Chapter 17

The Phoenix and the Crow

"I-" Albus coughed harshly. The Phoenix blood on his face dried and flaking off into the air, leaving his skin grey and clammy. "Gellert… I don't… how…? Kendra? Where is Kendra?"

"Oh Albus..." Grindelwald shook his head with a quiet smile. He didn't look a day older than in the photograph Harry had seen only hours before. The King of Crows opened his arms wide, a look of mock innocence on his face. "You are an intelligent man, it cannot be that difficult for you to understand."

"I… I..." Albus swayed and fell onto his knees.

Grindelwald smiled down at the dying man and turned his head towards Harry. "Do you understand, Harry Potter? Or are you just as ignorant as my old friend?"

Harry clenched his jaw to stop the clattering of his teeth. "Kendra… she was the daughter of Ariana… and a Gaunt. A descendant of Cadmus Peverell. You didn't kill them all, you left one alive that day."

"A clever one, aren't you!" Grindelwald gave him an indulgent smile and clapped his hands in delight. "I have to say, I was disappointed when Ariana gave birth to a girl, not that it changed any of my plans, but it did end up becoming the perfect disguise. Who would ever suspect the studious little Ravenclaw, the daughter of war hero Albus Dumbledore..."

He stepped forwards until he stood in front of Harry. Fingers reached out and touched the boy's cheek almost in a caress. He shook his head wildly and lashed out with a bite, not caring if he looked like a rabid dog. Grindelwald pulled away from it with an unconcerned chuckle. Harry tried to remember the words the man who had stood behind him had said. "Ignotus, he was my ancestor, the one who created the Cloak of Invisibility and Antioch..."

"My blood, yes. The first owner of the Elder Wand. I am surprised that a mere child knows- Unless..." Grindelwald turned towards the bespectacled man, who was on one knee, head bowed in reverence. "You were always a very talkative one, weren't you Tristia?"

"Forgive me, Krähenkönig, his ignorance was painful to watch." the man murmured.

"No matter. No matter." Grindelwald laughed. Then he reached out behind Harry and gave his hand a tight squeeze, the one which was missing a finger. Harry screamed. "And I see you have already taken your little token..."

The man called Tristia tensed. "Forgive me, I-"

"I do not begrudge you a little bit of fun." Tristia relaxed visibly at the light tone in his master's voice. "I promised it to you a long time ago. And I know you have had to wait longer than we originally thought, thanks to Riddle's interference."

"You… Kendra… you meant for yourself to die that day." Harry said through gritted teeth. "The Headmaster ruined your plans by saving her life."

A brief flash of annoyance swept over Grindewald's features before he let out another carefree laugh. "For a moment I had thought all was ruined, but no. Everything was moving forwards, it just happened a little slower."

"H..how could you." Dumbledore rasped. "Betray me… like this..."

"All for the greater good, Albus? Do you not remember what we discussed, about how sacrifices were necessary? How we would have to kill for our goals… and how either of us would die for what we believed in..." Grindelwald closed his eyes in reminiscence. They snapped opened to show his ink black orbs. "And I truly believe in my immortality."

"But Kendra… Kendra… she was… family…" Dumbledore still looked confused, disbelieving everything that was happening in front of him. "How could you use her-"

"I don't think you understand, dear friend..." Grindelwald grinned maliciously. His eyes turning a pale shade of blue again. "I did not use her, I was her. Here… let me show you..."

Dumbledore whimpered and made to move away, but he was too weak. Grindelwald strode over casually, taking the wand that Tristia offered him. He used it to trace a line across his temple, drawing out thin silver strands. Dumbledore was shaking his head, begging him not to, but the man who betrayed him took no notice. He made a sharp motion with the wand, almost as if he was stabbing Dumbledore in the head.

"What-" Dumbledore's face went slack, his eyelids trembling rapidly as if he was dreaming. Harry saw the exact moment Albus Dumbledore broke. He heard it. The old man's skin turned grey as he let out a wail of anguish. It was the worst noise that Harry had ever heard. "You… you..."

Grindelwald turned dismissively, his face completely lacking concern for the man sobbing into the ground. "Tristia."

"Krähenkönig?" the man stood to attention.

"How long will it take for you to..." he gave Harry a cold smile, "…work your magic on Harry?"

