Avada rushed back to the Hufflepuff common room almost at curfew, hastily giving his eagerly waiting friends a rough explanation that he had gone to talk with Dumbledore about matters concerning the orphanage he came from. After that, he returned to his dormitory. Only after chatting with his roommates deep into the night did things finally quiet down, and as he listened to the rising and falling chorus of snores around the room, he fell into thought.
After all, he had been unconscious for a full four months, and during the summer he had not been able to return to the Muggle world to see his old friends. Although Dumbledore had already imitated his handwriting and tone to write to the orphanage, using the excuse that he had gone abroad as an exchange student to explain his absence over the summer, the problem was that in the new term he was about to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, and as a minor, going abroad would require a guardian's signature—which made explaining things rather troublesome.
Though in reality, all he needed to do was write an application to the Department of International Magical Cooperation stating that he did not have a clearly designated Muggle guardian, and then obtain special approval. But for the purposes of brushing off those overly curious people, the current excuse was more than enough.
"This removal of the age restriction... was it really just Ludo Bagman's own idea?"
He recalled his conversation with Dumbledore and carefully analyzed every useful piece of information between the lines.
"Ludo Bagman... I think he's the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, right? In the original Triwizard Tournament, he was even one of the judges. I remember he wasn't a Death Eater... though he did seem to like gambling a lot, and I think he lost quite a bit of money because of it?"
"Oh, right. I heard that at the Quidditch World Cup, he also had a conflict with Viktor Krum, one of the champions from the original story. I wonder what that was about... Could it be that this was why he proposed removing the age restriction? To lower the chances of Krum becoming a champion?"
"And under the premise of guaranteed safety, removing the age restriction really would help select stronger champions and make the competition more meaningful, so it's no surprise the proposal passed..."
"And besides, in the original story, the pure-blood families really did want an underage student to participate in the Tournament. Since they still didn't suggest removing the age restriction even under those circumstances, then they're even less likely to have done it this time... Still, I'd better keep an eye on it, just in case."
He silently marked down the name Ludo Bagman as someone to watch closely, planning to use Leach University's intelligence network to monitor him in the coming days.
"And then there's that 'take one person away from Hogwarts'... Who could it be this time?"
He tossed and turned on the bed for a while. After realizing that the mountain of things on his mind had left him completely sleepless, he simply kept thinking.
"Now that Voldemort's main soul is already in Dumbledore's hands, they no longer need Harry's blood to resurrect him... so who would it be?"
"Myself? No, that doesn't make sense. They definitely know that with the age restriction removed, I'll be going to the Triwizard Tournament..."
"Could it be Professor Trelawney? That's possible, for the sake of the prophecy."
"Or maybe the word person is itself misleading, and what they really want to take away is simply a living thing? Are they trying to steal Voldemort's main soul?!"
Avada shuddered. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
"That's it—yes, that has to be it. If the main soul is left at Hogwarts, then fake Moody will steal it. And if Dumbledore carries it with him, then they'll use that plan to 'kill him' and retrieve the main soul from his body afterward... So if I follow that line of thinking, the ultimate purpose behind this whole chain of schemes by the pure-blood families is to resurrect Voldemort??"
"And to resurrect Voldemort only after Dumbledore is dead... If they really pulled that off, that would count as a complete comeback from the brink."
"Looks like I need to speed up my research into soul separation. I have to record the soul characteristics in Harry's body before we leave for Durmstrang, then use the resources at Leach University to finish the research as quickly as possible... I need to wipe Voldemort out completely before Christmas if I can!"
Avada let out a heavy breath, closed his eyes, and tried to fall asleep—only to discover in despair that all those stirring thoughts had made him even more awake.
"...Right now, the most important thing is still that method for killing Dumbledore."
With a miserable expression, he kept analyzing, giving his brain the full double-oh-seven treatment.
"The entire conspiracy only works if the pure-blood families really do have some way to kill Dumbledore... What could it be? If they truly had such a method, why didn't they use it earlier?"
"And even at Voldemort's peak, they had no way of killing Dumbledore. So why do they suddenly think they can do it now? It can't be that in the span of just two short years, they somehow raised a force equal to Voldemort and Grindelwald combined..."
"Huh?"
"Right—Grindelwald!"
All at once, he excitedly realized he had found the blind spot.
"There's a perfectly ready-made, completely unreasonable Seer right there, isn't there? Why not just go ask him?"
"At this hour..."
He looked up at the pitch-black night sky outside the window, fell silent for a second, and then forcibly cheered himself up.
"He's definitely still awake!"
And so, over at Leach University, Nathan Clarke—who had originally been lying quietly in bed—suddenly sprang up like a fish, grabbed his key, and headed outside. After a few rounds of Apparition, he crossed all the way from Britain to Nurmengard in Austria, then made his way up the tower with practiced ease...
Knock, knock, knock.
"Mr. Grindelwald, are you there? I have something very important I need your help with!"
"..."
Knock, knock, knock.
"Mr. Grindelwald?"
Knock, knock, knock.
"Grinde—"
Creak—
The old wooden door was yanked open, revealing the deeply aggrieved face of an old man behind it.
"Come in."
"What kind of matter could make you run to the most famous prison in the world at one in the morning? Has the university been exposed? Did Hogwarts explode? Or am I finally being released on bail?"
"The pure-blood families are planning to kill Dumbledore."
Avada did not waste any time and went straight to the point.
"This came from intelligence sent back by a spy Dumbledore planted. They really are seriously considering it, and from the way their whole plan has been arranged, they seem to have quite a bit of confidence in it. So I wanted to ask you—"
Suddenly, he broke off in surprise.
Because he discovered that as he spoke in mounting urgency, Grindelwald's expression had gradually shifted from serious to relaxed. In the end, he even looked like he was trying not to laugh...
"What is it?"
Avada asked in confusion.
"Have you already foreseen this?"
"Of course I know about it."
Grindelwald stopped suppressing his smile altogether.
"Not only that, I also know that the pure-blood families' plan is going to fail in a rather ridiculous fashion in the end... So you came all this way for nothing."
"Then what exactly happens? How do they fail?"
Hearing the assurance from this great Seer, Avada relaxed considerably, though he still pressed for more.
"If I tell you now, that would ruin the fun."
Grindelwald smiled in a thoroughly sly and treacherous way.
"Life always needs a few surprises, doesn't it?"
(End of Chapter)