Austria, Nurmengard.
A cage sat on Grindelwald's desk.
The cage was made of blue Fiendfyre and several alchemical mechanisms, and held a purple bird shaped like a phoenix.
The bird was covered in beautiful purple feathers, with electricity flowing over them. Two golden crest feathers swayed gently atop its head, lending it an exceedingly haughty air. Within its narrow, piercing eyes, its bright pupils were so deeply purple they were almost black.
It also had long, beautiful tail feathers and exceptionally sharp purple-black talons.
It looked very much like a mutated phoenix or a thunderbird several sizes smaller. At the very least, it had to be a close relative.
Grindelwald adjusted his azure half-moon glasses and leaned his head a little closer to the cage, looking quite the scholar.
"Master, the Muggles of Northern Europe call this bird the Violet Lightning Kite. They have mythologized it as an incarnation of the god of thunder."
"Although this fantastic beast cannot control lightning over a wide area like a thunderbird, its attacks against individual targets are more powerful. It also flies faster, almost as fast as teleportation."
"If used to deliver letters, it could make a round trip between Austria and England in two hours."
Abernathy stood to one side with a respectful bow, reporting the facts.
This Acolyte still had several unhealed burns on his face, but he said nothing of the losses they had suffered while capturing the Violet Lightning Kite.
Grindelwald paused, recalling certain secrets known only to legendary wizards like themselves and the upper ranks of the wizarding world.
The world's major pantheons had all been passed down orally or recorded by Muggles, with their subjects elevated to godhood.
But each had originated as a faction founded by a powerful wizard. The most recent "pantheon" to fall into