DISCLAIMER: I DONT OWN NOTHIN, ITS ALL SOMEONE ELSES
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Gellert had to wonder to himself sometimes if perhaps wizards were not all that bright? He didn't think himself a vain man, but surely the lackwits of the magical world had to know he was on a different level than most of them right? So then why did it seem like there were always some young upstarts prepared to try and claim his head? Gellert wondered if it was the one eye or the one hand that tempted them into a fight more often than the other.
Gellert considered this while casually flicking his wand and raising a shield to block the deluge of fire that would have overrun him. Was it his age perhaps? Although he expected that age would probably make people warier of trying to kill him. He could make out something being shouted at him in German over the roar of the flame but paid the words no heed. There just wasn't much to discuss honestly. He had already acquired what he had come here for, now he just needed to leave. Of course, that was when he was discovered and they began to try and kill or capture him. Gellert sent several blasting hexes at the ceiling above the three who had been casting gout's of fire and was rewarded when they stopped to shield themselves from above. Taking the moment presented to him Gellert transfigured a few nearby pictures from the walls into ravens and sent them on to harass anyone they could along the corridor.
He wasn't a monster, he had no intention of killing anyone. A flick of his long Hawthorne wand and two more wizards slumped to the floor asleep and deaf to the world around them. Gellert supposed he should be happy the Headmaster wasn't currently in the school, while perhaps not an issue it could have inconvenienced him if he had been. Although it did rather disappoint him to think that one of the premier magical schools in the world had such lax security. Two more, a witch and a wizard fell before him. Older, weaker, crippled, and still no man but Albus Dumbledore could stand before him. Gellert transfigured a hole into the wall and stepped through. Standing before him were the gates leading to the school grounds and the end of the wards that held the school in confidence from the world. With a lazy swish of his wand, the incoming swarm birds converging on him were transfigured into droplets of water that splattered harmlessly onto his coat and the ground around him. Two more flicks of his wand and his clothes were dry and three stunners had dispatched the last remaining interlopers.
He wondered how long they might keep his visit secret from the world. They wouldn't be able to he knew, too many had seen his face, and students did love to gossip. He hoped that this would make enough waves for the world to take note of his return, but that was just a bonus really. The books in his bag were the real reason he had come here. The real reason he had walked into the ground of the school, crept his way into the Headmasters office by the cover of a disillusionment charm, taken the books from the secret library of the headmaster, and then casually walked down the hall whistling the schools anthem while waiting for the fun to begin.
It would probably be noted he stole something, which made him laugh since what he took was his by rights anyway, but not mention what. It had been good to see some old friends and familiar faces. Perhaps he should do this again sometime? He scowled at the thought, he was beginning to sound like Albus. The feeling of the world shrinking and spinning overwhelmed his senses, and then he was standing in the middle of a street in the street in Baton Rouge Louisiana, USA. Time to visit another old friend, thankfully this one owed him a favor or two.
It was quiet this time of night. Gellert estimated it must be close to midnight now. Both sides of the street were empty, empty vendors carts on both sides of the street. Cold empty chairs along the walls of restaurants, the soft whistle as signs creaked in the wind. It was cold tonight. Gellert wondered if that was from the weather. Coming to a stop he looked up at the old building before him. A building that he knew would look out of place in the bustling restaurant square had it not been for the enchantments placed upon the building. Looking into the fogged and dusty windows scrolls and rolls of parchment seemed to litter every inch of the building. From edge to edge all the walls were blocked with shelves holding them, tables overflowing with them. Only a single path lay unconquered in the dense jungle of scrolls, leading to a small desk, with a small man sitting in a small chair. Gellert pushed the door open and strode in ignoring the chime of the bell above his head. It was late, but he knew his old friend would be working.
The smaller man lifted his head and smiled at him "Good evening Gellert, I hadn't expected to ever see you again. ". The creature was perhaps three feet tall, bald, gray-skinned, with large pointed gray ears. "Hello Walter. I'm glad you are in good health." Gellert meant it as well. The Pukwudgie before him and helped him several times in the past. Gellert knew the scorn received by the goblins and their kin here in America and often wondered why Walter chose to stay.
