In the Armenian forest, an elfin girl appeared beneath the clouds.

She danced in the air as lightly as a feather, her silver hair flowing in the wind, her blue and white magical armor tracing her graceful curves. Even the moonlight on a full moon night would be ashamed of itself in her presence. So, who exactly was this beautiful girl?

That's right, it was Elliana Kaslana, lost in the vast expanse of the sky, still tirelessly searching for the figure of a certain clumsy author.

This untouched, primeval forest... it's just too vast!

The boundless, dark jungle had no identifying markers and was so quiet it felt almost lifeless.

Searching for dozens of werewolves in thousands of kilometers of primeval forest was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Why hasn't the moon risen yet... Little werewolves, why don't you make a sound..."

Elliana glanced at the dark jungle below, muttering softly to herself.

Just then, in the area she had passed to her left rear, a silver-white magical dot suddenly rose.

Far away, a pure white "Forget-Me-Not" magical firework bloomed in the quiet night sky.

...

Hyperion.

A serious, tense atmosphere was punctuated by the high-pitched voices characteristic of goblins.

Intelligence from Gringotts Wizarding Bank had arrived, delivered via the safest route - a goblin messenger.

Over the past few months, as various magical governments had reduced their Auror budgets to varying degrees, the surplus Galleons had not ended up in the Ministry's accounts. Instead, they had flowed, under the guise of various promotional activities, to government officials at all levels, news media, authoritative figures, and ancient magical families.

Perhaps the wizards of the magical world didn't understand how economies worked, and at this point in time, there was no one to teach them such knowledge.

But when it came to putting money in their own pockets, greed was the best teacher.

As government officials maintaining the stability of various magical worlds, you could say they were corrupt, greedy, and bureaucratic, but they were certainly not stupid.

"Strategic Misdirection Joint Plan targeting dark creatures and dark wizards? Tch, tch—"

Grindelwald put down the intelligence report in his hand, his eyebrows twitching slightly, and couldn't help but make a sound of surprise.

"I originally thought they were just finding an excuse to embezzle, but I didn't expect these guys to actually have some ideas? On the one hand, they successfully wooed their local magical forces and media voices, and on the other hand, they jointly weaved a large net. It's no wonder the werewolves have been completely fooled."

There were wizards among the werewolves, but without exception, they struggled at the bottom of the magical world's poverty line.

Even wizards who had decent family backgrounds before becoming werewolves would quickly "eat" through their fortunes within a year due to the monthly Wolfsbane Potion and various other attempts, plunging into poverty - werewolf wizards found it difficult to find work in the magical world. Thanks to the education provided by many magical schools, wizards could easily notice colleagues who took sick leave every full moon, and there were rewards for reporting werewolves.

Because of this, when the upper echelons of the magical world reached a tacit understanding, there was no concern that this plan would leak to the werewolves.

In fact, even Gringotts Wizarding Bank discovered this secret only after a targeted audit.

"Those bureaucrats always provide surprises when it comes to their own interests, but what I'm more concerned about is..."

Dumbledore shook his head and turned to look at Gallivex, who had traveled from Gringotts in London, thousands of miles away, asking with concern.

"This report only shows their previous movements, but it lacks the most crucial element - exactly how many Aurors will appear in the Armenian forest by dawn tomorrow, and their estimated entry points. If we go by this list, at least eleven magical governments are involved in the 'Misdirection Plan'. Fortunately, we timed it differently from them, and it's still possible to retreat completely now."

"Retreat? Why retreat? Isn't this a golden opportunity?"

Grindelwald chuckled and glanced at Dumbledore curiously, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Those magical officials are using Lockhart and Aghassian as bait to attract most of Europe's werewolves to this area, while they themselves are being attracted by the werewolves. When they begin the slaughter in the forest, the Hyperion's magical field will lock everyone in the forest."

"Without even needing particularly profound magic, just the Muggle weapons on this ship will be enough to clear most of the obstacles."

"This is a secret operation, and it's in the Armenian forest. I can't think of a better opportunity."

Undoubtedly, in any era, the Ministry of Magic was always the biggest obstacle in the path of reformers.

Or more precisely, those lingering, blockheaded Aurors.

