"Dumbledore and Grindelwald: A Secret History," as Told by Nicolas Flamel

Dico was overthinking things. Pabbie was deliberately trying to get Harry to accept the fact that she was Unicorn, and Harry was trying to avoid mentioning Pabbie's human form to avoid upsetting her.

So sometimes Harry even forgets that Pabbie is actually a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl...

Besides, patting Unicorn's front legs doesn't seem like a big deal; that's about the size of an arm.

"Oh, right," Dico said, "Young Master Potter, please allow Dico a moment's absence."

"Okay." Harry nodded, sat on the sofa, and looked around.

The LeMay family home was a chaotic yet orderly place. Various bottles and jars, as well as crucibles and inkstones, were casually placed on the table. In one corner of the table, there was a huge Crystal Ball with nebula-like patterns that looked breathtaking.

"Is this Nicolas Flamel's house?" Pabbie asked softly.

"Yes," Harry glanced at Pabbie and said with a smile, "Maybe he can solve your problem—but before that, I have some good news for you that I forgot to tell you before."

Pabbie paused for a moment, then asked, "What good news?"

"You're going to be school board member." Harry gave a thumbs up. "The first Unicorn school board member in Hogwarts ' history, congratulations!"

"Huh?" Pabbie's ears perked up. "School board member? Is it tasty?"

Harry reached out and patted Pabbie on the head. Pabbie stuck out her tongue and grinned, saying, "Hey, just trying to lighten the mood... But school board member? Why did they make me school board member?"

"Because I've already discussed it with the Goblin at Gringotts and made a decision," Harry answered succinctly. "This is part of the Goblin ' compensation, since they lost my things—would you like to become school board member, Pabbie?"

Pabbie felt a sudden surge of mission, nodded knowingly, and nuzzled against Harry's arm.

"Okay, Harry, I'll take responsibility—"

At that moment, Dico walked in from outside.

"Young Master Potter." He stepped forward, followed by three House Elf.

He recognized one of them; it was Veratia's House Elf, Luchi.

"Po... Young Master Potter?"

When she saw Harry, Luchi rushed forward, her big eyes filled with tears.

"A hundred years, a hundred years... Luchi has finally met you..."

"Hello, Luchi." Harry said with a touch of emotion.

House Elf typically live for two to three hundred years. Dico and Luchi are only about one hundred and thirty or forty years old, which is the perfect age for them to strive for success.

"Young Master Potter," Dico said softly, "Before Miss Grindelwald left, Dico and Luchi were married in her presence. And here are Dico's two children, Ruby and Garnett ..."

He beckoned to his two children. "Come here, kids, call him young master."

"Young master." The two Elf bowed quickly.

"Hello," Harry said, nodding to them.

He was actually a little embarrassed, but considering the Elf's personality, he didn't say anything more.

"Please allow the Dico family to return to the Potter Family and serve their master and mistress," Luchi said in a shrill voice.

"Well... that depends on what Mr. LeMay thinks, right?" Harry asked.

Dico stepped forward at the opportune moment and said to Harry, "Master LeMay means that Dico and Luchi are only staying at the LeMay family temporarily, and will serve you when Young Master Potter and Miss Grindelwald return..."

"It is an honor for Luchi to serve my master and mistress," Luchi said at the opportune moment.

"Alright." Harry thought for a moment and said to them, "But we'll have to wait until Veratia returns before we talk about this... Besides, Mr. LeMay is getting on in years and needs someone to take care of him."

Before Dico could speak, an old voice rang out.

"Children," he said, "I have no objection."

It's Nicolas Flamel.

"Mr. LeMay," Harry stood up and bowed to Mr. LeMay, "It's been a long time."

"Time is truly a wondrous magic, Harry." Mr. LeMay shuffled over to Harry, extending his hand. "It's a pleasure to see you—"

"I think we shouldn't shake hands," Harry said, still a little shaken. "I'm really afraid I'll break your bones again..."

After all, the last time he saw Mr. LeMay was more than a year ago.

