To be honest, Avada was not surprised in the least that Dumbledore had simply handed the locket over to him.
After all, Dumbledore already knew that he possessed extremely unusual abilities, and had most likely, just like Grindelwald, already guessed what those abilities truly were. On top of that, Avada's past contributions in fighting Voldemort and defending Hogwarts had already proven beyond doubt that he was trustworthy...
If not for the fact that he was still too young, Dumbledore would probably have dragged him straight into the Order of the Phoenix by now.
And so, with that, Avada now had five Horcruxes in his possession—Hufflepuff's Cup, Ravenclaw's Diadem, the Resurrection Stone ring, Slytherin's locket, and the diary he had only just received from Dumbledore yesterday...
Oh, right. If Harry Potter, who could be found at any time, was counted as well, then that made six—every Horcrux Voldemort possessed before his resurrection in the original story!
Had he accidentally completed the full collection achievement?
But for some reason, Dumbledore had not proactively proposed handing over the crystal ball as well—the Horcrux Avada and Baron had made together in second year, the one currently sealing half of Voldemort's remnant soul—for him to study too. Avada guessed that was probably for the sake of some sort of insurance.
That crystal ball should count as replacing Nagini's role from the original story, though. Which made him wonder how that unlucky Maledictus was doing now.
As for the secret hidden within the Elder Wand—he planned to set that aside for the time being.
This time, he had made a special effort to carefully observe the changes in Dumbledore's soul while he used the Elder Wand, and he had discovered that the thing's principles really were not like ordinary alchemical tools that he could casually understand after a few glances. Although just a few minutes of observation had already brought him countless ideas and inspirations, it was still far too early to say he had fully deciphered the Elder Wand's secrets.
If he truly wanted to study the Elder Wand thoroughly, then Avada would most likely have to borrow it from Dumbledore and keep it by his side for a considerable period of time.
But at a moment like this, with undercurrents surging everywhere, doing something that would weaken the strongest force on their side by a large margin was obviously not an option.
So his plan was to wait until at least next year, when Leach University's existence would be made public. Once that powerful ally was out in the open and able to share the pressure with Dumbledore, only then could he peacefully borrow the Elder Wand.
And he had already prepared the excuse—Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
Since nothing major had happened this year, and Harry himself had become much more law-abiding, he hardly used the Cloak in daily life anymore. Borrowing it for a little while for research should not be a problem.
Then, once the time was right, Avada would go to Dumbledore and say that he had discovered the secrets of the soul through the Invisibility Cloak, and propose borrowing the Elder Wand as well. By that point, Dumbledore would probably still be heavily focused on soul-related research, so he would most likely be very willing to find a brand-new breakthrough...
And if he was not willing, then Avada would simply bring out the Resurrection Stone in exchange and force him to be willing.
As for how he knew about the Deathly Hallows?
In the eyes of outsiders, he was still, at the very least, a former Seer. If Grindelwald could know these things, why could he not know them too?
Suspicious that he had some connection to Grindelwald? What a joke. He was just an utterly ordinary fourth-year student. Every trace of his actions from the day he enrolled until now could be checked. They should not go smearing an innocent person out of thin air.
In any case, according to Grindelwald, Leach University only needed to wait until next year before going public, so Avada could afford to wait that long.
...
"All right now, Mr. Grindelwald."
Thus, far away in Nurmengard Tower in Austria, Avada once again regained the field of vision of Nathan Clarke's body. Beside him sat Gellert Grindelwald, quietly cross-legged on the bed.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting so long."
"It was fine, actually. I waited less than ten minutes."
Grindelwald replied calmly. "What did Albus want with you?"
"He handed me another Horcrux. At this point, all of Voldemort's Horcruxes are already under control. If we were willing to ignore those precious relics, then one Fiendfyre spell would be enough to reduce his soul to ashes completely..."
"But that is not your style, is it?"
Grindelwald nodded. "Enough small talk. We should prepare to enter the timeline."
"And to be honest, this level of timeline exploration is something even I seem to be experiencing for the first time, so it would be best to make some preparations in advance. I have already contacted the university. If they do not receive a message from me within two days, they will send someone over to confirm the situation. It would be best if you make preparations on your side as well..."
"My side is already asleep."
Avada nodded. "In any case, me suddenly falling unconscious for no reason isn't exactly anything new. Let's begin."
"Mm."
Grindelwald responded and closed his eyes.
The immense spiritual power coiled within his mind began spinning rapidly again. Following that thread, it drilled toward the deepest part of the magical world like a living auger, unstoppable as it advanced.
Avada also locked tightly onto the sharp edge of Grindelwald's spiritual power, following along as it plunged deeper and deeper into that hidden place...
In the next moment, every bodily sense vanished abruptly.
"..."
Avada steadied himself, recovering from his slightly dazed state, then glanced around at his surroundings.
Sure enough, that great river—one that could never be erased from his memory—had once again returned to his sight.
Instinctively, he drew his spiritual body in slightly.
The last time he had come here, he had suffered the most violent devastation of his life.
This time I need to carefully avoid anything related to the original timeline... Wait, where's Grindelwald?!
He looked around in alarm. Only after quite a while did he find a tiny strand of spiritual power some distance away from himself. At that moment, it was wriggling left and right like a worm, stretching itself desperately as it tried to glean as much information as possible from the surrounding fragments of possibility...
"...So this is the state a Seer's spiritual power takes when activating their gift?"
Avada did not know what to say. He even felt a little like laughing.
In the real world, the unfathomable, terrifyingly powerful Gellert Grindelwald was now writhing here like a worm. Avada even felt as if he could press that little bit of spiritual power straight back down at any moment...
"So why am I able to come in here whole and complete?"
"..."
In the end, he chose to stop thinking about it.
After all, there were already more than enough unusual things about him as it was.
So instead of immediately plunging headfirst into the endless fragments of possibility to search for clues, he first controlled himself to "float" over to the end of Grindelwald's strand of spiritual power, and then carefully "reached out" to touch it...
(End of Chapter)