Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was not a man that 'snuck.' He had caught sneaks, ordered sneaking and occasionally just observed sneakers, however he had never actually snuck himself. His previous covert operations had usually involved blending in, or just not letting anyone know where he was going.
So he found himself doubting himself as he placed a silencing charm on his feet, a disillusionment charm over his body and a notice-me-not charm around him. He took a broom with him, having never actually been to the estate before. He could apparate to Berlin, then fly for a couple of hours to the Herz mountains. From there it became more difficult because the estate was unplottable; he only suspected that it was probably near Brocken – a peak famous in both the muggle and wizarding world for its witchcraft.
It was bitterly cold in Berlin and it only grew worse as he took off into the sky. He used one hand to clutch his cloak tightly around him, alternating between that and the one holding onto the broom whenever the cold began to make them numb. Within minutes he could no longer feel his nose, the bitter wind stinging his cheeks despite warming charms.
Despite the discomfort, he found his mind whirring through his plans. Finding out the nature of Harry's connection to Riddle was a major setback. It was a branch of magic he had made a point to never explore and he was fortunate that Gellert had at least the foundations of the required knowledge. This mission was to expand that knowledge, as much as Albus hated to arm his old friend in that way.
A ripple in the darkness of the night caught his attention and a frustrated huff escaped him. He didn't want to know how Gellert knew that he would be coming here; tonight of all nights, but the help of the powerful dark wizard wouldn't go amiss.
He descended to the ground, skimming across the snowy trees until he found a rocky outcrop large enough to land on. A dark shadow already waited for him, looking out over the mountains as though he owned them. Which on second thought he probably did.
'I won't ask how you knew I was coming.' He said, reinforcing the concealment charms he wore. Gellert's silhouette wavered and disappeared as he cast similar enchantments, his voice drifting eerily from nowhere as he laughed darkly.
'The estate is down there.' He pointed to a dark building that nestled into the mountain opposite them, visible only as a black cut out against sparkling snow. Several pale lights flickered around it, pinpricks against the backdrop. Those were the aurors that had been stationed there since Gellert had escaped from prison, waiting at irregular intervals around the ward boundaries.
The primary defence was a barrier, similar in design to the Fidelius through which only a marked Witch or Wizard could pass. Of course, he wore the mark but Grindelwald certainly did not. The second barrier, invented by himself for the sole purpose of keeping Grindelwald out was based around the power of love. Only one who had experienced it could pass the barrier, which excluded Gellert, who was physically incapable of the emotion. He explained this to Gellert as they began their descent down the valley.
The space beneath the trees was relatively clear with almost no snow and the difficulty he experience traversing the terrain was well worth the wealth of creatures that lived in the protected valley. Several times he stumbled over Woyllerm holes, distinguishable by the small deposits of circular pebbles outside. Drocore whistled in alarm from the trees, marking Grindelwald's position. He even caught sight of the wild thestrals that roamed the ground, pawing at the ground for the Flobberworms that formed the bulk of their diet in their natural habitat. He almost felt privileged to be here and in more peaceful times could have spent day just observing.
He knew he had fallen far behind the more agile Gellert, privileged as he was with his elixir of youth. Then, from the darkness emerged a creature he had only heard rumours of, like the black swan or a white tiger. The unicorn's coat was a dark, almost gunmetal grey, its horn and eyes alone shone the typical silver. He backed away slowly as the unicorn emerged from the shadows. It tossed it's head and whickered, as if responding to a call a second of these strange unicorns emerged. This one was dappled, bronze flecked with gold with a gangly colt weaving between its legs. The foal was just beginning to shed its golden coat, but the eyes gleamed crimson. Corrupted.
'You've found the herd.' Gellert's voice made him jump.
'What did you do to them?' It truly was a terrible thing to see, what deeds had been performed to twist these unicorns so far from their pure origins.
'Me? Nothing. These are natural, genetic mutations that have been chased from their herds. They gather here, my family used to care for them.'
The dappled bronze unicorn snapped a twig as it shifted closer, snuffling at Gellert. The dark wizard allowed the unicorn to snuffle around him, and then he reached up and patted the animal. Albus stared at him, dumbstruck. It made sense of course, of course unicorns would have mutations in the same way that every other animal did but it was hard to reconcile these creatures with the purity of normal unicorns.
'Are they tame?' He asked, eyeing the grey one warily as it snorted and pawed the ground.
'They are incredibly intelligent, enough to be able to understand you.' He joked, his hand moving up to rub at the unicorn's horn. The beast made a noise that sounded like a purr of maleficent pleasure. 'Would you take us to the house?'
And so Albus found himself mounted on the back of a dark unicorn as it sped through the forest, wondering if this is how bewildering the magical world was to muggles.
