Harry's Choice

Grindelwald had been as brilliantly talented as Albus Dumbledore.

"Elite wizards ruling over Muggles—back then, I was deeply drawn to his ideals."

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth lifted slightly, as if he were reminiscing about those beautiful days.

There would be no more tragedies like Ariana's, no more wizards like Percival dying in Azkaban.

Within a single holiday, they had already laid out all their plans.

Albus had decided to take Ariana and join Grindelwald in making them a reality.

But then his willful younger brother appeared.

Aberforth accused him of ignoring Ariana's feelings, of stubbornly believing he was doing it for her own good.

"Our argument escalated, and we even drew our wands."

Vincent knew Dumbledore was not wrong, and neither was his younger brother, Aberforth.

Were those three Muggle boys at fault?

No. What was wrong was the ignorance-born hostility between wizards and Muggles.

"Gellert used the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth, and my wand was pointed at him as well."

Dumbledore bent down, trembling as he reached out and placed a hand upon Ariana's gravestone.

"We all overlooked one thing. Only when she fell did we foolishly stop."

But everything had been too late. Ariana was already gone.

Grindelwald fled.

And at her funeral, Aberforth broke Albus's nose.

"I don't know whose spell it was. I once went out of my way to ask—ask Gellert, but he merely smiled and shook his head, saying he didn't know."

Albus and Grindelwald had parted ways.

From then on, guilt and regret over Ariana had followed him all the way to the present.

Vincent understood.

From that day onward, Dumbledore had been trapped in the past.

He rejected all change, rejected anything that would break the status quo.

"Professor, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."

Dumbledore shook his head gently. "What made