— — — — — — —
Just moments ago, Slytherin House had practically exploded with panic.
Through group chats and message threads, the students learned that the one who had just called out Dumbledore… was actually Grindelwald, and that a world-shaking battle was happening right outside.
From one side of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers, you could see the battlefield. The distance made details blurry, but the height gave them a sweeping view.
Slytherin and Hufflepuff, though? Buried deep underground. Forget watching the fight—half the explosions didn't even reach their ears.
So they could only rely on other students relaying scraps of info. And this was exactly where Slytherin's terrible house reputation came back to bite them. They barely had friends in the other houses. In the end, they only managed to see anything because Daphne and Hermione set up a shaky video call.
"Tom, did Grindelwald get defeated?"
"That fire meteor just now—was that Fiendfyre? But the books say Fiendfyre can't be controlled! And why was it blue?"
"Who was that guy who barged in later?"
"Was that you stopping the Fiendfyre? I saw you swing your wand!"
A barrage of questions hit him from all directions. Tom quickly raised his hand, signaling for silence.
"Alright! Stop! Let me talk!"
The noise cut off instantly. Dozens of eyes fixed on him.
Only then did Tom speak, satisfied. "You're all asking random nonsense, I can't answer everything. So I'll cover the important parts."
"First, yes, that really was Grindelwald. Second, he escaped. Professor Dumbledore had the upper hand in the fight. Third, I only blocked the Fiendfyre or whatever for a moment. The rest of the time I was spectating. Had nothing to do with me."
He added, "And stop overthinking it. Being scared won't help. Right now, this is the safest place in Britain—maybe the world. If even Dumbledore can't protect you, then find a hole somewhere and wait to die."
"Alright, go do your own stuff. Don't block the hallway."
He waved them off, scattering the crowd. Only then did Daphne and Astoria hurry up to him, both wearing anxious expressions.
The Greengrass sisters thought Tom had been far too reckless today—actually getting that close to the battlefield. What if something had gone wrong?
Under normal circumstances, they trusted his strength completely. But when it came to Dumbledore and Grindelwald, all reason evaporated. Tom had to coax them for quite a while before their anger faded.
Shockingly, the harder one to calm this time was Astoria.
Daphne—the one who usually caused all the fuss—ended up being handled easily.
But it didn't end there. His chats were still blowing up nonstop. After soothing the sisters, Tom returned to his dorm and started video-calling people one by one. It wasn't until midnight that his three exhausted roommates were finally allowed back in to sleep.
"Tom, next time you could just knock us out with a Stunning Spell," Zabini muttered before collapsing onto his bed.
Tom stared at him for a long moment.
He wanted to say: "Every day, I do. I just forgot today."
...
Once he closed the Codex, Tom returned to his study space and called Grindelwald in. It was time to review the battle.
Two Kings of the Century, plus a Legend—this was a rare chance to know their thoughts. He had to dissect Dumbledore thoroughly.
Grindelwald pointed his wand at his own brow. Silvery strands of memory were drawn out.
Ravenclaw flipped open her tome, pages fluttering as blue light washed over the strands, forming a hazy glow. Then the light expanded, projecting a three-dimensional scene around them.
One spell, and they had something as powerful as a Pensieve—only enlarged for group viewing.
Tom immediately looked up at Ravenclaw. "Teach me that."
"Of course." She smiled. "Come to the Meditation Room later. It's simple—you'll learn it quickly."
"I want to learn too!" Ariana raised her hand, squeezing into the group.
"Sweetheart," Ravenclaw said, ruffling her hair, "I'll teach you in ten years—if you even remember to ask."
Ariana: "...…"
Tom almost burst out laughing. He finally understood why Helena had been so frustrated with her mother back then. With someone that blunt raising you, anything short of genius-level talent would send you straight into an identity crisis.
"Alright, let's watch the duel," Tom cut in before Ariana exploded. The memory began to play.
This time, they watched from Grindelwald's perspective—far more direct and far clearer than watching from a distance.
For the first time, Tom truly felt the pressure of facing Dumbledore head-on. You could never predict what spell he'd use. And even the spells you thought you understood became something entirely different in his hands.
Every flick of Dumbledore's wand was a psychological assault on his opponent. And that was only the technique. In terms of raw power, Dumbledore was like a vast ocean—deep, endless, impossible to gauge.
Dumbledore and Grindelwald had both reached the level of Kings of the Century, but their paths couldn't have been more different.
Grindelwald was sharp and overwhelming. He preferred crushing opponents with overwhelming offensive force. Whether it was dark magic or ordinary spells, he had no interest in flashy variety—he preferred sheer, unstoppable momentum.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, developed in every direction. His balanced talent let him refine each discipline to the extreme. He had no weaknesses. And having no weaknesses meant everything he touched was a strength.
