Nick kept his condition from his friends since he didn't want them to worry for no reason. The entire school was in uproar the next day however since aurors had come to the school the previous night and arrested Lockhart. Despite the daily prophets headline being about Nick and the interview he had very few people in the school cared , but not all. "Look Nick you're on the front page!" Ron pointed at the picture of Nick with Dumbledore , Fudge and Skeeter that was clearly taken when none of them were paying attention.-
Judging from how Collin Creevey was beaming at the photo it was pretty clear where it came from. "It was merely the first of many times!" Nick joked with a grin earning smiles from those around despite the many rolled eyes. "Reckon they'll put the arrest on the front page tomorrow. It's what I'd do after all." Ron said offhandedly and everyone in the know cringed at his insensitivity. Nick shook his head at that though "I'm not some fragile snowflake that can't take a reminder even if it wasn't intended. Ron is right though about it being the headline for tomorrow , it's just far too rich to miss out on for the prophet." he said with a smile.-
"Aye , prophets been working hard to distract people about Grindelwalds actions of late to keep down the panic but it's been an uphill battle from what I know." Seamus cut into the conversation from nearby at the long table. "How do you know that?" Hermione asked confused and doubtful. "My best mate Dean here wants to be a reporter after Hogwarts and has been talking to the folk at the prophet to get some references after he graduates. They let it slip in one of the letters." Seamus said while grabbing Dean Thomas to show him off.-
"Straight from the horses mouth huh? Yup that'll definitely count as good proof." Nick said with a nod. "I find it a bit strange that the man hasn't been caught yet. Whole towns sacrificed for some unknown reason and the person responsible leaves no trace of his whereabouts? Suspicious to say the least." Hermione said and Nick shook his head again. "There's nothing strange about it at all really. The man is not only an extremely powerful wizard but he is also a natural seer , he can simply see any potential ambushes ahead of time and avoid them." he said and Hermione went quiet.-
"If that's true how'd he get caught last time?" Harry asked confused. "Last time he realized that Dumbledore was the final obstacle in his way and purposefully allowed himself to be caught in a duel to decide the fate of the wizarding world , he lost that duel and was captured." Nick said honestly since this was all public information. "So all we have to do is wait for Dumbledore to duel him again and win again." Ron said with a relieved expression.-
"It's not that simple this time I'm afraid , last time both of them dueled they were roughly equal in terms of both health and power. This time however Grindelwald has made himself younger while Dumbledore is still an old man. The only real advantage Dumbledore has now is that he has had all this time to improve his power and skill even further from that time while Grindelwald has stagnated to a degree in the last fifty years. It's tough to say who would win if they truly fought again." Nick said seriously and everyone who heard him looked horrified.-
He didn't mention that Dumbledore also had the elder wand as well since that wasn't the sort of information you hand out carelessly. Most didn't even know the deathly hallows were real much less that two of them were in this school at the exact same moment. Nick hadn't thought all that much about the hallows to be honest since they clearly operated on a set of rules that he didn't quite understand. Stressing himself to try and figure out those rules was simply not worth the effort on his part. Sure the things were powerful but he was pretty sure they were also cursed with misfortune.-
Every previous wielder of the wand had met an ill fate without exception and each person who used the stone knowingly tended to go insane. The only real exception to this was the cloak but Nick had a sneaking suspicious that that was only because it had been passed down in the Peverell bloodline all this time and had no reason to curse it's users. This also explained why Harry lived a full and good life after Voldemort's defeat despite having possessed all three before. As the last living descendant of the Peverell bloodline Harry was immune to the curse on the hallows.