The Resolution

It was a dark, murky sea, with thick, leaden clouds firmly blocking out the bright moonlight. Only the occasional flash of lightning brought a sliver of light to the surging waves.

Accompanying this fleeting brilliance was a deafening roar, with howling sea winds sweeping across the waves as if it were the end of the world.

In such weather, even the most skilled sailor, navigating the sturdiest ship, would not dare venture into this pitch-black expanse.

However, unseen by the naked eye, lies a pristine paradise within the surging waves. There, the sea's surface is like a mirror, and only the occasional ripples reveal that this is not a still image.

On this sea, a large ship Winky in the moonlight.

Its appearance was bizarre, like a skeleton, as if it were the remains of a shipwreck that had just been salvaged. The portholes flickered with a dim, misty light, looking like the eyes of a ghost.

On this Ghost Ship, a tall, thin figure also stands.

This is an old man who looks weathered by time. Time and hardship have not taken away his youthful charm. The gold in his white hair reveals his true hair color when he was young. His thin cheeks are bloodless, giving him a mysterious and eerie charm.

However, nothing about him was as eye-catching as his heterochromatic eyes. Combined with his fitted wizard robe, which resembled a black trench coat, and the ship's hull, which looked like Ghost Ship, anyone who saw him would instinctively hold their breath.

However, this guy, who looked unapproachable, had a smile on his face, as if he was recalling fond memories. His eyes were blank, and his hands were clasped behind his back, as if he was waiting for someone.

In short, it doesn't look like a living person; it looks more like a wax figure.

Fortunately, the fiery flower that appeared behind him, along with a melodious phoenix cry, made him turn his body to the side, proving that he was still alive.

"Long time no see." A tall, thin old man dressed in very flamboyant clothes, with his wizard robes embroidered with stars and moons, appeared behind him.

At the same time, a bright red bird, resembling a maple leaf yet full of summer vitality, flew to the top of the tall mast.

"Albus, it's been a long time." The black-robed wizard Grindelwald extended his right hand to the flamboyant old man.

"What do you mean by that?" Dumbledore's voice trembled slightly, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.

"Just as you understand it."

"I see hope, hope to salvage everything," Grindelwald said, withdrawing his right hand and replying in a slightly trembling voice.

"Prove it to me." Where Grindelwald couldn't see, Dumbledore clenched his left hand into a fist.

Grindelwald pulled a skull from his pocket, which should have only been able to hold a thin piece of paper.

Where the skull was originally the spine, it was connected to a flexible tube that appeared to be made of bone but could be bent.

He carefully placed the skull on the wooden table beside him, waved his wand, and the skull's eye sockets glowed with a soft light, like a lit candle.

"Look." Grindelwald put the tube in his mouth and took a deep breath.

White smoke billowed from his mouth, gathering in mid-air and slowly revealing a human figure, followed by the surrounding environment.

"This is Hogwarts. The Resurrection Stone. He resurrected a woman? And that ship on the Black Lake?" Dumbledore couldn't help but take a few steps back, but his eyes remained fixed on the image formed by the smoke and clouds.

"Yes, Albus, can you recognize who that boy is?"

"Although his face is a blur, he is a student of Hogwarts. You should tell me that we might be able to go to the place where the Resurrection Stone is hidden beforehand, Ariana," Grindelwald said, taking a step closer to Dumbledore.

"Don't call her by her name!"

"I mean," Dumbledore, revealing such a vulnerable expression for the first time.

That expression was like a sword, piercing deeply into Grindelwald's heart.

Grindelwald stopped in his tracks, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"I don't know who that boy is," Dumbledore said, racking his brains to remember.

It's as if he wasn't the one who told Harry last Christmas to accept the death of someone close to him.

"The resurrected woman?" Dumbledore suddenly thought of Harry, who had also mentioned resurrection, around Christmas time.

His deceased relative Lily, was also a woman.

But the next second, he shook his head.

This couldn't be him, because Harry isn't nearly that tall and strong.

That scene will happen next year; it's only been a year, and Harry couldn't possibly have changed that much.

"That woman, the resurrected woman, in your Prophecy, did you see her clearly?" Dumbledore took Grindelwald's hand.

"I knew that what I saw in my dream was the same as this scene."

"The boy and the resurrected woman's appearance, body shape, and hair color were inexplicably distorted."

"Perhaps the Resurrection Stone interfered with my Third Eye." Grindelwald conjured a chair and sat down close to Dumbledore.

But Dumbledore didn't care, and even held Grindelwald's hand.

Dumbledore was pointing his wand at the scene in the air, and under his control, the scene inside the smoke and clouds was replayed and paused repeatedly.

"That boy seems to be talking in one direction. Wait, this ring?" Dumbledore suddenly paused the scene in mid-air.

"You recognize this ring?" Grindelwald shook Dumbledore excitedly.

"Perhaps. But I need to confirm. I need to convince someone." Dumbledore squinted.

"Who?" Grindelwald released Dumbledore.

"Bob Ogden, he used to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"At the Ministry of Magic's request, he carried out a mission. If he's willing to give me his memories, I'll know the location of the House of Gaunt's old house, and whether the ring with the Resurrection Stone belongs to the House of Gaunt." Dumbledore frowned.

The House of Gaunt family residence was undoubtedly concealed by Voldemort's magic, and the Ministry of Magic did not properly preserve Ogden's execution records from that time.

This means that if he wants to know the House of Gaunt's address...

You'd have to ask Riddle, or Ogden himself.

However, he did not want Riddle to know about the Resurrection Stone.

It wasn't that he didn't believe in Riddle, but the stone was very important; it represented Ariana's return to the world, his and his brother's, and even Gellert's —hope for a fresh start.

As for Ogden, Dumbledore wasn't sure if he would be willing to cooperate.

However, he had already made up his mind to use Legilimency and even the Imperius Curse.

"Do you need my help?" Grindelwald noticed that Dumbledore was about to leave.

"No need." Dumbledore looked toward the mast.

As if telepathically connected, Fawkes flew down from the mast in a circle.

With a Spark, Dumbledore vanished.