Since there was no way to resolve Rondo's situation, Newt soon left with a thoroughly discouraged Rondo.
They still had plenty to deal with. They needed to come up with a response to the undead fish monster situation.
A few days later, it was time for Leonard to head back as well.
Before Leonard and Claudia returned to England, Lehende brought up the matter of Leonard choosing some plants.
"Leonard, are you really not taking any plants with you?" After seeing Leonard casually bring dying plants back to life, Lehende now actually hoped he would take some away.
Otherwise, he kept feeling as though he had taken advantage of Leonard, and it made him uncomfortable.
"There's no need. I don't need them anymore," Leonard said.
Now, all he had to do was make contact with a plant, and he could recreate it directly. The power of the World Tree let him do whatever he pleased in matters related to plants.
"All right then. Take care." Lehende patted Leonard on the shoulder. "Though with your abilities, even if you run into a danger you can't fight, you should still be able to get away, right?"
"Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'll make sure your daughter gets out first," Leonard said.
He said nothing about whether he himself would be able to escape. Everything that was about to happen at Hogwarts was linked together step by step. If something went wrong, other people might be able to run, but Leonard alone would not be able to.
All he could do was try his best and hope his earlier preparations would work.
...
Time passed, and soon it was the day school started at Hogwarts.
At the opening feast, Dumbledore had lost his usual composure. He simply announced this year's Triwizard Tournament, then declared the feast begun.
Watching the students eat and drink happily, Dumbledore let out a silent sigh. Seated at the head table, he found the magnificent spread before him tasteless as wax.
By the time the feast finally ended, the newly appointed prefects had led the students back to their dormitories, and the professors had gradually departed as well. The Great Hall fell into darkness, yet he still remained seated at the head table.
"What is it? Still worried about your students?"
At some point, Grindelwald had appeared across from Dumbledore.
"I still believe students should never have been dragged into this. We should have warned them in advance and told them not to come this term," Dumbledore said. "This is putting them in danger."
"If you had done that, Voldemort would never have shown himself. Didn't you say it yourself? He's the cautious sort," Grindelwald said. "Undead traces have been appearing everywhere lately. If we drag this out any longer, he'll only become harder to deal with."
"Don't say his name," Dumbledore reminded him. "He'll only be even more sensitive now."
"Don't underestimate me. I may not necessarily be his match, but I can still block his senses." Grindelwald stood up.
"In any case, make your preparations. Lately I've been able to feel Death God's power stirring around us. If nothing unexpected happens, he'll make his move during this Triwizard Tournament."
"Where are you now?" Dumbledore asked. "I'm a little uneasy about this."
"I'm in the Forbidden Forest. I found something interesting here."
Dumbledore froze for a moment. "Don't do anything reckless..."
Before he had even finished speaking, Grindelwald's body scattered like smoke, and the dim Great Hall returned to full brightness.
Grindelwald had never appeared there at all. He had been stationed near the Forbidden Forest the entire time.
"Don't do anything reckless..."
Dumbledore's voice drifted into Grindelwald's ears.
Grindelwald paid it no mind. He gently stroked the head of a unicorn.
The unicorn's eyes were full of terror. Every muscle in its body trembled, yet it could not take a single step, as if it were an insect trapped in amber.
All around them, unicorns were fleeing in panic. At first, the herd had tried to gang up on Grindelwald when he made his move, but the moment their leader was subdued in an instant, every last unicorn bolted deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
"Relax. I'm not going to kill you." Grindelwald ignored the fleeing unicorns and stroked the mane along the unicorn's back with a faint smile. "I'm just a little curious. Why does the aura around you feel so strange?"
It was an aura mixed with many strange kinds of magic. They were different from one another, yet also somehow connected.
Grindelwald did not expect the unicorn to speak. His eyes darkened, becoming like twin whirlpools that drew in anyone who looked at them.
The unicorn was no exception. It stared into Grindelwald's eyes without meaning to, and its simple thoughts were effortlessly read.
Very soon, a youthful face that had left a deep impression in the unicorn's memory caught Grindelwald's attention.
"Him? I think his name was... Leonard William."
Grindelwald fell into thought. He released the unicorn and watched it flee in panic, while invisible ripples of magic spread out from his body.
That magic rippled outward like waves across a lake. It quickly caught up to the fleeing unicorns, then continued spreading until it covered the entire Forbidden Forest.
"Found it."
Grindelwald's eyes lit up. He had found the botanical garden from the unicorn's memory, and at the same time, he had discovered the chaotic magic within it.
Some of that magic was large in scale, some small. A few strands were gentle and stable, but most of them were violent, as if they might explode at any moment. Among them was one plant that seemed capable of sealing space itself, its intertwined roots piercing through space and locking it shut.
And without exception, every one of those magical signatures was wrapped in at least three layers of a special magical shell.
The form of that magical shell interested Grindelwald greatly. It was somewhat similar to Finite Incantatem, as though it could block any magical attack.
Even Grindelwald himself was not confident he could tear through those three layers of magical shell using raw magic alone. If it were him, he would choose to manipulate physical matter through magic and attack that way instead.
In the unicorn's memory, that botanical garden was a place that felt "safe" and "delicious," even safer than the herd's own nest.
But from Grindelwald's point of view, that supposedly "safe" place was a dead end for most wizards.
Those violent magical signatures and those nearly unbreakable magical shells would drive any ordinary wizard to despair.
Including Dumbledore.
Grindelwald, however, was obviously not among them.
After all, he was the Eternal Wizard.
"Interesting." Grindelwald tossed out that one remark, and in the next instant his figure vanished. He reappeared inside Leonard's botanical garden.
He stepped directly through the space sealed off by Devil's Snare and arrived at the very center of the garden.
And the moment he appeared, the plants in the botanical garden sensed the intrusion of a stranger.
In the next instant, every plant erupted at once, unleashing overwhelming firepower on Grindelwald at the center.