Tristia grinned a tooth filled smile. He reached inside the neck of his robes and took out a beaded necklace. He rubbed it between his fingers, humming with quiet pleasure, before he mouthed something Harry couldn't hear. Starting with the one he was holding, every single bead slowly transformed into a severed finger. It was a horrible sight, watching the man go though each of them, giving the fingertips a caress. "I think a few hours should be enough, to finish the work I started last year. Ah… yes… I think this would be best..."

He paused when he came across a slender digit. Harry's breathing quickened. He knew what was coming. The man called Tristia closed his eyes and rubbed the nail, pinched the fingertip and flexed each of the joints. He transformed.

"Corinne..." escaped the moan from Harry's lips.

"Hello again, Harry." as she took the glasses off from her face, the look she gave him was such a foreign one. No love. No affection. It was a sly smile of a fox in the hen house.

"You're a Metamorphmagus." Harry said in realisation.

"Correct again." Grindelwald reached out and tucked a strand of long hair over her ears. The… thing… with Corinne's face purred with pleasure. "I've said it before and I shall say it again, this look suits you, my dear."

She giggled, giggled, and leaned in to his touch. Her expression was one of blissful pleasure, a crazed carefree look. The look of a fanatic. "Thank you Krähenkönig..."

"Can you guess then, Harry, what we have in store for you?" Grindelwald asked, but Harry couldn't answer. His mouth was dry and his chest heaved as he stared at the girl standing in front of him. "No? Well Harry, in a few hours a Harry Potter will make a miraculous escape from the dastardly Albus Dumbledore and the world will celebrate-"

"They'll never fall for it. Professor Riddle will know it's not me." Harry spat out, forcing his gaze away from Corinne.

"Riddle? Who danced to my tune when I whispered a few words about a little prophecy?" he replied mockingly. "Oh, he is very clever, and powerful. When I stood in his office, as Kendra Dumbledore, he was almost able to break through my Occlumentic barriers. Almost. Even when I stood a few feet away from him, the enemy he had faced in the Chamber of Secrets, the enemy he had faced in the dark forest of Hogwarts' grounds, the enemy he had faced countless times before in battle, he was never able to divine my true identity. And even though Tristia is not as adept in Occlumency as I am, she has her own set of skills that will be enough to trick Tom Riddle..."

At the nod from her master, Tristia stepped in front of Harry and produced a wand. She licked her lips, "It wasn't easy to do this without you suspecting, even when you were so eager to open up to me. Now that there is no need for discretion… Legilimens!"

Harry closed his eyes shut a second too late and felt her magic worm its way into his brain. It was slimy and unpleasant, but somehow compared to what he had endured under Snape's lessons, it felt weak and inept. His mind raced back to all those evenings, the weekly torture sessions under the Slytherin head of house and he pushed. Her mind snapped back from his. It was a tiny victory given the situation he was in, but he managed to bare his teeth in a grin at her snarling face. "I'm not going to make it easy for you, Corinne."

"It appears, Krähenkönig, that the boy has managed to harness the powers of the shields you have placed on him through the bottle." Tristia sent a worried glance at Grindelwald.

"Are you telling me you cannot do it?" the ever present smile slipped slightly as Grindelwald asked in a quiet voice.

"No! No! I can!" Tristia exclaimed hurriedly. "It may just take a little more time than I had originally thought… I swear, Krähenkönig, by the time the sun sets I will have scraped through every thought in his mind. His loves, his hates, his earliest memories and his deepest desires for the future, I will have them all!"

Grindelwald nodded, "You have already done so much for me, Tristia. Do not disappoint me now..."

With these words, his eyes went completely black as he gazed towards the sky and in response so did one of Tristia's eyes. She gasped in pain and her hands darted upwards as if to cover her eye, but she froze before she could reach it as if forcing herself not to touch her own face. It bulged and trembled, shifting side to side and up and down before the eye finally pointed itself at Harry. Grindelwald grinned at the look of disgust on Harry's face, looking through the eye of his follower as he turned and walked away from them.

She let out a shaky breath as her eye returned to normal and she glared at Harry, as if all the pain she had just suffered was his fault. "How long do you think you can last, Potter? You are alone without friends, no one knows where you are, no one will come rescue you. Give up and it will be a lot less painful for you..."

"Never." Harry hissed defiantly through his teeth.

"So be it." she raised the wand again and her lips curled into a cruel smile. "Crucio."

