Epilogue Part 2: Light and Dark

One Year Later
BILD Headquarters, Germany

"Sir, there's a... 'Harry Rosier' is here to see you?"

"Not now, Erna," replied Mr. Reichelt, the editor in chief of the most popular newspaper/tabloid in Germany. "Those idiots in the ICW are about to release the magical equivalent of Hitler from jail and everyone is scrambling to cover the story. Tell this 'Harry Rosier' to come back another day."

Erna didn't hang up on her end, and Mr. Reichelt could hear the faintest traces of conversation through the line.

"Um," Erna said after a time, "He says he has information about Grindelwald."

"Yeah, just like every other solicitor for the past year."

When Erna responded, it was in a whisper. "This one feels different. I think... I think he might be magical."

Mr. Reichelt's eyes widened. He thought for a few moments, realised this might actually be genuine, then said, "Alright, send him up."

"Okay."

When the call ended, Mr. Reichelt leaned back in his chair and whispered a quiet "Scheisse." He normally didn't swear, but it just came out. He had many conflicting feelings, some positive, but most negative and stressful.

On the one hand, Germany had developed a culture of near self-flagellation about WWII and Hitler over the past seventy years, meaning he and all his countrymen were loathe to discriminate in any way. Especially against a group of people that might have, once upon a time, been called 'gypsies'.

On the other hand, what wizards could do was downright terrifying. Thankfully their own society already outlawed the worst of it by the time they came out into the open, but you never could predict when a 'Dark Wizard' would ignore all those laws.

On the third limb, there was a lot of good that wizards could bring the world, especially in the field of medicine. And on the fourth, non-wizards had plenty to offer in return, especially in the field of technology. It wouldn't be like a thousand years ago, or even four hundred years ago. The world was a safer place now, generally speaking. More open, more trade, fewer wars, less conflict.

But Mr. Reichelt had never personally met any wizards, so everything he knew about them was based on what others knew about them. They were rare, often keeping to themselves. He'd only read a few of their history books, and what he'd read had scared him. Memory wipes, torturing people into insanity, killing anything in an instant, mind-reading, mind control, love potions, the list went on and on.

Hopefully whoever was coming up was NOT a Dark Wizard. Part of why he'd told Erna to send the visitor up was that, if he was one, there wasn't anything he or Erna would be able to do to stop him. Weapons weren't allowed on the premises, and the law hadn't advanced enough to consider wands weapons. And some wizards didn't even need wands to do magic, so it's not like outlawing wands would do much but anger the wizards. Of course, there was always the possibility Erna had just been mistaken and this wouldn't be a wizard at all.

But when the visitor entered his office, Mr. Reichelt immediately realized why his secretary thought he could be magical. He looked normal enough – not wearing those ridiculous robes that most wizards wore in the pictures – but the air began brimming with something the moment he stepped into the room.

"Herr Reichelt?" the man asked in a flawless German accent. Perhaps this was a fellow countryman.

"Ja," replied Reichelt. "You have information on Grindelwald?"

"Yes," said the man. "But before that, I'd like you to read two articles. One of them is in English, but I can translate it if you'd like. They're related to the information I want to show you."

Mr. Reichelt's eyebrows rose at the two articles which were placed on his desk. Both were clearly magical, with moving pictures on plain-looking paper. He'd seen a few videos online of this sort of magic, but he'd never seen it in person. He picked up both articles, one in each hand.

The first was from a publication called Transfiguration Today with a title that read, "Harry James Potter: Defeater of Grindelwald". The other was in English, so it took only slightly longer for Mr. Reichelt to understand that it was called The Daily Prophet.

"You don't need to read the second one," said the man. "It's rather long. But the first one is necessary to understand what I'm about to show you, and the second one will help."

"I'll read both," said Mr. Reichelt at once. Magical literature was so hard to come by. "And I don't need help translating. But it will take some time."

"I'll sit down," said the man, heading to a chair in the corner of the room and pulling out a book from a pocket of his jeans that should not have been large enough to hold it. "If you have any questions, just ask."

"Herr Rosier?" said the editor.

Harry looked up from his book. "Yes? Are you finished reading?"

The man was now regarding Harry with an indecipherable expression. It was like he wanted to be afraid, in awe, skeptical, disbelieving, and confused all at once. Except his face couldn't decide which emotion it wanted to be wearing.

Harry carefully made the effort to not use Legilimency to discover what the man was feeling and thinking. After all, Harry wouldn't want someone else reading his own mind out of the blue.

"I am... finished reading," the man said slowly, looking between Harry and the moving pictures – one of which depicted Harry at age 12, the other depicting him at an age that much more closely resembled his current appearance. "Am I... supposed to offer my congratulations?"

Harry grinned. Everyone always assumed he was bragging.

"It would not go unappreciated, but that's not why I'm here. Are you familiar with the magical art of memory-sharing?"

The editor's eyes widened. "Only slightly..." said Mr. Reichelt. "I've heard of it, at least. You wish to share a memory with me?"

"Four memories, actually," Harry corrected. "All of Grindelwald. The process can be disorienting, especially if you're not magical, but the fact that the memories are all in German should help a little, and anyone can get used to it over time, even non-wizards."

