At a post office in Berlin, Bunty went in carrying the case to mail it, her footsteps echoing on the marble floor.
Meanwhile, Yusuf Kama also joined Grindelwald's team with apparent sincerity, his face a mask of devotion.
Grindelwald extracted Yusuf Kama's memories with clinical precision, but being insufficiently proficient in the power of memory and thought, he didn't realise that skilled Occlumency masters could fabricate memories to deceive any Legilimens.
What Grindelwald never expected was that his own Legilimens had already developed a disloyal heart.
With multiple factors working together, Yusuf Kama successfully infiltrated Grindelwald's inner circle.
On the streets of Berlin, the pale-faced Credence appeared like a ghost from the shadows.
In the sky, a burning phoenix flew by, and the phoenix's damaged body seemed to symbolise that Credence's life was coming to an end—feathers falling like dying embers.
"It's you," Dumbledore said, remembering Aiden's warning and showing him a kind smile.
"Do you know what it feels like to have no one?" Credence's voice was equally warm—deceptively so.
However, behind this warmth was hidden untold suffering that threatened to crack through at any moment.
"You're the one who sent messages on the mirror," Dumbledore said, walking to the middle of the road with measured steps.
"I'm a Dumbledore, and you abandoned me. Similar blood flows through our veins," Credence said, his voice beginning to tremble.
The phoenix flew across the ground in a trail of fire, and the cement-paved road began to crack beneath its passage, spiderwebbing outward.
"He didn't come for you; he came for me."
Credence began to charge, fury radiating from him. Surrounding buildings and ground were all shattered, fragments hurtling toward Dumbledore like deadly projectiles, while he also fired a spell.
"Bang!"
Dumbledore raised his hand with a Shield Charm, deflecting Credence's spell. The surrounding bricks and stones were shattered by the deflected magic, raining down like hail.
At the same time, fragments carried by the Obscurus's power also reached Dumbledore in a deadly swarm.
Dumbledore raised his right hand, and a grey spell spread out like rippling water, directly dispersing the gathered fragments into harmless dust.
With an Apparition, Dumbledore pulled away from Credence, appearing thirty feet distant.
At the corner of the street, the black-red Obscurus swept up more building fragments like a tide rushing toward Dumbledore with devastating force.
Credence raised his hand and pressed down. The Obscurus brought fragments from the sky, pouncing towards Dumbledore like talons.
Dumbledore raised his hand with a Repelling Charm, sending the fragments flying into the sky in an explosive burst.
As bricks and stones fell around them like rain, Credence also ran in front of Dumbledore with inhuman speed.
He reached out to grab Dumbledore's shoulder, pushing him backward continuously with raw strength.
Feeling the Obscurial's magic invading his body like poison, Dumbledore Disapparated away.
Credence followed closely. The two exchanged spells on a tram, blowing up the entire bus in a spectacular explosion of glass and metal.
However, it wasn't until the passengers on the tram mysteriously vanished that Credence realised he had fallen under Dumbledore's control—they'd never been real.
Opening his eyes again, surrounding things rapidly turned black like ink spreading through water, and Dumbledore held his wand against the back of Credence's neck.
"No matter what he told you, Credence, the substance of things is often different from appearances."
The scene began to contract. Dumbledore brought Credence into the Mirror of Erised—the boundary between worlds.
Credence pushed away Dumbledore's hand, holding the wand like a dagger and stabbing toward Dumbledore with desperate fury.
"My name is Aurelius!"
"He lied to you," Dumbledore said softly.
Dumbledore flickered around at extremely fast speed, his form blurring.
"Igniting your hatred."
Credence pounced, but Dumbledore had already appeared five metres away, untouchable.
Credence sprayed black magic from his hands in wild arcs.
Dumbledore raised his hand and dispersed his magic with practised ease.
In the world of the Mirror of Erised, this magic that couldn't be controlled by Credence's will couldn't deal with Dumbledore—here, the mind was everything.
Credence flew backward, and the Obscurus in his body was also knocked out, separating from him like smoke.
Credence floated quietly on the water surface, and the phoenix sang a dirge and flew away into the grey sky.
"What he told you isn't the truth," Dumbledore said, slowly walking over and crouching down.
"Who am I exactly?" Credence asked, his eyes red-rimmed.
