Hogwarts: Harry Returns from Azeroth

Chapter 233, Section 232: Nurmengard and the Demon

Why the Burning Legion is still chasing me?!

That's fel energy! That's demonic energy!
The background in the prophecy is undoubtedly the skyscrapers of this world; no, to be precise, in this prophecy they have become ruins, collapsed buildings, and screaming crowds fleeing.

Harry unconsciously straightened his back, clenched his fists, and tensed up all over.

“This is the future,” Grindelwald’s voice resounded throughout the square. He spoke softly, yet it was deafening, penetrating everyone’s minds. “I don’t know what these monsters are. Some of them are elements, and some are unknown—but I am certain that they are not benevolent.”

"This world is about to be changed... Wizards, rise up and grip your wands."

"protect yourself."

Grindelwald's speech had to end there, as the Aurors from the German Ministry of Magic had arrived without even a greeting. Beams of red and green spells rained down on Grindelwald, but the old man, with the same pale hair and beard as Dumbledore, simply waved his wand to deflect them, then sent them flying back, knocking down all the Aurors.

He could have simply fled, but perhaps to avoid having the Ministry of Magic send people to pursue him, Grindelwald only bowed gracefully after defeating all the Aurors before Apparating away.

That's pretty much the end of the memory. With a dizzying, spinning sensation, the surrounding scenery distorted and blurred, as if pulling their heads out of the water. Harry and Dumbledore were standing on solid ground again, with a Pensieve between them.

This isn't Hogwarts, but a room in the German Ministry of Magic.

“I have to admit, even after all these years, Gellert’s words seem to be no different from back then. He’s always like this,” Dumbledore said with a complicated expression. “He’s very good at using a bright and noble slogan to cover up his true intentions.”

"For a greater good?" Harry recalled what he had read in the books about Grindelwald and his sorcerers.

"Hmm, more or less," Dumbledore sighed. "Perhaps this time he'll use some other slogans, like he just said, telling wizards to protect themselves or something... from the standpoint of protecting ordinary wizards... who knows?"

“You don’t look too well, Harry,” Dumbledore said seriously, scrutinizing Harry’s face. “Just like when you saw Nico’s prophecy… So, those monsters—you actually know them, don’t you?”

“…Yes,” Harry took a deep breath. “Let me calm down. I never imagined the world would become like this—Dumbledore, those monsters wreathed in green flames, their name is demons.”

"Demon," Dumbledore repeated, "that's a very familiar word, but I must say the demon you're talking about is probably not the same kind of demon I know, is it?"

“Yes,” Harry nodded, his voice low. “They are demons of the Burning Legion… well, maybe not? Demons exist in the Twisting Nether itself… Anyway, their goal is to destroy and conquer the entire world, to corrupt planets.”

“But—that shouldn’t be the case?” Harry’s face turned puzzled. “Even Sargeras, the leader of the Burning Legion and a Dark Titan, has been imprisoned in the Pantheon. Why are these guys still appearing in groups? Is it just an invasion launched out of the chaos of their nature?”

Demons are inherently chaotic, and not all demons in the Twisting Nether have joined the Burning Legion. Many demons are still hostile to the Burning Legion, but they are simply outmatched.

Harry fell into thought for a moment, and Dumbledore did not disturb him.

“…Sorry,” Harry shook his head after a long pause and said, “Anyway, if these demons really do appear, then be careful of those green flames. They are one of the fundamental energies that make up everything in the universe, but they also symbolize destruction.”

"It has an extremely strong corrosive effect. People who are tainted by fel energy will be gradually corrupted, both in body and soul, and may even be transformed into new demons. Fel energy also has an extremely strong devouring effect on life energy, causing all things to fall into depravity." Harry chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Actually, in another world, one of the main duties of shamans is to repair the land contaminated by fel energy. Ha, I thought I had gotten rid of them."

"So, just like those Death Knights?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

“There are still some differences. At least those Death Knights could be allies,” Harry sighed and said. “If the demons of the Twisting Nether really appear in this world, then I would rather the Knights of the Ebon Blade came… at least they would be a reliable force when fighting demons.”

There are just too many puzzling things. For example, why is the Knights of the Ebon Blade able to connect to the portal to this world? And why is it the Hall of Death? Did the undead cause some big trouble after I left Azeroth?
“Sounds pretty good, Harry.” Dumbledore was surprisingly calm. After seeing the prophetic images filled with monsters and war, he even had the energy to laugh. “At least you know them well, and we don’t have to pay a heavy price to understand our enemies, or face them in complete ignorance… That’s a good thing, Harry.”

“Maybe,” Harry said, rubbing his hair. He had calmed down. “You’re right, Dumbledore, that’s a good thing… Have you gone to see Grindelwald?”

“You mean Nurmengard?” Dumbledore replied, “Not yet. In fact, I knew about it not much before you—shall we go together?”

"of course."

The Fox Express lets you go wherever you want.

Neumungard, Austria.

The castle's exterior and courtyard were covered in snow, and Harry had to use his wand to make his way through the piled-up snow.

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the top floor, the room where Grindelwald had lived since he imprisoned himself.

