The Legendary Duel
Chapter One-shot: The Legendary Duel
A/N: This is not tied to my Albus Potter series in any way. Just a standalone, and my take on how the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald went. Hope you all like it!
The castle of Schwerin in Germany had been Grindelwald's main base. Situated on an island in the middle of the Schweriner See Lake, the castle stood as majestic as ever, its back reflection seen in the crystal clear lake. It was then used as a museum for Muggles but Grindelwald used the cover for war to close it down and had waited there for two weeks for someone he was expecting. Ever since he found the Wand of Elhorn, he had expected a visitor. None other than his best friend Albus Dumbledore.
Countless of his followers were in the castle with him, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Whoever won the Muggle conflict in Germany, he was planning on taking advantage of the weakness whatever winning side sustained and fighting them, thus revealing the Wizarding world to the Muggles. Grindelwald at that time had long blonde hair in a ponytail at the back, staring out at the gardens, watching intently for any sign of opposition.
A loud bang went off downstairs but Grindelwald thought nothing of it. He continued watching the outside, taking in the scenery. He knew it would be used to aid him in what was coming. There was a small pond in the middle of the gardens which were filled with scenic flowers and lush green grass. He smiled as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"The naïve youngling, who aspired to much the same goals as I," Grindelwald muttered as the footsteps stopped. "To bring the Muggle government down, for their own good reveal the existence of Wizards, a power greater than they." Grindelwald did not turn but kept his eyes on the outside. "For why else did God create such powerful beings if they were not destined to rule? If they were not destined to force the lower beings into service of the greater good. Already, they follow their own pathetic leaders out of fear of their power."
Grindelwald did not yet turn. His eyes rested solely on the scene outside. A small group of witches and wizards were outside the gates of the castle grounds, battling with his followers. His followers were few in number now. More failed to come. They were held up by the very person who stood behind him. Grindelwald continued, "Now, this old friend seeks to right my wrong, to save the Wizarding world, no the whole world from the brink of a new era. The lublic cried, children screamed, the parents begged for help and help refuses to come… until now, until the enemy receives a power second to no one. That, my friend is why you have come." And he turned. Facing him across the room was Albus Dumbledore, wand pointing at him.
Dumbledore was unlike Grindelwald in appearance. Though they both had a ponytail, Dumbledore had auburn hair and a long beard coming down to his chest. The two men faced each other across the room but Grindelwald had a lack of fear in his eyes, even when facing the Wizard with greater skill than he. The only Wizard he respected.
"You are too late, Albus," Grindelwald said frankly. "I have attained a greater power than your naivety could ever hope to achieve. I have acquired the Wand of Elhorn. The invincible wand of Elder. There is no way you are able to defeat me now. I have won. And with your mind at an uneasy point, guilt that you, perhaps are the one who killed your dear pathetic sister, in an attempt to make amends for yourself, to put your mind at ease. That, my old friend is why you have come."
"It's time for me to right a great wrong I am afraid I may have committed," Dumbledore said calmly, unfazed by Grindelwald's attempts at trickery.
"And now you come?" Grindelwald said testily. "The countless lives you might have saved had you come earlier. No, you choose now, as the Muggle war draws to a close. You truly are, always were and always will be a selfish individual."
"We both know that is a time and a place for everything," Dumbledore said calmly, advancing on him. "Confronting you from the beginning will not have done what I intend on doing now." And Dumbledore said his wand, signaling the time for talk was over.
"I know your game," Grindelwald spoke quietly. "I always will. Because you and I are a lot alike, are we not, my Freund."
As Grindelwald addressed Dumbledore, he bowed respectfully which Dumbledore returned. For both their sakes, the duel would be based on mutual respect but with full intent to humiliate and degrade on both sides. Dumbledore struck the first blow when he waved his wand horizontally, "Stupefy!"
It was not one red jet of light that escaped, but a red wave that shot jets in different directions. Those behind Dumbledore, the few witches and Wizards of the opposition against Grindelwald backed away in shock. No one had seen such a powerful Stunning spell before. Grindelwald was unfazed by the show of force Dumbledore came in with. Grindelwald conjured a Shield Charm to deflect the spell back at Dumbledore but it missed. A powerful blast emanated from Grindelwald's wand next but it hit the rocks above Dumbledore's head, sending them crashing down on him.
The room was evacuated by all else who resided there as the two started battling it out. As the rocks tumbled down on Dumbledore, the man raised his wand and transfigured the rocks into hard missiles before directing them all at Grindelwald. Grindelwald laughed coldly as he let out a massive Reduction Curse which reduced them to mere sand. Dumbledore was ready though. A flick of his wand reanimated the sand into glass, sharp glass which flew at Grindelwald.
Grindelwald turned quickly and the window behind him shattered. The water from the pond rose up as Grindelwald dropped down, avoiding the incoming glass shards. The glass from the broken window meanwhile flew at Dumbledore as a great torrent of water from the pond ascended to break Grindelwald's fall. He landed safely on the pavement below. He immediate used the lower ground to his advantage and blasted a hole in the castle where Dumbledore stood.
