Showdown in Berlin

Dumbledore and Tom walked quietly through the streets of Berlin. The teacher could sense his student quivering, pale while. "It's okay to be scared Tom," he comforted. "Without fear, there cannot be courage,"

"I know," Tom said. "Something my birth father told me,"

"I bet your birth parents are proud of you right now," he said proudly. "I never had a student like you Tom. You're never afraid to do what's right," he admired Tom deeply for his courage in standing up to arrogant wizards and putting his life on the line to defend his loved ones. "I see so much of them in you. And so much of Newt too,"

Tom smiled a little. "That means a lot coming from you. You have my full trust for whatever you need me to do Professor,'

"Please…call me Dumbledore," Albus insisted.

"As you wish. Professor," Tom's humour made Albus chuckle. "Dumbledore…can I ask you something?"

"Of course," he answered kindly.

"When…Grindelwald turned bad…how did you ease your pain?"

Dumbledore paused for a moment. Then he answered without keeping eye contact with his student and friend. "I couldn't ease the pain. All I could do was push myself forward,"

"What will happen to Grindelwald…once we defeat him?"

Albus looked down again. "He'll spend the rest of his life in a high-security prison. Not sure if it'll be Azkaban,"

"They won't think to kill him?"

"It is against our nature to use killing curses even against enemies,"

"Do you think you'd ever visit him? If you could?"

"It wouldn't be allowed. And even if I could, I don't think I would. Not without bringing up the pain again. Though it's still in my heart. All the time,"

"But…you still love him no matter what,"

Dumbledore was quite emotionally affected by his truthful words. "You can never truly bury the past you have with people no matter how hard you try. Just like you can't bury the past you had with Credence. But even if others might hurt us, we have others to hold on to you," Tom remembered everyone he still had. His father, Tina, Jacob, Theseus, Lorna, his best friends, Nagini, all his creature friends...he hadn't realised how much he still had till that very moment. He wondered about Nagini whose lonely heart had been healed by his care and generosity towards her aside from Lorna's. His face reddened just thinking of her. His heartbeat hastened. "When we fell apart, I had a huge void in my heart," lamented his teacher, stilling continuing his story. "But then…when Lorna came into my life, I felt like it was filling up again,"

Tom smiled. "You're very lucky to have her for a daughter," Dumbledore blushed. "She loves you. Very much. And she does everything she can to make you feel better,"

"I know she does. But I feel I've been neglecting that. Very unintentionally,"

Tom could tell that he looked rather guilty and self-disappointed in himself. "We all make mistakes Dumbledore. She knows that. Otherwise, she would not think so highly of you,"

His words uncannily made Dumbledore feel confident. He knew deep down that he hadn't failed her as a father. Pitifully there wasn't much time to dwell on that. As they walked further on, Tom felt a strange instinct burning in his head. He could feel a carrier of powerful energy approaching. Just like before in Paris. Danger was approaching. He shared a nervous glance with Dumbledore. He shared a serious one back. It was time. They turned a corner.

"This is where I leave you," said Dumbledore suddenly. "Trust me,"

Tom nodded. Dumbledore took another turn and disappeared, leaving him alone. He took in a deep breath and carried on walking.

When Credence turned the corner, he saw only his brother walking a yard ahead. No Dumbledore. He fumed and clutched his wand.

Lorna, Newt, and Tina approached a rusted grille in the centre of the main road on the outskirts of the city. "That's where my brother is?" asked Newt asked.

"Yep," Lorna took a step forward but Tina's question made her stop.

"How do we know we can trust him?" he wondered.

"We don't," said Lorna.

"But you're stilling going through it?" she asked.

"I have to," she said. "Remember…my father trusts him and so we must too," She walked on, and Tina and Newt walked a little far behind.

"I should be there," Tina muttered.

"Where?" Newt asked, confused.

"At the party. I should be the one talking to Tina. She's my sister,"

"Tina, I know that it's hard for you," Newt consoled. "These last few five years have been hard for all of us too. But you don't have to deal with this alone,"

"I think I'd rather," Tina walked ahead of him, leaving him to sigh, feeling rejected. The group of three entered the old prison and walked down the rusty stairs, lighting up the tips of their wands. They entered a giant hallway with a dark tunnel leading out of it. At the far end was a warden in front of shelves of cages. He stared across at them with cold eyes.

