"Albus, we have a guest"
From the paperwork, his eyes moved up, towards the possible guest they were receiving so late at night. As he did, his eyes met with the ones from earlier, the ones he had seen before during the Durmstrang presentation, and those eyes met his back, staring at him just as deeply as he stared back.
The two of them stayed silent, until Serena turned back towards Albus, finding his silence strange. He shook his head just a bit and stood up, sending the Durmstrang student a small smile.
"Hello. How can we help you?" he asked, walking around his desk and approaching both the boy and Serena.
"He says he wants to find a Gryffindor's friend of his" she explained, as Albus kept his eyes on the boy in front of him, and the boy did the same, the smile a little more clear now. "Just tell us the year and name and we can go call them for you"
"Actually I don't quite remember his name..." the boy said, looking back at Serena, for the first time looking away from Albus. "In reality I... I think I will take your advice. I probably should be going, after all, I don't want to go against the rules of the school by being out of bed too late"
"But you already came all the way here" she replied, annoyed, and sighed. "Fine, fine. You can come back tomorrow, maybe you will find him through the halls. Do you at least know his year? I could give you a schedule for the classes the years normally take"
"I believe he is in the fifth year" he said, and Serena hummed, beginning to write down the classes of the fifth years. Soon, she handed him the parchment and nodded.
"Most fifth years in Hogwarts do these classes. Make sure to look for him tomorrow, and if you can't find him, return to us" she said, always politely, and the Durmstrang boy took the paper, nodding quickly.
"Excuse me, what is your name?" Albus asked suddenly, and the boy turned to him.
"Gellert Grindelwald"
"Pleasure. She is Serena Hochman and I am Albus Dumbledore, if you ever need anything" he said, because for some reason he didn't want the boy to go just yet. The boy smiled and gave him a little nod. "You can go now, I hope you find your friend"
"Actually…" Gellert said, looking back at the entrance door and furrowing his eyebrows "I lost myself from my group and never got to actually… go to the Slytherin chambers. I don't know the way there and this school is awfully confusing"
"Albus, please" Serena said, already knowing what the boy would request, and Albus looked at her, amused. "I have so much stuff to do"
"Of course" he answered, smiling towards her. "As if I didn't. But sure, it will be better if I go. Specially to Slytherin dorms. I will be back as soon as possible"
"Don't worry about it. I will finish it up here, when you return go to the tower" she replied, before she looked at the Durmstrang boy and smiled. "Albus will take you there. Have a good night Gellert"
"You too miss Hochman" he answered, politely, and she chuckled.
"Serena is fine. See you later" she waved, and Albus smiled, nodding for Gellert to follow him out of the prefects room. Gellert followed, silently, and put the parchment inside his pocket as they walked to the hallway outside.
"Mister Grindelwald-" Albus began, amused, but the boy cut him off.
"Call me Gellert"
"Well then. Gellert" he started again, turning to face the boy once the door closed. He looked right back, silent. "You don't really have any Gryffindor friend, do you?"
Gellert's eyes widened just a slight bit before he snorted quietly and shrugged.
"Is it that obvious? No, I don't have any friends here at Hogwarts. Not yet, at least" he said, smirking a bit, and Albus nodded, intrigued.
"What year are you on Gellert? Fourth?"
"Fifth. But on Durmstrang we go up to the eighth year, unlike Hogwarts. I still have a long way to go."
"indeed you do" Albus nodded, and began walking, with the fifth year right behind him, eyeing everything with a wonderous look that Albus hadn't seen in a long time. "So tell me, what was the real reason for you to come to the Gryffindor's prefect room in the first place?"
"Well, I was looking for someone" he admitted, and Albus looked at him curiously. Gellert looked back, and shrugged, a small curve on his lips. "I saw them wearing red clothes and when I asked the girls in blue, they said red was Gryffindor and if I should go anywhere to find a Gryffindor person, would be in the prefects' room"
"They weren't wrong. However, you didn't ask for anyone" Albus continued his enquiries. "Which tells me that you either gave up, or you already found who you were looking for"
"It could be one or the other. Or I was lying since the beginning and wanted the access to the Gryffindor tower for another reason entirely" was the response the Durmstrang boy gave him, and Albus became even more curious, turning to look at him and only receiving a sly smirk in return. "Something wrong?"
"You Durmstrang boys hold your reputation" Albus said, chuckling to himself and stopping to wait for a flight of stairs. Gellert stopped next to him, staring ahead like he was. "You would all be good Slytherins. Cunning and mysterious"
"Who told you I was cunning?" Gellert asked, sounding playfully offended, and Albus chuckled. "In all honesty, most of Durmstrang boys are stupid, that's the truth. It is no wonder why I am one of the best students in the whole school and am only in the fifth year. They have everything handed to them, so they don't have to think. They just have to do. And when one of us thinks, the teachers take us as brilliant"
"That doesn't sound very challenging" Albus said, walking forward as the stairs stopped, and Gellert followed, both of them looking at each other. Gellert shrugged, tapping the stone handle as they walked down.
"It isn't. Not in an intellectual level at least."
"I've heard you have constant battles. That teachers encourage students to use spells on others. That you train curses on each other"
"Well, yes" they stayed silent for a moment, and Albus wondered how it would be like, to constantly be in alert inside your own school. "But that is the thing. In Durmstrang we learn how to actually do magic. I've heard Hogwarts is the best theorical school of all continent, but also that you are not allowed to test your skills in anything other than puppets or trained personal. That is no way of training the true potential of a spell"
"Hogwarts doesn't like getting students hurt"
"Sometimes you have to do things you don't like for progress to be achieved"
Albus looked at Gellert, his heart skipping a beat for some reason. Gellert looked back at him, his different coloured eyes making it seem like he was the most balanced creature in the whole universe. It was quite breath-taking, how one of his eyes could be so warm and inviting, and the other so cold and distant.
