Walking up the stairs that had not been trodden by humans for who knows how many years, Dumbledore followed the house-elf step by step to the top of the high tower.
The door slowly opened, and he saw the man sitting at the desk by the window.
His hair was withered and gray, his body was slightly hunched, and he was so thin that he barely resembled his former self. His dry face barely retained any trace of his past appearance.
But those eyes were still brightly shining.
"Albus," the man smiled, "you do look old."
Dumbledore didn't know what to say for a moment, just standing there.
"Oh, come in. I've prepared some honey tea. I don't know if your taste has changed over the years, but this honey is from bees I've kept on the mountainside outside. It's practically handmade by me, harvested from dozens of flowers. The taste should be quite good."
Dumbledore hesitated for a moment, then stepped through the door, and saw Grindelwald stand up, limping slowly to a cabinet to get a bottle of honey, then made tea for both of them.
"Your leg..."
"Ah, this," Grindelwald didn't mind, "it's a bit cold here, you know, I can't use magic, so my joints are not very good."
Dumbledore frowned for a long time, then pulled out his wand, "Heal quickly!"
Grindelwald let him do it, and after the spell ended, he moved his leg and then looked at Dumbledore's wand, "You've used it well."
"I thought with a house-elf, you'd be well cared for," Dumbledore said.
"Indeed, they are loyal and obedient," Grindelwald said, "but, you know, I don't like them much. They are not allowed in this room."
"Gellert, I..."
"Have a cup of tea first, Albus," Grindelwald said, "I know you must be very busy, but, after fifty years, we should have time for a cup of tea, right?"
Dumbledore picked up the cup of tea, hesitated for a moment, but eventually drank it.
"How's the taste?"
"Very good."
"Ah, all my effort for over a year was not in vain," Grindelwald smiled, "You know, over the past two years, I've been thinking about what I should prepare when I see you."
"I actually had quite a few plans, at one point I wanted to make myself look more miserable, so that you could see clearly how you have tortured me."
"I'm sorry, Gellert..."
"Oh, it's okay, that plan was already rejected by me," Grindelwald smiled, "It's a rare reunion, we don't need to make it so bleak."
Dumbledore looked at him, "I thought you would hate me very much."
Grindelwald smiled lightly, "A little, but it's not important anymore. Here, I don't lack time, but I can only explore my past. Those memories have been repeatedly chewed over by me, I once wanted to find the reason for failure, to find how to defeat you, but later I gradually gave up. Time is a pretty scary thing, isn't it, Albus?"
"Do you really think so, Gellert?" Dumbledore asked with a hopeful astonishment, "You've figured it out?"
"Look at us, Albus, fifty years, how much time have we wasted. Do you think I would continue to trap myself in those so-called rights and wrongs, superiority and inferiority, or regret and hatred?"
"Do you think I still care about others?"
Dumbledore's eyes moved, he knew that "others" did not include him.
He took a deep breath and then said, "Gellert, I need your help."
Grindelwald looked at him, sighed for a long time, "It seems you still care about them. Sometimes I think you are more greedy for power than I am. We are old now, Albus, our era has passed, clinging to it will only lead to resentment."
"I... didn't want to control anyone..." Dumbledore looked at him, "It's just..."
"I know." Grindelwald interrupted him, "You can't let go of that responsibility. Just like some parents can't stop worrying about their grown-up children, always feeling that they still have a responsibility to them, needing to do something for them."
"You may call me meddlesome," Dumbledore looked troubled, "but, you and I both know that secret, it's the responsibility of the Keeper of Secrets."
Grindelwald was silent for a while, "Has it been so many years, can't the responsibility be handed over?"
"Originally, there was a very suitable candidate," Dumbledore said, "but not long ago, I realized that he would be the betrayer."
"So, you lost?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"He is more... cunning, or rather, wise. He understands the weaknesses of human nature and knows how to use them. He is skilled at distorting the truth, for him, truth is just an illusion to be manipulated."
"He is also very strong, stronger than we were in our youth, sometimes, his cunning and methods even make me feel afraid."
"Oh," Grindelwald frowned, "you're making me a bit jealous."
"..." Dumbledore was choked, "In short, I've tried many methods, some of which I was reluctant to use, but... to no avail, I can't stop him."
"Have you thought about telling him the secret?" Grindelwald asked, "Just like you did with me?"
"He's different from you, although you two are similar, but his goals are fundamentally opposed to the vows, he won't stop because of it. Moreover, what stopped you, was not just the truth..."
Grindelwald was silent for a long time, then sighed, "Albus, have you thought about resisting? Maybe not like me, but in another way. Perhaps we just need to believe in ourselves a bit more, maybe we have a chance to win..."
"In fact, these past few years, I've felt a change..."
"My magic is growing..." Grindelwald said, "The limits of magic have been raised a bit."
"The person you're talking about, maybe he has accomplished what I wanted to do but couldn't."
"If he succeeds, perhaps, we would have the power to resist..."
"But, how many people would die, Gellert?" Dumbledore looked at him sorrowfully, "What right do we have to gamble with everyone's fate? This is the best arrangement, we can't take the risk."
Grindelwald looked into his eyes for a long time, "Alright, I always lose to you."
"Tell me about him, what kind of person is he, that you're so wary of?"
"Murphy..." Dumbledore seemed to fall into memory, "is a person I can't see through. Not, I mean, he's not scheming, he's very pure, almost to the point of being honest, he seems to disdain hiding his desires, but at his core, there's a mystery, I don't know what made him what he is today... he seems to have appeared out of nowhere, without a past, without a process. I don't understand the source of his power, I don't understand where his wisdom comes from... Sometimes, I even wonder if he might be the puppet of some greater will..."
Dumbledore shared everything he knew about Murphy with Grindelwald until the sunset, only then did he stop.
"He is very much like you, both in goals and personality, similar to you when you were younger. Therefore, I need your help. Perhaps, you could find a way to stop him."
Grindelwald, who had been smoking a large hookah, laughed upon hearing Dumbledore's entire story, "You tried to trip him up with Gringotts and the Wizarding Council? Albus, you have too much faith in your own methods."
"These methods might have defeated me, because I was still playing within the chessboard of the wizarding world. But this person, if what you say is true, he has already stepped out of the range we can control."
"Albus, give up those illusions. There's only one way to stop someone like that."
He said as he exhaled a skull-shaped smoke ring.
"Kill him."
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT