Despite less than an eighth of the school attending the traditional Harvest ritual, somehow the entire population seemed to know about the dramatic night by the time he returned to the castle. By the time he woke up the next morning, everyone seemed to have formed an opinion and was determined to let him know as such.

'Hey Grindelwald, is it true your nine year old sister was the main witch in the ritual last night?' One boy called across the room.

'Yeah, and isn't the one who tried to duel her your sister?' Another demanded of Berg.

'I heard she got possessed by a demon' The mousy boy by the door added.

'No, Alice Tunninger cursed her.'

'No she didn't, it was the ritual magic rejecting a mudblood.' The wealthy English boy called in his heavily accented German from inside the toilets.

'Big words from a half-blood.' Jeered the first boy.

'Ritual magic doesn't care about blood status, idiots. That's just a stupid English idea.' Spielmann scolded all of them. He was a pureblood, Gellert was certain his family adhered to the doctrine, but it seemed they were perhaps not as religious about it as his mother had implied.

'Grindelwald will smash her.' The first boy promised eagerly.

'Don't be stupid, she's nine. Tunninger knows real magic at least.'

'I've seen her doing real magic before.' Christopher Hawdon interrupted quietly. 'Hermione duelled Livius Lucan last year.'

There was stunned silence for a moment... then, 'no way!' Muttered Spielmann.

'Yeah, that can't be right.' The mousy boy added. 'I saw her right after he was beaten and she was fine.'

'It's true.' Berg snapped and the room went dead silent. 'She duelled Livius Lucan on the path down from Blau Berg last summer and escaped from his hideout that night.'

'And your sister wants to duel her?' Spielmann asked incredulously.

'I never said she was smart.' Berg snapped, jabbing his wand a little to aggressively at his boots to clean them and scouring off all the polish. The room remained dead silent for a moment longer and several people cast glances at Gellert who had so far remained silent.

He studiously packed his books into his bag and shoved his towel in over the top, ready for their morning duelling class. He was the first down to breakfast and he ate his dense, goopy porridge moodily, wishing that he'd had a chance to talk to Hermione about the ritual before she'd disappeared. His owl was gone, not yet returned from the last time he'd sent it home to Grindelwald Castle with a letter for Hermione so he couldn't write to her even.

He left before anyone else had arrived, deciding to ride Kelpie down to the fjord for their duelling lesson. It usually took about half an hour to make the descent and easily double that to make the ascent again; it had only taken two lessons for most students to realise it was well worth the time it took to either saddle their mounts or beg to borrow a broomstick.

It was a relief to be out on the grounds, strolling through the mighty trees as the warm autumnal breeze whispered among the branches. There would be little change to signify autumn here, with most of the trees being evergreen, but he could almost smell the imminent snow on the air. There was an orchard half way down the mountain, hidden by the taller pines and slightly further along were several paddocks, each protected by a massive climate charm to keep them at the perfect conditions for the plants that grew within. He'd only ever been in the high paddock, which was where first years took Herbology but there was a heart plant in the wet paddock that Kelpie liked to snack on and could be reached from the fence.

It was here that he was tracked down. The chestnut hippogriff was unmistakable, and Gellert's hand flew to his wand.

'Don't cast!' Berg shouted, his hands already thrown into the air even as his mount took advantage of the dropped reins to snap at Kelpie.

'Expelliarmus.' Gellert said coldly, deftly catching the dark wand that flew out of Berg's pocket. Then he just looked at Berg expectantly as the other boy hastened to back his mount away from the now somewhat irate Kelpie.

Berg finally settled his mount and looked cautiously around.

'Do you know how to check if anybody's listening?' He asked cautiously. Gellert raised an eyebrow but didn't admit that he didn't know the spell.

'Do you?' He asked in reply. Berg looked awkward and craned sideways in the saddle as if to check that nobody was hiding in Kelpie's shadow.

'Look, I think my sister's being stupid. You already know that I think Hermione's crazy strong.' Berg started, then he huffed and shook his head. 'She used my owl to send a letter, but he brought the reply to me instead of her.'

Gellert gestured for him to carry on.

'Look, I'm meant to be supporting her, she's the Tunninger heir, so keep this quiet alright?' Berg said quickly, shoving out a thick piece of parchment. Gellert reached out and took it from him, shaking it open with the hand that wasn't currently clutching both wands and his reins.

Gellert didn't recognise the seal but he did recognise the name.

'Dumortier? Isn't he the leader of that French Revolution? The one the Delacours keep having trouble with?' Gellert demanded.

'Yes. They've been trying to overthrow the covens system after the muggles succeeded in getting rid of their king.' Berg loved history and books but this was one instance where Gellert wasn't sure how much he could ask for.

'What interest have they got in Germany?'

'Your mother supported the Delacours, so revenge.' Berg said with a frown. 'But I imagine, more importantly that its because the coven is the most powerful in Europe. The Delacours would lose the Russian coven without us to act as an intermediary, not to mention that our coven is the biggest in Europe, since the Bulgarians ceded control to your mother.'

'Of course. If Alice wins, you're Hermione's second. Can you imagine if she beat both of you?'

'It would shake confidence in the Grindelwald name.'

'And in your power. Would people support you if they didn't rely on your family for safety? Of course, you'd both be disgraced which would leave the Grindelwald family excluded from the coven and your family have always been the powerhouse.'

'Merlin.' Gellert swore.

'My loyalty is to the coven, and to Germany.' Berg promised.

'Do we bring this to the adults?' Gellert asked, hastily pocketing the letter where it couldn't be lost.

'I think your mother already knows.' Berg said sagely.

'Right. So what do we do about it?'

'I think you need to practice too. I know Hermione's strong, but Alice is too. You mustn't let her defeat you both.'

'Yeah, sure.' Gellert kneeded Kelpie's slick mane between his fingers.

'I've got some great duelling books, I bet there's some good spells in there.' Berg suggested and Gellert nodded.

'You should stay with Alice, see if you can find out anything more.'

'Yeah, she still thinks I'm loyal to her.' Berg looked troubled for a moment, then checked his watch as the awkward silence drew out. 'Class is in half an hour. I should go.'

He left in a beat of chestnut wings and Gellert meandered his way slowly back over the ridge and towards the fjord on foot. His mind raced, but it kept circling back to the same issue - was Hermione strong enough for this? His mind fought with his heart over whether to tell her about this.

His heart broke at the thought of telling her - she was so painfully brave and he could already see her straightening as she shouldered the burden of the country that wasn't truly hers and the family name that had been meant to protect her. At the same time he could hardly not warn her just what she would be up against.