Harry Potter: The Golden Viper

Gellert Grindelwald - a name that evokes both awe and terror, the first wizard to be widely known as a Dark Lord in modern magical history. At the pinnacle of his power, his influence nearly engulfed all of Europe except for Britain, with tens of thousands of wizards willingly pledging their allegiance to him and his cause.

However, Grindelwald was not content with merely terrorizing the Wizarding world; he also coveted domination over the Muggle World. To achieve his goal of total domination, he led his followers to form alliances with extremist Muggle factions, fueling and promoting wars of aggression worldwide and causing unprecedented global turmoil and suffering.

But as meteoric as Grindelwald's rise to power was, his swift fall was equally incredible and dramatic.

At the peak of Grindelwald's tyranny, when he seemed invincible, one man dared to confront him alone - Albus Dumbledore. The two wizards were then engaged in an epic duel that would determine the fate of both the wizarding and muggle worlds.

When the dust settled, Dumbledore emerged victorious and returned to Hogwarts to serve as its headmaster, while the vanquished Grindelwald imprisoned himself in Nurmengard. Grindelwald's fanatical followers, who tried desperately to rally and turn the tide, were crushed by the united allied forces of wizards from various countries under the leadership of the International Confederation of Wizards.

That war could truly be considered a catastrophe of immense proportions for the entire world, both magical and muggle. Therefore, some argue, perhaps with some justification, that in comparison, Voldemort, the evil wizard whom the British wizarding community so feared like a monstrous Dragon, was not even worth mentioning at all in the same breath with Grindelwald. Even at the peak of his power, Voldemort's forces never managed to extend their influence beyond the borders of Magical Great Britain.

However, this view, while understandable, does not properly address the fundamental issues.

The key difference was that Grindelwald did not encounter any significant obstacles or opposition in the early stages of developing his power base and was nearly unrivaled as he rose to prominence. By the time Dumbledore finally intervened, Grindelwald's forces were already deeply entrenched and well-established.

Perhaps learning from the experience and harsh lessons of the previous fight against evil, the greatest wizard of the age was much more proactive and aggressive in dealing with Voldemort from the beginning.

As soon as Voldemort's evil forces began to unite and gain momentum, Dumbledore was already sounding the alarm, warning people at various public events to be vigilant and urging them to actively resist the rising darkness. He even personally founded the Order of the Phoenix dedicated to combating Voldemort and his masked Death Eaters through both open and covert means.

Like an impenetrable quagmire, Dumbledore's efforts effectively dragged down and trapped Voldemort's forces within the borders of Britain, preventing the cruel flames of war from spreading further and engulfing more innocent wizard civilians and defenseless Muggles.

Therefore, there can be no doubt at all that both Gellert Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort were extremely evil, twisted dark wizards who mercilessly attempted to build their own cold, cruel thrones upon the suffering and subjugation of countless people, but in the end, their mad ambitions and dreams of conquest ultimately crumbled and failed.

Similarly, Bryan Watson is widely hailed and recognized as the most outstanding and impressive young wizard to emerge from Europe's magical community in recent years. With Dumbledore's increasing old age, many knowledgeable observers directly consider Watson to be the most powerful wizard of the new era.

Every young Hogwarts wizard is proud and thrilled to have such a legendary wizard as a teacher at their school, and yet here was Krum, going on gloomily about Professor Watson's alleged admiration for the infamous Grindelwald...

To be perfectly honest, if Harry had happened to be present, upon hearing such provocative words, he might well have lost his temper and punched Krum directly in the face, even though Viktor was a world-renowned Quidditch superstar!

However, Hermione almost always level-headed and rational still tried her utmost to listen calmly and objectively. In her heart, she did feel some genuine empathy and sympathy for Krum, as his own grandfather had died at Grindelwald's hands, an experience somewhat similar to the trauma Harry suffered in losing his parents to Voldemort.

But to definitively associate the upright Professor Watson with the evil Grindelwald just because of a symbol seemed to Hermione to be an exceedingly imprecise and unwarranted speculative leap.

Krum, absorbed in his own reasonable anger and instinctive hatred for Grindelwald, finally realized that the girl standing before him now looked a bit off-color, her breathing was noticeably slightly hurried and uneven, and her normally warm eyes now radiated a distinct hint of cold hostility.

"Oh, sorry!" Krum awkwardly came to his senses and hastily tried to explain and backtrack, "Votson is indeed a very admirable wizard. I'm not saying he definitely admires Grindelvald or anything like that. Err, I just meant that symbol... Maybe he's simply researching Grindelvald academically, but even that could be equally dangerous in its own way, especially for such a powerful vizard..."

"That's baseless prejudice and speculation, Krum!" Hermione took a deep breath to compose herself before continuing, glaring at Viktor Krum with an intensity that made him flinch. "Is it not entirely plausible that Professor Watson is just researching and analyzing that dark period of history from a detached academic perspective?

The simple fact that those parchments are stored in the Restricted Section and not thrown into the fireplace to be instantly burned indicates that they hold some value and worth for further study in certain academic situations. Studying such objects does not equate to actually violating the law or following Grindelwald!"

