The safe house was a welcome sight, a small, unassuming cottage with a powerful set of Fidelius Charms I had woven myself. The air, once thick with the acrid scent of dark magic, was now a comforting balm of woodsmoke and a lingering sense of peace. We were safe. We were alive. But we were also a different people. We had stared into the abyss, and we had, in a single, terrifying moment, survived. Our bodies ached with a deep, profound pain, but our hearts were filled with a fierce, unyielding resolve.
The Minister, Jean-Pierre Delacour, was a changed man. The dazed, bewildered look in his eyes had been replaced by a fierce, unwavering determination. He was no longer a complacent bureaucrat. He was a man who had seen the face of a monster and had, in a single, terrifying moment, survived. He was a hero, a man who had risked his life for the greater good.
"Lord Starborn," he said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp, a stark contrast to his earlier politeness. "I owe you my life. I owe you and your companions a debt that I can never repay. You saved my Ministry. You saved my country. You gave us a second chance."
"We did what was necessary, Minister," I replied, a faint, weary smile on my face. "We did what we had to do. But the war is far from over. We've won a battle, but we have not won the war. Grindelwald's fury will be immense. He will be coming for us. We need to know his next move. We need to know his plan."
The Minister nodded, his face a grim mask of determination. "His plan is not just to conquer Europe. It is a grander, more terrifying design. The Aetherium Network, the one you shattered, was the first step. He was using it to prepare for a massive magical ritual, a ritual that would use the network to permanently sever magical Britain from the rest of the world. He wanted to isolate you. He wanted to make you a single, vulnerable target. He wanted to conquer you with a single, devastating blow."
My blood ran cold. The sheer audacity of the plan was staggering. It was not a war of conquest. It was a war of isolation, a war of annihilation. He wanted to cut us off from our allies, from our friends, from our very source of magical power. He wanted to make us an easy target, a single, solitary island in a sea of his tyranny.
"He intended to use the ritual to create a massive magical barrier around Britain, a barrier that would prevent any magical travel to and from the rest of the world," the Minister continued, his voice a whisper of pure, unadulterated fear. "He would then slowly, methodically, conquer you. He would, in his own words, 'bring order to a chaotic world.' He was not just a conqueror. He was an architect of a new world, a world where he, and he alone, would rule."
The revelation was a game-changer. The conventional war, the endless skirmishes on the French-Italian border, was a distraction. The real war was a race against time, a race to stop Grindelwald's ritual before he could perform it. Our mission had changed from a strategic strike to a desperate, last-ditch attempt to save our world.
"We have to stop him," Henry said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp. "We have to find him. We have to confront him. We cannot allow him to perform this ritual."
"We will," I replied, my voice a solemn promise. "But we cannot do it alone. We need allies. We need a new strategy. We need a new kind of war."
My mind was a whirl of frantic, terrifying thoughts. I had faced Grindelwald on the battlefield. I had survived. But I had also seen the full extent of his power, a power that was far beyond anything I had ever imagined. He was not a man who could be defeated with a single, decisive blow. He was a man who had to be defeated with a new kind of magic, a new kind of will, a new kind of understanding.
I knew what we had to do. We had to rally support. Not just from the Wizengamot, not just from the Ministry, but from a new, powerful ally. A man who was a master of magical combat, A man who had been my mentor, my friend, my brother in arms. I had to go to him. I had to tell him what I knew. I had to tell him that the war had a new reality, and that we needed his help to win it.