"How did they die?"
"It was the Muggles. Muggle weapons!"
"When did Muggles gain that kind of power? It's terrifying."
"We have to fight back and destroy those things!"
"The Muggles aren't the ones at fault. Those people are!"
"If Muggles didn't have those weapons, none of this would have happened!"
The international wizarding community was in complete turmoil.
And at that moment, a terrifying idea began to spread.
"This world belongs to wizards."
A white-haired wizard with mismatched eyes appeared inside a wizarding tavern, his expression calm.
"Those terrible, destructive things created by Muggles will one day fall upon the heads of wizards."
"Grindelwald?!"
Someone shouted in terror.
Grindelwald smiled faintly.
Ignoring their fear, he walked toward the front of the tavern.
"I know some of you fear me. Yes, that's true. As for that attack, if we are going to call it that..."
He stopped at the front.
He was alone, without a single follower beside him.
"Was it truly an attack?"
He looked at a middle-aged wizard.
The man's legs began trembling with fear.
But Grindelwald smiled at him.
"We should remember who the Qilin chose."
He reminded everyone that before the explosion, a new Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards had already been chosen.
With his reminder, everyone remembered that it was indeed true.
However, that Supreme Mugwump had undeniably been connected to the devastating attack.
"Have you ever wondered why he became the Supreme Mugwump?" Grindelwald raised his index finger and pointed upward. "Magic chose him. Everything he did was only to save magic!"
"Nonsense!" a young wizard cursed. "Thousands of wizards died in that attack!"
"Yes. Those deaths were necessary," Grindelwald said without denying it.
He walked up to the young wizard and asked, "Tell me, how did they die?"
"They died because of Muggle weapons..."
Grindelwald looked around at everyone.
"Muggles possess many more of those things, and sooner or later, those things will fall upon the heads of wizards."
He raised his hand like a missile, then lowered his finger.
Everyone shuddered.
"I showed you all of this in advance so you would understand," he said, clasping his hands behind his back, his voice deeply persuasive. "In this world, power reigns supreme. Muggles possess the power to destroy us."
"If we do not unite, we will become ghosts beneath even more powerful weapons."
A wizard hesitated. "But those wizards who were attacked..."
"They are destroying us," Grindelwald said without changing expression. "The Statute of Secrecy has continuously stripped away our living space. Muggles, once weak, have grown under its protection until they have become too powerful for wizards to deal with."
"Brothers and sisters," Grindelwald said, tears glistening on his face. "I want everyone to wake up."
He spoke earnestly. "The Sword of Damocles hangs above our heads."
"The danger we face has forced me to resort to such extreme measures."
As he finished speaking, another moving tear slid down his face.
With tears in his eyes, he pleaded, "Let magic become great again. Believe in me, my people."
The tavern fell silent.
...
"Let sacred fire cleanse the decay."
When this slogan began to spread, the various Ministries of Magic finally realised what had happened.
They had been infiltrated from within.
The wizard supremacists shouting the slogan wanted to make magic great again.
They invited their fellow wizards to join them.
To join magic.
The Qilin's choice had proven that magic itself had made its decision.
Those who died were sacrifices before the dawn, fuel for the flames that would illuminate the darkness and awaken everyone.
Muggle technology threatened the very survival of magic.
If nothing changed, then what awaited them would be the same hopelessness seen in Bhutan, with nowhere left to run.
"Grindelwald killed thousands of wizards, and now he's shouting slogans about doing it for magic?" German Minister for Magic Gresham, who had survived only because he had not attended the election, cursed furiously during the emergency meeting organised by the International Confederation of Wizards.
"Twenty Ministers for Magic, three hundred Ministry employees, and 2,123 innocent wizards," Gresham roared. "They're all dead!"
"Yes, we are well aware of that," Bulgarian Minister for Magic Obransk said gravely from the council. "But at present, we still do not know Gellert Grindelwald's exact location."
"British Minister for Magic Barty Crouch died in the attack," someone said. "We need a new leader."
"A new leader?" Gresham said in disbelief. "At a time like this, you're still thinking about that little bit of power?"
"No, I wasn't talking about myself." The man looked slightly embarrassed. "We can choose a new leader to guide us."
