"We really didn't lie to you!"
The few Grindelwald supporters were genuinely anxious now.
In their mories, there truly had been such a person, yet they could not recall his na, his features, or even what he had said.
They only rembered that this person had been very familiar with them.
The feeling was so strange it was maddening.
If only one person had felt this way, it could have been dismissed as simple madness.
But several of them shared the exact sa sensation. That made the situation far from simple.
Grindelwald frowned and looked at the others. "Aside from the few of them, does anyone else rember this person?"
The rest shook their heads.
Soone answered, "We only saw the four of them take the initiative to attack the centaurs."
"You're talking nonsense! There were clearly five of us!" the Grindelwald supporters shot back.
"Exactly! And what do you an we attacked the centaurs first? They were the ones who attacked us!"
"But we all saw you take the initiative to attack the centaurs… those centaurs were just passing by."
"How is that possible? They had their bows drawn and aid at ! Was I supposed to wait until an arrow pierced my throat before I fought back?"
The Grindelwald supporters present all insisted on their own versions, and the argunt quickly erupted into chaos.
"Enough!" Grindelwald barked sharply, cutting off their argunt.
He pressed his fingers hard against his brow. Sothing about this was deeply suspicious.
Both sides had been present at the scene, yet their conclusions were completely different.
Thinking of that "nonexistent" person, Grindelwald suddenly felt the whole matter had beco extrely bizarre.
After pondering for a while, Grindelwald walked straight over to the bound centaurs.
At the mont, the centaurs were all unconscious, and several of their wounds were still bleeding.
"Untie them and treat their injuries," Grindelwald said with a frown.
The Grindelwald supporters imdiately moved into action.
Soon, the centaurs were awakened.
The mont they regained consciousness, they bared their teeth in fury and tried to grab weapons to fight.
But their weapons had long since been confiscated by the Grindelwald supporters.
Faced with the supporters' wands, the centaurs had no room to resist.
"You may kill , but don't even think about making us surrender!" a burly centaur said angrily.
Grindelwald waved a hand, and the surrounding supporters all lowered their wands.
"What is your na?" Grindelwald asked.
"I am Feren," the centaur said proudly, lifting his head. "And who are you?"
"I am their leader, Gellert Grindelwald. I arrived only recently and am not yet clear on what exactly happened between you," Grindelwald said.
Upon hearing that the man before him was Grindelwald, Feren imdiately grew tense.
"Wasn't it you who ordered them to attack us?" Feren asked.
"No. In fact, I still do not have the full picture. They insist that you drew your bows on them, yet others claim you were rely passing by and that they were the ones who initiated the attack. So I want to know the truth, Feren."
"We did not draw our bows first!" Feren said firmly. "I saw the four of them releasing dark creatures in the Forbidden Forest, so we intended to stop them. Then they attacked us!"
"Releasing dark creatures?" Grindelwald frowned and turned to look at the few supporters. "You did not ntion this earlier."
"Sir, we've been wronged! We know your orders very clearly. We would never allow dark creatures to escape from the tents. How could we possibly release them on our own initiative?"
One of them began to protest, and the others quickly echoed his words.
Even the supporters who had been arguing with the four earlier said they had not seen the four releasing any dark creatures.
Grindelwald's brows drew tightly together. The sa incident, yet multiple sides gave completely different accounts. This matter was far too strange.
If he had co earlier today to take a look, he would not be in such a passive position now.
Grindelwald turned and walked over to stand before the four n.
"Everyone's testimony is against you," Grindelwald said sternly.
One of the four imdiately spoke up. "Sir! Everything we said is the truth! If you don't believe us, you can use Legilincy to read my mories!"
"We're willing as well!"
Grindelwald said coldly, "Even if you hadn't offered, I intended to do so."
As he spoke, Grindelwald did not wait for the supporter to react before casting Legilincy on him.
Monts later, Grindelwald had already read through the mories of all four supporters.
The facts proved that none of the four had lied.
However, their mories were inexplicably incomplete.
While reading their mories, Grindelwald also saw the scene of them speaking with that nonexistent person.
But… there was no one in front of them. In other words, within their mories, they had been talking to thin air.
Next, Grindelwald used Legilincy on the other witnesses as well. Even the centaurs, including Feren, were not spared.
Yet the conclusion made the hairs on the back of Grindelwald's neck stand on end.
Because, to his shock, everyone present had genuine mories, and he was certain that none of them showed any signs of tampering.
In other words, none of the three parties had lied.
No one was at fault?
Grindelwald was beginning to feel that perhaps he himself was the one with the problem.
"Go check whether the dark creatures in that carriage are still there. No, I'll see for myself." Grindelwald strode toward the carriage.
