Writing Competition

Albus Dumbledore apparated into the dark forest, only minutes away from the quaint, quiet town. Tonight though, it was anything from peaceful; to Dumbledore, it all had to do with obligation.

For Dumbledore, it would have been easier to let his former best-friend march around and gather all the followers he needed without doing anything to stop him, but, as Dumbledore had realized two nights ago, sometimes, it's necessary to do what is right rather than what is easy. Yes, Dumbledore used to be great friends with the notorious Gellert Grindelwauld. Gellert had been a quiet type when Albus had known him; he hadn't shown any signs of being an evil wizard, except perhaps his ambition. Similarly to Dumbledore, Grindelwauld had great ambition, the only difference was that Dumbledore chose not to act upon this ambition. Or at least, he acted upon the good of it. Dumbledore had admired Gellert, watched him get expelled from Durmstrang, devised plans with him to help better the Wizarding World, and he had even devoted his life "for the greater good" along with him, but things had gotten way out of hand. It was time for Dumbledore to bring an end to this darkness.

Walking towards the panicked town, Dumbledore sucked in the cool, night air with trepidation, and as he narrowed his eyes towards the streets of the town, he was able to sight his target.

"Gellert!" he yelled across the field. "It's over! Leave these people alone!"

Grindelwauld turned slowly. He had surprisingly dark hair, and a very young face compared to Dumbledore, though they were the same age. He narrowed his green eyes and saw Albus striding through the plain, he laughed at the comment, and with a final thrust of his wand, he turned away from the town and towards his enemy.

Dumbledore saw the look in his eyes, and he realized that Gellert knew this was no game; it would come down to a struggle.

They both halted when they were approximately thirty feet apart, each sizing up the other with intrigue and fear.

Grindelwauld was the first to speak: "You betrayed me!" he snarled, "We were supposed to do this together. Remember? For the greater good."

Dumbledore shook his head, "I never intended it to come as far as you have taken it, Gellert. Now," his voice took a pleading tone, "come back to the light." he said with earnest.

Gellert burst out laughing, "I'm not afraid of power as you are, Albus. I'm willing to do anything to consolidate the Wizarding World." he paused, "Even if it means killing muggles."

With that comment, Dumbledore realized with solemnity that there was no hope.

He bowed his head, "It's a shame it had to come to this, Gellert; I loved you." And with that, Dumbledore drew his wand.

Grindelwauld answered by raising his, causing Albus to gasp. He recognized the subtle knobs that ran along its shaft, it was the Elder Wand.

Grindelwauld snarled and thrust his wand foward, a shower of sparks issuing from it with a hiss. Albus countered with a whooshing wave of water and the two spells canceled each other out. The duel had begun. With a swish, the two grand wizards moved back and forth, their wands barely a blur. Grindelwauld was sending bursts of darkness over and over again in an attempt to overwhelm his opponent, but Dumbledore would have nothing of it. The latter conjured a big, white snake and sent it at the former, crouching to avoid its damage. Grindelwauld stood his ground and whispered something to the snake. Dumbledore realized with horror that Gellert had spoken Parseltongue, and watched as the snake immediately turned from white to green and came slithering towards him. Dumbledore had no choice, he pointed his wand at the snake, shouted Avada Kedavra and started running towards the forest in which he had arrived in.

Grindelwauld laughed and sprinted after him, sending a multitude of tricky tripping curses at Albus. Albus screeched to a halt and pointed his wand at a thick, towering tree. The tree started swaying and fell with a bang in Gellert's direction, who was caught off guard and had to dive towards the right to avoid the tree.

Dumbledore took this moment to gain an advantage: he sent a whirling tornado at Grindlewauld, who was struggling to get on his feet, and watched as his enemy was thrown violently backwards.

Grindelwauld groaned and thrust his arms outward, causing leaping flames to appear between him and Dumbledore.

Dumbledore paused and knelt on the ground. He stuck his wand towards the heavens and yelled a series of harsh sounding words. Then, closing his eyes, he swayed his wand-arm back and forth, and quietly muttered a long, incomprehensive hex.

He did this as quickly as possible, since Grindelwauld was quickly regaining his composure.

And then, just as Gellert was about to round the flames and curse Albus into oblivion, a bright, direct beam of light shone down from the heavens. It located Grindelwauld, and, hovering over him, its intensity doubled and its color changed from golden to bright orange.

Grindelwauld screamed as Albus rose from his kneeling position and approached his enemy with caution. He watched with reproach as the beam of orange light seared Gellert with an overwhelming heat over and over again.

He paused, stuck out hand towards the Elder Wand and grunted. The Elder Wand silently rose in midair, hovered for a moment over its former master and then, seemingly flushed with ambition, it dropped at the feet of its new master.

Dumbledore, his prize in hand, waved his former wand, commanding the beam to cease its destruction. Dumbledore clutched the Elder Wand and silently walked back away from the fire, determined to alert The Ministry that their top target was capturable. A single tear escaped his eye as he disapparated away from the terrible scene.

Alex Montgomery

Ravenclaw