What It Feels Like to Have a Father Nearly a Century Older Than You

"Well, Kyle, let's go," Dumbledore checked the time. "We can just make it for breakfast."

Dumbledore led Kyle along the elevated stone bridge built into the mountainside as they walked towards the castle.

Along the way, Kyle tried hard to recall the movie plots he'd seen in his previous life. According to the normal sequence of events, shouldn't they have sent an owl first?

Why was it that in his case, the Headmaster himself came to visit?

Although his situation was a bit unusual.

And why on earth would Aurors from the American magical world want to arrest him?

Kyle, with a head full of questions, spoke up, "Headmaster..."

"Just call me Professor," Dumbledore winked at Kyle and smiled.

"Okay, Professor," Kyle readily agreed and then asked the question that was on his mind, "Why is all of this related to my father?"

Dumbledore sighed softly, contemplating whether to tell Kyle the truth about his origins.

Kyle followed behind Dumbledore, unaware of Dumbledore's shifting expression.

After a brief moment of thought, Dumbledore decided to speak.

"Do you know your surname?" Dumbledore stopped and turned to look at Kyle.

"Grindelwald?"

His current name, according to the director of the orphanage he was in, was written on a slip of paper attached to his swaddling clothes.

Kyle had no idea what was problematic about this surname.

It wasn't his fault, after all. In his previous life, he wasn't very interested in the Harry Potter series. He had only seen one movie, Philosopher's Stone, let alone the two Fantastic Beasts films.

Therefore, Kyle didn't know what the surname Grindelwald meant to the European magical world.

"Your father's name is Gellert Grindelwald." As soon as this name was mentioned, Dumbledore fell into a reminiscent mood.

Kyle's question pulled Dumbledore back from his memories. "What kind of person was he?"

"Let's talk as we walk." The Scottish Highlands were still very cold in February, and the biting wind blowing through the mountains in the early morning made Dumbledore shiver. He was an old man of over a hundred years and couldn't stand the cold.

"Your father, Gellert Grindelwald, was a very complex figure. He was highly idealistic and exceptionally talented."

"I became friends with him in the summer of 1899. We became close confidants because of a shared grand vision."

Kyle: ???

The summer of 1899?

Kyle dug at his ear, trying to confirm if his hearing was faulty.

"But then, for some reason, we had a falling out," Dumbledore's face showed a hint of pain as he said this. "After that, Gellert went against the law and began a dark revolution."

"He pursued reform outside the bounds of the law and committed numerous crimes with his followers. His influence spread throughout America and Europe..."

"He was therefore considered one of the most powerful dark wizards in history."

Kyle opened his mouth, wanting to speak but not knowing where to begin his complaint.

His father was an old man over a hundred years old?

Well, actually, this age gap... wasn't the biggest problem.

The biggest problem was that his father was actually a...

The word "terrorist" was an insult to his father, who had stirred up trouble in Europe.

Kyle couldn't find the right word to describe him at the moment.

The world's most heinous criminal?

Stop! His dad wasn't Monkey D. Dragon, and he didn't want to be the King of the Pirates.

A Shura of the wizarding world?

Stop! His dad wasn't Uchiha Madara, and Dumbledore wasn't Senju Hashirama.

Kyle reined in his increasingly wild thoughts. "So, that's why the Aurors want to arrest me?"

Dumbledore nodded.

"When every young wizard turns eleven, their name automatically appears on the enrollment list of the local magical school. That's how the American Magical Congress discovered you."

"Fortunately, the wife of Mr. Scamander, who was just here, used to work at the American Magical Congress. That's how Newt and I were able to find you before the Aurors arrived."

Dumbledore's words answered some of Kyle's confusion.

"Then what about my father? Where is he now? Why has he never come to find me?"

As he said this, Kyle's tone unconsciously carried a hint of resentment, even though he had no feelings whatsoever for this father he had never met.

However, anyone who was abandoned in an orphanage and neglected for six years, embarking on a journey of wandering at the tender age of six, couldn't help but harbor some resentment.

Even though he was doing well on his own now, he couldn't help but feel some blame towards Gellert Grindelwald.

Without realizing it, the two had passed through the castle's forecourt and arrived at the castle's main entrance.

Dumbledore stood at the castle's main gate, his expression somewhat melancholic.

"It's not your father's fault; he can't, not that he won't."

Dumbledore's slightly withered hand stroked Kyle's short, golden hair. "In 1945, I defeated him. Since then, he has been imprisoned in Nurmengard, never stepping outside the castle."

Kyle was stunned. So, his father, whom he'd never met, was still in prison? And it was the white-bearded old man in front of him who put him there?

"Then what about my mother?"

As Kyle mentioned the word "mother," he noticed a flicker of embarrassment cross the old man's face.

Kyle immediately guessed there might be some unspeakable secret, so he quickly changed the subject.

"What about my identity... Will taking me in cause you any trouble?"

Starting out as the Demon King's son, it would be quite troublesome if enemies came looking for him. Kyle asked this intentionally; he just wanted to find a shield for himself.

Since Dumbledore wouldn't just abandon him, who else could be a better candidate for this shield than Dumbledore himself?

However, Dumbledore's answer was somewhat unexpected:

"If you wish, the name you will be registered with on Hogwarts' student roster in the future will be Kyle Dumbledore."

"When you possess the strength to stand on your own, it won't be too late to reclaim the surname Grindelwald."

Alright, changing his surname solved the problem. Moreover, with this surname, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted at Hogwarts.

"I'm honored, Professor," Kyle grinned.

It seemed Dumbledore and his father had a very close relationship, otherwise, Dumbledore wouldn't have made such a suggestion.

Dumbledore smiled and patted Kyle's shoulder. "Come, let's go to the Great Hall for a meal."

The main hall of Hogwarts' Great Hall.

When Kyle and Dumbledore appeared at the entrance, the wizards studying at Hogwarts were already seated around four long tables. Thousands of candles floated in the air above the tables, illuminating the dining hall.

The four tables were laden with gleaming tableware, filled with all sorts of delicious dishes. For breakfast, such a spread was certainly too lavish.

Cereal, bread rolls, orange juice, pickled fish, eggs and bacon, toast, buttered jam bread, cornflakes...

Having spent a few years in an orphanage, Kyle had thought that foreigners' breakfasts were generally just bread with jam and a glass of milk.

Now, it seemed the orphanage was too poor to afford such things.

At the head of the dining hall, on a raised platform, was another long table – the teachers' table.

Kyle, who had blundered into the Great Hall, was dressed in Muggle attire. Compared to the Hogwarts students, who were all uniformly wearing wizard robes, he looked out of place.

As he began to feel flustered, Dumbledore's gentle voice sounded in his ear.

"You can dine with me, or you can find any long table to sit at."

Facing the unfamiliar faces at the long tables, and the curious gazes they cast his way, Kyle felt it would be better to stay with Dumbledore.

"Professor, I'll stay with you," Kyle followed Dumbledore's footsteps.