CHAPTER NINETEEN: A CANDLE IN THE DARK

~~~

"Ennervate."

Minerva McGonagall opened her eyes, and was surprised to discover that she was no longer at Hogwarts, but lying on the floor in a moving subway car. She tried to move, but stiff muscles and an aching body made that difficult, and she remained on the floor. "Where am I?" she said, mostly to herself to make sure she was thinking clearly.

"On a subway in London," came the response.

She turned her eyes in the direction of the voice, and narrowed them angrily when she saw who it was. Quinn Grindelwald. "You," she spat. "What do you want?"

"I want you to die a slow, painful death," was the calm reply. "Is that so much to ask?" Grindelwald was sitting in a nearby seat with his legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees. His wand was lying on the seat next to him.

Minerva closed her eyes, then opened them and said, "Why are you doing this? What do you have against me?"

"Nothing; in fact, I rather like you," he said. "It's your friends I don't like. Don't you hate it when some crazed murderer comes along and decides to kill you just because he doesn't like your friends?"

She sighed and mumbled something he couldn't catch.

"Really, Minerva, you should speak up when you say something. I couldn't understand you at all."

She lifted her head and repeated her statement, louder and with more articulation. "You bastard."

Grindelwald merely smiled at her.

"They're going to find you," she said. "You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do," he said. "That's the idea. When Dumbledore comes for you, I'll be ready."

She clicked her tongue. "It looks like you've thought of everything," she said patronizingly.

"I have." He stood, picked up his wand, and pointed it at her. "Are you a fan of torture?"

"My favorite thing in the world," she replied.

Grindelwald let out a sigh. "I find your sarcasm quite annoying."

"Thank you."

He pointed his wand at her. "You're welcome. Crucio."

~~~

Albus Dumbledore knew Grindelwald wouldn't be in the Minister of Magic's office, but just the same, he became angry when he didn't see his enemy after stepping out of the fireplace. Before he could let his impulses take over, he clenched his fists, closed his eyes, and silently counted backwards from ten in Korean. He couldn't have gotten far, he told himself. It was only a matter of figuring out where he would go.

When Dumbledore opened his eyes, he saw a piece of paper lying on the floor in the middle of the room. Curiosity overtook him, and he walked over to it and picked it up. It was a message addressed to him from Grindelwald. "We have a score to settle," it read. "Meet me at the following location at exactly four o'clock A.M., or she dies. If you do not come alone or if you have called for reinforcements, she dies."

The "following location" in the letter was a subway station not far away. Dumbledore glanced at the clock on the wall. He had a little less than fifteen minutes. He had a feeling Grindelwald wouldn't play by the same rules he gave him in the message, but what choice did he have? If, on the off-chance that Minerva wasn't dead already, she would be soon if he didn't act fast.

~~~

It took Minerva about thirty seconds to regain the ability to think clearly after Grindelwald released her from the Cruciatus Curse. When she did, she lifted her head and glared at him. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

Grindelwald shrugged. "Probably. He'll come whether I kill you or not, but we want to give him a chance, don't we?"

"Why don't you think of something new?" she asked. Provoking him probably wasn't the best idea, but at this point, it was the only one she had. If nothing else, it might buy her enough time to think of something better. "The whole damsel-in-distress thing has been done before. I would have expected something more original out of you."

He twirled his wand between his fingers. "Like ripping off your arms and letting you bleed to death?" He paused, then said, "No, that's been done before, too; the epic of Beowulf, when he killed Grendel." He smiled at her. "I know. I could poison you with acclobane. I think I still have some left... no, wait, I don't; I gave the last of that to my dear friend Rachel."

Her blood seethed with anger, and she narrowed her eyes.

Grindelwald leaned forward. "I bet you'd love to hear how I pulled that one off."

She did, actually, but she wasn't about to say so.

He explained anyway. "As you know, acclobane is a deadly poison, and as you also know, they found enough acclobane in my blood to kill an elephant. What you don't know, though, is that for twenty years, I've been building up an immunity to it for just such an occasion. I could drink a sea of acclobane, and I wouldn't get so much as a stomachache."

"But your body-"

"A simple charm," he interrupted. "Anyone could have done it. The acclobane was the trick. It was what threw everyone off. It was also what made Rachel the perfect suspect. A former Potions instructor would have had no problem whipping up a batch."

"What about Benjamin Cypher?" she asked. "Why did you bring him into it?"

"I wanted to kill Natalie," he said nonchalantly. "A kind, friendly, hard-working Muggle-born Hufflepuff who would never hurt anyone... need I continue?"

"So you enlisted the help of the Nazis?"

"They wanted the spy, I wanted the witch," he said. "It was a fair deal."

"Helped by Muggles," Minerva said. "My, my, haven't you sunk to an all-time low?"

Grindelwald arched an eyebrow. "If I recall, your grandfather was a Muggle."

So much for that approach. "Well, it was worth a shot."

"You're right; it was." He pointed his wand at her again. "Enough talk. Crucio."

