Chapter 249

"This maze of yours is quite interesting. It took me some time with my old arms and legs." The old man exuded a strong aura. Harry felt he was a combination of Voldemort and Deng Buliduo. "So, is Deng Buliduo inside?"

"Strictly speaking, he is," Harry said cautiously. "But you won't be able to see him."

"What do you mean? Does he not want to see me?" The old man's expression changed instantly.

"It's not that he doesn't want to, but he can't. Too many things have happened. I can tell you slowly, but who are you?" After Harry finished speaking, he looked at Renata again. "The trophy is here. It doesn't matter if I give it to you. It's all meaningless now."

"You ask who I am?" The old man suddenly laughed. "Haha, I'll tell you, I'm Deng Buliduo's best friend, it's just that we had some disagreements a few years ago."

"Okay, let me sort it out." Harry didn't actually care who he was. The most important thing was that he hoped Renata could hear his words and pass them on to Vaskov.

"All of this has to do with Voldemort. Deng Buliduo and the Ministry of Magic formulated a plan to capture him, inducing him to come to the Triwizard Tournament scene to attack me, and Deng Buliduo ambushed him here," Harry said. "Originally, there were twelve Doctors ambushing him, but the Doctors didn't know why they were late."

"When I arrived at the top floor, Voldemort was already confronting Deng Buliduo," Harry said. "They were evenly matched, both wanting to kill each other, but neither could do anything to the other."

"That doesn't sound like Deng Buliduo," the old man commented.

"Because Voldemort made some Horcruxes, so rather than killing him, we wanted to seal him," Harry's heartbeat accelerated slightly, and he began to make up lies. "I brought the ultimate weapon made by the Ministry of Magic—the Chronos Moment, combined with the Stasis Charm, which can seal any powerful wizard into that painting, but this requires Voldemort to be temporarily unable to resist."

"Professor Deng Buliduo, he," Harry began to say some truths to calm his nervous mood, "because he was looking for the Resurrection Stone, he accidentally fell into Voldemort's trap and had to rely on Master Xuanjun's Yama Tie to prolong his life. He knew his death was approaching, so seeing the opportunity right in front of him, he suddenly stopped cherishing his own life."

"Deng Buliduo temporarily suppressed Voldemort. He demanded that I use the Chronos Moment as soon as possible," Harry tried to imagine the scene. "Then I, my reason overcame my emotion, and I said to them, 'Stop here,' which is also the incantation for the Stasis Charm. So the Chronos Moment fully exerted its power, and Voldemort and Deng Buliduo were sealed into that painting together."

"You used the final of the Triwizard Tournament as the scene for your internal duel?" Renata said dissatisfied. "And the result was perishing together?"

The old man didn't speak, but looked at Harry with a scrutinizing gaze.

"It doesn't count as perishing together. We originally left hope," Harry said. "The Chronos Moment is enough to seal them for two years. We need to use these two years to destroy all of Voldemort's Horcruxes, and then we can truly kill Voldemort."

"However, the most troublesome thing appeared. The late Doctors recklessly drove the time machine, causing it to explode. The energy of the explosion destroyed the stability of space-time. Now time is frozen, and the form in which the Chronos Moment exerts its effect is calculated based on the 'absolute present'." Talking about time theory, Harry thought he was also well-informed. Basically, those more knowledgeable than him were left in that space-time.

"That is to say, we originally planned to release them in 1997, but now time is forever fixed on June 24, 1995. We can still move freely, still cross off one day after another on the calendar, but for the Chronos Moment and this painting that seals them, 1997 will never come."

"What he said is true," the old man suddenly spoke. "All spells related to time have failed."

Harry suddenly thought more highly of him. Those who could discover this were all very powerful wizards. Of course, Deng Buliduo's friend certainly wouldn't be weak.

Renata's face was uncertain. She was holding the Triwizard Tournament trophy, but as Harry said, compared to frozen time, this trophy didn't have much meaning.

"Now, the Professor and Voldemort are sealed together in this painting. They maintain the posture of the final battle and will never be able to return to the human world," Harry said with a hint of sadness. "But at least we have retained hope. Perhaps one day we can rescue the Professor."

"But Voldemort has Horcruxes, right?" the old man suddenly said. "For the Death Eaters, as long as they burn the painting and then resurrect the fragments in the Horcruxes, it will be fine."

Harry stared at him in surprise and said slowly, "But Voldemort made many Horcruxes, can many Voldemorts be resurrected?"

