Chapter 30: Return
Albus was still awake when morning came. The fire had long died down and he had changed position again, sitting up and reading through a book he'd had on the couch, one that Bathilda had handed him the other day to read.
He was nearly finished with it when Aberforth came downstairs.
"Were you down here all night?" he asked, looking over Albus's shoulder.
"Yes," Albus said, refusing to look at him because he knew his face was bright red.
"Oh," Aberforth said in response. "Well, I have to milk the goats."
He was nearly to the kitchen door when Albus said, "Wait," and stood up.
"What?" Aberforth said, glancing back with an annoyed expression.
"I'll come with you."
Aberforth seemed confused, but he nodded slowly and led Albus out into the garden. While his brother rounded up the goats, he sat down on a stack of hay and went back to his book, reading about human transfiguration. He wished he could practice what was in the book, but the only person in his vicinity was Aberforth and for some reason, he doubted he'd agree to let Albus change him into an animal.
"Heard from your 'best friend' yet?" Aberforth said with a sarcastic tone.
"No," he muttered. He wished Gellert would send him some letter soon or, at best, come back to Godric's Hollow.
"Pity," Aberforth said.
Albus had a hard time restraining from cursing him, but he managed it.
"Why do I have to go back to school?" Aberforth said as he sat down on his milking stool and started to spray the milk into a bucket. "I'm so bored there."
"And you're not bored here?" Albus muttered lightly, flipping to the next page of the book and continuing to read.
"Shut it," he said. "Ariana's good company. Better company than-"
"If you insult me, I swear you'll have boils all over your face for a week."
Aberforth huffed and continued to milk. Albus finished the book by the time Aberforth was done, but Aberforth didn't go inside. He sat down next to Albus on the hay.
"Do you miss Mother?"
Albus looked up in surprise. "Of course I do."
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't move. He stared off into a bush for a moment, then said, "What about Father?"
"Yes," Albus said, catching Aberforth's eye.
Albus thought for a second that he might be able to see something that Aberforth was thinking, but instead, he just saw his bright blue eyes. He could see absolutely nothing. Usually, he could see something a person was thinking, had almost always been able to when he first heard of Occlumency and Legilimency in his third year. Once he learned how to see people's thoughts, it came naturally to him.
The only other person he hadn't been able to see thoughts of was Gellert, but that didn't surprise him.
Aberforth surprised him, though, especially since he had been around the four years he'd been able to do it.
But, then again, when he thought about it, Aberforth rarely made eye contact with him.
Albus looked away from Aberforth just as the sun rose over the trees and hit Aberforth's face. Albus stared for a moment, then smiled and lifted his hand up to touch the area just over Aberforth's upper lip.
Aberforth pulled away, glaring at him.
"Growing a wispy mustache, huh? I know what to get you for your birthday now."
Aberforth huffed again and stood up, carrying the bucket toward the door. "You should grow a beard, Albus. You'd look all wise and intelligent once it turned gray in a few years."
"A few years?" Albus asked. "I'm not that old."
"Okay, more like 30 or 40." He opened the door. "Plus with your wise, wizened beard, you can hide your weak chin."
"I do not have a weak chin!" Albus yelled as he shut the door. From the open kitchen window, he could hear a gruff laugh.
Albus was feeling his chin, trying to see if he really did have a small one when he heard a pop. He looked up and around, his heart feeling as if it skipped a beat. "Gellert?" he called out.
"No, it's Harry."
Albus, slightly disappointed, said, "Oh."
"Well, I feel appreciated now," Harry said as he came into view around the side of the house and stood in front of him.
"Sorry." He frowned slightly and looked down at his book.
"Has Grindelwald shown up yet?" Harry asked, sitting down beside Albus.
"No."
Albus sighed and looked up. Harry refused to catch his eye, which Albus was fine with. He did want to know something, though, something that he probably wouldn't be able to get an answer of if he didn't peek in Harry's mind.
"Harry," Albus said anyway. "Gellert and I aren't friends anymore in the future, are we?"
