• Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, Headmaster's Tower, headmaster bedroom •
• October 3rd, 6:40 AM •
[ Albus Dumbledore ]
The light of the early morning dawn filtered through the small crack between the blinds, adding a line of muted light to the room. I was still lying in my bed, Above me, three Archive screens hung in the air, each one different from the others.
The one on the left showed a list of names: my faculty members. This was the chat—a simple design where the name and picture of the sender appeared on the left and the number of unread messages on the right. Nothing else.
I had already replied to the urgent—and, in Horace's case, highly panicked—messages, reassuring them that everything was alright and they should just check the information on the new magic. They didn't like my relaxed attitude, but it was still early, so they decided to stop bothering me for now.
The screen on the right showed a slightly delayed feed of whatever was happening with Gellert. He was just eating and hadn't done anything else yet. The live feed was delayed for a reason: strong individuals often had an intuition towards being spied upon. The simplest way to work around that intuition was to delay the feedback; it wasn't the act of watching that triggered the alarm so much as the direct, real-time attention paid to it.
The third and final screen—the one in the middle, and the one I was actually paying attention to—displayed the new Scripture Magic. It was such a fascinating system. You simply wrote what you needed to happen and then sat back and watched. Well, if you had the magical energy for it, as each additional character exacted a greater cost.
For example: if you wanted to create a fire, you had two options. You could draw the rune for 'fire' and be done with it—that was also the least costly in magic. Or you could write the word 'fire' in the Scripture Language, which was three letters and required a far greater magical energy expenditure.
The difference between the two was power, of course. More magical energy meant more power, but that wasn't really the point of this magic. Scripture Magic was created for warding, enchanting, and other delicate practices. It made the process of weaving enchantments and wards much easier and quicker.
"As expected of Grindelwald," I shrugged as I flipped the page to start studying the language and the runes. These were the crown jewels of the magic: the wizarding world's first complete runic system and magical language.
As I scrolled through the information, I couldn't help but chuckle. I could see the similarities between the scripture language and that failed attempt I'd made while in a coma. I also knew why Gellert had done all of this, but I didn't have a strong opinion on it anymore. I might have, not long ago—perhaps before I gained divinity—but not now. I was in the process of creating a divine language system. He could come at me when he did the same.
'Smugness aside,' I redirected my thoughts, it was a very well-done job. I might say that to him when I see him. Compliment him, just to see how he'd react.
Sigh. "Enough distractions,"I sighed, the sound muffled by my pillow as I shook my head. I needed to think about the vision I had crafted for Gellert.
It wasn't really just me making it up. It was me using divine energy to show him a slightly edited version of a possible future—a what-if scenario where I hadn't grown stronger, hadn't created the Faith-Siphoning System, hadn't created or trained other energies, and had only trained with magic and the little divine energy I had. A what-if version where I limited myself, took it easy, played around, and just enjoyed my life. That's what the vision was: a reminder to myself and the push needed to steer Gellert away from falling back into his hubris.
"Chirp!" The cry of my phoenix familiar snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned my head and saw the firework die down as he settled on his perch.
"Hello, Fawkes," I greeted him, but the damn bird had the audacity to turn his whole body away from me, ignoring me.
...
I stared at him, speechless for a few seconds.
"Fawkes?" I called, but he ignored me. "Are you mad at me or something?" He didn't answer, so I went with the next best thing.
"Hmm, he might be tired and want to sleep," I muttered aloud, just so he could hear me. "There's no way he'd be mad at me. I didn't do anything." I saw the tips of his tail feathers flicker slightly.
"I mean, he was gone for I don't know how long," I reasoned, my voice still loud and clear. "Did he perhaps finally find a lady phoenix for himself?" I mock-gasped and saw his whole body fluff up, fire flickering at the tips of his feathers.
I knew what that meant, but I was already having fun with this, so I decided to continue. "I mean, it's about time. How long would one stay single? Plus, if he has kids, maybe he'd stop being so needy…." I didn't continue, as I had to flip aside to avoid the fire sent my way.
"Screech!" Fawkes shrieked, pelting me with small, feather-shaped bolts of fire.
"Fawkes!!!" I exclaimed as I jumped up. "What are you doing? Why are you mad?" I asked after I backflipped, landed on the tips of my toes, and avoided another fire feather.
"Screech!" Fawkes's indignant cries sounded.
