Nurmengard.
"Good day, Albus," Grindelwald said with a smile.
By now, Grindelwald had long since swapped out his brand-new clothes, putting back on the old rags he had worn while serving his time.
He was back in Nurmengard, in the very cell that belonged to him...
Dumbledore had guessed correctly; the old man had actually returned to his cell after his prison break.
It was as if his morning visit had been nothing more than a brief parole.
However, Grindelwald's smile soon froze because he noticed that although Dumbledore had come, he had brought his wand with him...
Grindelwald looked at the Elder Wand that had once belonged to him, then at Dumbledore's grim face, and managed a weak smile. "Ah... the Elder Wand... Albus, is my wand treating you well?"
"I do not use this wand often, but today, I have a sudden urge to use it properly."
Grindelwald's smile abruptly vanished.
...
Victor Wick, carrying a somewhat heavy-looking suitcase, appeared in a narrow neighborhood.
The area consisted of terraced brick houses. The streets were narrow, paved with cobblestones, and stretched along the riverbank toward the abandoned mills on the opposite side.
The surroundings were shrouded in mist that drifted over a filthy, winding river. Overgrown weeds and piles of trash lined both banks.
The massive chimneys of the abandoned mills loomed tall and ominous.
The environment was desolate and cold, devoid of any life.
Victor Wick rubbed his nose uncomfortably; every time he came here, he couldn't help but want to sneeze.
He didn't know why that man insisted on living in a place like this...
Walking down the long street, Victor Wick stopped before an ordinary-looking door.
"Ahem..." He cleared his throat and then raised his hand to knock.
After knocking for quite a while, there was still no sign of anyone opening the door.
Victor Wick scratched his head and was just about to knock again.
Creeak!
The door was suddenly pulled open!
Then, from the darkness behind the door, half of a sallow, deathly pale face abruptly appeared!
Anyone else seeing this would have jumped out of their skin.
However, Victor Wick seemed to have encountered this more than once; he didn't feel the slightest bit of fear, but instead, a broad smile spread across his face.
"Good day, Severus..."
Bang!
Before Victor could finish his sentence, the door was slammed shut!
It nearly broke Victor's nose...
Victor wasn't in a hurry; he just shouted toward the door, "There's a mission! Dumbledore sent me..."
Creeak!
The door opened again, and Snape glared at Victor with eyes that seemed ready to spit fire.
"Get in!"
Before Victor could even speak, Snape grabbed him and yanked him inside!
Bang!
Before Victor's eyes could adjust to the darkness of the room, the door behind him was slammed shut once more.
"I bet if you weren't a wizard, the amount you spend on door repairs every year would be enough to buy a gallon of Felix Felicis," Victor said slowly, adjusting his crumpled collar.
Snape stared intensely at Victor, his brow furrowed so deeply it could have crushed an Acromantula.
"If you want to die, you can go jump in the river yourself. Do not spout nonsense at my door and drag me into it." Snape spoke with a distinct, rhythmic cadence, almost as if he were reciting an aria.
Victor admitted that this manner of speaking was very oppressive to the students at Hogwarts.
However, that pressure clearly had no effect on Victor.
Victor took a look around the interior of the house.
The room was a mess, with tables piled high with ingredients and manuscripts.
Dusty walls and dark floors...
A row of potion books sat crookedly on an old bookshelf, while the bottles and jars on the shelf across from them were somewhat unpleasant to look at.
If you still wanted an appetite for dinner, you definitely shouldn't ask what was soaking inside them.
This was Snape's home at Spinner's End; the materials he kept here didn't need to be as restrained as those at Hogwarts.
Although it wasn't his first time here, Victor still found the place dreadfully oppressive.
He always wondered if Snape had some sort of special ability to keep the temperature of his surroundings several degrees lower than outside.
In the past, whenever Victor felt the heat was too much, he liked to come over to Snape's house to linger for a while...
Victor's gaze soon settled on the cauldron emitting blue smoke.
Snape noticed his gaze as well; his lip twitched slightly as he moved to block Victor's line of sight.
"If the purpose of your visit is still my potions, I guarantee your brain will soon find its way into one of those jars over there!"
"Oh... of course not! I'm really here for a mission this time!" Victor repeatedly denied.
"Speak," Snape said tersely.
"I'm a guest... shouldn't you pour a cup of tea first so we can sit down and talk?" Victor said grumpily.
A sinister smile suddenly appeared on Snape's face. "Are you sure you want to drink tea poured by me?"
Victor really wanted to mimic Grindelwald's line from that morning and say that there wasn't a tea in this world he wouldn't dare to drink!
But he had enough sense not to say it...
He felt that at a time like this, he should respect Snape's status as a Potions Master.
So, Victor naturally ignored the remark, made himself at home by pulling up a chair, and began talking about the morning's events.
It wasn't that he felt he had to tell Snape, but Dumbledore had told him that Snape could be fully trusted and that he should seek his help. If Snape knew nothing, how could he help when it mattered most?
Although Snape looked impatient with Victor, he listened intently with a furrowed brow.
When he heard that Voldemort was returning, his sallow complexion visibly paled, and he involuntarily gripped his left arm with his right hand...
Because there, the mark of the Death Eaters was branded.
"Wait... you're saying you're going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?!"
Snape suddenly interrupted Victor during his explanation.
"Yeah. Is there a problem?" Victor blinked.
Snape took a deep breath. "I see Dumbledore really has gone senile... actually thinking of bringing a troll like you into the school! Does he think the school budget is too high, and wants you to blow up Hogwarts a few times so he can embezzle funds from the Ministry and the Board of Governors?"
"Severus! We're about to be colleagues, how can you insult me to my face?" Victor was a bit displeased.
"Is it not the truth?" Snape said scathingly. "Back when you were researching that nonsensical magic of yours, didn't you cause several massive explosions at the Death Eaters' base? I truly don't understand why the Dark Lord was so tolerant of you back then."
"You know about that! I did that on purpose to save people... wait... Severus, you're not jealous, are you..." Victor suddenly realized.
"Jealous of you? Hah..." Snape only sneered.
Victor laughed. "I heard you've been applying for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for years! Now that I've snatched it, of course you can't stand it!"
Snape's face immediately darkened, as if he were about to pull out his wand and slice Victor into thin ribbons the next second.
"You don't understand, Severus. Dumbledore not letting you be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is actually for your own good. Didn't you know? This position was cursed by Voldemort. Keeping you away is to protect you, and choosing me is because I just happen to be able to overcome that curse." Victor shook his head and sighed.
Snape's anger subsided temporarily as he frowned and asked, "Explain yourself. What curse?"
So, Victor continued to explain the morning's events.
After Snape finished listening, although his face remained expressionless, he believed about eighty percent of it, considering the tragic fates of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors in recent years.
Seeing that Snape said nothing, Victor simply continued his story, and before long, he had cleared up the rest of the morning's details.
"So... Dumbledore wants you to go pick up that... Potter, and then go to Gringotts to bring the Philosopher's Stone back to Hogwarts?"
"Exactly."
"Then that is your mission. Why are you looking for me?!" Snape said impatiently.