It was Harry's first time meeting Mr. LeMay, and he didn't control his strength when shaking hands—or rather, he didn't use any force at all—resulting in a cracking sound from Mr. LeMay's bones.

It's broken.

"Come on, we can't just leave without shaking hands." Mr. LeMay stretched his withered face, revealing a kind but sinister smile.

It's strange that these two feelings can appear on one face at the same time.

Harry reached out and shook it, only to find that the other person's hand was no longer brittle.

"I have to thank the Potter Family's Skele-Gro for this, otherwise my old bones wouldn't be able to withstand daily activities," Mr. LeMay smiled at him.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to this Unicorn Lady?" he asked Pabbie.

Pabbie instinctively shrank back, and whether it was her imagination or not, she saw an all-knowing look in the wise old man's eyes.

"She's my friend, Pabbie Sweeting, from Hufflepuff," Harry introduced to Mr. LeMay. "She became like this because she practiced Magical Animagus —she can't change back."

Because Harry pushed Pabbie forward during the introduction, Harry couldn't see her face clearly.

Upon hearing Harry's words, Pabbie ' eyes showed a pleading look—she was begging Mr. LeMay not to reveal her secret.

"Oh..." Mr. LeMay noticed Pabbie's gaze. "I see. But in my lifetime, I have never seen anyone successfully practice magical Margus —you are half one."

He changed the subject. "I know you and Miss Grindelwald always come up with some brilliant ideas when you're together, but I don't recommend you try them."

"Oh... oh." Harry nodded dryly. "So how did you find out the letter was from me, Mr. LeMay?"

"This is a clue Miss Grindelwald left for me. She visited my Alchemy Room before she embarked on her time travel."

Mr. LeMay's arm rose mechanically, like a rusty robot, and then a chair appeared out of thin air beneath his buttocks.

"At the same time, she also entrusted Dico and Luchi to me..."

"I see," Harry nodded in realization.

"And then there's your handwriting." Mr. LeMay looked somewhat disgusted. "I don't think Miss Grindelwald would have such terrible handwriting. Given that only a handful of people know my Alchemy Room, Albus doesn't know Miss Grindelwald —he knows another Grindelwald; Newt, needless to say, gets a little sick at the mention of Grindelwald, and that leaves you."

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked with interest. "You mean, Dumbledore knows Grindelwald... knows Gellert?"

"Of course he knows Gellert, they're friends... and I know him too." Mr. LeMay seemed a little displeased when he mentioned the name: "Gellert caused quite a stir at Père Lachaise Cemetery back then; his Fiendfyre almost burned all of Paris to ashes."

Harry tried his best to recall, but he simply couldn't connect the eight-year-old Sun Conure with the Dark Wizard who almost burned down the whole of Paris.

Just thinking about that cute little boy with a wicked grin on his face, directing the raging Fiendfyre to spread and wreak havoc across Paris, made him feel a little out of place.

However... Harry caught some key points, such as the fact that Dumbledore was actually friends with Gellert before?

"Were they friends before they became enemies?" Harry's eyes gleamed with gossip. "—I mean Dumbledore and Gellert. What made them enemies? I remember reading on the Chocolate Frog Card that in 1945 Dumbledore defeated Gellert and imprisoned him in Nurmengard..."

"Do you think the picture on the Chocolate Frog is real?" Mr. LeMay said with a smile. "To outsiders, this is Albus's glory—but for Albus, it was a lifelong pain... This history is complicated, but it also fits the stereotypes about you Britain."

As Mr. LeMay said this, he gave Harry a meaningful smile.

"Stereotypes?" Harry was stunned.

He went over it in his mind several times, but couldn't figure out what a stereotype could be.

"Standardizations," Mr. LeMay repeated, "But they are only recent in nature—a century-old stereotype."

Harry racked his brains and, following the France stereotype of the Britain, tentatively asked, "Is it because the cooking is bad?"

However... the Britain themselves admit this, and it is not a slander by the France.

Mr. LeMay's eyes held the look of someone looking at a fool.

