The girl was beautiful.
Even under Ian's very real "raw camera"—his own eyes—he couldn't find a single flaw. She far surpassed the beauty-filter warriors he'd seen on social media platforms like Slow Hands.
Her skin was as fair and delicate as porcelain beneath a fresh layer of snow, with a faint sheen. Her refined features held a cool, distant air, and her platinum-blonde hair only enhanced her otherworldly beauty.
Golden light danced among the girl's tresses.
"I've seen you before."
The girl's voice was young and clear.
"Uh, I think that was in Diagon Alley. I bought my wand before you did." Ian recognized the girl almost immediately.
At Ollivanders Wand Shop.
He'd nearly collided head-on with the girl's icy, aloof guardian.
"Is that so?"
The girl neither confirmed nor denied it.
She kept staring at Ian's face.
Her differently colored eyes shimmered like gemstones.
"Yeah, that's right."
Ian raised an eyebrow.
Her gaze was making him a little self-conscious.
He felt as if she hadn't taken her eyes off his face. A few little girls had stared at him like that before, but their eyes had clearly never been as unusual as this girl's.
Ian had to admit that she was dazzlingly beautiful, too.
Even though he had a face that was a few shades more handsome than Leonardo DiCaprio's in his youth, standing beside her made him feel slightly outmatched.
"Can I help you with something? Kraft had to go out for a while, so I'm looking after the place for him." The girl finally looked away.
The Kraft she mentioned was probably the bookstore owner.
"I'd like to sell these three books back to him, then pick out some secondhand textbooks on Potions." Ian tried to make his smile look warm and friendly.
It wasn't that his young heart was fluttering. He had an adult's soul and thoughts, after all; there was no way he'd be interested in a little girl of around ten.
He just wanted to make a good impression.
That was all.
He wanted to get a better price.
Yeah.
An underage girl was one thing.
But what could beat the allure of Galleons?
"Selling books and buying books? Of course, no problem."
The girl's gaze fell on the three books Ian was holding against his chest. Books in the wizarding world were thick and wide, nearly covering most of Ian's chest.
"So you're the little wizard Kraft called presumptuous."
The girl saw the titles on the books and looked at Ian again in surprise.
Judging by her rather rude remark,
it wasn't hard to tell
that Ian had become the bookstore owner's favorite joke.
"..."
Ian's smile stiffened.
"I'm sorry."
The girl realized that she shouldn't have blurted that out. She hurriedly stood up and apologized to Ian as if she'd done something wrong.
Thump.
The book she'd been holding on her lap fell to the floor.
The girl immediately crouched down in a fluster to pick it up. Even in the middle of all that fumbling, she didn't forget to earnestly explain herself to Ian.
It didn't quite fit with her cool, distant appearance.
"I wasn't trying to mock you. That's what Kraft said; I was only repeating his words... Uh, I do think he really was mocking you."
Good grief!
That explanation would've been better left unsaid!
"Ancient Runes really is a little difficult for me."
Ian forced himself to keep smiling. He hadn't expected the girl to seem so cold and haughty on the outside, yet be so... peculiar to talk to.
"Yes, it's the same for me."
The girl placed the book she'd picked up on the table and took the three books Ian handed her. Only then did Ian notice that the book she'd been reading was also about Ancient Runes.
Analysis and Research of Runes.
He'd never heard of it.
Or maybe it wasn't actually a book.
Most books had titles printed on their covers in gold lettering, but the title on the girl's text had been handwritten with a quill.
Maybe it was a notebook?
Whatever it was, it was probably a lot more advanced than the beginner books Ian had bought.
"It's an elective for third-years. I was just a little curious, that's all." Ian sighed in a show of resignation, not bragging about how he'd already grasped the basics.
Although there usually wasn't much of a "the tallest tree catches the wind" problem during one's time at Hogwarts, Hogsmeade Village was still a mixed bag.
Acting weak to hide his strength wasn't Ian's style, but neither was showing off at the wrong time.
"You're a first-year at Hogwarts?"
