Anna Albus Grindelwald

The gloomy, towering tower sat atop a certain snowy peak in the Alps. This place was rarely visited by humans, with several ravens circling about, their unpleasant cries echoing back and forth and lingering for a long time.

A few crystal-clear snowflakes drifted through the bars of Nurmengard's cell; the cold breath of winter had already arrived.

She opened her eyes to this world, carrying a brand-new life.

"Let's call her Anna, Anna Albus Grindelwald."

The man's voice was low and pleasant, much like an elegant serenade, softly echoing beside her ear.

Such a casual choice of name.

Yet why were the middle name and surname so familiar?

Lying in the cradle, she tried hard to open her eyes and look. A middle-aged blond man stood on one side of the cradle, his heterochromatic eyes gazing at her for a long time. A trace of gentleness and relief seeped from his gaze, yet it also seemed as though he were looking through her at someone else.

Even though wrinkles climbed up the corners of his eyes and his golden strands of hair were somewhat rough and disheveled, he still did not lose his handsomeness, his bearing both elegant and charming.

Was this the father of her current lifetime?

"Oh, cute little one, Merry Christmas."

Seeing Anna open her eyes, Grindelwald reined in the emotion in his gaze, gently rocking the cradle with very tender movements.

An infant's attention was always not so easy to focus. By the time she sorted out the situation and realized that the middle-aged man before her was very likely the first Dark Lord described in that highly popular book from her past life, Anna felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation in her heart.

The new world spoken of by Death was actually this world from the books.

In the original work, the Dark Lord remained unmarried his whole life. Judging purely from her middle name, his heart had always belonged to that Headmaster gentleman. So, how had she been born now, and who was her mother?

After a period of exploration, Anna finally understood what kind of existence she was.

She had no so-called mother in this lifetime; she was a life created by Gellert Grindelwald.

Her body was an alchemical product, but her soul came from another world.

She had already died amidst illness and pain in her previous life.

Anna clearly remembered that before she completely walked toward the ending of demise in her past life, a deity claiming to be Death sat beside her, completing a contractual transaction that could be described as a forced sale with her.

This was also the reason why she was able to descend into this world without being ostracized by the world's consciousness.

Although the magical world was dangerous, it was also very interesting.

Moreover, she still knew the plot, which could be considered having some advantages.

Only, she did not know what year it was now.

The Grindelwald living with her now looked far too young, yet he was indeed imprisoned in Nurmengard. But after all, this was a magical world, and potions or magic capable of maintaining youth theoretically existed.

Furthermore, Death had reminded her that this was a real world. Although the trajectory of fate was not far off from the original work, differences still existed.

For instance, her, who should not have been born into this world.

This indicated that the plot from the original work could only serve as a certain reference.

After her birth, Grindelwald, who had originally cut off contact with the outside world, re-established contact with his former subordinates and purchased numerous books and daily necessities, including a young house-elf.

So that Anna could understand the outside world even within Nurmengard, he specially ordered the Daily Prophet, alongside other newspapers.

Watching her dear old father stare for a long time at a certain Headmaster on the newspaper page, Anna smiled knowingly and did not ask further.

Seeing the date on the newspaper, she also understood that she was born on Christmas Eve in 1960. If she could enter the legendary Hogwarts to study, she would arrive just in time to catch that generation of the Marauders.

It was hard to say this was not the arrangement of fate.

Perhaps it was the arrangement of Death?

Thinking of this possibility, Anna chuckled softly.

What kind of deviations the world afterward would cause because of her, this little butterfly, she as an infant naturally did not know, but living together with the first great Dark Lord Grindelwald could also be considered a novel experience.

Because her soul was summoned over from another world while her body in this realm was merely an alchemically synthesized vessel, being able to exist in this world at all was already considered quite a stretch.

When she was two years old, due to her initial contact with magic, her soul began to grow extremely unstable, frequently plunging into states of unconsciousness.

It was not until after her fifth birthday that this situation slowly improved.

However, the aftereffect was that her original golden hair slowly shifted in color, turning into a silvery-white resembling moonlight.

Aside from this point, at least outwardly, she did not differ too greatly from a normal child.

Through several years of getting along, Anna could very easily address Grindelwald as Father.

Perhaps when she met Dumbledore, she could also calmly blurt out the word Papa.

Having finished breakfast, the six-year-old Anna sat on the sofa, holding the latest issue of the Daily Prophet in her hand.

It happened to be the period of Voldemort's rising power, and many places in the wizarding world had suffered terrorist attacks, among them the Muggle world.

Just from the lines between the words in the newspaper, one could perceive a heavy smell of gunpowder smoke, as well as terror and panic.

Recalling the original plot from her past life, along with the numerous speculations of various netizen gurus, Voldemort during this period had already split off many Horcruxes.

These included the diary, the Resurrection Stone Ring, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Salazar Slytherin's Locket, and Hufflepuff's Cup.

This meant his soul state at present was extremely unstable, and his entire person had also grown exceptionally paranoid, possessing an unimaginable yearning for eternal life.

But those who abandoned their true names and split their own souls with their own hands would eventually be rejected by the Reaper.

That also meant they were rejected by the world.

Their fate had been sealed from the very beginning.

As she was lost in thought, Grindelwald set down the letter that had just arrived that day.

"Dear Anna, would you like to go out and have some fun? Somewhere like London, perhaps?"

Ever since she had crossed over into this world, she had only been able to move around near Nurmengard and the prison. Powerful Confundus Charms and Muggle-Repelling Charms had been placed all around the area. Apart from her father, who had been by her side since she was little, and the house-elf Keke, the only living people she occasionally saw were her father's subordinates.

Although she didn't know why her old father had suddenly allowed her to go out, it was a good thing, all the same.

When she took the hand of her old father's capable subordinate and Side-Along Apparated, setting foot on British soil, she even felt as if it weren't quite real.

It was as if she had officially stepped out of the world beyond the book and into the world within it.

It was both fascinating and imbued with the sense of belonging that came from finally touching down.

She, Anna Albus Grindelwald, truly existed in this world. She belonged here, no longer drifting outside it as a mere onlooker.