"What?!" I exclaimed in shock. "So you mean you weren't out looking for a lady phoenix, but you're mad at me?"
"Screech~" he said, his voice sounding more subdued, but he still threw a few fire feathers my way.
"Why would you be mad? What did I do?"
"Chirp! Chreech!"
"Oh~" I nodded, finally understanding why he was mad. "Right, sorry about that, my friend. I truly forgot to call you when I went on that trip." I apologized sincerely. "But you do know that you don't have to ask permission to come with, right?"
"Chirrrrp."
"Oh, that's true," I nodded as I started walking towards him. "It's nice to be asked beforehand." I started petting him, my hand sliding through his warm feathers.
"Still, you can always just accompany me if you want," I told him. "I might forget to call for you sometimes, but you don't really need my permission either way. You are a majestic and proud phoenix. You don't need permission." I stroked under his beak as he preened and puffed out his chest.
I shook my head and huffed in amusement as I started to head to the bathroom. It was about time to start getting ready.
X_
• Hogwarts, Great Hall •
• October 3rd, 7:00 AM •
[ Cassius White ]
Cassius moved through the crowd like a zombie. He had woken up to the sound of a notification—something he'd forgotten to turn off, and that was his mistake. Do you know what a "ding" notification tone sounds like inside a sleeping person's head?
It sounds like someone smashing a glass bottle against your skull—not pretty, and guaranteed to cause a headache.
Now, normally, the Archive's alarm is turned off. The only way to know someone has sent you something, or that something has happened, is a gentle pulse of magic—smooth and subtle. It doesn't alarm so much as it gently nudges you, as if asking for attention. That's what happens normally. But therein lay his problem: he'd decided yesterday that he wanted to feel like it was 2024 again and had reworked his entire notification settings. A dumb move, as it had proven to be.
Nevertheless, that wasn't the reason for his current state. No. As frightening and headache-inducing as his wake-up call was, it was the news he read in the announcement that shook him. Grindelwald is now young, powerful, and on the loose. That is not news one wants to see after waking up. As a matter of fact, that is not news one wants to see, period.
Cassius knew himself well enough to know he wasn't brave enough to fight a war against someone like Grindelwald. Voldemort? That was doable. He knew the lore of his rise to power and his weaknesses, so even if deluded, he still thought there was a high chance of winning against him. Voldemort was more of a rabid dog than a Dark Lord. But Grindelwald? Yeah, that was a proper Dark Lord, alright.
Cassius stopped as he reached the Gryffindor table and sat down without fanfare. The whole Great Hall was buzzing with noise as people talked about the announcement and what it meant for them; the delicious smell of breakfast was barely an afterthought for most.
"Hey, Cassius, you're here," he heard one of the guys across the table say. "Did you see the news?"
"Yeah…" Cassius answered, his voice quiet and slightly subdued. "Don't remind me."
"I know how you feel. That's not something you want to hear before taking a shower in the morning."
"I know, right? And did you see the ranking?"
"Oh, yeah. The second-strongest wizard in the world. Just a little bit behind Headmaster Dumbledore."
"Well, I don't know about that," one of the guys on his side of the table chimed in. "I think they're both on equal footing, and the only reason Grindelwald is ranked lower than the Headmaster is because he hasn't had time to practice yet."
"Hey! Whose side are you on?"
"It's not about sides; it's just an observation."
"That's not how it sounded…"
"Well, think what you want. But what I want to know is, how did Grindelwald gain access to the Archive?"
"Well, like everyone else these days. He could have gotten it from anywhere across the world."
Cassius tuned the conversation out and decided to start eating. There was no point in discussing this now. They didn't have enough information to judge the situation properly, so what was the point? What he was more curious about was the new magic.
That Scripture Magic sounded a great deal like a fairy-tale kind of magic. One does not just develop such a system on a whim, so how did Gellert Grindelwald do it?
He sighed as he took a bite of food. He was starting to feel the same kind of shadowy, lingering urgency he'd felt whenever he thought about Voldemort before—though this time, it was a lot stronger. He knew Grindelwald wasn't an easy opponent to face, neither for him nor for anyone else, not even the Headmaster.
He might not have watched the second Fantastic Beasts movie in his previous life, but he'd seen the first, plus all the reels and shorts. So he knew the man had an automatic aura farming. He was charismatic and powerful. The guy almost burned Paris with one spell, and it took Flamel and a small army of people to stop just that one.
