Rodrick blinked a few times, trying to get his vision sorted out. Everything had just gone white all of a sudden. The only thing he could remember was the dark red coloured haze that had been extracted, he could still hear Dumbledore's voice calling out to him before the cursed energy had decided to latch itself onto him. He hadn't felt a thing. He'd simply blacked out and woke up here.

As he took in his surroundings he sighed, it was the dream world he'd used to go to before his grandfather's death. He wasn't sure how he'd almost forgotten about it completely. It was the same blank state, nothing to see for miles on end. And then it occurred to him...

"Where are the bloody mirrors?" He murmured to himself.

He hadn't expected to hear a response.

"This is not your world Mr Grindelwald," Answered a voice behind him.

Rodrick turned on the spot at the voice, his wand already outstretched in his hand, aimed at the stranger.

The man chuckled at the reaction. "Calm yourself,"

Rodrick blinked as he stared at the middle-aged looking man before him. short red hair covered the man's head, a trimmed beard followed. The man was dressed in a red suit out of its time. An amused smile gracing his face.

Rodrick narrowed his eyes, "Who are you? And why am I here?" About to ask a third when the stranger in front of him raised a hand.

"I am sure you will find out exactly who I am in mere moments if you follow me. You are in my world as it was because you are not the only one capable of replicating this wonderful piece of magic, I simply invited you in,"

Rodrick had a confused expression on his face, "You really expect me to follow you when you won't even tell me your name?"

The man's face did not change, he merely smiled. "If you wish to leave, feel free to, though I would advise against it. Your body is currently going through what are understandable repercussions for absorbing cursed magic. Very powerful cursed magic. And also very painful,"

Rodrick blinked before lowering his wand. "So I am not dead?"

The man, in turn, raised an amused eyebrow, "Of course not, believe me, you'll know when you're dead,"

"Right..." Rodrick muttered warily, "Am I in a coma?"

The man shook his head, "No I don't imagine you are, I believe you'll be fine soon enough... Well, you'll be awake in any case,"

"Does that depend on how long this takes?"

"Not at all,"

Rodrick shrugged before putting his wand away and walking towards the man. His eyes idly darting around as they watched the scene surrounding them unfold.

"Are you death?" Rodrick questioned.

The man shook his head, "No I am merely a former owner of the artefact around your neck,"

"Are you Nicholas Flamel?" The sudden question took the man by surprise. He let out a chuckle before shaking his head.

"You have a Horcrux," Rodrick stated passively.

The man stopped in his tracks immediately. Turning towards the boy slowly. Before he could let out a word, the teen before spoke up.

"This is your Horcrux," He pointed a finger towards the necklace around his neck.

The man couldn't even find the words for a reaction, simply staring at the child in front of him. "How? From those simple questions..."

Rodrick shrugged, "I guess a lot," he remarked as if it explained everything.

"Guess?" The man furrowed his brows.

"You're not Nicholas Flamel but you're old enough to be the former owner of this," he remarked pointing towards his necklace. "Before my grandfather," he added on, a glint in his eye. "Dumbledore didn't even know it existed, and you claim to be older than him. Besides, my grandfather wouldn't have let you live if you'd owned this, there were likely a few people between you and him..."

"So you guessed I had a Horcrux." The man remarked.

Rodrick nodded, "Your reaction confirmed it."

"How did you know it was the necklace?"

"Grandfather told me that this spell." Rodrick raised his hands around indicating the changing landscape, though it seemed to have slowed down, before continuing "Was based on blood magic, there should be no way you could interact with me unless you happen to either have his blood running through you or had blood magic performed on you, which in your case would be your Horcrux, I know for a fact that grandfather had drenched this necklace in that,"

"But it was still only a guess," The man simply muttered, rather irritated at his lack of subtlety.

Rodrick cheerfully nodded, "You did a wonderful of job of confirming them,"

The man sighed before simply focusing his magic. "I am rather glad you decided to stick around, I doubt very much I will see you again after this,"

Rodrick let out a sigh, "If I'd known that, I might have actually left," He remarked.

The man chuckled, "Yes your distaste for the book is quite amusing,"

Rodrick furrowed his brows, "You know about tha-" before sighing, stupid Horcrux.

"I wouldn't try to destroy it if I were you," The man added on warily.

Rodrick contemplated that course of action before shuddering, "Why do I suddenly feel like that is the worst thing I could ever do?"

"Death has that effect on people," The man idly remarked.

"Right... So who are you? And what are you trying to show me?" He questioned, trying to pin the location they were in to no avail. "Also why now?"

The man rubbed his chin before reaching into his pocket.

