Gellert had been waiting for this moment all week. He hurried with Berg down to the main gates, past many other students who were also dressed in finery to celebrate the occasion. They heard the roars, whinnies and screeches of the many mounts held by elves in the courtyard long before they passed through the doors. He wore the deep brown robes that had been sent by his mother, with spiky embroidery around the sleeves and hem. He wondered what Hermione was wearing.
The courtyard was as muddy as ever and they hitched their robes and cloaks up to their waists as they squelched their way towards their mounts. Gellert had always been rather wary of Berg's hippogriff with its long curved talons and beak but on this occasion it looked even more terrifying than usual. The beast clearly disliked the mud even more than they did, beating its wings and spraying mud over everything in the vicinity and snapping at the poor elf that held it. Alice was already there, a neat charm deflecting the mud that her brother's hippogriff was spraying.
She waved to them and they sloshed in her direction. Her grey hippogriff had always been friendlier than Berg's chestnut and Gellert petted its beak as Berg struggled to get his to stand still enough to bow.
They had to leave the castle with Berg on foot, but once they were out on the wild lawns of the castle the issue was resolved quickly enough.The ridge top path was truly spectacular when the weather was good, but perpetually windy. The pine forest rolled down the smooth hill to their right, down to the base of the valley before a craggy cliff rose out to form the opposite mountain. To their left the land plummeted away into a deep, icy cold fjord that their duelling teacher made them swim in every lesson. The mountain that the castle was built on towered above them but never shadowed the grounds. The school itself was a squat, dense building that burrowed into the mountain, a large part of it subterranean and the part above ground reaching four floors at its highest.
Gellert spent hours out here, riding up and down the hills, along the many trails that spiderwebbed the ground. He was not alone. The castle was dark and crowded with no privacy beyond the hangings on their beds. A lot of their lessons were held outside too - duelling with its inevitable swim made use of the varied terrains provided by the landscape. Their magizoology took place under the canopy of the forest with no consideration for the weather, and he imagined towards winter those lessons would become fiendishly cold. For now though, he loved nothing more that riding Kelpie around the grounds, occasionally joined by Berg or one of the girls.
The track to the portal was one of the most well trodden and the three of them splashed their way along the ridge, gently making their way down to the tree line. They passed through the passage in the trees, the path growing even muddier and Alice had to force Berg's hippogriff along the path by dragging on its reins behind her own mount.
The passage through the trees didn't last long, they rode for only a couple of minutes before the massive stones reared up around them. It was a much newer ring of stones than the one near Gellert's home; the stones were still sharply shaped and the runes that crawled around them were etched with perfect clarity. There wasn't a ring of barrows here either, unlike the one back home. An unfamiliar teacher waited by the portal for them, and they joined a queue of students waiting for the portal to go to their destination.
The Tunninger ritual was only one of the events students attended; the less traditional families attended a huge variety of balls. They were easy to pick out, in opulent dresses, coiffed hair and dripping jewels. In contrast, the traditional families were rather monochromatic; most of the men wore brown or maroon, the girls wore red or white. They were more relaxed though, there was an air of celebration and the thrum of power was already starting to stir in all of them.
Not all the traditional families were wealthy, nor even old. He recognised two brothers from their dorm, both of whom were wearing the most threadbare brown formal robes he'd ever seen. There was no golden embroidery and they'd clearly walked here on foot as they were up to their knees in mud.
He'd noticed them in class before. Jori and Veli, he believed their names were. They were strong and intelligent, but more importantly they had a commitment and hunger to learn that he found inspiring.
He left Berg and Alice struggling to hold the hippogriff still and rode over to the two boys. They looked up as his towering shadow fell over them, but he didn't dismount. It wasn't because he was being rude, but because he doubted he could get back up onto Kelpie's tall back from the muddy ground.
'Gellert Grindelwald.' He introduced himself, bending low over Kelpie's back to offer his hand. The two boys shook it suspiciously, but introduced themselves as well. He had been correct in his guess of their names.
'I haven't seen you at the Harvest ritual before.' He tried, wondering at the almost hostile reception he was receiving.
'We've never been.' Veli replied sharply, as though that should have been obvious.
'Oh.' Gellert replied stupidly. In hindsight, he realised he had never seen pre-school children other than those of the coven at these events. 'It amazing, you'll love it. My sister is the sun for her first time tonight.'
'Where is she?' Jori asked, looking around with the first hint of enthusiasm in their conversation.
'She'll meet us there. Want to come through with me?' He offered. It was always best to pass through a portal with a mount, the extra mass made the journey much smoother. The two boys would probably be assigned to someone, but Gellert knew that Kelpie was one of the better travelled mounts and less likely to kick at them.
The two boys eyed him, then Veli nodded. He showed them how to hold onto the chest plate, where they wouldn't hurt Kelpie by mistake and they were finally called over.
