The funeral was arranged near the Black Lake, close to the Forbidden Forest. Several hundred chairs were arranged on the open ground, but more and more people kept arriving, and the professors hastily added more chairs nearby. All the seats were facing a pristine white stone table. The sky drizzled lightly. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel⟡fire.net

The chairs were almost filled, with more people still arriving, standing solemnly at the back rows.

Until the funeral began, Grindelwald hadn't appeared. Felix suppressed his doubts and sat quietly in his seat, waiting for the ceremony to start.

Suddenly, everyone heard a music that seemed celestial.

Near the clear green lake, a choir of mermaids sang melodiously, their pale faces filled with excitement as they expressed their sorrow in the language of the merpeople; Felix lifted his head, the fine rain still not completely ceased, and a phoenix soared gracefully in the clear sky, emitting a haunting and moving lament from its mouth. Amidst the poignant melody of mermaids and phoenix, Hagrid appeared, carrying Dumbledore's body, walking through the gap in the seats towards the front row. Large teardrops cascaded down his beard onto the purple velvet adorned with golden stars that wrapped Dumbledore's body.

Hagrid gently placed the purple velvet on the pristine white stone table, paused for a few seconds, still holding the posture of carrying something. Then he returned to the aisle and walked over to small Grawp (a large space around him), his half-brother giant, clad in a massive jacket and tent-like trousers, his expression gentle as he comfortingly patted Hagrid's head.

The music ceased, the mermaids submerged into the depths, their blurry faces disappearing completely. Only the phoenix continued to glide in the sky. A small, dark-robed man with thick hair stood up and walked to the stone table, turning solemnly to face the crowd. He cleared his throat.

It was at this moment that an unexpected event occurred.

A silver lynx landed gracefully in front of Felix's group, elegantly lifting its head and emitting Kingsley's voice from its mouth: "Grindelwald is here! With some people, you'd better—oh, dear! Too many people have come!" His last words were tinged with panic, devoid of the usual calmness.

The wizards in the front rows exchanged looks.

Babajide Akingbade, the President of the International Confederation of Wizards, frowned and said, "Has he brought those saints with him? Is it a show of force or a guard against our deception?" No one responded to him. Silver light flashed in Felix's eyes, and he widened them suddenly.

He stood up abruptly, before anyone could react, and turned to Professor McGonagall and the three Heads of Houses, saying, "I'll go ahead. There shouldn't be a fight, but—" "Of course, there won't be a fight! He swore not to initiate a wizarding war!" Akingbade raised an arm, showing some strange markings on the skin there. Felix didn't look at him, calmly continuing, "But I suggest the students—at least the lower years—be ready to evacuate at any time, through the Chamber."

Professor McGonagall's body swayed, her face turning pale, as she grasped the collar of her robe, confirming, "Many people have come?"

Felix replied briefly, "Far more than expected." With that, he vanished into thin air, leaving the crowd in uproar. Akingbade opened his mouth to say something, but McGonagall crossed over the crowd, raising her arm to quiet everyone down, loudly saying:

"...Hogwarts will ensure the safety of all guests. In case of danger, we will stand in front and buy you time. Evacuation will be managed by Mr. Felch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects and professors will maintain order, awaiting the signal. Evacuation point—Potter? Harry Potter?" She called out.

Harry rushed over, his face still showing remnants of deep surprise.

"You know the place—" McGonagall whispered, "In the Chamber, there's a fireplace inside the statue of that man. You can activate it with Parseltongue." With that, she hurried towards the main entrance of the school. But she hadn't taken a few steps when she stopped abruptly.

The sky above the school gates suddenly emitted a dazzling white light, causing a piercing pain in the eyes of the wizards looking towards it. Every cell in Harry's body seemed to sound an alarm, and then the sky dimmed, no, Harry fought back tears and squinted his eyes, as a phantom Hogwarts castle appeared in the sky, completely enveloped in the white light.

The black castle seemed illuminated by the white light, those rays like tiny knives, leaving countless deep scratches on the walls in the blink of an eye, the walls cracked like water bags, seeming to collapse the next second, Felix turned over a page of his book of magical texts, and tiny magical symbols flickered on the surface of the wall— the cracks disappeared.

Grindelwald waved his wand, and all the light vanished.

Felix lifted his head, the castle's outlines faintly visible.

"Dumbledore's spells," Grindelwald sighed, "Impressive back then, but after all these years, I've imitated them quite well." The two were about two hundred feet apart, behind Grindelwald stood a dark, silent crowd, numbering nearly a few thousand, completely different from the intelligence Felix received.

A thought surfaced in his mind: most of these people were just brought along by Grindelwald.

Kingsley, somewhat embarrassed, said beside him, "There are people in other parts of the school, they've surrounded the school, but these people don't seem to intend to act." Felix's gaze swept past Grindelwald towards the distance, where some people were pointing at them.

Further away, wizards kept arriving, the crackling sound of Apparition continuously resounding, the latecomers jostling and craning their necks to look, as if they were attending a gathering or watching a match. Felix alone didn't smell the scent of impending war.