The editor sat silently for a long moment, probably considering the pros of them being of Grindelwald versus the cons of memory-sharing.

"You promise that I won't be harmed?" he asked eventually.

"Yes," Harry said. "Well, at least, not physically," he amended. "I can't promise you won't be emotionally harmed, but that has nothing to do with the magic. Emotional harm is an inherent risk in any important conversation. I promise it's not my intent to harm you, but there's always a chance of it happening anyway. Also, I need your consent to the magic, legally speaking."

The editor sat silently for another long moment. "Very well. I consent to being showed the memories. How does it work?"

Harry drew his wand, pulled the first memory from his mind, and walked calmly towards the editor, his chair following obediently behind him. "This is the first memory. We'll go one at a time, in chronological order. Lean forward."

First two memories: First two scenes of previous chapter.

Third Memory:

"I see you have returned," rasped the man in the cell.

"I see you have read at least some of the books," Harry said, looking at the neatly/respectfully stacked books in the cell.

"I read them ALL."

"Couldn't stop yourself?" Harry asked with a knowing grin.

The man said nothing.

"Here's the rest, as promised." Harry tossed another set of books into the cell. "They aren't as engaging as the first set..." Harry tossed a large binder full of loose leaf, two cases of mechanical pencils, a pad of graph paper, a ruler, a protractor, a compass, an eraser, and a calculator into the cell, "...unless you put in the work yourself. In which case they are MORE engaging than the first. The answers are in the back of the book, so you don't need a teacher to tell you what you got wrong."

The old man ignored the new books, instead focusing on the graphing calculator. "What is this?"

"A muggle device known as a calculator. It can do arithmancy without magic, and it can do arithmancy BETTER than magic. I'd recommend NOT using it for anything other than checking your work. Using it to do maths for you is a bad habit, one which all of the BEST muggle arithmancers break eventually, or never develop in the first place... but you can do as you please. Instructions on how to use it can be found in one of the textbooks."

Fourth Memory:

"I swear never to treat a muggle any differently than I would treat a wizard."

"I swear never to engage in the Dark Arts for malicious, vengeful, or emotional purposes ever again. Academic and industrious purposes only, with self-defense only as a pure last resort, and use in duels permitted only if the other party consents to their use."

"I swear never to engage in revenge or vengeance."

"I swear never to pursue dictatorship, rulership, or authoritarianism by any means."

"I swear to do my best to obey and uphold the laws of the ICW and the Geneva Convention, and to serve my CURRENT sentence of community service. No, I will NOT swear to serve ANY sentence you issue, lest you lot attempt to change it in the future and make me your slave."

"I swear..." the old man's voice trembled. "I swear to abandon what I once called the Greater Good. I swear to pursue a world of cooperation between muggles and wizardkind, unless the ICW allows me – by unanimous vote – to do otherwise. In that one case, I swear to pursue what I deem, in my own best judgement, to be the best course for all of humankind, and to not commit or arrange to be committed any atrocities or evils during that pursuit."

"What was the purpose of that last Vow?" Mr. Reichelt asked in an extremely worried tone of voice as soon as the memory ended.

"A war deterrent," Harry sighed sadly. "And the only way they could get Grindelwald to agree to the Vows, even after he changed his mind enough to agree to take them. He wasn't about to swear any Vow that completely ignored the possibility of the muggle world attempting to wipe out the magical world. The ICW is pursuing peace, but if there's ever a unanimous vote to go to war, like the constantly-infighting American congress unanimously decided to go to war after Pearl Harbor... well, think of Grindelwald as the magical world's equivalent to a Nuclear Bomb. They don't want to use him, but they will if they have to. And the ICW wants the rest of the world to know that, too."

At Mr. Reichelt's horrified expression, Harry grinned ruefully.

"Plus, this leaves open the possibility of his help if we ever get invaded by an... extra-planetary threat. Not that I think an alien invasion is likely, but it's just one more thing to consider."

The joke didn't seem to quell the editor's fears in the slightest, or the tension in the air.

"Don't worry too much," Harry sighed. "That final clause wasn't included in the other four vows, so even if he is released from the fifth one, he still has to avoid authoritarianism, the Dark Arts, discrimination against non-wizards, and anything that would violate the Geneva Convention."

I was going to end it there, but...

Years Later...

DAILY PROPHET, AUGUST 5, 2052, FRONT PAGE:

Albus Grindelwald: Born of a Devil, Raised as a Saint

Witches and Gentlewizards, do I have a story for you. Albus Grindelwald, son of the infamous Gellert Grindelwald, has done the impossible.

Almost exactly fifty years ago to this day, I wrote an article describing how the Man-Who-Lives achieved Mastery in every available course at the Durmstrang Institute of Magic, and I jokingly wrote at the time that it would never be broken unless the school added a few courses. Well, Durmstrang DID add a few courses, and wouldn't you know it, one student took and mastered every single one. I never thought I would see the day when Magus Rosier's impossible record was broken, but I was sorely mistaken. Just as some of us did fifty years ago, let us go down the final tally of the accomplishments of the wizarding world's newest rising star.

The young Mr. Grindelwald's first Mastery, in the Light Arts, is perhaps his most significant...

Welp, that's it, folks. Nothing more to add, really.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.