After Dumbledore left President Picquery's office, he let out another worried sigh.
Tom glanced at Wade—because it seed he had been right again.
There was no doubt now: President Picquery had been trying to rope Dumbledore into her sche.
Clearly, she was one of those powerful figures attempting to use underhanded thods to pin the charges on Grindelwald.
But, just as Wade had predicted, Dumbledore refused to join.
Not only did he decline, he even warned them not to proceed with such a plan.
At first, Tom had thought that if soone were to pull off a sche, the odds of success might actually be pretty decent.
But the mont he heard President Picquery declare with confidence that their plan was airtight and absolutely foolproof, he knew she probably wouldn't succeed.
You could call it instinct, or perhaps… an unconscious recognition.
In this short ti, he'd seen many people believe they had crafted a perfect plan too—only to be utterly defeated by Wade. Be it the pureblood senior student, Goblins, and countless Alliance mbers roaming the forbidden forest, or even Grindelwald himself.
When soone becos too confident in the perfection of their plan, that's when their failure begins.
That too was Tom speaking from experience.
In this world, there's no such thing as a flawless plan.
As long as humans are the ones executing it, mistakes can always happen. A plan can never be perfect.
…
Soon, they arrived at the residence arranged for them by the Magical Congress.
After Wade closed the door, he turned to Dumbledore and said, "Her distrust of you was the wrong choice."
"Yeah," Tom nodded in agreent. "She should've focused her efforts on Grindelwald and his followers, not on trying to keep an eye on you. I already saw several Aurors watching us just now…"
Hearing this, the concern on Dumbledore's face deepened.
In order to avoid her existing personnel being infiltrated by Grindelwald, President Picquery had indeed recruited a large number of new people recently…
Her thod had been quite unusual, but also very effective—many of those hired didn't even know they were going to beco Aurors until an hour before they were recruited.
In doing so, she might have prevented Grindelwald from planting spies in this unit, but the downside was that the team's overall ability was inevitably uneven.
If even an eleven-year-old like Tom could spot their surveillance, how could they possibly expect to fool Grindelwald and his associates?
If these were the people executing the plan… sigh..
Dumbledore felt this was no different than handing Grindelwald a knife.
Right now, what Grindelwald needed most was a sharp blade to cut through the ropes that bound him.
After pacing restlessly in thought for a while, Dumbledore suddenly strode toward the door.
He couldn't just stand by and watch President Picquery walk into ruin.
"Professor… I know you want to help President Picquery, but she probably doesn't trust you anymore," Wade suddenly said.
"I know… but that doesn't an I can do nothing. They're planning to use underhanded thods to ensure Grindelwald is convicted," Dumbledore replied, frowning.
"That explains it. No wonder they're being so cautious with us. She's worried about your connection to Grindelwald…" Wade nodded. "But precisely because of that, right now—more than worrying about Grindelwald discovering her plan—she's probably more afraid that you'll be the one to leak it."
"How could I ever do such a thing?" Dumbledore said helplessly.
"In her eyes, you shouldn't have refused her proposal… assuming that's what she really proposed back there," Wade said. "Since you did refuse, she's bound to view your every move with suspicion. When we were about to leave earlier, didn't she even give you a warning?"
Dumbledore sighed again. Of course he'd considered all that—Wade had only voiced what he already knew in his heart.
Even the two young outsiders could sense President Picquery's distrust—how could Dumbledore not have noticed?
But… how could he just stand by and watch an ally fall into the abyss?
"What I'm most worried about now isn't the rest," Wade said. "It's just one thing—if their plan fails, will they try to shift the bla onto you?"
No matter how close Picquery and Dumbledore might've been in the past, she was still a politician… and when have politicians ever been the good guys?
When push cos to shove, stabbing an ally in the back is almost expected.
Dumbledore slumped back into his chair in defeat. He wasn't afraid of taking the fall—what struck him was the realization, after hearing Wade's words, that no matter what he did now, even if he turned around and told President Picquery he wanted to join her plan, it would definitely be seen as a ploy and only backfire.
It wasn't like before, when he helped the MACUSA investigate the Neo-Grindelwald movent. Now, there wasn't a single person in the Arican Magical Congress willing to cooperate with him.
In other words… he seed completely powerless.
At that mont, Tom finally understood why Wade had said earlier that Grindelwald actually hoped those bigshots would resort to underhanded tactics.
And sure enough—President Picquery had barely begun her sche, and Dumbledore had already been sidelined just for not joining in.
If Grindelwald found out about this kind of self-sabotaging behavior, he'd probably laugh himself to death.
Just as Tom was thinking this, Dumbledore had already stood up again and walked toward the door.
