Chapter 265: “Exposing One By One”
Chapter 265: “Exposing One By One”
There was a sudden explosion sound from an unknown place, and two figures suddenly appeared from the air. The two appeared here just to let the shorter figure take a breath, and after a short rest, they disappeared in place again.
After Apparating a few times, they finally reached their destination. Sean sat down on the ground. He shook his head vigorously, trying to suppress his stomach.
Grindelwald didn’t feel anything. He smiled with his hands behind his back, “You just need to get used to it, Sean. I just left something in you. Feel free to learn it later. It won’t be long before you can Apparate yourself.”
“Okay…” Sean nodded weakly and almost vomited out.
“Long-distance Apparition is always like this. You have to get used to it.” Grindelwald walked over and patted Sean on the shoulder.
A warm current rose from his lower abdomen and then spread to every corner of his body. Sean suddenly felt much more relaxed. Only then did he have the strength to stand up and look around.
There is nothing here, only dark ground and damaged stone pillars. They are standing on the ground of a building complex, and its underground level has obviously been completely destroyed.
In front of Sean was the broken stone slab that had been lifted, and he could see the dark, chapped ground below through the crack, like a dark pit. Some stone decorations with vaguely preserved shapes can be seen, such as broken statues and broken iron railings.
Sean immediately remembered the name of this place. Père Lachaise Cemetery. This is where Grindelwald gave his speech and where he burned Paris.
Sean looked sideways at Grindelwald, wondering what he meant by bringing him here. Grindelwald waved to Sean and then lightly jumped into the hole leading to the ground. Sean took out his wand, cast a Levitation Charm, and floated in with him.
After entering the ground, he saw the real content inside. It was like a small Colosseum, with a circular stone square in the middle and surrounded by stands. If you go up the steps on the stand, you can still see the dark entrance to it.
Of course, now the place has been completely destroyed, and the previous appearance can only be seen through some wreckage. The only strange thing is that only the circular stone square in the center still maintains its original appearance.
Grindelwald walked to the very center of the square. He raised his wand like a conductor and then waved it lightly.
There was a sound of sparks detonating, and flames lit up in the ruins where the torches had been placed, illuminating the dark underground brightly, and the light drilled outside along the crack above the head.
“They didn’t even repair it here. Don’t they know how to protect the buildings with historical significance?” Grindelwald sighed.
Grindelwald smiled and looked at Sean, “Do you know where this is?”
“The place where you set the fire.”
“Yes, the cemetery of Père Lachaise Cemetery,” Grindelwald said with a nostalgic smile on his face, “but I have to correct you. Setting the fire is a trivial matter. This was the first time I shared my ideas with the entire wizarding world and also the place where many comrades-in-arms joined me. It’s memorable, isn’t it?”
Sean glanced at him, and then asked hesitantly, “Professor?”
“Shh,” Grindelwald stopped what he was about to say, “I know what you want to ask me. My philosophy, my experience, or did I really kill those people?”
He paced the square with his hands behind his back, with an expression of enjoyment on his face, “Don’t doubt me, Sean. What you think in your mind and what your professor said is true.”
Sean was silent for a moment. He didn’t know how to continue talking.
No matter what kind of ideas the Guards have, even if they are sure that he has bad intentions, one thing that cannot be denied is that Grindelwald committed various crimes decades ago.
In the following decades, he became the principal who taught and educated people and even gave him a lot of help as a freshman who just entered the wizarding world.
Emotionally, Sean is on the side of Grindelwald, but intellectually, he cannot ignore that his tutor has committed numerous crimes.
Grindelwald glanced at him sideways, showing a gentle smile, “Sean, do you know what your greatest weakness is?”
“What?”
“You clearly understand the weaknesses of human nature. You can even accept the flaws in yourself and others in various aspects. Whether you are selfish or hypocritical, you clearly understand these, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
Sean blinked, and he nodded, “Yes, sir, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.”
“Yes, I also think there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s not your weakness. Your weakness is—” Grindelwald walked in, and Sean could see the wanton smile on his face, “Your moral sense is too strong.”
“To be precise, your sense of morality is too strong on a large level. You don’t use this sense of morality to restrain others but to restrain yourself. If others treat you well, you treat others well, and if others treat you badly, you treat them badly as well. However, you are unwilling to deprive others of their lives. You think that mistakes and punishments should be in direct proportion.”
Grindelwald talked eloquently, “Like the Carrow brothers and sisters, the one you killed before, I forgot their name and didn’t care much. You think they deserve to die, no matter whether their crimes were committed against you or not. You can take their life without any burden.”
“But other people like Fabian Aiken, even if you know that he hates you to death, before he really goes out of line, at most, you will only punish him.”
