For an instant, the air seemed to stop moving.
"Death-or rather, the thing people call Death-appeared."
Grindelwald closed his eyes, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor.
"There was no warning, no fluctuation in magical power. It simply peeled away from the shadows."
"A vague black shape, draped in tattered robes, with no visible face and an enormous scythe in its hand."
"It was only a shadow, but it was the most terrifying thing Albus and I had ever seen."
"Even a single glance seemed to freeze our souls."
"Albus and I immediately realized something was wrong and cast our strongest defensive magic together."
"But..."
Grindelwald swallowed.
"The shadow merely swung its scythe once."
"There was no fluctuation in magical power, no incantation, nothing. Our defenses might as well have been paper. The moment they touched the scythe, they all vanished without a sound."
"The next second, that icy presence pierced my body."
"In that instant, all the magical power in my body was completely sealed away, rendered dormant."
"I couldn't summon even the slightest bit of power, couldn't cast even the simplest spell. I was no different from an ordinary person."
"I was utterly helpless."
Hermione's pupils contracted sharply.
That description, that power-she knew it all too well. But... how was that possible?
Neither man noticed Hermione's reaction-or perhaps they did, but assumed she was shocked by the entity's power.
Dumbledore sighed and took up the story.
"I was the one who helped him escape."
"I immediately used Apparition to take Gellert out of the valley."
Dumbledore still felt a lingering dread as he recalled the experience.
"I held on to him and Apparated repeatedly, crossing half of Europe."
"No matter where we fled, how well we hid, or how far we traveled, even somewhere covered in anti-tracking barriers,