The girl's eyes lit up.
"Yes. Ian Prince. If all goes well, we'll be classmates, right?" Ian remembered that the girl had bought her wand only recently, too.
"Maybe. The headmaster hasn't approved my application yet... My name is Aurora Grindelwald."
The girl seemed noticeably nervous as she introduced herself. Her mismatched eyes were fixed on Ian, leaving him rather confused.
Was she waiting for him to shake her hand?
At the thought,
Ian reached out to her.
The girl visibly froze for a moment.
Then she quickly reached out and shook his hand.
"That's a lovely name."
Ian offered the customary pleasantry. The girl's surname sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he'd heard it. It was right there at the edge of his mind, yet shrouded in mist.
"Thank you. You're pretty brave, too."
The girl named Aurora seemed to let out a small, secret sigh of relief.
Her words left Ian baffled.
When she noticed his confused expression, Aurora's eyes began to dart away. She quickly turned her attention to the three books Ian had set on the table.
"Kraft said he could buy them back from you for three Galleons if you came in to sell them."
She was obviously changing the subject.
Ian didn't notice.
He just felt disappointed.
"The old man even went out of his way to give you instructions." Ian had been planning to tell a small lie to get a better buyback price. He hadn't expected the bookstore owner to have everything so thoroughly covered.
"I took good care of them, and I've only had them for a few days. They must be worth four Galleons!" Ian still couldn't help testing his luck.
To his surprise,
"You have a point. Four Galleons it is."
Aurora agreed so readily that Ian didn't know what to make of it.
"Uh... Then could I get some secondhand textbooks on Potions?" Ian swallowed all the arguments he'd prepared.
"Sure, I think the Potions books are..." Aurora glanced around. The place was cluttered with books piled everywhere, and her eyes began to glaze over.
"I'll find them myself."
Ian could tell she was in a bind. Luckily, he was already familiar with the bookstore. Before long, he'd dug out the Potions textbooks for first through seventh year from the heaps of scattered books.
"How much?"
Ian looked at the stack of books piled nearly half as high as he was, feeling a little uneasy. He wasn't sure whether the money left in his pouch, together with what he'd get for selling back the Ancient Runes books, would be enough.
Curse the monopoly on knowledge!
Corrupt wizarding world!
Was there no wizarding-world boss like Lei who could step up and bring down the price of spellbooks?
"Let me see..."
Aurora tried to check the prices on the backs of the books. But these were old textbooks, and the price tags on most of them had long since worn away or been torn off.
The cool, refined little girl suddenly looked like she had cartoon eyes.
"How much do you think they're worth?"
After a long while,
Aurora asked tentatively, pretending to be calm.
"I think... one Galleon?"
Ian answered with the conviction that shamelessness was the key to getting anything in life.
"Hiss, if Kraft heard that price, he'd be so mad he'd jump up and slap... slap himself in the face!" Aurora sucked in a sharp breath.
Her strange description left Ian baffled again. But now clearly wasn't the time to puzzle over why Kraft would slap himself instead of Aurora.
"I'm not buying them. I'm renting them. I'll return them later."
Of course, Ian didn't dare spend a single Galleon to take home books worth far more than that. He figured he could buy a quill and copy down all their contents himself.
The wizarding world had quills that could copy things automatically.
"He'd notice, wouldn't he?"
Aurora sounded hesitant.
Renting books?
The shop didn't seem to offer anything like that.
"There are too many books here to count, and he only took over a few months ago. He clearly hasn't sorted out the inventory at all. How would he know you'd rented a few out for next to nothing?"
Ian lowered his voice.
Then he launched into the "reasonable" analysis he was best at. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to buy them, but renting would clearly be better value. After all, any one book could only teach him so much.
He was destined to need lots and lots of books.
"Think about it. He can't even be bothered to cast a simple organizing charm. That proves your guardian doesn't care about these books. But I'm someone who treasures knowledge and loves books."
"Miss Grindelwald! You must understand. Knowledge exists to be learned, not to rot away in a corner until it turns to dust!"
