With his hands clasped behind his back and a demeanor that exuded a clear sense of superiority over everything around him, Gellert Grindelwald walked calmly through the gloomy lower levels of MACUSA.
Gellert looked every bit the part for the occasion. His platinum-blond hair was perfectly slicked back, and his face radiated the same charisma that had brought Europe to its knees decades earlier. His heterochromatic eyes—one dark and the other pale as ice—scanned the dark vaults of the maximum-security basements.
Flanked by Vinda Rosier, Percival Graves, and Ulises Kerrigan, Gellert flashed a nostalgic smile.
"It's fascinating," he murmured to his companions as his shoes echoed against the damp stone. "This place hasn't changed a bit since they held me captive here in the 1930s. It still has the same stench of regret, despair, and that little touch of fear that's always present."
As they made their way down the immense corridor flanked by thick iron bars, the prisoners began to stir from their lethargy. As they peered through the bars and saw the unmistakable figure of the Dark Lord, a murmur rippled through the cells, quickly turning into a deafening clamor.
The prisoners recognized him immediately. Some began shouting his name fanatically, begging him to save them, while others—wizards who had lost everything in their past wars—shouted curses and insults at him, spitting in his path. But to Gellert, there was no distinction. The pleas and insults mingled into a single chaotic sound that, to him, was simply the most exquisite of music—a true delight to his ears.
Pausing in the center of the panoptic prison, Gellert closed his eyes for a second, absorbing the energy and emotions of the place. Slowly, his body began to rise gently into the air.
He floated several meters above the ground, coming into view of every prisoner on the various cell levels. When everyone's full attention was on him, he spread his arms wide.
"Brothers and sisters!" Gellert shouted. His voice echoed in every corner of the prison with such power that it was hypnotic to hear. "Wizards and witches! You have all already seen, thanks to the brave actions of another of our brothers, what happens when non-magical people are not controlled with an iron fist."
The murmurs died down immediately. All the prisoners listened, completely mesmerized.
"We must rise up once and for all and reclaim what has always, by right, been ours!" Grindelwald continued, clenching his fists in the air. "Throughout our entire history, those disgusting, magicless monkeys have only used us for their own selfish ends. And when our magic was no longer of use to them, when they became afraid of what they cannot understand, they began to hunt us down. They began to exterminate us and lock us away, considering us demons… freaks… mere circus creatures! But no more—I will no longer accept this."
Upon hearing that painful truth—which the prisoners had confirmed through the accounts of the Aurors on patrol—rage erupted in the convicts' hearts. The prisoners began pounding on the bars and chanting Gellert Grindelwald's name with renewed vigor.
Gellert smiled, tilting his chin down slightly as he stared intently at them.
"But all of us here know the absolute truth… They are the creatures. They are the true plague and the threat to our world; they harm and contaminate it. It is our divine duty and our obligation to eliminate them, to wrest power from their filthy hands, and to reclaim this world for its rightful owners: the wizards and witches of the entire Earth!"
A unanimous roar shook the prison's foundations.
However, the ovation was interrupted by the sound of multiple apparitions. From the main entrances to the basement, dozens of MACUSA Aurors—heavily armed and with their wands raised—surrounded the area. At the head of the squad stood the current president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, Sam MacDuff.
MacDuff, a burly man who was now breaking out in a cold sweat, looked up at Gellert floating in the air. He was afraid—terrified of facing a legend—but he had to be strong for his people; he could not allow an intrusion into his territory.
"Gellert Grindelwald!" Sam shouted, pointing his wand directly at him, trying to keep his voice from trembling. "You are under arrest for illegally entering MACUSA premises and for attempting to destabilize the wizarding world! Surrender immediately!"
Gellert looked down. He observed the President and his battalion of Aurors from above, gazing at them with the same boredom and disdain with which a child might watch a group of ants trying to stop the stream of water he was spraying at them with a hose.
Without deigning to answer the politician, Grindelwald stretched his arms toward the sky, channeling an absurd amount of magic, and shouted with all his might.
"YOU ARE FREE!"
A pulse of energy burst from his body. Simultaneously, every single magical lock in the prison burst into sparks. The heavy steel cell doors swung open.
Taking advantage of the Aurors' disbelief and astonishment, Gellert drew his wand in a swift motion, pointing it straight upward and unleashing a powerful blast. The basement ceiling collapsed completely, rocks and debris raining down on the guards, opening a gigantic hole that led directly into the main reception halls of MACUSA.
Chaos broke out completely.
President Sam MacDuff spun around quickly, shielding himself from the shower of dust and debris, shouting at his lieutenants.
"Activate all the building's defenses immediately! Alert all departments—I want an emergency lockdown of the entire city of New York now! There's no time to waste!"
A young Auror approached him, his eyes wide with panic, barely blocking a curse cast by an escaped prisoner.