Rodrick raised an eyebrow before hints of dread settled into his stomach. The man had taken out a small book before enlarging it to reveal the book of Hollows.

"Seriously, you just want me to read the stupid book?"

The man nodded once, "Though how you are here is entirely your fault,"

Rodrick blinked, "What are you talking about?"

The man stared out before a small smile took over his features, "If you repeat something enough times, there are certain times when it turns into a true vow. Words are a lot more powerful then one realises."

Rodrick crossed his arms before it dawned on him. "Damn... I didn't realise it could work like that," he sighed. How many times had he postponed the book thanks to Astoria... Almost believing he'd start on it once she'd been cured...

A small smile graced his face, "So she's cured?"

The man shrugged, "I wouldn't know,"

Rodrick stared at the man incredulously before shaking his head. "So just because I kept on saying or meaning something over and over again-"

The man simply cut him over, nodding, "Yes. Magic surprisingly can do that,"

Then it dawned on Rodrick, "Is that how magical holidays and the like work, and the number seven?"

The man once again nodded, "Though that isn't entirely the wizard's fault, as even the muggles believe in them,"

Rodrick blinked at the words, clear surprise on his face. "I don't know why I never even considered that..."

The man nodded, "If you wish to understand how the magical holidays work, do not look for what their intended purpose is... look for how the world feels towards them,"

Rodrick contemplated the words before a frown took over... "That's a lot to take in..." He thought thinking of his own feelings regarding the famous holidays... Not at all what one should feel to such joyous occasions. As he took in the man before him, he realised he was being given advice... Odd.

"So you just want me to read the book? Or your tale?"

The man stared a for a second longer than necessary before once again nodding.

"Are you trapped?" Rodrick questioned curiously.

The shadow of a smile seemed to light upon the man's face, "You could say that..." He remarked before turning away. Facing ahead as the scenery finally finished changing.

Rodrick furrowed his brows as he took in the strange pathway. When he turned to question the man he found no one in sight.

"I suppose this is faster compared to simply reading it..." Rodrick remarked to no one in particular. He focused his eyes on the four figures slowly walking the pathway. At the back, his eyes widened when they spotted the familiar looking red hair. He looked to be a teen, however, and clearly the youngest of the four.

He watched as the four slowly came upon a small crossing, missing the bridge. The river looked rather rough however what grabbed his attention was the subtle hints of magic in place. Someone had cursed the river... Placed a condition over it. When he turned back to the four brothers he found them squabbling amongst each other though he, unfortunately, couldn't make any sense of the words.

The eldest brother was the first to attempt to cross, from what he could tell, the man didn't seem to want to work with the others... Or perhaps it was more out of pride that he'd wanted to solve it himself.

Regardless, he failed.

The second brother followed, unfortunately receiving the same result and then the third had his turn.

Before long it was the youngest turn, however unlike the others and surprisingly enough to Rodrick who could finally make out the words for once. The stranger asked them all to help him. Finally succeeding in creating a bridge to cross over the cursed river. As the four crossed over, Rodrick watched as the youngest fell back in step, his eyes glazed over as he stared at a necklace dangling off a tree.

The scenery quickly changed the moment the youngest had picked up and put on the cursed Hollow. Rodrick found himself in what looked like a basement, to his surprise and shock he'd suddenly heard a voice right beside him. He found the youngest brother, only this time he was hidden under an invisibility charm. Further ahead in the room, the oldest was working away on something.

'If only he'd let me help... I know what's missing...'

Rodrick heard the voice echo around the room, was the stranger willingly showing him his thoughts? Or was it simply because the book had contained all of them? How did the book even get any of the knowledge? A small frown took over when he looked down at the necklace. Perhaps it was from there...

Turning his attention back up, Rodrick walked towards the eldest, curious as to what the man was trying to accomplish before his eyes widened in shock. For their laid on the table was a wand eerily similar to the elder wand.

The scenery once again changed after that reveal, this time, however, Rodrick felt the tension rise as he took in his surroundings. He was in a graveyard... Ahead of him lay a grave. The words Antioch Peverell instilled into the stone.

Behind him stood the youngest Peverell brother, a look of anguish on his face.

"Why... Why now... The moment we get close to finishing the wand... You just leave..."

A stream of information quickly flew into Rodrick's head at the words, the man's brother had apparently died in an accident... What accident it was, he didn't know. Though the wizard before him looked angered.

Once again Rodrick fought off the nauseating feeling as the world around him warped. This time he found himself in a rather large room, filtered with all kinds of books, however, his attention lay in front of him as he stared at the second eldest and the youngest brother interact over something.

