"Breaking news, a massive explosion of news today!" It was just after the school bell rang, and Mr. Cotton was still packing up his classroom when Jess started shouting.
"What's going on?" The eager students who were waiting to hear a story crowded around.
"Oh my goodness, you won't believe this!" Jess's shock was palpable, and for someone who spun stories, he was playing this one very convincingly. "It was an ordinary day in the midst of the war, but a mind-blowing headline in the newspaper shattered the peace of the wizarding world, causing a storm of controversy. An accomplished investigative journalist uncovered a decades-old scandal, one involving the great white wizard, a key figure in the resistance against the mysterious man, Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore!"
Jess cleared his throat and was satisfied to see everyone's attention focused on him before continuing, "He, believe it or not, had a romantic relationship with the infamous dark wizard, Gellert Grindelwald!"
"…?" Harry was taken aback. However, it seemed that he was the only one who grasped the significance of this news.
Other students still wore confused expressions, "Who is Grindelwald? Is he a new character? A dark wizard? What does he have to do with the Dark Lord?"
"He has nothing to do with the Dark Lord. He was a famous dark wizard in history, and not a good person." Jess's stories had never mentioned the previous Wizarding Wars, so his audience naturally didn't understand. In fact, even Jess himself had pieced together his knowledge about that war from critical articles in the Prophet. So, it was clear that his audience was in the dark. Even Mr. Cotton, who had been watching, seemed envious.
Except for Harry. At this moment, Harry was lost in thought. He recalled that he had heard his father mention Grindelwald a few times. His father seemed to have said, "He had a relationship with Dumbledore." At the time, Harry was too young to understand what "had a relationship" meant. Now, thinking back to that casual remark by the Dark Lord, Harry suddenly realized: Could this rumor be true?
"Is it true? It sounds too fantastic," a skinny boy widened his eyes. Obviously, this group of students listening to the story was also stunned by this sudden plot twist.
"Does that mean Dumbledore is a bad person? That dark wizard, Grindle-something, didn't he want to subjugate Muggles with pure-blood wizards? Did Dumbledore support that? Could it be that Dumbledore and the mysterious man are working together?" Jennifer analyzed, always happy to express her opinions on everything. "Is this news real?"
"I don't know if it's true or false," Jess shrugged. "All I know is that the investigative journalist is very capable, and the evidence is irrefutable."
"But Dumbledore isn't affiliated with the Dark Side, right? Shouldn't the ranking of light and dark forces be revised?" Oscar always brought everything back to power.
"But if it's true that Dumbledore was on the dark side, won't the balance between light and dark forces be disrupted?" Jennifer calmly pointed out. "If the leader of the light side is actually on the dark side, I can't think of any reason why the mysterious man hasn't already taken over the wizarding world. So, I think this news is fake."
"Maybe it's because everyone was misled by a bad guy that the mysterious man has been able to act with impunity all this time," Jess's light brown eyes carried some hostility. "Yeah, he's powerful, they say he's the only person the mysterious man fears. Then why hasn't he challenged the mysterious man to a duel directly? Is he afraid?"
Jess had greatly admired Professor Dumbledore just yesterday, and his sudden change of attitude made even Harry feel uncomfortable. "You... didn't you really like Professor Dumbledore?"
"I like good people. Perhaps he doesn't deserve it?" Jess showed no mercy.
"But what if he was a good person?" Harry, with his extensive knowledge of events as the former Dark Prince, was quite sure of Dumbledore's clean record. "Maybe he made mistakes in the past, but later, he genuinely wanted to change—" At this point, Harry suddenly stopped speaking. He remembered himself. Why, out of all people, did he have the right to casually say "just" about "mistakes made in the past"? Harry suddenly didn't dare to continue arguing about this matter.
Meanwhile, in his castle, Lord Voldemort assigned tasks to his followers who were secretly infiltrating the Daily Prophet. He had been in a bad mood recently, and when he was unhappy, someone would inevitably suffer.
Inciting humans was like igniting sparks in a forest. Anger, fear, these emotions spread like deadly viruses among the crowd, multiplying and intensifying like wildfire, burning down the world, destroying order, and annihilating everything they once revered and believed in. It was even more effective than the Cruciatus Curse. What was more absurd was that this was entirely legal.
The Death Eater who received the task respectfully saluted the Dark Lord and then retreated from his master's office. Voldemort removed his terrifying mask, revealing the handsome face of a young man.
