The dark space of memory came to an abrupt end, and then shattered with a loud bang. Wisps of white mist gathered together again and, guided by the wand, flowed into the vial.
The fire in the office was lit again, and Ivan put the bottle aside, still replaying the scenes in his mind. After a moment of silence, he turned to Connor and said,
"What do you think of that prophecy?"
"I suppose Grindelwald made that up to fool people…" said Conal, his eyes twinkling.
"We need to be open and honest about this, Director Connor." Ivan raised his eyebrows and stressed the word. "From what I understand, Grindelwald managed to predict the Muggle Second World War during the last Wizarding War, as well as the ultimate weapon they developed, didn't he?"
Conal was somewhat put off by Ivan's interest in the prophecy, and began to regret letting him see it.
Previously, he had been worried that she was too young and would be bewitched by Grindelwald's words or the prophecy.
This was not impossible. In fact, even some of the most prominent wizards in North America were very interested in Grindelwald's prophecy.
"I don't think the previous vision was proof of anything. As Barbara said, Grindelwald had no proof that this was the future of the wizarding world. In all likelihood, the other side was just using the prophecy as an excuse to try and recruit us," Connor explained.
Ivan, naturally, read Connor's mind, and shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I'm not curious about the prophecy, Director Connor. I'm curious about how far Grindelwald's prophecies will go."
"It's important!" Ivan added solemnly.
If Grindelwald could have predicted everything he wanted, there would have been no need to fight this war. Everyone would have simply surrendered…
A powerful wizard who can see into the future is almost unsolvable.
However, he knew that this was unlikely, or Grindelwald would have known in advance that he would follow him into Nicolas Flamel's tomb, and thus be on guard against him.
In that case, he would not be able to snatch the Resurrection Stone from Grindelwald.
Conner then realised that he had misunderstood and quickly said, "There is some information on this at the North American Ministry of Magic, that Grindelwald's right eye sometimes shows visions of the future, but that ability cannot be actively controlled."
"Can you be sure of that?" Yvonne asked, her tone heavy.
"Ninety percent! When Grindelwald was defeated in the Battle of the Worlds, the International Confederation of Wizards tried him for information, and he gave it. It was highly credible," Connor said slowly.
Ivan nodded. Grindelwald had lost everything and was probably devastated. There was really no point in hiding anything.
"So what are you going to do about Grindelwald?" Ivan asked, his head aching.
"Decapitation tactic! Just find a chance to get rid of Grindelwald himself and everything will be back on track!" Connor said bluntly.
As long as this pillar died, no matter how many believers were bewitched, they would not be able to cause much trouble.
Other than that, there was nothing they could do.
He couldn't arrest everyone who had been to the party, could he?
What a joke!
Conal was certain that it was not Grindelwald's first speech in Europe, where he estimated the number of followers to be in the thousands.
They were also ordinary wizards who had been bewitched and did not know too much.
How could they catch them?
If things went wrong, there would be chaos!
Connor sighed, then remembered another piece of information and said hesitantly, "Also, there was an operation against Grindelwald in France last night. They knew in advance that the other side was planning to hold a rally somewhere in Paris, and sent seventy elite Aurors to capture them."
"And what happened?" Yvonne asked, not expecting much.
"It's not great, but nobody died," Conal replied.
"Oh, they got away with it?" Yvonne was surprised.
"No." Connor's expression was suddenly odd. "Grindelwald released them all."
He was shocked when he received the news last night.
For one thing, the French Ministry of Magic went rogue and carried out the raid without informing the League of Nations.
Secondly, according to the report, Grindelwald did not ask his followers for help during the rally. He single-handedly defeated the seventy or so elite Aurors and captured all of them in front of hundreds of followers. However, he did not kill any of them. Instead, he released all of them.
"They really let them all go?" Yvonne asked, feeling her skin crawl.
Grindelwald was going to be tougher than he thought.
He was clearly putting on a show, presumably to change the public's perception of him and to confirm what he had said during his speech — that even his enemy Grindelwald would forgive him for being a fellow wizard.
"It looks like all the publicity the European Times has put in over the last few months has been for nothing…" Ivan muttered to himself. All the newspapers in Europe had gone to great lengths to dig up Grindelwald's dark past in an effort to put him down, but Grindelwald had foiled the plot so easily.
As a result, the Brethren were less likely to believe the truth of what was shown in the European Times, as Grindelwald had shown them the "truth" of the matter, and many believed the Ministry to be the brutal bully.
Even if Grindelwald were to bare his fangs and call for a violent confrontation, they would most likely blame the Ministry of Magic for pushing him too far.
Conal confirmed Ivan's belief, and in fact there were already signs of such a thing.
More than two hundred wizards cornered the French Ministry of Magic this morning, demanding that the Minister release the Saints who had been arrested, and calling the wizards responsible for the Paris massacre heroes.
The good news was that, after the fiasco, France was behaving itself. Last night, the Minister visited the Magical Congress of North America and spoke with the President of the Congress all night, preparing for a joint meeting of heads of state to discuss how to deal with the crisis.