You're a terrible cook? You think being a bad cook will make you best friends? Is there something wrong with you, or with the world?

Pabbie huddled on the ground, trying to make herself as transparent as possible.

She didn't want Mr. LeMay to notice her.

"Think about it again," Mr. LeMay offered a hint, "A relationship that's closer than friends..."

Harry felt something suddenly pop into his head, and under Mr. LeMay's guidance, he thought of a rather frightening possibility.

"Could it be..." he asked tentatively.

He really didn't want to think about it anymore; he felt that Veratia might not be able to accept it...

Just think about it, such an adorable little brother, with such a cute face to pinch, and we were counting on him to continue the Grindelwald family bloodline, but...

Harry felt that it was very likely that the whole of Austria would suffer the same fate as Paris had.

"Welcome to another world." Mr. LeMay nodded with a smile.

Harry gasped. Even though he had guessed it beforehand, he still couldn't quite accept it.

"No no no no no..."

"Yes," said Mr. LeMay.

"No!" Harry truly couldn't accept it—such a Sun Conure, and that white-bearded Headmaster ...

"Yes," Mr. LeMay nodded again.

Harry was completely flustered. He quickly turned around. "Firewhisky, one glass, Dico."

He wanted to numb himself with alcohol.

Sometimes, having too much imagination isn't a good thing. By the time someone realizes what they just thought of, it's too late.

"Yes, Young Master Potter." Dico quickly disappeared, soon bringing him a glass of Firewhisky.

"I need to remind you that minors are prohibited from drinking alcohol," Mr. LeMay cautioned.

"It's alright, I'm Britain." Harry took a swig of his drink, trying to use the alcohol to kick the thought out of his mind. "Besides, I'm an adult now, if you can think of it."

He held his wine glass, paced back and forth a couple of times, and realized he still couldn't forget what Mr. LeMay had just said.

"So you mean... Professor Dumbledore and Gellert, really..."

"Yes," Mr. LeMay said with a smile.

"And then... they broke up?" Harry asked again.

"That's right," Mr. LeMay replied.

"So I..." Harry sighed, feeling his mind was a jumbled mess, as if it had been stuffed with a nest of Niffler.

"So what else is shocking?" Mr. LeMay asked with a smile. "It's truly unexpected that you're even more old-fashioned than this old-fashioned man."

"I've tried to be more open-minded, but..." Harry gripped his glass, "I've thought of all the possibilities, but I still never imagined that one day, that white-bearded Headmaster would call Veratia 'sister'."

Upon hearing Harry's words, Mr. LeMay's upturned lips fell back.

He seemed to think for a moment, then stepped forward and, with a dexterity beyond his years, snatched the glass from Harry's hand, downing most of the glass of Firewhisky in one gulp, much to Harry's astonishment.

"I feel a little sorry for Gellert now," Harry said with a sigh.

He wasn't saying it was for any other reason; people are free to choose their own paths, and Gellert wasn't his brother. He was simply saddened by the anger Gellert was about to suffer.

One can only imagine how furious Veratia would be upon hearing these two pieces of news...

I really hope the portrait doesn't faint from anger, just like a person...

Mr. LeMay put down his glass and asked, puzzled, "Why? This is a modern society now. You're not more old-fashioned than someone born in the 14th century like me, are you?"

"Oh, no—" Harry paused for a moment, then said to Mr. LeMay, "It's a long story, actually. I saw Veratia's portrait in the Map Chamber at Hogwarts..."

"A portrait?" Mr. LeMay repeated. "You mean—a portrait?!"

"Yes," Harry nodded. "Veratia's portrait tells me she's trapped in Slytherin Study and needs several materials to break the frozen time..."

"Angel Feather, Phoenix Tears, Dragon Heart, and Basilisk Fang," they said in unison.

"Huh?" Harry asked belatedly, "How did you know what these materials were?!"

"Because I'm the one who taught Miss Grindelwald this Time Magic," Mr. LeMay said, shaking his head. "I warned her at the time that there might be some unforeseen problems, but she insisted on coming to you..."

