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A Bite of Hogwarts. Before they knew it, the hands of the clock had passed twelve.

However, the lights in the Headmaster's office remained on.

The conversation between the two old wizards at the pinnacle of the magical world had not yet ended. On one side of the Headmaster's desk were the bread, drinks, and desserts that Grindelwald had bought from the Soviet Union – the Hogwarts kitchen had almost completely fallen, and even the Headmaster's words were sometimes ineffective, let alone Grindelwald, an outside member.

"...In short, that's it."

Dumbledore sighed, his slender fingers tapping on the stack of evidence.

"The line between magic and science doesn't seem to be so clear-cut. Miss Kaslana's experiment proves that if a wizard correctly utilizes certain Muggle products to cast spells, there may be extremely terrifying amplification."

"This is just ordinary dynamite, what if it were... a nuclear bomb?"

Grindelwald nodded thoughtfully, casually picking up a small cookie and stuffing it into his mouth.

"I don't know, this is just the beginning."

Dumbledore shrugged, a deep worry on his face.

"Perhaps nothing will change, perhaps there will be the same amount of amplification, or perhaps it will become an even more terrifying monster. However, the prerequisite is that the wizard assisting in the spellcasting needs to understand the principles of that Muggle weapon – you've looked into it before, so many dense numbers, not something an ordinary wizard can master."

"Then do you think... that little girl, Aileen, counts as an ordinary wizard?"

"...Maybe?"

The two fell silent in unison, the only sound in the room being the faint crackling of the firewood burning in the fireplace.

After a long while, Grindelwald let out a sigh of relief and took the initiative to break the silence.

"Come to think of it, since the Healing Rune 【?】can be turned into a chaotic and violent Power Rune in Aileen's hands, it's not surprising that Muggle medicine for treating angina can be used to create dangerous explosives."

"..."

Albus, feeling tired and wanting to retire, Dumbledore shook his head and placed the "Nitroglycerin pills" confiscated from the girls into the bookshelf behind him. He didn't want to comment on this matter at all.

"There are quite a few high-risk spells like this in the magical world. I know at least ten or more war spells that are more terrifying than this, so one more isn't a big deal in my opinion..."

Casting a knowing glance at Dumbledore, Grindelwald stood up and continued.

"Albus, what you're worried about is actually what she said later – about the purpose of this magical research and the confusion about whether or not to establish a new discipline, right? After all, you've already witnessed the birth of two Dark Lords."

"..."

A bitter smile appeared on Dumbledore's face as he nodded silently and heavily.

"It's different, Albus, that child isn't researching these things for the sake of power itself."

Grindelwald picked up a slightly overcooked small fish strip and waved it slowly.

"Her purpose has been clear from the beginning: to find a way to promote the fusion of magic and non-magic, and to find a way to deal with the collision of magic and non-magic – before discussing this, I want to talk to you about the situation in the Soviet Union."

"The Soviet Union? Didn't you say everything was going smoothly there?"

Dumbledore frowned, looking at Grindelwald with some confusion.

"That's right, and the problem is precisely that it's too smooth."

Grindelwald grinned, snapping the head of the fried fish strip in his hand with a crunch, his eyes exceptionally cold.

"The fact that no wizards have appeared to hinder our actions isn't because we're hiding so successfully, but because... the magical light of that land is about to go out."

"The Soviet Union was founded in 1922, which may be a considerable period of time for Muggles. But in our eyes as wizards, it's still too short, let alone compared to the magical world."

"Understandably, most of the wizards living in the Soviet Union don't have a sense of belonging to the Soviet Union either. After these days of investigation, the wizards after the war – whether newborn or who survived by chance – mostly don't have much goodwill towards the Muggle government."

In this era, the theoretical lifespan of wizards is still much longer than that of Muggles.

Even excluding the alchemists who used the Philosopher's Stone to raise the average lifespan of the magical world, as long as they don't die in accidents, the average lifespan of wizards in the magical world is about twice that of Muggles in the non-magical world.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the average life expectancy of people in the non-magical world is only 60 years old after World War II.

World War II not only caused the deaths of nearly ninety million people worldwide, but also created the most tragic wizard casualty record in the magical world to date – the wars previously fought by humans against all magical creatures didn't cause as much damage as this civil war between wizards.

And the large number of wizard deaths not only caused a break in magical civilization, but the most critical thing is the wizard population break.

Although theoretically speaking, children born from the union of Muggles and Muggles can indeed awaken magical powers, such as little witches like Hermione Granger, who in ancient times were called the First Ones.

But in fact, what truly accounts for more than 90% of the population in the magical world is the inheritance of bloodlines, whether in the past, present, or future – thousands of years before Father Mendel began playing with peas, people already realized that the combination of parents, at least one of whom has magical talent, is more likely to produce wizards.

After the war, both wizards and Muggles who suffered great war trauma needed to recuperate and restore the population as soon as possible, and in this regard, the Soviet high-level officials, who had seen the power of the magical world, naturally wouldn't ignore this powerful fighting force.

Greatly encouraging childbirth was the Soviet Union's primary policy orientation after the war.

However...

"In any war, more women survive. This is true in the non-magical world, and it's also true in the magical world."

A cold mockery appeared on Grindelwald's face as he said with a sneer.

"The foolish and arrogant Muggle government, the victory of the war and the powerful centralization, made them forget the most basic respect and reverence for magic. They seemed to think that wizards were also part of their jurisdiction."

"...So?"

Dumbledore's face changed slightly.

The mockery on Grindelwald's face became even more intense.

"Purges, or as the Soviets called it, the Great Purge – people are always more ruthless when they attack their own people, even if it was once a righteous country, ha... whether Muggles or wizards..."