"We're here to see my brother, Theseus Scamander," Newt said.

Before the warden could speak, Lorna flicked her wand and the papers her father gave them flew from her pocket onto the table. "That should cover it. Now, let us see him,"

"Wands first," he ordered. Reluctantly the two placed their wands on the desk. Tina didn't. "You too,"

"Excuse me, but I am the head of the Auror Department of MACUSA,"

"No wand, no entry for either of you," he said.

She huffed. "Fine," she slammed her weapon on the desk.

Pickett squeaks and pokes his head out of Newt's coat pocket. Newt saw the Warden eying it dangerously. "Oh that's – I'm a Magizoologist," the man flicked his wand and the Bowtruckle was fished out. "He's perfectly harmless. He's just a pet really," Picket fumed. "Sorry,"

The Warden flicked his wand again and Teddy came flying out of his pocket. "They stay here," he locked the two creatures up along with the tie that was meant for Theseus. He fished his hand into his pocket. A sickening, squelching noise made the group's tummies gurgle. The man pulled out a pot of squirming grubs and plucked three out, stuffing them into three lanterns. He shook them about and they glowed like fireflies with tremendous flashes.

He handed a lantern to each of them. "How will we know where to find him?" asked Newt.

"He's your brother, isn't he?" the warden asked spitefully. "He's the one that looks like your brother,"

"How very helpful you are," Tina thanked sarcastically. With no choice, they endeavoured to enter the tunnel.

Newt looked worriedly back at his locked-up creatures. "Don't worry. We'll be back. On my word,"

"'We'll be back. On my word'" the Warden mocked. He burst out laughing. "And I'll be a minister one day," he spooked the poor creatures, rattling their cages. He grinned cruelly and Picket blew a raspberry at him.

Hidden from his sight, Lorna clicked her fingers behind his back and just after they entered into the darkness, the cruel man's pants caught on fire and he screamed about, running in circles. She shared a chuckling look with her surrogate brother and even Tina giggled a little. They followed the stone-cold tunnels into the prison, with only the light source as their guard. "Theseus?" Newt called out. "Theseus?" No reply.

"We'll find," comforted Tina.

"The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get out of here," Lorna felt sick to the core, inside this prison. And the smell was awful. It felt like they were in a giant morgue.

Tom walked toward an international travel shop and looked into the window's reflection. He steered his glance a little to the right. He saw his brother approaching. He held his breath and dreaded the confrontation which he knew would but prayed wouldn't come.

High above a rooftop, Dumbledore could see Tom facing the window whilst Credence stood across the street, baring his wand. He inhaled deeply. As a snowflake fell in front of him, he blew it downwards and he saw it float in front of Credence's face before it flew into his forehead, bursting into specks of white.

Looking into the reflection again, Tom gathered his courage and wits as he saw the approaching stalker. He turned around. "Are you finally ready to listen to me?

Credence didn't answer his question. He just stared across at Tom, indifferently. "Where is he?"

"'Who?'" Tom pretended to not know. He didn't fall for it. "It's just me. All alone. Just like back in Paris when you left me,"

Credence was too smart to underestimate. "I know he's here with you. Where is he?" they circled each other.

Knowing there was no way to fool him, Tom thought of everything his mind could tell him to keep him at bay. "Dumbledore isn't your enemy. You're being manipulated by Grindelwald to destroy him. Once you do that, no one will be able to stop him," As expected, he didn't waver. "Why are you doing this, Credence? I know you joined Grindelwald to find out who you are. But this is madness. How does killing an innocent man get you anything?"

"He abandoned me," Credence's voice was hinged with pain and rejection. "I'm a Dumbledore. Just like him. And he abandoned me. He deserves to suffer the same way I did,"

Tom wouldn't listen to him. "Do you even hear what you're saying right now? Dumbledore is nothing like you said. The real enemy is Grindelwald. Do you not remember what he did in New York? He betrayed you,"

Just after he spoke that, he saw a phoenix ascend from the sky. It wasn't Lorna. This one was a bit smaller and it looked a little flaky.

From his hidden spot on the roof, Dumbledore could see the creature too. As he watched it fly by Credence, he felt a slow but strange contraction in his heart.

