''Mr. Dumbledore,'' Harry spoke as their circle opened up to reveal the brother of their previous headmaster.
''He's in the UK now then,'' the bearded wizard mused.
Harry nodded.
''So you did know about him?'' Ron said sounding accusatory.
The old man tilted his head back and squinted at the redhead, ''Come along. We will talk in my office.''
Aberforth strolled on past the group and around the counter corner to a door just beyond it. The four younger wizards followed him into the room after he flicked it open. Once all were inside, the door fell shut automatically.
The office had not been tended to like the pub. The dim, crumbling architecture that appeared outside of Hog's Head likewise showed in this room. There were heavy wooden bookshelves filled to the brim lining either wall running vertical to the one holding the door.
Aberforth walked gently to the other side of the large mahogany desk that stood near the opposite wall in between the bookcases, taking a seat in the equally massive chair behind it. He said nothing as his company stood awkwardly about, the aurors finally taking the only other seats in the office.
The two sat just across the desk from Aberforth as the old wizard idly looked over a paper that lay in front of him. Their wives stood at the back of the room next to the closed door. It was technically business, so they probably shouldn't even be present. With this in mind, they did their best to stay silent and out of the way.
''I don't know what he is planning exactly, but I fear for the safety of your child,'' Aberforth suddenly spoke. He was reading the paper his eyes had been grazing. ''I don't know of what you are aware, but Gellert's experiments are exceedingly cruel. I have reason to believe he has tampered with your unborn child and plans to use him further. I will explain more in person, but until then, please stay away from Gellert. He is a danger to you and Gerald,'' the old wizard stopped, slowly looking up at the aurors.
''Did Albus write that letter?'' Harry asked before silence could settle again.
''It's the only correspondence with the woman that I found,'' Aberforth nodded. ''Nothing more from either one of them.''
Harry looked at Ron then glanced back at the witches, giving Hermione an obvious shrug. She sighed, giving up on professionalism and taking one lone step forward.
''Sir, Albus wasn't involved with Grindelwald at that time, was he?'' she asked.
''No, not for two decades,'' Aberforth paused, his lips curling. ''I know what you're thinking and I don't know how he came to know of the child other than he must have been keeping his eye on Grindelwald.''
''Do you have any idea what he meant when he said Gerald had been tampered with?'' Harry inquired.
The old wizard lifted a hand to stroke his beard, ''All I know is Gellert's infamy in Durmstrang for these...experiments of his. He was expelled for their vile nature.''
Harry nodded, remembering what he had learned previously about the dark wizard. ''Sir, excuse me for presuming anything, but...you already had this letter out. Why?''
Aberforth inhaled sharply, leaning back in his chair. ''I've done my own investigation, Mr. Potter. I found this letter months ago and it didn't set right with me that there had never been information about this son of one of the darkest wizards to ever be. I conversed with an old acquaintance and former employee of MACUSA who enlightened me to the disappearance of Delilah Davis back during the 1920s. She was a witch that had been rumored to have been seen with Gellert Grindelwald on more than one occasion.''
The wizard paused to clear his throat. ''He told me after she'd been found, they learned she had birthed Gerald Davis...but you know this part of the story already,'' the wizard's eyes narrowed, allowing time for objection before continuing. ''With a little work, I discovered Gerald was still living. MACUSA had long given up any active search for him.''
''Blimey. You were the one that told them about him?'' Ron surmised.
Aberforth made a thoughtful noise behind his pursed lips, then opened them to inform, ''I didn't expect his upheaval from America to here."
"Has he spoken with you?" Harry questioned suddenly.
The elder wizard seemed puzzled, his brow furrowed as he contemplated the auror's blurt. "Why would you ask that?" he countered.
"Gerald was here in Hogsmeade not even an hour ago," Hermione cut in to explain.
The bearded man's expression jumped into one of disbelief. Forcing his wide eyes back to a normal state, he cleared his throat and leaned forward, "Where?"
"At The Three Broomsticks," Ron answered.
Aberforth pulled his attention from the witch, gave it to her husband and then leaned back in his chair again as his gaze found rest looking over the entirety of his company. "I did not see him. Do you feel he was he looking for me?"
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance before the lead investigator answered, "I don't think so. We don't know why he was here exactly. Just that he was drunk," Harry rolled his eyes with that last sentence.
"Hmm. I see," the surviving Dumbledore mused.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Ron asked.
"No, I don't believe there is," Aberforth replied.
"Okay, well, thank you, Mr. Dumbledore," Harry said, pushing his chair back and standing. "Will you contact us if-"
"I will," the man cut him off with a tone that Harry couldn't place as he offered the auror the letter.
The auror nodded with a fleeting smile as his counterpart also rose, taking the letter before going on his way. The two met up with their wives who had opened the door, already beginning to leave. Harry was the last out, giving the old, bearded wizard another glance beforehand. However, he didn't pick up anything more from the short look. Aberforth, like his brother had been, was generally stoic and hard to read.
Without any deliberation, the four found their way back outside the inn, but when the group began to halt just past Hog's Head's doors, Harry kept walking so as to lead them away. If Gerald hadn't already discovered Aberforth, he didn't want to set the dark wizard on the right path. Harry's eyes kept scanning all around the village as they strolled. He never caught any glimpse of Gerald or anything else suspicious which was good though it didn't mean a hundred percent that there wasn't something happening.
Finally, they came to a rest around their original destination at The Three Broomsticks and Harry turned, pulling his wife with him, in order to recreate their usual circle, "Still thinking Gerald's blood has nothing to do with vampires, Hermione?"
The witch grunted, "I never said it didn't, Harry; just that he isn't a vampire himself. And if you're considering that he's some sort of hybrid or mix...I just can't say. I wouldn't think that's the case being that the only information we have on the origin of vampires is that they were humans who chose to be transformed in trade for their magic. We don't know if it changes their blood or even if they can reproduce. IF vampire blood is different from human blood and IF Grindelwald somehow merged that blood with his son's, I guess it's in the realm of possibility that Gerald could have some vampiric characteristics, but not all of them, though that outcome still doesn't seem probable."
"I would say it makes sense in a general theory, but I'm with Hermione on this," Ginny agreed. "Giving up magic and corrupting the soul is how someone becomes a vampire, so wouldn't that mean the transformations is more to do with magic than anything physical? Especially considering how few vampires there are. To me that points to vampires not being able to genetically reproduce."
"I don't know about any of that," Ron poked in, "but why would he want to experiment on his son? I mean, what's to gain by changing his DNA or whatever?"
"Could be as simple as wanting to have a human guinea pig that he can control," Harry answered. "What better way to perform experiments on a human than to raise a child to brainwash or bully into letting you do whatever you want with them?"
"That's a bit dark..." Ron said. "What's the endgame though is what I meant? Just to learn?"
Harry shrugged and the redhead looked over to his wife. "Maybe," she hummed.
"Well, Gerald knows at least that we're aware he's had an incident with vampires," Harry picked up again. "So there's no point in doing anything other than approaching him freely about that knowledge. He does know that we've performed tests on his blood as well, but I've been differing about speaking too much about it until we have something more precise."
"That might never happen though, mate," Ron nudged.
Harry nodded, "I know. We'll wait until we talk to Professor Croaker one more time and then go from there. In the meantime, Hermione, you should make sure there is extra caution about monitoring for any creatures or beings out there."
"Do you think that Brad and Oliver know about any of this?" Hermione asked with a nod. "The vampires, his tampered blood...?"
"I don't know...but we're about to find out," Harry's voice dripped with grave intention.