Just now, in the centaurs' mories, the four supporters had released the dark creatures from that very carriage.
"Sir… this carriage originally held several Quintapeds… but we already moved them into the tent yesterday," soone said hurriedly.
Grindelwald opened the cage door on the carriage. Sure enough, it was completely empty.
"You, co here." Grindelwald beckoned the man over and imdiately cast Legilincy.
A mont later, Grindelwald released the supporter with a frustrated expression.
The centaurs claid that the Quintapeds had been released into the Forbidden Forest, yet in the mories of the other supporters, the Quintapeds inside had been placed in the tent yesterday.
Grindelwald then walked into the tent. After quite so ti, he erged again, his face even more displeased.
The Quintapeds were still in the tent. In other words, the centaurs' mories were inaccurate.
But their mories clearly showed no signs of being altered.
Grindelwald felt a headache coming on.
The key to the problem must lie with that extra person.
Just as irritation mounted in Grindelwald's chest, the distant sound of galloping hooves reached them.
A trace of delight appeared on Feren's face.
"Wizard, are you still not going to release ? My kin have arrived!"
Grindelwald said with obvious disdain, "Am I restraining you right now?"
If not for the recent change in his thods and his concern about giving Dumbledore leverage, with the centaurs' temperant, he would have wiped them out several tis over by now.
Dumbledore had been right before. Once he chose this path, it was as if he had placed a heavy shackle upon himself.
At this mont, the centaur group had already appeared, with Fernandes leading the charge.
Grindelwald's gaze fell on Dumbledore, who was flying alongside the centaurs.
The mont he saw Dumbledore, an inexplicable sense of relief rose in Grindelwald's heart.
This matter was far too bizarre. Grindelwald urgently needed soone to help him analyze it.
Although Dumbledore was now his enemy, the man had always possessed a brilliant mind. If he could help examine the situation…
"Release my kin!" Fernandes shouted.
Feren and the others imdiately ran over.
Seeing that his kin were unhard, Fernandes let out a breath of relief. But when he noticed the injuries still lingering on them, the anger in his chest flared violently.
"Wizard! You hard my kin! You will pay for this!" Fernandes roared.
"Your kin matter, but my people don't?" Grindelwald replied coldly. "We don't even know who's right or wrong yet, and you're already rushing to conclusions?"
The bizarre situation had already left Grindelwald extrely irritated.
And Fernandes's tone was particularly grating.
So Grindelwald was starting to lose his patience as well.
"My people told it was you who released dark creatures into the Forbidden Forest and then injured my kin when they tried to stop you! What is there left to be unclear about?"
"What a coincidence. My people say it was your kin who drew their bows on us first. My people were acting in self-defense," Grindelwald said coldly.
"Wizard, you have angered ," Fernandes replied icily.
"And is angering you supposed to be so great offense, centaur?" Grindelwald sneered. "Setting aside the fact that we did not release any dark creatures into the Forbidden Forest, even if we had, what would it have to do with you? Do you really think you're the kings of the Forbidden Forest? Rember this. Ownership of the Forbidden Forest belongs to Hogwarts. You are rely residents."
Furious, Fernandes raised his bow, but Dumbledore, beside him, caught his arm. "Please wait."
"Grindelwald, what exactly are you trying to do?" Dumbledore demanded sharply.
Grindelwald let out a cold laugh, then turned to the supporters behind him. "All of you, get over here. Let Professor Dumbledore use Legilincy to examine your mories. Let's see who is actually in the wrong."
Faced with this bizarre situation, he knew explaining it directly to Dumbledore would be troubleso, and the other man might not even believe him. It would be better to let him check for himself.
In any case, the supporters had no major secrets about him in their minds, so there was nothing to fear from Dumbledore's scrutiny. Moreover, regarding the supposed release of dark creatures, it was clearly the centaurs whose mories were off. The fault was not on their side.
Grindelwald simply did not believe that after checking, Dumbledore would not be utterly bewildered.
He refused to be the only one left confused.
Dumbledore frowned at Grindelwald. The man's behavior today could only be described as highly abnormal.
To simply allow him to examine their mories like this… could it be that their mories had all been altered?
Impossible…
Dumbledore dismissed the thought. Grindelwald knew his capabilities very well. If mories had been tampered with, would he really fail to notice?
At this mont, the supporters also stepped forward with their heads held high.
"Give a mont. I'll take a look…" After calming the centaurs, Dumbledore strode over.
Since Grindelwald had said as much, he might as well check.
Ten minutes later, the sa trace of confusion appeared on Dumbledore's face.
When his gaze t Grindelwald's, he imdiately understood the other's aning.
Clearly, the other man was just as puzzled by this matter.
Under the current circumstances… it truly was very strange.
___
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