Chapter 725: A World Tearing Apart

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Insight was one of the most hotly debated subjects in the Study Space.

The theory itself had first been proposed by Ravenclaw, and Andros was one of its believers.

Insight was a form of understanding that transcended logic and experience. Unlike ordinary learning, where knowledge accumulated step by step, Insight was instantaneous comprehension: a flash of intuition that revealed the answer all at once.

Call it enlightenment or a sudden awakening, it was as though some invisible force had quietly untied the knots in your mind.

Ravenclaw believed in it because she had experienced it herself. More than once.

To her, it was a gift of wisdom.

And Tom’s new talent, Infinite Insight, made entering that state of enlightenment infinitely easier for him than it was for anyone else. Especially when he was obsessed with solving a particular problem.

He could force his way beyond the limits of his own understanding and, through sheer unreasonable persistence, arrive at insights that should have been impossible.

That ability was downright absurd.

Once Tom understood what it actually did, surprise spread across his face.

"...Isn’t this basically ’if I keep insisting hard enough, reality eventually agrees with me?’"

As long as he stubbornly chased a problem to the bitter end, he’d eventually punch straight through the dead end and see the open sky beyond.

He really wanted to test it.

The problem was, he had no idea how long this state would last.

The world was balanced on a knife’s edge right now. This was the worst possible time to disappear into a days-long—or even weeks-long—trance.

If he woke up only to find the world had already gone to hell... who exactly was he supposed to complain to?

So despite his curiosity, Tom forced himself to shelve the idea.

Besides, he’d only beaten Ravenclaw. It wasn’t as though he’d become obsessed with knowledge like Ravenclaw.

...

Returning to reality, Tom climbed into his bed in the Pocket World and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning, he was awakened by a faint vibration.

Opening his eyes, he saw the iCodex on his bedside table glowing softly as it buzzed nonstop.

Tom sighed.

Picking it up, he ignored the long list of unread messages and immediately sent Dumbledore a video call.

The connection was accepted almost at once.

Dumbledore’s trademark white beard filled the crystalline surface, along with his aged face.

He looked utterly exhausted.

The fatigue and worry etched into his expression made it obvious he’d been awake all night.

"Professor, you don’t look too good. You look like you’ve been hit with a dozen Exhaustion Charms."

At a time like this, Tom was probably the only person still in the mood to crack jokes.

Dumbledore, however, couldn’t manage a laugh. He merely forced out a stiff smile. "Sorry to interrupt your rest, Tom."

A noisy uproar echoed from behind him. A crowd of people seemed to be arguing loudly about something.

"You’re at the Ministry of Magic?"

It sounded like a question, but Tom already knew the answer. He had just heard Amelia Bones and Fudge shouting at each other.

"One moment." Dumbledore picked up the codex and walked away. Before long, he stepped into a quiet storage closet filled with cleaning supplies.

"Tom," he said with a weary sigh, "let me bring you up to speed. The situation isn’t quite as bad as we feared... though in the end, that doesn’t make much difference."

Tom nodded, "I’m listening."

"Less than twelve hours after the unrest in New York began, governments around the world had already learned that the existence of wizards had been exposed—and that magic had been performed openly in front of ordinary people."

"Not long afterward, once the major Muggle news organizations confirmed their sources, they began reporting the story nonstop. Every newspaper headline, every news broadcast was about the incident."

"Of course, the accuracy of those reports varied wildly."

A self-deprecating smile crossed Dumbledore’s face. "Oddly enough, thanks to so much irresponsible reporting, people have started doubting whether any of it is true."

Even he never imagined the day would come when he’d be grateful for the media’s tendency to exaggerate.

Whether Muggle or wizarding press, they had unintentionally bought them precious time.

Tom had already guessed where this was going. "So apart from the people at the top who already knew wizards existed... most ordinary people are still skeptical?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Take Britain, for example. Anyone with family, friends, or coworkers in New York—and who heard firsthand accounts from them—has no doubt that it happened. But there are also traditional conservatives and people who simply don’t trust the media. They think this is just another publicity stunt or some new trick by the government."

"You know... like that..."

"UFO?" Tom offered helpfully.

"Oh, yes. That’s the one." Dumbledore chuckled. "For all we know, they probably think we’re the aliens."

The joke quickly faded. "There are also plenty of people sitting on the fence. They believe the incident happened, but they can’t accept that a hidden society of wizards really exists. So they’ve started digging for information. According to Muggle officials, their libraries are practically overflowing with people."

"That’s where things stand at the moment. The only good news is that no direct conflict has broken out yet."

"But the bad news is that now people are alert to anything remotely connected to magic. Any unusual incident attracts enormous attention."

"In just one night, wizard exposures have already occurred in France, Germany, Spain, and several other countries. The local Ministries of Magic have done everything they can to contain the damage... but if this continues, total exposure is only a matter of time."

Dumbledore let out another long sigh, "Tom... What do you think of the current situation?"

Tom considered it for a moment before giving his answer, "A world that’s splitting apart."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "Exactly. The world is being torn in two. It could still head toward two completely different... even completely opposite futures."

He paused.

No matter how reluctant he was to admit it, the words still came, "...We have to prepare for war."

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