"He's right," said Bulgarian Minister for Magic Obransk. "The more critical the situation becomes, the more we need to unite."
"Grindelwald is spreading warnings about the threat of Muggles all over the world," Obransk continued. "We need a leader to steady the public."
"The threat of Muggles?" Gresham scoffed. "We all maintain contact with certain officials in Muggle governments. Are you saying we don't know?"
"You don't."
An elderly voice spoke.
Gresham was about to argue, but when he saw the speaker, he fell silent.
It was an old man much like Spences, a member of the Researchers' Association.
"Muggles have always been wary of wizards."
The old man's clouded eyes swept across the representatives present.
With so many Ministers for Magic dead, those countries could only send representatives to attend the council.
Contact with Muggle governments was among the highest levels of classified information for both the wizarding and Muggle worlds.
Only people such as presidents and prime ministers knew about it.
Likewise, only a Minister for Magic was qualified to deal directly with a Muggle government.
"Wizards are feared because they are mysterious."
The old man had once served as Minister for Magic of his own country before stepping down and joining the Researchers' Association.
So he understood very well that, in the eyes of Muggles, wizards were mysterious.
And that mystery made Muggles wary of them, causing them to keep their distance and observe.
Back when Fudge had still been Minister for Magic, he had acted arrogantly toward the Prime Minister and had even expected him to cooperate with wizarding affairs.
That was practically asking to die. Only an ignorant fool would behave that way.
The purpose of the Statute of Secrecy was to preserve that mystery.
Only by keeping their true nature difficult to grasp could wizards discourage Muggles from acting against them.
But if Muggles learned that wizards could also die beneath missiles...
Then the mystery surrounding wizards would disappear.
And once that image, built up over so many years, collapsed, what would follow?
No one dared think about it too carefully.
"We need a hero to lead us out of this crisis, out of this suffocating world on the verge of collapse."
The old man said gravely, "Grindelwald is trying to become that hero. We need to stop him."
Yes.
Muggles had seen the weakness of wizards.
Wizards had seen the strength of Muggles.
That was Grindelwald's conspiracy.
No.
It was an open conspiracy.
He was giving wizards a path they had no choice but to follow.
And he himself would become their guide, replacing the International Confederation of Wizards.
"Who should we choose?" someone asked.
This was no ordinary matter.
They truly needed someone capable of preventing the entire structure from collapsing.
"Dumbledore..." Yelufan was also present at the council.
"Don't bring up Dumbledore."
The speaker was the representative of the British Ministry of Magic...
Percy Weasley.
Percy said gravely, "Aside from all that magical power, what exactly is there about Dumbledore that makes you keep thinking of him?"
"Mind your words, Weasley," Yelufan said coldly. "Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald once!"
"How did he defeat him?" Percy sneered. "You don't understand that man."
"He won't take power. Just as he always says, desire, desire. Ha." Percy shook his head. "How ridiculous. Are you planning to tell Dumbledore and then wait for him to refuse you?"
"You've done that before, haven't you?"
The representatives exchanged glances.
It was true. Dumbledore's reputation within the Ministries of Magic was hardly good.
"I'm telling you, even if you don't choose him, he'll still mobilise on his own," Percy said, folding his hands beneath his chin. "He'll gather his old friends and give us another round of 'Dumbledore saves the world.'"
Yes.
That was exactly what would happen.
Everyone remembered it all too well.
It was an all-too-familiar formula. They had seen it before.
Percy shifted his gaze toward the French Minister for Magic, seated three places away.
"Mr. Roland, who do you think would be more suitable?"
Charles Roland saw everyone's eyes turn toward him.
He wore a smile on his face while cursing inwardly.
Taking a deep breath, Roland could only say, "Dumbledore truly isn't the most suitable choice."
"He's already old, while Grindelwald is young again."
After hesitating repeatedly, he said, "We have someone younger, don't we?"
Someone younger?
Who?
Roland knew that what he was about to do would completely mark him as that man's supporter.
But he had no choice.
He tossed a newspaper into the air, where it unfolded before everyone.
"This is the hero we need."
The wizards at the council looked upward, just like the people pictured in the newspaper, gazing at the man above them.
The Second King.
John Wick.
________
o(*￣▽￣*)ブSupport and Read 12 Chapters ahead: Patreon/Dragonel