By the time the pain stopped, Harry was babbling incoherent words out of his mouth through his raw throat which was hoarse from screaming. He blinked the haze away, expecting to see Corinne's smirking face, but he saw someone's back. A rumple-robed, shaky back filling his line of sight.

"Albus!" Grindelwald said with mock delight as he faced his old friend. "Good to see you back on your feet."

Harry turned his head slightly, to find that Corinne had been thrown some distance and was on her back, clutching at her arm. She had an ugly snarl on her face as she glared at Albus Dumbledore. The old wizard was holding a wand, an eleven and a half inch cypress wand with a unicorn hair core, and was pointing it at Grindelwald with a trembling hand. "I will kill you if it's the last thing I do."

"I have no doubt that what you do in the next few minutes will be the last thing you do, old friend." Grindelwald looked completely unconcerned at the wand being aimed at him. He even went as far as waving Tristia away, when she jumped to her feet and pointed her own wand at Dumbledore. "But I really do not think that it will result in my death."

Grindelwald had his arms open in invitation, leaving his body completely open for attack. Dumbledore breathed heavily for a few seconds and then limped forwards. His arm jerked from side to side, involuntary spasms of a man close to death. He stopped about half way across and struggled to aim his weapon. He bellowed, "Avada Kedavra!"

Even as the spell flashed through the air, Grindelwald didn't make a move to avoid it or counter it will his own magic. He simple raised an empty hand, and allowed the spell to touch his palm. He winced slightly, but other than that he gave no other reaction. He certainly wasn't dead, but he wiped a small trickle of blood dripping from his nose with the back of his hand. "Is that your best, Albus? A pitiful performance, from the man who is supposed to be the most powerful wizard in Europe..."

Albus' response was a wheezy gasp and a fit of coughs that Harry thought would be the last noises the man would make. "I- will… kil-"

Grindelwald raised his wand lazily. "My turn, Albus."

And he gave a thoughtless flick of his wand. There was no bright flash of light, no fire or ice. Dumbledore simply clutched at his throat as he made a gurgling noise, his blood flowing between his fingers and down his front. He swayed slightly before collapsing on the ground.

"Forgive me Krähenkönig-"

"No apologies. No excuses. Albus will trouble us no more, just get on with it Tristia." Grindelwald said impatiently. He turned his gaze towards the sky. "I must know how everything else is progressing. Come to me-"

"Crucio." the spell caught Harry by surprise, but it wasn't any more or less painful than before, just constant and absolute. When he curse stopped, his eyes were forced open and once again there was a mind that wasn't his own, trying to delve into his memories. The pain was almost enough to make him want to give up, the pain that had just passed and the pain that would undoubtedly come again. But he had to hold out as long as possible, Professor Riddle would find a way to get here. And if not… he was going to make them work for every single thing they got out of him.

Rustle of dead leaves on the ground. Smell of damp nature and the taste of sweet rot. The numb pain of his hands dragging through earth and stone. The slight of pale flesh stained by dirt, the horrible non-expression that stared back at him.

Tristia screeched in fury as she was thrown out of his mind once more. Harry breathed heavily as he replayed the memory of that day over and over again. For once, he was thankful that the monster in front of him had chosen to take Corinne's form, it made the memory clearer, staring at the face in front of him brought back flashes of the pale dead thing he had discovered buried in the forest.

"We all knew there was someone out there, killing people and assuming their forms." Harry managed to let out between deep breaths. "He'll know the moment you stand in front of him. Grindelwald might have been able to trick him, but not you. However much you manage to drag out of me, it won't be good enough."

Tristia growled in reply and sent another wave of prolonged torture at the fifteen year old boy. Even as he screamed, he repeated the Occlmency exercise in his head, like a prayer of the senses rather than words, and it became stronger with each repetition. Corinne Lansquenet was a girl he had never known, a girl who had never known him. She was someone who was already dead when she came into Harry's life, but even beyond the veil of death she was helping him, just as she helped Harry to uncover her body all those months ago.

The Metamorphmagus took a step back, cocked her head at him and licked her lips. "Perhaps this wasn't the ideal form for this situation..."

