In the Harry Potter Without Harry Potter

Just as Witching Horizon's battlefield in the United Kingdom was in full swing against the British Ministry of Magic.

Dumbledore, who was their backbone, was not present in Britain, and at the same time did not stay in France.

In Durmstrang's headmaster's office, the flame in the fireplace was burning brightly, making the place not a bit cold in winter.

Grindelwald was looking at the school's Christmas pre-buy list for this year and did not pay any attention to the old man who sat, uninvited, in the sofa chair opposite.

"Why is it that I haven't heard about it all this time, that your side is going to get into some kind of mess with the Magical Congress of the United States of America? Didn't that young man from the Graves family come in this direction towards Northern Europe after the Triwizard Tournament?"

Dumbledore said as he tapped his wand against the bookcase on the wall, the door underneath it opened and two boxes of biscuits flew out of it, then landed on the coffee table in front of him.

Grindelwald glanced up and looked at him who acted as if he were sitting in his own office, without any semblance of politeness.

In response to his gaze, Dumbledore simply ate a biscuit, making a crisp 'click' sound in response.

"Of course, he's here." Grindelwald returned his gaze to the pre-order list and signed his name on it, "Not only did he come, but he also followed my people, but then he met Jon, and I don't know what Jon said to him, he returned directly to the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and according to my information, he hasn't appeared in Europe since then."

Hearing his words, Dumbledore blinked and suddenly said coldly.

"It was following your people to Britain, wasn't it, you made a pretty good deal with Severus."

Grindelwald set the quill down in his hand.

"Did Jon tell you that?"

"He never mentioned much of anything to do with you to me, except that the cooperation between Severus and I go a little deeper than you might think."

"That is indeed your strength." Grindelwald said undeniably, it just doesn't make it possible to hear if he was agreeing or mocking with that statement, "Haven't you always had some knowledge of my affairs?"

Dumbledore munched on his biscuit as if he had thought of something.

"Remember when I went to Nurmengard and had that last talk before you came out?"

"You mean the words I used when I saw that you were thrown out of your school and laughed so hard at your wretched appearance?"

Dumbledore spread his hands.

"If that's what you think it is, then I certainly have no problem with that. It's just that what I'm trying to say is that as long as all the things you said to me in the first place were true, and the promises made weren't forgotten, then you're perfectly free to do what you want, and I won't stand in the way, but of course, it's unlikely that I'll be able to help you much in that regard either."

Grindelwald leaned back in his chair and said calmly.

"There were once blood oaths that could be broken in some way, and you're willing to believe a few unguaranteed, empty promises?"

"We're both so old, and there are times when the words of a man of that age can be far more assured than a blood oath."

Dumbledore smiled as he took a sip of his black tea.

"So what, you've been thinking about it for so long, have you thought about what you said to me when I first arrived."

Grindelwald paused his hand movements, and instead of the tone that always seemed like he was sneering at someone, he just looked deeply at Dumbledore.

"There are times when I truly cannot understand how you really think, Albus."

"The biggest difference in people is reflected in their thoughts, it's normal to not be able to figure out what other people think, it's not like you're a Born Legilimens, and it's not like I'm going to let go of my Occlumency defence for you."

Dumbledore responded to his gaze seriously.

"I've arranged all of it, so in fact, in the beginning, I had it in my conception that you would agree to the offer."

"And if I had refused?"

"Don't forget there's Jon, will you still refuse when you face him then?"

"Do you really think I have that kind of high hopes for him? What if I turn him down too?"

Silence fell in the Headmaster's office and Dumbledore wiped the biscuit crumbs from the corner of his mouth with his handkerchief.

"Then I would have to choose to believe Jon."

Grindelwald shook his head.

"Jon Green has always trusted you, he felt sure you would make the right decisions no matter what, but you've put too much on him, and this is the kind of trust you've given back to him? You people are always like this, you like to force a lot of things on yourself that you obviously don't need to go and carry up on your own. Even if you do succeed this time as you want, what's the point? Can you live forever and save the magical world for the rest of your life? In the future, there might be someone like Voldemort would appear again. There are no guarantees for any of you, and yet you still give too much of yourselves to trying to save the people and things that are briefly in front of you. That's one of the things I dislike most about Jon, he's a lot like you in some ways, though not quite as stubborn."

Dumbledore said softly.

"It's just something you don't like, when you do become a winner, then you can decide what kind of future young Jon is supposed to have."

"Is that really the only thing you can think of?" Grindelwald frowned like he was still a little unable to accept some of Dumbledore's words.

"It's not that I can only think of this way, but it's the only possibility right now."

"But even after you testify that possibility? Who's going to finish him off? The current Jon? He has potential, but whether or not that potential will turn into strength will have to be seen later, and right now it's not enough."

Dumbledore's countenance fell completely silent.

"That's the situation before us now, it's like trying to eat a chocolate frog, no one is going to put it straight into their mouth without removing the outer wrapping from it. Some things just need to be taken one step at a time, and this step right now is all about peeling off the outer wrapping on him, and if I'm lucky maybe I'll even get a bite. But if I keep waiting, it could be an eternity of not knowing when."

Grindelwald fell silent, he wasn't sure if he had been convinced by Dumbledore or if he had run out of ideas to respond.

After a long time of this silence, he spoke.

"This is the last time I will do you a favour."

***

Eyna and the others were not surprised in the face of Jon now showing trepidation.

The prestige that Voldemort had spent more than twenty years building up amongst the purebloods was not something that could be broken in three or two words or in a short period of time.

