Chapter 1280

The sun was out: above Harry was a vast expanse of pure, colorless sky. But that didn't matter to his current predicament. Harry sat at the door of the tent and took a deep breath of fresh air. Being able to live like this, watching the sunrise on the shining snow-capped slopes, should be the most beautiful thing in the world, but he had no intention of enjoying it.

Voldemort... was far more powerful than them, and what was worse was that it seemed that he had just lost his biggest support against Voldemort.

He looked down at the snow-covered valley, the silence broken by the distant church bells. His fingers pinched his arm unconsciously, as if trying to relieve the pain.

Harry had bled countless times before; he even lost a bone in his right hand once; he already had injuries on his arms and forehead, and this trip added new scars to his chest, and not only that, but also Fanlin...

To be exact, Fanlin seems to be able to stand up for every accident, but now it seems...

When Fan Lin was in the first grade, he almost cut off his palm with a cutting spell. In the second grade, he almost died in that pool. From now on...

There seem to be too many to count, but the only thing that is certain is that every time, it is about him... Harry Potter?

Harry lowered his head and looked at the wand in his hand. It didn't fit very well, but this was the guarantee given to him by Fan Lin.

In addition to Dumbledore, Fanlin has also been protecting him, and this gives Harry the feeling that he is doing much more than Dumbledore.

But now it seems that it is no longer possible. Fanlin's injuries become more and more serious every time, and he has lost his biggest support.

Harry looked at his hands seriously. He had never felt so weak before, helpless and helpless. It seemed that the strongest magic in him had disappeared.

He knew full well what Hermione would say if she heard him describe the situation: a wand was only as good as its owner.

But she was wrong, his situation was different.

She didn't understand the feeling of a wand spinning like a compass needle, striking golden sparks on the enemy's body. He lost the protection of the twin wands. It was only now that the wands were gone that he realized how important it was to him. Even though Fan Lin said that he would make one for him, it was not his in the original book after all.

Silently, Harry took out the fragment of the wand from his pocket and stuffed it into the small bag hanging around his neck from Hagrid without looking at it.

Now this bag is too full to contain all those tattered and useless things. Harry's hand fumbled for the old Snitch in the bag, and he struggled for a long time before he made up his mind to take it out and throw it away.

Just like all the incomprehensible, unhelpful, and useless things Dumbledore left him.

At this moment, Harry's anger towards Dumbledore erupted like a volcano, the anger burning in his heart and replacing all other emotions.

Despair forced them to believe that the answer lay in Godric's Hollow, that they should go back...to believe that those were the only secret clues Dumbledore had left them; but there was no map, no plan.

Dumbledore left them groping alone in the dark, fighting unknown and unimaginable opponents, helpless, without any reason, and at a heavy cost. They had no weapons, and Harry lost his wand.

To top it all off, he lost the stolen photos, and now it would be easy for Voldemort to discover who he was. Voldemort had all the information.

"Harry?" Hermione timidly appeared behind Harry, and she broke Harry's wand, as if she was deprived of her identity as a wizard.

"you're awake?"

"Yes..." Hermione said hesitantly, leaning closer.

"How about Fanlin?"

"He said it was okay, but..." Hermione said, putting down the things she was holding in her arms, and then handed Harry the hot tea she had prepared.

"Thanks," Harry said, accepting the cup of hot tea. "So...how's it going?"

"He had a fever, and I treated him with white blood, but the internal injuries were a mess..." Hermione whispered.

"He will be fine. He is a very good alchemist himself, and his potion results are better than all of us." Harry said silently for a moment. He didn't want to hurt Hermione, and besides, he was Fan Lin is confident that they will survive the bad situation.

"I know, he's asleep, I don't worry about you..." Hermione said hesitantly, Harry was holding a wand that didn't acknowledge him, obviously, if something went wrong.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. You should be with him now."

Hermione didn't say anything, just sat down next to Harry, leaning against the tree.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"No... okay..." Harry nodded without refusing.

"Harry, you want to know who is in the photo, well... I have this book." Hermione timidly put the book on his lap.

This is a simple book - The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.

"Where...how do you have this book...?"

"I found it in Bathilda's sitting room, sitting there... this piece of paper at the top of the book." Hermione read the scathing, ironic opening lines aloud.

"'Dear Bathilda, thank you for your help. This is a copy of the book. I hope you like it. You may not remember it, but you did tell me a lot of things. Rita.' I think the book was here when the real Bathilda was alive, but maybe she didn't read it carefully?"

"Well, I think so." Harry looked down at Dumbledore's face and felt a wild joy: now Dumbledore was out of his control, he would know things that he would never tell him.

"You are still angry with me, right?" Hermione said.

He looked up and saw that her eyes were wet again, and he knew that his anger must be reflected on his face.

