For the remainder of the holiday, Tver stayed in Austria, enjoying a quiet, leisurely life with his teacher.
They took morning walks, napped in the warm afternoon sun after lunch, and spent the late afternoons reading.
Evenings were devoted to discussing the state of the wizarding world and the teacher's old exploits.
Of course, the secrets of the Slytherin Chamber were an essential topic.
"Ancient magic had many casting methods. Runes were merely the most widely used and stable among them."
"If your description is correct, Salazar's spell resembles a kind of soul-based magic."
"It merges the soul with the magical effect, giving the spell flexibility and a wide range of possible transformations."
"It's a bit like Protego Diabolica—"
A small flame bloomed in Grindelwald's hand, yet in Tver's perception, it was laced with elements of the Shield Charm, Legilimency, Fiendfyre, and more.
"But unlike Protego Diabolica, this sort of magic is controlled purely by my will. It hasn't merged with another will."
In principle, the soul contains magical power.
But once a spell is cast, control shifts to the will-line linking it, or it follows the rules inherent in the spell itself.
It does not think or judge on its own.
Because it contains no will capable of independent thought.
The sole exception is a Horcrux.
But a Horcrux is a direct fragment of soul—one that already contains magic, will, and everything else.
Tver rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then mimicked Grindelwald by extending his right hand.
What appeared, however, was not a flame—it was his boggart.
The little imp blinked mischievously. Then, all at once, a mass of fire enveloped it—though only surrounding it.
Under Tver's full concentration, the flame and the imp began trying to fuse.
But their repulsion was far more intense than he'd expected—almost like water and fire.
Every bit of magic he added sent the soul recoiling further back, even though both originated from him.
"How am I supposed to make them fuse?" he muttered, discouraged as he dismissed both the boggart and the flames…
Wait—hadn't that just fused straight into his own body?!
Grindelwald saw the flicker of excitement on his face and immediately knew where his thoughts were headed.
"Don't even think about it. That only worked because your soul is massive."
"If you separated a fragment of your soul and tried to fuse it back, you'd be lucky if it didn't immediately start fighting. Harmony would be a miracle."
Tver let the subject drop and instead thought of Voldemort and Marvolio.
"Right… then with Voldemort splitting his soul so many times, isn't he worried they'll attack each other?"
Grindelwald gave a cold chuckle.
"No. Those fragments were turned into Horcruxes. A Horcrux confines and contains. They cannot revive fully until the main body is destroyed."
"And because the Horcruxes exist, the main body cannot be completely killed."
"So creating so many Horcruxes? Pure cowardice. Only after every Horcrux is destroyed can he truly die."
He suddenly straightened, fixing Tver with a serious look.
"But this also means that if you want to end Voldemort for good, you must either get rid of that Marvolio fellow first, or find a way for him to replace Voldemort as the main body with a complete will—which essentially means killing Voldemort's true body."
"My advice is to choose the former. Once we bring Dumbledore to our side, we won't need a crippled soul like Marvolio at all," Grindelwald warned.
He didn't want Marvolio becoming dead weight in Tver's plans.
"And what about the second option? Destroying the main body isn't impossible," Tver said with a frown.
Unlike Grindelwald, he wanted to preserve the highest tier of magical power, reducing the likelihood of future conflicts as much as possible.
And Marvolio, clearly, was far more cooperative—and far easier to control—than Voldemort.
"At least I don't know." Grindelwald shrugged without concern.
Seeing Tver still lost in thought, he sighed helplessly.
"Let me remind you: ordinary methods of destroying a soul won't work. Once a Horcrux is made, the soul becomes like a rivet hammered into the mortal world, pinning the original body firmly in place."
"Of course, that doesn't mean he can't die. I've heard there's a liminal realm between life and death. In that space, you should be able to pull out that rivet."
"How does one enter that realm?"
"How should I know?" Grindelwald rolled his eyes openly at his student. "Maybe you have to die a little."
"...That's a terrible curse. Am I not still your dearest student?"
Tver sighed and lightly tapped his teacher's thigh, beginning to massage it.
Grindelwald clearly enjoyed it. His eyes narrowed in pleasure as he leaned back in his chair, looking thoroughly content as some distant thought drifted through his mind.
"If you ask me, once you've used Marvolio, just destroy him. Don't let him delay your dealing with Voldemort. That coward is still dangerous."
But Tver shook his head with certainty.
"If we can mend Marvolio's soul, his potential far surpasses Voldemort's. He's more malleable and much easier to control."
"And if Dumbledore ends up turning against us, we'll need a powerful ally on our side. Three against one—that's the only way we can say for certain we'll win."
"At the very least, we need Dumbledore to fear us," he added quickly.
This time, Grindelwald had no choice but to agree.
That possibility definitely existed, and after experiencing defeat once, he understood the need for caution.
"You have a point. Sigh… even at my age, I still have to help you hunt down ancient texts and do your research. I wonder when I'll ever truly retire."
"But that only proves how incredible you are!" Tver said, flattering him as he increased the pressure of the massage.
For the rest of the holiday, Tver spent most of his time discussing soul fusion and Limbo with his teacher.
But it was obvious such topics couldn't be solved in a week or two.
They didn't make any real progress at all. The only thing remotely resembling progress was the pile of books they collected—who knew if any of them were useful?
Some came from Grindelwald's accumulation in Nurmengard, and others were "borrowed" from the Durmstrang library.
So, when the holiday neared its end, Tver could only gather his stack of materials, say goodbye to his teacher, and return to Britain again.
In the last few days, he greedily used his rare free time to return to the estate and spend several days with his parents.
Of course, this was also their rest period after coming back from a trip—before beginning their next one…
This summer had been far busier than expected, but it, too, came to an end.
After finishing afternoon tea with his parents, Tver checked the time and headed back to Hogwarts.
The new school year had begun.
...
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