Chapter 24
"Have our guests been taken care of, Augery?" Voldemort asked Delphi.
"Of course, my Lord," she said, bowing her head. "They are awaiting your visit."
"Excellent. Now, leave me. I have work to do. And send in Grindelwald," he ordered.
"As you wish, my Lord," Delphi said, walking backwards to exit, so as not to disrespect her father by turning her back to him. A minute later, Grindelwald entered Voldemort's tent, which was less like a tent and more like a mansion.
"You wanted to see me, my Lord?" Grindelwald questioned.
"Yes, Grindelwald. I have devised a plan, one that will use your assets to our great advantage," Voldemort explained.
"Please do enlighten me, if you so choose, my Lord," Grindelwald responded.
"Very well," Voldemort began. "It has come to my attention that Dumbledore and a small band of his ignorant young supporters have come after us. They seem to think that they can defeat us. Of course they cannot. You may be wondering why I don't just kill them. Well, that was, of course, my first thought. But, as it is, it seems they have a use to me. Or rather, your former beloved. I have been hiding something from my followers. The Carrows are the only ones who know of this hinderance. It seems that, when Harry Potter sealed the Elder Wand back into the White Tomb, he locked it with blood magic so that only Albus Dumbledore could open the tomb. Of course, only a short time ago, this would have meant that the tomb was permanently sealed. But now, with the return of Dumbledore, that is no longer true. I, of course, would go and fetch him myself, but there is one slight problem. The blood magic seal can only be broken if the person whose blood it requires gives it willingly. This is where you come in,"
"You want me to infiltrate their camp and use my….unique leverage to fool Dumbledore into willingly breaking the blood magic," Grindelwald stated.
"Precisely," Voldemort confirmed. "You must be sure to gain his complete trust. Go to any means necessary. He is not daft, I'll give him that. But, as I always say, love is weakness, and not even the great Albus Dumbledore is immune to it."
—
It was nearly sundown, but Dumbledore and the kids were still outside practicing defensive spells.
"Expecto Patronum!" cried Scorpius. A dragon erupted from his wand, and flew over to play with Albus's orca whale patronus.
"Curious," said Dumbledore to himself. Landry overheard him.
"What is?" she asked, curiously.
"Oh, I was simply thinking of your thestral patronus," Dumbledore replied.
"What about it?" Landry questioned.
"I don't think that it was stated before just how unusual it really is, Landry" he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"There have only been a handful of witches and wizards to ever possess such a patronus," Dumbledore explained. "Actually, I would go so far as to say there have only ever been around ten others with this capability."
"Woah…really? Landry gasped.
"Yes, really," said Dumbledore. He was still clearly in deep thought. Finally, he turned to Landry. "Are you familiar with Sybill Trelawney? he asked.
"Yeah, she's my Divinations teacher," Landry answered.
"Excellent. Now, I cannot see what goes on in the realm of the living, but there are some that can. Those who were seers in life are seers in death," Dumbledore explained.
"What are you talking about, Mr. Dumbledore?" Landry said, skeptically.
"Cassandra Trelawney is the proud owner of a sort of business in the afterlife," said Dumbledore. Landry's jaw dropped.
"A-afterlife?" she questioned.
"Indeed. You didn't think it all ended when you die, did you?" Dumbledore smirked.
"I….I don't know," Landry confessed.
"It's quite alright, Landry," Dumbledore comforted. "It is a world I cannot describe, so I won't attempt to. But as I said once before to Harry Potter, don't pity the dead. Pity the living."
"Sounds good, sir," Landry said, in shock.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Very well then. As I was saying, Cassandra Trelawney runs a lovely business in the afterlife. She keeps everyone updated on the goings-on of those that we dearly departed left behind. Instead of seeing the future, she can now see into the mortal realm," he explained.
"Brilliant, sir!" Landry exclaimed with fascination.
"It is rather, brilliant, isn't it? As you may imagine, Cassandra likes to keep an eye on her great-great-granddaughter," said Dumbledore.
"Professor Trelawney," Landry stated.
"Yes, Professor Trelawney. A few years ago, Cassandra witnessed Sybill make a prophecy, the third she had ever made. She was alone in her office, and I fear nobody would have heard her if Cassandra had not been listening in. Luckily, she was. Do you have any guesses as to what this prophecy said, Landry?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, sir. You just said that nobody in the…mortal realm knew of this prophecy, so it's not really logical that I would be able to make an accurate guess as to…." Landry trailed off. "That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?" she asked, embarrassed.
"It was, but that is quite alright, Landry. I see why you were sorted into Ravenclaw," Dumbledore said.
"What did Professor Trelawney see?" Landry asked, practically dripping with anticipation.