"No," he said quietly. "No, Hermione, I know it was an accident. You tried to get us out of there alive, you were so kind, if you hadn't helped me at that time, maybe I would have died long ago. I just... I just feel that I am not strong enough... Never mind..." He smiled at Hermione's tearful face, and then focused all his attention on the book.

The spine of the book was still hard, obviously never opened. Harry quickly flipped through the pages of the book looking for photos, and immediately found a picture of a young Dumbledore and his handsome companion laughing at a long-forgotten joke.

Harry's eyes stayed on the caption.

Albus Dumbledore, not long after his mother's death, and his friend Gellert Grindelwald...

Harry stared at the last few words for a long time... Grindelwald. His friend Grindelwald.

He looked at Hermione who was standing aside. She was still staring at the name, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Slowly she turned to Harry.

"Grindelwald!" Ignoring the other photos, Harry flipped through the book to find the name that suffocated him again. He found it quickly and couldn't wait to read it, but he couldn't understand it at all: he had to turn to the previous content to know what it was talking about. Finally, he found this chapter: "Great Good Deeds."

Harry and Hermione started reading immediately: As his eighteenth birthday was approaching, Dumbledore left Hogwarts with a series of astonishing glory and honors...excellent academic performance, student union president, Barnabas Finkley Special Contribution Award winner, British Young Magician Representative to the Wizengamot, and the Pioneering Contribution Award at the International Alchemy Conference held in Cairo, etc.

According to the original plan, he was going to go on a great trip with his good friend at school, Ephia Dogo, nicknamed "Dog Breathing".

But just one day before the two of them were in the Leaky Cauldron in London to prepare for their trip to Greece, an owl brought the sad news that Dumbledore's mother had passed away.

Dog Breathing, the guy who refused to be interviewed by the author of this book, introduced the sad scene that happened next to the public.

He described that Kendra's death was like a bolt from the blue, and Dumbledore, who was deeply shocked, resolutely gave up the long journey that he had been planning for a long time. Dumbledore then immediately set off to return to his home in Godric's Hollow to "take care" of his young brother and sister.

But in fact, how much real care did he give them?

"He is definitely a headache, that Aberforth," said Eliard Smith, who lived near Godric's Hollow at the time. "He has become more and more uneducated. Of course, you will sympathize with such a son whose parents have died, and the way he wears that broken hat all day will make you feel more pitiful. But I don't think Albus thinks there is anything wrong with this. After all, I rarely see the two brothers together."

If Albus was not taking care of his young brother at this time, what was he doing? I think the most likely answer is that he was watching over his sister as always.

Therefore, although the main culprit who imprisoned Ariana had died, the appearance of Dumbledore did not improve her situation at all. Her existence was still known only to a few outsiders like "Dog Pant" Dodge. And many other people were just evaded by the excuse of "she was in poor health".

Another family who knew the inside story was Bathilda Bagshot's family, yes, the famous historian who had lived in seclusion in Godric's Hollow for many years. Kendra, of course, when she first moved to this town, she even ignored Bathilda's welcome to their family. However, many years later, Bathilda sent an owl to Albus, who was still studying at Hogwarts, to communicate about his paper on species transformation published in "Transfiguration Today". It was precisely from this contact that she gradually became familiar with the Dumbledore family.

Until Kendra's death, Bathilda was still the only person in Godric's Hollow who had a good relationship with Mrs. Dumbledore.

Unfortunately, Bathilda was no longer the same person she had been before. "She had the fire lit, but there was nothing in the pot," Ivor Dillonsby told me, and, as Eliud Smik described it a little rudely, "she was as dull as a nut hidden by a squirrel."

Nevertheless, I was able to glean enough details from her by various means to piece together the whole story. Like everyone else in the wizarding world, Bathilda attributed Kendra's sudden death to a spell that went off accidentally, and in later years, Albus and Aberforth would do the same.

Bathilda also mentioned Ariana from the Dumbledore family, saying that she was "weak" and "fragile". However, the truth serum I used on Bathilda on this issue taught me something more interesting, because she, and only she, knew all the unknown secrets of Albus Dumbledore's life. And these inside stories revealed for the first time will surely make all his admirers question whether his hatred of the Dark Arts, his opposition to the suppression of Muggles, and even his dedication to his family are all just illusions.

That summer, when Dumbledore returned to Godric's Hollow, he became the pillar of an orphan family. Bathilda Bagshot often took Albus to her home to play.

There, he first saw her great-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald.

Grindelwald's name should be famous: he has always been at the top of the list of the most dangerous dark wizards, and the reason he didn't rank first on the list was because "You-Know-Who" later appeared and robbed him of this honor.

Grindelwald's claws never reached Britain, so the process of his rise to fame is not widely known.

