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Chapter 239 — Very Inappropriate, Extremely Inappropriate!!
Grindelwald immediately fled—
back to Germany.
And afterward, he never set foot in England again.
He was afraid.
Afraid of meeting Dumbledore's eyes.
It was the first time in his life that deception had left him unsettled.
Those two months… they forced him to calm down for decades.
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"Get up, or you'll catch a cold!"
Darren insisted firmly.
He braced himself and tried to pull Grindelwald to his feet.
He failed completely—
and landed straight on his backside.
Grindelwald couldn't help laughing.
"Don't worry! I didn't use my strongest strength yet!" Darren said quickly, embarrassed.
Then he used his Obscurus power—
and pulled Grindelwald up with ease.
Grindelwald froze.
Impossible.
In his own mental world, someone actually managed to drag him up?
"Are you an Obscurial?" he asked sharply.
He could sense Darren's bloodline clearly in the mental realm.
In the real world, too—
if Darren came close enough, Grindelwald would feel the same connection.
But he hadn't realized the boy was also an Obscurial.
"What's an Obscurial?" Darren blinked.
"You don't know?" Grindelwald frowned. "Didn't Albus tell you?"
He assumed—incorrectly—that Dumbledore must know the child carried Grindelwald's bloodline.
Otherwise, how did this boy enter his mindscape?
Entering someone's spiritual world required immense magical power.
A twelve-year-old shouldn't be able to do it.
Unless… Albus had sent him.
Did Dumbledore know the boy was an Obscurial and want Grindelwald to help?
"You know Professor Dumbledore?" Darren asked, startled.
Grindelwald snorted.
Know him?
Their lives were entangled far too deeply for such a simple word.
He studied Darren more carefully.
Red hair.
Green eyes.
Not like him at all.
If not for the constant tug of blood connection, he would never have believed they were related.
"When you came here, he didn't tell you anything?" Grindelwald asked impatiently.
"No. I don't even know where this place is. I just remember drinking two glasses of eggnog… then suddenly I was here. Maybe I'm dreaming?"
Darren looked around in confusion.
"So… where is Albus?" Grindelwald demanded.
How could a child with their bloodline appear without Dumbledore's involvement?
"Headmaster Dumbledore? He should be in his office… or still watching the Christmas feast. I drank too much and then…"
Darren tapped his head.
He really didn't remember much.
Except one embarrassing detail—
he had fainted right after Hermione grabbed him.
Grindelwald listened to this tale with growing bewilderment.
Then anger.
This boy—
this boy with his bloodline—
Dumbledore hadn't said a word about him?
This was also Albus's child!
And an Obscurial.
Grindelwald had once sought the Might of the Obscurus in his youth.
He thought it was the greatest power alive.
But as he aged…
he learned Obscurials rarely lived long.
If he had traded his life for such power, Grindelwald would regret it—
because he wanted to grow old and die with Albus.
But now… a child with his blood existed.
A child who might die young because of the Obscurus?
"You… Dumbledore never told you something was wrong with you?" Grindelwald asked carefully.
"Yes, he did. He said I have a great power inside me. Something about Obscurus. But the power doesn't hurt me, so I didn't mind."
Darren explained obediently, like answering a class question.
"Headmaster Dumbledore asked me not to use it, but I rarely did. Until Death Eaters tried to kill me the last time. I had no choice."
He lowered his voice.
"But using it didn't harm me. I actually… like it."
Grindelwald stared.
Death Eaters.
Dumbledore's era of enemies.
And they hunted his child?
"You were injured?" Grindelwald asked tightly.
But then remembered—this was a mental world. Injuries didn't show.
"Oh no," Darren said cheerfully. "I captured them. Then I chased them alone… too bad…"
He sighed with regret.
Then smiled brightly.
"But I still survived! Thank Merlin—I must be the luckiest child."
[Ding — Fatherliness +80]
Grindelwald felt something twist in his chest.
If this child were truly "lucky," he would have been born long ago—
when Grindelwald's movement was at its height.
He might have been raised as Grindelwald's heir.
Not chased by Death Eaters like this.
And he chased them in return?
Grindelwald suddenly felt a surge of excitement.
If the child wasn't lying…
he might be extremely powerful.
Stronger than Grindelwald himself—
stronger than even Dumbledore.
"Very well," Grindelwald said slowly. "If I can, I hope tha—"
But Darren shook his head again.
"There you go again! Trying to trick children. Every sentence has hidden traps. How can you talk like that? It's very inappropriate. Extremely inappropriate! You won't have any real friends—sincere friends will get angry!"
Grindelwald's mouth fell open.
This child—
this brat—
was infuriating.
The moment he tried to weave words, the boy sensed it instantly.
Was it really because they were related?
Pride flickered inside him.
Yes. My child.
Sharp-minded.
Hard to deceive.
How wonderful it would've been had he been born decades earlier…
No—
if he had, Grindelwald wouldn't be able to speak to him like this now.
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