for Help By the time Damon left the office, he had several more amulets in his possession. He and Dumbledore had crafted these magical necklaces, crafted from black hemp rope and V-shaped gold. They could passively monitor heart rate, activate it, and even track location.
Whenever the wearer's heart rate exceeded 140, both Damon and Dumbledore would receive a notification.
Furthermore, this amulet was a one-time defensive measure. Simply injecting magical energy and hurling it would transform it into a shield capable of resisting the Killing Curse. Similarly, when this amulet was activated, both of them could sense it instantly.
It was expensive, but both Dumbledore and Damon were well-off. Dumbledore didn't have much gold to spare and was planning to melt down some of his own magic items to recast. But Damon simply reached in and conjured up a large amount of gold.
He had transferred it from his own vault.
His secretary, Shard Clement, was a brilliant man, always completing his assignments with 120% completeness. Under his management, Damon's twenty London factories were experiencing increasing financial success.
With extreme focus on cash flow, large quantities of British pounds, as Damon instructed, were converted into gold and stored at designated locations, ready for Damon's use.
Looking at the vast sums of gold, Dumbledore couldn't help but ask,
"Is this also the money you earned during your prodigy years?"
"I have a good assistant in London. He's a master of economics and is constantly making money beget more money."
"A Muggle? Do you control him?"
"Of course, he's completely my vassal."
"Did you use a Confounding Charm on him?" Dumbledore's brow furrowed.
"No, I just gave him hope."
"Hope?"
"Yes, the hope of learning magic—you can't imagine a sane Muggle's desire for magic. Clement is an excellent and intelligent man, and such people always think they deserve more and better things—like magic."
"But he should be a Muggle?"
"Well—I plan to do some experiments on him to see if it's possible to give Muggles the ability to cast spells in the future."
"It's a big project, and even you... I don't think it's easy to accomplish."
"Just treat it as a pastime. I didn't say it had to be completed—the potions I gave him are worth what he's done for me. Clement is a smart man, and some things don't need to be fully explained."
"Of course, the most important thing is that I have the power."
Damon stretched out his right hand and grasped it.
"As long as I remain a powerful wizard, he won't do anything he shouldn't do."
As Damon said this, Dumbledore looked at his student as if he were a villain.
You're already violating the Statute of Secrecy!
That's what he was going to say.
But the affairs of Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic were enough to give Dumbledore a headache, and Damon's previous sarcasm towards him did have some impact on him. Therefore, Dumbledore decided to turn a blind eye.
How to say it, he could only choose to trust.
If Damon couldn't make him trust, then there was no one in the world he could trust.
Watching Damon leave with a string of amulets, a figure flashed through Dumbledore's mind.
Nurmengard Prison.
Grindelwald hummed an unknown tune softly, holding a small broom and constantly sweeping around, making sure that everything in the room was spotless.
He would not be like this before. He once thought that he would stay in this room for the rest of his life to atone for his sins, until he died, his lover would never come to see him again, and he would never be able to forgive himself.
Now, everything has changed.
Although Dumbledore had vanished again since their last meeting—no longer visiting or writing—the house-elf, Lightning, no longer skimped on his food. He no longer needed to occasionally feed on the rats in his room, though he sometimes did soothe his inner feelings. Such a miserable life was precisely what a executioner should endure.
He would die miserably and alone in his old age, his body, heart, and soul completely thirsty.
But Dumbledore's transformation had given him new hope.
Grindelwald believed that after the first exception, there would be a second.
It didn't matter when—days, months, years, decades later.
Dumbledore would return.
Until then, he would clean the once filthy rat cage spotlessly, quietly waiting for his beloved to appear.
As for himself, he maintained absolute neatness in his simplicity—thank the house-elf for not refusing his offer to cut his hair.
Though still aging, Grindelwald now possessed the air of a British aristocrat.
"Knock, knock."
The haunting knock on the door echoed.
After confirming it wasn't an auditory hallucination, Grindelwald masked his ecstasy and calmly opened the door.
"You look like you're in trouble?"
"Perhaps, but that's not why I'm here."
Dumbledore gave up the idea of entering and handed Grindelwald the amulet he had crafted.
"A specially made magic item? What are you giving it to me for?"
"To guarantee your safety."
"My safety? Who would value the life of an old man?"
"Voldemort, he has returned."
Dumbledore's expression was serious, but Grindelwald just said nonchalantly:
"Really? Then when will you kill him? When will you set me free and fly away with me on the wind?"
"He might come to you."
"Why come to me?"
"I don't know, maybe for the Elder Wand? Or maybe something else?"
"Then let him come." Grindelwald turned around and put the amulet casually on the table, then turned to look at Dumbledore, "Let that arrogant and rude boy come to me. I promise that with the brain-blocking technique you taught me, he can't read any thoughts from my mind.
I will lie to him with my broken teeth and laugh in his face, and he will probably just attack me directly. After all, this coward thinks everyone is as afraid of death as he is - oh, is this why you gave me this magic item?"
"It's a talisman." Dumbledore paused. "You can use it to ask me for help."
"Ask you for help? I thought I'd always done that."
The two stood just a door away, Grindelwald's eyes fixed on Dumbledore.
"But you never paid any attention to it. Why have you changed your mind now?"
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(End of this chapter)