Felix knew Grindelwald when he was in school. It was written on the chocolate frog card.

"Defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945."

But at that time, Grindelwald was just one of Dumbledore's well-known contributions, a footnote to his legendary experience. Anyone who saw the chocolate frog picture would only respect Dumbledore, and would not pay any attention to the loser "Dark Wizard Grindelwald". Of course, his terrible reputation might be passed on by word of mouth among children, and they would give full play to their rich imagination when discussing questions like "How bad is this person?"

Felix had every reason to suspect that in the growth process of many young wizards, some were forced to play the role of "Dark Wizard Grindelwald" in the duel game, and finally fell at the feet of the righteous side.

The time when Felix became curious about Grindelwald himself was after listening to Newt's words:

"I can't reveal more - it involves Headmaster Dumbledore... Grindelwald is very arrogant, or confident... and very charismatic, although I don't like this very much, and it caused a lot of trouble at the time..."

Obviously, the short line of description on the chocolate frog picture is actually wonderful and even thrilling in reality.

And Newt's silence also proves this.

Later, Voldemort secretly arrested a group of wand craftsmen and magic history experts, including Gregorovitch and Florin Fosk, the owner of the Diagon Alley ice cream shop. With the information provided by these people, Voldemort forcibly fabricated the rhetoric of ten powerful wands. The legend of the "Old Wand" spread and was dubbed the invincible wand that would never lose, and the current holder was attributed to Felix. .

Later, various signs showed that Voldemort might have given up the pursuit of the Elder Wand since then, and turned to investigate the whereabouts of the snakewood wand inherited from his ancestor Salazar Slytherin. The ten powerful wands were just a means for Voldemort to contain Felix, to find him something to do and to confirm the authenticity of the "Elder Wand" in Felix's hand. Moreover, it is possible that in Voldemort's plan, the bloody inheritance rules of the Elder Wand would more or less affect the tacit understanding between Felix and Dumbledore. However,

coincidentally, the real owner of the Elder Wand was Dumbledore, and the plan to alienate him was in vain.

Felix also guessed that before Dumbledore, the owner of the Elder Wand was Grindelwald.

After that, Voldemort fell cleanly and neatly, and the speed was so fast that many people were dumbfounded and did not react at all. Felix also got in touch with Grindelwald. To be precise, it was Grindelwald who took the initiative to find Felix. The two became pen pals.

Felix smacked his lips. This was also a new experience for him. He had never tried to write to someone in prison. Considering that Grindelwald once wrote back letters letter by letter with a dim oil lamp, and he didn't even have a decent table, he missed that time even more.

Unfortunately, not long after, Felix learned from Dumbledore that Grindelwald was suspected of escaping from prison. For the first time, Dumbledore confessed his close friendship with Grindelwald and expressed his fear of another person's thoughts.

But in the blink of an eye, Dumbledore changed his attitude and kept Grindelwald, who took the initiative, in Hogwarts as the new professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

There are many reasons.

Some of the reasons were told to Felix by Dumbledore, such as Grindelwald's poor physical condition and his almost permanent decline in strength; Felix partially understood and accepted this statement. In his opinion, the fall of Voldemort had a significant impact on Dumbledore.

Felix roughly simplified the psychological changes as follows:

After solving a long-standing heartache, Dumbledore must have been full of emotion, and it evoked long-lost memories. At this time, the former close friend and enemy met after half a century, and it was inevitable that he would be soft-hearted for a while.

Although this softness was limited, Dumbledore promised that Grindelwald would only teach at the school for one year, and then he would return to Nurmengard Castle to continue serving his sentence.

Then Dumbledore's purpose...

Felix thought for a moment and had a vague idea. He decided to talk to Severus and Madam Pomfrey in a while.

"...I didn't realize that the old man's health was getting better and better, and even the quarrel sounded full of energy..."

He suspected that Dumbledore was secretly cooking for him.

In addition to the reason why Dumbledore took the initiative to tell Felix, he also heard half of the words from the portrait in the headmaster's office, which also involved a prophecy...

Here Felix had to thank Phineas Black.

As for the content of the prophecy-over the past six months, Felix gradually found a pattern. He really didn't know the specific content of the prophecy, but Dumbledore did, and from Dumbledore's tolerance of Grindelwald's teaching content, he could roughly outline the shape of the prophecy.

It should be related to the Statute of Secrecy.

