Hogwarts: Chill, I'm Not That Riddle

Inside the Dream Arena, England—

The venue wasn’t in complete chaos yet, but restless chatter had already spread through the stands. Anxiety and fear hung thick over the entire arena.

Thanks to the Codex, news from America had reached them almost immediately.

By now, everyone knew the wizarding world had been fully exposed.

New York was in total turmoil. Most of the students present didn’t really understand what that meant. But for the senior officials from the various Ministries of Magic gathered here, it was nothing short of catastrophic.

It could even be seen as the signal for war.

They knew better than anyone how violently Muggles rejected anything they considered "other."

The wizarding world had paid for that lesson with blood and tears countless times. It was only after centuries of suffering that they finally understood: the only way to live peacefully was to sever themselves from the Muggle world and disappear into the shadows.

So what exactly had happened? How had New York suffered a breach this massive?

The officials were frantic, swarming around Dumbledore like ants on a hot pan, demanding answers.

Then suddenly, a dark shape shot down from the sky and landed inside the Dream Arena.

Gellert Grindelwald strode toward Dumbledore, his face grim. A wave of repelling force radiated from him, shoving aside the Ministry officials crowding in front.

Suspicious eyes immediately locked onto him.

After all, Grindelwald had a history. He’d openly used magic in Paris and New York before, nearly exposing the wizarding world back then too.

And just now, he’d conveniently been absent.

It was only natural they’d suspect that the "Herpo" who’d appeared out of nowhere might have been Grindelwald in disguise.

Grindelwald gave a cold snort. Of course he could tell exactly what they were thinking.

"You think this was me?"

"A pack of idiots. If it were, why would I still be standing here? Don’t forget, Dumbledore and I are bound by the blood pact. If I’d cast dark magic on that scale in New York, the pact in Dumbledore’s hands would’ve reacted immediately."

Dumbledore cooperated by pulling out the silver pendant with the ruby embedded in its center.

Only then did the crowd finally drop their suspicion, awkwardly looking away.

"What brings you here, Gellert?" Dumbledore asked.

"To see the situation for myself," Grindelwald said heavily. "And to warn you. Stop clinging to pointless hope. Prepare for war, Albus."

Dumbledore’s expression turned grave. "We still don’t know how far things have progressed. Don’t be so pessimistic."

"This isn’t pessimism. It’s reality." Grindelwald scoffed. "I know Riddle has already gone to New York. But you know how fast Muggles spread information."

"When I left Berlin, the people there had already gotten word. It won’t be long before the existence of wizards is all over television. The whole world will know."

Dumbledore fell silent.

He couldn’t refute that. Exposure was unavoidable now.

Still, part of him had hoped the Muggle authorities might somehow cover it up.

But just like with the Ministry of Magic, once something grew beyond a certain scale, no amount of damage control could contain it.

Crack!

The sharp sound of Apparition rang out again.

Tom Riddle had returned.

The killing intent that had surrounded him earlier was completely gone. Standing there now, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary bright young man.

"Mr. Riddle!"

The crowd surged toward him at once, bombarding him with questions about New York.

They’d been following events through their Codex, but the situation had grown more chaotic by the minute, and communication had gradually been cut off.

Tom said nothing at first.

"This isn’t the place for it. Follow me to the conference room." He turned and walked down the lounge corridor, and everyone could only hurry after him.

Dumbledore stayed behind to arrange for the professors to calm the students and guests.

...

Inside the conference room, once everyone had taken their seats, Tom moved to the head of the table and began explaining without preamble.

"New York is a mess."

"Herpo used a dark spell that amplifies human emotion. Every Muggle in the city was driven into a frenzy. The power generated by that chaos was fed back into him, restoring his strength."

"By the time I arrived, the entire city was already in complete disorder. Police and military forces were everywhere, hunting wizards."

The room grew heavy.

A powerful wizard could ignore Muggle threats.

But how many truly powerful wizards were there? Most were ordinary people who happened to know a bit of magic.

And under extreme pressure, plenty of them would panic so badly they forgot even their most basic spells, becoming no different from Muggles.

No one could imagine how many wizards in New York had been killed. Or how many had been captured right now.

Fortunately, what Tom said next counted as good news.

"I had a... teeny tiny little conflict with Muggle law enforcement."

That understated phrasing made several people twitch.

"Managed to pull all their attention onto me for the time being. And while I was at it, I found the avatar Herpo left behind in the city. We fought briefly."

"Most of the wizards in the city should’ve had time to evacuate by now. The chaos is settling, for the moment. As for what comes next, or what kind of fallout this brings, no one can say."

Tom paused.

"There’s one more thing I think everyone here should pay attention to." As he spoke, he turned toward Agilbert Fontaine, a faintly amused smile tugging at his lips.

"In New York, I noticed something... interesting. Less than three kilometers from the Woolworth Building, I didn’t see a single MACUSA Auror."

"After dealing with Herpo’s avatar, I went to check for myself."

His smile widened, "The entire building was empty."

"WHAT?!"

Every Ministry official in the room changed expression at once.

One by one, they turned to stare at Fontaine in utter disbelief.

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