Grindelwald stared at the shadow for a long time before he was sure that it was the person he had been thinking about day and night.

But just as he was about to step forward, he discovered that Dumbledore's shadow had disappeared beside the grave.

It was just his illusion, a dream bubble, and before he could get close to it, it was pierced by the sharp reality.

At this moment, Grindelwald's longing for Dumbledore reached its peak.

How he wanted to see Dumbledore in person again, how he wanted to confide in him once again, how he wanted to tell Dumbledore that he and Cyrus would soon avenge him and eliminate the hidden threat, Herpo, so that he could sleep peacefully without having to worry about the affairs of the living.

How he wanted to tell Dumbledore in person that he would come to find him soon and they could embark on an adventure together.

In fact, there is a portrait of Dumbledore in the headmaster's office. Dumbledore died very suddenly, but he usually had the habit of retrieving his memories from his brain and filling those memories into the portrait, which could also create a "Dumbledore".

However, Grindelwald knew clearly that it was not him at all. He had never even seen Dumbledore's portrait once in such a long time.

That was a false thing, just a bunch of memory filler! "But I know what is real." He slowly walked to the edge of the grave, leaned against it and sat down again, then tremblingly took out a black stone from his sleeve.

It's the Resurrection Stone again.

This ominous stone appears in the story again.

This is the one left by Dumbledore. That night, Hercule killed Dumbledore and took the Elder Wand, but left the Resurrection Stone. So the Resurrection Stone fell into Grindelwald's hands.

He had been patient for so long, until today, until Cyrus was about to cross time to completely destroy Helbo, he took out the Resurrection Stone. He thought he could now rest easy.

He didn't know that the god of death was actually behind Hercules, because after he gave the power to Cyrus, he almost fainted. When Ginny passed the information to Cyrus, she also transmitted it directly into Cyrus' mind through the diary.

"No one will disturb our night, Albus."

He said, turning the Resurrection Stone three times in his palm.

Then, this night at Hogwarts seemed a little different, with a hazy thing spreading in the castle. It was like a thin layer of silver mist, which seemed heavier than anything in the world, but also very light, lighter than life, heavier than the soul!

Grindelwald had lost his magic, but he could still imagine that there must be an old man at this moment - he was wearing his favorite wizard robe, which looked a little bloated, but exquisite, with complicated decorations on it - he was wearing a wizard hat, but it was not worn straight, it was crooked, and he looked a little restless - he was wearing gold-rimmed glasses shaped like a crescent moon, and the delicate lenses were placed on his nose that was crooked several times -

He is Dumbledore! His eyes are blue, more beautiful than the frozen black lake, and the light reflected from them is the light of wisdom; he has a long beard that is like a waterfall and can be dragged to the belt position, which makes him look a little old.

He must have walked slowly through every corridor, carefully observed every corner of the castle, greeted every portrait or soul, stroked the head of every sleeping little wizard, covered them with quilts, and made sure they were safe.

Finally, he would walk through the corridor and into the moonlit atrium, into his - Grindelwald's - dream.

Dumbledore did come.

But he was not the same as Grindelwald had imagined. Instead, he looked somewhat similar to how he looked fifty years ago. Grindelwald was referring to the other person's cold expression.

"Don't call me Albus, Grindelwald." Dumbledore coldly shattered Grindelwald's dream.

Grindelwald suddenly woke up as if a large basin of cold water was poured over him from head to toe. This was never a good night, this was a nightmare! "Your stupidity and willfulness are beyond my imagination." Dumbledore's words seemed very angry, but his tone was very steady. He didn't look angry, but he was so disappointed with Grindelwald that he couldn't get angry anymore.

Perhaps he would not be so cold even when talking to a stone.

"Everything Cyrus did was in vain because of you."

"I don't understand what you mean." Grindelwald looked very pitiful and miserable at this moment. Compared with Dumbledore, his body was as small as a starving cat, curled up in a wrinkled ball.

He was just like a cat, longing for a warm hug and a little comfort.

But no.

Dumbledore shook his head: "You are not worthy."

Grindelwald was stunned. This short sentence was like a hot knife cutting through his heart, like a solid pick hammering hard on the ice, again and again, trying to break him completely! But he didn't want to be treated so ruthlessly.

He had had enough of this feeling, like the marble walls in the damp winters of Nurmengard, like this cold white tomb.

He just wanted to hear some warm words, like wearing a pair of soft wool socks in winter, or drinking a glass of hot pumpkin juice.

"What have I done, Albus, what have I done to deserve this?" He cried sadly and knelt at the feet of Dumbledore's soul, his turbid tears dripping into the soil. "It's been a century. Even after a century, you are still unwilling to forgive me? I thought..."

I thought those ambiguous moments not long ago were a sign of forgiveness.

Grindelwald thought.

But now it seems that he was wrong, and very wrong.

Dumbledore never forgave him.

But in fact, Grindelwald's current thinking is wrong. In fact, regarding the incident with Ariana, Dumbledore hated himself more than he hated him.

He always had mixed emotions towards Grindelwald.

But now, the Dumbledore in front of him is absolutely rational. He can let go of the past that cannot be changed, but he finds it difficult to let go of what is about to happen.

"You shouldn't use the Resurrection Stone," he said.

"Yes..." Grindelwald buried his head and cried. He was like a child who had made a mistake and did not even realize where he was wrong. He cried because he was sad, afraid, and heartbroken by Dumbledore's cruelty.

