Chapter 8 is finally here! Apologies for the delay, I got caught up with my other fanfic. This chapter marks the end of a phase of this story, one that began in chapter 2. Hope you like it!

Harry decided to leave for home shortly after meeting Hermione at the lake. He knew that he had already delayed an inevitable conversation and that he couldn't delay it further. He was frankly surprised by the fact that Uncle G hadn't tried contacting him yet. Even though it had only been a day and a half since he left home, the way things went down before that caused Harry's surprise. On his way home, Harry thought of all the things he would say. Forgiving Uncle G was one of them. But apart from that, he knew that there was no better time to emphasize some other things he wanted to. And he knew that it was the perfect time to get real answers to some of the questions he had always had.

"The past 4 days have been crazy," he thought to himself. It had all begun with the death eater attack. The following day he had found out the truth about Uncle G from Hermione. The day after that was fun, but it had ended with his nightmare. And today, he was going to confront Uncle G about everything. A few minutes of cycling and he had reached the gate of the Chateau de la Villette, his home. He parked his bicycle and took out his wand and pointed it at the door.

"Alohomora" muttered Harry and the door opened. Harry went in, he couldn't immediately see Uncle G. So he kept his bicycle key in the stand and went to his room to have a bath and change. Harry got changed and came down to see that the dining table was set. And a moment later his eyes fell on Uncle G. He stopped dead on his track. He didn't know what to say. But he saw a small smile on Uncle G's face.

"Hello, Master Potter! How was your day yesterday?" Grindelwald asked, smiling.

"It was, uh… good. Great actually, we had fun yesterday," replied Harry. He made his way to the table and sat down on one of the chairs.

"Wonderful," replied Grindelwald.

"I am sorry for not informing you that I was going to stay overnight at Kristin's place," said Harry. For some reason, it struck him that starting the conversation on a friendlier note would help him achieve his goals more efficiently, and it seemed to work.

"It's okay, Master Potter," replied Grindelwald. He had to strongly resist the urge to caution Harry, especially since he was being followed the day before by death eaters. But Grindelwald knew that this was no time for caution or for advice. It was time to have a conversation. There would be time available later for those things. Grindelwald was pleasantly surprised to see Harry in a better mood than the last time they saw each other.

"Uncle G! I have questions, and I need answers," said Harry, trying to sound as assertive as possible.

"I know!" replied Grindelwald. "Go on, ask your questions," he added.

"Before I can forgive you, I need to know everything you did. Everything about your life, who you are, what happened in your life, the things you did, your motivations, everything," asked Harry.

"I hope you're hungry," said Grindelwald. He saw the visible confusion on Harry's face and continued, "I'll answer that and other questions you have, don't worry! But we'll talk as we eat."

Sure enough, Harry was in fact hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since the morning, and the swimming and cycling had burnt most of the calories.

"Okay," replied Harry and helped himself to a bit of everything. Once they had started eating, Grindelwald started narrating the story of his life. He began at the beginning, narrating his early life in Hungary before going to Durmstrang, and Harry was hooked. This under different circumstances, better circumstances, would have been a treat. But at that moment, it was more of a necessity. As Grindelwald continued narrating about his life at Durmstrang, his love for magic and his ability to perform them, Harry was transported back to the late 19th century. Harry had read about the wizarding school in one of the books, but like Hogwarts, the only image he had in his head was one of imagination. It was fascinating for Harry to listen to all the interesting things Grindelwald experimented on as a child. Yes, some of them were dangerous, but they were also interesting. But some of those experiments ended badly, sometimes even hurting his classmates. And then Grindelwald was expelled. Harry's jaw dropped. Even though there was no visible emotion on Grindelwald's face, Harry could only imagine what it must have been like to have been expelled. But to his surprise, Grindelwald told Harry that being expelled was one of the best things to have happened to him. It had pushed Grindelwald to do bigger and better things. Grindelwald then talked about going to Godric's Hollow and meeting Dumbledore. He conveniently left out the Deathly Hallows from his story, for it was going to pop up in a different part of the conversation. Harry had never heard much about Dumbledore from Grindelwald. Throughout the years, Dumbledore's name was mentioned a few times in their conversations, but never to the extent like it was happening now. Harry had 2 great friends, and he'd describe his time with them as his most favourite thing in the world, but listening to Grindelwald speak about Dumbledore, reminded him again how much he missed a friend that matched his wavelength. Magnus was fun to hang out with, a sort of friend that perfectly described the saying, "he'd take a bullet for his friend". Kristin was brilliant too. She was the reason, the boys did not land in a lot of trouble at school. She was the cool, calm-headed and reasonable one. But there was something both of them lacked. They were muggles, and Harry wasn't. The story went on and Harry was so engrossed that he had forgotten to eat. Then came the part about Dumbledore's sister. Grindelwald didn't tell him a lot about her, but he mentioned that her death was a turning point in his life. Because it was at that moment that the wonderful friendship between Grindelwald and Dumbledore ended. Grindelwald had already decided that he would not delve much into his attempt at conquering the world, but he did tell Harry about the people he killed.

