Grindelwald

"Dumbledore?" Harry repeated.

Ron thought Harry didn't know Dumbledore, so he said, "Don't tell me you don't know Dumbledore, Buddy. He's the greatest wizard in the world."

"Is that so?" Harry replied noncommittally.

"If you don't believe me, turn the card over." Ron said as he took the card from Harry's hand. "I'll read it to you."

"Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts, widely recognized as the greatest wizard of the modern age."

"Dumbledore's well-known contributions include: defeating the Dark Wizard Gellert Grindelwald in 1945, discovering the twelve uses of Fire Dragon blood, and achieving remarkable results in Alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel..."

Hearing a familiar name, Harry instinctively interrupted him. "Who?"

"Nicolas Flamel." Ron shrugged. "His partner. You know him?"

"No, I meant the one before that. Who did he defeat?" Harry asked.

"The Dark Wizard, Grindelwald," Ron answered.

That familiar name immediately pulled Harry's memories back to Fifth year, a hundred years ago.

"Hey, Buddy."

Harry's roommate Gareth sat beside him and nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. "Did you hear? We're getting a transfer student this year."

"Is that so?" Harry didn't think much of it as he picked up his cup.

"Yeah, I heard it from my Aunt." Gareth scratched his head. "You know, she's the Deputy Headmistress, so she always hears things before we do—but the feast has already started. Why isn't she here yet?"

As Gareth finished speaking, the doors burst open with a bang.

Harry turned and saw Professor Figg, looking rather disheveled, with an unbelievably beautiful girl standing beside him.

Her golden hair was far more dazzling than Malfoy's, Harry thought.

As if sensing Harry's gaze, the girl looked at him and gave him a sweet smile.

That smile spilled into Harry's heart like moonlight. Caught off guard, he sprayed the water from his mouth, then clumsily wiped his lips with his robes, managing only to return her smile with a foolish grin.

"Hey, Buddy, snap out of it." Gareth nudged him from beside him. "God, your eyes are practically glued to her. Look at Malfoy's face—be careful, or she'll make fun of you again!"

Only then did Harry come back to his senses. He turned toward the Slytherin Long Table and saw Cassandra Malfoy looking at him with utter disgust.

"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat cried, and enthusiastic applause broke out from all four Long Tables.

By the time Harry realized what was happening, the girl had already walked over to him under Gareth's envious, jealous glare.

"Hello. May I sit here?"

"Y-yes." Harry hurriedly shoved Gareth aside, and amid the latter's resentful gaze, the girl sat down next to Harry.

It was from that moment on that Harry and Verathea got to know each other and became close friends.

So no matter what, Harry did not believe Verathea could become a Dark Wizard.

"How could she be a Dark Wizard?"

Ron chewed on a piece of candy and glanced at Harry. "She? Oh no, Buddy, isn't Grindelwald a man? His name was something like... oh, right, Gellert Grindelwald. I heard his relationship with Dumbledore was pretty complicated too."

"Oh." Harry let out a sigh of relief for no apparent reason.

Then he remembered—it was Gellert.

During Christmas in Fifth year, Verathea had invited him to Nurmengard Castle in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he had met Gellert. He was Verathea's younger brother, only eight years old at the time, a little kid who looked like a Sun Conure and had a terrible temper.

But...

That little Sun Conure, him?

A Dark Wizard?

Whether he was dark or not, Harry didn't know. But his little face had been quite fun to pinch.

"Buddy, you really ought to brush up on your Magical World knowledge." Ron spoke with some regret. "You're The Savior. This won't do."

"You're right." Harry nodded in agreement.

Just then, someone knocked on the room's door.

A chubby Little Boy, his eyes full of tears, asked pitifully, "Excuse me, have you seen my toad?"

When he saw both of them shake their heads to say they had not, the boy burst into loud sobs.

"It always tries to run away from me, and I lost him again..."

"Try not to worry," Ron comforted him. "Maybe you'll find him in a while."

But the boy ran off without looking back.

"If I bought a toad, I'd have thrown it away ages ago." Ron spread his hands. "I really can't appreciate those things. Good thing I brought Scabbers. He's old and lazy, and he sleeps like he's dead, but he's been with me for so many years—honestly, I quite like him. Don't let the fact that he's a rat fool you; he behaves himself when I hold him while sleeping."

Harry had never expected his newly acquainted friend to have such unusual tastes as sleeping with a rat in his arms.

Still, Harry chose to respect his friend's little quirk. After all, sleeping with a pet was perfectly normal.

But he would never allow Hedwig onto his bed.

"Yesterday, Fred and George taught me a spell that can turn this rat yellow. I want to try it." Ron pulled out the old wand tucked in his robes. "Look, the Unicorn hair is practically sticking out, but it's fine."

"Is that Charlie's?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, Charlie's old wand." Ron sounded a little helpless.

Harry remembered what Ollivanders had said: the wand chose the wizard.

Would a wand that acknowledged another wizard really be a good fit? Harry could not help worrying.

Before he could say anything, the door opened again.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost his toad."

Hearing the familiar voice, Harry looked up and said in surprise, "Hermione?"

"Oh, Harry?" Hermione smiled brightly as well. "I was just about to look for you, but Neville looked so miserable when he was crying that I wanted to help him search first—are you practicing magic? I taught myself a few spells at home, though the results weren't very good. Could I watch?"

Her rapid-fire speech left Ron staring in astonishment. It was the first time he had met someone who spoke so fast.

Hermione sat down beside Harry as though they had known each other for ages, and Harry casually handed her a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

Ron cleared his throat twice and waved his wand. "Then let me give it a try. Daisy, sweet cream, and sunshine, turn this stupid rat golden yellow—"

An awkward situation arose: nothing happened.

"Are you sure that's a spell?" Hermione looked at Ron suspiciously.

Ron lowered his wand awkwardly. He realized that his two Twins brothers had fooled him again.

Hermione looked at Harry again. "What about you, Harry?"

"What did you say that boy's name was?" Harry asked.

"Neville," Hermione replied.

Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the doorway.

"Neville's toad, come here—"

Hermione covered her face with one hand. She truly had not expected the two people in the same compartment to be this unreliable.

One was chanting a ridiculous spell, while the other was indulging in wishful thinking.

"Do you really expect the toad to come flying over just like that?" she asked helplessly.