Chapter 54
Nurmengard.
One could never tell the passing of time in Nurmengard. The cell that kept Gellert Grindelwald captive was capable of fooling even the inner eye of a seer. The inner walls consist of slabs of grey, smooth rock, hypermodern in its design, but also unbreakable and unyielding. The plumbings and pipeline were all layered with anti-intrusive wards keyed to the signature of the Elder wand.
One does not trifle with the wards of Nurmengard. They were known to be not only powerful but toxic since you can't contain the most powerful Dark Lord in history without any drawbacks. The guards that kept Nurmengard minimally hospitable were all suffering from one illness or another due to the toxins. Some of them elected to only send the newspapers and meals via Goblins that are tied to the fortress's defense in the first few years of his incarceration.
The wards are simply too strong, too malevolent to be worked with. Not unless, of course, you were Albus Dumbledore.
It was Albus Dumbledore, who insisted on not giving him and his most loyal commander, Hans Gaultier, the Dementor's kiss, by pointing out the lack of magical contracts that linked him to the majority of his crimes. It was Albus Dumbledore, who used the tiny deviation of the earth's axis to employ a one-sided redirecting ward, ensuring that the ambient magic of Nurmengard would no longer heed the wishes of its creator.
BOOM.
What the...
Gellert turned his head slowly in the direction of the noise, his eyebrows lifting. Nothing like this has happened before...
The lava-based foundation of Nurmengard wards sent magical currents up the cold grey walls of Grindelwald's confinement, before extinguishing. Beyond the room, his sensory magic told him the guards were already unconscious.
Powerful, he thought, as the air thrummed with ozone, like electricity dancing upon a spider's web. He was familiar with muggle electricity and was both intrigued and repulsed by it, a foreign power trying to invade his magical facade.
Wondering, with curiosity, whether the intruder has been fragmented by the layer of Exedus enchantment. Gellert lay back on his bed again.
But he didn't have a long rest.
Mere minutes passed when there was another streak of magical current running up the walls, this time not entirely Nurmengard own. The guard must be on a shift change, he thought, which explained the lack of backup guards securing the important prisoners. He barely formed the thought when smoke started seeping in through the opaque hole that was meant to be the magic ventilator.
Then the fume solidified into a tall figure.
A face, whiter than the bleached color of bone, with wide, livid scarlet eyes, and a nose, that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils, stared back at him. His whole body seemed to have suffered detrimental burns but healed at such a pace that Gellert could only assume one thing; Unicorn-blood based rituals.
The old warlord let out a minuscule sigh before glancing up at the intruder's face again. He had wondered, for some time, when he would be meeting the upstart.
So this is Lord Voldemort.
"So, you have come. I thought you would . . . one day. But your journey was pointless. I never had it."
"You lie!" he hissed with malice.
Legilimency probes of abnormal power made audible sizzling sounds against his own defences. The probes came from all directions, obscured yet enhanced by the oppressive aura of this new dark lord.
And still, the silent battle went on. Waves upon waves of legilimency crashed into his mindscape, however, the probes did not complement each other as Gellert veered this way and that with caution. After a few strenuous moments, he took a bolder and riskier route and began assessing Voldemort's style.
For all his formidable power, this upstart seemed remarkably ignorant of the finer arts of body language. Voldemort's eyes dilated ever so slightly when launching a new attack, and the second to adjust was more than enough for the warlord. But Gellert's own strength was already fading, so unless-
He launched his own probe into Voldemort's mind.
There was a brief nothingness, then all magic in the connection dispersed.
Voldemort was smiling, although it became more akin to an ugly sneer a moment later.
"Tell me right now you old hag, and I shall make it quick and painless." His voice was like a sibilant hiss, though in some ways not unlike nails scraping blackboards.
Gellert laughed. The magic oppressing wards will make the Cruciatus curse feel like a prickle. Voldemort seemed to have worked out the situation only a split second later, for his body radiated magic that was guided by anger and his mouth thinned.
"Old hag, am I? What you seek resides on the side of the angels. You and I are most certainly not one of them."
Voldemort's anger continued to build. Gellert briefly wondered how much about the hallows this new dark lord had known. The reinforcing guards should arrive in two minutes at most, and he should be able to hold the intruder off with relative ease. But they had not come yet, which meant that he had not come alone, but had brought companions with him.
But then, Voldemort's wand rose and contorted the oppressing wards into a wave of magical backlash. Gellert was slammed against the far side of the wall, groaning in pain at the sudden impact.
"What do you take me for? A fool?" the red eyes were smoldering with hatred.
"Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, you broken relic. The Elder wand. Where is it?"
The old man cackled, thoroughly enjoying the stupidity of the upstart.
