Chapter 221: The Increasingly Rich Wizarding
"Look at this! Look at this!"
The Daily Prophet moved much faster than imagined. Just as Lockhart and Lupin returned to school and arrived at the headmaster's office, an owl was already delivering a special edition of the Daily Prophet to them.
Grindelwald, looking at the information in the newspaper, spoke with great relish. "I've said it before, magic will seep into Muggle society in ways many people can't imagine. Half-blood families, Muggle-born families, informed Muggle high society... the International Statute of Secrecy has too many loopholes!"
Dumbledore's face was grim as he listened to Lupin and Lockhart's account, enduring Grindelwald's incessant chatter without saying a word.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" Grindelwald's mouth curled into a slight grin. "Watching this interesting future unfold has been my greatest pleasure during my decades in Nurmengard."
Dumbledore finally reacted, turning to face him. "What are your thoughts?"
Grindelwald cackled. "The thing you fear most might be happening: Tom should have begun making contact with Muggle forces. This is a very counter-intuitive thing. Voldemort is absolutely the leader of the 'pure-blood supremacy' faction, yet he's started to seek cooperation from Muggle society."
"But in reality, Muggles are a general concept; this group contains all kinds of people. You could even say that some pure-blood families and some Muggle forces are actually aligned in their stance against Muggle-born wizards."
"You could ask the Magical Congress of the United States about it," Grindelwald chuckled. "That 'Purifier' organization over there still hasn't been dealt with, has it?"
The Purifier organization was extremely complex.
In the 17th century, when European magical and non-magical populations began to migrate to North America, the magical world in America was still very small, scattered, and hidden. It was a time with a power vacuum in the wizarding world; there was no Wizard Council, no Ministry of Magic, only criminals who couldn't get by in their home countries or who were fleeing legal prosecution. Over time, a wizarding community with a more North American culture emerged.
At first, they lived as bounty hunters, working for various Muggle factions, armies, and even serving the Puritans in their witch hunts. As long as they were paid, they would even capture witches for these people.
Whenever people want to study the history of magic in North America, the Purifiers are always an unavoidable topic. This group has done all sorts of terrible things over a few hundred years, and after two centuries of conflict with the established Magical Congress of the United States, they went into hiding.
They constantly intermarried with Muggles and abandoned their magical offspring, who then hid themselves completely as Muggles within the vast Muggle population, becoming impossible to track down.
But many knew that their wizarding descendants had acquired legal identities. Many of them had entered magical schools and then went on to work in the Magical Congress, hospitals, schools, and other large and small organizations.
Had these people truly not received support from the Purifier organization?
No one knew the current scale of the Purifier organization. What kind of influence it had in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds. In this situation, it could be said, "I am in you, and you are in me." It was impossible to solve.
Even many wizards who knew of the organization's existence couldn't explain its true ideology.
Was it anti-wizard?
Or was it about domination?
There were no answers. Apart from the occasional malicious incident, it was impossible to know who these people were or where they were.
There were occasional conspiracy theories that the Canadian Magical Congress and Muggle powers had been completely taken over by the Purifiers, which only made it more difficult to investigate.
The development of the Muggle world could absolutely influence the wizarding world. With the rise of the Americas, it was highly possible that the influence of the Purifier organization had begun to spread to the wizarding world and Muggle society in Europe.
And now, Grindelwald was saying that Voldemort might have made contact with this organization. Of course, it could also be other forces.
Listening to this, let alone Dumbledore, even Lockhart, who was just there to watch, got a headache.
For a moment, only Grindelwald's malevolent laughter filled the office.
Albus, Albus.
You're getting more and more exhausted, aren't you? You'll need me to step forward. This is a future that cannot be changed.
Grindelwald watched Dumbledore's gloomy face, chattering non-stop. "Actually, if you think about it from another angle, the trend of integration between wizarding society and Muggle society seems like a pretty good outcome when you look at it from the perspective of the Purifier organization, don't you think?"
"You can't just say you have to destroy this organization just because it's not under your control, can you?"
"A future war between Muggles and wizards? Ha," Grindelwald laughed. "Some people always think things are so simple, analyzing the combat power of Muggle technology versus wizard magic, or discussing topics like pure-bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns. Things are never so clear-cut."
Dumbledore let out a deep breath, no longer wanting to listen to Grindelwald's nonsense. He looked at him coldly. "I need to find Peter Pettigrew. Keep a close eye out for him in the school!"
Grindelwald raised an eyebrow. "I'll catch him if I get the chance."
Fawkes, the phoenix, soared, beating his wings and creating a great burst of flames. With a whoosh, the fire bloomed and then dissipated, and Dumbledore was gone.
"Peter Pettigrew?" Lupin looked at Lockhart, a little bewildered. "He's still alive?"
Lockhart looked at him with equal bewilderment. "You didn't know?"
"Me? Know?" Lupin's expression was blank.
"!!" Lockhart's expression immediately became strange. He exchanged a look with Grindelwald, who was deep in thought, and a few guesses started to form.
Lupin didn't know about Peter Pettigrew?
Then what was Sirius Black doing?
Where was he?
This world was finally starting to diverge from the one Lockhart was familiar with. Or, to put it another way, a magical story with Harry Potter as the main perspective might not be able to fully grasp the truth of this world. After all, Harry Potter would eventually only become the head of the Auror Office in one country's Ministry of Magic, and his perspective would be too narrow.
Perhaps, this magical world always had this face.
Perhaps, the British Ministry of Magic had long since ceased to be the center of the wizarding world.
Heh, who knew?
Mobile phones, the internet, satellites, the evolution of the Muggle world... these things wouldn't cease to exist just because Harry Potter wasn't there to experience them.
Lockhart just felt that this world had become more colorful and rich!
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