"I never wanted to kill anyone, but I never hesitated to do it, if that was what was required for the greater good," said Grindelwald. He took a breath and paused for a few seconds. The excited face of Harry had already turned pale. Harry was struggling to understand how someone, how anyone could justify killing thousands of people. Grindelwald skipped over most of the details and quickly moved to the battle against his old friend. It was the most intense battle the world had seen. Even though stories and legends talk about the great duel in some depth and with great grandeur, they often missed the simple fact that Grindelwald wasn't alone, and neither was Dumbledore. Even though this duel ultimately decided the fate of the revolution, others' contribution was not forgotten by Grindelwald while narrating his story. More than 2 hours had passed when Grindelwald came to the end of his story, him being arrested and imprisoned at Nurmengard for his crimes.

"And I was there for 36 years," finished Grindelwald.

"36 years?" asked Harry, shocked. He hadn't yet considered the idea that Grindelwald was imprisoned and that he had spent a long time in prison.

"Yes, 36 years, I spent in a prison I built… It was perhaps poetic," replied Grindelwald. After a long time, there was complete silence between the pair. Harry was awkwardly sitting, not knowing what to say. His mind was filled with a lot of things, most of which replayed some of the things Grindelwald had said. After a good 10 minutes, Grindelwald spoke up,

"Master Potter, I presume you have more questions?" asked Grindelwald.

"I did… I mean, I do. But, before that, I need to say something. I hated every single being of your existence, a couple of days back. But, I do forgive you now. Not for the things you did, there's no forgiveness for that. But I do forgive you for not telling me. Before I found out, you were the most important person in the world to me. Finding these things out, they need not change that. What you did all those years ago, will not affect us," finished Harry. He spoke slowly, emphasizing every word, stressing every sentence.

"That's all I can ask for," replied Grindelwald, with a tear in his eye.

"And now to the questions," said Harry.

"What do you want to know, Master Potter?" asked Grindelwald.

"How did you get out of prison?" asked Harry.

"Dumbledore got me out," replied Grindelwald. Harry was surprised by this answer, at this point he was expecting Grindelwald to say that he escaped.

"Dumbledore got you out? After all the things that happened between the two of you, why did he get you out? And how did he do that?" asked Harry. He wasn't planning on this question to be his first, but he had to ask this before he could get answers about himself.

"He got me out to protect you. He needed someone to be your guardian, right after your parents were killed by You-Know-Who."

"Why did he choose you though? I mean, why go to the trouble of getting you out. The greatest dark wizard the world had seen before You-Know-Who, just to protect me. You-Know-Who killed so many people, surely there were other kids who lost both their parents to him and his death eaters. What about them? Is there anyone like that who's living a similar life to mine? And why did I need a guardian anyway? And why am I in this country and not England? None of this makes sense. Did my parents not have any relatives? Close friends? And if You-Know-Who was presumed gone by the world, why keep me a secret? Why was my name changed from Harry Potter to Harry Evans?" Harry bombarded Grindelwald with his questions. Every word spoken had a tinge of frustration, anxiety, confusion more than the previous.

