Chapter 361

Hearing Draco's boast, the whole place fell dead silent in an instant, as if even the wind had frozen.

After discussing this person for so many days, they just swagger over to attack Hogwarts?

Harry and the others were also nearby, all looking worriedly at Dumbledore's back.

Grindelwald is explicitly mentioned as a wizard who can directly oppose Dumbledore.

Moreover, after several decades, they can't be sure whether Dumbledore or Grindelwald is stronger now.

In short, just from Grindelwald's entrance, it's clear he's not someone to mess with.

At this moment, another figure descended from the sky.

He landed steadily behind Dumbledore.

It was John.

Although Dumbledore had assigned him a task, Voldemort had not yet appeared at this moment.

As the second-strongest combatant after Dumbledore, he naturally had to step forward.

Otherwise, how could Voldemort be easily lured?

"Oh, you must be the John Merick everyone's talking about, right?"

Grindelwald looked at John, gave a slight smile, and greeted him.

"No, I'm Titus Claur." John shook his head bluntly.

Grindelwald: "......"

"You think I don't read the newspapers?"

"Albus, this kid is quite interesting."

"Unlike you, always putting on a pretentiously serious act."

Grindelwald turned his head to look at Dumbledore and teased.

"Gellert, now give up resistance and come back with me to Niumengade; I can pretend nothing happened."

Dumbledore ignored Grindelwald's teasing and said calmly.

I don't know who cast a eavesdropping spell.

The conversation on the bridge clearly reached the ears of the students inside the castle.

"Go back? Albus, have you become stupid from being headmaster too long?"

"I came out here just to settle everything with you."

"By the way, I heard my good student is still being locked up by you."

"Hmm... let me think. Mr. Merick happens to be here; why not have him serve as my hostage to exchange for my student?"

Hearing Grindelwald's undisguised threat, John stepped forward half a step.

"Then it depends on whether you have the ability to make me a hostage."

His wand was already raised, a cluster of Golden Flame gathering at the tip.

Grindelwald didn't speak; he simply lifted a plain, unremarkable wand slowly.

Azure-blue flames ignited around him, coiling like living things.

Dumbledore shifted his stance slightly and likewise raised the Elder Wand.

Magical power surged around him; his white beard fluttered without wind, and silver light shone from the wand tip.

The air suddenly solidified, even the wind's sound vanished.

The watching students held their breath; Hermione looked worriedly at John.

Professor Snape pressed his wand against Draco's nape, gently leading him through the crowd to the front.

Draco looked tense, knowing that Dumbledore and Grindelwald's plan had begun.

As the situation grew ever more tense.

The flame dragon behind Grindelwald twitched imperceptibly.

"Whoosh!!"

John's eyes instantly sharpened.

The Golden Flame at his wand tip suddenly surged, forming a light blade that spanned the sky, slashing straight at Grindelwald and the flame dragon behind him.

Grindelwald coldly snorted and swept his wand sideways.

The flames around him instantly turned into a torrent, like an out-of-control train, slamming toward Dumbledore and John.

Dumbledore gave a low shout, and the Elder Wand traced a silver arc.

A mighty silver light surged forth like a tide, directly striking the blue-flame torrent.

Boom——!!!

The three attacks were launched almost simultaneously.

Blinding white light and azure flames collided violently in midair, the blast hurling the bridge's stone tiles, shrapnel flying like shrapnel.

The golden light blade cleanly sliced the flame dragon's body, but was instantly shattered by the blue-flame torrent.

The stone bridge instantly collapsed under the terrifying impact.

Yet the three were unaffected.

They directly used Apparition to teleport to the opposite side of the bridge.

The castle's students gathered at the broken bridge, continuing to watch.

Grindelwald, facing two opponents, showed no sign of weakening.

He could hold his own against Dumbledore while simultaneously controlling endless blue flames to attack John.

Apparition was as natural and smooth as breathing in his hands.

Each of John's attacks was easily dodged by him.

Although Dumbledore's Apparition was also flawless, it merely maintained parity with Grindelwald.

The tips of their wands continuously shot out intertwined red-and-blue spell beams.

Their figures flickered frequently, without a moment's pause.

John could only fend off Grindelwald's blue-flame attacks while constantly dodging their afterimages at high speed.

He pulled out dozens of Silver Spheres from his pocket and hurled them into the sky.

"Headmaster!" John shouted.

Dumbledore understood instantly, Apparating to John's side in an instant, and with a sweep of the Elder Wand, he waved his wand together with John.

"Heaven and Earth Net!!"

Instantly, two arcs of lightning shot from their wand tips, intertwining among the Silver Spheres in the sky to form an impenetrable net of thunderous light.

As Grindelwald's figure just appeared, he raised an eyebrow at the electric net surrounding him.

"What trick is this now?"

He directly Apparated, intending to teleport out of the lightning net's range.

But the next second, his figure was fiercely caught by the arc at the edge of the lightning net, which directly dispelled his Apparition.

Had it not been for the protection of the Iron Armor Spell, his body would likely have been torn apart by the lightning.

He stumbled to the ground, somewhat embarrassed, yet couldn't help but sneer.

"No wonder Albus thinks so highly of you..."

Grindelwald said coldly.

With that, he figured out the principle of the Heaven and Earth Net.

Apparition is not spatial jumping.

Essentially, it compresses a person's body into a narrow quantum tunnel for high-speed movement, then re-expands it at the destination.

This electric net directly seals off the surroundings completely; even those apparent gaps are actually covered by a terrifying electric field.

It forms a cage that traps Apparition.

Grindelwald hesitated not, directly waving his wand.

Instantly, blue flames ignited beneath his feet, rising directly into a spiraling upward column of fire.

Fire and lightning clashed fiercely, erupting in blinding white light.

Though the fire column seemed powerful, it could not breach the lightning net in the slightest.

Dumbledore frowned, not believing Grindelwald would be foolish enough to clash head-on with a lightning net bolstered by his own power.

Indeed.

When the fire column dissipated, Grindelwald's figure had vanished.

He used the fire's cover.

He had already escaped the confinement through the ground.

Crack.

The ground beneath Dumbledore and John's feet suddenly split open.

The next second.

Boom!!

Another sky‑shooting flame column engulfed the two of them.

Flames licked and rolled, the scorching heat wave hurling the two, protected by the Iron Armor Spell, into the air.

But before they could steady themselves,

the sky suddenly darkened, and in the next instant, two thunderbolts as thick as water buckets struck down.

Directly blasting Dumbledore and John again into the charred ground, shards of stone and electric light scattering everywhere.

"Playing with electricity against me? Ha, you're still decades too early."

Grindelwald's mocking voice came from all directions.

John's Iron Armor Spell was shattered by that lightning strike, and his body slammed heavily to the ground.

His throat sweetened, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Dumbledore barely held on, yet was also blown back by the blow, half‑kneeling on the scorched ground.

Grindelwald slowly stepped out of the smoke and dust, his robes billowing like dark clouds pressing in, his fingertips wrapped in azure flames, and the tip of his wand flickering with fine arcs of electricity.

He actually managed to suppress both Dumbledore and John by himself.

The people of Hogwarts instantly felt as if facing a great enemy.