With the unicorn's help, they reached the castle in no time. Now back to sneaking again, the two disillusioned wizards crouched in the ditch beside the driveway. In front of them arched the massive black gates, metal wolves snarling continuously among sharp metal briars. Reaching high above their heads in place of walls loomed an ominous wall of giant, tangled thorns, entirely obscuring the castle from sight.
'Once you passed your wards, what did you intend to do with mine?' Gellert asked and Albus grimaced. He had planned to wardbreak his way in, but just a superficial brush of the warding made him glad that he hadn't attempted that. The warding on this estate was full of spells that drained life force, paralysed and killed. It had more in common with the wards on the ancient barrows than a modern household.
'I rather hoped you might help with that.' He admitted. He would have to break the warding on the house to get Gellert in but none of those ancient, terrible wards would need to be tampered with.
'Can you do it from a distance?' The other wizard shifted so that he could check on the aurors. They'd moved to huddle around their fire, rubbing gloved hands above the flame and moaning about their lot in life as the wolves continued to bark and snarl.
'Possibly, although I suspect that might be your forte more than mine these days.' Albus admitted, eyeing where he knew Gellert had sheathed the elder wand.
'I'm not very subtle.' The dark wizard grouched.
'Don't lie. You can be just as subtle as you want.'
'Not as subtle as you can be from inside.'
It was a good point and one that Dumbledore unfortunately had to concede, so Gellert conjured a couple of Luapa – savage wolf-goat hybrids that plagued these areas – to provide a distraction. Albus could only conclude that Luapa attacks must be frequent to those outside the safety of the walls because the aurors disappeared to back up their colleagues without question, leaving the front gates entirely undefended.
Praying that his disillusionment charm held, lest the aurors come back and he got caught sneaking into Grindelwald's manor, he crept up to the gate. Magic rippled over him as he passed the first ward, then the cooler touch of his own ward brushed his skin. He waved his arms in front of his face until his hand was submerged in the skin-like barrier, magic tickling and lifting the hairs. Then he sank into the twists of magic and began to tease the strands apart.
He felt more than heard Gellert join him as the first ward stretched far enough to create a small tear. The dark wizard hastily conjured a wind as voices echoed from around the wall, obscuring their footprints in the snow. Working faster, Albus hurried to dismantle the last defence. It was difficult to concentrate, what with the wolves barking and snarling. The academic side of him wondered if perhaps they couldn't see their master through the ward, the practical part told him that was a question for another time. The ward was twisted, he decided, there should have been methodical webs of magic, running to the focal point that the caster had stood at, along with a binder to hold the complex magic together. Instead, there seemed to be several casting points, so the binder might have been this tangled strand? Or was it that one? He tugged on the two experimentally, feeling the ward thrum warningly. Ah no, he realised, that went to that strange gathering over there, but if it was the binder on this nucleus, how did it anchor?
He could hear the crunch of snow under foot now, the aurors were just around the corner. Gellert was shifting, readying himself to fight.
He followed another strand, then another, desperate now. That one had no anchor, so it couldn't be a binder, nor that one. Unless, if they had cast together and anchored to one another, instead of a physical anchor...
'Gellert, touch the ward.'
The dark wizard looked at him like he was nuts, but cautiously complied. The magical strands trembled at his touch, flexing, stretching like elastic around his palm. Then the strands snapped, the recoil washed lightly across the two wizards, rustling leaves and causing little flurries of snow. Around the corner the two aurors stopped, making exclamations of surprise. The two older wizards didn't wait to watch as the strands of the ward crumbled like ash. Gellert shoved open the gate, wolves suddenly silent and compliant, and they slipped through just as an auror's magelight soared into the air.
The gate shut with a clang behind them and Albus froze as the two aurors appeared, wands drawn as they patrolled the brightly lit area.
'Can you see anything?' One asked, shining his light into the forest. The other came right up to the gates, peering straight into Albus face.
'Nothing here.' The auror answered, then jumped away with a curse as one of the wolves snapped in his face. 'damn wolves. I dunno why they keep us here, Grindelwald's not suddenly going to show up after five years.' The magelight dimmed and the two aurors sheathed their wands, returning to the fire. The two wizards frozen behind the gate relaxed.
Albus turned to get his first look at his friend's childhood home then. The castle was small as far as castles went; all fairytale spires and turrets rather than the solid towers the British preferred. The grounds themselves were messy – the giant thorn wall sending creepers across the lawns which tangled among out of control devil's snare. Dark Abonnole flowers peeked up from beneath venomous tentacula. Grindelwald strode confidently up the path, using severing charms liberally on the various tendrils that waved at them threateningly.
