[Half an Hour Later]
After listening to these six elderly witches and wizards ramble on and on, Edward finally pieced together the situation.
The gist of it was this: After being defeated by Dumbledore, Grindelwald had lost all hope and was imprisoned in Nurngard by the ICW. However, his loyal followers never gave up on their ideals and would frequently try to sneak in; to convince him to rise again.
Then, three years ago, Grindelwald—seemingly (Edward guessed) out of sheer annoyance—told them that his heir had been taken in by Dumbledore at Hogwarts. If they truly wanted to serve the cause of the Greater Good, they should swear allegiance to this heir instead—aning Edward.
After hearing this, Edward felt sothing was definitely off.
'This is obviously just Grindelwald brushing you off, yet you actually believed him?!'
Everything they said was either about the Greater Good or changing the world—but seriously, why were these grandpas and grandmas in their eighties and nineties still acting like edgy teenagers?
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "And what exactly is my relationship with Grindelwald? I've never heard of him getting married or having children."
Edward had once asked the orphanage director about his origins, but all she knew was that one morning, she had opened the door to find a baby abandoned on the doorstep—no na, no identifying items, nothing.
The old witch, Rosier, spoke up. "Perhaps you're a distant relative of the Grindelwald family. If their bloodline declined over the years, you might have ended up in an orphanage."
Edward frowned. "If I'm so many generations removed and only relative of a distant branch at that, plus I've never received any kind of education from him—why would I be considered his heir? How could he be sure I'd even inherit his ideals? And why on earth would I give up a perfectly fine life just to chase after so grand delusion of changing the world?"
The six of them fell silent.
At their age, they had seen through many things in life. But sotis, it was better not to say certain truths out loud—at least before hope was completely lost.
Finally, the old wizard in the military-style coat, Krafft, spoke firmly. "We believe in Mr. Grindelwald's words."
"That's right!"
Edward sighed. "Fine, whatever."
He actually believed most of what they said—except for the 'heir' part—but he still remained cautious, wondering how to deal with them.
Then, an idea struck him.
"By the way, I'm in desperate need of money right now. You lot were once infamous Dark wizards, right? You must have so gold!"
The six exchanged awkward glances, then lowered their heads in embarrassnt.
"We've been in hiding all these years. The most valuable thing we own…is our wands."
"I have 2 Galleons and 13 Sickles."
"…I have 28 pounds in cash."
"…"
Damn brokies! Edward instantly lost interest.
First, he reclaid the pouch of Galleons he had given to Borgin earlier. Then, as he walked to the door, he tossed a single wand onto the ground.
Only then did he release their bindings, Disapparated, and left behind six disappointed old folks.
———
[Back at Hogwarts]
As soon as Edward returned, Audrey rushed over, her face full of worry.
"Are you okay?"
"Not only am I fine, but I even got a few extra wands."
Audrey sighed in relief, then puffed up her cheeks. "Didn't you say you'd run if things seed wrong? Why did you go back? That was so dangerous!"
"Co on, I spent almost all my money on those items. How could I just leave them behind?"
Pausing for a mont, he gestured at his chest a few tis.
"It was also…Mr. Fool's will."
'Oh, so Mr. Fool is just your personal convenient excuse, huh? Just dragging him out whenever you need to justify sothing?'
Edward quickly recounted what had happened. Audrey, stunned, asked, "What are you going to do now?"
"Hmm… I guess I'll check with old—I an, Professor Dumbledore. After all, he was the one who took from the orphanage in the first place."
Audrey hesitated, then whispered, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"
"Eh, it's fine. I don't even rember my life before the orphanage anyway." Edward waved his hand dismissively, looking carefree.
Then, all of a sudden, he smacked his forehead, his expression pained.
"Shit!"
"What? What happened?"
"I should've looted Borgin's Dark magic shop while I had the chance! That bastard sold out!"
"…"
———
[Hogwarts – Headmaster's Office]
Edward got straight to the point and told Dumbledore everything.
After a brief silence, Dumbledore frowned slightly.
"First, you are definitely not Grindelwald's heir. Second, I can't say for certain whether you are related to the Grindelwald family…but he did et you before I did."
Sitting at his desk, Dumbledore absentmindedly twirled a quill in his fingers as he recalled the past.
"I once asked him about your origins, but his response was…"
Dumbledore's expression turned unreadable as he softly repeated the words:
'Perhaps…you should bear the surna Dumbledore.'
"Wait, hold on!"
Edward quickly raised his hand, signalling a pause.
"The amount of information in those few sentences is way too much!"
"First, I'm supposed to be Grindelwald's heir. Now, I'm supposedly from your family?!"
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"…Professor, please don't tell I'm actually yours and Grindelwald's child."
Audrey, who had been quietly listening on the side, suddenly perked up, her eyes shining with excitent.
She had long been fascinated by the tragic love story between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
And now, out of nowhere, there was a suspected love child?!
This was just—too thrilling!
"..."
Dumbledore stared at Edward, dumbfounded, for a full thirty seconds before finally taking off his glasses and rubbing his temples in exasperation.
"Edward, do you realize? I haven't felt this speechless in nearly seventy years."