Harry watched through gritted teeth as she reached inside her robes and pulled out a bloodied finger. She waved it at Harry mockingly, before closing her eyes and running a finger up and down it. It was a sight Harry had seen a few times before from Tonks, but it was different, more hesitant and careful. Hair drew in and eyes fluttered, one opening wide to reveal a brilliant green. It was like looking into a warped mirror, something that was like Harry but subtly different in a way that no one seeing it would mistake it for him. Then Harry remembered what Tonks had done on the day of the broom race. She had transformed herself with messy black hair and a scar more prominent than his own, in order to draw attention away from himself.

"Is this what you did with the real Corinne Lansquenet?" Harry asked in an attempt to distract her from the transformation process. It felt strange to look at her, caught in a moment somewhere between Corinne and Harry, a Harry with a narrower face and slightly more feminine features.

"I- I- I-" she made three attempts, each followed by a light tap on her throat. Each time it came out with a subtle shift in tone. She smiled widely and spoke in a voice alarmingly like his own, "I did do that Harry. I tied her up and I tortured her. I told her I would let her go and would let her parents live if she opened up to me, if she told me all I needed to know. With these abilities, it's so very easy to look like anyone, but at the same time very difficult to look like someone, do you understand? Some might say it is pointless given the relative ease with which Polyjuice potion can be brewed or acquired, but it is an almost absolute disguise when I get it just right. No time limit, no way to un-transfigure it unless I will it so. And then the memories... No point in running around looking like someone if everyone sees through the disguise the moment I open my mouth."

She cringed and mumbled to herself. She cocked her head and her skin bubbled, like there were worms crawling over her skull. She worked her jaw and rolled her shoulders, her piercing green gaze never leaving Harry's eyes.

"...nothing, you look nothing like me." Harry managed to spit out, but as each second passed he felt less confident in his words.

Tristia reached out with his finger and placed it over the lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead. Harry gritted his teeth when the nail dug in and slowly started tracing the shape of the mark of the Killing Curse, and at the exact same time the same shape appeared on the forehead of the person standing opposite him. He looked like the figure that appeared in his nightmares after he discovered the 'prophecy', he looked like the Boggart that Professor Riddle saw, something one of the greatest wizards Harry knew feared more than everything else.

"I think I look… something like you." the not-Harry said with a cold smile. He waved Harry's severed finger in front of him mockingly, before taking out the necklace of his trophies. With a whispered incantation and a slight flick of his wand, he threaded it along with the other fingers. "Almost… Almost… Just a little bit more..."

There was a moment of distraction when there was a loud pop behind them. Any hope that Harry felt at the unmistakable noise of Apparition immediately died away when he saw the figure standing in front of Grindelwald. "Saiblinge..."

The Metamorphmagus looked at the new arrival and turned back to Harry with a grin. "You've done well to find out that name, even though it is not his true name. I am the only of the Witnesses to have that knowledge..."

Harry watched as the man he knew as Saiblinge fell to his knees, clutching at the robes beneath Grindelwald's feet. He was weeping openly, his face an earnest expression of awe, almost childlike despite looking several times the age of the man he kneeled before, as he sobbed words that Harry couldn't hear. He closed his eyes for a moment, mentally shaking himself, before forcing himself to look away. He watched as his almost-mirror-image walked away from him and towards the other two figures.

He tugged experimentally at his bindings, but they were no more looser than before. He muttered the key-phrase that would trigger the Portkey, but he already knew he no longer had it on him. Dumbledore would have removed it soon after arriving here. Harry glanced down at the prone figure and froze. He stiffly turned his head slightly, so that anyone looking in his direction wouldn't notice him looking at the old wizard, who was twitching slightly.

One of his hands was still clutching at the gash around his throat, as his barely open eyes trembled and his mouth spoke words unheard. His other hand, still clutching Harry's wand, was inching its way towards… Fawkes.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment in silent prayer, hoping that Dumbledore was actually aware of his actions and not moving unconsciously in his last death throes. The wand finally reached the Phoenix and gave the faintest of glows. Harry held his breath, but none of the bright plumage returned and the creature remained absolutely still. He almost let out a sob when he saw Dumbledore's grip loosen and drop the wand. Harry's heart started racing again when he saw the old man's trembling hand reach out again. It tightened into a fist before giving a jerk.

