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Faced with Aileen's lake-blue eyes, the two old men paused abruptly for a few seconds.

They exchanged glances quickly, and Grindelwald cleared his throat, saying unhurriedly.

"Regarding this, it's naturally because of the headmaster and the castle caretaker's specia... uh?!"

"The house-elves found it while cleaning," Dumbledore replied calmly, retracting his left foot, which had accidentally stepped on Grindelwald's boot, and smiling gently with a touch of appropriate concern and sternness.

"Long-term plans outside of school are important, but I don't want you to neglect your friends and the happiness you should be enjoying at your age because of them. Go open your presents and have fun with your classmates."

"That's right, you should rest too. It's not good to always be alone..."

Grindelwald nodded, winking meaningfully at Aileen.

Then, the two greatest wizards in the current magical world, like two ordinary old men, half-coaxed and half-convinced Aileen to leave the library. They watched her figure disappear at the end of the stairs, following the guiding house-elf, and waited for about half a minute before they both breathed a sigh of relief, a wry smile appearing on their faces at the same time.

"This kid is really not like an ordinary child."

Grindelwald turned around, carefully putting away the papers and envelopes Aileen had left on the table. "Seeing her, I suddenly feel ashamed and afraid... Back then, we weren't so—well, how should I describe it—"

"Urgent! An unprecedented sense of urgency."

Dumbledore frowned, saying worriedly, "A strange sense of crisis has been lingering around her, as if there is an invisible person whipping her from behind. Thinking about it carefully, she hasn't had a single day off since the beginning of the school year... Sometimes, I worry that she might suddenly collapse."

"Yes, you're right, I feel that too."

Grindelwald nodded in agreement, his gaze falling on the familiar sender's names on the letters in his hand, sighing deeply with emotion. "Perhaps this is the price of seeing a glimpse of the future? We can never know what kind of future that child has experienced and witnessed—but what surprises me more is her growth rate."

As Grindelwald spoke, he turned his head and waved the thick stack of envelopes in his hand at Dumbledore.

"Albus, can you believe it? In less than half a month, she has almost completely taken over the Saint contact points we set up in various countries of the former Soviet Union. According to my original idea, this kind of progress should have appeared at least three months, or even half a year later, not now."

"We are raising a remarkable little monster ourselves."

The first-generation Dark Lord's finger slid over Aileen's handwritten replies on the envelopes, a gentle and gratified expression appearing on his wrinkled face, but his eyes fell on Dumbledore beside him, asking meaningfully in a soft voice.

"So... Albus, have you thought about what to do next?"

"After this incident is more or less over, I plan to force her to rest for a while—at least before the third year, I won't let her participate in too many things outside of school. It's better for her to cause trouble at school than to stir up trouble in the outside world."

"I think so too. The current situation is too delicate, and I'm a little worried..."

Grindelwald nodded noncommittally, his voice gradually getting smaller, instinctively clenching the envelopes in his hand.

Although there were no signs and the International Confederation of Wizards did not have any large-scale wizard immigration records, Grindelwald had vaguely felt that the originally scarce magical traces had gradually increased during his time in the former Soviet Union.

This was not the time when he swept the world. The Saints reunited around him were less than 10%, and some of the manpower needed to be allocated to the Lovegood family, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and the Heavenly Mandate Forward Supply Station in the former Soviet Union.

More importantly, the Nikolaev shipyard would still need a lot of manpower. Once a conflict between wizards broke out...

"What's wrong, Gellert? What are you worried about?"

Dumbledore subconsciously looked up at Gellert Grindelwald, who was not far away.

Because Grindelwald stepped forward to tidy up the papers Aileen had left behind, Dumbledore couldn't see his face for a while, but he vaguely heard the old Dark Lord's last few words.

"Nothing, I'm just worried that the child's childhood is too boring."

Grindelwald turned around, putting the stack of parchment filled with words into his arms, answering with emotion.

"I don't want the little one to spend most of her time relaying instructions or in various calculations and games when she recalls her school life in the future... I've rested long enough, it's time to get out and about more."

Unknowingly, there were too many and too complex interested parties involved with Aileen.

Perhaps for Dumbledore, who had been teaching at Hogwarts for many years, these were just a certain amount of wealth, supplies, and land, but Grindelwald knew very well that this was already a foundation that could shake the world.

The old Dark Lord's eyes sparkled, and a very subtle and dangerous aura flashed across them.

Hopefully, no one with no eyes will violate the rules of the game, otherwise...

...

On the other side, Aileen, who had left the library, stood by the corridor for a while.

Caught off guard by being liberated from the busy work of "reviewing memorials" by Old Potato and Old Radish, she was momentarily in a daze, not knowing what to do. The Wings hadn't returned to school yet, and the professors were all enjoying their vacation.

In her previous life as a successor of communism, she was naturally a firm atheist.

And in this life, although she grew up in Father Benítez's orphanage, the orphanage only did a simple prayer every Christmas, and then she had to start thinking about how to get some meat from the surrounding areas to feed the children.

Orphans are not eligible to celebrate festivals. People must first find a way to survive before they have time to think about what God likes.

Not to mention, Benítez, who had successfully changed careers with the help of the Brotherhood and had been driven out of the church when he was down on his luck, was not a very devout believer himself—for a man, being a priest was more of a job than a belief.

Therefore, in Aileen's memory, Christmas has never had too much ritual or anticipation.

"Open presents, and don't always be alone... huh?"

Aileen muttered to herself in a low voice, her eyes flashing, and stretched hard.

She naturally understood the deeper meaning of Gellert Grindelwald's words. In addition to receiving the loyal old ministers left by the first-generation Dark Lord, as well as Hermione, Hannah, and Luna, her best friends, she also needed to form her own small group.

After all, the older generation of wizards will eventually step down from the stage of this world, and at that time, the ones who will truly support this world and determine the direction of the future will be the little wizards who are studying with her in the castle.

And more importantly, if one day she really stood on the opposite side of Dumbledore and Grindelwald...

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Chapter 2! Maybe, there’s even… more…?

Seeking monthly tickets to feed!