Ian had already honed his talent for spouting nonsense while doing fortune-telling on the street. His speech left the girl named Aurora staring wide-eyed.
She looked utterly dumbfounded.
Her gaze was full of astonishment, too.
"I admire your eloquence, but Kraft definitely won't agree. He cares a lot about Galleons." After hesitating for a moment, Aurora still shook her head.
"I won't deny that. But clearly, neither you nor I knows how much these books cost, right?" Ian sneaked a glance toward the front door.
Then he put on an utterly sincere expression.
"As a customer, I obviously don't want to get ripped off."
His words
won an agreeing nod from Aurora.
However,
"I don't want to get ripped off either."
Her delicate face was full of earnestness.
"Of course."
Ian's expression remained unchanged, his smile unwavering.
"If I don't want to get ripped off, and you don't want to get ripped off, then let's talk about renting the books and inconveniencing your guardian, Mr. Kraft, a little."
"Let me ask you something first, if you don't mind. Is he your grandfather or your maternal grandfather?"
Ian
"Of course not."
Aurora shook her head.
"He's one of my guardians."
The girl didn't seem willing to share anything more.
But
that was fine.
"Okay, a guardian works too. Trust me, he won't know which books are missing. I can even give you three Galleons to hide away as pocket money."
Ian had finally shown his hand.
He'd resorted to the most devious trick of all when dealing with children.
"!!!!!"
Aurora's expression suddenly became very animated. She sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Ian with an indescribable expression of disbelief.
"You're trying to bribe me?"
Her voice carried a hint of disbelief—and a little excitement, too?
"That's not a bribe, Miss Grindelwald. It's a deal between the two of us." Ian corrected her with a straight face, then lowered his voice even further.
"I'll sneak the books back later, and then it'll be like nothing ever happened. We both win: I get the knowledge I want, and you get Galleons to buy lots of Chocolate Frogs."
"Or do you prefer Lemon Sherbet or Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?" Ian figured no kid could resist the temptation of snacks.
The facts proved it.
Aurora's expression had indeed wavered noticeably. The cool air that her appearance had lent her seemed to have faded considerably in that moment.
"I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I don't think I've ever acted this rebelliously before. Maybe this is what Grandfather meant when he said I needed to learn something at Hogwarts?"
Aurora seemed to be talking to herself.
"Learn what?"
Ian asked curiously.
The exceptionally beautiful girl looked up at Ian.
Two words left her lips.
"Cunning."
She delivered her verdict.
"..."
Ian regretted asking such a stupid question.
Fortunately, though, things had gone more or less as he'd hoped.
"I can agree to this deal."
Aurora had eventually been persuaded by Ian. Or perhaps it wasn't the Galleons that had convinced her. Maybe she simply felt that this would help her acquire some of the things she wanted.
Right.
It was hard to imagine that anyone would want to become cunning.
"Wise choice!"
Ian was a little excited.
"Here."
Aurora took out a piece of paper.
She wrote down the name of every book on it.
Then,
she took a Galleon from the counter and handed it to Ian—the money she'd gotten for buying back the three books earlier. After deducting the three Galleons he'd paid to rent them, one remained.
"Thank you! This helps me a lot!"
Ian thanked her sincerely. If his wallet had allowed it, he wouldn't have tried to sweet-talk a little girl. But even a penny could bring a hero to his knees.
He hadn't expected there to be dozens of textbooks for all seven years. And judging by Teacher Mara's situation, he'd need countless more books in the future.
"You're welcome."
Aurora replied in a clear voice.
Suddenly,
she asked, quite out of the blue,
"Does that make us accomplices?"
For some reason,
there was a hint of excitement in the little foreign girl's voice.
"We're friends."
Ian smiled at her.
"Friends?"
Aurora's gaze grew a little unfocused again.
But
it soon settled on the books once more.
"To be honest, I don't recommend devoting too much time to studying Potions. It won't give you much in the way of power." Aurora offered her advice seriously.
"I'm just interested in it."