Harry couldn't stop himself from openly staring at the single feather, shining golden and fiery reds, clutched between the thin wrinkled fingers. It didn't lose any of its brilliance even as it was dragged through the dirt and the blood until it was directly in front of Dumbledore's face. Their eyes met, Albus Dumbledore's and Harry Potter's, and for once there was no deception, no animosity. Dumbledore blinked a couple of times, his eyes turning milky white, then starting to look like they were melting. He brushed the viscous liquid off of his cheeks with the tip of the feather, whispering something over and over again. Then he gripped both the feather and Harry's wand tightly and faced Harry once more. When Dumbledore gave a jerky nod, his eyes telling Harry to be prepared, The feather and the wand disappeared in a flash of fire from his palms, and Harry immediately felt a sudden heat between his own. He instinctively wrapped his fingers around the smooth wood.

Harry clamped down his jaw, biting his lips to stop himself from crying out in pain. But even as he managed to succeed in not making any noise, the sudden light caused notice from the three standing some distance apart.

"Albus! Still alive?" Grindelwald sounded both amused and irritated. "What are you up to?"

Harry kept an awkward grip on the middle of the wand while trying to manipulate it so he could aim the tip against the ropes around his wrist. He almost ruined any chance of escape when he felt something crawl over his hand and almost dropped his wand. He turned an accusatory glare at Dumbledore, but the old man wasn't even looking at Harry any more. He had raised his head and was struggling to stand up, his baleful glare only directed at Grindelwald.

He bit back a gasp of shock when he felt a sharp pain, like something was trying to burrow into the palm of his hand. The pain disappeared quickly, but then he felt the same sensation. Now the thing, whatever it was, was slowly moving up his arm.

"Gel- Grindelwald." Dumbledore spat as he rose to face his betrayer. At a slight motion from the King of Crows, Tristia moved in a wide circle back towards Harry. Dumbledore watched Harry's mirror image move around him, back to where the real Harry was being held. Their eyes met once more and when Harry gave a look of determination, Dumbledore gave a slight shake of his head. He turned back to face Grindelwald, "You will… not… get away… with this..."

Harry gave an unconscious jerk when he felt something tickle up his neck, then up his face. Harry looked down and from the corner of his vision, he could see something silver and tiny make its way closer and closer to his eye.

"I certainly applaud your persistence. I did not expect you to even live minutes past the ritual, to see you still standing now..." Grindelwald smiled. He gave Dumbledore a considering look. "You may think a fool of me for asking but… There is still a chance you can survive all this… Swear you will work with me, make an oath and I will do my best to save you. You truly are one of a kind, it really would be a loss for the world to lose you."

Harry tilted his head back. He was unsure of what was to come, but he didn't want the others to catch sight of what was happening. It was underneath his eye now and Harry took in a deep breath. As the spell burrowed into his eye, he let out a muffled grunt as he was assaulted by images and sounds that weren't his.

Harry was dragged back into the present by a harshly croaked out laugh. "It is indeed foolish if you think-"

"What did you do?" the voice came from directly in front of him, but Harry had to blink several times before he could focus.

"Tristia. Corinne. Harry." Harry greeted with a laugh and dropped his head, trying to avoid the Metamorphmagus' eyes without appearing to obviously be doing so. But his hair was grabbed and pulled back, green eyes met green eyes and with a softly spoken spell he was trying to fight the intruder in his mind again.

He felt weak. Tired. His various injuries were throbbing and Dumbledore's help hadn't improved matters. It was difficult to concentrate on anything else, other than Albus Dumbledore's final words.

Words telling Harry that he would help him escape and how he intended to do so. Teaching him in brief words and images what one can do when someone tries to preform Legilimency on you. How when someone is trying to pull open the door, a strong push of everything can harm the person standing on the other side, maybe even permanently damage the mental image of the victim in the person's mind. And finally words of profound apology, of a century's worth of regret. Of how he hoped his last actions might count for something.

Harry didn't have an answer for the old wizard but he listened. And so did the Metamorphmagus. He held back for as long as he dared and then he gave the intruder everything he wanted and more.

"Diffindo!" Harry cried out hoping for the best and he roared in triumph when he felt the ropes go slack. He stared past the images of his life flickering through his mind and looked into the face in front of him, one full of surprise, confusion and more than a little pain. Harry stared at the green eyes, the scar on the forehead and he raged. He would never allow someone to walk around with his face. He contorted the image in his mind, imagined the eyes with a dull glaze, the scar a fresh and bloodied wound. He imagined the face, his own face, scorched black and raw and brought his wand forth, "Confringo!"

