A day at Hogwarts

In the Hogwarts Principal's Office, Professor McGonagall placed a stack of documents that required the principal's signature on the desk, while chatting with the previous principals on the wall.

As the headmaster, Dumbledore had the privilege of apparating in Hogwarts Castle, and he suddenly appeared with a "biu".

When Professor McGonagall saw that only Dumbledore had returned, he asked in surprise: "Where's Charles? Why didn't he come back?"

She was a little nervous. Did something happen to Charles in Azkaban?

Dumbledore sat down on the chair exhausted physically and mentally, sighed, and waved the Elder Wand to let the tea set make tea by itself, and then let the snacks run out by themselves.

Professor McGonagall was slightly relieved. Her best friend still had the time to drink tea and eat snacks, which meant that the problem was not serious.

Dumbledore looked very thirsty. After drinking a cup of tea, he said: "I sent Charles to Nurmengard."

"Huh?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. She had just been mentally prepared for Charles to be lying in St. Mungo's Hospital, but she didn't expect that the answer would be like this in the end.

She naturally knows where Nurmengard is and who is being imprisoned.

Before she could ask, Dumbledore shook his head and said, "Can you imagine, Charles and the dementors became friends, and the dementors waved goodbye to him when we left!"

Professor McGonagall blinked and asked cautiously: "Albus, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere? Do you want me to call Madam Pomfrey?"

In her opinion, a normal wizard would not be able to say such a thing.

Even a certain principal on the wall said: "Albus is getting older and his mind is getting confused. It's time to retire and replace him with a new principal."

If this had been said before, the other portraits of the principals would have refuted it, but everyone heard what he said just now, and there was no objection for a while.

Professor McGonagall said softly to Dumbledore: "Albus, are you too tired during this period, why don't you take a rest?"

Dumbledore couldn't help but shook his head and said, "I'm fine. I'm not hallucinating or talking nonsense. What I said is true."

A certain principal on the wall said: "It's over. It's already so serious. Let's convene a school board meeting immediately to appoint a new principal."

The other principals nodded in unison, even Professor McGonagall was a little hesitant.

There was no way, what Dumbledore said just now was too outrageous. Compared with before, he seemed like a different person. If he hadn't Apparated back, he would have been regarded as a fake.

Dumbledore didn't want to speak, so he took out the Pensieve from the cabinet, tapped his temple with the Elder Wand, and pulled out a silvery mist-like memory and put it in.

Professor McGonagall read the memories of the two of them in Azkaban with doubts, and then was shocked.

"Maybe Charles has special abilities." She said uncertainly. "When he was in the first grade, he became brothers with the centaurs. Before Christmas that year, he was able to invite Veela to treat the Longbottoms. Last summer, he was with a vampire. Together, it seems that it is not too far-fetched to be friends with dementors."

Dumbledore thought for a while, and it was indeed true. This boy's social talent seemed to be fully utilized. No student had ever been able to make so many non-human friends in such a short period of time.

"I'm even more worried now." Dumbledore sighed, "If he takes the wrong path and relies on this ability to make friends with a group of people..."

Professor McGonagall was a little scared when he heard what he said. No matter it was Grindelwald or Voldemort, there was not a group of subordinates around him.

At this time, Phineas Black on the wall said helplessly: "Albus, are you thinking too much?"

"Who stipulates that powerful wizards must commit evil and endanger world peace?"

"When I was the principal, there was a student who was much better than you. He chose a mediocre life."

"Huh, from this aspect, I am the best principal."

Phineas was very proud of himself at the end, but no one ignored him.

He occasionally mentioned that very powerful student, but there was very little useful information.

Dumbledore continued to say to Professor McGonagall: "I asked Charles and Gellert to have a talk. You know, Gellert has always wanted wizards to rule Muggles, and Charles is leaning towards Muggles. The differences between them are huge. Yes, Charles will know that if he takes the wrong path, the people around him will be hurt in the end."

Professor McGonagall was a little worried. He was the Dark Lord who dominated Europe and the United States back then. Charles wouldn't be frightened by being with him.

Dumbledore saw her worries and said, "Don't worry, Gellert promised me that he will not bully Charles."

Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief. It was hard for others to tell, but Grindelwald must have listened to Dumbledore's words.

Dumbledore drank a cup of tea, picked up the documents on the table and continued, pretending to be casual: "I have a guess that Charles is not afraid of dementors because he lived a happy life in the past and had no sad memories. It shows that Jack is very good at taking care of people.”

Professor McGonagall looked at her best friend speechlessly. The meaning of her words could not be more obvious. Before leaving, she took away the dessert Dumbledore put on the table.

Dumbledore just smiled and started working on the papers.

But he found that he couldn't calm down. He always felt that something was going to happen. He couldn't read a document about the purchase of parchment for Hogwarts for a long time.

After a while, he couldn't help but wonder, could it be that Charles was young and energetic and had a fight with Grindelwald?

But this idea quickly disappeared without a trace. Charles was still a good boy and rarely took the initiative to fight with others. Moreover, although Grindelwald was old, weak and did not have a wand, his foundation was still there and he was not a second-year student. Children can handle it.

Moreover, Grindelwald is even less likely to take the initiative, and even if he does, he will not be cruel. The dignity of the Dark Lord will not allow him to bully children.

Dumbledore thought for a while and then relaxed and began to concentrate on the work at hand.

Time soon came to the next day. Before Dumbledore went to Nurmengard, he asked Snape for some possible treatment potions. It was better to be prepared.

The Nurmengard Castle under the setting sun exudes an atmosphere of dilapidation and vicissitudes of life. There is no life around it, only the howling cold wind.

In front of the window on the highest floor of Nurmengard Castle, a wrinkled old man stood as straight as a pine tree, with his hands behind his back and his deep eyes looking at the sunset in the distance.

It has been 48 years since Grindelwald was voluntarily imprisoned in Nurmengard after his failure. During these nearly half a century, there has been no color in his eyes. For him, the rest of his life is just day by day.

Dumbledore was shocked when he came here. At this moment, he seemed to see the Dark Lord who stood at the top of the wizarding world half a century ago, high-spirited and absolutely confident in his own path.

He was so shocked that he didn't notice Charles making hot pot at the table next to him.

Grindelwald knew who was coming from the footsteps going up the stairs. Looking at the sun with only half left in the distance, he said calmly: "Albus, there are really limits to a wizard's ability. In my own I learned from failure that the more a wizard plays a conspiracy, the more he will make mistakes in unexpected situations, and he must become a being that surpasses the wizard."

Dumbledore didn't understand what he meant and asked: "What, what are you talking about?"

Grindelwald turned his head, looked directly at Dumbledore with rekindled eyes, and shouted with a hint of fanaticism: "I am no longer a wizard, Albus!"

As soon as he finished speaking, in the blink of an eye, the once all-powerful Dark Lord disappeared from Nurmengard Castle.

On the side, Charles had just finished eating a piece of cooked beef and raised his wine glass in a toast towards the setting sun.