Crack—!
A sharp shattering sound echoed through Nurmengard's cell.
"Gellert!"
Dumbledore exclaimed when he saw Grindelwald suddenly crush the teacup in his hand, blood mingling with the tea and dripping down.
He rose abruptly and strode to Grindelwald's side, grasped his injured hand to inspect it carefully, and at the same time drew the Elder Wand, swiftly casting a healing spell. A soft, pale light bloomed from the tip of the wand.
Grindelwald remained silent, his eyes tightly closed, trembling faintly now and then.
Though he did not open his eyes, he seemed to sense Dumbledore's tension and urgency. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, barely concealed.
The shallow wound on his hand was something Grindelwald could easily have healed himself, yet he leisurely waited for Dumbledore to finish treating him in person.
"I'm fine, Al."
Looking at Grindelwald's closed eyes, a sharp glint flashed through Dumbledore's gaze.
"Gellert, did you use divination on Lucien?"
Dumbledore was well aware of Grindelwald's prophetic abilities. As a natural Seer, his heterochromatic eyes could glimpse "visions."
And the people or events that appeared in those visions were always destined to cause immense upheaval, on a scale large enough to affect the entire world.
Grindelwald did not answer at once. He paused briefly before slowly opening his eyes.
His darker eye was webbed with fine blood vessels, while the other, a clear blue, gleamed with light.
"You know my divination is divided into passive and active. Passively triggered prophecies concern the distant future, and the images are more complete…"
Dumbledore did not interrupt, waiting for Grindelwald to explain what kind of prophecy this had been.
Seeing that Dumbledore did not take the bait or press him further, Grindelwald pouted faintly.
"I performed two divinations. The first was passive, but…"
"I saw nothing."
Dumbledore's brow furrowed. He knew Grindelwald well and had never encountered such a situation.
A passive prophecy, which should have been clearer and more complete, yet it revealed nothing at all.
"So, the second time, I actively divined that young man named Lucien."
"Care to guess what I saw?"
Dumbledore had not expected Grindelwald to phrase it that way, but he still played along.
"Gellert, what did you see?"
Grindelwald smiled with quiet satisfaction, but his expression quickly turned solemn.
"A vortex. A vast, boundless vortex."
With those words, Grindelwald fell silent.
Dumbledore understood that this was likely all Grindelwald had seen. Active divinations only ever revealed brief, fragmented images.
In that, Dumbledore was correct—but not entirely.
What Grindelwald did not say was that the second divination had indeed been incomplete, but only because he had forcibly cut it short himself.
The moment he caught sight of that vortex, an indescribable pressure had descended upon his mind.
His intuition told him that if he looked any further… but Grindelwald would never show weakness in front of Dumbledore, and so he did not reveal the full truth.
How many years had it been? A sense of curiosity, almost foreign to him, rose in Grindelwald's heart.
"That child is far too unique. Truly interesting…"
Dumbledore was surprised that Grindelwald had taken such an interest in Lucien and asked,
"So, what is your view of this prophecy?"
The images shown by divination were only one part of it; their interpretation was just as important.
Grindelwald met Dumbledore's gaze and replied with quiet intrigue,
"That child will undoubtedly bring effects of immense reach to the wizarding world, and even to the entire world. But I cannot say whether those effects will be good or bad."
"Al, you are his Headmaster. He is your student. You must know that child better than I do, don't you?"
Hearing Grindelwald's rhetorical question, Dumbledore recalled the year they had spent together, reflecting on Lucien's conduct and character.
His pure and steadfast thirst for knowledge, his warm and friendly willingness to help his classmates, his cleverness and quick wit when solving problems… At last, Dumbledore's thoughts settled on that night in the Forbidden Forest.
The scene of the newborn unicorn placing its horn against Lucien's hand.
"He is a good child, Gellert. You know, Lucien saved a baby unicorn and received the unicorn's blessing…"
Grindelwald had been content to chat with Dumbledore, but as he listened, a strange look crept into his eyes. His expression grew unnatural, and he finally spoke faintly,
"So, this is yet another young man who is good at getting along with magical creatures?"
After that, both old men fell silent.
The atmosphere turned awkward for a moment.
Perhaps unwilling to waste this rare time together, Grindelwald broke the silence again.
"So, how do you plan to deal with such a young man—exceptionally talented, even frighteningly so?"
The question left Dumbledore silent for a long while. At last, he let out a long sigh.
How had he treated the last exceptionally gifted child?
Distrust, wariness, suppression… Lord Voldemort's nature was certainly not kind, yet Dumbledore sometimes hesitated, wondering whether what he had done back then had truly been right.
It was Dumbledore who had gone to the orphanage to bring Tom to Hogwarts. And after learning what the child had done, how had he responded?
A burst of magical flame had directly ignited Tom's wardrobe. Though it did not actually burn the cupboard that held all of young Tom's possessions, that fierce blaze had irreversibly ignited Tom's ambition for power and authority.
Dumbledore sometimes wondered whether, instead of using such forceful and oppressive methods to compel Tom to return the items he had stolen and seized from other children and to apologize, a gentler and more appropriate approach might have led to a different outcome.
Looking at Grindelwald sitting across from him, the bitterness in Dumbledore's heart deepened.
At the time, his lack of patience and empathy toward Tom, and his reliance on harsh, authoritarian methods, had also been because far more important and painful matters weighed heavily on his mind.
"Lucien is a good child."
"This time, I cannot teach him wrongly again."
The two old men talked for a while longer, ranging from major events such as a Ministry of Magic in Eastern Europe splitting into more than a dozen separate Ministries, to trivial matters like toilet seats at the school being "borrowed" by mischievous young wizards.
As the last glow of sunset faded, Dumbledore slowly rose to leave. Just as he was about to step through the door, Grindelwald's whisper reached his ears.
"I really want to meet that young wizard named Lucien. It should be very interesting. Life here is truly dull…"
"Oh, and I'm out of parchment. Send me some next time."
________
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