"Hmm." Harry nodded and said, "In Knockturn Alley, I've already bought the Phoenix Tears and the Dragon Heart. Veratia said she has some Angel Feather in her Gringotts vault and asked me to go to Gringotts to get them."

"That's not bad." Mr. LeMay nodded. "Speaking of which, I was the one who gave her those Angel Feather —did you retrieve them?"

"That's where the problem lies." Harry patted his thigh. "When I got to Gringotts, the millions of Galleon in the vault, along with all sorts of alchemical materials, had been completely emptied by Gellert in 1899. All that was left was a Knut and a Diadem..."

"What did you say?" Mr. LeMay's eyes widened. "Oh... no wonder, no wonder, I knew it..."

"What's wrong?" Harry asked curiously.

"No wonder Gellert was able to quickly develop an organization called the ' Witchcraft Party ' in such a short time. Back then Albus and I were also curious about where he got all that money. It turns out he stole from my sister's vault." Mr. LeMay couldn't help but laugh as he said this.

"So," Harry sighed, "I can already imagine what Veratia will be like when he comes out of Slytherin's Study —think about it, all the money he worked so hard to steal from the Ashwinder Party and the poachers... gone, Grindelwald family is dead... and most importantly, Gellert is still... uh."

"Alas," Mr. LeMay sighed in a moment of silence.

"Alas," Harry nodded.

"Oh, right," Harry added, "I remember you just said that Veratia's Angel Feather came from you?"

"Yes." Mr. LeMay nodded first, then sighed regretfully, "But I have no more stock. The last of the Angel Feather was taken away by Albus a few days ago."

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked curiously, "Why did Professor Dumbledore take the Angel Feather away?"

"Oh," said Mr. LeMay, "I have decided that in the near future, I will gladly welcome death—"

Harry suddenly remembered that Professor Dumbledore had told him that the Philosopher's Stone he had absorbed was an important ingredient in Mr. LeMay's Elixir of Life.

"Is it because of the Philosopher's Stone, Mr. LeMay?" he asked guiltily.

He now felt some regret. If he had known that absorbing the Philosopher's Stone would cost the lives of two elderly people, he would have preferred to wait a few years or find another way...

"Good boy, don't feel guilty," Mr. LeMay said with a smile. "Believe me, I've lived long enough—if you lived for over six hundred years, you would also feel tired... Eating tasteless food day after day, your body would be like rust, there's really no point in living like that, you might as well welcome death sooner."

"In Albus's words, for a very clear-headed person, death is just another great adventure... He often said this, and I could tell that he was not afraid of death, and even embraced it."

"So," Mr. LeMay continued, "I gave away most of what I had at home to others, such as Albus, or Newt... they all received a small gift from me—if you want the Angel Feather, why Albus for help? After all, he's your junior from elementary school."

Seeing Harry's still conflicted expression, Mr. LeMay leaned closer and whispered, "Don't tell Albus. This is actually the advice he wants me to give you—to show you through my actions that immortality is no good... But what I won't tell anyone is that I still have enough of the Elixir of Life in reserve. If Perenelle and I wanted, living another six hundred years wouldn't be a problem."

"Really?" Harry forced a smile.

"Of course it's true— Perenelle and I 'die' every hundred years," Mr. LeMay said with a chuckle. "But I really wouldn't tell this to just anyone."

"So don't worry too much about the Philosopher's Stone. Even if the Elixir of Life runs out, you can still release some magic to help me make Elixir of Life." Mr. LeMay said again, "Go find Albus, child."

Since Mr. LeMay said so, Harry felt relieved; it seemed he had now become a walking Philosopher's Stone.

However, he was a little unsure of what to do. Did he have to go through all that trouble and seek the Headmaster's help?

"But," Harry voiced his concern, "Professor Dumbledore is the one who locked Gellert up himself. What if he doesn't trust Veratia? Or what if he thinks Veratia will avenge Gellert if she gets out? Or what if she wants to finish Gellert's unfinished business..."

