Dumbledore looked at the old wizard whose teeth had been completely mended. The light from the magic lamp danced on Grindelwald's white hair, which was sparse due to his age, but still neatly combed. From Dumbledore's point of view, the wizard in front of him looked a little younger, which made him feel a little dizzy.
Grindelwald leaned forward slightly, slowly and elegantly extending his arm and raising his hand with his palm facing upwards. Grindelwald lowered his head and looked at Dumbledore as if he didn't even need to blink.
Dumbledore raised his left hand to rub his nose and sighed. He took the opportunity to pass his hand to Grindelwald's palm, but unexpectedly, Grindelwald didn't take it. Instead, he nimbly dodged it and quickly grabbed Dumbledore's right hand that was holding the wand. With a forceful tug, Dumbledore staggered and was pulled closer to himself.
Dumbledore's silvery white hair that reached his waist swayed in front of him. He stood there in a daze, his blue eyes behind the crescent-shaped glasses focused on Grindelwald's eyes. His originally pale and old face was now flushed red. Grindelwald forcefully held Dumbledore's wrist and pulled the light wizard's healed right hand to his nose. He took a deep breath on Dumbledore's right hand and sniffed it. From start to finish, his gaze never left Dumbledore, which made the old wizard's face even redder.
"Rowan wood … Wizards who have wands made of this wood usually have a clear mind and a pure heart. Rowan wood wands can also maximize the effectiveness of defensive spells. Hence, it has a high ability to protect its owner. Other wands are inferior to it." Grindelwald loosened his grip on Dumbledore's wrist. "If I remember correctly, your new wand is the same as your old one?"
Dumbledore's face flushed. He realized that he had misunderstood. Grindelwald was only trying to identify his new wand.
"The owner of the elder wand always has a strong sense of identity with the wizard chosen by the rowan wood wand." Grindelwald's right eye, which had a strange gray pupil, blinked slightly and revealed a charming smile. "As the former owner of the old wand … I quite agree with this point of view. What do you think, Abusi?"
"Words that have been passed down for a long time are usually very reasonable …" Dumbledore was a little annoyed as he turned around to prevent the other party from seeing his expression. He pretended to be calm as he sat on the chair facing the TV. He grabbed a piece of popcorn that Fox had just picked up from its beak and threw it into his mouth. He said a little vaguely, "I've also used an elder wand."
"Also, I didn't know that you changed your soap … The smell of cedar mixed with citrus … The Ojivi Sisters' soap …" Grindelwald narrowed his eyes. With a smirk on his face, he leaned forward again. His sharp nose seemed to be touching Dumbledore's crooked nose. "I haven't smelled it for a few years."
"Grigovic let me wash my hands before choosing the materials for the wand." Dumbledore suddenly frowned. "Haven't smelled it for a few years? Who else have you smelled? "
"Why? Are you jealous? " Grindelwald deliberately teased Dumbledore. He took out a 2.5-liter bottle of Coke from the cabinet and poured a glass for Dumbledore. "Although I've been provided with this Muggle drink for no reason recently, the taste should at least be more suitable for you than beer and pickled vegetable juice …"
"Gellar, I noticed that your new prison uniform seems to be one size bigger than the last time … It fits you very well." Dumbledore mischievously winked at Grindelwald. Finally, he seemed to have returned to normal and was no longer affected by Grindelwald's emotional teasing. He was not convinced and retorted.
After a while, Dumbledore used his finger to cast a spell to cool the Coke. He relaxed even more and leaned back in his chair. Soon, the popcorn bucket was empty. After a few burps caused by the carbon dioxide in the drink, Dumbledore looked much more relaxed than when he was at Grigovic's place.
"So, Abusi … What happened recently has made you very worried, and everyone else will only ask you for help to solve your doubts …" Grindelwald's right pupil shrank, and the trimmed mustache above his lips twitched. "Many things have happened in the Hogwarts … You want to know what Allen Harris wants to do?"
"Geidler, don't look at me with your power." Dumbledore habitually put his fingers together. His blue eyes glanced at Grindelwald. "Harris reminds me of you in many ways … So I do want to hear your opinion. If you were him, what would be your purpose for doing these things?"
"What do you think we are alike?" The skin under Grindelwald's neck was unnaturally white. He raised his chin, raised his eyebrows, and deliberately asked, "Skin? Hair color? Gender? "
"Don't joke around …" Dumbledore said, but he looked at Grindelwald from above his half-moon glasses and smiled. His voice was a little cheerful. "You do look alike, don't you? You all like to explore ancient magic, and you are good at speaking. You are good at grasping the hearts of others and seeing through their nature … You can easily stir up all kinds of emotions in others and make good use of them … "
"In that case, the three of us are quite alike …" Grindelwald said with a cheeky smile. Then, he put away his smile and said seriously, "But we are just 'alike.' We are fundamentally different individuals, so we all want different things."
Dumbledore nodded in agreement and asked, "Then, what do you think he wants?"
"Abusi, what did we want to do?" Grindelwald did not answer directly.
