Tom is now nine, the same age as Gellert, and Nogard the ice dragon is bigger than the house after only a few months.
They've set up a better nesting situation for her, but she eats like a black hole, and eventually the Unspeakable comes back with the information that the 'negotiations' have been completed.
There's a knock at the door and Harry stands from the couch, expecting it from the Unspeakable's letters.
Harry's wand (the holly) glows with the formation of a patronus and a spectral pale blue pours forward, spilling into the air looking weightless. Something large begins to form, something huge, and Harry purses his lips when a big fuck-off vulture spreads its massive feathers and takes to the air with a powerful thrust of its wings.
Harry sighs. "Yeah, alright, tell the boys to come meet the guest."
The vulture beats massive wings and blurs to a streak of silver, sailing out of the window to the backyard.
The lanky man ducks his head awkwardly where he stands on the front step. "Nice to meet you, I'm Newt Scamander. Um, here."
Newt hands over a letter, sealed by the Ministry, and Harry can feel the Unspeakable's magic on it.
"I'm a creature specialist," Newt continues. "I've been tasked with returning the dragon to a sanctuary."
"I'm Gellert," the blond introduces himself with a dimpled smile, peeking around Harry's arm. "Gellert Grindelwald, and this is Harry Grindelwald."
"Am I?" Harry muses. He can't actually remember his fake name but he's pretty sure it's not Grindelwald.
"Harry Riddle-Grindelwald," Tom chimes in from the other side. "There's a hyphen. Riddle comes first."
The boys turn on each other but Harry quickly shoves their wands down. "Bad. Not in front of a guest." He looks up at Newt. "Sorry. Nice to meet you, Newt, Nogard is around the back."
Newt just stares at Death for a long moment. Which is odd, because Death currently looks like a child standing not-quite tucked behind Harry.
"Hello," Newt says cautiously. "What's your name?"
Death tilts its head.
"That's not a creature," Harry says. "He's an angel of entropy. A force of nature. Please don't touch, I never know what to do with bodies."
Newt is ever so fascinated.
"This way, to the dragon," Harry says, nudging Newt along through the house to the hidden backyard that can't be accessed from outside.
The man keeps pausing to turn back and glance at Death.
Gellert smirks at Death. "You've got yourself an admirer," he whispers.
They pass through the front hall and Harry turns away from just a second and loses the man, who got stuck again at the stairs, where the shoe rack is.
"Is that a basilisk?" Newt asks, peering into one of Harry's shoes.
"Is it?" Harry asks, moving over. He looks down at the tiny snake. "Oh, actually, I do see the resemblance. Is that why she never opens her eyes?" Harry turns to Tom but the boy has escaped along with the other two.
They go out to the backyard and Harry has to physically drag Newt past Mooney, now very clear on what kind of personality this man has.
"That's where Nogard is," Harry introduces, pointing to a blank space in the back corner of the yard. "There's a portal there, to the Antarctic, because Nogard is an ice type. Just push against it to go through."
"Oh," Newt says. "A dimensional cat flap for your pet dragon."
"I didn't make it," Harry says, firmly denying the blame.
"Um, and I do feel the need to ask; did you name her Nogard because it's the word 'dragon' backwards?"
Harry whirls on the man. "Don't you judge me, not when you were just making eyes at the heat death of the universe."