His greatest strength was Transfiguration. In just a few moments of memory, Tom saw countless transformations. Not preset transformations that started with the spell, but secondary changes that occurred after the magic took effect.
He had never even thought about using magic in that way. And seeing Grindelwald forced to turn attacks into defense several times made it clear that the technique worked.
"Tsk…" Grindelwald rubbed his chin, dissatisfied. "Right there, I backpedaled. I should've cut in through the center instead of defending."
Andros shook his head. "Grindelwald, you were afraid of him. Your spells weren't fully unleashed."
"It wasn't fear," Grindelwald disagreed immediately. "I lost to him once, so I chose a safer approach."
"Then you already lost on the psychological level," Andros said. "Even if you see yourself as the challenger, you can't go into a fight thinking you might fail. Otherwise you'll never draw out your full strength."
Grindelwald nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Now that I've figured out Dumbledore's limits, the unknown won't throw me off next time."
Many strong people aren't afraid of stronger enemies. They only fear the unknown because it lies outside their control.
"Next time?" Tom shot him a look. "Old G, behave. I'd like to finish school without you stirring up drama. If you want to fight, lure Dumbledore out and fight him somewhere else."
Grindelwald shrugged, looking innocent. "Your headmaster treats Hogwarts like a turtle shell. Getting him to leave would require me to push him to his limit again. Do you have another family you want me to wipe out?"
Tom thought for a moment and shook his head.
He really wasn't the vengeful type. The only reason he destroyed Picquery was to help Tina vent. Too many friends, too good of a reputation. Hard to find enemies these days.
Their conversation stopped as the memory reached the midpoint, the moment Grindelwald goaded both Dumbledores into fighting seriously and the duel erupted in full force.
Unfortunately, memories couldn't reproduce the Elder Wand's true might. All they could see was that Grindelwald had a harder and harder time holding his ground.
"Dumbledore is an impressive wizard," Ravenclaw said, clearly pleased. "He has mastered that restless wand. Every spell bends completely to his will. Grindelwald, your fine control over magic is still a little weaker than his."
The rest became Ravenclaw's domain. She began pointing out Grindelwald's weaknesses. Tom listened carefully, and so did everyone else.
Opportunities to hear a legendary witch break down a high-level duel were rare. As for Grindelwald, he looked like he wanted to carve every word into his skull.
...
A few minutes of fighting turned into nearly three hours of review. Afterward, Grindelwald and Andros headed into the Meditation Room to digest everything. Tom followed Ravenclaw to a little garden cottage.
Using Grindelwald as the baseline, Ravenclaw laid out the approximate levels of the current Kings of the Century.
Taking Grindelwald with the Elder Wand in his prime as a reference point of 1, the present Grindelwald was still about a 1. At best she'd give him a 1.1.
Dumbledore's final display of power reached around 1.2 to 1.3, solidly above him. But if Grindelwald wanted to escape, Dumbledore still couldn't stop him. And the old man had the Elder Wand.
The strongest was Andros. According to Ravenclaw, his normal state was already around 1.4. He was a natural battle maniac. In a fight, his peak output could hit 1.6. Their duel that day was one of those moments. He had basically gone feral.
"I think…" Tom rubbed his chin, "we should factor in physical condition too. Dumbledore can't sustain high-intensity combat for long anymore. If today's fight had dragged on, Grindelwald could've pulled an exhaustion strategy and outlasted the old man."
"That depends on how Dumbledore chooses to handle it." Ravenclaw poured the boy tea. "If he's willing to loosen his restraints and touch certain branches of dark magic, the physical limitations disappear instantly."
"True," Tom said with a nod.
Dumbledore was a complicated man. He had experienced far too many turning points in life. Even he probably didn't fully understand his own thoughts anymore.
When he was younger, he could say things like "for the greater good" and share ideals with Grindelwald. That alone proved he supported wizard superiority at the time, and that he had the ambition to announce his existence to the world.
Forming connections with Nicolas Flamel and a number of influential elder wizards was one of his early strategies. He became a rising star long before most wizards even made a name.
To Dumbledore, Hogwarts was more like a cage. He locked himself inside it, strictly restraining every impulse. No dark magic. No power. He was terrified of losing control and causing a disaster even worse than the Dark Lord's.
Would Grindelwald's return push Dumbledore to break his self-imposed rules?
Tom suddenly felt a spark of curiosity. Light shimmered in his eyes as he activated the power of time and skimmed through fragments of the future.
A moment later, the glow faded. Tom shook his head, slightly disappointed.
He still couldn't see far enough.
.
.
.