Harry smiled sadly, but didn't answer at all. Albus had no idea what that meant.
"You did know we're friends, right?" he tried instead.
Harry nodded. "There are things I don't know that happened between you and Gellert. I hardly know a thing, and the things I did learn were from a foul woman who wrote a book on you and what Aberforth told me."
"You've talked to Aberforth about this?" Albus said, frowning.
Harry nodded, but said nothing.
"But not me?"
"We've had some serious conversations, but it was always about me."
"I still don't understand why I'd taken an interest in you."
Harry ran a hand through his hair making it messier. "I guess I was involved in a lot of things. Not by choice. That was just the way it was. I never asked for anything to happen to me. I hated all I the duties I had to complete, but I knew it was for good reason. You'll find out soon enough."
Albus gave a humorless laugh and looked toward Hokey and Pokey, the goats, who were grazing the little grass in the yard. "Aberforth said this morning I should grow a beard and when it turns gray in a few years, I'd look all wise. What's with the few years and soon enough today? I'm not even eighteen yet."
"You will be the day after tomorrow," Harry said. "Anyway, I've always seen you as ancient so…"
"Thanks," Albus said, smiling. "But I'll have you know I'm technically younger than you right now."
Harry laughed and stood up. "Right. Well, I was going to sneak into Grindelwald's room and look through his papers, if you'd like to join."
Albus raised an eyebrow, surprised at Harry's tone. It was nonchalant and too conversational for the fact that he wanted to break into Bathilda's house.
"I don't normally condone burglary, but honestly, I am interested in what he's been writing."
Albus stood up and stared following Harry over to the gate.
"Oh, by the way," said Harry as he pulled out his invisibility cloak. "You should grow a beard. You should see the one you have in the future."
Albus smirked, suddenly remembering the memories he'd seen from Harry. Aberforth was right, he would look wise. In his mind, he promised himself that he would stop shaving off facial hair on his eighteenth birthday.
Albus put a disillusionment charm around himself.
It wasn't too tricky getting in the house. The back door was unlocked and Bathilda wasn't in the kitchen. They snuck toward the living room, where Albus could see Bathilda sitting in front of the fireplace, looking through her drafts for her history book. She was muttering to herself.
Albus and Harry walked carefully along the hallway toward the stairs and carefully stepped up them. Albus managed to skip over the squeaky stair, but when Harry stepped on it, they both paused, listening in panic, but Bathilda didn't call out or come to look.
When they finally made it to Gellert's room, they both glanced around. They didn't have to look far because all the papers were stacked on the desk in two piles.
Albus pointed to one side for Harry to look through and he took the other.
"These are all in German," Harry muttered as he shifted through the pile.
"And these are all our correspondences," Albus said, frowning. "Let me have the German ones."
He glanced through them, but he hardly recognized any words. He frowned, looking instead at the drawings Gellert had done. A few pages had the symbol of the Deathly Hallows and at some points, Albus could see a mediocre drawing of a house and something that looked like a cloth. On another, a bunch of stick figures stood in a circle. He wished Gellert could have been skilled in drawing like Aberforth was.
"I wish I knew German," Albus muttered.
"You don't know German?" Harry asked. "You know Mermish for God's sake!"
Albus frowned. "Do I? I only know how to speak English, Latin, and read Ancient Runes at this point."
Harry groaned. "Why did I think he'd write in English?"
Albus didn't respond as he shifted through the papers. "He'd know if I put a language charm on these," he muttered. "He can feel magical residue."
"Really? You mean like you could with the Snitch?"
Albus nodded and sighed wearily. "I think he's going to come back. He wouldn't keep all these here if he wasn't."
Albus paced around the room for a moment, thinking hard. "I could duplicate them, but that magic would still leave its trace. I don't know any spells that make me able to read languages…"
He closed his eyes tightly, thinking. What could he do? This should have come more easily to him…
"I don't know," Albus said, shrugging. "Can you think of anything?"
Harry shook his head.
They were both about to turn around and leave the house when there was a knock on the front door while they were both stepping onto the stairs.