Ian began stacking the books one by one so he could carry them back. Just then, Aurora went over to the corner and took a book out of a white satchel.
"Grandfather once reminded me that when you make a like-minded friend, you need to win them over. I think this will suit you." Aurora walked toward Ian, holding a book with an expensive-looking cover.
"What's this?"
Ian was already holding a pile of books. He watched as Aurora placed the book on top of the stack of Potions books, which had risen well above his head.
"I have a gift. I can tell it suits you very well... far better than it suits me." Aurora's mismatched eyes fixed on Ian's face again.
"Thank you."
Whatever it was,
it was still a gift from someone else.
Ian felt that her mismatched eyes exerted a peculiar pressure on him.
"I'm heading back. See you in a couple of days."
Ian was ready to make his escape.
"You're the most persuasive person your age I've ever met. You shouldn't live here. You should live in Azkaban. Sooner or later, you'll probably be arrested for fraud."
Aurora waved goodbye, but spoke with genuine feeling as well. As always, she made no effort to hold back. She simply said whatever was on her mind.
"I'll take that as a compliment. There's nothing wrong with Azkaban, really. But if I had to choose, Azkaban would just be further study. Nurmengard is where you truly graduate."
Ian joked.
He struggled toward the door with the towering stack of books in his arms. If his Free Combat skill hadn't given him decent stamina, his little body might not have been able to hold so many books.
"You know about Nurmengard?"
Aurora, who had returned to the counter at the very back of the shop, suddenly looked up in surprise.
"That's where they imprisoned the first Dark Lord. I know that much, yes. It's probably in the textbook. I'll check what his name was when I get back tonight."
Ian knew the details were recorded in A History of Magic.
He'd been too busy studying Runes lately to look through any of the Hogwarts first-year textbooks other than The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1.
The information he'd mentioned came from the few films and Hermione fanfics he'd read before crossing over. The memories hadn't yet faded into the mists of time. In the chapter comments of Hermione fanfics, he'd occasionally seen mysterious figures mention the name Nurmengard in certain situations.
Like during the Sorting.
Or when the protagonist killed someone.
Then some mysterious figure would shout that the protagonist should be sent to Nurmengard.
"Gellert."
Aurora spoke in a low voice.
"Uh, is that it?"
Ian kept walking.
"I don't think I could be wrong about this. His name was Gellert... Grindelwald." Aurora's voice trailed off.
Ian stopped in his tracks.
It was as if the memories clouded by his long, drifting journey after crossing over had suddenly been wiped clear.
Damn!
No wonder!
No wonder the name Grindelwald had sounded familiar just now!
Hadn't a spin-off movie about him been in development just before Ian crossed over? Sheesh! He'd actually called someone's family member a Dark Lord right to their face!
"Miss Grindelwald..."
Ian turned around with some difficulty and looked behind him.
The German girl was gazing at him with a distant look in her eyes.
"If I said 'Dark Lord' was a compliment, would you believe me?"
Ian managed a strained smile.
"You should be glad Kraft isn't here."
Aurora suddenly seemed amused.
She raised a hand and waved goodbye to Ian.
"But he'll be back soon."
It sounded like a warning.
Ian hurried off with the books in his arms, practically running. He reached the little house Snape had arranged for him, panting all the way. After resting for a moment, Ian dumped all the dozens of books onto the table.
"Crash!"
The stack of books spread across the tabletop.
Among them,
the book Aurora had given him stood out the most. It had a strangely distinctive appearance, with a few streaks of purple against its pitch-black cover. Both its look and feel were completely unlike those of the other, battered textbooks.
Secrets of the Darkest Art
The book's title seemed to possess a peculiar magic.
It seemed to writhe and twist.
[PS: To clarify, nothing was done secretly. The outline for this book was only planned after the first five chapters were published on the first day, so those first five chapters have been revised a little based on readers' suggestions.
Grindelwald only appeared in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, in the memory where Voldemort interrogated him in prison about the Elder Wand's whereabouts.
He was also mentioned on Albus Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. And early fanfics rarely mentioned him either.]