It was also fortunate that they had another lord to choose from. If Voldemort had only been one from the beginning and with his current personality change, it was doubtful that many of them would have dared to engage in such activities in private that would have amounted to nothing less than treason.

"I think your family would be able to discern whether or not that gentleman now in Britain is the same great man who has led us through this glorious decade."

Hunter said as he stared into Jon's eyes as if he wanted to take in all of Jon's inner struggles.

"Of course, we have to be loyal, but loyalty can't be blind, the man who rules the whole of Britain now has obviously changed, he just bears the same look and the same name as the original one, but they are in fact two people altogether."

Jon's face went white as he looked around nervously like talking about such a topic in a place like this made his whole being very uneasy.

"And then what? That's actually what you guys have been hiding from me all this time? Even if you guys found out about lord's transformation, what can you do about it? Do you guys know why he became like this, and can you find that real lord?"

Upon hearing Jon's barrage of questioning, the Hunter trio looked at each other instead, and then they all revealed a smirk.

"How do you know we haven't found the true lord?"

Hearing them like that, Jon's face looked like it had frozen, and suddenly his eyes widened as if he had thought of something, as he looked at the three people standing in front of him.

"That's why all of you are grouping together? That's why you all avoided our lord's sight and gathered together!"

"We didn't avoid our lord's sight, that madman now is not our lord, there has always been only one lord, the one we now obey and serve."

Bartolo lowered his voice as he stared solemnly at Jon.

"Now we've told you all this, Spike, which means we want to bring you along for this endeavour. How many other purebloods do you think there are out there who don't know about this? Those who are wavering, and peddling diehards will only end up being left behind in the new age, and only the truly determined will gain more power."

Jon gulped as if he hadn't reeled from the news.

"But we're in the middle of a war now, and topping it off with internal conflict, that's... Is it really appropriate?"

"Only the shallow-eyed stare at the battlefield of ordinary wizards, Spike." Eyna said, "Why were we able to win so much before? Because the nobility of the purebloods could truly be established? Was it because those of us who could fight were capable enough to win? Of course not, it's just because we united around our lord, and as long as our lord can keep winning, then, of course, we can follow and keep winning. Likewise, if our lord loses, then what we have now will all be in vain."

Henry then tried to break through Jon's psychological defences.

"You've heard what the Witching Horizons do to purebloods, haven't you? They used the gallows that only Muggles use for death row inmates! If you think about it more carefully, the reason why the situation of the war has become what it is now is because our lord had two consecutive losses in his duel with Dumbledore! And were these defeats really caused by the same lord who led us? They are the fault of the madman who is in power now! If we continue to follow his lead, it won't end well for any of us, so the more it comes down to it, the more we have to make the right choice!"

Jon fell silent as if he was completely moved by his words.

Bartolo certainly had to strike while the iron was hot at a time like this.

"Haven't you noticed that there are no other old-school pureblood families amongst us other than the Parkinsons'? We all know that the Ollivanders are different from the others, you're not a bunch of old-timers who don't know how to change, that's why Spike, we're trying to bring you on board with us, this is a rare opportunity, especially since it's a scenario where the Lestrange's are already deposed, and what they have vacated is always going to require dividing up, so who should it be divided amongst? We who are truly loyal to our lord, of course!"

It was as if this part of his speech had thoroughly impressed Jon.

Jon raised his head and met the three of them with what he thought was a sincere gaze, but instead of immediately agreeing, he took a deep breath and said.

"Can you give me some time to think about it?"

As he said such words, Eyna and the others actually already knew that this matter was about 80% or 90% complete.

No matter how much they talked, as a pureblood with a brain there was no way they could agree to things on the spot because Jon represented not only him personally, but also an entire Ollivander family who stood behind him.

And now that he had been persuaded, the so-called time left to consider was just to go and communicate with the people within the family.

In response, of course, the Eyna trio wouldn't stop him, they just gave him a warning that wasn't considered a threat.

"It's certainly true that such a big matter needs to be considered, but there are some things we have to say just as much upfront if you want to snitch and bring this matter to the top, believe me, none of us will be punished in any way, but the person who speaks out about it will be in danger instead!"

Jon nodded, seriously stating that he would not snitch to the top.

In fact, what they said was indeed right, even if this crazy Voldemort now knew about so many purebloods under his command quietly uniting to contact his other self, there was no way for him to really kill all of them. If this is really the case, the whole of Britain will not even have the foundation for bloodline rule, unless he brought up a group of half-bloods as purebloods, which would be tantamount to treating his own ten years of previous doctrine as a joke.

So the only one who would be dealt with in the end would probably be the one who snitched.

After completing all the exchanges with them, they spent the dinner leisurely at the back, with no one chatting about anything related to work.

And it was only when the dinner was over and the guests had pretty much left, and only he and Jon were left in Slughorn's manor, that Jon's entire body slumped in the chair.

"Acting is exhausting, more so than fighting someone directly."

Slughorn brought him a glass of orange juice.

"So how are the results?"

"Basically nothing more, just have to wait another three or five days to give them a definite reply."

Jon said seriously.

"But surely people like them won't know exactly what Voldemort is keeping the Department of Mysteries for, we still have to reach out to those who are actually trusted by Voldemort and know something about the inner workings."

"You mean those who stay in the Department of Mysteries no matter what time of day it is?"

"That's right because they're the only ones who are actually doing something, not just trying to carve up the benefits like this bunch of straw men."

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