August 21, 1984, brought a bright and sunny day to Nurmengard Castle in Austria.
At seven in the morning, the guard knocked on the top-floor door as usual, only to find to his surprise that the leader was already dressed and sitting at the table drinking coffee.
Nearly forty long years of imprisonment had not left many traces of time's erosion on Gellert Grindelwald's handsome and resolute face.
At this moment, he looked vastly different from how he would appear after Dumbledore's later passing.
At that future time, Gellert Grindelwald would be shrouded in endless world-weariness and despair, like a living corpse that had lost all vitality and life.
He wasn't actually killed by Lord Voldemort; Gellert Grindelwald's true cause of death was suicide.
But now, with Dumbledore still alive, Gellert maintained a vibrant aura, like a seed about to burst from the soil, silently waiting for his moment.
Though no longer young, his burning heart still blazed with longing for his lover and for power, making him a true "young old man."
Gellert Grindelwald set down his cup, looked out the window, and said nonchalantly:
"Bring me a copy of 'magical germany' and 'The Daily Prophet'. Oh, and were there any extra letters this morning?"
The guard replied respectfully, "Not yet. If any letters arrive, I will present them immediately."
The guards of Nurmengard had originally been dutifully watching over this Castle for high-profile prisoners, but over time, they were gradually drawn in by Gellert Grindelwald's unique personal charisma and excellence aura.
Every word he spoke seemed to carry an irresistible magic, causing these guards to fall for him involuntarily; they began to obey Gellert Grindelwald's every word, even seeing themselves as his loyal followers.
Thus, Nurmengard Castle, which should have been heavily guarded and filled with an oppressive atmosphere, had now become like a headquarters for the Wizengamot; Gellert Grindelwald and the imprisoned Wizengamot members could move freely throughout the Castle without hindrance.
In truth, Gellert had long ago accumulated enough strength to make a comeback, but his guilt toward his lover made him afraid to stand in opposition to Dumbledore again; he had been biding his time and building his strength.
Adelaide's appearance gave Gellert a scent of an opportunity to reconcile with his lover—he had known of her existence since she set fire to the kindergarten, but that hadn't been the optimal time to acknowledge the relationship.
He knew very well that Albus, who was always hesitant and indecisive when dealing with emotional matters, would never take the initiative to contact him.
After careful consideration, Gellert secretly decided to wait patiently for two to three years; during this waiting period, he would pretend to be completely unaware of everything regarding Adelaide.
When the time was ripe, he would carefully orchestrate a scene—appearing as if he had suddenly learned some important news and writing a fiercely worded letter to Albus.
In the letter, he would unreservedly express his deep sorrow and confusion, sternly questioning why the other had remained silent about Adelaide Grindelwald's existence and why he hadn't revealed this crucial news sooner.
He knew that in the face of such accusations, Albus would certainly feel a sense of guilt.
Next, he could skillfully use that guilt as a breakthrough to gradually close the distance between them.
Unfortunately, due to the intervention of the Wizengamot opposition, he had to implement his plan ahead of schedule.
Gellert sat there, his right hand constantly rubbing his chin, as if trying to use the movement to mask the surging tide of unease in his heart.
Less than a year had passed, a timeframe far from sufficient for the other to accumulate enough guilt, yet he did not want the person he loved to suffer the bullying of those cowardly idiots.
Those so-called extreme opposition members had been as quiet as cicadas in winter when his power was absolute, not even daring to breathe loudly.
It wasn't until he and most of the Wizengamot core were imprisoned in Nurmengard that they crawled out of their holes, clamoring for a purge of the Wizengamot.
Now that another genius had appeared in the Grindelwald Family, they immediately jumped out again, pointing their spears at Albus and Adelaide—taking advantage of Albus's kindness and gentleness to put on an aggressive and ugly face toward him!
If his subordinates hadn't arrived on the scene in time that night and declared that the remnants of the Wizengamot would provide protection for the future heir of the Grindelwalds, he feared that stupid fellow Müller wouldn't have "seen the light" so quickly.
Thinking of this, Gellert somewhat irritably picked up the coffee pot, intending to have another cup to calm himself.
For the sake of Albus and Adelaide's future peace, it was time to give those clowns a warning.
"Leader, the newspapers you wanted and..."
"And what?"
"And a letter from Dumbledore."
The young guard didn't know about the past between Grindelwald and Dumbledore in their youth; regarding Dumbledore adopting the future heir of the Grindelwalds, he, like many of the new generation of the Wizengamot, held a negative view.
Gellert saw his unease and spoke up: "You must understand, for the greater good, we must unite all forces that can be united. Dumbledore is not our enemy."
The guard nodded excitedly. As expected of the leader—even when facing the culprit who overthrew the Wizengamot, he could choose to forgive so magnanimously!
It was all for the greater good; they had to endure humiliation for now!
He respectfully placed the newspapers and the letter on the table, then exited the room, gently closing the door.
Gellert instinctively reached for the letter, but when his hand actually touched the envelope, he changed his mind—using his powerful willpower to control his right hand to veer off in mid-air and pick up 'magical germany' instead.
He had waited bitterly for over forty years without receiving a single letter from Albus; why should he read it the moment it arrived!
It was time to let Albus's letter taste the flavor of waiting.
Over the next while, although Gellert did his best to focus on the newspaper, the effect was poor; even the fact that Leverkusen had perfectly won the Bundesliga Quidditch Championship with an undefeated record failed to catch his attention.
He spent five minutes finishing today's 'magical germany' and another two minutes cursorily flipping through 'The Daily Prophet', lamenting that today's papers were truly boring, with no explosive news at all.
He pretentiously drank another cup of coffee, stood up to stretch his body, and looked up at the wall clock—11 minutes and 46 seconds had passed. It was time to read Albus's letter.
Gellert sat back down at the table and carefully picked up the letter from his lover.
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