Grindelwald's Prophecy

"Click--"

A crisp shattering sound rang out in the Nurmengard prison cell.

"Gellert!"

Dumbledore gasped as he saw Grindelwald suddenly shatter the teacup in his hand, blood mingling with the tea and flowing freely.

Dumbledore abruptly stood up, walked to Grindelwald's side, grabbed his injured hand to examine it closely, and at the same time took out the Elder Wand and quickly cast a healing spell, a soft, pale light emanating from the tip of the wand.

Grindelwald remained silent, his tightly closed eyes trembling slightly.

Although he didn't open his eyes, Grindelwald seemed to sense Dumbledore's tension and panic, and he tried hard to suppress a smile.

Grindelwald could easily have healed the minor cuts on his hands himself, but he patiently waited for Dumbledore to finish treating him.

"I'm fine, Al."

Looking at Grindelwald's closed eyes, a glint flashed in Dumbledore's eyes.

"Gellert, did you use Divination on Lucien?"

Dumbledore well aware of this man's Prophecy abilities; as a born seer, his heterochromatic eyes could perceive "illusions."

Those imagined figures or events will surely cause a huge upheaval, large enough to affect the world.

Grindelwald did not answer immediately, but took a while before slowly opening his eyes.

A few blood vessels appeared in the dim eye, but the other bright blue eye shone with light.

"You know my Divination abilities are divided into passive and active. Passively triggered Prophecy occur in the distant future, and the scenes are more complete..."

Dumbledore didn't interrupt, waiting for Grindelwald to explain what kind of Prophecy it was.

Seeing that Dumbledore didn't take the bait and press for more information, Grindelwald subtly pursed his lips.

"I just had two Divination. The first one was passive, but..."

I didn't see anything.

Dumbledore frowned. He knew Grindelwald well, but he had never heard of such a situation.

It's clearly a more detailed passive Prophecy, yet it doesn't reveal any revelation?

"So I Divination about that boy named Lucien for the second time."

"Guess what I saw?"

Grindelwald hadn't expected him to say that, but Dumbledore still cooperated and asked:

"Gellert, what did you see?"

Grindelwald smiled with satisfaction, but his tone suddenly turned serious.

"A vortex, a vast, boundless vortex."

After saying that, Grindelwald fell silent.

Dumbledore knew that this was probably all he had seen; the scenes seen through active Prophecy were fragmented and brief.

Dumbledore's guess was correct, but not complete. What Grindelwald didn't say was that his second Divination was indeed incomplete, but he terminated it voluntarily.

The moment he "saw" that vortex, an indescribable pressure descended upon Grindelwald's mind.

His intuition told him that if he continued watching...

But Grindelwald wouldn't show weakness in front of Dumbledore, so he didn't reveal the truth that followed.

After all these years, a strange sense of curiosity welled up in Grindelwald's heart.

"That child is so unique, so interesting..."

Unexpectedly, Grindelwald became interested in Lucien, so Dumbledore inquired about it:

What are your thoughts on this Prophecy?

The content revealed by Divination is only one aspect, but its interpretation is equally important.

Grindelwald looked into Dumbledore's eyes and said with great interest:

"That child will definitely have a profound impact on the Wizarding World and even the entire world, but I can't see whether that impact will be good or bad."

"Al, you're his principal, he's your student, you surely know that child better than I do, don't you?"

Hearing Grindelwald's question, Dumbledore recalled the past year they had spent together, pondering Lucien's performance and qualities.

That pure and unwavering thirst for knowledge, that warm and approachable manner in helping classmates, that clever and resourceful approach to solving problems...

Ultimately, Dumbledore's memory is frozen on that night in the Forbidden Forest.

The scene where the newborn Unicorn pins its horn against Lucien's hand.

"He's a good boy, Gellert, you know, Lucien saved a little Unicorn and received Unicorn blessing..."

Grindelwald enjoyed listening to Dumbledore's casual conversation, but as he listened, a strange look appeared in his eyes, and his expression became unnatural. Finally, he said quietly:

"So, this is another young person who's good at getting along with Magical Creatures?"

After he finished speaking, both old men fell silent.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Perhaps not wanting to waste this precious time together, Grindelwald started talking again:

"So, how do you plan to treat such a young man, who is exceptionally talented, even frighteningly so?"

This question silenced Dumbledore, and he finally let out a long sigh.

How did he treat the last exceptionally gifted child?

Be on guard, be on alert, suppress...

Voldemort's nature was far from benevolent, but Dumbledore occasionally hesitated, wondering if everything he had done back then was right...

It was Dumbledore went to the orphanage to pick Tom up for school, but what did he do after learning about the boy's actions?

A magical flame ignited Tom's wardrobe, though it didn't actually burn down the wardrobe that held all of Tom's possessions.

But that blazing fire irreversibly ignited Tom's ambition for power and authority.

Dumbledore sometimes wondered if things would have turned out differently if he hadn't used such oppressive violence to force Tom to return the items he'd stolen from the other children and apologize, but instead employed a gentler, more appropriate approach.

Looking at Grindelwald sitting opposite him, Dumbledore felt an even greater bitterness in his heart.

He showed little patience or consideration for Tom at the time, resorting instead to a violent and authoritarian approach to education, partly because more important and painful matters occupied most of his mind.

"Lucien is a good boy."

"This time, I can't afford to teach the wrong thing again."

The two elderly people chatted for a while longer, ranging from major events like the splitting of a Ministry of Magic Ministry of Magic eastern Europe into more than a dozen, to minor matters like the toilet seats at school being "borrowed" by some mischievous young wizards...

As the sun set, Dumbledore slowly rose to leave. Just as he was about to step out of the room, he heard Grindelwald whisper:

"I really want to meet that little wizard Lucien; it would be so interesting. Life here is so boring..."

"By the way, I'm out of parchment here. Send me some next time."