Harry looked at Albus, his eyes wide, and pulled his invisibility cloak over them. Albus's heart skipped a beat and hoped that it was Gellert back again.
Bathilda came into the hallway and looked through the window door. Then, when she opened it, Albus was shocked to see Aberforth standing there.
"Hello, Aberforth," Bathilda said. "What do you need?"
"Have you seen Albus?" he asked.
"No, I haven't, dear," she said. "Are you looking for him?"
"Well... no," he said. "I mean, yeah. I wanted to go in town to get him a birthday present, but I need someone to watch Ariana."
"Oh, dear, I can watch her," said Bathilda, already stepping out of the house.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
When she left, Albus stood at the top of the stairs, staring straight at the door. "He's getting me a birthday present?" he said. Honestly, he was surprised. He couldn't remember a time that Aberforth ever got him one.
"Wait," Albus said, his eyes widening. He smiled. "Aberforth!"
"What?" Harry asked, looking confused.
"Why didn't I think of this before? He knows all sorts of language spells! That's how he reads. I don't know exactly how he does it, but he might have something… Wait here."
He ran down the stairs and out of the house as fast as he could. He looked toward his house, but he doubted Aberforth would still be there. He looked the other way and was relieved to see him walking down the road, running his hand along a fence.
Albus ran to catch up with him, and when he did, Aberforth looked around at him, raising an eyebrow. "What?"
"Tell me your reading spell."
Harry watched as Aberforth stood in front of the papers, looking through them. "Why do you need to look through these anyway?" he asked.
"Because it might have something about what he's doing right now," Harry said. He noticed the pained look Albus sent him and he looked away, feeling guilty. "You know he's up to something, Albus."
Albus sighed and looked toward his brother. "Is there any spell you can do that doesn't involve touching the parchment with magic?"
"Maybe," he said. "I could modify my normal spell. The one I made read the parchment out in my head, but you'd have to put the spell on that. Do you have something you've written?"
Albus reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter from Hogwarts from the day before. Aberforth sat down on the floor with his wand out and muttered spells that Harry couldn't decipher toward the parchment, then he pointed his wand to his head and muttered more as he looked straight at the parchment. It must have taken him fifteen minutes of muttering before he smiled and said, "Well, I got it to read English out to me."
He stood up and looked over the parchment of Gellert's. Harry watched as he started talking to himself more with his wand pointed at his head. He thought Albus was going to explode with worry. Every time Aberforth said something new, Albus would cringe as if expecting Aberforth to blow his head off.
This time thirty minutes passed. Aberforth began cursing harshly after a few minutes and practically screamed.
"Are you okay?" Albus asked, suddenly by his side.
"I'm fine," he said through his teeth. "But this damn spell just won't work! It's reading German out to me! I need you to be English, dammit!"
But he kept going, although he started screaming out Latin word to it.
Then, finally, after he said the words, "Recito Malus Transgressio!" he smiled at Albus and said, "Got it."
Albus smiled. "Recite bad passages?"
Aberforth shrugged. "Anything Grindelwald wrote down probably isn't too good, don't you think?"
Albus didn't respond. "Just teach me the spell."
Aberforth showed Albus how to do it as Harry looked on. He thought Albus seemed nervous as he put his wand against his temple and said what Aberforth told him to say.
Then, Albus's eyes widened. "This is wonderful, this spell," he said as he looked through the pages. "The Three Brothers, Transfiguration… oh God-"
"What?" Aberforth and Harry said at the same time.
"Nothing," Albus said, shaking his head as he put down the sheet of parchment he'd been looking over. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to know, so he just tried to ignore that.
As the stack got smaller and smaller, Albus sat down and seemed to be aggravated. He'd sigh every so often, but not say anything. Harry stood by him, wishing he would say something.
Finally when he got to the last page, he just said, "The only thing I found was "July 31st- London, Potter decoy."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Albus said, pulling at his hair. "I- I still can't believe what you said, Harry. I don't see why he would need stuff on the Potter's- Oh!"
