Hogwarts: This Dark Lord is Good?

When Grindelwald claimed he could clear himself of all charges, everyone thought he was dreaming.

But the moment Dumbledore received the news, his expression changed drastically.

If Grindelwald dared to say it publicly, he must be confident he could actually clear his name...

Dumbledore knew Grindelwald's personality well.

And then… Wait.. Dumbledore immediately realized something else.

He went straight to Azkaban to visit the five Death Eaters who had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The result… was very bad.

Because he discovered that without exception, all five of them had gone insane.

Granted, in a place like Azkaban, madness was common.

But how long had it been? Just barely over a week!

Even if they were going to go mad, how could it happen this quickly?

Of course, in an environment like that, going mad in a single day wasn't exactly unheard of. But the timing aligned precisely with Grindelwald's announcement that he would accept a public trial.

Those five Death Eaters lost their minds almost simultaneously in a very short period of time!

That was far too much of a coincidence.

Clearly, Grindelwald hadn't been idle during his apparent silence, contrary to what everyone had assumed.

Once Dumbledore realized this, he could no longer remain calm...

It seemed… they had actually helped Grindelwald eliminate all the witnesses who could have testified to his crimes...

In other words… they had lost all the firsthand witnesses who could directly prove Grindelwald's guilt!

After leaving Azkaban through the Floo Network, Dumbledore sat silently in his office for a long time.

Grindelwald was completely using his own methods to box him in...

If Grindelwald were acting like before, using illegal means, Dumbledore would have no fear at all.

However… Grindelwald was now attempting to move forward by legal means!

This meant that even he, Dumbledore, could no longer make a direct move against Grindelwald.

That gave Dumbledore an overwhelming sense of crisis.

Even if Grindelwald didn't succeed this time, if he really had changed his usual way of operating, he would become far harder to deal with.

Left with no other choice, Dumbledore went to the Ministry of Magic late that night.

The current British Minister for Magic was Hector Foley, a passionate and flamboyant wizard.

He greeted Dumbledore with great enthusiasm.

That was mostly because Dumbledore's presence had made his job significantly easier.

Naturally, then, he was more than happy to welcome Dumbledore.

As he was warmly escorted into the Minister's office, Dumbledore felt somewhat helpless.

Foley, for all his other qualities, had always seemed to lack a proper understanding of the danger Grindelwald posed to the entire wizarding world.

Even when Grindelwald first openly made his move and magical governments around the world united in tense vigilance, Foley had remained indifferent… completely unconcerned.

He seemed to believe that Grindelwald's influence would never reach Britain.

It was precisely because of this attitude that calls for his resignation had been growing louder in recent days… And Foley himself was beginning to realize that his position might not be secure for much longer.

So he had recently been staying at the Ministry of Magic, making a last-ditch effort to hold onto his seat as Minister.

Dumbledore's recent capture of so many followers of Grindelwald—and even defeating Grindelwald himself—had been a gift from the heavens as far as Foley was concerned.

So no matter how dismissive he had once been of Grindelwald, he had nonetheless acted with great force when dealing with the captured followers.

After extracting information from them as quickly as possible, he pushed through a highly efficient set of sentences.

The outcome of those trials greatly satisfied the public, and that allowed Minister Foley to recover some much-needed political favor.

His ministerial position was no longer quite so precarious for the time being.

That alone brought the smile back to his face.

"Albus, what brings you to the Ministry so late?" Minister Foley asked.

"It's about Grindelwald…"

"Oh… I see. You mean his surrender, yes? I was just about to come see you about that. What do you think… why would he do such a thing? And how should we respond?" Minister Foley quickly grasped the reason for Dumbledore's visit.

This time, though, he didn't show his previous impatience, but instead eagerly sought Dumbledore's opinion.

After nearly being ousted from office, even a fool would know how to conduct himself now.

And Foley wasn't a fool.

"Yes, it's precisely that. The matter is already extremely serious… based on what I know of him, there's a real chance he might clear himself of all charges in this public trial."

"How is that possible?" Minister Foley's eyes widened. Even though he had previously underestimated Grindelwald's influence, he still understood exactly what kind of person he was.

For a notorious terrorist with such a lengthy record to claim he could clear his name—it was utterly ridiculous.

And yet now, Dumbledore was telling him that Grindelwald might actually succeed? Based on what?

"We originally had sufficient witnesses," Dumbledore said regretfully, "but… now they're all gone."

Minister Foley asked in shock, "The witnesses you're referring to… you don't mean those followers I sentenced to death, do you?"