~~~

The subway station was deserted when Dumbledore arrived. "Grindelwald!" he shouted as he walked through it. "Show yourself, coward!"

Nothing. There was no one. Then, something occured to him. He dashed over to the track. There was silence, but that didn't throw him off. He knelt down and pressed his ear to the rail. Sure enough, there was a train approaching - distant, but still approaching. Grindelwald had to be on it. In that case, he was going to get on it, too. He waited, and gradually, the rumbling grew louder. Then, he saw the light, and for a brief moment, his thoughts were frozen by the bright light and thunderous roar of the train. He remembered where he was just in time to Apparate inside the train before it ran him over.

Dumbledore went to the front of the train first to see if he could stop it. No such luck - the controls were jammed, and if they weren't, they certainly were after he pushed every button and pulled every lever in the vicinity in a futile attempt to make it stop. There was a body lying on the floor without a head. He figured it must have been the conductor. Decapitation seemed to be Grindelwald's trademark. He hoped Minerva still had her head by the time he got to her. If not, not even his higher-than-average level of self-control could keep him from saying two words that would land him in Azkaban.

He began running toward the back of the train, shouting out Grindelwald's name as he went. In a car near the end, he found what he was looking for. Grindelwald was sitting down with his wand pointed at someone on the floor. Logic told him that it was Minerva. "This ends now, Grindelwald!" Dumbledore shouted, getting his attention.

Grindelwald looked over at him and smiled. "Oh, hello, Albus. Glad you could join the fun." He glanced at a clock on the wall. "Hmm... you're early."

Dumbledore reached for his wand and pointed it at Grindelwald. "I've had it with your games," he said, and slowly advanced toward him. "Get away from her."

"No. She's the wild card. As long as I have her, you won't touch me." He stood up, then knelt down next to Minerva. "Put your wand down."

Dumbledore didn't move.

Grindelwald narrowed his eyes. "Put your wand down or she dies."

"I'm not going to fall for that."

"Have it your way, then," Grindelwald said, and pointed his wand at her. "Ava- oof!"

He was interrupted when Minerva's elbow made contact with his chest. Her sudden move distracted him long enough for Dumbledore to assume the offensive. He leapt forward and seized Grindelwald by the throat with his left hand. Grindelwald had youth and speed on his side, but Dumbledore had experience and an abnormal amount of adrenaline in his system. "You are coming with me," he hissed, "and the whole world is going to know how you deceived everyone."

"I don't think so."

Grindelwald placed his left hand on Dumbledore's arm, and then broke the elbow with his right. Pain shot through Dumbledore's body, and for a split second, he could think of nothing else. He knew, though, that no matter what happened, he couldn't let Grindelwald win. He gritted his teeth and focused on his enemy. The pain was just another distraction.

Grindelwald wasn't done yet. His fist made contact with Dumbledore's face, sending him stumbling backwards. Stay calm, Dumbledore told himself as he regained balance. Losing control wasn't going to help anyone. He took a deep breath and faced Grindelwald. "Minerva," he said, his voice raspy, "you have to stop the train."

"No way," she said as she got to her feet. "I'm going to help you."

"You can help me by stopping the train," he replied, never taking his eyes off Grindelwald. "Leave him to me."

She didn't move.

"The track ends in a few miles," Dumbledore said, a little louder. "If you don't stop the train, we all die."

Minerva took a few steps toward the front of the car, but she still wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving him alone with Grindelwald. "I won't leave you."

"I didn't want to kill you, Minerva, but I can always change my mind," said Grindelwald.

"Shut up," Dumbledore snapped. "You're not going to kill anyone. Minerva, we're wasting time. You've got to stop the train."

She gave up on arguing with him and began running toward the front of the train.

Dumbledore pointed his wand at Grindelwald. "Stupefy!"

