Howl naturally didn't know that even though it was the weekend, there were still people looking for him.
On the weekend, he didn't want to waste too much time on school matters; continuous classes were already tiring enough. Compared to that, he'd rather sleep soundly in his nest.
Although he wasn't in his nest now, but rather in Nurmengard.
The aged Grindelwald no longer appeared as dispirited and weak as when Howl first met him.
On the contrary, a never-before-seen vitality burst forth from him.
It even made Howl wonder if the old man was experiencing a final burst of energy and might suddenly pass away in a couple of days.
"Grant you half a day of clarity, to resolve worldly affairs!"
"What are you saying?" Grindelwald turned his head, somewhat puzzled by Howl's muttering.
"You definitely heard it clearly; I don't need to repeat myself." Howl shrugged: "The relationship between Wizards and the Goddess of Death is indeed ambiguous."
"Thought influences reality. The theoretical lifespan of Wizards is indeed twenty to thirty years longer than that of Muggles," Grindelwald said proudly.
Then he turned his head and scrutinized Howl from head to toe with a powerfully intrusive gaze.
"You're weaker than when we last met."
Howl looked down at his stomach and patted it.
His abdominal muscles were still there, and his pectoral muscles were still well-defined.
After confirming this, he looked up: "It doesn't matter; it's enough to go against you anyway."
A smile touched Grindelwald's face.
"Hehehe, are you going to bully a defenseless old man?"
"Isn't that what you're thinking?" Howl smiled: "It's like when we're just chatting and bragging, everyone speaks freely and enjoys the conversation. But when it comes to fundamental matters, there's always a desire to test the other person's true colors."
"That's true," Grindelwald said with a frank smile, "However, that's not my reason."
With that, he raised his hand and very politely gestured to the dusty stone floor: "Please sit."
Howl hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Standing is fine."
Grindelwald shrugged and lowered his hand: "I'm just very curious about one question."
"Go ahead," Howl nodded.
"Our first meeting, was it intentional on your part?" he asked bluntly, simultaneously attempting a probing Legilimency.
"Hold your thoughts," Howl glanced at him.
Grindelwald smiled without speaking, naturally retracting his probing thoughts, awaiting his answer.
"Our first meeting. Let me think, I had indeed met Dumbledore by then... Hmm, I'm actually a bit curious now, is this question one you want to ask, or one he wants to ask?
After all, from your perspective, my sudden appearance is always an unusual event!"
Grindelwald watched Howl silently.
Until he saw the other party nod and say indifferently: "I'm sorry, it was indeed by chance. Whether I met Dumbledore or met you, it was just a coincidence.
I know nothing about your past, then or now. Likewise, I don't want to know."
"Know nothing?" Grindelwald smiled: "Alright, I accept that answer. Well then, I have another question."
He glanced at Howl, and seeing no impatience, continued: "You said, who was it back then, who made everyone in the world believe that only that ordinary Transfiguration Professor teaching at Hogwarts could defeat the then-flourishing me?"
One, an ordinary Transfiguration Professor, whose greatest achievement was discovering alternative uses for dragon blood...
And the other, the leader of the Witchcraft Party, the instigator of war, an international political manipulator, openly displaying his extraordinary mastery of the Dark Arts.
Completely unrelated.
Howl was silent for a moment, then asked, puzzled: "A politician?"
"A politician?!" Grindelwald scoffed twice: "The biggest political criminal of this century is me. I know those guys very well; they can't do such things. I've even investigated, politicians and media can't do such things."
Then, he carefully scrutinized Howl: "It seems it wasn't you."
"So you think there's a very special manipulator behind this?"
"Yes," Grindelwald nodded: "Only a very small number of people knew about my relationship with Dumbledore.
Logically speaking, there was no reason for the public to expect him to fight me back then, but this fact just happened. After the war ended, we discussed this issue here more than once.
And Dumbledore himself had no clue about this phenomenon!"
Howl nodded, shrugging helplessly: "Too bad, this has nothing to do with me."
"Forget it," Grindelwald shook his head: "Clinging to these things now is meaningless.
Let's talk about what meaningful things there are at Hogwarts. By the way, why were you bold enough to want to do such a thing? To have me teach them."
"Actually, my initial idea was like 'Wife Swap'," Howl said: "But of the only two prisons I know, one holds a large number of their relatives. The other has only one prisoner—the most dangerous prisoner of this century."
"Dangerous?" Grindelwald scoffed disdainfully: "I just lost, so I'm a prisoner, that's all—you don't need to doubt my feelings for Wizards and the Wizarding World!"
"You lost because you chose the wrong path, that's all.
If you had truly started a war, then the greatest wartime invention of the sixties and seventies wouldn't have been nuclear bombs, but a series of technological equipment specifically designed to counter Wizards—of course, whether that would have promoted the integration of the Wizarding World and the Muggle world is still unknown!
But what's certain is that what humans are best at is combining any of their inventions with war!
I can't imagine Wizards having a chance to win."
Grindelwald's expression turned sour, and he said discontentedly: "I only said I lost, I didn't deny the error of my chosen path, you don't need to criticize here."
"It seems my biggest worry is gone," Howl breathed a slight sigh of relief: "I was quite afraid you'd indoctrinate those brats with ideas of racial hatred."
"Maybe," Grindelwald said flatly.
"If I suddenly decide to do that, how would you respond, Mu En Jones!"
As expected—
Howl was not surprised by this, in fact, he came here today for this very reason. As for the other discussions, they were more like normal casual talk.
It was still a simple question. At Grindelwald's level, when doing anything together, any so-called exchange of benefits was too superficial, and others didn't even care.
The truly important reason was simple.
Are you qualified enough!
"How to respond?" Howl smiled.
"Isn't it enough to shut your mouth?"
As his words fell, a powerful aura suddenly burst forth from both of them. Falling leaves and shattered stones were directly swept away like imperceptible, light dust.
In the narrow cell, silent clashes rapidly collided, then recoiled as if from an electric shock.
In but a single breath, a storm appeared and then quickly subsided.
Crack—
The wall, unable to bear the strain, cracked.
"I wonder if this is enough," Howl said.
"With Dumbledore, it's barely enough," a smile touched Grindelwald's lips.
"That's good, happy cooperation. Ah, after all, for those brats, my words are far less convincing than yours."
"I'm merely a remnant of an era," Grindelwald shook his head: "If it were forty or fifty years ago, I think my words would still have some credibility. As for now, perhaps only Riddle is the idol of those rascals."
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