Gellert stared at the ravine in front of him. The avalanche had completely wiped out the wooden bridge that used to hang there, which was also the only way back to the research facility.
He cursed his luck. No doubt Chaos was laughing at him right now.
The guard had warned him about avalanches after sunset, and the fact that the facility would raise all of its wards at nightfall. Not only were there warnings about the avalanches, which were a regular occurrence in the region, there were also tales of sightings of mysterious creatures at night. Not that Gellert was worried about whatever creature he would encounter. No, he was disappointed at the fact that he couldn't use magic to get across the ravine as he didn't have his wand.
One of the main rules at the facility was that no wizard was allowed to carry a wand during their stay, to reduce possible conflicts and to not disturb the environment or the region around the campus. It had the strongest protection wards in all of Asia, which, incidentally, included anti-apparition wards, and he dared not try using other methods to cross the ravine wandlessly, lest he get struck by lightning or something equally annoying. (Knowing the Higher Ones, this was actually more likely than one might think.) And even if he did manage to break into the wards somehow, he would probably be expelled out into the cold, and that would mean the end of his research.
So, Gellert resigned himself to spending the night out in a cave close to the edge and waiting for someone, when he heard footsteps crunching in the snow. He turned around and stared right at a big mass of white fur with dark and piercing onyx eyes. The mass of snowy-and-definitely-not-adorable-monster stared at him for a moment before roaring right into his face.
"We have to get out of here! Now!", yelled a voice from behind him, whose owner grabbed Gellert's leg by biting it so hard that he promptly passed out.
They disappeared just as the big furry creature pounced.
When Gellert awoke, the only thing he could feel in his leg was pain radiating from where he was bit. He opened his eyes and found himself looking into a pair of sharp yellow eyes. He startled and stared warily at the creature which bared its teeth into a grin.
"Oh good! You're awake", said Scath. "I was beginning to fear you might never wake up".
"Why did you bite me?!" groaned Gellert, sitting up, dimly registering that they were back in the facility.
"You're welcome. You're lucky you aren't dead because I bit you. I am a Grim you know. It was either that or well... That my dear Dark Lord was a Yeti. They are horrible creatures and nothing like what stories people tell about them. You're better off not knowing what they can do. You would have been worse than dead, if I hadn't shown up when I did. Poor Hadria would lose another parent."
Gellert rolled his eyes. "How did I get here?"
"Shadow travel. These wards cannot keep Death's familiar out."
"Wha—" He was interrupted by a scream and they both turned around to see a figure running out of the doorway.
"Great. Maybe I should leave now," said Scath, slowly backing away. "Probably before the whole facility finds out you've brought a Grim inside their wards."
"…"
Gellert woke up to the bright sun shining on his face.
After the events of the previous night, he was banned from the facility and kicked out as soon as everyone found out. Blasted Grim! He might never get a chance to see their magical garden again. That garden had some of the rarest flowers and herbs in the world, some of which bloomed only once in a century. And those blasted researchers were known for holding a grudge for decades. The last time someone had pissed them off…. Well, that was definitely something he DID NOT need to think about.
He was just pouring himself a cup of tea, when the post arrived and he opened the morning newspaper. On the front page of the newspaper was a headline in big, bold letters 'Dark Lord Returns Last Night and Kills Hogwarts Champions!'
He choked on his tea and his eyes grew wider as he read the rest of the article.
"SCATH!"
"Please Ced! Can I keep that chocolate frog card? I really need Flamel," said Hadria, making her eyes big, wide and innocent. She was in the Hospital Wing along with Cedric, who had been hit by a bone-breaker curse to his leg unlike Hadria, who had been hit by a Cruciatus as they made their escape. They had both woken up sometime in the evening on the next day after the task.
"You can have it. I have plenty of these anyway," replied Cedric. "And how—" He was interrupted by a very loud voices and an exclamation of "Stupid jarvey!" coming from outside the Hospital Wing. Draco, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Blaise, and Pansy all walked in.
"Blasted jarvey went into my bag and chewed all my quills. Now I have to get new ones!" Draco moaned.