Sean shook his head, “What you said is not true. I just have double standards. I use my view of good and evil to treat others, and I also use my view of good and evil to restrain others. But when I do things, many of it is based on my own opinion rather than actually looking at what those people did.”
Grindelwald nodded Sean’s head with his wand, “Hypocritical statements, boldly admitting your own flaws. I guess you don’t change after all.”
Sean spread his hands, “I have to say something about it after all.”
Grindelwald laughed loudly, “People live their lives in this world hypocritically, and that’s what I like about you.”
Sean sighed, lowered his head, and then sat down on the cleaner stone, “I am very conflicted. I am on your side, but you have indeed done bad things.”
“To be precise, it is a bad thing in the eyes of the public,” Grindelwald corrected, “Sean, you are a smart kid. You should know how it is possible to change the world without blood and flames. If I succeed, then history will be written by me, and evil will be glorified, although I don’t care about all of those things.”
“I understand.”
“As long as you understand it,” Grindelwald shrugged, “I’m just stating my point of view.”
“What should we do now?” Sean raised his head to look at the crack above his head, “They should be arriving soon.”
A smile appeared on Grindelwald’s face, “Sean, have you forgotten? I didn’t invite you here to talk about life and values with you. There is a performance waiting for the audience.”
Sean sighed. He still hadn’t figured out why the Guards would do anything to Grindelwald.
At this moment, the sound of explosions began to be heard frequently, and wizards wearing uniforms of the United Wizards Guard appeared in the Père Lachaise Cemetery one by one. They raised their wands and surrounded them.
On the ruins, they slowly approached the center. They slowly moved towards Grindelwald in the center of the stage, step by step.
Sean was sitting on the edge, pulled back forcefully by a hand before he could react. When he looked back, it was Sirius.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
Grindelwald did not stop Sirius from retreating. He looked at the wizards who surrounded him relaxedly and contentedly and then casually raised his wand.
Everyone took a step back.
“Look, look,” Grindelwald chuckled, “don’t be so nervous, my friends.”
Marshall took half a step forward, and Newt accompanied her with an inexplicable expression.
“Grindelwald, you are under arrest.”
“Ma’am, do you understand what you’re talking about?” Grindelwald answered quickly.
Marshall was much braver than her team members, and she did not back down, “I understand very well, and I understand one thing that you haven’t understood your situation yet.”
“I assume you learned a lot of spells when you’re at school,” Grindelwald smiled, “However, I have a question. You are really planning to arrest me?”
“You are arrested for the crime you’ve committed.”
“Is that so?” Grindelwald moved his wand and then pointed to a middle-aged wizard behind the crowd.
The man had short, clean hair and a long beard. After Grindelwald pointed at him, he shook involuntarily and then retracted his face a little into the hood.
“Onassis, are you okay?”
The man’s pupils shook violently.
“I don’t think the name Onassis sounds good enough,” Grindelwald continued. “Maybe your ancestor is better, right, Mopsus?”
Sean’s pupils narrowed slightly. Mopsus is the famous ancient Greek Seer.
Grindelwald pointed to another person behind the crowd, “And you, can you people from the Calchas family cooperate with Mopsus? It’s amazing that such a big hatred can be put down.”
Sean frowned. Calchas was also an ancient Greek Seer who lost to Mopsus in a duel and then committed suicide in shame and indignation. Grindelwald was like a head teacher who was calling the roll, and he pointed to wizards hiding behind the crowd one after another.
“That girl, Cassandra Vablatsky, should be your great-grandmother, right? Heh, she and I are old friends.”
“You, your family is a branch from your original family, right? You people shine brilliantly, but you want to remain anonymous?”
“You…”
“And you…”
He pointed out one name after another. Sean knew most of the surnames mentioned by Grindelwald, and they were all famous wizards in ancient times.
Most of them are Seers, A wizard who can see into the future. Even if they are not a Seer, their ancestor is still a very well-known great wizard in the past thousands of years.
He even heard the name of Ambrosius, which was Merlin’s last name.
According to Grindelwald, the descendants of these ancient families, all hid their identities, and now, they gathered here.
Sean’s breathing became heavier. He seemed to see a big net that had already been woven around him. His thoughts diverged, and his past experiences suddenly appeared in front of him.
The stolen key that can connect the Misty Land and reality, the person who spoke by Gormlaith Gaunt, the revived Horned Serpent.
In the center, Grindelwald named them all. Marshall did not show anything in her expression. She said in a deep voice, “You don’t need to worry about the past of our team members. Grindelwald, your time is over.”
“Really?” Grindelwald smiled.
After that, a flame soared into the sky.