"So, you're saying... Professor Dumbledore and Gellert were really..."
"Yes." Mr. Leme smiled as he spoke.
"And then they... had a falling out?" Harry asked again.
"That's right." Mr. Leme replied.
"So I..." Harry sighed, feeling a mess in his head, as if it were filled with a nest of Sniffs.
"So what else are you shocked about?" Mr. Leme asked with a smile: "It's surprising, you're more of an old relic than I am."
"I've tried to be open-minded, but..." Harry squeezed his glass, "I've considered every possibility, but I still never imagined that one day, the white-bearded headmaster would call Vivi 'sister.'
Mr. Leme heard Harry's words, and the smile on his lips faded a bit.
He seemed to think for a moment, then, with a nimbleness beyond his age, walked forward and snatched the glass from Harry's hand, downing more than half the glass of Flaming Whiskey in one gulp under Harry's shocked gaze.
"Now I feel a bit sorry for Gellert." Harry sighed.
It's not that he cared for any other reason, people's preferences are their own, and Gellert wasn't his brother; he just felt sorry for the wrath Gellert would have to endure.
One can imagine how furious Vivi would be upon hearing these two pieces of news...
Hopefully, the portrait won't faint like a person would...
Mr. Leme put down the glass, asking in confusion: "Why? It's modern society now. Surely you're not more old-fashioned than someone born in the fourteenth century?"
"Oh, it's not that—" Harry organized his thoughts, then said to Mr. Leme: "Actually, it's a long story, I saw Vivi's portrait in Hogwarts' Map Secret Room..."
"Portrait?" Mr. Leme repeated: "You mean—a portrait?!"
"Yes." Harry nodded: "Vivi's portrait told me she was trapped in Slytherin's Study and needed several materials to break the frozen time..."
"Angel's Feather, Phoenix Tears, Fire Dragon Heart, and Snake Monster Poison Fang." They both said in unison.
"Huh?" Harry asked, belatedly realizing: "How do you know what those materials are?!"
"Because this Time Magic is what I taught Miss Grindelwald." Mr. Leme shook his head, "I warned her at the time that unknown issues might arise, but she insisted on going to find you..."
"Mm." Harry nodded, then added: "In Diagon Alley, I've already bought the Phoenix Tears and Fire Dragon Heart. Vivi said in her Gringotts vault there's some Angel's Feather, and she asked me to get it."
"That's not bad." Mr. Leme nodded: "Come to think of it, those Angel's Feathers were a gift from me—did you retrieve them?"
"That's the problem." Harry slapped his leg: "When I got to Gringotts, the millions of Galleons in the vault, along with all sorts of Alchemy Materials, had been completely withdrawn by Gellert in 1899, leaving only a copper knut and a crown inside..."
"What did you say?" Mr. Leme's eyes widened, "Oh... no wonder, no wonder, I was wondering..."
"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.
"No wonder Gellert could quickly develop an organization called the 'Witch Purist Party'; back then, Albus and I were curious about where he got all those funds. Turns out he stole his sister's vault." Mr. Leme couldn't hold it in and laughed.
"So," Harry sighed: "I can already imagine how Vivi will react when she comes out of Slytherin's Study—imagine, after struggling to seize... confiscate the money from the Fire Ash Snake Faction and the Poacher, it's all gone, the Grindelwald family line is extinct... and most importantly, Gellert even... uh."
"Alas~" Mr. Leme sighed as if in mourning.
"Alas." Harry nodded.
"By the way," Harry continued, "I remember you mentioned that Vivi's Angel's Feather was from you?"
"Yes." Mr. Leme nodded, then regretfully sighed: "But I don't have any more in stock. The last bit of Angel's Feather was taken by Albus a few days ago."
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked curiously: "What did Professor Dumbledore take Angel's Feather for?"
"Oh," Mr. Leme said, "I've decided that in the near future, I will joyfully embrace the arrival of death—"
Harry suddenly remembered that earlier Professor Dumbledore had told him the Magic Stone he absorbed was a crucial ingredient in Mr. Leme's Elixir of Life.
"Is it because of the Magic Stone, Mr. Leme?" he asked guiltily.
He now felt some regret; if he had known earlier that absorbing the Magic Stone would mean the lives of two elderly people, he would rather have waited a few years or looked for another way...
"Good child, no need to feel guilty." Mr. Leme said with a chuckle: "Believe me, I've lived long enough—if you lived for six hundred years, you would feel tired too... eating tasteless food day after day, your body rusting away, living like this actually isn't very meaningful. It's better to embrace death early."
"As Albus would say, for a mind that is quite clear, death is just another great adventure... he often says this, and I can see he doesn't fear death, and even embraces it actively."
"So." Mr. Leme continued: "I've distributed most of the things stored at home to others, like Albus or Newt... they've all received my small gifts—if you want Angel's Feather, why not ask Albus for help? After all, he's your junior at school."