An idiot...
No, forget that. Anyone with a normal brain could tell Tom was trying to provoke him. Grindelwald, of course, could tell as well.
But even knowing he was being provoked, he was still furious.
Inside the learning space, Grindelwald's striking mismatched eyes had turned strange and dangerous. His black coat stirred without wind, and it was obvious that his anger had risen.
Dumbledore was actually prepared to finish him off just for the sake of a group of insignificant nobodies?
One becomes virtuous by keeping good company, and corrupted by bad. Andros had watched the entire thing just now as well, and under Tom's influence, even the "most righteous" man in the world had been led astray.
Putting on a worried expression, Andros said, "Old Gellert, why not run first? Tom paid a huge price to help you recover your condition. You can't die in Dumbledore's hands before you've done anything at all."
"Avoid his edge for now. Once I come out, I'll avenge you."
"I avoid his edge?" Grindelwald exploded. "He's an old relic now, over a hundred years old. I've surpassed my past peak, and I've even got a trump card that counters the Elder Wand, and you want me to avoid his edge?!"
"Let him come! Let..."
Suddenly, Grindelwald calmed down. Irritated, he flicked a Blasting Curse at Andros, only for Andros to slap it away with booming laughter.
"I'll let Dumbledore off this once," Grindelwald said. "I found some things this time. I plan to go have a look."
He knew these two were deliberately teasing him, so he simply skipped over the subject and turned to Tom.
"Do you remember the information you got from that Sauron?"
Tom froze for a moment. "There was something like that. You mean the ancient ruins?"
"Exactly." Grindelwald's voice lowered. "The Picquery family was also involved in the research of those ruins. The original vampire carrying the source of infection is connected to them."
"What kind of ruins are they exactly?" Tom asked curiously. "North America was a barren wasteland in the old days. I don't remember any particularly powerful wizards coming out of there."
"Not from this era, but from a much older one."
Grindelwald softly spoke a single word.
"Aztec."
"The Feathered Serpent?"
Tom instantly understood what Grindelwald meant, but that only made him more puzzled.
"Are you saying prehistoric civilization really existed?"
"Of course it did."
The one who answered was not any of the people already present, but Ravenclaw, who appeared like a ghost.
"This planet has a history stretching back billions of years, while the humans of the current age have only existed for a few million. As for the concept of history itself, that only came into being a few thousand years ago."
"So-called prehistoric civilization may have been the civilization left behind by the 'people' who existed before a mass extinction. Or it may simply be a broken record from somewhere within these millions of years."
"And you already understand the essence of myth. It is merely an early human way of recording civilization. Do not mythologize them too much. Perhaps those people were simply powerful wizards, perhaps even weaker than you and me. This world has never produced a true god."
There was an interested gleam in Ravenclaw's eyes.
"The Aztecs? I studied them for a time once and thought they were nothing more than a dull fabrication. I didn't expect they were actually traces left behind by wizards."
Tom could not help glancing at Andros.
That made sense too. This man was, in a way, a figure who had stepped out of myth himself.
Not long after Tom first entered school, Andros had once told him that wizards were gods, and that he too would one day become part of myth. In truth, that was not entirely incompatible with Ravenclaw's ideas.
Still, one part of what Ravenclaw had said needed to be noted carefully:
This world had never produced a true god.
What exactly was a true god? And why was she so certain?
He would ask her about it another time.
"What's the situation with the ruins?" Tom asked.
Grindelwald replied, "The Picquery family kept very few records about them. There are still several of their members carrying out research in a secret place. I've found some clues and I'm planning to go take a look."
In Aztec mythology, the world was not eternal. It repeatedly cycled through destruction and rebirth, and the death of the sun marked the end of one era and the start of another.
Before the current age, four eras had already perished. The gods held a self-sacrifice ritual at Teotihuacan and created the Fifth Sun.
As an idea in mythology, that was perfectly normal. In the real world, it sounded absurd. But most likely, there was some real basis behind it.
"Stop tangling with the Headmaster for now," Tom warned him. "And don't waste too much time on the ruins either. I've always liked picking peaches. Once they've done enough of the research, we'll just go borrow the results directly."
"I need you to establish yourself in continental Europe as quickly as possible, plant your banner, and form a real opposition."
A faint smile appeared on Grindelwald's face.
"Free labor, is it? You're more of a Dark Lord than the Dark Lord."
"If you can't talk properly, spend more time learning from Vinda and see how elegantly she flatters people."
Tom withdrew his consciousness from the learning space.
After all, he was still in Dumbledore's office. He had been leaning back in a chair with his eyes closed for quite some time now, and the Headmasters' portraits on the wall had assumed he was asleep.
The moment Tom "woke up," Phineas immediately sneered, "Riddle boy, students who dare sleep in the Headmaster's office, you're the first."
Tom did not get angry. He simply smiled.
"And you'll become the first Headmaster's portrait to appear in a bathroom... no, the first one to appear in the girls' bathroom."
As he spoke, Tom made a move as if he were about to take the portrait off the wall.
Phineas was so frightened that even his beard seemed to stand on end. He hurriedly begged for mercy.
"Riddle boy, calm down. I was only joking."
"The great Headmaster Phineas never jokes with students," Tom said pleasantly. "You're the first exception."
"Then would the great Headmaster Phineas be willing to stay quiet next time?"
"Of course, Your Excellency."
The other Headmasters were all secretly amused. A bastard like Phineas needed someone even more shameless than himself to deal with him. Their own standards were too high. They could not really do anything about him.