Chapter 357: “Running For Election”

“Did you find anything?” Seeing Sean step out, Hermione asked curiously.

Sean’s eyes are full of confusion.

He said slowly, “There is something, and it’s strange…”

In Sean’s original plan, he might be able to get more specific information about the Returner through the creatures, such as the organization’s composition, gathering places, contact methods, and so on.

However, the intelligence of the creature is much lower than he imagined.

A Hidebehind is the animal he was facing. At that time, Phineas Fletcher was engaged in the trade of prohibited artifacts and creatures; he wanted to transport a Demiguise to North America to make invisibility cloaks. But the Demiguise escapes and bred with a stowaway ghoul. After the ship landed, their offspring fled into the forests of Massachusetts, and they still infest the area today.

This kind of creature also has the ability to be invisible, but the characteristics of the Demiguise, like the short-term prediction of the future and the extremely high level of intelligence among magical animals, are not passed down. Instead, they have a stronger body and dozens of times more aggressive personalities.

The Hidebehind loves to feed on humanoid creatures, and their favorite prey is humans. Magizoologists speculate that this is because Phineas Fletcher once cruelly treated the animals under his control. This also made it difficult for Sean to communicate with The Hidebehind even if he won their trust.

It took Sean a lot of effort to dig out some information from the Hidebehind, during which the Hidebehind tried to eat one of his fingers more than ten times.

Originally, Hidebehind’s brain couldn’t record so many memories, but some terrifying magic power fluctuations were recorded. The one that impressed him the most was when he showed something to them. After Sean took out Dumbledore’s portrait, the Hidebehind trembled.

Summing up the memory fragments of the Hidebehind, Sean learned something about Dumbledore’s cooperation.

Dumbledore seemed to be looking for something, and those things were only known to the Returners in the memory of the Hidebehind, the descendant of the Calchas family whom Sean killed once led Dumbledore to several places.

An ancient castle that has been abandoned for a long time, a lake shrouded in swamps, woods, and mist, and a small village that has been dilapidated for a long time.

In the memory of the Hidebehind, the first place Dumbledore went to was the long-abandoned castle. At that time, the wizard who led the way seemed to be very afraid of Dumbledore. Dumbledore stayed in that castle for a long time, and when he finally showed up, he seemed very emotionally unstable.

The Hidebehind described it: the white-bearded old man walked out of the pile of stones and became more terrifying than any creature. He wanted to escape from that place. The idea of eating the old man did not appear on its mind.

After the trip to the abandoned castle, when Dumbledore goes to two other places again, they are not afraid anymore. However, no one except Dumbledore dared to enter the next two places. As a magical animal, the Hidebehind didn’t know what happened.

This is all the information Sean dug out from the creature. Among them, Sean was concerned about the Calchas family.

Does that mean that Dumbledore hadn’t reached a cooperative relationship with the Returners during the trip to the castle? Dumbledore may have learned some news and formed a cooperative relationship with them.

For the latter two locations, Sean couldn’t figure out where they were, but he was curious about that castle now. What exactly did Dumbledore find in it?

He guessed that if he could also find the castle’s location, he might be able to discover the secret that Dumbledore had been hiding all along. Moreover, Sean also speculated on one thing.

The Returners are not fools that they dared to cooperate with Dumbledore. Combined with the change in attitude of the Calchas family, Sean feels that it is very likely that Dumbledore has formed some kind of contract with the Returners.

Such as The Unbreakable Vow.

In this way, Dumbledore’s state of not disclosing any information to Sean is also explained.

Thinking about it, Sean felt that if he was in the position of the Returner, without the Unbreakable Vow to restrain Dumbledore, they would never dare to cooperate with him. Otherwise, Dumbledore will stab them from behind.

But there are still unknown things about the cooperation between Dumbledore and the Returners.

Among the goals of The Returners, suppressing Grindelwald and controlling the wizarding world should occupy a large part. But Dumbledore’s goal is not clear enough.

However, it’s better than being blind and not knowing anything before.

Sean closed his eyes. His mind was a little ringing now, but there were some things he couldn’t tell Hermione and Daisy. It would be great if he could discuss it with Grindelwald.

At night, a message came from Lupin.

“Look at this,” Lupin handed over a note, “All newspapers will publish this news tomorrow, and we got the first-hand news from the International Confederation of Wizards candidates. “

Sean took the note and pursed his lips tightly.

“The current president of the International Confederation of Wizards, Charles Vogel, officially announced on the penultimate day of his tenure that all charges against Grindelwald will be withdrawn due to insufficient evidence and the Guards’ actions.”

Lupin said, “According to our sources, Charles Vogel is likely to announce immediately that Grindelwald will also participate in the election.”

“He wants to participate too?” Sean said subconsciously.

“It’s very likely,” Lupin nodded. “Vogel seems to have convinced many members of the committee, and several other candidates seem to have agreed as well.”