"You really think it would work?" The second eldest questioned.

The youngest simply nodding as he held the elder wand out in front of the strange object.

Rodrick turned his attention towards the table and found a stone.

"We'll find out who killed him," The youngest voice reverberated across the room as the room quickly disappeared.

Rodrick once again found himself standing in the middle of the graveyard, only this time, he found two graves instead of the one. The words Cadmus Peverell etched into the second stone.

"He got you too..." The youngest remarked mournfully, resigned to the loss of another brother.

Rodrick turned at the sound footsteps, finding the third brother at the entrance to the graveyard. A look of anger, shock and most of all of fear as he gazed at his younger brother.

That was the last thing he could remember before everything disappeared and Rodrick found himself in the blank void once again. The stranger right beside him.

"Do you understand?" The stranger questioned staring ahead.

"Were you under control?"

The man simply nodded.

"The Hollow?"

Once again the man simply nodded, "Gifts of death require death itself to create, however, I had not known what had been going on, merely urged to create the Hollows using any means necessary. By the time I'd come to, my brothers were all dead,"

"What did you do?"

The man let off a mirthless chuckle, "I was angry and stupid and disillusioned by power. I was meddling with things I did not understand..." The man seemed to stop for a second before turning to gaze at Rodrick. "You must understand, the Hollows must always exist. While the three items you have seen can be recreated, the necklace surrounding your neck cannot. And One Must always exist, no matter what,"

"You tried to destroy it?" Rodrick questioned, inwardly sighing, if the first three Hollows could be recreated then that likely meant they'd existed long before the man before him had created them... Just how many people had failed its goal and suffered?

"One doesn't try to destroy death's gifts without consequence,"

"What happen?" Rodrick questioned.

"To this day, I still am not sure what had occurred. One moment I had been aiming the elder wand at the cursed thing and the next I was on the opposite side of a crossing. Awaiting my former brothers,"

"Former?"

"I was removed from history. That was the price I'd paid,"

Rodrick gulped down something vile at the words... "I take it you're responsible for the lack of information regarding this necklace then?"

The man nodded, "However at the time I had possessed all four Hollows, it was where my second mistake had come. You see, I sought to reward my brothers, to give them what they'd all sought to create and so... I took death's mantle and rewarded their efforts for passing the curse."

"You gave away the Hollows?"

The man chuckled, "Death was none too pleased about it, I had been the first person in centuries to have managed to collect all four and I'd given them away out of spite,"

Rodrick merely listened in.

"I was bound to this necklace for what I had done, I cannot pass on to the next life until the Hollows are returned, That was the price I had to pay... Not that the Hollows had helped my brothers all that much..." The stranger added on mournfully. "Death is not an entity you wish to displease Mr Grindelwald,"

Rodrick ignored the second remark, "Was my grandfather cursed?"

A smile lit up on the mans face at the question, "Your grandfather is perhaps the craziest, most obnoxious wizard I have ever had the pleasure of watching,"

Rodrick raised an eyebrow at the words, "Why?"

"The man sought to submit the Hollow to himself, so that none may use its powers against him. At first, he'd simply made it impossible to remove the Hollow from his possession,"

"His punishment?"

"Forever cursed to failure," The man remarked uneasily.

Rodrick didn't flinch, it certainly explained how such a powerful wizard could have lost, an even more powerful entity had been involved it seemed. Besides when compared to getting cursed to failure, accidentally murdering your own brothers to create a stick, stone and cloak was quite frankly worse. He couldn't imagine living all those years with something like that on his conscious...

"However, he wasn't one to take it lightly..." The stranger added on with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"For while Death may have cursed him to failure, your grandfather retaliated by using Blood magic, effectively forcing the Hollow to forever follow his bloodline alone,"

"So you're saying..." Rodrick started off barely holding in his amusement.

"Yes, your grandfather, in essence, threw the curse right back at Death's face, for while Gellert Grindelwald was cursed to fail, so would the Hollows with him. As one of those amusing red head's might've put it, your grandfather pranked Death."

Rodrick watched as the world slowly distorted, he knew he was about to wake up at any moment, he turned towards the stranger and asked his last question.

"Why did you want to show me all that?"

The man simply stared ahead, "I wish for you to return the hollows back to their home, I feared you would not find interest in my story unless presented to you... I cannot pass on to the rest of my family until you finish Death's task. I fear even your grandfather's curse may not lift until then either."

Rodrick crossed his arms about to speak.

"I cannot offer you anything Mr Grindelwald but advice. I recommend getting free of that Hollow as soon as you can, it is without a doubt the most dangerous artefact you will ever come acros,"

"You want me to take it off?" Rodrick questioned amused.