"Mr. President!" the Auror shouted over the din. "How are we supposed to stop an Archmage?! It's Grindelwald!"
Sam ignored the question for a second, looking up. Through the cloud of dust, he watched in horror as hundreds of criminals swarmed through the hole in the ceiling like a plague, leaping into the MACUSA reception area and beginning to smash everything in their path. His Aurors were firing spells and curses in a desperate attempt to stem the tide, while Gellert Grindelwald, still floating amid the destruction, watched them all in silence, like the conductor of a macabre symphony.
MacDuff cleared his throat, feeling the weight of his office and the terror of the impending disaster.
"Contain the scum. I'll figure out how to contact Solomon…" Sam growled, knowing there was only one force in the country that could help them now. "In the meantime, your only priority is to prevent the outside world from collapsing. Do everything in your power to ensure the No-Majs don't find out about anything that's happening here!"
The young Auror, pale as a ghost, nodded quickly, gripped his wand tightly, and vanished with a pop to relay the orders to the rest of the squads, leaving MACUSA at the mercy of the Dark Lord.
Satisfied with the direction the conversation had taken and knowing he already had the powerful lord of New York in the palm of his hand, Aurelian decided it was the right time to take his leave. He stood up and buttoned his dark coat.
"I think we've discussed enough for today," said Aurelian, extending his hand.
Victor rose enthusiastically and shook the young man's hand with a firm grip. The old man let out a hoarse laugh, brimming with an energy he hadn't felt since his youth.
"You may return to this house whenever you wish, young man. The doors of the Van Droombeeld family will always be open to you. I am completely certain that the future will be glorious for both of us."
Aurelian nodded, ready to walk toward the exit, but before he could take his first step, the doors to the room burst open, slamming violently against the walls.
A witch burst into the room. She was agitated, breathing heavily, and clutching her wand in her hand.
"Lord Van Droombeeld!" the witch called out with the utmost urgency, completely disregarding protocol.
Victor frowned immediately, the smile vanishing from his face at the intrusion.
"What's all this commotion about? You know I hate being interrupted when I have guests."
"My Lord, you must forgive me!" exclaimed the witch, taking a couple of steps forward. "All hell has just erupted in the city center! Gellert Grindelwald is attacking the MACUSA headquarters at this very moment!"
Silence fell over the room instantly.
Far from panicking, the old man's battle instincts kicked in. Victor immediately turned to his faithful butler, who stood stoically behind his chair.
"Paul… get ready," Victor ordered in an icy voice.
The old servant nodded without saying a word, his eyes reflecting a fierce gleam honed over decades; he swiftly left the room to arm himself and mobilize the rest of the mansion's troops.
Victor turned his attention back to the messenger.
"What exactly did President Sam say?" he asked, wanting to assess the extent of the damage.
"The president is cornered, sir," the witch reported quickly. "He has issued a general order. The Aurors are trying to contain the damage to MACUSA alone and stem a massive escape of prisoners from the dungeons. Meanwhile, the other departments have been deployed to establish containment perimeters around the city; they're doing everything in their power to keep the No-Majs in the dark about what's happening right in the heart of New York."
Victor clenched his jaw, processing the information at breakneck speed. Although he hated the MACUSA government of recent years, it was not in his interest for the city to descend into chaos or for the magical secret to be exposed before his own movement was ready to take control.
"Listen to me carefully—this is what you'll do," Victor ordered the witch, asserting his authority. "Take ten of the best wizards from our team. Go immediately and help the other departments contain the city and erase memories if necessary. Protect our interests along the perimeter."
The witch knelt on one knee, bowing quickly; she then stood up and ran out of the room to carry out her orders.
Once they were alone again, Victor turned to Aurelian and let out a long sigh, leaning on his staff.
"Well… this is a truly unexpected situation," Victor remarked, his eyes shining with a strange fascination. "I knew things were getting tense with Gellert's old guard, but honestly, I didn't expect him to strike so soon—let alone launch a frontal assault against MACUSA itself. He must be desperate to be the center of attention again, haha."
The patriarch tilted his head, assessing the response of the wizard to whom he had sworn allegiance.
"Well then, boy? The world out there is falling apart. What are you going to do?"
Aurelian, far from showing concern, flashed a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He still vividly remembered the clash of power between Dumbledore and Grindelwald at Hogwarts, and he certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity to gauge the Dark Lord's power once more and truly test just how far behind that of an Archmage it really was.
"I'm following you to MACUSA, Mr. Victor," Aurelian replied calmly, pulling the elder wand from inside his sleeve.
Victor returned his smile, widening it with pride, confirming that he had not been mistaken in swearing his loyalty to this young man.
"That's how a true leader acts, Aurelian," Victor remarked, nodding approvingly.
Without wasting another second, both wizards vanished from the mansion, heading straight for the epicenter of the battle.
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