Grindelwald, however, saw the Stunning Charm coming, and had no trouble blocking it. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted, and Dumbledore's wand jumped out of his hand. Grindelwald caught it and tossed it over his shoulder. Then he smiled. "You're going to have to try harder than that."

Dumbledore's arm was throbbing. Broken bones were one thing. Broken joints were a whole new level of pain. If he survived, there was no telling how long it would take for him to fully recover. The pain was beginning to cloud his judgement, and he wanted more than anything to kill Grindelwald. Rational thought broke through, though, and he knew that no matter what happened, he couldn't let Grindelwald die. Not yet, anyway.

"You're weaponless," Grindelwald said. "Your elbow's broken. You're in so much pain you can't even think straight. I can see it in your eyes. What are you going to do?" A smug smile crossed his face. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked patronizingly.

"No."

The smile vanished, and for a few seconds, Grindelwald almost looked surprised. "'No'?" he repeated. "Think I'll kill you first?"

"You wish." Stalling wasn't the greatest tactic in the world, but it would give him time to collect his thoughts. Dumbledore knew he should go for the joints, as Grindelwald had, but as much as he hated to admit it, Grindelwald was right: he didn't have a weapon, and he was having trouble keeping his mind on what he had to do. He wanted to kill Grindelwald, but he couldn't.

"She won't be able to stop the train, you know," Grindelwald said. "You've already tried, haven't you? You just didn't want her here to see your death."

He believed in Minerva. If there was a way to stop the train, she would find it. He turned his thoughts back to Grindelwald, specifically, Grindelwald's wand. If he could get that out of the way, he might have a chance.

Grindelwald sighed and glanced at his wand. "The easy way, or the fun way?" he asked himself. "Decisions, decisions." He shrugged and tossed his wand aside. "I'll go for the fun way. Even with that broken elbow, you should be more of a challenge than Armando Dippet."

Dumbledore knew Grindelwald was trying to provoke him. He wasn't going to let it work. He assumed a defensive stance and analyzed the situation. Grindelwald had gotten rid of his wand, which was probably the stupidest thing he could have done. What should he go for first? The knees would be the best, but also the most difficult. He had to start small and work his way up... The wrist. He would go for the wrist.

Just then, something happened that Dumbledore didn't expect - Grindelwald struck first. He faked a low front kick, then came back with a high round kick that made contact with the side of his face. Dumbledore lost his balance and fell into a row of seats, landing on his broken elbow. Pain like none he had ever felt before shot through his system, and for a few seconds, he could think of nothing else. Grindelwald seized him by the collar of his robes and pulled him to his feet. Dumbledore saw his chance. He planted a kick to the knee, and although it wasn't strong or accurate enough to break it, it put Grindelwald in enough pain that he dropped him. Dumbledore landed on his feet and threw a punch at Grindelwald's face with his good arm. For an instant, things were going his way.

His good luck wasn't going to last. Dumbledore threw another punch, but Grindelwald caught it, twisted his arm around, and put him in a headlock. Dumbledore tried to break free, but he was trapped. Grindelwald chuckled and tightened his grip. "Pathetic."

Dumbledore's lungs were on fire for want of oxygen. Just as he was beginning to black out, the train gave a sudden lurch and came to a halt. The two of them were thrown forward. Dumbledore grabbed hold of a seat, and Grindelwald lost his grip on him. He spotted a wand lying not far away - whose it was, he didn't care - and dove for it. He picked it up, rolled over, and pointed it at Grindelwald - but Grindelwald was nowhere to be seen.

Slowly, painfully, Dumbledore got to his feet. A familiar laugh caught his ear. "Minerva must have stopped the train," Grindelwald said, appearing from behind a seat. "Good for her. I didn't think she could do it. She's amazing, isn't she?"

"For once, we are in agreement," said Dumbledore.

Grindelwald laughed again. "'For once'?" he repeated. "Have you forgotten all our years as colleagues already?"

"You're not Professor Grindelwald anymore," Dumbledore said. "You're a traitor. You were a traitor before you killed anyone. You used Minerva to turn Armando and myself against each other, and when he let her go of his own free will, you murdered him and tried to pin it on me. When that didn't work, you faked your death and framed Rachel for everything!"

"That's right," Grindelwald returned. "Rachel was completely innocent, and the whole world just sat back and watched as they sent her to Azkaban! You were the only one that believed her. Not even Minerva did."

Dumbledore didn't reply. Grindelwald's comment was more true than false. Although Minerva didn't come to a decision until after rescuing Benjamin Cypher, she had been leaning more toward Rachel's guilt until that night.

