"I used to think Anton was the one I needed to watch out for most. The harm he could cause was simply too great." Dumbledore gazed pensively at the clouds beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office. "I had to rack my brains to find ways to make plans to restrain him."
"Anton really is the most dangerous." Grindelwald smiled and shrugged, picked up the black tea on the desk, and took a sip. His eyes lit up, and he took another.
"Along the original course of fate, Voldemort should have been getting more and more like an imbecile."
"Clearly, Anton's arrival gave him the chance to restore his soul."
Dumbledore pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head. "What's done is done. There's no point in saying that this or that person caused things to turn out this way. Fate is impossible to fathom. Perhaps if I hadn't been so heavy-handed in making him admit his mistakes back then, and had given him more guidance while he was a student, none of this would have happened."
He sighed softly and smiled ruefully. "Those who toy with people's hearts are always devoured by them in the end..."
"Tom really is Tom. For the Greater Good?"
"Hah. As if he could!"
Dumbledore knew his student too well. Whether his soul became more complete or he turned into a monster, Tom's innate selfishness and coldness could never change.
A man like that might use "For the Greater Good" to accomplish certain things, but in the end, people would realize there was a reason he was called the Dark Lord.
The wind howled, sending clouds surging toward Hogwarts. Moisture drifted in through the open window, leaving their faces cool.
For a while, the office fell silent.
After who knew how long, Grindelwald