Grindelwald graduated from Durmstrang, a school notorious for tolerating dark magic. Like Dumbledore, he showed great magical talent at a young age. However, he did not spend his energy on pursuing honors and medals. He had no interest in this. When he was 18, Durmstrang found that it could no longer turn a blind eye to Gellert Grindelwald's messy experiments, so he was expelled.

So far, the next record of Grindelwald that can be verified is that he "traveled around for several months."

Now it can be inferred that Grindelwald chose to visit his great-aunt who lived in Godric's Hollow, and what he gained there, I believe many people will be surprised to hear, is not other things, but the close friendship established with Albus Dumbledore.

"He was a charming boy to me," Bathilda muttered, "whatever he became. Naturally, I introduced him to poor Albus, who had tasted the vicissitudes of life too early. The two boys hit it off immediately. That's it.

Bathilda showed me a letter that Albus Dumbledore had sent to Gellert Grindelwald in the dead of night and kept with her.

"Yes, they had endless topics to talk about after they met - two talented young people who wished they had met earlier - I often heard owls flying in and out of Gellert's window, which must be correspondence with Albus! He must have had some new ideas and couldn't wait to share them with Gellert. "

So what are their new ideas? Albus Dumbledore's loyal fans may find this news sensational, but that's okay. Let's take a look at what their 17-year-old hero is discussing with his new friend.

Gellert - I think your point about the rule of the wizarding world being "for the good of Muggles" is a key point.

Yes, we are given power, and there is no doubt that this power allows us to make rules, but it also requires us to have a sense of responsibility for the rules. We must emphasize this point, it is the cornerstone of our cause. When we have conflicts of opinion - which there will be, it must be the basis of our debate. We must hold on to the belief of "for the greater good".

From this point of view, if we encounter resistance in the future, we only need to use force to suppress it and nothing else, and this is necessary. (This is the mistake you made at Durmstrang! But I don't blame you, because if you hadn't been expelled, we would never have met.)

……

At this point, Albus's fans will definitely be surprised. This letter has established a secret The decree established the wizarding world's rule over Muggles; what a heavy blow this was to those who had always been singing high praises for Dumbledore...

They had previously regarded Dumbledore as the greatest defender of Muggle rights! However, in the face of such solid evidence, those high-sounding words about how to safeguard Muggle rights seemed so pale and powerless! How despicable Dumbledore's image was, when he should have been mourning his mother and taking care of his sister, he was busy planning how to expand his power! No doubt, those last defenders of Dumbledore might say He wouldn't, at least, he must have changed his mind after a mental struggle and didn't put it into action.

However, the following facts are even more shocking. Just two months after their new friendship was established, Dumbledore and Grindelwald separated and never met again. Their next meeting was the world-famous duel of the century (see chapter for details).

What made them turn against each other and become sworn enemies? Did Dumbledore find his conscience? Or did he tell Grindelwald that he didn't want to carry out his plan anymore?

Alas, none of them.

“I think it was poor Ariana’s death,” Bathilda said. “Her death was a terrible blow. Gellert was staying here when it happened, and he came into my room shaking and told me he wanted to go home tomorrow. He looked very sad. So I gave him the Portkey, and that was the last I saw of him. Ariana’s death brought Albus to the brink of collapse. It was terrible for the brothers. They had lost everyone except each other. It’s no wonder that tempers turned violent. Aberforth blamed Albus, as people do in terrible situations. But Aberforth had always been a little crazy, the poor boy. Even so, breaking Albus’s nose at the funeral was a bit too much. How heartbroken Kendra would have been to see her two children beaten like that, especially next to her daughter’s body. It was a shame that Gellert didn't stay for the funeral... or he could have at least comforted Albus...

The violent argument at the coffin was known only to those who attended Ariana Dumbledore's funeral, and they had some questions. Why did Aberforth Dumbledore keep blaming Albus for his sister's death? Was it just excessive grief, as "Bathilda" defended him? Or was there a deeper reason for his sudden outburst?

Grindelwald was expelled from Durmstrang for his near-fatal attack on a classmate, and fled the place in a hurry after the girl's mysterious death, and Albus (out of shame or fear?) never saw him again until he was forced to fight by repeated entreaties from the wizarding world.

After that, neither Dumbledore nor Grindelwald seemed to mention their brief boyhood friendship again. However, there is no doubt that Dumbledore hesitated to attack Gellert Grindelwald after five years of separation.

Was it the lingering friendship or the fear of exposing the fact that they were once best friends that made Dumbledore hesitate? Was it simply because Dumbledore was unwilling to arrest his once best friend with his own hands? So how did the mysterious Ariana die? Was she an unintentional victim of some kind of dark magic ritual? Did she accidentally discover something she shouldn't have discovered, such as the two young people's efforts to gain fame and power? Could it be that Ariana Dumbledore was the sacrifice "for the greater good"? (To be continued)