"Master Potter, I apologise for keeping some things from you. It has never been my intention to keep you in the dark. Yet I have done so because you don't deserve to live with a burden. I'll answer your questions. Every question you've asked now will be answered," replied Grindelwald and looked at Harry who had collected himself after the outburst. And he continued, "This is the story of your parents. Your mother was a muggle-born witch. She had a sister, who wasn't bestowed with the gift of magic. Your father was, on the other hand, a pureblood. They met at Hogwarts, they were in the same year. Your mother's sister married a muggle. A few months before you were born, your grandparents, James' parents passed away due to an illness. So, on that wretched day, Dumbledore found you alive and decided to keep you a secret. But how was he to keep you a secret? Your father's parents weren't alive. Your mother's side were all muggles. Yes, maybe you could have grown up with them, but I don't know what kind of life you'd have had. As to friends, your parents had a few great friends, but Dumbledore didn't know who to trust. There are a few things you still don't know about that night. Your parents were living in Godric's Hollow, secretly. Their house was protected with the Fidelius charm. The secret keeper was one of their closest friends. But he betrayed them and revealed their location to You-Know-Who. So, after everything happened, Dumbledore had no one to trust. With no relatives to speak of and friends who couldn't be trusted, Dumbledore had to find someone he could trust, someone who could never be persuaded to join forces with You-Know-Who. One who was capable of protecting you from any danger. Me! Now, could he have chosen someone else? Yes, I suppose he could have. But, he didn't choose me to be your guardian, Harry. When Dumbledore released me from prison, he released someone who still wanted to do something for the greater good. But he didn't release me to be your guardian. He released me to be the caretaker of the whole Potter family. Your parents had bought this house, thousands of kilometres away from England, and were going to move into it. But before they could move, they were killed by You-Know-Who," finished Grindelwald. Harry was feeling numb. It was a lot of information to process in one go. He still had questions, but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear more then. Grindelwald continued,

"Master Potter! There's 1 more thing you need to know. And this will probably clear all your questions. There was a woman who attended an interview with Dumbledore for the post of Divination Professor at Hogwarts. This woman was a seer. During this interview, she made a prophecy. The prophecy said, The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies and the sixth month is born... History will repeat as the houses combine... Neither can live while the other survives…"

"What?" asked Harry, confused.

"Yes, Master Potter, a prophecy. Now, when she made this prophecy to Dumbledore, she was partially overheard by someone. And this someone informed You-Know-Who about it. No one knows how it happened, but within a few weeks, virtually every wizard in Britain knew about the prophecy. The contents of it were questionable, but they knew that a prophecy existed. You-Know-Who bided his time, and the prophecy began. You were born at the end of July. And you became the primary target to the greatest dark wizard the world had seen. On the day your parents were murdered, You-Know-Who had come to Godric's Hollow, not to kill your parents, but to kill you. But something happened that night, that You-Know-Who didn't see coming. You know what happens next," replied Grindelwald.

"My… mother's sacrificial magic. It protected me and You-Know-Who's curse backfired on him," replied Harry.

"Yes, and it meant that You-Know-Who was vanquished to the eyes of the people, and it was right after your family was attacked. And thus, they believed the prophecy had been fulfilled. Now, when Dumbledore heard of the attack, he reached Godric's Hollow before anybody else. And he found you, the boy who lived."

"So, my parents were killed because You-Know-Who was afraid of some prophecy. Could you please repeat it?" he asked.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies and the sixth month is born... History will repeat as the houses combine... Neither can live while the other survives…" replied Grindelwald. Harry was replaying the words that he heard. Grindelwald could clearly see the confused look that Harry had.

"Master Potter, something bothering you?" asked Grindelwald.

"Yeah… I don't understand this part… You said… born as the seventh month dies and the sixth month is born, right?" asked Harry.

"Yes"

"But, what does that mean?" asked Harry.

"We don't know. You see, while the world believed the prophecy had been fulfilled, Dumbledore, the only person in the world who knew the entire contents of the prophecy, knew that there were still unexplained elements about the prophecy. And hence, he decided to keep you a secret. If ever a time came when You-Know-Who came back, he didn't want you to be in the direct crossfire. It was essential the world thought you were dead. As to the prophecy, we'll discuss it in great depth in the days to come. Prophecies are something that is highly contentious, can be interpreted in many ways, and quite often, false. But, we'll get into it in the coming weeks," replied Grindelwald. Harry got up and started pacing. There was a lot of information to process. After a few minutes, Grindelwald spoke up.