Albus followed hurriedly, knowing that it wouldn't be wise to face the wild vegetation alone. They passed into the shadow of the castle, underneath a massive archway with portcullis spikes gleaming ominously green – a lingering enchantment whose effect he didn't even want to know, especially considering the plant life that must have been cultivated in the gardens. His boot squelched sickeningly into something and a waft of fertiliser reached his nose. His nose wrinkled, then his entire expression soured as he saw Gellert's amused expression.
'Mind the dragon dung.' The German wizard laughed before hurrying through into a massive courtyard. Albus almost laughed, then came a rumbling purr that shook him to his bones. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe the dark wizard had been serious. Did his family have a dragon? Then again, that German fairytale writer must have gotten his ideas from somewhere.
The dragon was large, probably of a similar age to Grindelwald himself. The beast was a dark grey, the crimson eyes identifying it as an Iron Belly. It had its body draped around the courtyard, effectively blocking the way to the entrance hall. The strangest part was that the dragon was purring like a cat, massive head arching up as the relatively tiny Grindelwald scratched underneath its chin.
'We hatch the eggs in Amortentia.' He explained, which as Albus was now witnessing must have incredible effects on the psychology of the dragon. It would be a fascinating study for another time; how Amortentia could affect infants.
They slipped past the devoted dragon and through the door into the castle. The mournful moans of the mighty beast creating a haunting soundtrack as Albus caught his first sight of Gellert's childhood home.
They entered into a massive hall that was dominated by a massive staircase which curved up and split at the top. High, vaulted ceilings gave a sense of lofty airiness, matched by the pale grey and blue mosaic on the floor. High, arched windows cast eerie shadows in the mounted skulls of hundreds of dragons and Albus found himself reminded of the morbid habit of house elf heads at Grimmauld Place.
It was difficult to picture the young wizard he had known with this dark fairytale castle, he'd always imagined him in somewhere warm or solid. A log cabin or a viking longhouse, maybe a stout little fortress on some mountain; he'd never had the airy grandeur that he'd expect from a place like this. They climbed the first staircase, going straight through the massive archway instead of taking one of the winged staircases.
The corridor beyond was carpeted in a dark blue, paintings decorated the walls between slender gothic windows. One depicted a witch in flowing black robes casting a curse over a town, another showed a witch in a ball gown that glittered with thousands of little fairy lights, shoes made of glass and a matching glass crown on her head. Even in the half light her expression was cruel. He wiped the dust off the plaque at the bottom – Princess Cinderella Grindelwald. Several paintings down a tapestry of a tall man in a heavy silver ermine cloak held a mighty bear on a leash. He fell far behind Grindelwald as he stopped to look at each painting; Luella Grindelwald with her adopted muggle Rapunzel, Queen Grimhilde who had poisoned all the other heirs to the throne so that her family might rule. In fact, it seemed other generation there was a Grindelwald on a muggle throne. The ones that weren't on a throne seemed to have busied themselves tricking, cursing and otherwise tormenting muggles, He walked back through generations of witches and wizards, the earliest was a wizard that had taken a muggle's soul in exchange for superpowers and the most recent was probably Grindelwald's father who had caused havoc by experimenting with beauty potions on muggles.
'Are you coming?' Gellert asked from the shadows at the end of the room, sounding slightly irritated.
'Yes, yes...' It really was a very dark family, that icy blonde hair and carving a bloody trail through muggle history. His eyes drifted back to where he had seen that tapestry of the soul-stealing wizard. This was certainly somewhere where dark texts could be found.
He tore himself away from the images, following Grindelwald into another corridor to the left. They climbed a small flight of stairs, then crossed a breezy bridge between two towers. They came out into a tall room. Book shelves lines the circular walls, a wooden staircase spiralled up the tower into murky gloom far above their heads. Albus peered over the banister infront of them; the library continued below them, deep into the ground.
'Is there a system?' He asked weakly.
'Vaguely, but all we need to take is one of the archive books, they have a variety of the scrying charm on them.' Grindelwald said. 'They're black, leather with that old jewelled and embossed cover on them. Check all the landings, there'll be one left there.'
Albus watched helplessly as Gellert began jogging up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He took one last look at the library before taking the other direction.
It was like walking through the restricted section – dusty ancient volumes, strange substances spilled across the covers. He reached the first landing, finding a desk and a half finished letter about a 'virgin tithe'. The next one down had a chair and an empty fireplace recessed into the wall. He could see Grindelwald's wandlight above him, almost fading into the darkness. He passed the third floor and began to wonder if he should just stop, there would be a lot of floors to climb up again if he kept going, Gellert was sure to find one of those books soon.
Sure enough, a parchment plane suddenly nailed him in the back of his neck. He picked it up, reading the scrawled note, then looked up to where he could see Grindelwald's light bobbing down the staircase again. It would be a long climb up.