Old Friend (Thanks to Danqi for the love-powered support! Thank you!)

"Oh, my heavens, look who's here?"

Nurmengard, deep within the tower.

The stone walls were icy cold, and only a narrow window let in the grayish-white daylight. Grindelwald sat in a battered chair, his white hair disheveled, yet his gaze remained sharp, like embers that still retained warmth after the fire had burned out. His robes no longer showed their original color, dull gray and frayed at the cuffs, but he still sat upright, like an imprisoned king.

Dumbledore stood several steps away, his moonstone spectacles reflecting a faint gleam, snow and wind clinging to his robes from outside.

"You finally came, Dumbledore. I thought you would never set foot in this place again for the rest of your life." Grindelwald's voice was hoarse, but he pronounced every word clearly.

Dumbledore was silent for a while before replying, "I'm not here to reminisce."

Grindelwald smiled faintly and continued speaking to himself. "Dumbledore, you're still the same, you old bastard!

"Did you come to flaunt your victory? You became the greatest wizard of the new age, and your—" He paused, his sharp eyes fixed on Dumbledore. "And your fame was built upon mine."

He leaned forward slightly, making the chains clatter.

"Did you win?

"You won!

"The Statute of Secrecy still exists. The Dark Lord was defeated. He was imprisoned in Nurmengard, in the prison he built with his own hands.

"There is no longer any greater good. But Dumbledore, you were the one who first proposed that slogan! You...

"Why did you retreat?"

Dumbledore's fingers twitched faintly.

"What are you afraid of? The order you want to preserve has long since passed away, and even this, you can no longer maintain. You forcibly suppress every conflict through your own strength alone. So they call you—" Grindelwald gave Dumbledore a mocking smile as he spoke.

"The White Lord!"

Dumbledore's fingertips tightened slightly, proving that his heart was not as calm as it seemed. His nails dug into his palm, but he said nothing.

Grindelwald gave Dumbledore no chance to speak and continued, "Because fundamentally, we are the same. Both of us are tyrants who rely on our own strength to force everyone else to obey. You can't possibly be unaware of that, can you? They resist you, undermine you, and pay lip service while defying you behind your back, because that brings sweeter rewards. Hmph. Watching your former students turn into people you no longer recognize must be quite challenging, huh? Quite fulfilling, huh?"

He raised his head and looked directly into Dumbledore's eyes. Those mismatched pupils, those eyes that had once burned with ambition, now burned with something else—understanding, resonance, the pity one lonely man felt for another.

"Who still loves you now, Dumbledore?"

"Those who survived because of you, those who triumphed because of you, are all... using curses without magic, hoping you die soon!"

His voice suddenly dropped, so low it was almost inaudible.

"Only I love you."

The cell fell silent. Wind poured in through the narrow window, stirring the hem of Dumbledore's robes.

"Only I love you!"

"Only I love you..."

"You won... You won..."

"But you... why didn't you come see me..."

"Come see me..."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. His lips moved, then closed again. Several seconds passed before his voice finally squeezed out of his throat, quiet and strained. "But I... I need you now, Grindelwald."

Grindelwald froze for a moment, then abruptly raised his head. A flash of disbelief crossed his eyes before he looked at him mockingly and laughed.

"Are you joking, Dumbledore? The great White Lord needs a loser?"

"I also found you a perfect successor, Grindelwald."

Grindelwald's expression changed. That mocking, piercing look vanished, replaced by a nearly greedy curiosity. His eyes lit up, like a hunter catching the scent of prey, or a scholar hearing an exhilarating new theory.

"You should have said so earlier, Dumbledore! We can talk this over." His expression changed, and his tone became much lighter, even carrying the eager impatience of a young man.

"I came here to give you a choice."

"A choice? Dumbledore, you and I both know that saving the world is your business! It's what you do best!" Grindelwald leaned forward, and his chains rattled again. "Who is this successor you mentioned? Where is he?"

"At Hogwarts. I truly came here because I need someone who genuinely understands the Dark Arts to stand before the older students and teach them how to survive."

Grindelwald was slightly stunned, his brow furrowing. "What are you trying to say?"

"I want to ask you to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for Hogwarts' upper-year students, Grindelwald."

The cell instantly fell silent, save for the howling wind.

Grindelwald looked as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world and slowly rose to his feet. His shackles scraped across the floor with a harsh screech, and his knees cracked softly—he had sat too long, and his joints had stiffened. He straightened up, half a head taller than Dumbledore.

"Then let's have a proper talk about the story of my successor..."

"Draco, Draco, Draco, Draco!"

In the Great Hall at lunchtime, a clear voice came from the entrance, drawing closer as it charged into the Slytherin table area like a tiny cannonball.

A little girl rushed to Draco's side, sat down directly, and squeezed Goyle out of the way.

Goyle had been holding a fried chicken drumstick, his mouth greasy from eating, and only realized what had happened after landing hard on the floor. He blinked, looked up to see who had been so outrageous, and found Astoria grinning at Malfoy.

Goyle got up and dusted off his backside, then squeezed in beside Crabbe and continued eating. The two sat shoulder to shoulder in a space originally meant for only one person and kept stuffing their faces. Crabbe was shoved slightly sideways, but he said nothing. After all, he was still holding a roast chicken and had no time to fuss over such things.