"I expect there's more to this visit than a social call eh? Alright, spit it out. What are you after?" Walter spoke without the typical southern drawl of those who lived in the area, perhaps proof that he didn't associate himself more than he needed to. "I need the map of Hogwarts you didn't make, as well as one of Great Britain, Scotland, and the British Ministry if you have them," Gellert said. The pukwudgie raised one of its gray-skinned eyebrows at him "And why would I give you any of them, hypothetically speaking, if I did have them? What do I get?" Walter said with a smile that showed a few too many teeth.
"I'll wipe our debt clean, and then not kill you and burn this shop down to cover my tracks, fair? And I know you have them. You're the greatest living cartographer. You wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing there was some uncharted land out there you hadn't plotted every inch of." Gellert was confident that Walter would rise to his challenge, and was rewarded just a moment later. "Wipe our debt you say, that's quite the price, must mean a lot to you. Very well, one moment then." Walter seemed to be happy with the arrangement. Funny how much value some seemed to place upon their own lives. A few snaps of his fingers and tied with a bow was a stack of papers bound in an envelope floating in the air before him. Reaching out his hand Gellert plucked the file from the air and placed it into the bag hanging from his shoulder. "Thank you, Walter, stay safe" were the last words Gellert spoke before he turned on his heel and strode from the store. Walter just watched him leave before picking up his pen and returning to the map before him. Gellert knew he would probably never be returning here. The door to the unnamed map store swung shut behind him with the chime of its little bell. The sound of that chime would stick with Gellert for a while.
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Harry walked into the great hall for breakfast that morning to a nearly deafening drone of conversation taking place. Walking over to the Slytherins table harry took what was beginning to comfortably become his normal spot beside Tracey and across from Daphne. He hadn't yet made it into his seat fully before Tracey had turned and yelled at him "HARRY! Did you hear? Grindelwald has attacked!" Tracey punctuated her words by shoving a paper into his news. It's a copy of the Daily Prophet.
Grindelwald Attacks Durmstrang, Leaves a path of destruction in his wake
In the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of September tragedy struck Durmstrang. Gellert Grindelwald, a mad wizard and most prolific dark age of our times, launched an all-out attack on his former school. Seeming without purpose and for no reason beyond trying to kill and maim the students of the prestigious school, Grindelwald stormed his way into the school, fought several members of the faculty, but was eventually rebuffed without any serious injury to the students. It is believed that the dark wizard in question saw the opportunity of Headmaster Karkaroff being out of the country on a personal matter, and attacked the school. This does however call into question the remaining power of the once seemingly all-powerful wizard. Has the once all-powerful wizard truly fallen so far? Perhaps his defeat at the hands of Albus Dumbledore crippled him more than once believed? Perhaps he has begun to weaken in his old age? Read more about this story on page 7
Harry looked up from the article in genuine surprise. He remembered what Snape had told him about the Dark Wizard Grindelwald. To think a wizard on par with Dumbledore had walked into a school and attacked the students. "Has Grindelwald done anything else like this?" Harry asked. "No not since he fought You-Know-Who all those years ago. I heard he was in hiding from Professor Dumbledore and all the others hunting him, but why would he attack kids?" Tracey replied. "I doubt we'll ever know at any rate. Pass me the bacon please?" Harry said. He thought himself a smart kid, but to understand the mind of a dark lord? Probably not happening.
Looking down the Slytherin table things seemed to be going as they had all week. Draco was saying something far too loudly, Pansy Parkinson and Draco's two goons were hanging off his every word. Theodore Nott and Blaise Zambini were chatting between themselves seemingly content to ignore Draco and his gang. And at the far end of the table the Carrow twins, Hestia and Flora, sat quietly eating their breakfast. Harry had noticed that there didn't seem to be much interaction between the different years. That suited him fine, Harry didn't much care to talk to most of them anyway.
Turning his mind to his own problems two things stood out to Harry almost immediately. He had potions for his first-class today, and today was the duel in the trophy room after dark set up by Draco. The first was certainly the bigger issue. His first potions class had gone well enough for most of the class, but Professor Snape seemed determined to find some reason to fail him. Harry was sure he had asked him several questions just to try and trap him in a wrong answer, but then again the questions answers had been in the first chapter of the book. Maybe they were all expected to read ahead? Looking up at the staff table harry noticed that three sets of eyes were watching him. His discomfort must have been evident as his involuntary stiffening had drawn the attention of Tracey and Daphne.