"Then, don't piss off the jarvey," said Blaise, sniggering.
"I can lend you Noh to keep your quills in," offered Hadria, with a chuckle.
She looked around to see some people missing, "Where are the twins and Tomas?"
"Ohh. Last I saw the twins, they were busy helping Nott calm down the Slytherins. Everyone's worried about you, seeing as you did deposit a Dark Lord along with the Triwizard cup. And I think Ratsel was helping the Aurors get through the maze with Krum. They've decided to do a clean-up of the maze to search for any other portkeys. Fudge is practically useless," said Pansy.
"How are you feeling?" asked Neville.
"Your hands still haven't stopped shaking," Draco noticed. "And you aren't causing chaos, which is rare."
"I'm fine," said Hadria, giving them a wide grin, "I should probably go scare the Ministry. Or maybe I should have just sent Voldy to Gerwald in a package."
Everyone stared at her.
"What? Gerwald can handle it. You're underestimating him. Besides, creepy-baby-Voldy can fit in a box, which makes him easy to transport."
"Do you want him to die?! As scary as your guardian is, I don't think he'll be able to handle to the Dark Lord", yelled Draco. "Forget about it! It's not even funny. Stop acting like everything's fine. THE DARK LORD came back! The Ministry probably won't even be able to hold him. Your guardian doesn't even know you participated in the BLOODY tournament! And he's going to kill everyone when he finds out."
"You-Know-Who is currently in a Ministry cell," explained Hermione. "And they'll make sure he doesn't escape. I heard Professor McGonagall saying that the Aurors brought in the Unspeakables to restrain him in his baby form." She wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"And Gerwald won't kill you…Probably," said Hadria.
"That doesn't sound very reassuring," said Draco, faintly.
"Besides, he isn't even in the country. He's in Tibet looking for some rare herbs."
Albus Dumbledore had lived through two wars, countless duels and yet, he was feeling the stress brought on by his three jobs. He was 113 years old and he felt his age.
The international community was concerned about a possible Dark Lord resurrection in a place which currently housed the students from Beauxbatons and Drumstrang. Parents, who were present for the third task, sent letters to those who weren't and they were all concerned about the safety of their wards, once they found out that a Death Eater had been impersonating Alastor Moody and that a dementor was brought into the castle to handle him.
Barty Crouch Jr. was given the kiss as soon as they found out that he wasn't Moody, and that he had participated in the attempt to resurrect the Dark Lord, which had been interrupted somehow and ended into a duel. And poor Hadria Potter got hit by a cruciatus, when she was trying to save the Diggory boy.
He had just finished pacifying Sirius, when his floo roared and a man stepped out. A man who he hadn't seen for decades, who was supposed to be imprisoned, who was supposed to be his age and defeated. But the person standing in front of them looked like the younger version of him, with honey blond hair in a mess like he had just gotten out of bed, wearing a midnight blue cloak over his pajamas.
The man glared at them furiously as though trying to discern which method of slaughter was acceptable. His normally sky-blue eyes were stormy grey and they fell on Sirius, who started backing away warily.
Meanwhile, Dumbledore was still in shock. Albus Dumbledore caught off guard and in shock. It was because of this that he didn't try to attack Gellert as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace.
The two men just stood and stared at each other (in Gellert's case – glared), while Sirius looked on, not wanting to get Gerwald's anger directed at him. Even Black wasn't that suicidal.
Gellert turned his eyes away from the staring contest and they found Black.
"Where is Hadria?" asked Gellert calmly.
"Th-the H-hospital Wing," stammered Sirius.
"Lead the way," said Gellert, moving towards the door.
Dumbledore raised his wand to Gellert's back, only to find himself promptly disarmed. Gellert walked over, and chucked the wand into the burning logs in the fireplace.
"What on earth do you think you are doing?! You look like… Grindelwald," said Dumbledore, faintly.
"Hello Albus. Long-time no see. I have a lot of things to say about how you run this place," Gellert gave a dark smirk. He would probably be taking the headmaster apart by now, if he had his way.
