Although Wade was montarily stunned, with a powerful enemy right in front of him, there was no way he would keep standing there.
In an instant, a new spell had already been prepared.
However, just as Wade was about to release it, he heard Dumbledore's urgent voice.
"Retreat. Quickly, retreat!"
Wade had no choice but to halt his attack and guide the Obscurus to rapidly withdraw backward.
Originally, Wade had been on guard against the opposing Obscurus launching an attack.
Yet, as if looking into a mirror, the other Obscurus also canceled its attack at the exact sa mont and retreated just as swiftly in the opposite direction.
While pulling back, Wade realized he was passing over the vortex.
This left him puzzled.
He had clearly only approached the vortex earlier and had encountered the opponent before crossing it.
So why was the vortex now behind him as he retreated?
At this mont, the two Obscuruses above the tent had both revealed themselves. Their brief clash had caused a huge disturbance, imdiately alerting the supporters around the tent.
Shouting loudly, the Grindelwald supporters began firing spells at the two Obscuruses fleeing in opposite directions.
However, under Wade's control, the Obscurus was extrely fast.
The supporters' spells could not keep up with Wade's retreat at all.
Before long, Wade shot into the clouds and refreshed the Disillusionnt Charm on himself.
By then, the supporters on the ground had mounted their broomsticks and given chase.
But broomsticks of this era were not particularly fast, so by the ti they slowly rose into the sky, the two Obscuruses had already vanished completely.
…
With a whoosh, the Obscurus darted back through the office window and even closed the open window behind it.
Wade and Dumbledore's awareness withdrew from the Obscurus at the sa ti.
"What on earth was that? Why was there another Obscurus on the other side? And it looked exactly the sa as mine. Exactly the sa, whether in appearance or magical aura…" Wade sprang to his feet in shock.
"That is precisely why I told you to stop attacking," Dumbledore said gravely.
"Why?"
"I suspect that Obscurus belonged to us from another point in ti," Dumbledore said seriously. "Throughout history, there have been many tragedies where one's past self killed their future self. Therefore, when ti travel is involved, one must absolutely avoid coming face to face with their past self. And under no circumstances should you attack."
"Is that so?" Wade remained skeptical of the possibility.
Because that Obscurus had truly been like looking into a mirror.
Moreover, if what Dumbledore said was true, then which point in ti did that other Obscurus belong to?
"Professor… aside from ti travel, could it be an illusion? Like the hallucinations the Grindelwald supporters and the centaurs experienced today? Everyone's mory could have been distorted," Wade proposed a second possibility.
"That possibility cannot be ruled out…" Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "However, the other party did launch an attack at the start…"
"That's exactly why I suspect it. Because that attack didn't hit . And… my attack didn't land either. It was like striking empty air. So I can't confirm whether it was an illusion."
"That is true… and at that mont, both of our Disillusionnt Charms suddenly failed. That is also difficult to explain," Dumbledore said with a frown. "However, Grindelwald's people also discovered both of us at the sa ti. That would an that if it was an illusion, then everyone saw the sa illusion."
"Also, before we encountered the other side, I hadn't passed over the vortex. But when we retreated, we did pass over it… that doesn't make sense either. How could the vortex end up behind us?" Wade asked in confusion.
At that mont, Wade suddenly seed to rember sothing and began rummaging through his pocket.
After a while, he finally pulled out a map.
This was the Marauder's Map Wade had recreated earlier using Anne's intelligence.
He had also improved it. In addition to Hogwarts Castle, it now covered most of the Forbidden Forest, and besides people, it could also display the nas of magical creatures.
After completing the map, he had rarely used it, since he usually had no need.
But now was exactly the ti to use it.
Wade spread the map open, his gaze first falling on the Forbidden Forest.
Within the forest, the nas of all identifiable creatures appeared across the map.
Wade's eyes swept across it, searching for his own na.
If the opposing Obscurus had also been controlled by his consciousness, then his future self's main body had to be sowhere nearby.
After all, Wade could not possibly conduct ti travel using only the Obscurus's body.
With the barrier of ti and space in place, how could he remotely control an Obscurus that had returned to the past?