"Master Potter, there's one more thing," he said. Harry's face dropped. Surely there wasn't more. Grindelwald immediately continued, "Don't worry, it's not about the prophecy or your parents' death. Earlier today, Dumbledore had visited me," he said.

"What do you mean? Dumbledore came here?"

"Yes, he had."

"Why did he come?" asked Harry.

"Just a normal visit, I won't bother you with all the details now. But while leaving, he left something for you." Grindelwald picked up a package and handed it to Harry.

"What is it?"

"It belonged to your father. And after he passed away, Dumbledore kept it all these years. Now, it belongs to you. It's an invisibility cloak," replied Grindelwald.

A few weeks later...

"What's your first class?" asked Ernie.

"Transfiguration," replied Daphne while taking a spoonful of her porridge.

"Professor Black early in the morning is not bad, is it. I wish I could say the same. I have Umbridge," replied a sulking Ernie.

"Yeah, he's turned out much better than I had expected. Nobody wants to teach at Hogwarts, and considering everyone we could have ended up with, Professor Black is much better," replied Daphne. The pair were joined by Hermione a few minutes after.

"Oh, Hi Hermione, Good Morning!" greeted Ernie as he saw Hermione taking a seat beside them.

"Good Morning, Ernie!" greeted back Hermione. The 3 of them were lost in a discussion of their own when Ginny Weasley made her way to them.

"Guys," she called out.

"Hi Ginny, what's up?" asked Hermione looking back at Ginny.

"Have you seen Elvin?" asked Ginny.

"Elvin… No, not since last night," replied Hermione. Daphne and Ernie nodded indicating the same.

"Ohh!" sighed Ginny and left, leaving the 3 of them confused.

"What was that about?" asked Ernie.

"No idea!" replied Hermione, her eyes trailing the trail of Ginny.

"Speaking of which, where's Elvin? He's usually never this late," said Ernie.

"Yeah, we have only a few minutes for class," replied Daphne. They waited for Elvin Oswald for a few more minutes but left for their respective classes as he never came.

So, when Ernie hadn't seen Elvin till Lunch, he made his way to Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein.

"Lads! Where's Elvin, have you seen him? I can't find him anywhere," said Ernie looking at them.

"Elvin wasn't at class today," replied Terry.

"He wasn't?" asked Ernie.

"Nope! I last saw him in our dorm, he was sleeping then," replied Terry.

"Yeah, he was up till late at night. I woke up a couple of times at night, and I could see that he was awake and working on something," added Michael.

"Ohh! Okay, thanks guys," replied Ernie and left. After some time, when Michael went to the Ravenclaw dormitory to get his books for the second half, he noticed that Elvin was still sleeping. Never in the 5 years had he seen anyone, let alone the disciplined Elvin Oswald sleep till 1 in the afternoon. So, he went to check up on him. Elvin looked fast asleep. Michael called out Elvin's name a few times, but there was no response. So, he casually shook him, but seeing Elvin be unresponsive to that, Michael shook Elvin hard while calling his name out. Still, there was no response. Panic started to set in Michael. He quickly checked if Elvin was breathing. His senses seemed to deceive him, but he was quite confident after a few seconds that Elvin was indeed breathing. Taking the help of a fellow Ravenclaw, Elvin Oswald was taken to the hospital wing by Michael.

"Oh my God! What happened?" asked Madam Pomfrey as she rushed to lay Elvin on the hospital bed. She quickly started monitoring and assessing Elvin's vital organs.

"I don't know… I uh… saw him… he didn't wake up," replied Michael, stuttering as he did.

"When did you last see him conscious?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"I don't know, late at night? Probably 2 or 3 in the night," replied Michael.

"What? He never woke up in the morning?" asked Pomfrey, shocked.

"I don't know… Didn't look like it. Ernie was asking about him just now. Even he hadn't seen him today. Elvin didn't attend any classes today either," replied Michael.

"Okay, I need to check him. Inform Professor Snape about this. Tell him that I asked him to come here. And go to your class, he'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey. As she saw the Ravenclaw student leave the hospital wing, she thought to herself, "What on Merlin's name is this, now? Surely this wasn't an attack on a muggle-born kid, could it be?"

PS - Chapter 9 should be out in the coming week. Meanwhile, send in your questions or doubts. Ciao! Happy Reading!