"Don't worry, child," Mr. LeMay said kindly. "Albus isn't the kind of person you think he is; he will help you."

Harry still had doubts about this matter.

He didn't suspect that Professor Dumbledore would harm him; after all, what happened at the end of last semester was enough to prove that Professor Dumbledore had no ill intentions towards him.

But what about Veratia?

Harry started having all sorts of thoughts whenever Veratia was involved.

Harry forced a smile and asked, "Then, Mr. LeMay, do you know where the Basilisk Fang can be found?"

"I haven't seen anything like it in a long time," Mr. LeMay said honestly. "The last time I saw Basilisk Basilisk in person was in Constantinople in 1453, when Constantine XI, besieged, had it released in an attempt to stop the Ottoman Empire attack..."

"Has it been that long?" Harry frowned. "What about the Basilisk?"

"I was shot dead by something called the Urban Cannon as soon as I stepped out of the Gate of St. Romanus," Mr. LeMay replied. He added, "However, it's possible that someone illegally kept one. A few years ago, someone was arrested for keeping Basilisk, back in Tsarist Russia. Apparently, it was kept by a mad monk named Rasputin who tried to use the Basilisk's bile to enhance his virility—and as you know, he died."

"Bite him to death by the Basilisk?" Harry asked.

"No, they drowned," said Mr. LeMay.

Harry opened his mouth and asked Mr. LeMay, "Drowned? How could a wizard drown?"

"He was poisoned, he ate eight pieces of cake laced with potassium cyanide and drank a bottle of Madeira wine laced with potassium cyanide," Mr. LeMay said. "But this amount of poison didn't really hurt him, yet Muggle shot him from behind, piercing his lung and injuring his heart... Just when people thought he was dead, he suddenly lunged and grabbed a Muggle by the throat, and was shot three more times, one of which hit his head, but he still didn't die."

"The Muggle then struck his head with a piece of exercise equipment called a dumbbell, which made him lose consciousness. Finally, they threw him into the frozen river, where he drowned while unconscious some time later."

Upon hearing this, Harry was filled with awe.

This guy... he's practically a legend.

"I think you should come to Hogwarts as the History of Magic teacher, Mr. LeMay," Harry earnestly invited. "You're much more humorous and witty when you talk about history than Mr. Binns."

"I'm a graduate of Beauxbatons, and besides, Professor Binns works at Hogwarts, but the school doesn't pay him a salary," Mr. LeMay said with a smile.

A question mark appeared above Harry's head.

Is this even possible?

Is this... is this considered exploiting ghosts?

"Oh, right," Harry added, finally noticing Pabbie curled up on the ground, dressed as a nobody, "There's another thing I'd like to ask for your help with, my friend—could you help her turn back into a human?"

Mr. LeMay walked up to Pabbie and, under her pleading gaze, cast a Charms on her head.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Mr. LeMay sat back down, "even I can't do anything about it right now—"

Harry was a little disappointed, and he affectionately ruffled Pabbie's hair.

"It's alright, Harry," Pabbie, her eyes crinkling as she looked up, full of energy. "Actually, being Unicorn is pretty good—like you said, I'm even going to be Hogwarts ' first Unicorn school board member! Aww!"

Harry sighed.

"In that case, let's eat first." Mr. LeMay stood up and invited Harry, "I think you and Miss Sweeting are quite hungry."

"Yay!" Pabbie cheered. "Time to eat!"

Mr. LeMay's wife, Perenelle LeMay, looks much like Mr. LeMay, both of them suffering from osteoporosis and appearing as if they would collapse at the slightest breeze.

Fortunately, there are four House Elf at home to take care of her, so she is not worried about not being able to do any work.

Perenelle kept urging Harry to eat more, and even gave him more rice twice.

Harry didn't want to eat much, but seeing the old man's trembling appearance, he couldn't bring himself to refuse his kindness.