The man shook his head, "I am afraid it won't be that easy..."

"If I return it to it's home, the Horcrux part gets lifted?" Rodrick questioned confused.

The man simply gave off a wane smile, "One can only hope."

...

Rodrick stared up ahead at the ceiling in the hospital wing. He found himself in, 'I did pass out...' He found each professor or parent staring at him, Pomfrey had a worried look on her face while Cyrus Greengrass had a grateful one. The man was situated by his now cured Daughter who was fitfully sleeping away as if nothing had occurred. It was then he felt himself getting pulled into a hug by Roxanne. The woman was saying something he couldn't hear, his hearing still wasn't back to normal, though he could slowly make out more sound with each second.

Dumbledore had a passive expression on his face as he looked towards him. Rodrick gave him a wink. The man's expression almost broke. Severus Snape was in the back lazily relaxed into a chair. McGonagall and Flitwick were soundly conversing with each other, he assumed it was regarding him, he couldn't lip read.

Roxanne finally gave him some room to breathe and he found himself suddenly being gawked at, it took a few moments before he realised they must've asked him a question.

"I have no idea what any of you have just said," Rodrick deadpanned.

"Told you he couldn't hear anything," McGonagall remarked with an amused smile towards Flitwick.

Filius merely shook his head before he walked up towards Rodrick, earning a raised eyebrow.

"I must say, quite a splendid job that was, truly well done," The professor remarked shaking his hand.

"I believe some points are in order," Rodrick heard Snape suddenly remark. McGonagall rolled her eyes.

Dumbledore was staring at him with a twinkle in his eye, however before anyone could say a word regarding Snape's obsession with house points. The door to the wing was suddenly thrust open, revealing Sirius Black, the man had an irritated look gracing his face. An expression that seemed to break the peaceful moment earlier.

"Professor Black, is there a problem?" Dumbledore questioned cautiously.

Sirius Black raised an eyebrow at the number of people but shrugged it off, "Crouch's outside waiting to enter the castle, says he wants to see you first,"

Dumbledore frowned, "Crouch? Again?" He remarked exasperatedly.

"If this is about returning the Dementors again..." McGonagall remarked dangerously, her eyes setting Sirius Black's stomach in dread.

That was the first Rodrick had heard of it, he frowned realising how little attention he had been paying the previous days...

Sirius Black moved into the wing slowly, "I am not sure what he's here for, I don't think it's about dementors..." Black failed to mention the fact that the man had set him on edge...

Dumbledore contemplated the words before the slightest dip of his head occurred, "Well, keeping him waiting will hardly do any good," The old man remarked tired, though there was a peaceful look on the man's face. To say he was surprised that Rodrick had managed to cure an ancient curse was an understatement... The small part of his mind telling him how dangerous that made the boy was quickly ignored as he turned to make his way to meet the man at his doorstep.

"Rodrick when you are feeling able, make your way to my office," Rodrick heard the headmaster idly mention as he left the wing.

Black simply stared at all the assembled adults and the two students in bed. "What is all this anyway?"

Snape sneered, "If you had paid attention as a Professor you might have a clue as to what's going on,"

"Snivelus,"

"Enough," McGonagall's voice whipped through the air. The two wizards simply glared at one another. 'Honestly, its been more than a decade,'

Rodrick had a surprised look on his face at the revelation of who Snivelus was.

"So," Sirius started, "What'd Grindelwald do this time?" He questioned amused.

Rodrick had a straight face on as he turned to Madam Pomfrey, "You already knew? Right?"

...

Crouch stared at the entrance, waiting impatiently for the old man to show up, 'Honestly, how long does he think he can take?' The senior looking man adjusted his tie ignoring any and all noises. It wasn't that difficult, he could always just turn off the irritating noise, but he didn't think the other would like that all much... Such a shame, things had changed so much... All the power they'd had before... The 'man' shook his head as he finally saw the headmaster approaching. Placing on a tight smile, Crouch greeted the headmaster.

"You wished to see me?" Dumbledore questioned amiably.

Crouch nodded, "And don't worry it's not about dementors."

A twinkle appeared in Dumbledores eyes as he turned around, idly wondering what Crouch wante-

"It's about Grindelwald,"

Dumbledore momentarily froze before he continued walking. "Perhaps we can wait until we are in my office?" Grateful there was no one else in sight.

There was a smile on the man's face as he watched the headmaster lead the way. It was but moments later before Bellatrix Lestrange entered Hogwarts, escorted by the headmaster himself.

'I still think this is a stupid idea.'

'Shut up, Crouch.'