He hadn't expected Hermione to see him off to school, but it seemed she'd decided to leave her first day of Hogwarts to say goodbye to him and Berg. He was flattered, but also concerned that she would be missing valuable networking time at her new school. She brushed off his concerns, as did his mother when he went to bid her goodbye. So he allowed the young witch to ride with him down to the portals, despite it being only a short distance from the Lintzen's castle.
She opened the portal for him, a reminder that he had yet to learn to do it himself, then waved as he and Berg rode through, disappearing from the warm countryside of Fort Stark and reappearing in the dramatic Norwegian landscape.
It felt strange to ride up the track towards the school, dressed in their uniforms like every other student after the drama of the last year. He waved to the people he knew from classes, then froze in disbelief just before he passed through the gates. Berg went to tense beside him that his hippogriff let out a screech of distress.
He knew that beast; a grey hippogriff, saddled in very familiar green.
'What in Circe's name is Alice doing here?' Gellert spat.
'This is a school, boys.' A sharp voice reminded them and their eyes snapped sideways to where a teacher stood, arms folded over her chest. 'Alice is here under the terms of the same treaty that you are, need I remind you that an act of violence is an act of war.'
'She's a murderer.' Berg spat, furiously. The teacher's face softened.
'She has been cleared by the courts. Whilst I understand your anger, there is nothing we can do about it. Please, just keep your distance. We do not need another war.'
Still angry, Berg spurred his hippogriff into the courtyard so firmly that it didn't even kick up its usual fuss at the mud. He swung off, landing with a splash and stalking in through the doorway. Gellert hurried after him, hoping that he wasn't about to do anything foolish.
Fortunately, it seemed he wasn't. Berg stormed his way all the way to the second year tower and into a dorm room identical to their first. He yanked the curtains shut around his bunk and the heavy silence from within suggested that he'd also cast a silencing charm. Gellert sat carefully on his own bed, carefully masking his own anger from the sight of those who'd already arrived.
He'd known, theoretically, that Alice had been pardoned because it had made the news but he'd assumed, perhaps foolishly that she'd still be away from them, living in her stolen Manor House. Perhaps she'd be allowed to complete courses by correspondence but he'd never in his wildest imaginings even considered that she'd be let back to school. Were they stupid? Surely they knew that this was an accident waiting to happen, that it was only a matter of time before someone violated the treaty? Even if it wasn't one of the coven children who did it, there would still be consequences. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that just because they'd beheaded the hydra, it was gone. The ideology that had allowed a large portion of the population to happily work for the other side still existed, even if it was temporarily leaderless.
He would need to make sure everyone on their side knew that they should not strike first, regardless of what was said or done. The quickest way to do that... no, he'd learned his lesson last year. His first task should be to let his mother know and she would alert the coven. He would then do exactly as she instructed him.
He turned to his owl and pulled out his self-inking quill.
Several hours later, after he'd exhausted all other reasonable avenues of entertainment, he finally approached Berg's bunk. He knocked on the bedpost, then when he received no reply, he poked his head through the drapes.
'Berg?' He asked. There was a witchlight illuminating the space, so he knew the other boy wasn't asleep, even though he was curled up and facing away from Gellert. After a moment without a reply, he clambered through, crawling up to the headboard so that he sat against the carved surface.
'This sucks.' Berg said bitterly. Gellert smiled at the strange term, knowing that he'd picked it up from Hermione.
'It does. Its not right. I've written to mother, perhaps she can have something done?'
'Doubt it. It was in the treaty. I read it.' Berg grunted.
'Alright, it sucks.' He drawled the word, wondering how on earth it had taken on the meaning it had in England. 'But we can't do anything about it.'
'No we can't. Now, let me feel rubbish in peace.' Berg grouched, flapping a hand at Gellert to go away.
'Well, if there's one thing Hermione taught me, it's that there's nothing worse than feeling rubbish alone. Now, I'm not going to hug you because you're not a woman, but I can certainly sit here and tell you that unless you pick yourself up soon, there's going to be rumours going around that we're poofs.'
Berg bolted upright, eyes darting around as he realised the curtains were still closed and that the other boys muttering beyond their privacy charm.
'Grindelwald!' He shrieked, scrambling through the curtains in a tangle of limbs. Gellert climbed through a moment later in gales of laughter as Berg struggled to right himself. He stopped laughing a moment later as Berg's blistering hex impacted solidly with his left arm. He yelped in pain and retaliated.
Five minute later, Berg was trying to extract his new antlers from his torn curtain hangings whilst Gellert cast counter-jinxes on his arm.
'You better know the counter curse to this.' Berg hissed as he lost his balance again and crashed into the desk next to his bed.
'Unless it's finite?' He admitted sheepishly. Berg groaned.
'You're taking me to the sick bay, and you're going to be the one to explain why I've got antlers before term's even started.' The younger boy informed him. Gellert agreed easily and slung an arm around his shoulders, helping him manoeuvre carefully through the low doorframe. Gellert would certainly end up in detention but at least Berg wasn't thinking about Alice anymore.