He shuddered slightly and decided to ignore that line of thought. There was no point in thinking about how powerful the Dark Lord was. It was in the title: the Dark Lord.
'Sigh. Fuck you, world.'
X_
• Hogwarts, Great Hall •
• October 3rd, 7:05 AM •
[ Albus Dumbledore ]
I emerged from beneath the moving staircase, through the secret passage, and headed directly to breakfast. Arriving at the staff table, I took my seat and calmly began to fill my plate. I definitely noticed how the loud noise suddenly hushed and how almost everyone in the Great Hall was staring at me.
"Ahem, Albus," I heard Horace fake-clearing his throat to get my attention. I paused and turned to him.
"Yes, Horace?" I answered, acting completely oblivious to the tension and the gazes fixed on me. Of course, my calmness didn't seem to amuse anyone, as Poppy was the first to snap—even before Horace could ask his question.
"Oh, Morgana's saggy tits, Albus! We know bloody well that you can read a room, so stop whatever stupid game you're playing and tell us: how the fuck did this happen?"
I smiled softly, peacefully. "Poppy… there's no need for such vulgar language first thing in the morning. Let's eat and talk in a peaceful and ordinary way…" I didn't continue, as Poppy took her wand out and looked at me threateningly.
"I will curse you, Albus," she threatened.
"Alright, alright," I raised my hands in a gesture of mock surrender. "Merlin, you are not in a good mood, are you?"
The staff just stared at me, silently and judgmentally, for a second before Minerva sighed and looked my way. "We woke up to the news that the most powerful Dark wizard of the last century is now young, more powerful than ever, and free to wander the earth. What do you think?" she asked, quite sarcastically.
"Good for him?" I answered, acting unsure. I was feeling more playful than usual.
Seeing my playfulness wouldn't be well received today, I decided to go for brutal honesty.
"I mean, what do you want me to do? As far as I am concerned, unless he starts a war again, he can do whatever he wants. Merlin knows wizards today need a little more danger in their lives," I stated, my tone serious and factual.
"What do you mean?" my staff retorted, all at once.
"Well, let me paint you a picture. Let's say I go and find him now. And without even attempting peaceful talks or solutions, we decide to fight. Do you honestly know the amount of destruction our fight would bring?"
They didn't answer; they just stared, waiting for me to continue. I did.
"Let me describe the fight for you. Seeing as the Archive ranked him as my close second in battle, that means our fight could stretch anywhere from a day to three. If we fought in London, we'd level it before the day ended, still without a clear victor. Do you know how many people live in London?" I paused, as if expecting them to answer. They didn't. They didn't need to.
So I continued. "So, yes, when I tell you I'm not fighting him unless he plans to start a war again, I mean it." I informed them with all the seriousness I could muster. "No amount of politics is worth the lives of millions of people."
I could see them processing the information I'd just dumped on them. Minerva was knitting her eyebrows as she leaned back in her seat. Poppy was massaging her forehead as if trying to stop a headache already forming. Horace leaned back, breathing shallow breaths. The rest weren't doing any better.
The rest of the hall was still looking at me—some with awe, others with fear, all sorts of complicated emotions shining in their eyes. They had heard everything I said, thanks to me deactivating the privacy enchantments on the table.
'I'll give them a few minutes before one of them builds up the courage to ask more questions,' I thought as I resumed eating my food. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, after all.
As predicted, not even five minutes later, a voice called for me. "Headmaster Dumbledore…"
I raised my head and looked at the source of the voice. Cassius White. Now that's something I didn't expect. "Cassius, my boy, how are you? How have you been?"
"I am good, thank you for asking, Headmaster," he smiled, and exhaled the breath he was holding, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Headmaster, we have questions we would like to ask."
"Hmm, sure, ask away," I hummed and nodded at him. "Just don't mind me eating while answering your questions."
"Uh… we can wait, sir," he said awkwardly.
"No, no, no need for that. Just ask away. I am sure I will be busy for the rest of the day, so we might as well use the time productively."
"Um… okay then," he still sounded unsure. "Sir, we would like to know how come Grindelwald was able to promote himself so quickly? It hadn't been long since you made the distribution of the Archive public."
"Oh, that. I do not know," I answered, but noticing almost everyone starting to get more invested in hearing me, I decided to indulge them. "But if we assume that he actually has access to it, then I am not surprised that he was able to advance this fast. I would go as far as to say that this was slow."