"You look like G-g- but he's in Nurmengard. Who—...?" said the stunned headmaster. Dumbledore couldn't believe his eyes. The younger look-alike of Gellert had just barged into his office, disarmed him and threw the Elder Wand into the fireplace. Grindelwald would have never burnt a Deathly Hallow. He spent his life looking for them, for God's sake. He didn't have any descendants either, as far as Albus knew, but the resemblance was uncanny.
"Tell me who you are. Prove it to me," said Albus in a steely voice.
Gellert rolled his eyes. He really did not have time for this. And Albus was still stammering in shock, which would normally be hilarious, but he couldn't start another duel right now. He HAD to find Hadria. The fastest thing to do would probably be revealing his identity, as Albus knew that he did not have any living descendants and wouldn't let him go till he told the truth. He was in a place where the Ministry could be called and he did not want to deal with that either.
"Fine. I am Gellert Grindelwald. I was resurrected by the Higher Entities and placed in this timeline. I did not break out of Nurmengard. You will probably find this universe's Grindelwald still locked up. I swear on my magic that whatever I have said till now is the truth." His wand lit up with a golden glow as it confirmed his magical oath.
This comment was followed by a deafening silence, both from the wizards and the portraits. Gellert waved his wand upwards and froze all the portraits.
"Can't have anyone spreading the word, can we?" said Gellert. "Good. Let's cut to the chase. As for why I am here, my ward—my daughter was put in mortal danger and not one person on your staff thought it a good idea to inform me."
Albus felt like he was unravelling something terrifying.
This was not good. Gellert having a child was not good for the sake of the sanity of the people around him. This was after considering the fact that he was resurrected and from an alternate timeline. If he was anything like the Gellert he spent his youth with, then the world was doomed. He felt sorry for the poor child, having to learn dark arts and growing up with a sociopath. And that said child went to Hogwarts. He began thinking furiously trying to recall which child was Gellert's. He remembered meeting everyone's parents except—
"Wait…. Grindelwald?" said Sirius horrified, his brain finally catching up to him. "Isn't your name Grinsen?"
Albus did a double take at that. Gerwald Grinsen was Hadria Potter's guardian, which meant that... He was Hadria Potter's guardian. He adopted the Girl-Who-Lived and had probably been raising her since she disappeared...
Suddenly, it all made sense—the Howlers in her first year, when she fell off the stands during the Quidditch match, the reason why the Slytherins in her year were terrified of her guardian, the reason why she probably had a Jarvey and a Lethifold as pets.
"Does Hadria know who you are?" asked Sirius. He was feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation. Grinsen wasn't necessarily a bad guy and he cared for Hadria, indulged and protected her, which was probably the only reason they got along. He knew Grinsen wouldn't let anyone put her in danger, as he had already been exposed to Gellert's protectiveness over her when they first met.
"No, she doesn't—" Gellert was cut off by a loud bang when the door to the Headmaster's office exploded open. Standing there in the entryway was Hadria, who said "Oops!" and Gellert sighed in relief. At least she was safe.
Hadria noticed the tense atmosphere as soon as she blasted the door open and went into her child-mode to diffuse it—visibly lighting up with an easy grin and a skip to her steps. "Were you eavesdropping?" asked Sirius.
"I didn't mean to! I had to sneak out of the Hospital Wing, so I decided the best way to do that was to let Snag loose to distract everyone. I wanted to talk to Sirius to make sure Gerwald didn't know—" Hadria then belatedly realized that Gellert was standing with them, and promptly decided to distract him, so that he wouldn't ask too many questions.
"Oh. Gerwald you're here!" she exclaimed and ran, jumping right at him and he had no choice but to grab her in a hug.
"Hadria dear, you were supposed to be resting after what happened last night," said Dumbledore.
Sirius and Hadria looked up at him incredulously. Bringing that up in front of Gellert was suicidal.
"Yes, about last night... Hadria, when were you planning on telling me that you were a champion in the Triwizard Tournament?" said Gellert, his eyes glinting sharply.