And then suddenly, there was a hand over his arm and Albus stopped, frowning and looking forward to see he was about to step over the edge of the moving stair.
"Thank you" he breathed out, leaning backwards and staring at the hand still on his arm. Gellert slowly removed it, and chuckled, tilting his head.
"I know my eyes are fascinating but please, don't kill yourself over them"
Albus saw the small smile on the boy's mouth and felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment, making him look away immediately, searching for the stair's base so they could get out and follow the path to the dungeons.
After a moment of silence, as they began walking again, Albus let the embarrassment go, and looked back at Gellert, who once more seemed distracted with the walls and the paintings around the hall.
"What were you really doing in the prefects' room?" he asked, a little more serious now.
Gellert looked back at him, from the corner of his eyes, and then looked back at the walls.
"I was looking for someone"
"Which someone? A friend? A teacher? Someone you know?"
"Someone I've heard about. Dreamt about"
"You've dreamt about someone from Hogwarts?"
Gellert stopped and looked at him, blinking slowly and keeping his face expressionless. Albus stopped as well and looked back, waiting for an answer.
However, he did not receive one.
"Why did you stare at me so intensely during the presentation?"
Albus was extremely caught out of guard by that question, his heart racing once more and his skin prickling with shame, although he wasn't sure of what exactly.
He had just been… drawn to the boy, that wasn't something strange or wrong, his magic was just fascinating, and he was the last one in his group, so the attention would be focused on him anyway.
And for the why they locked eyes… that wasn't only his fault. It was the boy's too.
"I… don't know" he answered, sincerely, and looked away, towards the hallway they should follow to reach the dungeons. "We should walk faster, it is almost time for bed"
"Dumbledore?"
"Call me Albus"
"Albus…" Gellert approached, and Albus only knew that because he could hear his steps coming closer. "May I ask something of you?"
"… of course" he nodded, but remained his eyes facing the hallway. Gellert, however, walked around him and stood in front of him, eye to eye. Even if they were one year apart from each other, Gellert was the exact size to stare at him without looking up or down. The simple presence of this strange, unknown boy already made Albus' stomach turn. It was almost as if he represented constant danger. It was something Albus had never felt before in his entire life.
It was intoxicating, and strangely pleasant.
"I know they will assign us someone to show the castle, but just in case they don't or I don't adapt, could you show me around?"
Albus looked at him surprised, and all the twisting in his stomach seemed to stop.
"You want me to show you around? To be your companion during the time you're staying?"
"Well, yes"
"Oh Gellert" Albus chuckled, shaking his head and fixing his glasses, before crossing his arms. "Believe me, Gellert, you do not want to walk around with me"
"Why not? You are the Gryffindor prefect, one year older than me, and seems to know a lot about the school" he said, smiling towards Albus. "I think you would be the perfect companion. Besides, I doubt I would do so well with a Slytherin"
"Gellert, trust me. If you stick around me, you will get no friends. I am not… very sociable, I like staying in my room and in the library, and I have so many things to do that I wouldn't have time to show you anything at all" Albus insisted, shaking his head, but Gellert moved closer.
"Please? I don't want to make a lot of friends. Only a handful of actual good friends. And even if it is just you, I am pretty much like you. No friends, studying all the time… Honestly I just don't want to be around someone that will actively try to show me everything. I just want to study and relax"
"I… I will think about it" Albus said, but Gellert smiled as if he had said yes already. "try out with the companion they will give you. If you don't adapt, you can come look for me"
"Alright" he agreed, and then nodded to the hallway. "Lead the way please"
And Albus did, wondering what he had said that was good enough for a boy like Gellert to want to stick around him.
Honestly, he had no clue.
Upon reaching the dungeons, Albus showed him the correct door and left him to return to the Gryffindor dorm room, while Gellert, stared at him walking away, an amused smile on his face. As soon as Albus disappeared into the shadows, Gellert smirked widely and laughed, rubbing his eyes and entering the dorm room.
Everyone was gathered around close to the fireplace, and no one noticed him entering or sitting down by the edge of the group. They were explaining something about the rules of the castle, but nothing Gellert was really interested in.
What he was interested in was in the fact that he had found the boy that resembled the person from his dreams, and he had easily convinced him of being his friend.
For Gellert it was obvious that he was lonely, and also that he was one of the best students in Hogwarts. Gellert knew how to read people like reading a children's book, and with this Albus Dumbledore was no different. From the way he had stared at him during the presentation, to his surprise at his arrival in the prefect's room, to the way he acted around Gellert, he already knew befriending him would be easy.
He was lonely, unhappy and intelligent. He had no friends and didn't really try to make any. He was the exact target Gellert was hoping to find, and better yet, he was so alike the person in his dreams that Gellert could swear it was him. But as he wasn't sure just yet, he would leave the information of whom he saw in his dreams to himself a little longer.
Now, he just had to convince Albus he wasn't adapting to the Slytherins and keep himself around him all the time, to find out more things about him and his family that could reveal who was the person in Gellert's dream and how he could get them to unite with him for the confection of his plan.
Perhaps he was a little obsessed, but he couldn't deny the connection he felt whenever their eyes locked into each other's. It was almost as if destiny lined up their lives for them to meet at that exact moment.
And Gellert Grindelwald was not one to play with destiny.