Felix frowned slightly and recalled, what does this mean? Is the wizarding world inevitably exposed? But he and Dumbledore have a similar consensus, unless Grindelwald can come up with more direct evidence, such as the specific time of the event. Felix

was slightly startled, and it seemed to be right. He had previously speculated that the prophecy might be something that needs to be interpreted, such as tea leaves, crystal balls, astrology, or a fragment of the future. Thoughts kept rolling... He thought of the New Year's Day parade that Grindelwald showed to students in the first class of the school.

Parade.

So there will be a massive anti-wizard parade in the future?

Felix wrote this down. He was not very anxious in his heart. Dumbledore's sense of responsibility was much stronger than his. When the time was right, the content of the prophecy would automatically appear in front of him, and he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.

Felix felt that Dumbledore was completely capable of doing such a thing. The headmaster was very good at keeping secrets.

As for Grindelwald, the professors generally had a good impression of him. He was outstanding in ability, knowledgeable, and polite. Even Professor McGonagall, who had some complaints about some of his dangerous remarks, gradually accepted this somewhat different colleague. The professor of Charms even regarded him as a confidant. "Professor Bagshot's subtle handling of spells is amazing." The short Flitwick said more than once.

Well, there is one exception, Felix thought. Professor Slughorn was as sharp as ever and rarely dealt with Grindelwald alone.

Felix was very curious whether he saw anything.

But this possibility was actually very low.

Because Grindelwald had been imprisoned for half a century, his appearance had long changed. Even McGonagall, Flitwick and other old teachers did not recognize him, not to mention that Grindelwald's departure from Nurmengard Castle was not made public, so even if Severus had some doubts about his identity, he did not think about it at all.

In the eyes of those who know his true identity (Dumbledore and Felix), Grindelwald's actions did not touch the bottom line. If he contacted or responded to the saint, I believe Dumbledore would send Grindelwald back without hesitation.

Considering Dumbledore's initial defensive attitude, and now acquiescing to Harry and Grindelwald's private contact, and even learning magic, this undoubtedly represents an increase in trust. Felix

is ​​also at ease.

No matter what Grindelwald wants to do, whether it is to pass on his magic (which he is happy to see) or to pass on his thoughts, he only has one year. If he really intends to seduce Harry, he will definitely find that Harry is more stubborn than he thought.

Dumbledore did not do nothing either. The weekly course is not a secret. Harry's thoughts have been almost fixed in the past few years of tempering. What Grindelwald has to do is to reverse it, and Dumbledore is to guide him to think independently. The difficulty of the two things is completely incomparable.

Just like the blood alliance that Harry mentioned today, Felix was surprised by the question itself, and also surprised that Dumbledore had the courage to reveal this past. When Harry faced the choice, Grindelwald, who had hidden his identity, had no advantage at all.

Perhaps this was also expected by Dumbledore. He hoped to complete another part of Harry's character. But Felix was not sure what it was.

...

Later that day, Felix came out of the school hospital and got the information he wanted.

His guess was right.

Grindelwald's magic power was almost completely imprisoned, and he was no different from a squib. Over the past few decades, his body was in a terrible state, and Madam Pomfrey had been supplying him with mild nourishing potions.

Suddenly, an idea came to Felix's mind: the blood alliance between Dumbledore and Grindelwald might have been destroyed - otherwise they could not duel - but there might be another unknown magical contract between them.

The evidence is what Dumbledore said on the day he learned that Grindelwald disappeared in Nurmengard Castle:

"... He is restrained by a powerful spell. I can ensure that these restrictions still exist. It is difficult for him to use advanced magic... No matter what he wants to do, these conditions objectively set a threshold for him."

Why is Dumbledore so sure that the spell has not been broken? Felix can think of only one answer. Dumbledore participated in (or even led) the International Confederation of Wizards' plan to imprison Grindelwald after the duel.

The sky gradually darkened, and Felix walked down the spiral staircase and walked through the hallway.

To his slight surprise, there were already people in the open space at the entrance of the castle. Two familiar silhouettes were bathed in the golden sunlight at dusk. Felix squinted his eyes, and the edges of their bodies seemed to reflect colorful rays of light.

Dumbledore's elder-like tolerant and understanding voice merged with the scene in front of him.

"...There is still a lot of time, Miss Granger. You have plenty of time to see the road ahead clearly. I think that the process of mastering magic and recognizing oneself is similar, that is, follow your heart. Where the treasure is, your heart is there... Don't forget, we are Gryffindor."

Hermione lowered her head and did not speak for a while.

"Principal Dumbledore? Granger?" Felix said.

Hermione raised her head suddenly and glanced at him quickly, screamed, and jumped back a few steps.

"Yes, sorry, I have something else to do, I'm leaving first." She ran away without looking back.