"Um.. Never?" Hadria, upon seeing that Gellert looked fit to burst, immediately said, "Ididn'twanttomakeyouworrysoImadeeveryonehideitfromyou."
"What exactly happened last night?" Gellert thundered.
"Uhh.. The cup was a portkey and Cedric and I accidentally touched it at the same time, and we were taken to a graveyard. Voldemort was there and he was a baby." She made a disgusted face and continued, "Then, Professor Moody arrived and it turned out he wasn't actually Moody, but a Death Eater, and we duelled. I caught both of them in the end, tied them up and we took the portkey back."
"Did you get hurt anywhere?" At this point, Sirius started backing away towards the exit.
"Uhhh….Not really."
"Hadria," said Gellert warningly.
"IgothitbyacruciatusbeforeCedricdisarmedhim."
"WHAT?!"
Geller was furious. At the moronic Dark Lord and his minion. At Dumbledore, for not letting him know as soon as she entered the competition. At Scath, for not being there for her because said Grim was busy rescuing him instead of her.
He exploded and at that moment, every portrait and ornament on the walls of the headmaster's office came crashing down as he lashed out with his magic. He walked up to Dumbledore, grabbed his collar and punched him. He proceeded to hex him seven ways to hell, all the while yelling, "You were supposed to ensure no underaged students could enter the blasted tournament. I'm not even surprised she got in. And once she did get in, did you even try to get her out of it for her safety?! Or were you trying to see exactly how much the Girl-Who-Lived can endure?! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, LETTING A FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD PARTICIPATE?!"
Never before in his life had Albus ever been hexed black and blue, not even by Aberforth, and definitely not by Gellert. He'd been in duels before, yes, but he was never on the receiving end without his wand. And the one time he actually did get hexed this badly, it was because one of the most famous Dark Lords of the century cared about the Girl-Who-Lived. He was trying to defend himself wandlessly and failing miserably. He would need a miracle to succeed against a young, healthy and a furious Gellert with a wand.
There were sounds of footsteps and Professor McGonagall came running in with Snape and Draco at her heels.
"Hadria, thank god..." McGonagall's voice trailed off as she took in the damage done to the office and the two fighting men. Snape stared at the scene in horror, while Draco hid behind his godfather, terrified.
"What on Earth is going on here?!" screamed McGonagall. She whipped out her wand and set off a loud bang, to gain the attention of the two wizards.
"Why are you both at each other's necks and who is that man?!" she said pointing at Gellert.
"Professor, he's my guardian and he's pissed because he didn't know that I was participating in the Triwizard Tournament," supplied Hadria helpfully.
"He didn't know?" asked McGonagall furiously, pointing her wand at Dumbledore, "He was supposed to inform all the champions' parents and you're telling me he didn't know?!"
"Yep," said Hadria.
"Bloody Grindelwald! The Girl-Who-Lived's guardian is Grindelwald! He's responsible for this mess!" yelled the portrait of Phineas Nigellus, unfrozen from somewhere on the floor.
"What?!" said McGonagall turning on him, "Why would you accuse someone like that?"
"I'm telling the truth. He said so himself right before he and the Headmaster started fighting!"
The room turned so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. No one moved or spoke.
Gellert felt that Chaos was probably drunk off his arse at the moment. He did not want to get outed like this. And certainly not in front of Hadria. She would be disappointed in him and that would mean no more affection, or jokes. She might not even want to live with him.
Hadria felt that this was probably the worst thing which could have happened. At least Gellert wasn't pissed anymore, if his expression was anything to go by. On the other hand, he did not look like he was going to defend himself because she was there.
But of course, he wouldn't, she mentally slapped herself. He was going to turn away if she made one wrong move. They had grown to care for each other, he had raised her and she enjoyed annoying the former Dark Lord. She needed to take control of this situation as she was the only person who could clear up things between them. McGonagall looked like she wanted to say something, but she shut up and stared with the others as a shadow began rising out of the floor.
The shadow took the form of a large black dog.
"Stop staring like you have never seen a Grim before," said Scath. "I have a message from the Higher Entities."
