Snow and Wind

"Clink—"

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

"...Have you finally gotten so old that you can't hold a potion bottle?" Snape asked, his expression strange as he looked at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore slowly picked up the bottle. Ignoring Snape's remark, he said in a somewhat low voice, "If this old man's brain is still working properly... the habitats of these two magical plants... seem to be in Central Europe."

"Yes." Influenced by Dumbledore's sudden solemn expression, Snape's face also turned serious. He said earnestly, "The Bavarian Dragon Blood Tree is a magical tree species unique to Bavaria, Germany, while the Vienna Magic Vine is a magical vine that grows in Vienna, Austria."

Dumbledore fell silent. His complexion looked terrible. After rubbing the potion bottle in his hand for several seconds, he raised his hand toward the plate of sweets beside him.

Snape: "?"

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

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Snow raged and the wind howled, leaving nothing but desolation in sight.

The dilapidated tower rarely received a visitor from afar.

The dark-green coat hung steadily in the gale without a single snowflake landing on it. The black boots stepped onto the thick snow, yet left no tracks.

The visitor removed his hat. His black curls fluttered in the snow, and the hem of his coat began to sway in the wind. White flames were nearly imperceptible against the snowfield, fiercely spreading outward with that patch of black and green at their center. A pair of light golden-brown eyes gazed at the gloomy tower, filled with amusement. In a gentle voice, he softly read the words carved above the entrance—

"For the greater good."

The snowy ground remained unchanged, but the flames burned recklessly. The loyal guardians of the tower who had followed behind vanished without a trace, and the visitor entered the tower with a mild smile.

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"A bad feeling?"

"Yes." Dumbledore clenched the fruit drop in his hand, making its wrapper crinkle. "I believe something bad is about to happen."

Snape could tell from Dumbledore's expression that he was not joking, but he still found the sudden change in his face somewhat absurd. Thus, he remarked, "So our great headmaster has learned to see the future?"

Dumbledore stopped abusing the candy wrapper. He raised his head, and his clear blue eyes looked seriously at Snape through his spectacles. "Perhaps it really is a prophecy."

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"What a sorry state..." Cyberlina looked at the disheveled old man sitting against the wall before her, laughing delightedly. "How did you end up in such a sorry state?"

"Heh... We're about even, compared to your condition back then." The old man slowly rose to his feet. Looking at the wand Cyberlina had raised, he burst out laughing. "Your taste hasn't changed at all. A black coat with dark-green serpentine patterns—"

As the old man finished speaking, his prison uniform began to change—into a white shirt, a black waistcoat, and—a black coat with dark-green serpentine patterns.

"Oh?" Cyberlina raised an eyebrow slightly. "When did you see me coming?"

The old man smiled and stroked his hair, which Cyberlina had neatly arranged with magic. He raised his eyes, his white right eye fixed intently on Cyberlina, and said slowly, "Ever since we parted last time, I've seen this very scene—teacher."

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Snape fell silent. He had no idea what riddle Dumbledore was spouting now.

Dumbledore stared at Snape thoughtfully. He began squeezing the poor candy wrapper and the poor candy in his hand again, as though weighing something.

The calm yet strange look in his eyes made Snape's skin crawl. He felt that he might be saddled with another terrible assignment, and instinctively wanted to leave the headmaster's office.

"Have you heard of a seer, Severus?"

Dumbledore spoke, and Snape felt that this was over. From the sound of it, this was certainly no simple matter.

"I've heard of them—" Snape suddenly stopped. The information he had extracted from Lucius's mind with Legilimency not long ago continued to circle through his thoughts. He stared into those sky-blue eyes, seeming to glimpse a trace of their owner's intentions. "Are you talking about..."

Dumbledore silently lowered his eyes and released the fruit drop in his hand. He peeled off the wrapper and put the candy into his mouth.

"Wait. You mean Cyberlina might have gone to find—" Snape took several steps forward and braced both hands on the headmaster's desk. Looking at the old man with his head lowered as he ate the candy, he rolled the name around in his mouth several times before finally saying it aloud. "...Grindelwald?"

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Cyberlina smiled brightly at the provocative look on Grindelwald's face. She lowered her eyes slightly and lightly raised her wand—a silver decorative chain wound around the collar of his shirt, its end tucked into the left breast pocket of his waistcoat.

"This seems more suitable, but unfortunately—" Cyberlina looked regretful, though the amusement in her eyes did not diminish in the slightest. Instead, it grew even more intense. "The thing that would have fit perfectly here... is already gone, isn't it?"

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

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