Due to the generally declining job market in the magical world, the Tianming Group's infiltration of Auror headquarters outside of Britain was progressing particularly slowly, and this secret "werewolf hunt" was clearly a good opportunity to free up some positions. The only problem was...

"Ahem, dear Mr. 'Tower', the Hyperion's captain is that child - attack orders can only be issued by her."

Dumbledore glanced calmly at the excited old Dark Lord, reminding him in a quiet voice.

"I'm very sorry, but I don't think that child would issue such a crazy order. Her soul is much clearer than ours. There are still more than six hours until dawn. Even if we fly back slowly on a Comet 260, we can still make it in time for breakfast in the Hogwarts kitchens."

"'Hanged Man' has sent out a guiding beacon. This emergency rescue should be ending soon."

As he spoke, Dumbledore turned to look at the distant sky outside the bridge.

There, a blooming magical firework was slowly fading.

And in the more distant sky, a small, silver dot was rapidly approaching the location where the magical firework had been launched.

"Oh? Is that so? Then why did 'Pope' ask about the number of Aurors in the vicinity, and their locations?"

Grindelwald grinned, shaking his index finger rather smugly, with an unpleasant smile on his face that made one want to hit him over the head.

"Just in case, and as a reason for persuasion—" Dumbledore replied calmly.

Ignoring Grindelwald's provocation, Dumbledore turned back to the goblin standing not far away.

"Mr. Gallivex, regarding my previous question, does Gringotts Wizarding Bank, or rather the Black Robe Wizards, have any intelligence? Even just a rough estimate would be fine, as it concerns whether or not an unnecessary war will break out. We at least need to know the worst-case scenario first..."

"Well, there are a total of eleven magical regions involved in the fabrication of the 'werewolf recovery' message."

Gallivex said quickly, picking up the stack of documents in his hand and taking a closer look.

"However, based on the information we currently have, only seven magical government Auror headquarters show signs of participating in front-line combat. If we consider the time and place of actual engagements, strictly speaking, we only need to consider five magical governments."

"Why are seven Auror headquarters mobilized, but Gringotts' hypothetical enemy setting only involves five?"

Grindelwald frowned, puzzled, pointing out the strange thing about the goblins' analysis report.

Gallivex swallowed nervously and said cautiously.

"Uh, because there are also the French Ministry of Magic and the Italian Ministry of Magic. According to the analysts at Gringotts, they—"

"Alright, no need to explain. Continue."

Grindelwald curled his lips and waved his hand dismissively.

Perhaps the "unexpected events" happening now are full of uncertainty and various doubts in Dumbledore's eyes.

However, as a former Dark Lord who was only one step away from unifying the magical world, Grindelwald understood most of the situation almost as soon as the information from Gringotts came over - he understood those bureaucrats too well; they had never changed over the years.

Regardless of whether the reputation of "wiping out werewolves" or the benefit of "lining their own pockets" was the starting point.

Once the Ministry of Magic bureaucrats finalized this grand plan, with their timid personalities, they would still do something practical.

This process was not complicated; it was still the same old routine of "wooing the local gentry," "using wolves to drive out tigers," "bluffing," "the mantis stalks the cicada"... and the skills that magical governments were best at... taking advantage and seizing credit. After all, that's how they dealt with him back then.

From the start, Grindelwald was not worried about Elliana at all - those Aurors were all trash.

As the Dark Lord of the previous era, he wanted to know how long that little witch's fairy tale could last.

After all, victory was a matter of course, but no one getting hurt or paying a price... this was destined to be an illusory dream that could not continue forever, and tonight might be the opportunity for Elliana Kaslana to return from a beautiful fairy tale to reality.

His gaze passed over Dumbledore and the young goblin who were talking, and looked at the sky outside the Hyperion's bridge.

The small, silver dot circled in the afterimage of the "Forget-Me-Not firework" for a few seconds, then fell towards the bottom like a shooting star, quickly disappearing into the towering dense forest. Compared to the boring conversation on the bridge, Grindelwald was more curious about the story that was happening there.

After circling in the cold forest air for so long, that little girl's mood probably wasn't too good.

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Hooray!

Happy birthday to me~