The Muggle world was already descending into the flames of war. The wizarding world likely wouldn't remain peaceful either…
Just a few months ago, when Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, he thought the wave Grindelwald had stirred up would finally settle. But now it seemed—it was only just beginning.
At the same time, beside Dumbledore, Tom was equally shaken to the core.
Someone like Grindelwald, quietly standing there, saying nothing, doing nothing—yet still playing everyone present in the palm of his hand… That was just too cool!
Before, he didn't really understand why someone as powerful as Grindelwald didn't just use brute force. Even if he couldn't defeat Dumbledore head-on, he could've at least avoided direct confrontation…
But now… he fully understood.
Controlling others didn't always rely on raw strength.
So far, even someone as formidable as Dumbledore could only stand silently below the platform, watching Grindelwald's performance.
In that moment, Tom was struck with a sudden realization: "This is what a true man should be like."
"How is it? Didn't I say this trip wouldn't be a waste?"
Suddenly, Wade's voice rang in Tom's ear.
Tom turned to look at Wade, only to see him watching him with a half-smile.
"Yeah… I've learned a lot," Tom admitted, unusually refraining from any retort.
At that moment, Dumbledore, whose attention was fully occupied by the situation on the platform, didn't notice the two boys beside him whispering to each other using their Chat group.
After nearly ten minutes of chaotic chatter in the courtroom, President Picquery finally snapped back to her senses.
Only after shouting "Order!" several times did the room gradually quiet down again.
"Due to significant discrepancies among the witnesses' testimonies, this court has reason to suspect that their memories may have been tampered with… Therefore, I believe it is necessary to examine the witnesses' memories to determine whether they have been altered."
After making this announcement, President Picquery glanced around, seeking the opinion of those present.
In truth, her proposal was entirely reasonable.
The witnesses' testimonies had come as a shock to everyone—subjectively speaking, they were completely inconsistent with the public's understanding of who Grindelwald was.
So verifying whether their memories had been modified was clearly necessary.
"Does anyone object?" President Picquery asked.
Everyone shook their heads, indicating no objections.
"I agree as well."
To everyone's surprise, it was Grindelwald who said this.
Meeting President Picquery's startled and uncertain gaze, he smiled and said, "If the witnesses' testimonies are under suspicion, then these baseless accusations will continue to cling to me. Even if the outcome of today's trial is a verdict of not guilty, there will still be controversy. So the more thorough, the better. I believe the High Court will ultimately clear my name."
"..."
"Since you have no objections either, then… we can begin the inspection on the spot! As for who should carry it out..." President Picquery scanned the courtroom, then fixed her gaze on Dumbledore. "Professor Dumbledore… could you help us examine the witnesses' memories?"
Dumbledore nodded without hesitation. He turned to Wade and Tom and said, "Wait here. Don't run off."
Then he left his seat and walked toward the platform.
"We're done for. Professor Dumbledore's about to be used as a tool," Wade said helplessly.
Tom asked, "What do you mean?"
"If I'm not mistaken, these witnesses originally had their memories altered by people from MACUSA. The goal was to target Grindelwald," Wade said.
"Makes sense… otherwise, how would they have found so many witnesses who could testify against him?" Tom nodded.
"MACUSA definitely wouldn't want those memories checked, otherwise the tampering would be exposed. But now the testimonies are all skewing in Grindelwald's favor…"
Tom said, "You mean President Picquery suspects that Grindelwald re-altered the witnesses' memories? Tch… yeah, if that's the case, then they'd have to call for a memory check. And once it's proven the memories were tampered with, all that testimony becomes invalid!"
Wade smiled. "I'm afraid… the result might not be what she expects. So far, Grindelwald hasn't miscalculated once… You really think he wouldn't have anticipated this? And who's to say these witnesses are even real witnesses?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Heh~ If these witnesses are proven to have had their memories tampered with, then there's nothing more to say. But what if... they're simply lying? Memory checks don't require Legilimency. In front of a crowd, all Dumbledore can really do is confirm whether their minds have been tampered with."
"Damn!" Tom sucked in a breath. "Tch… in that case, even if they're lying, without using Legilimency, Dumbledore wouldn't know. He can only determine that their minds weren't tampered with… which means their statements would be taken as true! But… what about the Veritaserum?"
Wade smiled. "How do you know the Auror who administered the Veritaserum wasn't compromised?"
"Huh? Even the Veritaserum was fake? That… if your guess is right, then MACUSA's already been infiltrated like a leaky bucket…" Tom was completely stunned.
"Did you forget about the string of disappearances that hit MACUSA earlier? You really think Grindelwald's actions over here were just to lure Dumbledore away?"
Wade said with a grin.
"If it were me… I wouldn't touch the ones who vanished. I'd let them come back, and instead… quietly swap out the ones who didn't disappear. Everyone's eyes would be on the returning victims, carefully trying to verify whether they'd been tampered with—but no one would notice if, one morning, the ones who never disappeared suddenly became just a little bit different."
Hearing Wade's words, a child ran down Tom's spine.
"Tch… true… that's the only way to explain it. Everyone thought the returned ones were the suspicious ones, but no one imagined that the ones who never disappeared might've already been replaced… But then, why did you say Dumbledore's being used as a pawn?"
Wade said helplessly, "If these witnesses are clean, then who becomes the problem? If rumors start to spread that Dumbledore, who inspected their memories, lied—what then? His old friendship with Grindelwald… becomes a seed of doubt. That way, Grindelwald still can't fully escape controversy. Meanwhile, President Picquery can step back gracefully… people will think she was merely misled, not the one who deliberately framed him…"
Tom exclaimed in shock, "So President Picquery had already prepared her backup plan the moment she asked Professor Dumbledore to verify the memories… even he was being used as a scapegoat."
"Exactly… but Professor Dumbledore still went up without hesitation. He really does want to protect President Picquery, even if it might cost him his reputation. Even though he knows he's being used as a shield."
"This is the 'sacrifice' you mentioned? How noble," Tom sneered.
He couldn't understand Dumbledore's mindset at all.
"Mr. Weber's memory has not been tampered with."
Dumbledore's voice rang out just then.
Everyone turned to look at him in shock—including President Picquery.
"That's impossible!" President Picquery stood up, staring at Dumbledore in panic.
But when she saw the certainty on Dumbledore's face, she slowly closed her eyes.
The witnesses she had carefully selected, whose memories she had arranged to be altered in order to frame Grindelwald—not only had their testimonies gone awry, but now it turned out… their memories hadn't even been altered?
That alone said everything.
In other words, her so-called plan might never have actually been implemented at all.
Even an eleven-year-old like Tom could see it—how could she not?
________
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