"Uh, you're absolutely right, Hermy-own-ninny, I misspoke, I just..." Krum stammered, looking extremely embarrassed and flustered. He clearly hadn't anticipated Hermione's sudden anger and intensity, and he also instinctively sensed that, because of his tactless and insensitive comments, his earnest invitation was most likely going to fall through. "So, uh, vould you perhaps… be villing to go to the ball with me..."

But no matter the odds, Krum still felt compelled to try, holding out a faint hope.

"Sorry, Krum, but I really don't think that would be at all appropriate now," Hermione said in a clipped tone. "If attending the Yule Ball is an official champion's obligation, then I will of course go as required, but under the circumstances, I'd rather attend with my fellow Gryffindor classmates."

With that, Hermione turned on her back and tossed her hair haughtily as she strode down the corridor, her arrogant manner somewhat was similar that of Fleur Delacour's characteristic haughtiness. However, after descending a few steps along the dusty stone corridor, Hermione suddenly stopped and turned back to face Krum one last time.

"And one more thing, I truly don't believe there's a single thing about Grindelwald that's worthy of Professor Watson's admiration. In fact, I'm quite certain Professor Watson is far, far superior to the likes of Grindelwald, both in terms of magical prowess and strength of moral character!"

As Hermione's footsteps faded, the corridor in front of the library returned to its usual funereal silence. Hermione had completely left the scene, leaving behind only a dejected and stunned Krum slouching sullenly at the edge of the archway, alone with his dark thoughts.

Bryan had not anticipated that he would inadvertently ruin what could have been a successful date between the two young people. At the same time, regrettably, he had also completely missed hearing some truly valuable and intriguing information contained within the conversation between Hermione and Krum.

Clutching the stack of parchments in hand, Bryan swiftly arrived on the fifth floor and stood thoughtfully in front of the old door to Professor Binns' office. It was arguably the shabbiest and most dilapidated of all the staff offices scattered throughout Hogwarts castle, a fact obviously clear by the antique cobweb-covered oaken door before him.

Doors, of course, were completely useless to Professor Binns, who could effortlessly pass through solid walls while carrying his lesson plans and the essays submitted by his young students.

When Bryan himself had been a student at Hogwarts, he too had been puzzled and intrigued by Binns' extraordinary abilities, because normal ghosts simply did not possess the power to physically touch or manipulate objects in the physical real world, let alone effortlessly switch between physical and ethereal states at will.

As for Peeves, his existence was not that of a simple ghost and could not be considered the same. This abstract question had perplexed Bryan for a very long time, until he finally returned to Hogwarts. With his eyes and perception magically improved, he began to notice some clues.

There seemed to be an extremely rare and special magic in Professor Binns' soul, a powerful magic that not only sustained his mental abilities and clarity through the long years, saving him from the fate of so many other ghosts who gradually became confused and muddled as centuries passed, but it also granted him extraordinary abilities that ordinary ghosts could not possess.

"Please come in..." A weary, gloomy voice finally emanated from behind the door a good while after Bryan gently knocked.

The office itself was fairly clean and well-maintained, as none of the long line of Hogwarts headmasters that Professor Binns had diligently served under would ever have allowed him to grade the young wizards' papers amidst dirt and rubbish.

Therefore, they periodically helped him replace the furnishings and decor in his office over the decades. Every single year, when distributing new timetables and verifying the final student enrollment list for the NEWT-level Advanced History of Magic class, Professor McGonagall would always take some time out of her own busy schedule to tidy things up a bit and keep Binns' office presentable.

Currently, the desk was piled high with thick stacks of graded assignments from students spanning all seven years as well as complicatedly prepared lesson plans stretching out for months in advance. One of the few advantages of being a ghost was not actually requiring sleep, so in terms of pure efficiency in handling his numerous professorial duties, no other Hogwarts staff member could hope to match Professor Binns' tireless work ethic.

The room itself was rather dark and gloomy, with only a sliver of pale sunlight shining through the narrow gap between the two tightly closed velvet curtains, casting a thin, pale beam of light across the flagstone floor.

As Bryan respectfully entered, the normally idle Professor Binns could be seen floating silently in front of the cold, long-extinguished fireplace, utterly lost in some deep trance.

"Good afternoon, Professor Binns. I sincerely hope I'm not disturbing you at an inconvenient time..." Bryan began softly and politely, not wishing to startle the ghost professor.

Binns slowly rotated in midair to face Bryan directly, staring at him with a scary intensity as if truly seeing him for the very first time. "Are you perhaps here to submit that unacceptable essay at long last, Mr. Zlanite?"

Professor Binns' look of surprise and confusion was not at all unusual. In his hazy, flickering recollection, it was not yet time to issue updated class timetables or finalize student enrollment lists for the term.

"Ahem, well..." Bryan coughed softly into his fist a couple of times to cover his momentary amusement. "Actually, Professor, I'm Bryan Watson, you may recall..."

"Bryan Watson?" Professor Binns repeated slowly, blinking rapidly as he racked his brain. Then a sudden spark of recognition seemed to flare behind his ghostly eyes. "Ah, might you be referring to the same Bryan Watson who, back in September 1994 at the 422nd Quidditch World Cup final, arrested the dark witch Cliodna, who was in the midst of preparing to launch a terrorist attack?"

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