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Word Count 1850
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Harry was happy and was whistling, even as he was ripping the minds of the survivors for intelligence. He started on the wizards. They were Grindelwald's Zealots, the leaders knew where the resources were stashed. A third of the resources were on them actually inside expanded trunks.
Harry was so glad that he didn't burn the bodies completely and left the leaders intact. It would have been a disaster for him if he burned his loot. 'Damn it, I didn't expect them to be this cautious. I almost lost a third of the loot. It was pure luck that the leaders were holding on to the miniaturized expanded trunks... Now that I think about it its exactly what I would do. If I'm dying I'm taking everything down with me... Moving on..'
Harry proceeded to get all the info available from the people alive. All that was left was an empty shell of a body. The good news is that all the mages and magicians that were there were not part of a big faction. it was more accurate to call them a group or a clan.
They were so small that they had to join a wizarding war, a barbarian war in their point of view to get some quick cash. If they were that broke and desperate for money. Harry wasn't worried about any revenge. And if they did come, hey free souls.
Harry then proceeded to clean up and take anything valuable but not before leaving a few nasty surprises.
What nobody knew is that Harry purposefully allowed himself to be seen when he was playing Grindelwald on the way to the base. He made sure he was seen by at least three wizarding folks in the city of Leon as he walked to the outskirts where the base was.
And as concerned citizens they naturally reported this to the Aurors. A couple of hours later a dozen and more Auror teams showed up ready for war. And all they saw were signs that a large amount of wizards had gathered here. They saw the tents and the camp and assumed they left in a hurry.
'They must have met up with Grindelwald. This is bad, very, very bad. I need to report this to the Minister.'
"Damn it.." one of the younger aurors couldn't help but curse out. He had heard enough horror stories from his father. His grandfather had been butchered by those fucking cultists.
The older ones were even more affected. They had lost parents in the previous war. They never imagined that they would be the ones repeating the same scenario.
"What has become of this world?"
"Heh. Its always like this. Except we get the worst Dark Lords. The ones in Africa are just a bunch of amateurs Warlords. They get a semi-competent dark wizard who gathers a bunch of low-life wizards, and we get the most talented Dark Lord to ever walk the earth."
"Do we even know how Grindelwald regained his youth? Like any idea whatsoever?"
"Most likely rituals. Sacrificial blood rituals have been traditionally used to extend lifeforce or just regain youth. But something like that can't be hidden. Grindelwald was one foot in the grave and now he is back in his peak? The amount of sacrifices needed to accomplish this would be like a beacon of magic." A female auror spoke up. She had an elective in Rituals when she was still in school.
"She is right. Lets say he did it in France. Every monitoring device in West Europe would have picked it up. Hell the no-maj would have noticed it too with the extreme weather change it brings" Another man further explained.
"Nice. Isn't that just perfectly terrifying. If this really was the method they used, that means they managed to perfectly hide the magic from the ritual." The young man resisted the urge to grab his head 'We are all so fucking dead'
~ Ministère de la Magie
Ministre Delacour's Office
Jean-Luc De la Cur was not having a fun time. The more pressing matter was that Dark Lord Grindelwald was seen in Leon a few hours ago. The problem was his appearance, it was the same look he had in his peak. Naturally he sent every available Auror there to check on the situation as a preclusion. If he wasn't there then he wasted a few man hours. But if he was their numbers should allow them to retreat back safely.
The information he had received was not good. The site Grindelwald was at was filled with tents and supplies for a large amount of wizards. That means Grindelwald has met his army and they all left in a hurry. Their department of Mysteries used a time turner to go back in time and spy on the meeting from afar using a mix of divination magic. They only managed to glimpse at the beginning of the meeting.
Where Grindelwald showed off his new power and gave that power to increase the strength of his soldiers. Then a barrier appeared all of a sudden and they lost all contact. When the barrier was removed the came across the same scene as the aurors.
The Minister quickly complied his finding and sent it to the The International Confederation of Wizards. Grindelwald had returned to his peak and was stronger than ever. He used rare magic, potentially dark magic going by the color of the flames to give a boost to every member of his army.