They emerged into the much warmer sunlight of the Tunninger's South Germany home. True to his expectations, Kelpie had kept both his hooves and his teeth to himself. The lightning bolt of silver scales that hit the ground in front of them only moments after they'd regained their balance was though. Katana's massive wings snapped dust into the air as he seemed to drop out of the sky to land powerfully in front of them.
'Gellert!' A voice cried. Hermione's hair was wind blown, a hooded cloak hanging almost to her mount's knees and hiding her dress entirely from view.
'Hermione!' He called back, manoeuvring Kelpie so that they could embrace lightly. 'This is Jori and Veli, they're in my year at school. Jori, Veli, meet my sister; Hermione.'
The young witch turned her warm, beaming smile on the two boys who looked somewhat thunderstruck. They managed to mumble greetings but seemed, like most people were upon meeting her, to be completely speechless. She turned Katana's head and they set off down the path, walking slowly enough for the two boys to keep pace with them. Hermione told him all about her trip to Paris with his mother and Anneken and how her lessons were going.
'You're educated at home?' Veli suddenly interrupted them. Hermione paused, looking down at him.
'Yes, my matriarch thinks Hogwarts won't proved me with an adequate education.' She replied quickly. 'She wants to see that I learn as much as possible before I start.'
'You're not even at school yet? Gellert said you were going to be the sun?' Veli said, sounding incredulous. Hermione blushed modestly.
'I'm very excited.'
They arrived at the pickets, separating briefly to tie up their mounts.
'Did you bring anything?' Hermione asked the two boys when she rejoined them on foot. The cloak she wore was so long that it trailed along the ground, and it wrapped around her so thoroughly that he couldn't see even a little of her dress.
'Mother said she would meet us at the barrows.' Veli replied and Hermione nodded, walking in that direction.
The boys' mother was dressed in clothes as threadbare as her sons and she embraced them warmly. Then she looked up at her son's friends. Gellert introduced them, deliberately leaving off his family name. He knew the way people tended to react; a mixture of reverence and fear. He doubted his mother would approve, but he wanted to open this door. The two boys were ambitious and hard working and would probably be successful in the future. He needed to start making his own connections. He had been somewhat amazed when Hermione had managed to order raw, untreated acromantula silk and knew he would never have had the ability to do that.
Veli and Jori's mother was incredibly warm and friendly, wrapping both of them into a bony hug.
'Alice isn't very happy.' Gellert muttered to her. Hermione glanced discretely over his shoulder and her eyebrows furrowed. Alice was glaring in their direction with enough fury to almost smite them where they stood. Hermione looked away quickly. 'I don't think she expected you to become sun so quickly.'
'Has she been terrible to you at school?' Hermione asked sympathetically, and Gellert had to try not to goggle at her. He had just told her that an older witch was furious with her, and that was the thing that Hermione seemed most concerned about?
Hermione was still looking at him, eyes wide with concern.
'No... no, I don't see her.' He replied quickly. Hermione sagged with relief.
'You're not concerned?' Gellert checked.
'Well no, she can't exactly do anything, can she?' Hermione waved her hand dismissively, the floor length sleeve of her robe billowing and revealing a flash of gold.
'Well,' Gellert whispered awkwardly. 'She sort of can...' He trailed off as the horn echoed across the field. Veli, Jori and their mother joined them and Gellert had to stop talking. He may want them to be his allies, but he wouldn't give anyone an inkling of dissent between coven families.
They were joined by Mareike, but Petrovna and her Russian friends remained with Berg. The growing rift unsettled him somewhat, but he really didn't know what to do about it. Hermione had been chosen by Alice's parents and it wasn't Alice's place to question it, not when the strength and stability of the ritual depended on everyone being in the right places.
With the rest of the coven children missing, the dynamic was very different. Veli and Jori excelled at apple bobbing, but had never done archery or sword fighting. The round of applause as Mareike and Hermione traded lightning blows with each other left a warm glow of pride. It was more fun, there was no competition for him in the archery, so he could relax and he enjoyed teaching the two boys to shoot. Hermione wasn't able to compete with her voluminous robe, which they both considered a relief - her archery certainly wasn't up to scratch.
The best part was the pumpkin jinxing. Hermione was like a whirlwind of movement and power, lashing out with both her wand and her empty left hand. She set a high bar, which Gellert was hard pressed to beat, and particularly next to Veli and Jori they both looked very good. He had two turns at that because he enjoyed it so much but everything went somewhat downhill when he turned back to speak to Hermione after a particularly spectacular blasting curse to finish his turn.
She was squared up against Alice Tunninger, or perhaps more accurately, Alice Tunninger was looming over Hermione and the much younger witch was somehow managing to stand tall.
'... little upstart!' Alice hissed. Hermione said something in reply, too quietly for him to hear which did nothing to smooth her ire.