He ignored the unsettling feeling of watching himself writhe in pain with hands covering the disfigured face. Harry quickly stepped around and made a run towards the dead Phoenix.

"No!" his path was blocked by the snarling Saiblinge, who had somehow made his way pass Dumbledore. With a quick look he took in the fierce duel that was happening between the two former friends, one that would not last for much longer. Dumbledore had promised him seconds and beyond that there wouldn't be another chance for Harry to escape his captors.

Harry quickly cried out a spell, summoning forth another explosion of flames. He turned quickly, knowing he needed to make his escape. But before he could take two steps, he smelt the wrongness and spun around in an instant, "Protego!"

The hand that was inches from Harry's face was knocked back and Saiblinge stumbled, his body twisting with the motion. Harry saw something glint. The raggedy wizard jumped for Harry again, "Little boy, you think you can best me in fire? I was born in fire and death! I am the Crowking's most loyal follower! I am-"

His eyes widened in surprise when Harry quickly closed the distance between them, his wand flicking and conjuring another magical shield, this time with a clear intention to use it as a battering ram. "Cruci-" Harry slammed into him before the incantation could be completed. He didn't back down but reached out and grabbed the object dangling from the other man's neck.

"You're a Squib." Harry muttered in realisation as he felt the sickening power pulse up his arm.

"I am no Squib!" he snarled as he swung at Harry.

Harry dodged the blow by dropping to the ground, then he aimed his wand and cried, "Immobulus!"

Harry felt a pulse and his face mirrored the look of surprise on Saiblinge's. For a precious few seconds, Harry felt himself frozen and completely unable to move. He felt feeling return to his limbs in the exact same moment that the other wizard began to move. Face to face with a wand, he tightened his grip on the horrible bottle and bellowed out, "Serpensortia legionis!"

The resulting explosion blew him away. Literally. The force of dozens of serpents suddenly emerging from the tip of his wand threw him back. He winced at the confused and very loud hissing of what must have been at least a hundred snakes surrounding him. Harry quickly hissed out a sharp, "Get him!" as he pointed at the startled looking wizard, then he looked around, trying to locate his way out of his place.

He found what he was looking for.

Harry lunged forwards, hands reaching out for the single shining feather sticking out of the dead grey Phoenix. He plucked it out without hesitation, then dragged the hand over the ground towards the Portkey that Dumbledore had left behind. When he looked up, his eyes met with Grindelwald's, who was standing over Albus Dumbledore's body. There was a simmering rage in those eyes, but a look of amusement quickly took over. A confidence that said that even if Harry escaped, taking everything to Professor Riddle and the others, they could not stop the coming tides of war.

"Take me home." Harry whispered as he squeezed the two objects in his hand tightly together.

Fire. Light. An unbearable tightness. Then Harry felt the coolness of stone and a clamouring of voices he couldn't decipher. He looked around, taking some time to understand where he was at.

"Contact Professor Riddle." Harry said roughly when he recognised a face. "I need to speak to him right away."

The portrait stared back at him, slack jawed for a moment before reacting. "I… right. I shall do that."

Harry nodded as Phineas Nigellus Black disappeared through the side of the portrait. He ignored the rest of the comments and questions being thrown his way, he ignored his pain and looked around the Headmaster's office, searching for something he hoped would be here.

When he found it he placed it atop the desk and stared at it. He brought up his left hand, looking and cringing away at the sight of mutilation for the first time. He tried to ignore the space where a finger should have been and stared at the palm, where a tear shaped spot occupied the centre of his hand, looking like a strange birthmark of some sort.

The door crashed open as his hand hovered over the Pensieve, squeezed into a fist and dripping a trail of silver liquid into the stone basin. Harry looked over his shoulder, "Albus Dumbledore is dead. Grindelwald has been resurrected. This will explain everything… just watch this before asking anything..."

Tom Riddle looked over Harry's state, taking in everything. He saw the extent of his injuries and the greyish green face of a boy who needed healing and rest above all else. But he also recognised the determination and strength that kept him on his feet. He looked at the Pensieve and nodded. He swallowed his words and approached his desk. A second later the two were swimming through decades worth of memories, through lies, murders and betrayal, from a single choice and all the choices that came afterwards that started a war once before and would start one again.