"It's here for me," said Credence, disbelieving everything Tom said. "You are the one who betrayed me. You left me, all alone,"

Tom refused to give up on him. "I thought you were dead. If I had known you were alive earlier I never would have stopped searching for you,"

"You have everything I never had. Everything I wanted. Love. A home. Friends. Everything I never had. I had no one in New York,"

Tom shed a tear. "You had me. You had Nagini. And now you have nothing because you turned your back on everyone who cared about you. You betrayed all of us," Credence twitched a little but Grindelwald's influence kept a powerful hold over him. "I don't know what I did to hurt you. But whatever it was, I'm sorry. When you walked through that ring of fire in Paris, it broke my heart. And I haven't been the same for five years. Please brother…stop all of us this and come with me. Nagini and I want you back with us,"

Credence wouldn't answer for a bit. He raised his wand. "I will ask you again. Where is he?" he threatened.

Tom didn't raise his wand back. "I don't know. But if I did…I would never tell you," He would never betray anyone at all.

"Then I will force it out of you," Credence shot a spell. Suddenly Tom's golden Obscurial energy erupted from inside him and created a shield that blocked his attack. Credence used dark energy to create a ball of debris to fire at him but Tom pulled out his wand and shouted: "Bombarda!" and destroyed it, creating a cloud of ash and dust. Quickly he made a run further up the street and then turned back. To his shock, he saw Credence unleashing his Obscurial energy again, destroying buildings alongside them to try and kill him. Tom stood his ground, going over every spell in combat. A large piece of debris was thrown at him. He cast Protego and he was shielded. Another was thrown. He shouted: "Bombarda again!". Still, his brother wouldn't stop attacking him. Come on Dumbledore. He begged in his head. Please. I need you. He tried to keep fighting back but Credence's years of using his wand to control his dark energy overpowered him. Even his golden energy wasn't enough to counteract his attacks. He was suddenly thrown a yard away, crashing into a pile of snow against a wall of bricks. He bruised his back.

Credence approached him menacingly. He rose his wand to harm him when he felt the tip of a wand behind his head. "Things are not quite what they appear Credence," It was Dumbledore. "Not matter what you have been told," As he spoke, he held out a small tool that swallowed the light from the world around them, including Tom.

Fuming with rage at the voice, Credence spun around and pointed his wand but Dumbledore blocked him. "My name is Aurelius. You abandoned me," he tried to strike him with a spell but Dumbledore disappeared.

"He lied to you," he disappeared again. "Kindled your hate,"

Credence tried again and again to attack him but kept on failing. After the fifth attempt, he saw a chance and unleashed a swarm of dark energy at Dumbledore but the well-qualified wizard deflected it and reaching his palm out, knocked his attempt killer back into a large puddle.

Tom who had managed to get back up, managed to find his way to him. Dumbledore kept a firm hold on him to keep him steady. He looked down at the poor beaten boy with an apologetic expression but Tom expressed no ill will. Only gratitude. He held his breath. He didn't want this battle to end this way. He tried to walk forward but Dumbledore stopped him, telling him to not make any sudden movements. They watched as the phoenix descended above Credence. Tom noticed the phoenix was almost ash black. A dark feeling formed a pit in his stomach. The phoenix ascended into the sky again.

Dumbledore genuflected and looked down at the defeated Credence. "What he's told you, isn't true," Having observed them from above, he had overheard everything Credence had said to his brother. "But we do share the same blood. You are a Dumbledore," Hearing a low-screeching sound, he saw the force of black energy absorb itself back into its carrier as he shed a tear. "I'm sorry for your pain," he pitifully touched Credence's chest. "We didn't know I promise,"

He pulled out his tool again and unleashed a powerful spectrum of light returning the world around them to visibility again. People were around them, gasping in shock at all the damage that had been done. The teacher offered a hand to his beaten opponent who took it slowly. He helped him up, staring into his eyes, with generosity. He slowly let go and then gave Credence a gentle look before turning his attention back to Tom, still a bit battered from the fight.

Tom saw the conflicted look Credence gave him. Then he downheartedly turned away unable to look at his brother for another moment. He had never been more hurt in his entire life. And not just physically. He and Dumbledore left the scene, his friend giving him a hand with walking around. They disappeared into the streets.

That's another chapter done. Hope you all are enjoying the story. Can't believe it's New Year's Eve tomorrow. Happy New Year for 2023. See you all soon!