Dumbledore opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a sudden noise that sounded as though something had been electrocuted. The force field dome around them rippled. Albus ran up to them. "It's Grindelwald. He's found us," Albus said, petrified with fear. Landry's heart began to race.
"What do we do?" Albus asked.
"Albus, you, Miles, and Scorpius take Pippa and hide in the tent. Genevieve and I will go with Dumbledore to confront him," Landry said.
Landry could tell that Albus was about to protest, but it seemed that he had thought better of it, so he just nodded and ran off. Genevieve soon came dashing past them, not stopping as she cried out to them, "Let's go!"
Landry, Genevieve, and Dumbledore sprinted to the place where the ripple had come from, arriving just in time to see Grindelwald strike the force field with another volt of electricity. "He cannot see us, but he knows we are here," Dumbledore observed.
"What should we do?" Landry asked.
"Leave this to me. You two, hide. Somewhere that you can still see us if things go south," Dumbledore instructed.
Landry and Genevieve dashed towards a stocky tree, hiding behind it. They watched as Dumbledore tapped his wand to the force field and said the password that would allow him to exit it. He walked through, and Grindelwald gave a start when Dumbledore appeared.
"You frightened me, Albus," he said.
"What are you here for, Gellert?" Dumbledore asked.
"You," said Grindelwald.
"You're here to kill me? I'm sorry, Gellert, but unfortunately I cannot be killed using the usual methods. You would have to have possession of the Resurrection Stone to be able to send me back to my rightful realm," Dumbledore informed him.
"No, I am not here to kill you, Albus," Grindelwald said. He took a step towards Dumbledore.
"Are you here to kidnap me, then?" Dumbledore said, trying to ignore the odd feeling that was spreading through his chest as Grindelwald stepped closer yet.
"No, Albus, don't you understand?" Grindelwald said. He suddenly grabbed Dumbledore by the waist and pulled him towards himself. Landry's jaw dropped, and she gasped.
"What? What are they doing? What's happening?" Genevieve prodded. She was hiding in a position that she could not see Dumbledore and Grindelwald from.
"They're…" Landry trailed off.
"Dueling? Wrestling?" Genevieve guessed.
"Kissing," Landry said. Genevieve's eyes widened. She quickly scrambled up and joined Landry in peeking out from behind the tree. Sure enough, there they were.
"Oh my god!" Genevieve exclaimed. "They're literally making out, gross! They're worse than you and Miles!"
"That is hardly the point, Genevieve," Landry said.
"Is Dumbledore Confunded? Imperioed? Did Grindelwald force something down Dumbledore's throat? Besides his tongue…" Genevieve said, shuttering in disgust.
"I really don't think so. I would've seen that. I'm so confused," Landry stated.
Eventually Dumbledore and Grindelwald broke apart. "I'm still in love with you, Albus," Grindelwald said. Dumbledore had, for once, completely lost his composure.
"I don't understand, Gellert," was all he could say in response.
"I realized a lot while being imprisoned in Nurmengard, and even more while being dead," Grindelwald started. "I always thought that enslaving Muggles was the most important thing. I thought that it was 'For the greater good,' I thought that it would make the world the way I perceived it should be. But I was wrong, Albus. None of that matters. It never did. I was a boy, blinded by power. All those lonely days I spent, sitting on the cold stone, I only wished for one thing. Your presence. The chance to apologize. I deserved what I got, Albus. I truly did, and I surely deserve much more. The death of Ariana was a crime that no punishment could make up for. I know I don't deserve it, but I have come to ask, to beg, not for your forgiveness, but to join you. You spent your whole life fighting for the true greater good. Now I would like to do the same with this new chance at life I was given. I had come to Godric's Hollow to clear my head and to figure out how best to do that when I saw you and these brave children appear in the street. I knew I had to find you, to beg you to let me join your company. I have changed, Albus. I am ready to do what you knew all along was right. And I want to do it alongside the man I love."
Dumbledore had tears in his eyes. He felt utterly and completely raw, his usual front of calm and wiseness had been stripped away. "What about what you said when we first arrived here?" he asked, blinking the tears away as best he could.
"My mind was jumbled, I was not thinking straight. It seems that coming back to life can cause some confusion," Grindelwald chuckled.
"It's quite alright, Gellert. I was not entirely sure of my memories when I first arrived, either, Dumbledore said.
Grindelwald smiled. "So…does this mean…" he trailed off, giving Dumbledore a questioning look.
"I would be honored to fight alongside you again, Gellert," Dumbledore said, finally letting his tears fall free.
Grindelwald threw his arms around Dumbledore.
Meanwhile, Landry and Genevieve were still watching, in shock after hearing what had just happened. "What in the name of Merlin is happening?" asked Genevieve.
"I don't know," Landry said. "But this cannot be what it seems to be."