"To break the International Secrecy Act and realize the wizard's rule over the mortals … Gedler, I changed later on, so we had a lot of disputes … You mean Allen too?" Dumbledore's white beard swayed in front of his chest. He did not look surprised.
"The program about Muggle that Harris TV aired was the same as the illusion I created at the gathering. Previously, the United Kingdom issued a warning to all countries to abide by the Secrecy Act and forced the African president to compromise …" Grindelwald leaned his upper body towards Dumbledore and approached Dumbledore. His words revealed some of the 'wildness' of his youth. "I don't have his patience, but I have to say that many countries have been troubled by the Secrecy Act, haven't they? Unfortunately, I didn't have advanced magic equipment like a television back then … "
"Fortunately, you didn't!" Dumbledore glared at his boyfriend disapprovingly. He took a big gulp of Coke and burped. "But I did consider this possibility … But don't you think the floating city today is to make the wizards stay away from Muggle? To form a more closed wizard world?
"That's why I said the three of us are fundamentally different individuals. We want different things …" Grindelwald shook his head. "Abusi, you've noticed it yourself. In fact, you don't want to believe it because Harris is like the rising sun, and you're like the setting sun. You can't control him, and you can't defeat him … I can understand that you're too tired to fight with him … Anyway, do you think his attitude towards Muggle is much better than mine? Anyway, he won't exploit Muggle's value like I did, right? But you're wrong, Abusi. In my opinion, breaking the Secrecy Act is only a small part of his plan … What he wants to do is far more troublesome than you think … "
"Oh?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in surprise. "My worst-case scenario is that although the Ministry of Magic is controlled by Harris, Scrimgeour and the fairies made him aware of the constraints … So he created his floating city … My worst-case scenario is that he wants the Hogwarts to form their own faction and break away from the British Ministry of Magic's control … But Gellert, it seems like you're worried about more than that?"
"Who do you think has the highest chance of getting the old wand?" Grindelwald replied with a rhetorical question.
Dumbledore nodded, then shook his head. "You think it's him too? Maybe Tom will go astray, but we don't want to rely too much on this kind of foreign object … "
"Abusi, don't forget that this little boy is pulling a cart behind him …" Grindelwald reminded in a serious tone. "There's a goddess behind him. She's declaring that she's fighting against the Grim Reaper …"
Grindelwald waved his finger in the air.
"The old wand." Grindelwald drew a vertical line in the air. "The Resurrection Stone." He drew a circle on top of the vertical line. "Invisibility Cloak." He drew a triangle around the vertical line and the circle.
"Legend has it that the person who owns all the Sacred Weapons of Death is the master of the Grim Reaper …" Dumbledore stared at the symbols floating in the air. "If they're really doing this for this noble purpose … I don't have any opinion on it … Although I'm still doubtful about the existence of the Grim Reaper … In fact, I think Lady Ravenclaw may have mastered some kind of power that ordinary wizards don't know about …"
"When I met you when I was young, I invited you to search for the Sacred Weapons of Death with me … Where do you think I got the information about the Sacred Weapons of Death and used it as my personal symbol?" Grindelwald threw a rhetorical question at him. Before Dumbledore could answer, he pointed at the symbol in the air. "The one who led me to know about this symbol and started to search for them is also the owner of our Eris Magic Mirror, the Goddess of Misfortune …" Grindelwald moved his face closer to Dumbledore's face. "And the Sacred Weapons of Death necklace on the boy's chest is not because his grandfather worships me … I can tell that it's not my symbol … It's because I didn't fulfill my promise and was locked up here by you before I collected the three Sacred Weapons. So, I taught the boy a few tricks as compensation to the Goddess behind him …" Grindelwald breathed on Dumbledore's face. "But recently, I also found out … Well, I guess that the Goddess seems to have another identity — the founder of the academy you used to work at, Royna Ravenclaw."
Dumbledore was shocked by the hidden message in his boyfriend's words. He felt that things were beyond his imagination. It was as if there was a huge net behind him that controlled the actions of these chess players. Dumbledore originally thought that they were chess players.
"That Harris boy has gone much further than me … Abusi, maybe you should pay more attention to his eyes. You're unhappy that I don't take Muggle seriously … But deep down in his bones, even if he's doing something good for the wizards, he probably doesn't take wizards seriously anymore …" Grindelwald was satisfied when he saw the reaction on Dumbledore's face. He began to shrink back into the sofa and took a sip of soda. "So you think you're relaxed? You think you can pull yourself together? Your career as a Light Magus has only just begun … But don't expect me to help you deal with me, your successor … I just want to remind you of the real battle between the 'gods' … Oh right, if I'm not mistaken, that boy from the Potter family who survived the disaster … That's right, the Invisibility Cloak passed down by Peveril has long since been lost, right? "
"No, it's still with Harry."
"Huh?"
"But you're right, Geidler. Although the battle between the gods is incomprehensible to mortals, there's nothing good about it other than danger …"
(End of chapter)
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