End of Year 5

"Get back inside! Everyone back inside, now!" Headmistress Edda of Durmstrang Institute screeched to all her students, then again and again in half a dozen other languages. While a handful of the students, mostly the younger ones, listened and started marching back towards the keep, the vast majority remained staring transfixed at the sky, at the terrible sight and sounds that no one could ignore.

She let out a frantic growl before raising her wand belching out gouts of thick black smoke. But it wasn't enough. Every single boy, girl, all the staff and anyone else that happen to be visiting saw Gellert Gindelwald's rebirth and perhaps worse than that, they saw Albus Dumbledore's role in it. Then came the monstrous acts that he had a hand in for decades.

This might have been some sort of sick and elaborate hoax, but somehow Edda felt in her bones that it was not. There were little clues in what she was seeing, to what she was hearing, that connected with what she remembered from the past. But why? Why bother showing this to students? This sort of thing would be far more damaging if...

She paled and hurried back to the castle, throwing the main doors open with a forceful push of her wand. She had to get to her office, contact-

"Hello, Elli. It has been a while." the voice froze her blood and she stumbled to a halt. There was a figure with his back turned to her, staring up at the statue of the founder of Durmstrang that crowded the entrance hall.

"Y..y..you..." Edda clutched her wand tightly but felt too shocked to do much more. "So… so… it is true. The vision in the sky?"

"Vulchanova..." Grindelwald said quietly, ignoring her question. "A talented witch, no point denying it, but far too soft… This school only began its first steps into greatness when Munter took over. Now he was a brilliant wizard."

"He was a murderer." Edda said firmly, resolve slowly creeping back into her stiff body.

"Nothing was ever proven." Grindelwald laughed. "He was never linked to his predecessor's death. The only thing that history tells us is that once he took over, people started respecting the name of Durmstrang, they began to fear it. It is such a shame that you have turned your back on his ways."

"And who's fault is that?" Edda shook her head in disgust. "After everything you have done… What was once known as a great place of learning, was reduced to the school where children were sent to be tainted. They no longer came from all corners of Europe for the chance to be taught by the greatest, they shunned us as the school that birthed the monster Grindelwald."

"A monster..." Grindelwald chuckled and slowly turned to face the Headmistress. She let out a gasp at his face, looking barely older than when she had seen him being escorted out of the school grounds after being expelled. "Yes, perhaps. And the monster returns home..."

"The monster returns to die!" Edda roared and whipped her wand at the King of Crows. He remained still with a fixed smile on his face, "Avada K-"

"Expelliarmus!" the wand was jerked out of her hand before she could complete the incantation. It arced through the air and melted into the shadow cast by the statue. A figure stepped out spinning her wand in his hand. He gave a mocking bow towards her. "Headmistress."

"What is the meaning of this Karkaroff?" but even though she asked the question, she already understood. Dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. "You… you are one of his? You have always been one of his?"

"Of course, Headmistress." his sickly grin showed yellowed teeth.

"So, now you kill me and have Karkaroff take over? Just like Munter did?" Edda breathed heavily. "Hide in the shadows and slowly corrupt our children?"

"Hide?" Grindelwald laughed loudly, shaking his head. "No. The time for hiding is over. Now is the time for action, now is the time when all I have planned comes together. My army will gather under my banner..."

Grindelwald turned and waved his hand at the statue, which cracked and crumbled to dust. He then flicked his fingers at the cloth banner with the emblem of Durmstrang Institute, a two headed eagle. The gold melted off like shining blood and hissed as it dripped onto the cold stone. The feathers darkened and a third head sprouted from the neck of the creature.

He nodded and gave a small noise of satisfaction. "...and then we march into battle. No wizards, no witches will stand against us and Muggles will cry in terror before us. I bring war, all for the greater good, for now... is the time of wizarding supremacy!"

A/N

Sorry again for the long wait. It was absolutely not my beta's fault. He got in touch with me a few days after I posted my last chapter and it took me a while to find the time to go through the chapter again with his feedback. Lord Shasta, thanks for the help you've given my for Year 5 of my story.

So once again, it's the end of a year and therefore time for me to hibernate for a while and try to churn out a few chapters before I start updating again. I can give no indication whatsoever as to when this will be, I'm sorry about that. Thank you to everyone who's stuck with my story so far and thank you for everyone who left a review. Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Bye for now.