Dumbledore looked at the Marauder's Map in surprise. With just one glance, he understood its function.
So without waiting for Wade to explain, he began helping with the search.
However, the result was unexpected. Aside from their two nas appearing in Dumbledore's office, Wade and Dumbledore's nas did not appear anywhere else.
Of course, it was also possible that the future Wade had already left this ti period, or had moved beyond the map's coverage.
The situation beca even more puzzling.
"Strange… truly strange…"
Finding nothing, Wade sank back into his chair and muttered to himself.
Dumbledore frowned and spread the entire map across the desk, carefully examining every na.
In the Forbidden Forest, near Grindelwald's tent, many nas were moving back and forth.
These were likely the supporters. They were probably still riding their broomsticks, searching the skies for the two Obscuruses from earlier.
About two kiloters from the tent, there was a na: Parva. Behind it was a small parenthesis containing the word (Unicorn).
In other words, Parva was a unicorn, not a human.
Dumbledore continued scanning the map. Soon, deep within the Forbidden Forest, he saw a cluster of nas. Fernandes's na was prominently among them, and behind it was the word (Centaur).
At that mont, the nas were moving in formation deeper into the forest.
Clearly, the centaurs were migrating.
Dumbledore's intervention had completely shattered their trust in wizards, and they had also co to fully recognize the gap between themselves and a wizard like Dumbledore. The centaurs no longer wished to deal with wizards of his kind, so they had no choice but to continue moving deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
"What a remarkable map," Dumbledore said with a sigh of admiration after examining it. "Did you make this yourself?"
"Yes… I made it myself," Wade did not conceal the truth. "I had so inspiration by chance, and with the ghosts' help, I completed the map. Ghosts pass through walls all the ti, so they are very familiar with many secret rooms and hidden passages."
Dumbledore sighed. "An ingenious design… unfortunately, I still haven't found anything useful on it."
"Maybe it really was just an illusion…" Wade said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps…" Dumbledore frowned.
The matter was only becoming more complicated.
Wade sighed, his gaze settling on the location in the Forbidden Forest where the supporters had set up their tent.
He was certain there had to be sothing there he had overlooked.
What the!!??
Suddenly, Wade stood up again, rubbing his eyes as he carefully examined the spot where the supporters' tent was located.
"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not sure… maybe my eyes are playing tricks on …" Wade pointed at the tent area. "Just now, I thought I saw the sa na duplicate."
"Maybe it was just my imagination…" Wade trailed off before finishing his sentence.
Because his gaze had never left that spot, he clearly saw that in that brief instant, the supporter nad Best William had indeed split into two identical nas, even if only for a mont.
Dumbledore had also been watching the tent area and noticed the na divide at that very instant.
"Could it be the magical field there is too unstable, causing the map to misread?" Dumbledore asked.
"That shouldn't be the case. Even if it failed to read properly, the na would simply disappear from the map. How could it show two?" Wade shook his head.
He had personally designed the map, using extrely sophisticated na-tracking magic.
Even if soone managed to hide their na, the map would simply fail to display it. It was impossible for two identical nas to appear.
Unless they were a father and son with the exact sa na… for example, Tom Riddle and his father appearing at Hogwarts at the sa ti.
Just then, the na suddenly beca three. A mont later, the three collapsed back into one.
"Professor… why do I feel like sothing about this place is very wrong?"
Even Wade, bold as he was, felt a chill creep into his heart after witnessing such repeated abnormalities.
"One person briefly becoming two identical people…" Dumbledore murmured. "Could what happened to us earlier have been the sa? Is that why one Obscurus suddenly beca two?"
"If that were really the case, Grindelwald's n couldn't possibly have missed it," Wade was saying when Grindelwald's na suddenly appeared on the map.
At that mont, Grindelwald was moving rapidly toward the Forbidden Forest.
Dumbledore and Wade walked to the window. Sure enough, Grindelwald was striding grim-faced past the Black Lake and into the forest.
"Stay here. I'll go take a look myself," Dumbledore instructed.
That was what the Marauder's Map showed… but what was the reality?
Dumbledore intended to see for himself whether a single person would truly split into three.
After all, nothing like this had been observed during the day.
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