"You are a Dumbledore. We're very sorry you suffered so much. We didn't know of your existence then," Dumbledore said, looking genuinely regretful.
He took out the Deluminator and drew away the surrounding light, revealing they had been in a dream woven by Aiden all along—reality reasserting itself.
The appearance of the Deluminator allowed the dream to recognise the signal and return them both to reality.
The two looked at each other and parted on the street, as if the intense battle moments ago had never happened—just another secret in Berlin's shadows.
At night, wizards fanatically gathered around Grindelwald like moths to a flame.
Vogel stood calmly on the high platform. Other high-level members of the wizarding confederation approached him and asked with obvious concern,
"You proposed letting him participate in the election? But he wants to wage war. War won't just destroy the Muggle world; it will destroy our world too."
"Of course, this is the wizards' will. When he becomes a candidate, then let him lose. Once the dust settles, those who support him will have nothing to say," Vogel said, leaning close to them and explaining with condescending confidence.
And Grindelwald, seeing this scene from the high platform, also smiled—a predator watching prey walk into a trap.
At the banquet, Aiden changed into a proper platinum-coloured robe, spreading his wings and folding them behind him with an audible rustle.
His dragon horns were painted golden with shimmering paint, and a long, powerful tail behind him swished from time to time with serpentine grace.
"Wow, you're not human?" Jacob said, seeing Aiden in this outfit, immediately misspeaking.
"You're not human," Aiden replied, giving him a withering eye roll.
"Not bad looking, little Prewett brother," Professor Lally said, wanting to rub Aiden's face again, but he swatted her away with his tail.
"Let's go."
Aiden took the lead, directly pushing open the ornate doors and walking in with a regal bearing.
The dragon-person's presence was powerful, causing everyone to involuntarily turn their gaze toward him—whispers rippling through the crowd.
"Prewett!" "A new dragon-person." "Have they also prepared for war?"
The wizards in the hall discussed amongst themselves in hushed, urgent tones.
Ignoring their stares, Aiden found a seat and sat down with deliberate casualness.
Jacob and Lally followed him like two loyal guardians flanking their charge.
At that moment, a man with dark, sunken eye sockets, holding a constantly rotating glass of red wine, walked toward Santos with predatory intent.
Lally grabbed her wand, preparing to intercept him.
But Grindelwald's people had already controlled the entire venue with silent efficiency.
Santos hadn't yet discovered the danger approaching him from behind.
"Jacob, it's time for your performance," Aiden said, patting his shoulder.
With a gentle push, Jacob waved his arms and stumbled toward Grindelwald's table like a puppet on strings.
"Assassin!" Aiden shouted, his voice cutting through the ambient noise.
At the same time, his wand waved under the table, and Jacob, as if controlled, raised his wand and aimed at Grindelwald with trembling hands.
"Heh." Grindelwald laughed, genuinely amused.
"Stupefy!" A Stunning Spell actually shot out from Jacob's wand in a blaze of red light.
Grindelwald was hit by the unexpected spell and flew backward, crashing into a decorative column.
"Oh boy, future him will definitely love this," Aiden muttered, wiping his monocle clean.
Aiden hooked his finger, and Jacob immediately raised his wand, drawing circles toward the sky with exaggerated movements.
More and more rain and fog sprayed from his wand, and the entire scene was swept by the artificial storm—chaos erupting.
Grindelwald's subordinates could only carry the unconscious Grindelwald and hurriedly leave the scene in disarray.
"Click." The banquet hall door opened with ominous timing.
Aurors rushed in with wands raised, full of misplaced momentum.
"Queenie!" Jacob's eyes turned red watching his beloved woman leave with Grindelwald's followers.
Yusuf Kama pulled up Queenie and walked backward toward the exit.
The retreating Queenie also secretly used magic to fling a chair at the Aurors, buying them time.
"Let's go, Jacob," Lally said, throwing out her enchanted book.
It formed a shimmering bridge in the air, pages fluttering like wings.
Aiden stood up, pretending to flee hastily. Aurors raised their wands at him and fired spells that crackled through the air.
But in reality, several Aurors were pointing at each other, firing spells under Aiden's subtle mental manipulation, and soon all the Aurors were lying unconscious on the marble floor.
With elegant, unhurried steps, Aiden, Jacob, and Lally calmly left past the fallen Aurors—three figures disappearing into Berlin's night.