Harry had nearly jumped out of his gray and black robe when Tracey had put a hand on his back to see if he was okay. "Harry, you okay?" Harry saw Tracey had lifted both hands in a placating manner to show she meant no harm. Daphne was just watching him with those sharp blue eyes again. "Um... yea I'm fine... I just need a moment, ill find you in potions okay" Harry didn't wait for an answer before standing and walking from the room with all the nobility an eleven-year-old could muster.
Harry cursed himself as he walked into the washroom off the main hall to wash his face and calm himself. Too much was happening all at once. Why had the three of the teachers been watching him? Why had he almost had a panic attack when Tracey had grabbed him. Splashing some more cold water on his face helped to slow his racing heart. He knew he needed to get over this fear of people touching him. He had known it ever since the moment he had accidentally scarred the red-haired boy on the train. Or when Tracey had knocked him over in the book store. He couldn't help it though. Every time someone touched him all he could think about were Dudley and his gang.
Harry heard the door opened and looked up into the mirror on instinct and felt his heart jump again in his chest. Standing there was one of the teachers who had been watching him at breakfast. Professor Quirrell stood blocking the door with his tall frame. A cold emotionless expression on his long angular face. He reached into the pocket of his coat, and without thinking about his lack of any real defense, Harry reached for his own wand as well.
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Albus wasn't sure who was madder, himself, or Gellert. He had thought it a grand idea at first, using Nicholas stone to lure out whoever had been trying to resurrect Tom. He had devised this grand plan to lure the culprit into the school by the temptation of the stone, trick them into a wild goose chase getting past the traps set up below for whoever of Toms followers decided to show, and finally the crown jewel so to speak the Mirror Of Erised to trap the poor soul once they found the place. Albus thought he had devised a rather clever plan really, but there was a tiny hiccup he had forgotten. He hadn't anticipated that the culprit would infiltrate the school so quickly. There was a spy amongst the staff or students, of that he was sure, and he hadn't taken into account the number of students that would be milling about.
He had been rather concerned to learn from Aurora that someone had placed the imperious curse upon young Mr. Potter. What worried Albus most was that he didn't know if the curse was being used as a way to test the defense on the trap door, or was a deliberate assassination attempt on Mr. Potters life. The years of peace had made him grow sloppy. Albus knew he would need to be more careful moving forward.
Albus mulled these things over while sitting at his desk in his office. The usual hum of his trinkets on the shelf behind him filled the room. On the desk before him were two things that seemed to be warring for his attention this morning. The rapidly cooling bowl of porridge he had summoned from the kitchens, and the copy of the Daily Prophet beside it. Of course, he had read the blasted thing already. What was Gellert thinking? Storming his former school, but why? What could have compelled him to return to Durmstrang as his first stop after undertaking whatever this grand plan of his was? Gellert always did have delusions of grandeur, but so had Albus in his youth. Gellert had once convinced him that he was special, chosen by magic, meant for greater things. Perhaps that could have been true, but if it was then Albus feared magic had chosen wrong. Albus had failed on every front.
He was pulled from his thoughts by a knock upon his office door. "Yes come in Severus," Albus said after a moment. Many thought his office was warded to tell him who approached the door. The truth of it was he just paid attention to how people knocked, and that announcing he knew who it was unsettled some. Albus found that positively amusing.
"You summoned me" Snape drawled in his typical bored tone. "Yes, I assume you have heard of the recent visit Durmstrang received?" after waiting for an affirmative nod Albus continued. "Find out whatever you can from Igor about what has happened. I'd like to know why this happened, and what Grindelwald was there for."
"Are you sure it's wise to involve yourself again?" Snape's only response was the raised eyebrow and stare he received from Albus. "Very well, I shall ask around. I'm sure The Dark Lords followers will also be interested." Albus couldn't help but notice the sneer on Severus's face as he spoke. Life had also been cruel to Severus Snape, and like himself, he imagined it was by no coincidence that the man was also among the best minds wizard kind had. Albus idly wondered if there was a correlation between troubled lives and magical power.