Grindelwald waved at him.

"We haven't had a serious showdown yet. Before Akingbade arrives, we still have some time. We might as well take advantage of this opportunity," Felix said.

Suddenly, Felix's eyes glanced towards the crowd. With a swift incantation, a tall suit of armor leaped out from the Book of Spells, only to be instantly repelled. Felix withdrew his gaze, his confusion growing. These people seemed to have come with a purpose, ready to cause chaos.

But unless Akingbade and the Ministry officials were blind, Grindelwald couldn't have made false promises. Such a thing couldn't happen.

"Then let's fulfill your request," Felix said calmly. The Book of Spells rustled as pages turned, and black lightning bolts shot towards Grindelwald. His wand emitted a piercing whistle as the black lightning splintered before him.

It was evident who among the crowd were elites and who were mere followers. Some stepped forward, joining forces to cast protective spells, while more wizards retreated in disarray. Felix relaxed his eyebrows momentarily, but soon furrowed them again.

"Back off," Grindelwald shouted, suppressing his anger.

He raised his wand, and a silver phoenix engulfed in blue flames burst forth. The phoenix's eyes were replaced by gleaming flames.

"A Patronus?" Felix wondered. He had seen it in the newspaper but couldn't be entirely sure until now.

The air morphed into a castle through ancient runes and memory magic, trapping the peculiar Patronus inside. Grindelwald swung his wand, causing the phoenix to swell to hundreds of times its size, darting and diving. Simultaneously, blue and white flowers began to rain from the sky, sticking to the walls of the castle summoned by Felix. In the blink of an eye, the battleground between them turned into a sea of flames.

Professor McGonagall, Sprout, Snape, Bones, and Akingbade arrived first, followed by several other Ministry officials and Aurors from different countries. They all gaped in astonishment.

Akingbade's eyes gleamed with incredulity, mixed with confusion and perplexity, as he rolled up his sleeves and stared at the patterns on his wrist. The unbreakable vow didn't work, so neither of them had been serious? Or was a one-on-one not enough to incite a wizarding war?

Professor McGonagall and Ms. Bones looked worried, Felix seemed to be at a disadvantage. The entire castle was engulfed in magical flames, with several firebirds peeking out from the towers, larger than dragons, spewing flames from on high.

At that moment, Felix threw the Book of Spells high into the air, and it transformed into a rainbow light merging with the castle.

The castle instantly expanded tenfold, almost identical in scale to a real school castle, with every brick shimmering with magical symbols.

It was as if shouts were coming from a distant place.

Some figures materialized in the air, marching in orderly steps—it was the students and professors of Hogwarts, wielding wands and chanting spells in unison. Hundreds of scarlet spells pierced through the air. Grindelwald's flames were forced apart, and oversized magical creatures appeared one after another, fearlessly charging into the flames. Seconds later, a phoenix was overwhelmed and shattered into fragmented flames, precisely extinguished by the spells cast by the students below.

If this was a battle fought on a projected battlefield of a castle, Felix had begun to regain lost ground.

Grindelwald wielded his wand with a serious expression. It seemed they had tacitly agreed not to use new magic but to test each other's understanding of magic. New firebirds kept splitting off, and petals of flames rained down from the sky. But everything became futile. The castle's students—merely illusions conjured by Felix—were essentially no different from the magical creatures rampaging on the ground. They wouldn't die, and their power was even stronger than real students'.

"Is it him?" an old wizard with wrinkled face from among Grindelwald's followers asked.

"Yes, satisfied?" Vita Rosier asked. The old wizard coughed.

The last flickering flame dissipated, leaving only the initial Patronus guardian phoenix inside the castle. Felix weighed his options. If Grindelwald only had the power he displayed now, he could handle it...

Grindelwald had already lowered his wand.

"Stop—" Akingbade shouted in time. He stepped forward, raising his arm and gritting his teeth. "Grindelwald, do you want to break your vow? Do you want to start a war?"

"It's just to pass the time," Grindelwald smirked. He followed Akingbade's gaze towards his companions. "Oh, they're just here to watch the show. I was worried the funeral wouldn't be grand enough—if that were the case, my old friend Dumbledore would be disappointed."

Akingbade's expression stiffened. He couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Grindelwald, you've violated the rules. If you still want to negotiate, let them leave."

Grindelwald glanced at him sideways, and Felix thought he would refuse, given the magnitude of the spectacle. But Grindelwald surprisingly acquiesced.

"You've heard him. You can leave now. Do as you please," Grindelwald whispered with his wand pointed at his ear, his voice clearly audible to everyone present. Then, one by one, they all vanished into thin air.

Grindelwald pocketed his wand and opened his palm. "Now, it's just me. Are you reassured?"

Akingbade and the professors visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Previously surrounded by thousands of wizards, with heads as far as the eye could see, anyone would have felt apprehensive. Moreover, there were thousands of students in the school and people who had come from far and wide to attend the funeral.

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