Although Wade was momentarily 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 same moment 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 moment, the two Obscuruses above the tent had both revealed themselves. Their brief clash had caused a huge disturbance, immediately 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 extremely fast.
The supporters' spells could not keep up with Wade's retreat at all.
Before long, Wade shot into the clouds and refreshed the Disillusionment 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 time 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 same time.
"What on earth was that? Why was there another Obscurus on the other side? And it looked exactly the same as mine. Exactly the same, 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 time," Dumbledore said seriously. "Throughout history, there have been many tragedies where one's past self killed their future self. Therefore, when time 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 time did that other Obscurus belong to?
"Professor… aside from time travel, could it be an illusion? Like the hallucinations the Grindelwald supporters and the centaurs experienced today? Everyone's memory 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 me. 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 moment, both of our Disillusionment 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 same time. That would mean that if it was an illusion, then everyone saw the same 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 moment, Wade suddenly seemed to remember something 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 names of magical creatures.
After completing the map, he had rarely used it, since he usually had no need.
But now was exactly the time to use it.
Wade spread the map open, his gaze first falling on the Forbidden Forest.
Within the forest, the names of all identifiable creatures appeared across the map.
Wade's eyes swept across it, searching for his own name.
If the opposing Obscurus had also been controlled by his consciousness, then his future self's main body had to be somewhere nearby.
After all, Wade could not possibly conduct time travel using only the Obscurus's body.
With the barrier of time 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 names appearing in Dumbledore's office, Wade and Dumbledore's names did not appear anywhere else.
Of course, it was also possible that the future Wade had already left this time period, or had moved beyond the map's coverage.
The situation became 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 name.
In the Forbidden Forest, near Grindelwald's tent, many names 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 kilometers from the tent, there was a name: 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 names. Fernandes's name was prominently among them, and behind it was the word (Centaur).
At that moment, the names 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 come 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 some inspiration by chance, and with the ghosts' help, I completed the map. Ghosts pass through walls all the time, 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 something 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 me…" Wade pointed at the tent area. "Just now, I thought I saw the same name 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 named Best William had indeed split into two identical names, even if only for a moment.
Dumbledore had also been watching the tent area and noticed the name 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 name would simply disappear from the map. How could it show two?" Wade shook his head.
He had personally designed the map, using extremely sophisticated name-tracking magic.
Even if someone managed to hide their name, the map would simply fail to display it. It was impossible for two identical names to appear.
Unless they were a father and son with the exact same name… for example, Tom Riddle and his father appearing at Hogwarts at the same time.
Just then, the name suddenly became three. A moment later, the three collapsed back into one.
"Professor… why do I feel like something 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 same? Is that why one Obscurus suddenly became two?"
"If that were really the case, Grindelwald's men couldn't possibly have missed it," Wade was saying when Grindelwald's name suddenly appeared on the map.
At that moment, 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.
___
o(*￣▽￣*)ブSupport and read 12 Chapters ahead of WN at-
Patreon/Captain69