Draco looked like his brain had short-circuited and passed out, dropping to the floor with a thud. Snape, Dumbledore and McGonagall were still staring in shock, not able to process that they had a talking Grim in front of them.
"Right. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Death's familiar and as you may have heard, Hadria's guardian is Gellert Grindelwald. He was resurrected by the guys upstairs after his punishment, and placed in this timeline. The Grindelwald of the current timeline is still alive and in Nurmengard, and he doesn't know about his existence. We'd like to keep it that way. So, everyone here needs to swear an Unbreakable Vow that they will not reveal the secret under any circumstances because the consequences can be dire," Scath rattled off, "That includes the boy who passed out." His yellow eyes glowed brighter than usual and he gave a wide grin.
"And this Gellert is mostly harmless," said Scath, before he pretended to wither under the glare that Gellert gave him, "O~K….. Maybe not harmless, but he has changed and he will probably not try to take over the world like last time."
This was followed by silence. No one spoke as they found it difficult to comprehend what they had just seen. Gellert didn't want to be on the receiving end so he refrained from making any comments.
"This isn't a prank, is it?" asked McGonagall faintly.
"No, it's the truth," said Hadria, and she looked up at Gellert.
"Grindelwald came to my house," said Draco, who had just woken up, "And that's the Grim we saw on Halloween in our first year." He was still in shock, Scath noticed.
"I asked him to come because we're friends and I wanted his help in pranking the school," replied Hadria.
Snape was stunned, and that was putting it mildly. He remembered when he first met Hadria and Grindelwald at the Potions Convention, and remembered how terrifying he could be without meaning to do any actual harm. Gellert had also found it difficult to handle Hadria's antics. He then remembered the oddly specific rules he got from the reply for the first letter he had sent to Gellert, 'She is not allowed to breed anything and is not allowed to perform any rituals without my explicit permission before she turns seventeen.'
Merlin, what chance did they have to succeed in managing Hadria if bloody Grindelwald had failed? And he lived with her.
Meanwhile, McGonagall recalled Hadria's behavior and her performance in the class. She was usually among the first to get a spell right and she always improved it, and applied it wherever and whenever she could. She was responsible for many pranks, some of which even the teachers weren't able to get rid of. And she was such a sweet and outgoing child, even if she was a Slytherin. She couldn't believe that such a child was raised by Gellert Grindelwald, even if he was resurrected and had changed.
"And what about you, Hadria?" Dumbledore finally spoke. "What do you think of your guardian being Grindelwald? Would you still choose to live with him?"
Gellert gritted his teeth. The old goat was probably hoping to get her away from him and place her with one of his so-called light families or worse, send her back to her relatives to live under blood wards. And she might even accept, now that she knew who he was and what he had done.
Hadria also realized what Dumbledore was trying to convey. She drew herself to her full height and replied, "Just because you were under the impression that he was in love with you, and resented him because he didn't change his ideals for you, which led to your sister's death, after which he started a movement in his previous life, does not mean that he is unfit to be my guardian in any way."
"And besides, I've known that he was the Grindelwald since I was eight. He might get a bit pissed or cranky sometimes, but he's changed a lot. I'd say that he's harmless too, but Gellert gets upset if people think he's harmless. As a bonus, I get to annoy the crap out of a former Dark lord, and he can't even get rid of me because he adopted me," she said as she grinned at Gellert, who choked and stared at her like he had never seen her before.
Sirius burst out laughing. "Wait. So, Dumbledore, you went against him because you liked him? This is golden!"
McGonagall sighed and put her face in her hands. This was too much, even for her.
Draco's mouth was hanging open and he wailed, "My heart cannot handle too many shocks in one day. I'm too young to get a heart attack!"
"You'd be better off letting the matter of Potter's guardianship rest. He's the only one who's suited to handle her and make sure she doesn't get herself killed," said Snape, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than here. "She's too clever for Black to handle and they could burn the house down in a day if they teamed up. I never thought I'd say this, but your best bet is Grindelwald."
Dumbledore sighed and resigned himself. He turned to Scath, who was watching the proceedings with great interest and asked, "What about our vows?"