"Rember, you absolutely must not leave this room. I'll be placing so protective enchantnts at the entrance..." Dumbledore said as he stepped outside.
Tom stared, dumbfounded, at the door that had just closed behind him. "He… he just left like that? Didn't he say there was nothing he could do?"
Wade lounged comfortably on the sofa. "You think Dumbledore would just do nothing out of fear of being blad? Even if it looks like there's nothing he can do, he'll still try. That's who Dumbledore is."
"But no one in the Arican Magical Congress trusts him anymore."
"Then he'll just change his identity, won't he?" Wade grinned. "Dumbledore may follow the rules, but he's not as rigid as you think. What's worse: breaking a few rules or letting Grindelwald clear his na? When you weigh the consequences, letting Grindelwald walk free would be far more damaging, don't you think?"
"But… everyone's watching his every move."
"Tom, do you realize how terrifying a rule-bending Dumbledore can be? Think of Grindelwald."
"Damn…" Tom sucked in a sharp breath.
"Exactly. Those bumbling fools outside can barely keep an eye on … you think they can track soone like Dumbledore, a master of Transfiguration?"
…
In a pitch-black dungeon…
Grindelwald was firmly restrained in a confinent chair.
He quietly stared at a kerosene lamp hanging overhead.
Though the lamp's glow was dim, it was the only source of light in this pitch-dark dungeon.
By now, he had endured nurous rounds of harsh interrogation.
But whether it was the Cruciatus Curse or Veritaserum, nothing of value had been extracted from him.
That was because, before he officially agreed to stand trial, he had already anticipated this situation and removed many incriminating mories, leaving them stored safely in Nurngard.
Yes, he had directly extracted them and stored them in a Pensieve, then altered certain key mories in his own mind...
Since all the compromising mories were now gone, how could Veritaserum possibly produce anything useful?
Later, the people from the Arican Magical Congress even resorted to using the Cruciatus Curse.
Yet Grindelwald was rather pleased— the more ruthlessly they acted, the more it revealed their desperation.
And the more desperate they beca, the smoother his plan was going.
Suddenly, a figure appeared at the entrance of the cell, interrupting Grindelwald's thoughts.
It was an unfamiliar face—aning this was a wizard Grindelwald had never seen before.
But then, Grindelwald suddenly burst into laughter. "Dumbledore, so even you have a day when you sneak around disguised as soone else."
Dumbledore reverted to his original appearance.
For a master of Transfiguration like him, becoming soone else didn't require Polyjuice Potion at all.
He stared coldly at Grindelwald, saying nothing.
"The fact that you had to disguise yourself to get in here proves that President Picquery no longer trusts you," Grindelwald said cheerfully.
"How do you know she doesn't trust anymore?"
"Heh~~ In the past, you could appear before at any ti. When did you ever need to look like soone else?" Grindelwald smiled. "Let guess… hmm… did she want to carry out so sche against , and you refused to go along with it?"
Dumbledore sighed. "You really do know everything…"
The smile gradually faded from Grindelwald's face. "This ti, you can't stop ."
"I will stop you. As long as Picquery's plan hasn't been carried out—" Dumbledore began.
"Oh? Whatever," Grindelwald said. "Her so-called plan won't affect anyway. Even without a knife, I can slowly untie the rope myself… You should know by now, stopping has nothing to do with that little sche of hers."
Dumbledore was silent for a mont before he finally said, "Of course I know…"
"Yes, and I know that you know. So, the reason you're trying to stop her plan is just to save her, isn't it? You understand clearly—once her plan is exposed, her position as President of the Congress will be finished."
Dumbledore replied calmly, "At this point, there are fewer and fewer people like her left in the Magical Congress… that's why she can't fall."
"You really are perceptive, Dumbledore… heh.." Grindelwald smiled.
Dumbledore knew he probably couldn't stop Grindelwald from clearing his na anymore. So now, he only wanted to stop Picquery's foolish plan, to pull her out of it, and preserve her…
Otherwise, he'd lose yet another ally—another capable force against Grindelwald.
"Dumbledore, if you truly want to save her, maybe I can help you."
"And what would you get out of that?"
"I can't be without enemies. And you, Dumbledore… a man who refuses to touch power can never be the kind of enemy I dream of." Grindelwald smiled.
Dumbledore once again fell into silence.
"Oh? Did I really hit the nail? Hehehe…" Grindelwald let out a pleased laugh. "Such a foolish decision, Dumbledore! Afraid of losing control, so you don't dare to touch power? Hahahahahaha…"
Read 12 chaps ahead: P^treon: Captain69
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