After Lady Grindelwald uttered those words, the entire room fell into silence.
Everyone was trying hard to digest everything she had said.
The first to break the silence was Little Sirius.
"What?"
He asked cluelessly, "Who did you say you are? Merlin? God? Don't joke, how could there possibly be a God in this world..."
"Whether you want to admit it or not, that's the truth."
Lady Grindelwald smiled faintly, ignoring the magic wands pointed at her by those present, and sat on the guest chair.
"Is this your way of treating guests?" she said, "Or have you forgotten how to be a graceful wizard and chosen to be a rude ape instead?"
"I don't consider you a guest." Cassandra stood behind Harry, sarcastically speaking.
Lady Grindelwald looked up at Cassandra as if recalling something, and suddenly said, "Oh... it's you, Malfoy. It seems that in this timeline, you still live quite well, don't you?"
"No need for your concern." Cassandra said coldly, it was clear she didn't like this uninvited guest.
"You really shouldn't be welcoming me, Miss Malfoy." Lady Grindelwald slightly raised her chin, "As the leader of the Malfoy Clan who attempted to resist my will, let me think... vanished ninety years ago, what a pity... We were classmates, yet you weren't willing to follow me. Was it your pride at work? I'm very curious."
Cassandra clenched her hands, but said nothing.
"So that's why you disguised as the Death God to hunt us in dreams?" Harry asked from the side.
"No," Lady Grindelwald extended a finger, "I did not disguise as the Death God, and I am not the Death God... I have no interest in playing such odd tricks; conquering the whole of Europe, and the world is what I truly wish to do."
"But ironically, it seems that the hero of the Three British Isles, Tom Riddle, is a wretched creature hunted by everyone in this timeline..."
When Lady Grindelwald said this, her expression became somewhat indescribable, as if she never imagined things would turn out this way.
Not just Lady Grindelwald; even hearing Tom Riddle could become a hero against tyranny, Dumbledore found it somewhat... hard to accept.
"I truly can't imagine..." James suddenly mused aloud, "If, I mean if, our Voldemort were to meet that Tom Riddle, what would they say to each other."
He didn't seem to care about the pressure brought by Lady Grindelwald, immediately thinking of mocking Voldemort.
Yet, it's not surprising, given their strongest three combat forces—Dumbledore was distracted by a mention of Anna, his daughter-in-law Vivi can't harm her own... As for Harry, he seemed to be using magic developed by the other side against her.
So in this situation, tension no longer mattered; what mattered was that Lady Grindelwald didn't seem keen on any conflict with them.
"Say something?" Little Sirius chimed in timely.
As James's good brother, Little Sirius's comedic timing always arrived seamlessly.
"I, Tom Riddle, a hero, am actually on par with you, a villain..."
Saying this, James also couldn't hold back his laughter.
Harry didn't know what to say either.
No, Dad, we're in the middle of a confrontation...
Could you not be so off-track?
"I'm looking forward to it, too," Lady Grindelwald smiled lightly.
She looked up at Dumbledore and then said to them, "It seems... no matter the timeline, Albus is destined never to align with Tom Riddle."
"Why?" Harry suddenly had a bad premonition.
"Yes, why?"
Lady Grindelwald repeated, as if unwilling to delve into this topic.
She simply said, "Tom Riddle is the only force in the Three British Isles still resisting me. I must admit, he indeed gives me a headache, and I don't have the leisure to deal with him, so I can only trouble Albus and Little Anna to besiege him... But I still don't understand why they resist joining my empire so vehemently..."
"Maybe what they want is freedom," Harry raised an eyebrow and said.
"Hm." Lady Grindelwald merely snorted coldly but didn't say more.
She didn't bother refuting Harry's words; to her, so-called freedom was nothing but a pursuit of power.
Harry didn't continue speaking, instead walking over to Vivi's side.
"How's it going?" he asked softly.
"Use the method I taught you before," Vivi whispered in his ear, "It was Christmas... ah, fifth-grade Christmas, the time I taught you how to tie me up..."
While speaking, Vivi's ears turned bright red.
This matter... was indeed a bit embarrassing to talk about.
Harry touched the ropes tying Vivi with his magic wand.
He certainly remembered how Vivi taught him that night, in fact, he would never forget it in his lifetime.
"Such a touching romance..."
Lady Grindelwald sat cross-legged on the chair, casting a mocking gaze at Harry and Vivi, still speaking sarcastically.
"Potter, let's make a deal, shall we?" she said again.