"Ahhhhhhhhhhh—"
The man's terrified scream was extremely shrill, but the next moment, it was as if his mouth had been blocked, he could only make muffled sounds, maintaining a rigid sitting posture, looking with horror at the second face appearing on his neck—
What kind of face was that?
Karkaroff did not know how to describe it, the narrow eyes, the dark red pupils, the two slits seemingly replacing a nose, and that mouth completely devoid of lips, sharp teeth slightly wavering as it opened—who was he?!
It's no wonder Karkaroff couldn't recognize his "master," the way the other appeared was simply disgusting, Karkaroff now felt his liver and gall were about to split, his mind a complete mess.
"I've prepared three cups of tea, you've sewn up his mouth, how is he supposed to drink?"
Facing the abstract yet nauseating scene before him, Grindelwald didn't even furrow his brows, he just lightly sipped the tea in his cup, his tone gentle.
"A servant who betrayed me should be grateful to be alive—"
Voldemort snorted coldly, speaking insidiously.
"Isn't it because you really have no one else to use?"
Grindelwald's words hit the other's sore spot directly, the latter seemed at a loss for words for a moment, could only take a deep breath, grab the cup in front of him, and gulp it down.
"Ha, as if your situation is much better than mine—so, Dumbledore really has gone senile, daring to let someone like you out."
Voldemort suddenly cackled, squinting his eyes, seeming somewhat schadenfreude, "That old man, after all these years, he still doesn't understand never to try to control someone who cannot be controlled—like you, like me, and that damn William Richard—"
"Richard? What happened to him?"
Grindelwald suddenly seemed curious, he didn't follow his prepared lines but turned to ask.
"It seems you don't know about that matter either, haha—perhaps I should tell this to Dumbledore?"
Grindelwald suddenly seemed excited, as if he already saw the picture of those two breaking up because of this, he couldn't help starting to gloat.
"So what is it?"
"Of course… why should I tell you? Mr. Grindelwald?"
Voldemort suddenly changed face, his narrow eyes glaring as big as they could get, but still not as large as some male celebrity singing "Quit Smoking"—he grinned, emitting a venomous sound.
"Since you asked, well—of course, I can help you, Tom."
"Don't call that name! Who do you think you are?!"
"The former president of the International Confederation of Wizards—"
"You weren't elected, sir, my Magic History grades are O, I remember very clearly, you lost to Vicencia Santos, that woman from Brazil—"
"Actually, I held the position for eight minutes before someone pulled a Kirin out of their bag."
Grindelwald still smiled, he beamed and stared at Voldemort without showing any sign of agitation due to the other's tone.
"…That's interesting, all sorts of demons and monsters are cropping up, why should I agree with you?"
Voldemort stopped continuing the increasingly tangential debate, he chuckled, murmuring softly, "One after another, they all want to collaborate with me—sounds nice."
Grindelwald still showed no change in expression to Voldemort's blatant ridicule, he remained with his twinkling smile, "Of course because you fundamentally can't accomplish anything, you think you can topple Dumbledore yourself? And that William Richard? No, you don't understand them at all—"
"You're lying, and if I just let Dumbledore know what William's hiding from him, this almost unsupported alliance will shatter on contact—"
Voldemort said disdainfully, but he himself knew that his tone couldn't deceive the person sitting opposite—sure enough, in the next moment, Grindelwald laughed, "Why are you so confident? Mr. Riddle, you don't understand Dumbledore at all, you've been dead for over ten years, those bits of information you had are probably outdated—Richard and Albus, their alliance is unbreakable."
"You're lying!"
Voldemort's tone held some uneasiness, he stared at the elderly face filled with smiles, instinctively shouted.
"Of course you can think so, but please use your brain—if you still have one, Tom, think carefully why Dumbledore would let someone whose power is stronger than his, whose thinking is still so dangerous, teach Harry Potter? He is the renowned Savior…"
"That's all nonsense, that damn kid hasn't done anything! Clearly it was that damn woman!!"
Voldemort uncontrollably shouted, his head—which was poor Karkaroff, suddenly issued a shrill scream again, but this time seemingly out of pain. Grindelwald couldn't help shaking his head, William was absolutely right, Voldemort tearing his soul with soul artifacts, plus multiple times of dying and coming back to life, now nearly insane.