A smile slowly made its way across Grindelwald's face. "You know, something just occured to me. I can kill you, but you won't kill me. You need me alive. It's the only way for them to believe you." He reached into his robes and pulled something out - a wand.

Dumbledore was surprised at seeing Grindelwald holding a wand. He'd thrown it aside. How could he have gotten it back?

Grindelwald noticed the confused look on Dumbledore's face and laughed. "I had Minerva's wand, Albus," he explained. "This is mine." He pointed his wand at Dumbledore for a few seconds, then turned it back to himself. "Two words, and it's all over."

"You wouldn't kill yourself," said Dumbledore.

"Why not? Am I too much of a coward?" Grindelwald asked. "How's this for a paradox? I live, I lose. I die, I win. Personally, death is looking pretty good right now."

"Then why didn't you just stay dead? Why did you come back?"

"Because I'm not done yet," was his answer. "And because it doesn't work that way. You think I'm nothing more than murderer. You're wrong. I'm a messenger."

"'A messenger'?" Dumbledore repeated.

Grindelwald nodded. "Life is nothing. All we have is purpose. It doesn't matter what happens to me now. I've fulfilled my purpose. The ones before me fell, and the ones after me will fall, too, but with every fall they take, a little bit of you will go along with them. Someday, one will emerge stronger than any that came before, and when that day comes, your pathetic little world will crumble and fade away. I am nothing more than the end of the beginning."

"You're wrong."

Grindelwald narrowed his eyes. "Am I?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "You can gather all the darkness in the world into one room, and the light of one small candle will penetrate all of it."

Grindelwald knew he had been outwitted, and he was furious. It was time to resort to wands. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted.

Dumbledore managed to block the disarming spell, but while he was doing that, Grindelwald hit him with a banishing charm. He was hurtled toward the back of the car and didn't stop until he hit the wall. Grindelwald began walking toward him, keeping his wand up. "I am going to kill you," he said, "and after I kill you, I am going to send not only your head, but Minerva's head as well to Rachel in Azkaban so she can know that both of you died trying to save her."

Dumbledore didn't know what good dueling with wands was going to be. Not only was Grindelwald the former Charms instructor at Hogwarts, he was also a dueling champion - several times, in fact. Think, he told himself. As long as he was still alive, he had a chance.

However, it looked as though he wasn't going to have much of a chance. He was cornered, and Grindelwald was coming. Dumbledore looked over Grindelwald's shoulder and saw that Minerva had just entered the car. If he didn't do something quick, Grindelwald would kill him and then kill her. He could stand to sacrifice his own life, but not hers.

Grindelwald smiled triumphantly. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Minerva tried to scream, but she was too frozen with shock to even blink. When the green light faded, though, it was Grindelwald's turn to be shocked. "No!" he said. "I don't believe it!"

"Believe it!" came a voice from behind. "STUPEFY!"

Grindelwald turned around right as Dumbledore hit him with the stunning charm.

Minerva recovered her senses and raced toward him. Dumbledore half walked, half stumbled in her direction. They embraced each other tightly when they met. The rest of his body was in so much pain that his broken elbow didn't seem quite so bad anymore, and he was so glad to see her that he didn't even care.

"I don't believe it," Minerva said. "How did you survive?"

"It never hit me," he answered. "I Apparated just as he was saying the words. Useful spell, Apparition."

She laughed, and tears of joy appeared in the corners of her eyes. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one."

He had a question of his own. "How did you stop the train?"

"Emergency brake."

Dumbledore smiled. It hadn't even occured to him to look for an emergency brake when he was in there. Obviously, it hadn't occured to Grindelwald, either, because he would have disabled it. He kissed her on the forehead. "I love you."

They kissed each other, and as they did, Minerva realized how weak he was. "You need to get to a hospital," she said when they pulled apart. "Look at you. You can barely stand."

"I will," he said dismissively, "but first..." He pointed his wand at Grindelwald.

"Are you going to kill him?" There was an unmistakable hopeful tone to her voice.

He shook his head. "Not yet. We need him alive to prove Rachel's innocence. Then, he will die." He was starting to succumb to his injuries. Already, he was having trouble standing. Minerva noticed this, and put his arm around her shoulders so he could lean on her. He thanked her and then turned his attention to the body lying on the floor. "Mobilicorpus."

Grindelwald's body slowly rose into the air until it was hovering a few inches off the ground.

"Now, let's get out of here."