Gridelwald had only been in England for a few weeks now and his plan was already unfolding perfectly, all because he met Albus Dumbledore. Gellert never thought he'd meet someone as smart as he was but seeing Albus was like looking in a mirror with rose colored glasses because instead of using his intelligence to get himself expelled, Albus was given awards from the magical school he attended. Gellert never really acknowledged the other boys honors to Albus' face but he always knew they were there. He never forgot.
When the two first met, Gellert didn't feel this way. He saw him as another ordinary half-blood. Yet, for respect of his aunt Bathilda's lectures about manners, Gellert extended his firm hand and an enchanting smile. As a teenager, Albus wasn't so social but he kept to his few close friends and his magical studies at Hogwarts. Gellert, however, was a social butterfly; tall and charming with sharp eyes and perfectly light brown locks of hair just past his ears… making the two of them an unlikely pair of friends. But they took a liking to each other and they both had dreams of being very successful wizards and of doing whatever to took to get there.
The two laid out there plans on the table in Gellert's room in his aunt's house.
Dumbledore lifted his head from the pensive before the memory was able to play itself out. He knew that he had won in the end and Grindlewald is locked up in his own prison but he couldn't help but feel guilty for falling for everything he was told back then. Professor Dumbledore worried as he was a headmaster who had only been in his position for a few years now. No longer did he wonder what his other colleagues and students thought of him but there was still a quiet voice in the back of his head nagging him for being so stupid. He was slowly forgiving himself but he wished he could forgive himself sooner. He wished he could stop himself from feeling so stupid every time he thought about it. He wanted to see the day when he would feel normal again.