“A few other candidates. Do you have any specific information on them?”

“Yes, take a look.”

—-

In Germany, on the third-floor terrace of a castle, several men and women in formal dresses are talking.

In the night sky in front of them, the green fireworks have not completely dissipated, and the enthusiastic voices of people still remain in the streets. A woman in a gorgeous dress with her hair curled up is looking at the middle-aged wizard in the middle.

Isanne Archer is from Greece. She is the most popular candidate in this election. She proposed some programs and won the support of many wizards. At the same time, many powerful pure-blood families backed her.

“Mr. Vogel,” Archer said in a deep voice, “I see that the charges against Grindelwald have been lifted. Why is that so?”

The person standing in the center is Charles Vogel, the president of the International Confederation of Wizards, who is about to be laid off.

He glanced at Archer and shook his head helplessly.

“You seem to know well about the current situation. Look at the crowd. The Guards are constantly exposed to all kinds of shady scenes. How can the people choose to trust them completely? Moreover, Grindelwald is the principal of Nurmengard, most of the people who came just now are his former students, and they value their principal.”

“After the Guards were exposed, you should understand how much pressure we have endured from public opinion. Demanding to investigate the truth of the matter thoroughly every day, and the letters of Grindelwald’s innocence were continuously sent. Although I am about to step down, I am still the president of the Confederation, and I must respond to the voices of the people.”

He sighed, “You think I don’t want to leave quietly and peacefully the position I’ve been in for decades without anything going wrong?”

Vogel looked rather bleak, “Instead of handing over the mess to one of you, I might as well take the blame.”

“Heh,” He smiled wryly, “This is probably the last thing I can do.”

Archer and another candidate, Waga Da Silva from Africa, who is quite popular, looked at each other. They must admit that judging from the current situation, it is unrealistic to continue pursuing Grindelwald. So it is indeed a good choice that Vogel take the blame rather than them for this matter.

“Mr. Vogel, you have worked hard,” Da Silva pondered, and his eyes sharpened, “I can accept the withdrawal of the charges against Grindelwald, but I can’t understand that he will become a candidate.”

“This is what you showed us just now, so please take a look too.” Da Silva walked to the terrace and pointed to the noisy crowd that hadn’t dispersed yet.

Grindelwald’s supporters had expressions of fanaticism and anticipation. They were close to the people around them and kept sending green spells towards the sky. The green light shone on the faces of everyone on the terrace.

Da Silva said in a heavy tone, “You and I knew what Grindelwald wanted. He wants to start a war between wizards and Muggles.”

“Prison escapes occur frequently in various places, and the frequency of attacks on Muggles has hit the highest level in decades. The risk of exposure to the wizarding world in various countries is already at a high level.”

Archer also took a step forward, “Mr. Da Silva is right. This is a fact. If Grindelwald is elected, a new war will destroy the Muggle world, and the same will also destroy our world.”

Vogel’s face became serious, “Let him have the freedom. Don’t let him win if you don’t want that to happen.”

“I understand the candidates’ feelings, and I believe that you did not raise this concern out of selfishness. But I must remind you that my proposal to let him run is not for this war but to avoid the immediate war.”

“Because of the Guards’ behavior, Grindelwald is now an innocent victim in most people’s eyes. His loyal followers are as good at stirring the hearts of the people. I don’t need your reminders. I can also see that his supporters are more fanatical than any wizarding group, and you can’t deny that such wizards have always existed and never disappeared. Grindelwald’s ideas fully meet their needs, and it was inevitable that they would be united once again.”

Vogel took a deep breath, “He must be allowed to run for the people to see. If Grindelwald is not elected, they will not raise objections. If he was, then the wizarding world would soon fall into the struggle between the wizards and the Muggles.”

At this time, he looked at the candidates again, “So, the key to everything is not to let him win, ladies and gentlemen.”

Vogel’s secretary took a step forward and said with a smile, “We have already considered things to not let that happen, so this time, we will use the ancient election method by using a Qilin.”

All the candidates were startled; some jumped for joy and thought something was wrong. The Qilin attracted everyone’s thoughts. But they are sure of one thing, if the Qilin method is used, then the elected person will definitely not be Grindelwald.

Vogel turned around. The spell blasted into the sky and illuminated his face with green light. There was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

—-

Back in Hogwarts, many ways of communication have ceased. But they have received a good news today.

“Because of insufficient evidence, and the Guards are suspected of creating false accusations to frame innocent people, all charges against Gellert Grindelwald have been dropped.”

Before the shocked students could finish digesting the news, even more exciting news came again.

The International Confederation of Wizards president, Charles Vogel, officially announced that Grindelwald would participate in the election.

Considering the current tense situation, many wizards are unable to conduct normal voting activities. The Confederation will use the ancient method by using a Qilin.

In ten days, the election will officially begin.