Wind and Snow

"Clink—"

The potion bottle in Dumbledore's hand fell onto the table.

"...Are you finally too old to hold a potion bottle?" Snape looked at Dumbledore with a strange expression.

Dumbledore slowly picked up the bottle, not responding to Snape. Instead, he said in a rather low voice, "If this old man's brain is still functioning... the growing locations of these two magical plants... seem to be in Central Europe."

"Yes." Snape, influenced by Dumbledore's sudden serious demeanor, also put on a stern face and said earnestly, "The Bavarian Dragon Blood Tree is a magical tree species unique to the Bavarian region of Germany, and the Vienna Magic Vine grows in the Vienna region of Austria."

Dumbledore fell silent, his expression extremely grim. After rubbing the potion bottle in his hand for a few seconds, he raised his hand and reached for a plate of sweets nearby.

Snape: "?"

"I have a bad feeling, Severus, a very bad feeling."

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The wind howled and snow raged, leaving a desolate scene as far as the eye could see.

The dilapidated old tower, unusually, welcomed a guest who had traveled from afar.

A dark green coat hung steadily in the fierce wind, not a single snowflake landing on it; black boots stepped on the thick snow, yet left no tracks.

The guest took off his hat, his black curly hair blowing in the snow, his cloak beginning to flutter with the wind; white flames, almost imperceptible in the snowy landscape, fiercely spread outwards from the center of that black-green figure; a pair of light golden-brown eyes watched the gloomy tower with a smile; a gentle voice softly read the words carved above the entrance—

"For the greater good."

The snow remained unchanged, but the flames burned wantonly. The loyal guardians of the towering structure behind him vanished without a trace. The guest, with a gentle smile, stepped into the tower.

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"A bad feeling?"

"Yes." Dumbledore clenched the fruit candy in his hand, the wrapper making a crinkling sound. "I think something bad is about to happen."

Snape saw that Dumbledore's expression was not joking, but he still felt that changing his face so suddenly was a bit absurd, so he said, "So our great Headmaster can now predict the future."

Dumbledore's candy-wrapper-abusing action stopped. He looked up, his clear blue eyes piercing through his spectacles, looking seriously at Snape. "Perhaps it really is a prophecy."

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"How pathetic..." Cyberlina looked at the disheveled old man sitting in the corner of the wall and laughed heartily. "Why are you so pathetic?"

"Heh... about the same as you were back in the day." The old man slowly stood up, looking at the wand Cyberlina held up, and burst into laughter. "Your taste hasn't changed, a black coat with dark green snake patterns—"

As the old man's words fell, his prison uniform began to change—a white shirt, a black vest, and—a black coat with dark green snake patterns.

"Oh?" Cyberlina raised an eyebrow slightly. "When did you know I was coming?"

The old man smiled and stroked his hair, which Cyberlina had magically tidied. He raised his eyes, his right white eye fixed on Cyberlina, and said slowly, "Ever since we last parted, I've seen this scene now—Teacher."

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*

Snape fell silent. He didn't know what riddle Dumbledore was speaking now.

Dumbledore stared at Snape, a thoughtful expression on his face. He began to fidget with the poor candy wrapper and the poor candy again, as if weighing something.

Snape felt a chill from that calm but strange gaze. He felt that he might be saddled with some terrible task again and instinctively wanted to leave the Headmaster's office.

"Do you know about Seers, Severus?"

Dumbledore spoke. Snape felt it was hopeless; this sounded like no simple matter.

"I've heard of them—" Snape suddenly paused. Things he had just Legilimency-ed from Lucius's mind were constantly swirling in his head. He stared at those sky-blue eyes, seeming to glimpse some of the owner's intentions. "Are you saying...?"

Dumbledore silently lowered his eyes, released the fruit candy in his hand, peeled the wrapper, and popped the candy into his mouth.

"Wait, you mean Cyberlina might have gone to find—" Snape took a few steps forward, resting his hands on the Headmaster's desk, looking at the old man who was quietly eating candy. The name rolled around in his mouth several times before he finally spat it out, "...Grindelwald?"

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Cyberlina smiled at the provocatively smiling Grindelwald. She lowered her eyes slightly and raised her wand—a silver decorative chain wound around his collar, its end tucked into the patch pocket on the left side of his vest.

"This seems more fitting, but unfortunately—" Cyberlina showed regret, but the smile in her eyes did not diminish, rather it grew more intense. "The thing that was supposed to be here... is it gone already?"

Grindelwald's expression suddenly darkened: "Cyberlina..."

"What is it, Gellert?" Cyberlina responded gently.