Sometimes he wondered if, after eating so much more food at the Weasley family and then the same amount more in France, he'd end up with the same build as his Dudley? Like, the kind of fat guy with a big head and ears, whose flesh practically dripped off the chair when he sat down...

The thought was a little creepy, Harry shook his head, trying to banish the image of the wig-wearing pig from his mind.

After spending a day at LeMay family, Harry prepared to say goodbye.

After all, he had learned all the information he wanted to know. Mr. LeMay did not know where the Basilisk Fang were obtained, while the Angel Feather was in Professor Dumbledore's hands.

To rescue Veratia from Slytherin's Study, it seems we'll need to have a proper talk with Professor Dumbledore.

As Harry was preparing to take his leave, Mr. LeMay suddenly called out to Harry.

"Harry, I suggest you leave Miss Pabbie with me for a while," Mr. LeMay said. "Although I don't have any better ideas, it can help Miss Pabbie recover, since magical Margus is very harmful to the body."

"Huh?" Harry's heart skipped a beat. He quickly and anxiously tugged at Pabbie's horn, asking, "Pabbie, are you hiding something from me?"

"No," Pabbie said with a smile, nudging Harry's cheek. "Perhaps the curse Voldemort left behind wasn't completely removed—"

"Really?" Harry used a Detection Charm, but found nothing wrong.

"Don't worry, Harry, you go back first and come back for me in a few days." Pabbie jumped up and down, happily saying, "Oh, thank you for your concern!"

"Alright." Seeing that the probe yielded no results, Harry could only put aside his doubts. "Mr. LeMay, Pabbie really alright?"

"Don't worry," Mr. LeMay said.

Since Mr. LeMay said so, Harry could only nod and say, "Well, I'll come pick you up in a few days, Pabbie."

"Okay," Pabbie said cheerfully, shaking his head.

Harry glanced at Pabbie one last time, arranged a date with Mr. LeMay to pick Pabbie up, then walked out the door and Apparition back to the Burrow.

After Harry left, a silence fell over LeMay's Alchemy Room.

"Miss Sweeting," Mr. LeMay said softly, "You should know that ghosts cannot eat—even if you are in another Unicorn form, it will only put a burden on your body."

Pabbie lay back down on the ground.

A short while later, a beautiful girl wearing Hufflepuff school uniform appeared in the spot.

"I know." Pabbie raised her face, a smile on her pretty face. "It's just... Harry really enjoys watching me eat."

"However, how did you know I was a ghost?" Pabbie twirled from side to side, as light as a deer flitting through the forest.

"Never underestimate an Alchemy's intuition, Miss Sweeting," said Mr. LeMay.

"You have a pair of very knowledgeable eyes," Pabbie smiled at Mr. LeMay.

Mr. LeMay sighed and said to Pabbie, "I sincerely advise you to stop eating, Miss Sweeting. I will try to help you recover from your ghostly state in the meantime... But speaking of which, why did you choose to become magical Margus?"

"Magical Margus?" Pabbie chuckled, reminiscing. "Well, Veratia is a genius witch, she always has a way; Cassandra comes from a noble family, her home is full of treasures... and me, well, I want to be like them. I saw a book in the Restricted Section that said Unicorn have long lifespans, and I thought if I became magical Margus Unicorn, maybe I could last until Harry came back."

Pabbie maintained a bright smile as she said these words.

Only the glistening, ghostly tears in the corners of her eyes betrayed her true emotions.

"But you failed," Mr. LeMay sighed.

"Did it fail?" Pabbie thought for a moment, then smiled broadly and said, "But I'm very satisfied with it, really content."

(8,000 words, please vote with monthly tickets...)

(The daily new subscriptions are 12,000, and the follow-up subscriptions are 6,000. One chapter is 18,000 average subscriptions, two chapters are 12,000, three chapters are 10,000, and four chapters are only 9,000 average subscriptions. This is a math problem... The concept of dividing 30,000 by one and dividing it by four are different.)

(Next chapter will be updated this afternoon. I've been overworking my brain and haven't been getting enough rest lately. This is a scheduled chapter, so I'm going to sleep now.)