"Is it? Then you could reconsider why Dumbledore would—set me free? He could have spent his life never seeing me, I believe that was precisely his plan."
"…Why?"
Voldemort blinked, seeming slightly calm.
"Of course because he knows someone can restrain me, William Richard set me an unbreakable vow, I will forever be unable to use charms—"
Grindelwald raised his right hand. The next moment, a silver chain wound around his emaciated arm, slowly appearing, with swollen marks carrying a faint burnt smell, "Under multiple restrictions, they allow me to 'freely' move, ha, you could take it as a kind of palliative care? Anyway, I'm almost dead."
"...Yes, indeed, you are almost dead."
Voldemort frowned, of course, he actually had no eyebrows, "So, what else can you offer that's worth using? You're just a useless old man who can't even cast spells. If you were the Grindelwald you used to be, maybe I might reluctantly agree with you, but now, you're just an ineffectual old man——"
"Click——"
Grindelwald picked up an "iron pipe," the crisp clash of metal made Voldemort's pupils shrink slightly. He had just been left with a very deep impression by this thing during the summer holidays, if only that damn Muggle old man had aimed the second bullet at Barty's head, the Death Eaters would have been annihilated——
"Obviously, those two guys didn't expect——"
Grindelwald aimed the gun at the wall, and with a roar, a green lightning shot out from the muzzle, leaving a pit on the wall that flickered with electricity, "A Killing Curse with every shot, eradicating both body and soul comprehensively, without consuming any magic power——I told you, you've been dead for over a decade, Tom, times have changed."
"..."
Voldemort was speechless, if it really was as the other said, this thing was just... damn it, he wanted it.
"...What can you bring me?"
But after pondering, Voldemort still couldn't give up and pressed on.
"A reason, Tom, a reason why Dumbledore trusts William Richard so much."
Grindelwald placed the shotgun at his feet and grinned.
"What is it?"
Voldemort tried to make himself appear less eager, but he obviously failed.
"Since you did well in Magic History, let's test you, the cause, the process, and the result of the second Goblin Rebellion——"
But Grindelwald didn't answer immediately; instead, he switched to what seemed an entirely unrelated topic.
"What nonsense are you talking about..."
Voldemort subconsciously cursed, but memories flared up subconsciously, his eyes widened as if in thought, memories of the dead began attacking his brain, "The goblin who started the rebellion was called... Lanlock, a foolish goblin, collaborating with some idiot from the Rookwood Clan, they targeted at..."
"Hogwarts, need me to give the answer?"
"Of course not! I know it was Hogwarts, I even know who was the Headmaster then, Phineas Black, Bella's great-great-grandfather, I remember very clearly——and the collaboration was resolved by Hogwarts' students and professors joining forces, so what? Is there a problem?"
Voldemort's studies were indeed excellent, even turning into a madman, he could remember these things crystal clear, unlike some university students who stupidly forget everything after their exams (laugh).
"The name of that student, Tom, your professors should've mentioned——"
"That ghost indeed mentioned it, he was called Richard, William Ri..." Voldemort blinked, "?". His astonishment was palpable.
"You've finally made the connection, not easy, is it?"
Grindelwald lightly applauded.
"Impossible! How could he have lived for so long?"
A trace of terror appeared in Voldemort's eyes, he remembered William Richard of course, but how could it be, the one who wiped out the entire Ashwinder gang and drove the poachers out of Great Britain, the legend? He's actually still alive? And set eyes on him? Voldemort suddenly felt a chill down his spine, he instinctively looked around——
All of a sudden, Voldemort wondered, could that damn bastard be watching them from somewhere?
"I also think it's impossible, but the reality is just so, Tom, not only is he still alive, he even discovered the method of Youth Restoration——that's why I sought you out."
Grindelwald paused, finally getting to the point.
"What?"
"Goblin Lanlock, and Black Wizard Rookwood, why did they target Hogwarts?"
"..."
By now everything was clear, even if Voldemort's brain were divided into eight parts, he should have realized, he frowned, "Can you be certain?"
"Of course, as a prisoner, I've behaved well, they are much less guarded against me now, Tom."
Grindelwald nodded, an amiable smile emerged on his aged face——
The fish had taken the bait.