"Yes..."

Minister Foley froze. In the past, he'd been criticized by the public for being too passive, for not taking Grindelwald seriously.

Now, after finally acting decisively… he had instead helped Grindelwald eliminate the witnesses?

"Wait—The ones we sent to Azka—"

"They've all lost their sanity.. and I think you know what that means."

If the public found out about this... Minister Foley could already imagine how utterly ruined he would be.

But then again—who could have predicted Grindelwald would pull something like this?

At this moment, Minister Foley felt deeply, deeply wronged.

However, he also understood one thing very clearly: the public didn't care whether you were aware or not…

As long as your decisions led to bad outcomes, they would hold you accountable.

Dumbledore saw the frozen expression on Minister Foley's face and immediately knew what was on his mind.

"This isn't your fault, Minister Foley… None of us saw this coming. Besides, at the time, we couldn't not try those Alliance members. If we hadn't, the consequences would've been even worse…" Dumbledore said in a reassuring tone.

Minister Foley closed his eyes and muttered helplessly, "Why is my luck so awful…"

After a long pause, he suddenly said, "If we can find new evidence to prove he's guilty…"

"That would, of course, be ideal. But if he manages to completely clear his name… then as long as he avoids breaking the law publicly, we'll have no legal grounds to act against him…"

"What is this guy even trying to do… Don't tell me he really wants to turn over a new leaf?"

"No. In my view, he simply wants to take on a new identity, adopt a different approach, and then continue opposing us…"

…

In the safe house.

Tom stared at the copy of the Daily Prophet in his hands, an incredulous expression on his face.

"Wade… Grindelwald actually did exactly what you said he would…"

Back then, Wade's conversation with Anne—Tom had heard it loud and clear.

And now, Grindelwald was following that exact plan.

First, clear his name. Then, use legal methods to rise in the political sphere...

At this moment, Tom was finally, completely convinced of Wade's abilities.

If what he had said hadn't made sense, there was no way Grindelwald would've adopted this strategy.

"Oh, Tom, please don't talk nonsense, alright? What do you mean Grindelwald did what I said? When did I ever teach him anything?" Wade flatly denied it.

He had only casually boasted a few lines to Anne—just a fellow classmate!

If Dumbledore found out he was the one feeding Grindelwald ideas… he'd be finished!

"Ah yes, yes, of course, you didn't teach him anything…" Tom immediately shut his mouth.

If he kept talking and this bastard decided to silence him, then what?

Even if he didn't go so far as to kill me, a well-placed Memory Charm would be more than enough to ruin my life!

Wade took the paper from in front of Tom and gave it a quick glance. "Ah, truly worthy of being Grindelwald… actually figured out how to pull off a comeback like this. Tsk tsk…"

Tom was speechless. Was that supposed to be praise for Grindelwald? All those ideas had come from you! Wasn't that just praising yourself?

He had never seen someone this shameless!

"Can he really clear his name?" Tom couldn't help but ask again.

"Most likely not completely," Wade said casually, "but whatever can't be cleared will only be some insignificant minor charges. A few fines will take care of those. As for the serious ones that could land him in prison… there won't be any."

"So, his redemption is unstoppable now?" Tom asked.

"No, on the contrary, I have plenty of ways to turn his little whitewashing act into a complete farce," Wade said with a grin. "Unfortunately, his opponents are Dumbledore and his band of righteous wizards… and they'd never use any of my methods."

As the saying goes: gentlemen play by the rules.

The more you follow the rules, the less Dumbledore can do to you… Grindelwald turned himself in. He's submitting to a public trial. What more can Dumbledore even do?

Other than wait for the verdict, what options does he have?

"Of course, not everyone who wants to stop Grindelwald's redemption is a righteous wizard," Wade went on. "Some of them might try to pull a few tricks… but without Dumbledore's support, there's no way they'll outplay Grindelwald. In this world, who can outmaneuver him when it comes to scheming?"

Tom pointed at Wade's nose. "You!"

"Eh? Me?"

"Of course it's you! Who else would it be, me?!"

"Tom, you're talking nonsense again… It's possible your thinking is starting to go off track. And having problematic thoughts is very dangerous. I think I should help correct them…"

"C-Correct my thoughts… Why are you pulling out your wand?!"

"You'll understand in a moment. It's just a simple Advanced Memory Restoration Spell…"

"H-Hey! D-Don't come any closer!"

Read two weeks ahead: P^treon: Captain69