"My dear Harry, let's see how well you perform in this play," he said. However, in the castle's room, there was only his echoing voice.
He had been secretly monitoring Harry's every move, and he had long expected that Harry wouldn't be able to resist rescuing people. Weak and indecisive, just like the time when this foolish boy had defied orders to secretly release prisoners.
He also knew that Harry was currently following the magical world's news through his classmates. So, Harry, this performance is for you. Let me show you how a person with a past can be treated. You want to betray, suddenly want to be a "good person"? It's just a dream. The "justice"-loving masses won't give you a second chance.
The young man was a bit naive, and Voldemort would teach Harry these lessons personally. He had sent the Christian to Harry's hospital room, designed the betrayal of Dumbledore by the magical world, and there would be more to come...
In the following days, Jess continued to provide real-time updates on the Dumbledore incident. It was clear that this earth-shattering revelation had created a massive storm in the wizarding world, and the situation was spiraling out of control.
More evidence emerged, some of which even came from former associates of Grindelwald who were in prison. It almost confirmed the romantic and cooperative relationship between Dumbledore and the notorious dark wizard, revealing their intentions to rule the world together.
The Ministry of Magic was planning to expel Dumbledore from Weisengamo. Professors at Hogwarts began leading attacks against the headmaster, such as the Dark Arts Defense teacher. Harry knew that this year's Dark Arts Defense professor was affiliated with the Death Eaters and openly accused Dumbledore of conspiring to brainwash students during interviews.
Hogwarts parents were writing letters to the school board, demanding Dumbledore's suspension, and the school board claimed they were following the due process. Ordinary wizards and witches who had once regarded Dumbledore as a beacon of hope were now publicly denouncing him as a fraud and a villain, especially in front of cameras and microphones. Even some people whom Harry knew to be members of the Order of the Phoenix began turning against Dumbledore. For example, Percy Weasley wrote a long article in the Daily Prophet, exposing Dumbledore's crimes and lies—which, according to Harry's off-the-record information, were entirely fabricated.
Conspiracy theories and insider information spread like wildfire, and mischief-makers invented numerous terrifying rumors, seemingly just for fun. Then, more uninformed onlookers believed these rumors, and their hatred towards those involved grew.
Grindelwald's notoriety spread across Europe, and wizarding communities in other countries criticized Dumbledore, especially the headmasters. For example, the headmaster of Durmstrang publicly stated that being a school headmaster himself, he felt ashamed of Dumbledore. International magical diplomacy departments began pressuring the British government to sanction Dumbledore, who was once Grindelwald's accomplice. Bartemius Crouch, the Director of the International Magical Cooperation, looked exhausted when interviewed by reporters and emphasized that Britain needed to take action.
International magical society also witnessed a wave of public opinion, demanding that Grindelwald's accomplice resign as the President of the International Confederation of Wizards. After a few days, news broke that Dumbledore had resigned.
Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour publicly claimed that their inability to win the war was solely because Dumbledore was obstructing them, not because of their government's incompetence. Now, with Dumbledore out of the picture, the public should have faith in their government again.
There was a multitude of finger-pointing, blackmail, and opportunistic maneuvering going on, with everyone seemingly trying to whitewash themselves or gain an advantage. Interestingly, some individuals tried to express different opinions. They argued that Dumbledore was currently working hard to help the magical world, and he had done many good deeds that were widely recognized. After stating these views, some of these individuals quickly became targets of attack, with some even physically assaulted when troublemakers took to the streets. When the crowd was fervent, there was no room for dissenting voices.
But what intrigued Harry the most was that these attackers didn't choose to attack the headmaster himself. Perhaps they knew they couldn't win. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong, it seemed to be the case.
Furthermore, those who had been closely associated with Dumbledore but had remained silent in this event were now forced to speak up. Some individuals whom Harry knew to be members of the Order of the Phoenix also began to speak out. For example, Montgomery Fletch was caught by reporters and only resisted for five seconds before quickly joining the camp that criticized Professor Dumbledore.
Jess was always emotionally charged when telling stories, and he indeed had the ability to infect the audience with emotions. So even the Muggle-born students listening to his stories began to join in the criticism of Dumbledore. What was even more interesting was that these listeners were criticizing Professor Dumbledore but not the Dark Lord. Harry didn't quite understand why.
In the past few days, Harry's mind had been in turmoil due to the storm in the wizarding world. As the former Dark Prince who had handled paperwork for Death Eaters on behalf of his father, he understood the dark side of human nature quite well. However, witnessing various changes in the crowd still shocked him.