"Oh, that probably can't be done, but as long as all the Horcruxes are gathered together and the painting is destroyed, he can be resurrected," the old man said lightly. "Since Deng Buliduo trusts you, you must protect this painting well."

"I, I will," Harry's mouth twitched. He held the painting in his arms. Just then, footsteps came from the corner. Madame Maxime arrived at the scene with the remaining judges.

Seeing Harry and the others, Madame Maxime immediately drew her wand, looking like she was facing a great enemy. Vaskov also looked solemn. Karkaroff just glanced at it and suddenly Disapparated. Tang Tang Nade seemed to be like Harry, not knowing this old man. He just cooperated with the tense atmosphere and also held his wand in his hand.

"By the way, I don't seem to have introduced myself yet," the old man showed a helpless smile. "I am Gellert Grindelwald."

Harry looked at him in disbelief. He found it hard to imagine that this was the great demon who once dominated the European continent, because he was now as kind as an old neighbor out to bask in the sun.

"I have a premonition that I might not be able to see Deng Buliduo for the last time," he said. "It just so happens that a group of Death Eaters who didn't know life from death released me. I think, perhaps it's time to end my life."

"I just wanted to see him for the last time, but unfortunately, I really didn't see him," Grindelwald sighed. "If he is no longer in this world, I don't think there is much worth lingering on here."

In the eyes of everyone, either surprised or guarded, Grindelwald's body suddenly began to glow. Then, starting from his feet, the old man's body gradually turned into light spots and slowly dissipated into the air.

"I left everything about Deng Buliduo in his office," he looked at Harry and said. "You can go and see those pasts he didn't want to tell anyone."

"My notes on Dark Magic, I originally planned to donate them to Durmstrang, but Karkaroff, this idiot, he thought I was going to liquidate him? Heh, then I'll donate them to Hogwarts." He took a notebook out of his pocket and threw it to Harry. Harry didn't dare to catch it and let it fall to the ground.

"Those followers, do whatever you want with them. Those who still believe in that set by now are either stupid or bad," he shook his head indifferently. "This world is boring, very boring. I'm going to start another great adventure."

After Grindelwald's body dissipated entirely, everyone was stunned for a long while.

"So, he just committed suicide like this?" Madame Maxime said. "I thought he intended to make a comeback."

"Wait, he said, Deng Buliduo is no longer in this world? What's going on?" Tang Tang Nade asked belatedly.

"I'll make a long story short," Harry said. "In order to seal Voldemort, he sacrificed himself."

"That's quite reasonable..." Tang Tang Nade stroked his chin and said. "For Grindelwald, there are only two things that could make him walk out of the prison again: either Deng Buliduo forgave him, or Deng Buliduo died."

"You know their affairs very well?" Madame Maxime asked. "But you clearly didn't recognize him just now."

"Because he is not quite the same as I imagined. I remember he should have a handsome hairstyle," Tang Tang Nade made a gesture of combing hair. "Okay, the situation now is, I think Harry is the person most qualified to handle the aftermath of these two old men."

"Come with me first, children," Madame Maxime began to preside over the situation. "Sit down in the champion's tent. Renata, you need someone to bandage your wounds. Harry needs to drink something hot to calm down. Is this Zhang Qiu lying on the ground? She looks very tired, we need to find a bed for her."

"Oh, we also need to announce the results and hold the award ceremony," Madame Maxime slapped her head. "Deng Buliduo sacrificed himself, and Prince Mountbatten is also missing. We need to find two people to replace them. Too many things happened today, but the honor the champion deserves should not be missed."

"This trophy should be Harry's," Renata said dejectedly. "Harry had plenty of time to lift it, he was just immersed in these changes. Even if these battles hadn't happened, he was the one who reached the top of the tower before me."

"He must have crashed into the maze. I lost to his good luck, but more importantly, I lost to his courage to let go and fight," Renata put the trophy on the ground. "Grindelwald taught me a lesson. Maybe for Harry, he was just letting me, this naive little girl, win."

"No, you deserve this trophy," Harry said. "You did everything a champion could do, and I was just drifting with the storm of fate."

"Let's discuss this issue when we go back. I suddenly had an idea. Since Deng Buliduo regarded Harry as his successor," Tang Tang Nade pushed the children out while making an unreasonable suggestion, "why not let Harry sit on the judge's bench and replace Deng Buliduo to award Renata—"