Taking his leave as quickly as he had come Snape left the room with a swirl of his black robes and was gone. Albus knew he should go make an appearance to set the student's minds at ease. Quickly finishing his porridge Albus cast several spells upon himself for daily hygiene, and then transfigured his sleeping robes into his typical indigo robes with the starred pattern. Not many knew that the star was the sigil of his family, but it didn't matter anymore. He knew he would be the last Dumbledore. Unless of course Aberforth somehow decided to have children in the next century that would be a greater miracle than Tom being slain by a one-year-old boy Albus giggled to himself at the thought.
His stroll through the grounds to the great hall was rather unremarkable. It would appear most of the students were either still in bed or already in the dining hall. Albus was just turning a corner when he saw Harry Potter walk rather briskly into a hallway washroom. Not thinking much of it Albus just carried on his way, until he saw Quirinus walking quickly towards the same washroom. Curiosity peaked Albus followed until he was leaning on the wall just beside the open doorway. Reaching up with his wand a silent tap against his own ear amplified his hearing enough to hear what was being said within the walls.
"Put that a-a-a-a-away Mr. P-P-P-Potter. I just came to c-c-c-c-check on you. You look rather distraught." he heard the distinctive stammer of Quirinus say.
"Why were you staring at me at breakfast?" Harry demanded in an angry voice. Why would Quirinus be watching Harry Albus wondered?
"Well Mr. P-P-P-Potter I must admit, I was lost in t-t-t-t-thought about how it is you might have defeated The D-D-D-Dark Lord. I am the Defense t-t-t-teacher you k-k-k-know" Quirinus stammered. Something about that made Albus pause, and make a mental note to revisit this memory later.
"With all due respect professor. I was one year old at the time. Whatever might have happened was out of my control. Perhaps The Dark Lord tripped and fell down the stairs looking for my crib. If you don't mind professor ill be late for class if I don't hurry now." That was all the warning Albus received before Harry turned the corner and nearly collided with his knees.
The poor child looked like he had been on the verge of tears, and was now giving him a hostile look. Albus imagined he was tired of being questioned so early in the morning. Reaching into one of the pockets on the inner side of his sleeves Albus withdrew a small box and handed it to Harry without a word. Albus gave the child a quick wink and turned on his heel to continue into the great hall and give his morning speech to reassure the student body that Gellert would not be coming to kill them all.
Even The Great Albus Dumbledore couldn't have known the chocolate frog he had given Harry would contain a card featuring himself. Or what the gesture would mean to the boy at the time.
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Harry was surprised by just how much he had begun to truly enjoy the company of Tracey and Daphne. It was weird for him, not to be treated as an outcast or avoided. He wasn't sure how it had happened really. Tracey had just kind of forced herself into being his friend and dragged Daphne in along with her. The school year had only been going on for two weeks now and already Harry was dreading when it might end and he would be returned to Surrey. Two weeks and already he was prepared to consider this place home. Even his weird experiences with the teachers and other students made Harry feel like he belonged.
Harry was once more seated among the first years lounging in the common room around the fireplace usually left for the first years. Harry had expected there to perhaps be more animosity among the different years in the house but was pretty presently surprised to learn that each year pretty much kept to themselves with the occasional scuffle or relationship between the older years of students. Seated around Harry were of course Tracey and Daphne, and joining them were Blaise and Theo. All were working on the potions paper set out for them by Professor Snape. Things were so peaceful when Draco wasn't around.
It was with that thought that the door swung open and a loud howling laugh filled the room as Draco Malfoy walked into the room. He must have prepared for this moment as he stood in the middle of the room and laughed for a moment longer before speaking. "That idiot Weasley really showed for the duel! And, he nearly got caught by Filch. And the best part, Dumbledore had to step in and save the Weasley from being eaten alive!"
A sharp look passed between Harry and Daphne at the mention of being eaten. That couldn't be good. One of the older students spoke up. "What do you mean eaten?"
"Oh, apparently that great oaf Hagrid is keeping a giant dog in the forbidden corridor. I suppose that explains the forbidden part" Draco said, seemingly pondering the last part aloud to himself.
"I notice you didn't show either Potter. Guess you're smarter than the company you keep after all" he said with a sneer directed at Tracey. Harry rose to his feet and prepared to take a step forward when Daphne caught his eye from the corner of her vision. She subtly shook her head no, and Harry decided to follow her advice and not entertain Draco's needling. Instead, he strode over to the shared bookcase and pulled out a charms book, and returned to his seat. Subtly pulling his wand out. This way he might be able to hex the prat and pretend he was just working on his charms work.