Su Yu silently mourned for that bench for quite a while. How the hell was the poor thing supposed to withstand those two rough brutes?

Then he secretly tugged on Daphne's sleeve, telling her to look toward Malfoy as well.

Daphne was elegantly cutting up the fried fish on her plate. It was actually Su Yu's fish. She could not stand watching him swallow it whole in one bite, so she had cut it into small pieces for him first. It was completely pointless, though; Su Yu would still scoop everything up and shove it all into his mouth at once.

When Su Yu tugged her sleeve, she lifted her eyes and glanced toward Malfoy, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly.

Malfoy was currently staring at the little ancestor Astoria with a face full of sorrow.

His brows were twisted into a knot, his mouth turned downward, and he shifted slightly to one side as if trying to get farther away from her, but there was nowhere left to retreat.

"Why are you here again?" Malfoy lowered his voice until only the people beside him could hear.

Astoria did not care about any of that. Bracing both hands on the table, she leaned forward, her big blue eyes fixed directly on Malfoy as she kept shouting, "Draco, Draco, Draco!"

Malfoy already sensed trouble. He shrank down a little farther and lowered his voice again. "What is it this time, Astoria?"

"I missed you so much!"

Malfoy's face instantly turned red, starting at the base of his neck and spreading all the way upward. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, but not a word came out. Several seconds later, he finally forced out, "Y-you... what are you saying? That isn't something a lady should say!"

Astoria tilted her head, her eyes sparkling, looking utterly innocent. "But I'm telling the truth! Did you miss me, Draco?"

By now, Malfoy was so embarrassed that he began to stammer. "I... I... I didn't miss you!"

"But your mother said you love saying the opposite of what you mean! You definitely missed me too!"

Malfoy's face was completely red now. His mouth opened and closed, then closed and opened again, like a fish thrown onto shore. The surrounding Slytherin students had already begun to snicker. Some covered their mouths, while others lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking.

There was no way this conversation could continue. Malfoy abruptly stood up and shoved his chair back with an ear-piercing scrape. "I have things to do!" After throwing that out, he turned and left. Blushing furiously with his head lowered, he fled the Great Hall at the fastest speed of his life. His robe even caught on the doorframe, nearly sending him sprawling face-first.

Pansy instantly turned beet red beside them. Her face flushed crimson, and her clenched fists crackled. She looked in the direction Malfoy had vanished, then turned to Crabbe and Goyle, who were still gnawing on chicken legs with their heads down, completely unaware of what had happened.

Pansy smacked Crabbe and Goyle on their blockhead skulls. "Eat, eat, eat! All you know is eating! Your boss has already left, so what are you still eating for?"

Goyle and Crabbe raised their bewildered little eyes and looked around, but their boss was already nowhere to be seen. Crabbe still had half a mouthful of chicken, and he mumbled that they could not find him, so they should eat first. Goyle nodded as well. The two exchanged a look, then lowered their heads and continued eating.

Pansy pressed a hand to her forehead speechlessly. She felt like she was about to become another mother hen like Daphne. Sighing, she picked up a glass of pumpkin juice from the table and took a gulp, then another.

At that moment, Theodore tried to ease the awkwardness by asking Astoria, "Can you still keep up with the new term? I can lend you my old notes. Potions can be difficult. It took me a long time to understand it back then too."

Astoria turned to him and gave him a sweet smile. "You're the best, Theodore!"

Blaise joined in from the side, leaning against the table with an amused smile, clearly enjoying the show. "Draco looked really adorable just now. You should keep pestering him like that, Astoria. You're the best!" With that, he burst into laughter, his voice echoing along the Slytherin table.

Slytherin certainly had no shortage of excitement this year.

Seeing the furious Pansy and the speechless Daphne, Su Yu quickly wrapped an arm around Daphne and comforted her. "She's just a little girl. You can't expect every girl to be as mature, beautiful, and graceful as you. It's fine, it's fine. She's still young..."

But Daphne had already reached her limit. She broke free from Su Yu's embrace and grabbed Astoria by the ear. She moved so fast that Su Yu did not even see how she did it. Astoria yelped, and her whole body was lifted from the chair, her ear pinched bright red.

"Come back with your sister." Daphne's voice was not loud, but it allowed no argument.

Astoria covered her ear, muttering, "Ow, ow, ow," but she did not dare stop walking as Daphne dragged her toward the common room.

Su Yu was about to stop them and see whether he could rescue Astoria. His hand stretched halfway out, then slowly withdrew.

Because the moment he saw Daphne's practiced ear-tugging technique, he was instantly rendered speechless.

Su Yu silently followed behind them. The Nine-Tailed Fox also returned to Su Yu's body in fright.

If you hit her, then you can't hit me anymore.

Su Yu could sense that the Nine-Tailed Fox had curled into a ball in the soul space as well, all nine tails wrapped tightly around herself, leaving only her eyes exposed.

Daphne strode ahead in long steps while Astoria jogged after her, still being dragged by the ear, constantly crying, "Sister, I was wrong!" "Sister, be gentler!" "Sister, I'll never dare do it again!" Daphne did not answer a single word.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall, who had just been about to enter through the Great Hall doors, stopped and asked, "Mr. Malfoy, why are you skulking around the entrance eavesdropping? Why don't you just go inside?"