Hogwarts: This Dark Lord is Good?

On Monday morning, Grindelwald returned.

According to reports in the Daily Prophet, while he had been away, quite a few pure-blood families had been severely dealt with by him.

For now, it seemed the attacks had temporarily come to an end.

At the same time, someone familiar returned with him.

Wade was eating breakfast when he saw the newcomer, and he could not help being surprised.

The person who had returned with Grindelwald was none other than the mysterious elderly witch who had saved many people aboard the Hogwarts Express at the start of term.

"She... cough, cough..." Tom recognised her too and immediately choked on a mouthful of bread, his face turning red.

"Helora Paris..." Wade murmured.

"Who?"

"That's the witch's name," Wade said. "Headmaster Dippet investigated her at the time, but they couldn't find any record of her beyond the name she had registered under. Then I happened to leave not long afterward, so I didn't pay much attention to the matter."

"Could she actually be one of Grindelwald's people?" Tom finally managed to swallow the bread after taking a sip of milk.

"Not necessarily. Let's wait and see." Wade had a different view.

He did not believe that someone whose abilities were not much inferior to Grindelwald's would simply be one of his subordinates.

Back then, the magical barrier that had blocked the attacks of more than a hundred wizards from reaching the train was not something an ordinary witch could cast.

Grindelwald stood at the front of the Great Hall.

"Everyone, please be quiet. I have something to announce."

Everyone's attention had already been on them, so the hall immediately fell silent when Grindelwald spoke.

"What I want to tell you is this. Since most of you performed poorly during last term's trials, the content of Hogwarts's Defence Against the Dark Arts classes will be changed this term. Instead of focusing mainly on theory, the course will now focus primarily on practical combat. Dark magic will also be included as a major part of the curriculum. This is an Educational Decree signed by the Ministry of Magic."

As Grindelwald spoke, he took out a scroll and unfurled it for everyone to see.

The previously silent Great Hall instantly erupted into murmurs.

"What does he mean?" Tom asked in surprise. "Dark magic will be part of the main curriculum?"

Wade shrugged. "It means we'll be able to learn dark magic in Defence Against the Dark Arts from now on. He's turning Hogwarts into Durmstrang."

"But Professor Dumbledore teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts!" Tom said in astonishment.

Dumbledore certainly knew dark magic, but he generally did not use it.

Now, however, it seemed he would have no choice.

"Making Professor Dumbledore teach students dark magic? Hah... that's certainly something."

Wade had the distinct feeling Grindelwald was deliberately targeting Dumbledore.

You don't use dark magic, and you don't approve of students using it? Fine. Then I'll make you teach it.

Sure enough, Dumbledore's expression at the staff table was terrifyingly dark.

"In addition, Hogwarts's former caretaker, Mr Fisher, has applied for retirement due to his age. Starting today, Ms Helora Paris will take over as the castle's caretaker," Grindelwald announced.

Helora smiled and greeted everyone.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Helora Paris."

Cries of surprise rose throughout the Great Hall.

"Ah! It's her! She's the one who saved me back then!"

"Right, right! I recognise her too!"

Clearly, many students recognised Helora.

Considering that she had previously saved and treated so many of them, no one had much objection to her becoming the new caretaker.

Even though Grindelwald had brought her here.

Helora stood at the front and waved to everyone. When she spotted Wade and Tom, she even gave them a slight nod.

Wade and Tom exchanged glances, each seeing the confusion in the other's eyes.

"Do you think Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet knew about these announcements beforehand?" Tom asked curiously.

"They probably didn't know about the curriculum changes, but they should have known about Ms Paris becoming the caretaker. Staff appointments are school matters, after all. What I don't understand is why she came back with Grindelwald," Wade said thoughtfully.

"You really don't think she's one of Grindelwald's people?" Tom asked.

"If you had no personal connection to someone, would you accept them as your leader if they were about as strong as you?" Wade asked.

Tom adjusted his posture before replying, "No... so Ms Paris probably isn't one of Grindelwald's people either. Sss, that's really strange. Why don't we ask Dumbledore?"

"If you're not afraid of walking straight into trouble, go ahead and ask him," Wade said with a smile.

Tom shrank back slightly and returned to eating his bread, no longer mentioning the subject.

After what Grindelwald had just pulled, there was no telling how furious Dumbledore was.

If Tom went to ask him about it now, Dumbledore probably would not take his anger out on him, but the question would still only add to his frustration.

Wade said, "I imagine Grindelwald heard about what happened that day and went to recruit Ms Paris. I just don't know where he found her. Even the Ministry's Aurors couldn't locate her before."