"An idiot like you would never find it. So for the sake of my patience, ask me no questions, and you will hear no lies."
The yew wand was now pointing directly between his eyes and Gellert saw a glimmer of green.
"Kill me, then!" the old warlord chuckled, "You will not win, you cannot win! That wand will never be yours."
"Avada-"
"Voldy! It's been a long time !" someone shouted.
Gellert whipped his head around, his eyes widening, as he had, what felt like, a heart attack. There stood a mini version of Charlus Potter with several men from Potter's Army. All of them had their wands pointing at the intruder while the magical siren blared in the background.
"So, how are you, Tom? I hope you didn't miss me, did you?" Harry mocked.
"Potter, so it's true you are alive, but not for long," Voldemort said.
"In your dreams Mudblood." Harry yawned as he said, "Now why don't you leave with or without the bodies of your death scum. After you leave, I can take that piece of shit next to you to my grandfather, after all, he has some old scores to settle."
"You dare Potter," Voldemort spat as he pointed his wand towards Harry. Meanwhile, a shape slithered along the semi-shadows of the fighting men.
A snake, more than twelve feet in length, was wrapping itself around one of Potter's men. The strangled man let out grunts of pain as they continued to cast green lights, albeit at a slower pace.
Many of the death eaters that entered the room were being battered by the men of Potter's army. Grindelwald shivered as he remembered Potter's army, led by Charlus Potter, on the battlefield butchering his men. This young wizard standing against Voldemort must be Charlus Potter's grandson, Grindelwald thought. He started planning an escape, one where he could make it out with his loyal commander, who was luckily held in the same fortress.
Smith moved forward and placed his wand tip against the massive snake. There was a burst of green sparks, and the snake dropped to the ground, dead.
For a moment, time itself seemed to have frozen. Neither Voldemort nor any of the Potter's Men twitched a muscle.
Then the world exploded in a shower of colour. Not from wands that were held slackly by Potters Army men, but from the snake and the maddened Dark Lord's wand.
All of the occupants in the room were knocked backward. If the hole in the other side of the room is of any indication, Voldemort had escaped, along with his dead pet snake. Cold air swirled about in the dilapidated room, rapidly erasing the smells of burnt wood and fresh blood.
Harry sighed as he saw Voldemort's escape, Smith, informing him that Hans Gaultier was taken by Voldemort. Hans Gaultier was one of the two bodyguards of Grindelwald. He had a sinister reputation and was called a butcher for obvious reasons. He also had an insane obsession with killing Charlus and Arcturus.
Harry turned towards Grindelwald who was restrained by 3 of his men.
"So Grindy, your Bodyguard has escaped, but worry not, I'll kill him with good ol Voldy." Harry said as Smith prepared to apparate to Potter Castle's Dungeons.
"Potters, you are a nasty bunch. I should have killed you off when I had the chance." Grindelwald sighed as he remembered how he cursed Henry Potter in the back to kill him off. Even though he was cursed in the back, the Potter Lord and his wife together caused tons of damage to his army. He barely escaped alive after killing Lord and Lady Potter. How could he forget the wrath of Charlus Potter? Grindelwald shuddered as he remembered the blood-covered face and bloodshot eyes of Charlus Potter as he moved forward butchering his men on the battlefield, and his thirst for Vengeance for his dead Parents.
"Sure you should have, you've experienced how it feels in this prison, which you yourself built. But let me take you to our prison, the Potter's prison, which is far better than this." Harry grinned as he apparated to the dungeons in Potter Castle.
In the dark cold Dungeons, the first thing Grindelwald saw was Charlus Potter and Arcturus Black. They were confused at first but when they saw who was in front of them, Arcturus had his wands in his hands pointing them toward him. The whole room seemed to warm up due to the magic being radiated off of Charlus Potter, because of which, the dark windows in the corner of the room shattered. Suffice it to say, Grindelwald saw his death in front of him, which was very painful.
The next day in the centre of Diagon Alley people saw a horrifying sight. At the top of a pole hung a head that had been sliced cleanly from its body, of the infamous Dark Lord, Grindelwald. On the head, "NATUS VINCERE" was carved in by a dagger, no doubt causing many to throw up. Standing proudly above the head, at the top of the pole, the Potter's Banner waved, showing them just who was responsible for the state of the famous and most feared Dark Lord's head.
Author's Note
Hi guys, I have made a custom Banner for House Potter, so should I reveal it?
I have also made a discord server which you guys can join and there you guys will be informed about new updates and even get a few spoilers . You guys can give me suggestions for the new chapters and a huge Thanks to my friend chloe4376805 for helping me edit the chapters, because of her Chapters 1,2,3 have been edited and their quality has been improved greatly :)
Discord server - /TXuNjjp73G