Albus cursed and hid his face in his hands. "Aberforth, go away."
Aberforth glared at him. "You can tell me! Go on."
"No, please go."
He narrowed his eyes and huffed, then stormed out of the house, clearly unhappy about that.
"Why does he always do that?" Albus asked Harry, who just shrugged.
"What were you going to tell me?" Harry asked.
"Oh, right," he said, shaking his head. "I think… I think he was looking for the same thing I've been looking for. I mean, information on the Peverell family. You told me months ago you were related to them. I went looking, but I figured Cadmus Potter must have taken them out of town storage by now, since he was looking for you. I wonder…"
Albus stared off into space for a moment.
"What if he was trying to frame you?!" he said, standing up to pace around the room again. "I mean, he wanted the Peverell files, right? But he stole all the files to frame you. Does that make sense?"
Harry raised his eyebrows. "Um, no."
"It makes sense to me," Albus said, continuing to pace. "Cadmus Potter came to me to look for you. He probably couldn't imagine anyone else coming into his house and the Ministry to steal files on the Potter's. But, wait…"
Harry wasn't sure about Albus's train of thought. He stared, unsure of what to do.
"So, you believe me?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Believe you? You mean about Gellert breaking into the house? Well, he had good reason, didn't he?" Albus clapped his hands together excitedly. "That means he's found another Hallow! The Potters must have-"
"Albus," Harry said.
But Albus jumped and ran toward the door. "I have to find Gellert! Oh, this is magnificent!"
He rushed down the stairs and the front door slammed shut, leaving Harry behind in Gellert's room. Harry looked down at the papers, wondering if they said anything else.
Aberforth stood in the front yard of his house when Harry arrived, his eyebrows knitted.
"Albus just rushed in," Aberforth said, looking up at the house. "What did he find out?"
"I don't know," Harry said, stepping up to the door. Aberforth followed behind him. Bathilda called out to them, but Harry ignored that, going straight up the stairs. Aberforth didn't follow, though, only went to usher Bathilda out, saying that he didn't need the help anymore.
When Harry entered, Albus was at his bed, packing a bag.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, staring.
"The Hallows, Harry!" he said, his smile wide and his blue eyes twinkling more than Harry had ever seen them. He looked excited, his hands shaking wildly as he stuffed parchment in his bag.
"Albus, I really don't-"
"It's absolutely brilliant!" Albus said. "I wonder which he found? Maybe the wand or, or the-"
"Albus-"
"What?"
Harry narrowed his eyes. "He stole from the Potter's! That's my family."
"He's just got files, Harry," Albus said, packing his Tales of Beedle the Bard book into his bag, the one that Hermione would later inherit. "He didn't actually get the Hallow-"
"The Potter's have the cloak," Harry said irritably. "He's going to steal-"
"It's the cloak?"
"Albus!" Harry said, but strangely it seemed to have an echo. Harry glanced at the door, surprised. He realized that Aberforth had called Albus's name at the same time.
"What?" Albus called back, buckling his bag together.
"Your 'best friend' is outside!"
Albus smiled widely and rushed out of the room. Harry groaned and followed after him. Albus was letting Gellert in from the back garden when Harry found him again, saying, "I thought you'd left for good!" Grindelwald's arms were laden with a stack.
"You stole those!" Harry said, stepping forward.
"Yes, in fact, I did," he said, dropping them on the kitchen table. "Here, you can have them back. I don't need them anymore. I got your patronus, Albus. I think I know where the cloak is."
"Where?" Albus asked as he folded some bread in a cloth napkin.
"In London, Auror office," he said, smiling. "I was just about to go back when you called me. Thought I would include you."
Albus smiled still more widely. Harry wanted to punch Gellert in the face. Couldn't Albus see this person wasn't a good person? He was planning on breaking into the Ministry right after he'd just broken into it, just to get something that would help him take over the Wizarding world in due time.
"Albus," Harry said. "Please listen to-"
He looked at Harry. "This is what I want to do."