He felt like he was walking barefoot on broken glass, and every step he took was a stinging pain.

"What will it take for you to forgive me?" he begged.

"I will never forgive you."

"You have undone Cyrus's efforts!" said Dumbledore. "He could have saved everything. If you had faced Death with Harry's soul, you would have defeated Him. He would never have received three immortal souls."

Grindelwald was stunned.

He only knows these things now.

"But it's too late now," said Dumbledore. "Your soul is already in chains, and the scythe of death is already on your neck. You have nowhere to escape, and yet you have to implicate those two children."

He finally uttered a sigh. - The next morning, Professor McGonagall found the body of the poor old man in front of Dumbledore's grave.

No one knows how he died.

Except Harry.

He saw that Grindelwald had not let go of his hand until his death, and in his hand, he was holding a broken Resurrection Stone.

"This is Dumbledore's Resurrection Stone," said Harry. "I thought Hercule had taken it that night."

"Grindelwald must have wanted to use the Resurrection Stone to tell Professor Dumbledore that he had finally avenged him," Hermione said, "but he didn't expect that Dumbledore, who came back from the dead, would be so cold and cruel."

"It's impossible that he didn't think of it." Ron shook his head. "Have you forgotten? He and Dumbledore were the ones who knew the Deathly Hallows best." He looked at Grindelwald's body with a troubled face. "He must have missed Dumbledore so much that he wanted to see him even if he died."

"The prophecy... two of them have come true." Harry clenched his fists. "Professor Dumbledore was attacked by the Elder Wand, and Grindelwald committed suicide because of the Resurrection Stone. I guess Professor Dumbledore must be torturing him."

He was referring to mental torture.

It just so happened that Grindelwald owed Dumbledore too much.

Just the repetition was enough to overwhelm the old man.

"The Grim Reaper has already obtained two of the three immortal souls..." Harry said seriously.

And just as predicted, at this moment, their fear reached its peak. They felt as if an invisible hand was strangling their throats.

A huge feeling of powerlessness surged from deep within their hearts.

"Is it that nothing we do is of any use?" Hermione asked desperately, "Cyrus and Grindelwald tried so hard to defeat Hercule, but Grindelwald still died..."

"If everything is already predetermined, what's the point of everything we do?"

"Hey," Ron couldn't help but shout when he saw her like this, "To be honest, I don't think everything is destined." He was unusually serious, "It's not like that!"

"Remember how you always forced Harry and I to do our homework? I dare say that if it weren't for you, our grades would have been even worse. You see, you changed us yourself!"

"But... this is different," said Hermione.

"No, I think Ron is right." Harry also came out of his previous negative mood. He thought of something Dumbledore had said to him. "Do you know? In fact, the Sorting Hat originally wanted me to go to Slytherin College."

"What?!"

"You are kidding me!!"

Even Ron almost jumped up after hearing this.

Harry had kept this a secret and hadn't even told them about it.

"No, it's not a joke. He said Slytherin might be better. In fact, my wand and Voldemort's wand come from the same phoenix feather. We are very similar, right?" Harry said, "I was upset about it, but Dumbledore told me that we are completely different. Because I chose Gryffindor myself."

Of course, college is not the most important thing.

The most important thing is: "I chose the path I am on now, not the prophecy, nor Dumbledore's request. He gave me the opportunity to give up. He and Cyrus both told me that if I didn't want to fight Voldemort, they would do it themselves. But I made the choice."

"The fact is, fate is never important. What's important is ourselves, what kind of person we want to be, and whether we are willing to achieve ourselves," said Harry.

"Ginny, Hermione, don't take the prophecy too seriously," Harry said earnestly, "otherwise you'll find yourself like Voldemort. The more you care, the worse it gets."

"Perhaps you are right."

Harry realized that he had been taught another lesson by Dumbledore's wisdom.

A wise man is always like this. After he leaves you, he can still benefit you infinitely. Of course, he also has to admit that his friends have the same wisdom.

They watched Grindelwald being buried in the morning.

The poor old man had almost no funeral, and only the headmistress from far away Durmstrang came to pay her respects.

Originally, Mag wanted her to take Grindelwald's body back, but she was rejected.

"Let him rest here forever," Vader said. "You and I both know this is a good thing for him, right?"

"Yeah." Mag also sighed.

Ultimately, Grindelwald was buried next to Dumbledore, and no new grave was built because the students of Hogwarts would not mourn him.

However, Ms. Vader personally carved a letter "G" on Dumbledore's tombstone.

"This means Gellert Grindelwald, and it means the greater good," Vader said.

She couldn't help but laugh. She said it was for the greater good, but in fact, it was all for her own benefit. Every member of the Wu Cui Party was selfish in their hearts.

Just like her, from beginning to end, there was only one person she was asking for help.

Of course, out of reach.

"This place is really great. I think he, who hasn't even graduated yet, should really receive some intellectual enlightenment." Vida was still joking when he left.

As for Cyrus, he only learned about this matter shortly afterwards.

When he traveled through time and returned to reality, he immediately learned of Grindelwald's death. He had no time to feel sad for him. In fact, he was not sad. He just felt that the burden on him was heavier.

But he couldn't show any fatigue or cowardice.

'I don't know how Dumbledore managed to survive all these years,' he thought.

Is there anyone in this world who is absolutely rational and absolutely strong?

(End of this chapter)