Tom guessed, "Could she have shown herself voluntarily and made some kind of deal with Grindelwald to get into Hogwarts? After all, she's such a powerful witch. Why would someone like her come here just to work as the castle caretaker without some kind of purpose? She's more than qualified to be a professor. Even working in the Hospital Wing as a healer would pay better than being a caretaker."

"A castle caretaker can go to far more places than a healer or professor," Wade said. "As the caretaker, it would be perfectly reasonable for her to appear in almost any part of the castle. If she isn't simply doing it because the job interests her, that's the only obvious advantage I can think of."

"So she came here to look for something?"

"I don't know. Maybe she has no ulterior motive and simply found the job interesting. Besides, she doesn't exactly look like a bad person," Wade said with a smile.

Tom ignored Wade's joke. Who judged whether someone was good or evil by their face? It was not as though villains carved the word "evil" into their foreheads.

"Look! Dumbledore followed Grindelwald into the back corridor! Do you think they're going to fight?" Tom asked excitedly.

He would not mind seeing another battle between those two wizards.

"Only if they want to tear Hogwarts apart. Besides, Grindelwald knows he can't beat Dumbledore, so he won't start a fight with him. Dumbledore is even less likely to do it. Attacking a Ministry official is a serious crime."

Wade glanced in their direction, then lowered his head and continued eating breakfast.

"This may have nothing to do with us. Let's wait and see. We just need to continue with our own plan. If anything really happens, I'll handle it."

"Hah. You're certainly reliable..."

"That sounded sarcastic."

"Surely not. How could I dare? That was heartfelt praise."

"Tom, after breakfast, let's spar for a while. I think your combat skills still need work..."

"If you want to get revenge on me, just say so!"

"Fine. I want revenge. Come and let me beat you up."

"You... that's completely unreasonable!"

"Tom, only the weak need to reason with people. Look at Grindelwald. He only bothers being reasonable when he's facing Dumbledore."

"Damn it! Fine! Let's fight! Come on!"

...

Dumbledore really was furious.

The moment they reached the corridor beside the Great Hall, he began questioning Grindelwald.

"You've gone too far."

"Too far? Didn't we already agree that the students should be properly guided in learning dark magic safely?" Grindelwald replied.

"We did discuss that, but how could you make it a major part of the Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum?"

"If we're going to teach it, then we should teach it properly. If you only mention it as extracurricular material, how is that any different from the way Defence Against the Dark Arts was taught before? We need to genuinely strengthen the next generation of wizards. Making this a major part of the curriculum is one of the most important parts of my educational reform."

Grindelwald was completely firm in his position.

"Can you teach it or not? If you can't, we'll replace you. I happen to have plenty of experienced people under me who..."

"Did I ever say I couldn't teach it?" Dumbledore asked coldly.

"Then why are you stopping me to complain? If you have objections, write to the Ministry and file a complaint."

Grindelwald pushed past Dumbledore and walked by.

Then he suddenly turned his head.

"Oh, and when you write the complaint, try to keep it short. That way, I can finish reading it faster. Goodbye."

With that, Grindelwald turned and walked away smugly.

Go ahead and report me.

The complaint would end up on his desk anyway.

"You were a little impulsive, Albus..."

Headmaster Dippet had appeared nearby at some point.

"Sorry..."

"You don't need to apologise to me, Albus. You didn't do anything wrong. Once the Ministry issues an order, it's very difficult to overturn. You know how much influence he has there now. At this point, it's better for this part of the curriculum to remain in your hands than in the hands of Grindelwald's followers."

"I understand..."

Dumbledore thought for a moment, then added, "Perhaps this isn't entirely bad. He only ordered me to teach dark magic. He never said I couldn't place particular emphasis on its many terrible side effects."

"Hah, I knew you would find a way around it! Once the students see all the horrific consequences dark magic can bring, they may end up hating it even more than before," Headmaster Dippet said with a laugh.

"By the way... Ms Paris..."

"I approved it," Headmaster Dippet said.

"Why? She seems to have another purpose, and she returned with Grindelwald," Dumbledore asked in confusion.

"I can't tell you the reason right now. All I can say is that she won't harm anyone at Hogwarts. And... she and Grindelwald are definitely not on the same side. I can't tell you anything more than that."

"You can't even tell me?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"No. I gave someone my word. In any case, don't concern yourself with Ms Paris."

Headmaster Dippet patted Dumbledore on the shoulder, then turned and walked away.

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