Chapter 1263 Nurmengard
The cockpit of the Night Voice in its fighter jet form is large enough to comfortably accommodate three adults.
Vincent originally only planned to take Harry along, letting Dumbledore figure out how to get to Austria on his own, but that shameless old man Dumbledore actually forced his way in.
"Professor, Harry, hold on tight, we're about to set off."
The Voice of the Night did not activate stealth mode and appeared above the North Sea in the blink of an eye.
A slight ripple appeared on Dumbledore's calm face. He hadn't expected the Voice of the Night to be so terrifyingly fast, nor had he expected Vincent to be so audacious.
It crossed the North Sea at speeds exceeding Mach 10, then flew openly over Berlin without slowing down or concealing itself.
Harry glanced cautiously outside the cockpit. "Vincent, it looks like we've been spotted by Muggles."
“Don’t worry, Harry.” Vincent smiled at him. “Someone will take care of everything for us.”
Unlike the skeptical Harry, Dumbledore seemed completely unconcerned, as if he knew Vincent was deliberately violating the Statute of Secrets.
The "thrilling" journey lasted only 20 minutes before the sound of the night slowly descended into the Austrian mountains.
Harry stared in disbelief at the fortress before him through the cockpit glass.
What surprised him was not the fortress's seemingly dilapidated appearance, but a sentence on the fortress gate: "For the greater good."
Although he was daydreaming in his history of magic class like most students, he found the phrase incredibly familiar, as it was the slogan of the cult that had swept the world and had not yet been completely eradicated.
Harry's heart was pounding. The first Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald—so that was him. No wonder Dumbledore was too embarrassed to ask him for help.
What about Vincent?
"We're here to do the work."
Harry followed Vincent's gaze and saw a dozen or so wizards arriving on flying broomsticks.
Vincent turned to Dumbledore. "Professor, would you like to stretch your legs a bit?"
Dumbledore smiled without saying a word, answering him with his eyes: Whoever caused the trouble should deal with it.
Vincent curled his lip and took the double serpent staff from the Flamel ring.
He opened the cockpit, jumped into the air, and rose upwards as if walking on air.
Harry could see clearly that his shoes emitted a faint airflow, and if you didn't look closely, you would really think he was "walking on air".
Harry couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "What is this?!"
Vincent turned to look at him. "Flying boots 6.0, do you like them?"
Just as Harry was about to answer, several spells suddenly shot towards Vincent in the sky.
Just as they were about to hit, more than a dozen small balls suddenly appeared and surrounded Vincent, forming a semi-transparent spherical barrier that blocked all the incoming spells.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but the group of broomstick wizards attacked again.
Under his worried gaze, Vincent slowly raised his serpent staff and uttered a spell he knew all too well:
"Fainted and collapsed—a chain reaction."
The red beams of light emitted from the Twin Serpents Staff instantly split into two, then four, and then eight. They refracted back and forth like lightning, weaving through the various colored spells, making their flight paths unpredictable.
The dozen or so wizards scattered, but the lightning-like red beams followed them relentlessly until they were shot down from the sky.
The translucent spherical barrier disappeared after blocking the second wave of the spell, and the small balls flew towards Vincent's left wrist, forming a string of silver beads.
When the last wizard was struck by the Stunning Curse and fell from the sky, Harry was too shocked to speak.
No wonder Hermione and the others weren't worried at all about Vincent getting caught; judging by the fighting prowess he just displayed, he could practically roam freely in the wizarding world.
Dumbledore patted Harry on the shoulder. "To be honest, I'm starting to have trouble figuring out what this kid is capable of. He's gotten stronger, and we should be happy for him."
Harry's anxiety eased somewhat. There are differences between people, and Vincent is now wanted by both the British and German Ministries of Magic, so the challenges he faces are unimaginable.
“Let’s go down,” Dumbledore said, standing up. “Before the entire Austrian Ministry of Magic mobilizes.”
Half an hour ago, Harry would never have believed that the Austrian Ministry of Magic would mobilize its entire staff.
But now, after witnessing Vincent easily take down more than a dozen wizards, Harry feels that this statement is very true and not exaggerated at all.
Upon closer inspection of Nurmengard, you'll discover that it's far more than just a product of age and disrepair. Its wind-eroded exterior walls are crumbling, riddled with holes large enough for rats to squeeze through, as if it could collapse at any moment.
Harry followed Dumbledore and Vincent into the fortress with a heavy heart. The air was thick with a musty smell.
When he reached the top floor, he still couldn't believe that the creaking stone steps hadn't collapsed.
Nurmenggad is a prison that once held UMNO opponents.
Now, only one prisoner is being held here.
Dumbledore and Vincent stood in front of a dilapidated wooden door, exchanging glances, neither seeming to intend to push the door open and go inside.
A minute later, Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Professor, aren't you going in?"
Dumbledore paused for a moment, then reached out and gently touched the wooden door.
"Professor, is the door broken?"
Urged on by Vincent, the door finally creaked open.
Contrary to Harry's expectations of a dark and dilapidated place, the interior was exceptionally bright and could be described as magnificent.
Gellert Grindelwald, the Dark Lord who was defeated by Dumbledore half a century ago, showed no signs of disgrace. He was wearing a black coat and his silver hair was meticulously styled. He was sitting at a desk carved with phoenix patterns, looking at them.
His voice was magnetic, “You’ve finally arrived.”
Harry couldn't figure out who he was talking to. It seemed like he was talking to Vincent, or Dumbledore, or even himself.
Grindelwald snapped his fingers, and three steaming cups of black tea appeared on the desk.
He waved his hand gently, and three chairs appeared out of thin air in front of the desk.
"Please sit down, we have plenty of time."
Vincent stepped forward and sat in the middle chair. "Teacher, did you know we would come?"
Grindelwald glanced at Dumbledore, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Whether you know it or not may not matter. What matters is that the moment you made your choice, it was already an answer."
Harry gasped sharply.
A teacher? Grindelwald is Vincent's teacher?!
……
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