I'm not pretending anymore, I am the new generation Grindelwald!

Chapter 72 I'm not pretending anymore, I am the new generation Grindelwald!

"You... what are you doing here?"

After a moment of silence, Harry spoke first, which earned him a wry smile from Avada.

What he was about to say wasn't just for Harry, but also for Dumbledore. Having secretly gone to the forbidden section to browse dark magic books while still in contact with Voldemort, without even Quirrell's permission; and possessing a host of controlled spells—anyone would suspect he was on the verge of becoming a dark wizard. He had to completely reassure Dumbledore, otherwise, it would be even harder to get his cooperation in the future.

Just as Avada was racking his brains for a solution, something surprising happened—

Dumbledore seemed to cast a spell on himself, and then spoke a sound.

It was a series of hurried footsteps, seemingly coming from quite a distance, mixed with a cursing voice:

"Professor, you said that if anyone is wandering around at night, you should report to me immediately. Someone is in the library, in the restricted section!"

"It's Filch! Can you still become invisible? If not, use my invisibility cloak!"

"...Please."

Avada Kedavra could become invisible, but he knew that the so-called "Filch" was just an illusion created by Dumbledore, its purpose likely to lure them into the room containing the Mirror of Erised. He needed to explain things to Dumbledore today, both openly and subtly, so he had to go to the Mirror of Erised. If necessary, he could even activate Occlumency, allowing Dumbledore to judge the truthfulness of his words.

He had to completely dispel Dumbledore's suspicions about him, or who knows what might happen next.

"A restricted area? Then they can't have gone far. We'll definitely catch them."

This time it was Snape's voice, and it was slowly getting closer with the footsteps—Dumbledore was inflicting pressure on them.

"The sound is coming from that direction... Come this way, follow me."

Harry pulled Avada back step by step, trying to make as little noise as possible, while quickly scanning their surroundings for a room to hide in, his movements quite practiced. Soon, he spotted a door ajar on his left, gestured to Avada with his eyes, and then slipped inside, carefully avoiding touching the door…

As the footsteps outside faded into the distance, Harry finally breathed a sigh of relief, lifted his Invisibility Cloak, and took deep breaths of fresh air. After a while, he turned back to Avada, his eyes filled with doubt: "So, what are you doing here?"

Avada smiled – he had already figured out how to face Dumbledore.

"I'll be waiting for you here, Harry."

"What?! You, you knew I'd come all along... This invisibility cloak was a gift from you?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

Dumbledore's mental energy seemed to twitch slightly in surprise.

"...No. Did you just receive this invisibility cloak today? No wonder you chose to come to the forbidden book section tonight."

Harry's gaze became even more puzzled.

"I'm not really sure how to explain this to you... This is the first time I've revealed this secret to anyone."

Avada deliberately lowered his voice: "I occasionally see visions, and those visions reveal something to me: the past, the future, or clues to something..."

"Just a few days ago, probably the day you almost fell off the broom, that vision told me that you would come to the forbidden book section on Christmas night to look for information on a man named Nicolas Flamel."

"You know that?!"

"I know, and not only that, I want to stop you from doing that. So if you look through the Christmas gift I gave you, you'll find detailed information about Nicolas Flamel in it. He's not mysterious at all; in fact, he's quite famous..."

"You want to stop me from coming to the restricted book section? Why?"

Harry was both surprised and confused: "You're afraid of losing points in Gryffindor too? But aren't you Hufflepuff?"

Avada: ...

This kid clearly spends a lot of time with Hermione.

Also, if most of these words weren't meant for the old man behind you, why would I need to use such language to fool you?

"...It's not about the grades. I saw you being bothered by a mirror, like you'd lost your soul, and for the next few days you'd come here and sit for hours every day... Look, that one."

Harry looked in the direction Avada was pointing and noticed something on the wall opposite him that didn't seem to belong in the room. It looked like someone had temporarily placed it there because they had nowhere else to put it...

This is a very grand mirror, reaching all the way to the ceiling, with a magnificent gold frame, supported by two claw-shaped feet. Inscribed at the top is a line of text: Eris Stella Ehru Aitwubi Kafru Aiton Voches.

Avada saw Harry walk towards the mirror, his face first turned pale, then he examined it carefully, and then he kept getting closer and closer, his nose almost touching the mirror, just staring at it intently...

"...Dad? Mom?"

Avada quietly watched Harry's motionless back and Dumbledore's increasingly calm mental state. After a while, he used a soft cough to pull Harry back from his reverie.

"You saw your deceased family members in the mirror? No wonder you look so distracted."

He feigned curiosity and leaned closer: "Can I see what they look like? I'm so envious. I don't even know who my parents are or what they look like... Huh?"

Avada looked at his reflection in the mirror, a barely perceptible hint of relief flashing in his eyes, before he pretended to frown.

"Can you see them?" Harry asked expectantly.

"No, what we're seeing seems a little different..."

Avada stared intently at the mirror and murmured, "I see myself owning a bakery."

"ha?"

"I'm baking in front of the customers... Wow, there are so many people outside the shop, the line is dozens of meters long. The bread I make is also very unique; I've shaped it into all sorts of fantastical creatures, like the Ball Runner, the Fluffy, the Niffler..."

"I'm performing magical cooking with my wand, and the guests are all amazed..."

"Wait a minute, those guests all seem to be Muggles?"

Dumbledore's mental energy suddenly fluctuated violently, and then Avada felt a familiar sensation invade his mind—the most superficial form of Legilimency, the kind that can only determine whether something is true or not.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Dumbledore still used Legilimency on him, although it was the result of his intentional manipulation.

He deliberately loosened his Occlumency and openly revealed his sincerity to Dumbledore—after all, what he was about to say was the truth.

"...I know why now."

He lingered in front of the mirror for a moment before turning to Harry and saying, "Look at the inscriptions at the very top of the mirror."

Harry looked up, struggling to read the seemingly meaningless inscriptions: "Eris Stella Erhru..."

Read it backwards.

Avada reminded him.

Harry paused for a moment, then spelled out the words letter by letter from right to left: "What I'm showing... isn't... your... reflection, but... your... inner... desires?"

"This mirror can reflect the desires in people's hearts."

Avada nodded affirmatively, and was then met with Harry's astonished gaze.

"You want to break the Wizarding Secrecy Act?!"

For a moment, he even forgot about his parents in the mirror—after half a year in the wizarding world, he had a general understanding of how special the "Secrecy Act" was!

(End of this chapter)