"What about your brother and sister?" Harry asked, glancing at Aberforth standing at the door, his jaw dropped and Ariana standing close behind him.
"Oh, yes, of course," Albus said, looking at them, too. "Ariana, you'll have to come with me. I can't leave you alone-"
"What?" Aberforth said, glancing between Ariana and Albus. "What are you talking about?"
"The Hallows!" Albus said again, but this time he seemed annoyed. A chill ran through Harry, feeling the implications arising. Something horrible was about to happen, he could feel it. The hair on the back of his neck stood. "This may be the most important discovery! Having all three Hallows. We're about to find one, Aberforth. We're going to be famous!"
"That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life," Aberforth grumbled. "Who do you think you are? Merlin or something? You're not going to be famous for finding something that's in a stupid children's story."
"They're real, Abe," Albus said, the bread forgotten on the counter. Harry glanced at Grindelwald standing at the door. His arms were crossed and a smile ran across his face. "They're powerful. Who wouldn't want to be so powerful that they can defy death?"
"It's not powerful, it's careless!" Aberforth said, stalking forward, right in front of his older brother. Harry looked at Ariana. She was backing away. Harry wanted to push her away, upstairs, but he could feel Grindelwald's eyes on him. "There's no point in defying death. Death is more natural and permanent than living. You can't live forever. You can only be dead forever."
"But this is a way to-"
"No, it's not!" Aberforth said, slapping Albus's face.
Albus stood stock still after the slap, shocked. Harry started forward, but in that moment, Aberforth raised in wand at Albus.
"You can't do it, Albus!" he said. "And I can't let you take Ariana! If you do, you'd be putting her and others around you in danger. You know her temper. You don't know how to control it. She killed our mother, Albus. She could kill many more if her magic went out of control."
"I'm bringing her with me," Albus said, pulling out his wand threateningly. The smile had long since faded from his face, now his eyes were glaring. Harry was sure he felt some energy radiating from him. "I am her guardian. You're to go to school and not worry about us."
"It's his fault," Aberforth suddenly screamed, pointing at Grindelwald. "He did this to you! You wouldn't be this arrogant if he hadn't come here. And even before then, your head was too far up your-"
"Aberforth," Harry said, seeing that Grindelwald was pulling out his wand, as well. Harry pulled out his wand, as well.
"It is not his fault!" Albus screamed. "We have the same interests-"
"He's manipulating you!" Harry said. "He's just using you. You're just as powerful as he is. He needs you on his side-"
"Don't listen to him," Gellert said, sending a spell at Harry, which Harry dodged. It smashed into the vase on the kitchen table. "You're my best friend, Albus. We could do so many great things to the Wizarding World if we worked together. We could transform it. It's not me who's manipulating you, Albus. It's Potter, here. He doesn't want you to achieve our goals."
Albus looked at Harry, his eyes abruptly wide, as if a realization came to him.
"Don't listen-"
"See?" Grindelwald said. "He's trying to stop you. All friends should want you to be successful. He doesn't want you to be-"
"Harry, is that true?" Albus asked, looking between them.
Harry should his head. "No, I just-"
"Silencio!" Grindelwald yelled at Harry. Harry blocked it easily, though.
"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, but Grindelwald dodged it, stepping merely to the side. They were now standing in a square in the tiny kitchen. Albus and Aberforth standing directly opposite each other and Grindelwald and Harry doing the same.
"It's him or me, Albus," Grindelwald said, smiling. "I'm powerful like you. We could be great."
Albus's eyes darted between Harry and Grindelwald. Harry looked back desperately, hoping Albus would chose him.
"Albus," Harry said. "I know you-"
Albus lifted his wand and for a brief moment, Harry wondered whom his old Headmaster would choose. Someone who knew his future or a friend he'd only known for a month.
A/N: Sorry for the very long update wait. I think it's been 8 months? Anyway, in that time I've written a 45 page thesis, graduated college, and now I have a job. So that's my excuse for the wait. I think this will be 3-4 more chapters. I'm sure you all can guess what's going to happen next chapter. I'll update very, very soon. I promise.