Woolworth Building, in the main hall of the MACUSA headquarters. Under the influence of the Undetectable Extension Charm, this magnificent main hall was expanded to more than ten times its usual size.
A spacious speaking platform had been erected in the center of the main hall. When eight o'clock came tonight, the hundreds of seats in front of the stage would be filled to capacity by the invited attendees.
Grindelwald stood on a balcony above the main hall, leaning against the railing as he looked down coldly at the Aurors busy setting up the venue.
Under the effect of Human Transfiguration, Grindelwald stood openly inside the MACUSA headquarters, while employees of the Magical Congress walked past him from time to time.
Slowly retracting his gaze, Grindelwald turned to look at the man who had been standing silently beside him all this time.
"Alfred, has the person been brought here?"
Alfred, the butler who had likewise sneaked into the venue using Human Transfiguration, nodded slightly. "She's in the basement. Would you like to see her?"
Grindelwald gave a slight nod. "Of course. I'd quite like to see what sort of person this brave warrior who dared to expose Kyle's true parentage actually is."
A flash of cold, murderous intent flickered in his eyes. "Lead the way."
When night fell and the clock hand pointed to the number 8, the press conference finally commenced.
To the sound of grand music, a middle-aged man with long blonde hair walked out slowly from the side of the speaking platform, heading straight for the microphone in the center.
"I stand upon this stage to rid us of the false peace we previously inhabited!
Because I understand the dangerous state of the magical world in which we live!"
Without any introductory remarks, the blonde middle-aged man dived straight into the theme of this press conference.
Below the stage, camera flashes lit up continuously.
"Gellert Grindelwald, the most heinous Dark Wizard in the history of the magical world, once incited massive turmoil across the wizarding realm, spreading dangerous ideas that wizards should not be bound by the Statute of Secrecy."
As his voice fell, an image surfaced on the enormous curtain behind him.
It was footage of Grindelwald giving his speech at Père Lachaise Cemetery all those years ago.
"In 1945, the greatest White Wizard of our modern magical world, Lord Albus Dumbledore, defeated him. From then on, Grindelwald imprisoned himself in the high tower of Nurmengard."
"However, three years ago, Grindelwald broke out of Nurmengard and began rallying his former followers. This has once again placed the entire world under threat!"
The image on the curtain shifted instantaneously, turning into the Saints' summoning magic that had appeared in Paris not long ago.
The sky filled with black veil cast a dark shadow over the hearts of everyone below the stage.
The blonde man spread his hands toward the audience below.
"Furthermore, he has a direct descendant who inherits all of his dangerous ideas, currently living in this world. His name is—Kyle Grindelwald!
"I imagine you might be more familiar with his other name—Kyle Dumbledore. The youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class, in magical history!"
"This sole offspring of Gellert Grindelwald possesses magical talent comparable to—or perhaps even surpassing—that of his father."
"Combined with the dangerous ideas inherited from his father, it is only a matter of time before Kyle Grindelwald becomes the next Dark Lord of the magical world."
Meanwhile, in a room on the floor beneath the main hall where the press conference was taking place, Grindelwald sat in a chair, idly playing with the wand in his hand.
Even though more than sixty years had passed, Grindelwald did not feel the least bit unfamiliar with this place.
Back in 1926, after eliminating Percival Graves, Grindelwald had used his exquisite Human Transfiguration skills to replace him and infiltrate the Magical Congress of the United States of America, searching for traces of the Obscurial who was wreaking havoc across New York.
The people of MACUSA had been like utter fools, completely failing to notice anything unusual about him.
It was only when Credence, the Obscurial, finally surfaced that Grindelwald no longer bothered to maintain his disguise and revealed his true identity before everyone.
The very room Grindelwald was in right now was the exact interrogation room he had used to interrogate Newt Scamander back when he was still playing Percival Graves.
Sixty-plus years had passed, yet this interrogation room remained just as it was back then—iron walls on all four sides, containing nothing inside except two lonely chairs and a single table.
It was in this very interrogation room that Grindelwald had uttered that line crowned as the golden quote of the King of Jealousy in Europe—
"What makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?"
Newt: ???
Grindelwald: "Sentenced to death. Executed immediately."
Newt: !!!
Ahem, that seemed to be straying a bit off topic.
The corners of Grindelwald's mouth curved into a faint smile, the nostalgic look in his eyes quickly vanishing. He waved his hand, signaling Alfred, who was standing by the door, to bring the person in.
The old butler gave a slight nod and pulled open the heavy iron door of the interrogation room.
A few seconds later, a woman with a terrified expression was brought inside—Rita Skeeter.
Catching sight of her, Grindelwald leaned back against the chair and tilted his head up.
"Yo, Rita Skeeter, the ace reporter for the Daily Prophet?"
When Rita saw the face of the old man sitting in the chair, her pupils contracted violently. "Th-This... This is impossible..."
Before she had sent out that article, she had clearly gone to Nurmengard in Austria to investigate and verify.
Restricted by the defensive magic surrounding the exterior of Nurmengard Castle, she hadn't been able to enter the castle proper. But from the mountain peak opposite the high tower, she had been able to observe the interior of the tower using a telescope.
According to her investigation, Grindelwald lived in a top-floor attic room of the high tower.
There was a small opening serving as a window in the attic, and she had distinctly seen someone inside the attic...
That was precisely the reason she had summoned the courage to send out the manuscript.
So why... why was Grindelwald sitting right here in front of her now?
And how could the location they were in possibly be the headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America?
Rita's expression grew increasingly terrified.
Seeing how she stood there dazed and frozen in fear ever since stepping into the interrogation room, Grindelwald gave a faint smile and tipped his chin slightly toward the chair on the opposite side of the table.
"Rita, take a seat."
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)