"Pfft—" Audrey couldn't hold back her laughter.
Edward chuckled awkwardly. "It was just a reasonable guess."
"Alright, let's end this topic here. As for your origins, you can ask Grindelwald yourself if you get the chance. But let repeat: you are absolutely not his heir. Grindelwald would never choose a sixteen-year-old child to be his successor. Understand?" Dumbledore's tone turned serious.
"Understood."
Dumbledore handed him a piece of parchnt. "This is the new magic you requested. Take a look."
Edward quickly scanned through the contents:
Dazing Charm—Obliviascindo—Montarily stuns all nearby targets upon release. The advantage is that it requires no direct aim.
Fireshield Charm—Protego Diabolica—Creates a protective barrier made of Fiendfyre.
Fire Dragon Charm—Incendio Draconis—An advanced version of the Fireshield Charm, still technically a variant of the Fiendfyre Curse. Unlike normal Fiendfyre, which is uncontrollable after casting, the Fire Dragon Curse allows the user to manipulate the flas.
Lightning Strike Curse—Fuln Dirigere—In stormy weather, this spell can direct lightning to strike a designated target.
Edward raised an eyebrow. Two of these spells were completely unfamiliar to him, but the Fireshield Charm and Lightning Strike Curse seed reminiscent of spells Grindelwald had once used.
So, were these spells sothing old Dumbledore got from Grindelwald?
"Professor Dumbledore, are there any spells that can lock onto a target? You know, most offensive magic requires actually hitting the target to be effective. But if soone is agile enough, dodging spells isn't that difficult."
Dumbledore sighed. "That very problem troubled for many years as well, but unfortunately, there's no perfect solution."
He paused, then smiled slightly.
"However, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. If a true homing spell existed, it would be a nightmare for most ordinary wizards."
Edward suddenly understood.
That's right—Dark wizards in real battles wouldn't bother playing around with Stunning Spells or Disarming Charms. They'd open with Avada Kedavra.
And if that spell could lock onto its target…
Yeah, better not think about it.
"Alright, I'll go study these spells first. If I run into any problems, I'll co back and ask you." Edward stowed the parchnt away.
"Any updates on Peter Pettigrew?"
"No." Dumbledore shook his head. "Lupin has been watching the Marauder's Map for the past few days, but Peter's na has yet to appear."
That's right—Fred and George's Marauder's Map had been imdiately requisitioned. The twins were now looking at Edward as if he were a traitor.
Dumbledore thought for a mont before adding, "Leave this matter to us. You don't need to worry about it too much. What you need to focus on now is studying magic. If you don't have enough ti…"
He pulled a gold tipiece with a chain from his desk drawer.
"This is a Ti-Turner I applied for on your behalf. You should already be familiar with its function and usage."
Edward's pupils contracted.
It appeared!
The most overpowered artefact in Harry Potter!
So overpowered, in fact, that J.K. Rowling had to wipe them all out later to prevent the tiline from spiralling into complete chaos.
Edward quickly reached out to take it, but before he could, Dumbledore looked at him seriously.
"Rember, Edward—you must never alter fixed events from the past. Those who play with ti will always be played by ti in return."
He continued, "And those spells, they are very, very dark ones. Exercise caution when using them."
Edward paused for a mont, then nodded solemnly.
"I understand."
———
[Outside the Headmaster's Office]
As soon as they stepped out, Audrey started looking Edward up and down with a strange expression.
Edward felt uncomfortable under her gaze and instinctively took a step back.
"Wh-what?"
She narrowed her eyes and grinned.
"So, you're only sixteen, huh? Hehe, that ans you're younger than !"
"So what?"
Audrey reached out and playfully patted his head.
"Be a good boy~ Call Big Sis~"
"..."
If it were anyone else, Edward would have imdiately flipped them off.
But then he rembered—people in the Lord of the Mysteries world probably didn't understand the aning of flipping soone off.
…And that was actually kind of tragic.
The middle finger gesture first erged during the late stages of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. English archers had inflicted heavy losses on the French, so the French vowed that if they won, they would cut off the archers' middle fingers—the finger used to draw back a bowstring.
But in the end, the French suffered a crushing defeat. As they retreated, English archers raised their middle fingers mockingly to show that they still had them.
From that mont, flipping the bird gradually evolved into the offensive gesture we know today.
Tsk.
This ant the Hunter Pathway in Lord of the Mysteries was missing a classic provocation gesture.
Edward hesitated for a while before finally deciding to ask Audrey.
"So…what do people in your world use as a provocative gesture?"
Audrey imdiately showed him the middle finger.
"It was invented by Emperor Roselle. Everyone, from nobles to commoners, uses it now."
Holy shit.
Edward was stunned.
Of course, it was him.
Of course, Roselle would be the one to create it!
———
[Sunday]
Edward had gotten up early to get permission from Professor Sprout and Dumbledore for a leave of absence.
After all, today was the day he had to complete his final mission before leaving the Harry Potter world:
Going to Akihabara with Audrey…
To buy dolls.
…Wait.
Sothing about this felt very, very wrong.
———
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