"Uh… are you sure, Headmistress?"
Inside the headmistress's office at Nobby Leach University, Avada—currently using the identity of Nathan Clarke—looked at Miranda Goshawk, who was seated across from him, with a puzzled expression.
"You really don't need me to take part in any of the upcoming operations?"
"It's not that I mind having less work on my plate and living a slightly easier life… but this should be the exact time when the university needs manpower the most, shouldn't it? The shielding devices have already been distributed, all those werewolves' hidden strongholds have been located, and with a single order the operation can begin. The research on improving Wolfsbane Potion has entered a critical stage, and once the social tensions explode, there will definitely be some degree of unrest in Azkaban as well, which means the best opportunity to infiltrate it is almost here…"
"And before this, my cooperation with Professor Belby and Professor Baker has been going rather smoothly. I don't think I've done anything that would make me untrustworthy… have I?"
He could hardly help being confused.
After all, who wouldn't be confused if they were suddenly summoned to the headmistress's office late at night without warning, only to hear in the very first sentence that they would not be participating in any of the important operations to come—and to have that said with such a serious expression?
It wasn't as though he had done anything wrong.
Over the past few weeks, Avada's reputation and daily life had gradually begun to settle into place. His classes, while not wildly popular among the students, had still earned a fair amount of praise, which counted as a solid start for a new professor. And his cooperation with Professor Baker and Professor Belby had gone unexpectedly smoothly as well—they had completed the shielding device in only two days, and both the cost and the manufacturing difficulty were even lower than they had first imagined. As a result, his standing among the professors had been rising steadily.
"It's not your problem."
At last, Headmistress Miranda Goshawk answered his question.
"You have something more important to do."
"Something more important?"
Avada grew even more confused.
He was a brand-new hire who had not even been on the job for two weeks. What qualifications did he possibly have to be given something even more important than all of that?
And in Britain's wizarding society as it currently stood, what could possibly be more urgent and more important than dealing with the werewolf crisis right in front of them?
"You need to make a trip to Nurmengard."
Miranda Goshawk nodded gravely.
"Gellert Grindelwald wants to see you."
"Grindelwald wants to see me?!"
Avada jumped in shock.
"That's right. You know, don't you, that Grindelwald is our university's honorary vice-headmaster?"
"I do know that, but…"
He muttered to himself for quite a while, yet still could not find the words to describe how he felt.
Gellert Grindelwald—the legendary figure who had once thrown the entire wizarding world into chaos, sparked the Second World War, nearly broke the Statute of Secrecy, and almost completely changed the balance between the two worlds; Dumbledore's closest friend and greatest enemy…
That Gellert Grindelwald was suddenly demanding to see him, without any warning at all?
A completely unknown rookie professor?
Well, he was also a Seer, so perhaps he knew more than most. Fine—then let's call him a rookie professor who also happened to be a fourth-year Hogwarts student.
What did Grindelwald want with him? Could he possibly be planning to ask after Dumbledore's recent condition?
"He didn't say exactly why he wanted to see you. He only said that we should arrange for you to meet him as soon as possible."
Goshawk seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and explained,
"This is an extremely uncommon occurrence. In the thirty-odd years since Nobby Leach University was founded, I'd estimate that fewer than ten people have ever met our vice-headmaster. And among them, only three were specifically asked to go to Nurmengard to meet him in person—the former headmaster, me, and now you."
"…I'm deeply honored."
Avada opened his mouth, struggled for a long time, and in the end only managed to squeeze out what sounded like the most appropriate response under the circumstances. Then he immediately began asking questions again.
"So when am I supposed to meet him, and how? Is there anything I need to pay attention to? Also, do you… do we have some standard method for infiltrating Nurmengard?"
"As for timing, the sooner the better. Tomorrow or the day after would be ideal. We'll make arrangements for your classes, so you don't need to worry about that."
Goshawk nodded.
"As for speaking with Grindelwald, there's nothing in particular you need to pay special attention to. Though he was once incomparably glorious and still holds an extraordinary position within the university, fortunately he has no real airs or peculiar habits. The reason so few people see him is simply that there is usually no need."
"And as for a fixed method of entering Nurmengard… there isn't one, because entering Nurmengard doesn't require any special method at all."
"Doesn't require one?"
Avada froze. "What does that mean?"
"The entire fortress of Nurmengard—aside from an Anti-Disapparition Jinx, the building itself being heavily reinforced, and its exact location being concealed—has no other defensive measures whatsoever."
"…?"
For a moment, Avada did not even process what Goshawk had just said.
Nurmengard—the prison that held one of the most dangerous prisoners in the world—had no defensive measures at all?
Yes, Voldemort really had broken into Nurmengard with ease back then, and even conveniently sent Grindelwald to his death while he was at it. But that had been Voldemort—a Dark Lord capable of contending with Dumbledore even while Dumbledore wielded the Elder Wand, and whose magical attainments may very well have surpassed Grindelwald's. It would not have been surprising for him to break into any place on earth.
But for the entire prison to have no defensive measures at all?
Was that some kind of joke?
Grindelwald even had a prior record. Historically, he had broken out of prison once before, and that escape had plunged the whole of Europe into war. And the prison built to hold someone like that had no defenses whatsoever?
"You should know this, shouldn't you? Nurmengard was a prison Grindelwald built himself, during the war, to imprison his enemies."
Seeing Avada's expression of utter shock and confusion, as well as the way he kept trying and failing to say anything coherent, Goshawk smiled.
"Imagine locking away an immensely powerful and dangerous wizard, one who is also highly strategic, inside a prison he built with his own hands—a prison whose layout he knows more intimately than anyone else. And the man himself is also a Seer. Why do you think that is?"
"Because from the very beginning, they never intended to rely on force to keep Grindelwald imprisoned. In fact, for a wizard of that level, if he truly wished it, there is no prison in the world that could hold him. And if he were willing to use certain special techniques, even killing him would be extraordinarily difficult… You should understand that."
"So Grindelwald has, from the start, remained in Nurmengard of his own free will, without leaving it by so much as a step for fifty full years."
"…Then what about his followers? The Acolytes, and the rest of them?"
"They tried several times to rescue Grindelwald, but every attempt was personally rejected by Grindelwald himself."
Goshawk shook her head.
"He knows perfectly well that leaving Nurmengard would be meaningless. Whether in terms of power, ideals, or personal strength, he has already failed completely and utterly, with no possibility whatsoever of rising again. Escaping prison would serve no purpose beyond causing a bit of damage to society. It would also be beneath his dignity, and worse, it would break an agreement—and wound that old friend of his once more…"
"So, if you want to enter Nurmengard and meet Grindelwald, you only need to do three things: find its location, fly over the outer wall, and climb the tower."
(End of Chapter)