'Gaslighting success,' I thought to myself.
My staff turned their heads to me and looked at me like I had just grown a new head. The students weren't doing any better, so I clarified.
"Alright, let me explain it to you more. What do you know about Gellert Grindelwald? I mean, other than him being a Dark Lord?"
"He was expelled from Durmstrang when he was a student."
"He had a lot of people following him."
"He tried to rule the world?"
"He was a dark mage…"
Answers followed my questions. Most didn't know much about the man, which wasn't really a surprise, seeing as the ICW tried to bury his story in hopes that the young won't take him as a role model.
"So nothing?" I nodded as if I expected the answer. "Let me enlighten you then."
"Gellert Grindelwald was a very powerful dark wizard in the past; that much is known to everyone here. But before he was a feared Dark Lord, he was also a very talented wizard. You know that he was expelled from school, but you don't know why, right?" I got a few subdued nods in response.
"Well, he got expelled by his third year because of his increasingly dangerous dark magic experiments. Do you know why he was experimenting with dark magic?" A few shakes of the head were the answer to that question. "It's because he had already mastered everything Durmstrang had to teach by then."
"Grindelwald wasn't just a dark mage. He was also a prodigy in the art of enchanting, warding, and runes. I would go as far as to call him a savant in these areas." I informed them. "He was so good that he built a prison for those who opposed him and enchanted and warded it all by himself. A prison so powerfully warded and secured that he himself was held inside that prison, as opposed to any other prison in the world. A prison that the ICW still uses to this day to hold international criminals."
"Now, you asked me why I thought he was slow when it came to advancing in rank. Right?" A wave of yeses and nods followed. Even my staff were among them.
"Well, what do you think one does when he spends decades alone in a small, dark cell?" I paused for dramatic effect. "I would assume one would either go crazy or find solace in solitude. Grindelwald was not weak enough to go crazy, so I would assume he had decades to sit with himself and contemplate his actions and character. That's half the step needed to advance: the trial of self. Knowing yourself. Accepting yourself. Finding solace with yourself. The Archive doesn't do anything other than provide you with a shortcut. The rest is up to you."
"But what about the magic? How could he possibly create a new magic with so little time to research it?" Cassius asked again.
"Well, did you actually see what the magic was?"
"Well, no. I haven't met the requirements to access it yet."
"Okay then, let me enlighten you all about what it is," I said as I took my wand. "Here, let me demonstrate."
The tip of my wand lit up, and those across the room from me, the Hufflepuff students, started scrambling left and right. I shook my head in amusement and wrote the rune for light in the air, making it glow for a few seconds before it turned into a small, tennis ball-sized ball of light.
The commotion stopped. Students stopped trying to leave their places and stared at the light. I didn't stop, though, as I wrote the words for a warm breeze in the air, making a small gust of warm air sweep over the hall.
"You see it, don't you?" I asked, not really expecting an answer. "This is his magic. It requires a lot of fine magical control, an extensive level of knowledge in magical writing language and runes, as well as big magical reserves."
"Grindelwald didn't just create a new magic. He created and compiled the first-ever complete runic language as well as a very well-developed magical written language. Two things that could prove to be one of the cornerstones of your own rise and development. Do you understand?"
I saw them nodding and returning to their seats. They were thinking, which is good.
"But sir, isn't it better to arrest him than letting him roam free, even if it's as hard as you described?" Cassius asked again.
I knew where he was coming from. He was afraid. Still thinking of himself as some kind of protagonist, that he will be dragged to fight the Dark Lord for some reason, as if this was a story…
"Do you think it's worth the lives of the probably millions of people that would die as a result of me fighting him, based on a preconceived notion and fear?" I answered his question with a question of my own.
He fell silent. As did the rest. So I decided to drive the point home. "Make no mistake. I will do my absolute best to take him down if he starts waging war or wants to rule the world. But otherwise, I will leave him alone." I said, my voice carrying a very strong tone of seriousness. But then I softened it and continued, "We are in a very awkward phase right now, and we need as many powerful people as possible. So do your best and train your hardest. You have all the tools you need to become just as powerful as him, if not more. So why are you afraid?" I encouraged them. The effect was subtle but unmistakable. I could see the fire in their eyes shining brighter.
I knew everyone here was absolutely excited about the RoRs yesterday, so that last bit reminded them of that and pushed them a little further.
'This is good enough for now,' I thought, a soft smile gracing my face.