Felix seemed very stunned.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Miss Granger is a little confused about her future path. This is the privilege of young people." Dumbledore smiled and said, "She trusts me very much and is willing to tell me some of her innermost thoughts."

"Oh," Felix looked back at the silent hallway and said in amazement, "I thought she had set her goal long ago. Amelia has high expectations for her and has shown her a lot of confidential information."

Dumbledore blinked and said nothing. His azure eyes reflected the last rays of the setting sun, and his long silver beard seemed to glow. When the golden edge of the Forbidden Forest disappeared, the night fell like a thick curtain, and the earth became dim, but soon, some tiny lights appeared.

"Albus," Felix broke the silence and said carefully, "I heard a word from Harry today, the blood alliance..."

"Ah, I thought about it, and he might ask you for help." Dumbledore said calmly, "When I decided to tell it, I no longer felt that I could keep it secret, and I agreed to let Harry draw wisdom from others. For example, Miss Granger asked me for advice just now." "That's a blood alliance.

" Felix said softly.

The meaning is completely different. This at least shows that at a certain stage in the lives of Dumbledore and Grindelwald, they are willing to give part of their destiny to each other.

"Yes, two smart and arrogant teenagers made a rash oath when their relationship was closest." Dumbledore said with a hint of relief in his tone, "We are smarter than ordinary people, much smarter. Therefore, we must be more arrogant and firmly believe that we can accomplish what our predecessors could not accomplish... But I want to say that cleverness does not mean wisdom, nor can it replace experience. We are equally ignorant in some areas."

He looked into the distance. At this time, dusk replaced the glow, and stars appeared in the thin sky.

"I once said that Gellert's thoughts attracted and inspired me. He expressed what I had always buried deep in my heart but never dared to say, that is, my dissatisfaction with the status quo. I am very good, but I was forced to be trapped in a village where no one cares. I am gifted, but I cannot provide shelter for my relatives... Felix, your father's experience still affected me. There was a time when I always asked myself in the dead of night: What would I do if I saw Ariana being bullied?"

"Sometimes I hate my maturity. I kept telling myself that Muggles, like wizards, have good and bad sides. It is stupid and despicable to arbitrarily deny a large group, but when my mother unfortunately passed away and Ariana's condition worsened, I was full of resentment and blamed others..."

Dumbledore closed his eyes. After a while, he opened his eyes again, and spoke calmly and almost indifferently, as if he was narrating the experience of another person:

"When I was in the most pain, Gellert showed up, and we hit it off right away. He told me that the same experience happened not only to me, but also to many of my fellow wizards. We have power, but we have to encounter misfortune. How ridiculous it is! He proposed a best of both worlds solution - at least that's what I thought at the time - to join hands and establish a new order. From then on, wizards don't have to hide, Ariana doesn't have to hide, and the tragedy that happened to our family will no longer happen."

"We pride ourselves on our wisdom and strength, so the mistakes we make are bigger."

"I was obsessed and completely immersed in it. Just think about it. It can not only solve the troubles of our family, but also liberate thousands of wizards. This plan is just what I want. I worked day and night to improve the plan, and finally deviated from my original intention. I completely leaned towards the family that I should have valued and the extremely glorious career that only existed in my fantasy... You should have guessed the final outcome. My sister, Ariana... after my mother's careful care and care... became the first victim."

The sky was completely dark, and Dumbledore completely merged into the darkness.

"Albus--"

"Don't comfort me, Felix, I have got what I want." Dumbledore turned around and slowly walked towards the castle, and whispered: "Maybe we are born with our own mission, and my mission is to correct the mistakes I have made. Felix, you also have your own mission."

Felix stared at Dumbledore's back, and he heard a different taste.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide, his gray eyes like the night star shining in the dark night, Dumbledore's footsteps paused slightly, and then continued to leave. Felix couldn't help but take a breath.

He had used these eyes to observe Voldemort. Voldemort's soul was broken and radiated an ominous black aura. He had also seen Dumbledore, and the glimmer of Dumbledore's soul was like white jade, emitting a hazy fluorescence.

But now, everything was different.

The bright soft light radiated from Dumbledore's body, covering the earth like moonlight. Indistinctly, Felix seemed to see Dumbledore holding a little girl in his hand, but they disappeared in the hallway in the blink of an eye.

Felix stayed where he was, looking up at the sky, the stars reflected in his gray pupils.

He waited quietly, a ray of moonlight flashed in front of the window of the corridor on the eighth floor of the castle, and finally stopped at the tower of the principal's office. There was no moon tonight, but the moonlight was scattered all over Hogwarts Castle.