'Is there a problem?' The elderly wizard that was meant to be supervising the pumpkin jinxing appeared over both witches, wand drawn. Berg appeared, tugging at Alice's arm insistently. Alice tore out of his grip, glaring mutinously at the older man. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then suddenly her mother was there. Frau Tunninger was rigidly controlled, her face expressionless as she took in her daughter and Hermione. Her eyes flicked briefly to Veli and Jori and their mother.
Alice sneered at her impressively.
'Yes. I have been training for years to be the sun. This little newbie waltzes in and suddenly you're giving it to her, instead of your own daughter.' Alice snapped, arm swinging to point accusingly at Hermione. Frau Tunninger's expression shifted from blankness to dark fury and she straightened ominously. Gellert had seen that exact movement in his mother and would have started to back away, but Alice straightened up too.
'You bring shame on our family, Alice. Hermione Grindelwald is the strongest among us, and she must be channel. Your arrogance would risk the success of the ritual.'
'Stronger than me? She is inexperienced, she barely knows the ritual.' Alice snapped in reply. A large crowd was forming now. 'You risk the ritual with a child at the head.'
'I am ashamed to call you my daughter. You are showing with your actions that you are unsuitable, I suggest you go for a ride. You may rejoin the celebrations after the ritual if you cannot restrain yourself.' The order was clear in Frau Tunninger's voice, but Alice was not finished.
'If she is stronger, make her prove it. A duel.' Alice snapped. Gasps rippled through the crowd, accompanied by several jeers and the occasional shout of approval. If possible, Frau Tunninger's countenance darkened even further.
'You would challenge Hermione to a duel, before she reaches school. I believed you could embarrass us no further' The hostess hissed. She slashed her wand and Gellert flinched, expecting a curse to hit the disobedient daughter, but instead a silver animal shot from the end. There was a moment of silence, then Lady Grindelwald stepped out of thin air with a crack. Her hand fell heavily onto Gellert's shoulder and her other gripped her wand.
'Alice wants to duel Hermione.' Gellert muttered, not knowing how aware his mother was of the situation. The hand on his shoulder squeezed slightly.
'Has a formal challenge been issued?' His mother demanded coldly. The gathered crowd shrank back; Lady Grindelwald was a terrifying figure, dressed head to toe in black and with her magic chilling the air around her.
'Hermione of no house...' Alice began, but her mother backhanded her across the cheek before she could continue. The girl's head snapped sideways and she stumbled a couple of steps, her hand flying up to cup her cheek. Lady Grindelwald levelled the glowing tip of her wand between her eyes.
'Disrespect my ward again, and you will not live long enough to issue a challenge.' Gellert's mother hissed.
'I suggest you reconsider, Alice. This incident will be forgotten but if you issue a challenge, it will forever stain your honour.'
'Hermione, ward of the ancient house of Grindelwald. I, Alice, daughter of Eleanor of the ancient house of Tunninger find you to be lacking in power and person. I challenge you to a duel where we shall prove ourselves in the field of fair combat.' Alice spat. Hermione remained admirably strong and straight faced, seeming unafraid as she stood before the older witch.
'You are under no obligation to accept, Hermione. You are below school age and there will be no stairs on your honour.' Lady Tunninger said kindly. Hermione glanced at his mother quickly, then turned back to Alice, her spine straightening even further.
'Alice, daughter of Eleanor of the ancient house of Tunninger. I, Hermione Granger, ward of the ancient house of Grindelwald accept your challenge. I would name Gellert, son of Frederich of the ancient house of Grindelwald as my second.' Hermione replied. Her voice was even and calm and Gellert found his heart pounding as he stepped forwards to rest his hand on her shoulder.
'I name Petrovna...' but Petrovna was shaking her head already, sinking back into the crowd. Alice stumbled slightly for the first time, then her eyes fixed firmly on Hermione. 'I need no second. Who would be our warden?' She called out to the crowd. There was an awkward shuffling, then Herr Lintzen stepped forwards, his expression thunderous.
'I, Thorberg, son of Sven of the ancient house of Lintzen, would adjudicate.' He paused as both young witches nodded and reached out their right hands, clamping around each other's wrist. Herr Lintzen pulled out his wand.
'I would have you face each other on the morn of Yule, with only your wands and your robes. You shall duel to disarm.'
'So it shall be.' Hermione responded instantly. Alice huffed and sneered, but agreed as well. Frau Lintzen tapped their joined wrists with his wand and black liquid flowed form his wand, snaking around their joined wrists then splitting into two and forming a bangle on each of them. With a final repetition of the term, he tapped their wrists again and the bangle solidified into something that looked like gleaming, dark stone.
Hermione had committed to it, and by the expression in Alice's face, disarming would not be the aim of her duel.