He knew what the Order of the Phoenix was doing, and he knew how hard Dumbledore had been working. Harry had even had brief interactions with Professor Dumbledore himself, and he knew that Dumbledore was actually a very good person.
Among those who publicly accused Dumbledore, how many were Death Eaters infiltrating the crowd? Harry saw this more clearly than anyone else. For example, wasn't Lucius Malfoy a member of the Hogwarts board of governors? And wasn't Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, a Death Eater himself? How many Death Eaters had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, and yet these real killers were able to come and go freely. As for others, such as the Ministry of Magic or the International Confederation of Wizards, they were simply engaged in political maneuvering, trying to gain political capital and remove Dumbledore from power.
Harry couldn't help but think that if his father heard about this, he would probably just sneer, "Humans are so foolish and malicious." Harry could almost hear his father's voice saying this. Perhaps he would even say, "They only deserve to be used. Their minds are empty, just waiting for a master to inject thoughts and control them. Following is their nature, and their greatest value is to be used by a great person to participate in something important."
Jess continued to report the news, mentioning that Neville Longbottom had been attacked by some well-intentioned individuals for defending Dumbledore in front of the reporters. Neville was now at St. Mungo's Hospital undergoing some checks. However, the public was discussing how Dumbledore had supposedly brainwashed students, hoping that the Longbottom family would see the truth soon.
Harry remembered Neville. When he was at Hogwarts before, although they didn't interact much with each other, Harry still remembered Neville as his roommate. Besides, they shared some revolutionary camaraderie while practicing magic together.
In the afternoon, after school, instead of going to the library or back to his dormitory as usual, Harry changed his robes and took out the key he had used to visit St. Mungo's last time. "Three... Two... One..."
He made his way through the crowded hallways, swiftly reaching the fifth-floor spell damage department. Finally, he saw Neville Longbottom's name on a doorplate in a secluded ward. He overheard Hermione's voice from inside, "Thank goodness the healers said you're not seriously hurt and can return to school tomorrow. But this is outrageous! How could they do this to you?" Harry stopped at the door; it seemed Neville was fine.
"I... I just told the truth," Neville sounded quite aggrieved. "They insisted I admit to crimes..."
"Dumbledore clearly has no crimes!" Ron exclaimed angrily. "Oh... I mean, Professor Dumbledore, sir," he added quickly to address him formally.
"Haha, it's alright, Mr. Weasley. I'm no longer the headmaster for now. You can even call me Albus if you'd like~" came another relaxed and cheerful voice. Harry recognized it immediately; it was Professor Dumbledore himself. Harry was relieved he hadn't knocked on the door earlier—his magic core was damaged, and he couldn't use magic freely right now. Meeting Dumbledore would have been problematic.
"Sir, what are you going to do next..." Hermione voiced her concern.
The elderly man maintained his casual tone, "I will still be responsible for the Order of the Phoenix's affairs, and it won't affect our continued efforts to protect the public."
"But, Professor Dumbledore, don't you feel unjustly treated or even shaken by all this?" Hermione hesitated in her question, clearly sharing similar doubts.
"Well..." the old headmaster chuckled, "You need to see clearly that those behind the scenes manipulating public opinion are the real adversaries we need to contend with."
Hermione then understood, "Minister Scrimgeour has never liked you... He always felt the need to vie for power with you. So, they used this opportunity to attack you."
"And the mysterious person..." Ron chimed in, "The Death Eaters, they're also stirring the pot."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement, "That's right. Even as the President of the International Confederation of Wizards, I've held the position for quite some time now. How many people are eyeing this position? There are those with malicious intent actively stirring the pot for their own interests... and they manipulate media and public opinion. The public is easily swayed, but they are not the villains. They are still worth helping, don't you think?"
Listening at the door, Harry couldn't help but feel that Dumbledore's words didn't entirely resolve his inner doubts. He understood the need to focus on the main conflict and identify the real enemies. However... returning kindness with enmity, such things always seemed to happen. Wasn't Harry himself repaid with enmity before?
Harry knew his father would likely say these people weren't worth saving. He even had a strange suspicion that his father's actions were almost done for Harry's benefit, as if mocking Harry's naive idealism when trying to save others.
As Jess narrated the news from the Daily Prophet, Harry couldn't help but feel indignant about how Dumbledore, of all people, was being treated this way among everyone.