Luckily Draco seemed to get distracted by regaling Pansy with the story again of how Dumbledore had had to save Weasley's life.
"He isn't worth being upset about" he heard Daphne's voice speak to his right. Turning to look at her Harry knew she was right. "Yea, but doesn't mean the prat should get to insult people however he wants," Harry grumbled back.
"Aww, he's trying to protect our honor Daph. How romantic" Tracey had chosen now to look up from her essay, she spoke with a cheerful grin, but the teasing gleam in her eye reminded Harry that despite her sunny disposition she had still been sorted into Slytherins. Neither Harry nor Daphne had seen Tracey point her wand or heard the words, but both had a sneaking suspicion that she was responsible when Malfoy stood and tried to walk away from them only for his feet to walk backward and his words come out reversed. The common room laughed at Draco's expense collectively until an upper-year took pity and removed the children's jinx from Draco. Draco's face had been near as red as Weasley's hair as he stormed from the room promising to find out who was responsible for this crime.
"Yes," Harry thought to himself. "Certainly a Slytherins," he thought looking down at Tracey's innocent smiling face.
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Gellert sat in The Dirty Thistle sipping his drink, scanning the room, waiting for something to go wrong. Not that he planned for something to go wrong, but he hadn't lived this long doing what he did by expecting things to go well. The bar wasn't so bad really. One of the nicer places in Knockturn. Gellert scratched at the stupid transfigured beard and mustache that covered his face as well as the long shaggy black hair that framed his face currently. He had always hated disguises, but they were necessary sometimes.
It was then that the well-dressed man got up from his seat in the back, threw some gold coins onto the bar, and began to walk towards the door. Gellert followed him out the door and into the alley to the left of the bar. Looking back down the alley Gellert was pleased to see it was well hidden from the street. Turning his eyes back to the man before him Gellert was unsurprised to see the rather tall and lanky man had drawn his wand and pointed it at Gellert. "Are you the one?" the man demanded of him
"Would I be here if I wasn't?" Gellert replied not bothering to use the fake accent he had been using in his disguise. The other wizard didn't need long to consider those words. "Well hand it over then, I haven't got all day. I'll pay you after I confirm it's a genuine unicorn hair."
"Do you ever wonder why it is that we rely on the magic of other creatures to bridge the gap in our own inadequacies?" Gellert said to the man. The man didn't look at all interested in hearing what Gellert had to say however as he jabbed his wand a little closed to Gellert's face. "Magic works in such funny ways. Giving power to some more than others. Allowing humans just a touch of it while allowing other species to bathe in it. Take your unicorn hair for example. What will you do with it? Use it in a ritual? Make a wand out of it perhaps? It matters not, the magic is never truly yours. Only borrowed from the world around you. Magic transcends us all. Magic beacons us to do as it wills, and to stand in defiance of the will of magic is something none have ever accomplished. Except for one. Your master, Voldemort."
The man's eyes went wide with shock, and a burst from his wand red and angry headed straight for Gellert Grindelwald. The spell was knocked aside easily enough as well as the one that would follow it. With a flick of his wand, a cutting spell severed the feet of the man at the ankles, followed quickly by a silencer. A quick summoning charm and the man's dropped wand was in Gellert's hand. Striding several steps to close the distance to the prone man Gellert grabbed his sleeve with his good hand and pulled him up to look into his eye. Then Gellert did something he hadn't done since losing his left eye all those years ago. "Legilimens" he intoned quietly.
The man's mind broke under the mental spear driven through it. In an instant, Gellert saw everything the man had ever lived through. His adolescents, his years at Hogwarts, his study of mastery in arithmancy, his falling in with the dark lord's followers, and his participation in the raids on muggle families and their murder and torture. It seemed Albert Runcorn had not been the member of Voldemort's inner circle he liked to brag he was.
Such a shame Gellert thought to himself. Now he would need to find the information somewhere else. Although perhaps his memories would prove useful in different ways. With a stab of Gellert's wand and a green flash of light Albert Runcorn finally stopped screaming.