There was no need to search anything; Grindelwald had already anticipated that someone would come here, so when Harry and Dumbledore entered the room, they immediately saw a line of fixed wind elements—they had formed a line of words in mid-air with their own bodies.

Trust me, Albus.

“Ah, a message from an old flame,” Harry couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Aren’t you touched, Dumbledore?” Dumbledore: “…”

Honestly, even with Dumbledore's experience and thick skin, he still blushed a little in front of Harry, who was nearly a hundred years younger than him, and who was both a junior and a friend...

“Ahem, I haven’t finished what I was saying yet,” Dumbledore said, feigning nonchalance. “I have to admit that most of what Gellert said is the same as what he said back then… well, but his predictions are quite accurate—decades ago, he successfully predicted the Muggle world war and the atomic bomb explosion… I think it was called the atomic bomb?”

“Yes, go on, I’m listening,” Harry said, pointing to the line of text opposite him. “It seems things haven’t gotten to the worst yet. If Grindelwald wasn’t planning to strategically deceive you, then his escape wasn’t to launch another wizarding revolution while the world is in chaos.”

“Gellert wouldn’t lie to me,” Dumbledore answered without hesitation, without even needing to think for a moment. “But these wind elements… well, it seems he also became a shaman without my knowledge… how interesting.”

“You know what, Dumbledore?” Harry said abruptly, “you have a really happy smile on your face right now.”

"Cough! Cough cough cough cough cough!!"

In short, Harry almost made Dumbledore choke on his own saliva.

“I’m just kidding, your beard basically covers your expression,” Harry added.

Dumbledore: "..."

He opened his mouth, and for once, Dumbledore found himself at a loss for words... Usually, he was the one who put others in this situation, but today it was the other way around...

“…Let’s get back to Gellert,” Dumbledore said after a moment of silence, changing the subject. “What do you think he’s trying to do, Harry?”

“I think he might have seen something, after all, he is a wizard prophet… But after seeing these elements, I also think he might have gotten some information from them.” Harry stopped joking and said thoughtfully, “No!”

Harry's expression suddenly turned serious.

"If Grindelwald truly foresaw the appearance of the demon, or if he truly received some information from some unknown being—was it really the elements who told him?!"

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore was taken aback for a moment, then realized what Harry meant. "You mean—a demon?"

In mythology everywhere, the appearance of demons is accompanied by sweet words and temptations to fall into depravity. They can see through people's deepest desires and use these desires to lure them into doing things they would never normally do. Whether it's through linguistic traps or misinterpreting wishes, they will reveal to the victim a future completely different from what they expected, thus taking away a fallen soul filled with regret and resentment.

That's what demons are like.

“That’s right,” Harry nodded seriously. “The demons in the Twisting Nether… well, some of them are very good at disguising themselves. They will approach you by becoming the thing you trust most, constantly tempting you with seemingly correct whispers.”

Aside from mindless demons like the Abyss Lord, other demons such as Dreadlords, Eredar, and Succubi are all masters of this art. Even the weakest imps are adept at seducing people... They just can't shapeshift, which makes them prone to failure.

After all, most species judge people by their appearance; if someone looks good, they are more likely to be believed.

"In another world, the one I'm referring to as Azeroth, which connects to another world called Draenor, the homeland of the orcs, the Burning Legion destroyed that world and corrupted everything there... But when the demons first appeared, they transformed into the likeness of the orc ancestors, subtly corrupting them..."

To make Dumbledore realize the danger posed by demons, Harry, unusually, told a story from another world—the story of Kil'jaeden, the great demon of the Burning Legion, who disguised himself as the spirit of Ner'zhul's deceased wife and gradually led Ner'zhul to corruption, ultimately betraying the ancestral spirits and elemental spirits and completely attracting demons.

Even though Ner'zhul regretted it afterward, the influence of the demons was irreversible. He could only watch helplessly as his people corrupted and fell into slavery of the demons, eventually even blowing his home world into pieces.

This serves as a significant warning.

At least Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed just imagining the situation.

Not minding the trouble, and just in case, Harry began to tell Dumbledore about the types of demons he remembered and their abilities one by one—he was a little afraid that the old man would be bewitched by demons. After all, from a demon's perspective, Dumbledore, a highly respected person with great influence in the international magical community, was indeed an excellent candidate for corruption.

Once Dumbledore falls, the demons can use him to quickly spread their disguised power; they are quite adept at this process.

After hearing Harry's teachings, even Dumbledore, who had just been quite optimistic... well, more like happy because of his old lover's words "trust me," couldn't be happy anymore.

Because he was absolutely certain that Grindelwald would never subjectively want to hurt himself or do anything that would cause him pain—but what about objectively?
For example, something might have given Grindelwald the wrong information, something might have misled him, making him think he was doing something great... Dumbledore's mind suddenly became a little confused.

Because he suddenly realized that Grindelwald might really not be able to refuse such a thing... and Dumbledore had always been well aware that his beloved had a great ideal in his heart.

We must find Gellert as soon as possible—Dumbledore has made his decision.

Then, the professional shaman Harry would determine whether Grindelwald had been bewitched.

(End of this chapter)