At first, Dumbledore was out of sight and it seemed Grindelwald had won but his old friend dropped down slowly, unhurt by the drop to the pavement below and shards of glass rotating around his head. A battle had erupted around them, Witches and Wizards fighting it out for the fate of the European Wizarding world. Once grounded, Dumbledore took control of the glass and molded them to form a cocoon around Grindelwald. No sooner had it encased itself around him did the cocoon smash and Dumbledore sent a ball of fire at the glass instead. Grindelwald dived away and, from the side with both his wand and his hands, took control of the fire and using it in combination with the flying glass, formed a fledged metal sword which he wielded and sliced dangerously at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore conjured a shield to break the sword into pieces. Grindelwald raised his wand, eyes wide, "Avada Kedavra!"
The shield, though powerful was not enough to block a curse everyone knew could not be blocked. He threw the shield like a Frisbee at Grindelwald and Apprated from the deadly jet. Grindelwald summoned the shield to land safely in his own hands but Dumbledore was not to be fooled or capitalized against. Grindelwald sent another jet of green light at his former friend. Dumbledore conjured a box to take the hit which burst into flames. Dumbledore manipulated the flames to be sent at Grindelwald.
His mouth open, Grindelwald conjured water from his own body to douse the fire. As the water and fire met in midair, a jet of green light streaked at Grindelwald which he barely managed to avoid. He widened his eyes in surprise at his old friend.
"So, you too have delved into the Dark Arts," Grindelwald said testily from behind his shield. "And you try killing your old friend?"
"Though the Ministry would undoubtedly overlook the murder of a killer," Dumbledore said calmly. "Your failure to recognize a simple Charm stems from your association of spells with a specific color. That was a Memory Charm."
Grindelwald kept his wand pointed at Dumbledore, his chest covered by the shield he had taken away. "What good would a simple Charm do for you?"
"We are both aware, I think of how easy to manipulate a simple mind can be," Dumbledore warned, raising his wand again. At first, nothing happened. But then, the shield was turned into a sharp disc which flew up dangerously close to Grindelwald's neck. It grazed his arm but he Apparated away. The disc twirled and spun around before coming at Grindelwald's neck. A simple Reductor curse took care of it and Grindelwald Charmed the blades to fly at Dumbledore instead. As Dumbledore attempted to block them, Grindelwald raised his wand and cried, "Crucio!"
From the pond, Dumbledore used a torrent of water which solidified into ice to stop the blades. The Cruciatus Curse was absorbed effortlessly into Dumbledore's wand who sent the power back full blast at the wall of ice. The ice shattered slowly down but before they hit the floor, surrounded Grindelwald. A torrent of water surrounded him too, forming a wall of water, being caved in with the ice that was enclosing itself around Grindelwald. The Wizard, trapped on land turned to Apparate but nearly tripped. It failed to work and the ice trapped him in, the water inside suffocating him.
Dumbledore kept him inside for long enough to weaken him a great deal. It was only when Grindelwald was clearly close to unconsciousness when Dumbledore freed him from his icy prison and he successfully disarmed Grindelwald. Dumbledore and the small group of triumphant Witches and Wizards held their wands on Grindelwald, the man beaten into submission, wandless and for the first time, alone.
Grindelwald was to be locked in his own prison but those who remained behind to repair the castle stopped, frozen in awe and fear at what Dumbledore had shown himself to be capable of. One of those who had supported the uprising that ousted Grindelwald was a young man just out of Hogwarts.
"Riddle was it?" a fellow witch asked him, voice shaking in tension at what had transpired there.
Tom Riddle said nothing. He was staring at the spot where Dumbledore had disappeared. He, of course had supported the uprising for his own gains, in an attempt to study the Dark Arts from an oppositional point of view. To study them up close and from the other side, witness them in action from a position of power. They had failed. For the first time proven in all of his studies, the Dark Arts had failed in the face of Albus Dumbledore. Tom Riddle had never known such fear in his life. The man who tailed him, kept a watch on him throughout his entire Hogwarts career, never ceased to irritate him and now, now, he topped the irritation with fear in its truest, most raw, powerful form. Riddle was speechless.
He could do nothing to stop the whispers, the spread of the news. A Professor from Britain had arrived to stop Grindelwald in his tracks to ultimate power.
"And this man will be famous," said one journalist, Miranda Skeeter. "Celebrated Journalist Miranda Skeeter reporting here. The most Legendary duel had taken place on these grounds. Eyewitnesses describe it as the most spectacular duel ever, likely to ever be fought between Wizards. We can safely say the war is over and Albus Dumbledore will travel back to England. Eyewitnesses are awed and inspired by the raw power shown here, one young Wizard in particular refusing to speak of it…"
And so the tale was passed, from generation to generation, in Europe, England and out that Albus Dumbledore had just become the greatest sorcerer in the world. And he was not a Ministry official, not even a Headmaster yet, but a Transfiguration teacher of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.