This was not something just one country could stop. Everyone who important remembers the scars of the old war. The helplessness that they felt when they faced Grindelwald. As bad as the man was, there was no denying his greatness. They fought, they struggled, they bled. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. Thousands of lives were lost. Just to stop his army or push against him with sheer numbers.
Yet when they dealt a massive blow to his army, Dumbledore swoops in and takes down Grindelwald. After waiting out the whole war. That is the reason everybody despises him. He defeated a Dark Lord on his own that is true. But why had he waited so long? Why couldn't have he come to help earlier. The answer was simple. To reap the most benefits.
After the war he was hailed as the savior by the public. The Leader of the Light. While the true heroes of the war the fallen, all that was left of them was just a name on a gravestone or multiple names on an obelisk. For those who had nothing left to bury.
Many wonder what Dumbledore would have done if Grindelwald had won. Would he have still fought against him? Or would he have joined his side. As rulers of the new world.
Jean shook his head. He had a lot of work to do and can't let thoughts like that distract him. He continued to sort through paperwork and logistics. Sending Aurors to pick up the tracks of Grindelwald and start making preparations for the actual war that everybody knew was coming.
Hopefully he will move to another country so tracking him down would no longer be his responsibility and he could make his war preparations in peace.
But as soon as he was done with one problem another appears. His family came to visit him in the office. He hasn't been home lately taking quick naps in his office.
Its not the first time they had visited. He was proud of his family and liked to show it off. The perfect Minister with the perfect family. Yet there were no smiles on their faces. Once they got to his office his eldest daughter Fleur handed him a letter.
As soon as he saw who the sender was he couldn't help but curse under his breath "Merde" (Shit)
"Merde!" Gabriele said the same word not understanding what it meant and Apolline gave her husband a glare. But this time Jean couldn't even register it. He quickly read through the letter and had a dark look on his face.
The letter could be summed up into 'I was ambushed right at the conference. You fucked up and I'm coming to collect.' Which in a way was true. Even if they had told everybody it would be a public event. The location was secret and the reporters were each brought in separately.
He hadn't heard of anyone causing any trouble. But if Harry Potter says so that means they sneaked into the venue he had prepared.
Luckily though Harry Potter added that he wouldn't take his revenge out on them. In return he wanted one simple thing. Find out the rat who leaked the information.
Harry knew they tried their best. And the security was adequate for wizards. Its not like he can expect these apes to stop four powerhouses. But the problem was someone leaked the information and were still breathing. Otherwise they would have heard of some French purebloods gone missing or someone from the staff, if the Biblical Faction players had extracted the information from them.
So Harry decided to be nice and not to scam the Delacour's. Naturally the one who ratted him out was going to pay.
~ Hogwarts.
Headmaster's Office. Well what's left of it.
Albus looked at the reports he had just received from France. It's nice having people everywhere that were in his pocket. Things were getting complicated. He already knew Gellert's followers have been buying and stealing recourses for the last few weeks.
But Gellert regaining his youth and returning to his peak threw him off. That was not something you see every day. Dumbledore came to the same conclusion as the Aurors, that he could have used a ritual to accomplish what he did... And he immediately dismissed the idea.
There was no way he would miss a magical signal that big. And even if he did, his little spies were carrying around the alchemical trinkets that he made. They would have picked up on the signal.
No, there was a simpler solution to this. And an obvious one if you think about it.
The Elixir.
He gritted his teeth once he recalled that it was taken right under his nose. The thief must have given Grindelwald some from the Philosophers Stone.
'Blast that man. He robs me blind and now he is giving power to Gellert. As of things weren't going bad enough. What is it with this year? First I lose all my reputation and power. Being forced to 'wake up' and manage things again. Then i get robbed in broad daylight, I regain my power and my position stabilized. And now all hell is breaking loose on the Continent.' (he means Europe)
Albus sighed as he rubbed his eyes 'So be it. The ICW emergency meeting should be called soon after they hear this predicament. I'll generously volunteer to go to France and search for Gellert. Not without getting something in return.. a lot of something. My books and Fawkes were taken. I need to start acquiring more materials anyway.'