The Aurors held their wands in trembling hands.
From the moment they arrived, they knew exactly who they had been sent to face…
Gellert Grindelwald.
Yet the street before Garfield's shop was unnaturally quiet. Not even a stray dog passed through the shadows.
Where… is everyone? Where's Grindelwald?" One of the Aurors muttered, confused, "
Seraphina Picquery frowned.
According to reports, a massive fire dragon made of raw flame had passed through this area only minutes earlier.
The call had reached a planted Auror inside the Muggle police force, who had immediately erased the witness's memory and alerted the U.S. Ministry of Magic.
Everything pointed to disaster. So why was everything silent?
The shop door creaked open and Queenie Goldstein came out.
"Queenie?" One Auror whispered.
Seraphina stepped forward cautiously, wand in hand. "Is it really you?"
"It's me, Minister." Queenie nodded calmly.
"Where is Grindelwald?"
"They left," Queenie said, pointing toward the night sky. "He escaped in a Thestral drawn carriage."
Seraphina's eyes narrowed. "Then what about the fire dragon?"
Queenie replied smoothly, "Grindelwald summoned it in retaliation for the attack on the shop, but a magic circle blocked it."
"When he realized how much attention he'd drawn… he fled."
Seraphina studied Queenie closely… no trace of the Imperius Curse.
No falsehood in her surface thoughts. Finally, she turned to her Aurors.
"Split into two teams," Seraphina commanded. "One team will pursue Grindelwald."
"The other will contact the British Ministry. Tell them their containment effort has failed. Warn them he may have returned to Europe."
"Yes, President!"
With sharp cracks of Apparition, the Aurors vanished in spirals.
The street fell silent once again. Only then did Seraphina turn back to Queenie and lower her voice.
"…Is Garfield here?"
Queenie understood immediately.
"Did he interfere?" Seraphina pressed. She wasn't asking if Garfield escaped Grindelwald… she was asking if he had already defeated and contained him again.
Queenie shook her head. "Garfield didn't move. Grindelwald truly fled toward Europe."
Seraphina exhaled slowly.
A part of her had hoped Garfield had ended this quietly. If he had, Britain wouldn't dare complain. Now… the political fallout would be brutal.
"Very well," She murmured.
She gave Queenie a final nod and turned away.
Tonight, the Ministry of Magic would not sleep.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
The sky over the ocean was flawless.
No clouds.
No wind.
Only starlight.
A Thestral-drawn carriage drifted through the air above the black water.
Inside, a broken man stirred.
Grindelwald's eyes slowly opened.
His vision was blurred and his body felt heavy, as though he were floating between sleep and death.
His head throbbed violently, he lifted a trembling hand and pressed it to his temple.
Who… am I? Where… am I?
Why… does everything hurt? His thoughts came apart like rotten thread.
Then… they flooded in.
Parents… sister… teachers.
Exile.
Wandering continents and the search for the Hallows.
Dumbledore. Ariana.
Credence…
And then… that presence.
Orange.
Orange.
Orange.
He reached into his coat and pulled out his notebook.
The notebook trembled in his hands.
Grindelwald flipped it open to the very first page… Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces.
The neat handwriting mocked him.
The memory surfaced instantly… the orange cat's voice, lecturing him like a child.
His lips began to twist.
"…My mentor," He whispered hoarsely. "Thanks to you… I can finally break free from that demon's control."
Then his voice dropped. "Liar. That orange cat is the real devil."
"No, you are the demon. I am the one who is pure." Another voice overlapped it.
His face began to twitch.
"You're nothing but a puppet. A backup soul created to survive mind-splitting magic."
"No," The softer voice replied. "You are the rot in the heart."
"You bastard… believe it or not, I'll rip you apart!"
"I fear no demon. For the future of wizard kind… for the suffering…"
"(｡｀Д´｡) You've gone brain-dead from studying too much!"
Silence returned.
Only the sound of beating wings. The Thestrals pulling the carriage glanced back.
'Is… is this wizard talking to himself?' one muttered.
'Keep flying,' the other replied. 'Don't make eye contact.'
'What if he eats us?'
'We are literally skin and bone.'
'…Fair.'
They flew on…
The world changed.
Two Grindelwald's stood facing each other.
One held the notebook, posture straight, eyes calm and refined.
The other gripped a wand, eyes wild, body trembling with restrained fury.
Two minds and one soul.
This was not supposed to exist.
By all original calculations… the second mind should have faded the moment he escaped his prison.
But it hadn't… it had grown.
Anchored.
He could feel it now… he could not destroy it.
So he tried to bargain.
Clutching his chest, wand shaking in his other hand, he pointed it forward.
"What did you do?" He demanded.
The refined version of himself lifted a thin device in one hand. A… pendant.
"I am going to destroy you," The alternate personality said calmly. "You are an evil cancer."
"You idiot," The original sneered. "I am the true self. You are a magical crutch forged in Grindelwald's brilliance."
"Your role is finished. Now disappear quietly."
The other stepped forward.
"A wise man once said… evil factions are paper tigers. They only roar because they are empty. The truly powerful lead with ideas, not fear."
"Shut up!"
"They guide lost souls back from darkness and build a new era."
The wand trembled in his hand. "I will kill you!"
"The great spiritual mentor Garfield once described your condition perfectly," the gentle self said.
"You are in a state of… impotent rage."
"…"
"ENOUGH!"
The wand was raised. Green light burst from its core like a star being torn open.
"AVADA KEDAVRA"
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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