Conversation Under the Moon

"No, Anna and I are different.

Albus, she's more even-tempered than I was back then, and she knows where to draw the line.

Haven't you always wanted to protect Muggles? Anna's attitude toward them is much like yours now.

A long time ago, she asked me why we and Muggles couldn't live together as one.

At the time, I thought it was a fanciful notion, but now she's trying to put it into practice, step by step."

Faced with Dumbledore's questioning, Grindelwald showed no anger at all. Instead, he answered calmly and patiently.

"Keeping ourselves hidden will only leave less room for wizards to survive. Muggle technology is developing rapidly now, and they've accomplished many things that even magic cannot.

If this continues, the wizarding legacy will simply die out.

Albus, you want to protect Muggles, but who will protect wizards?

So the best path is to bring the two together. That's what she's doing now.

To be honest, I'm proud of her."

Listening from the other end of the Two-Way Mirror, Anna blushed a little. She had only made those decisions because she knew how ordinary people would develop in the future.

Perhaps, in her old father's eyes, they were all the product of her foresight.

Dumbledore was undoubtedly astonished by what he heard. He knew how difficult that path was and how many mountains stood in the way. Even harder to imagine was that this vision of the future had come from an underage witch.

"It's truly unusual to hear you speak of living peacefully with Muggles.

Are those Acolytes helping her do all this?"

"That's right. I'm no longer the one at their helm. In their minds, Anna Grindelwald is.

And so far, they haven't broken any laws, either in the Witching World or the Muggle World."

"But she's still so young. She shouldn't have to bear so much.

She nearly overturned the Slytherin table yesterday, confronting the Death Eaters' children at the Hogwarts feast. That's a declaration of war against Voldemort. Did you know about it?"

No, Grindelwald certainly hadn't known his daughter had gone up against Voldemort, but he wasn't worried.

Anna had been sensible since she was little. She must have had plans of her own.

"The new Dark Lord is quite powerful, but lately there seems to be something wrong with his head.

Anna is certainly no hothouse flower. I hope you can put a little more faith in her.

I'm sure you've seen it too: she's nothing like the man I used to be.

She's more like you, Albus."

If Grindelwald had once been a wild, unrestrained eagle, eager to soar freely between heaven and earth,

then Anna was a petrel, relying on her own wings to cross a vast sea.

The former had seen the breadth of the world and was therefore captivated by the higher, more distant skies.

The latter had her sights set on the far shore of her own choosing, and was willing to take concrete action to reach it.

Though the two were alike in some ways, the convictions in their hearts were entirely different.

As for why Grindelwald had said Anna was more like him...

Dumbledore guessed that he might have been referring to Anna's gentle appearance and her habit of remaining rational at heart, as well as the way she freely gave her trust to her true friends. In those respects, she was rather like him.

But yesterday's incident had also made him realize that, even though Anna showed a warm side to her friends, her way with words was just like the man beside him. She was merely less given to sweet talk and more inclined to make infuriatingly sharp remarks and take veiled jabs.

"Albus, if you have doubts about the path Anna has chosen, why not ask the young people who have chosen to follow her?

We're both old now. The world belongs to the younger generation."

When he remained silent, Grindelwald sighed deeply and turned to look at the castle shrouded in darkness not far away.

Those students, those young people, were the true future of the Wizarding World.

Anna saw that more clearly than anyone, which was why the Butterfly Chasers had emerged as a faction among the Acolytes.

And among all those people were Grindelwald and Dumbledore themselves, back when they had been at the height of their power.

What an exceptional soul. Fortunately, she had appeared in this era.

And fortunately, she was Grindelwald's daughter, bearing a surname that many dared not touch. Only then had he been able to shelter this little fledgling at the beginning, keeping her from being battered by the world's storms and falling too soon.

"One last question, Gellert."

Dumbledore turned around as well. His sky-blue eyes were hidden behind his half-moon spectacles, making it impossible to discern their deeper meaning.

"Why did you give her that name?"

The old headmaster's words came just before the Two-Way Mirror completely disconnected. Sitting on her hospital bed, Anna smacked her lips and rolled her eyes a little.

The gossip was just getting good, and he cut it off. Damn old father!

She put the now-disconnected mirror back into her storage ring and lay down again, feeling a little regretful.

Why had she been named Anna? Why was her middle name the headmaster's own name?

Dumbledore surely knew the answers as clearly as if he were looking in a mirror.

Yet he insisted on hearing a definite answer from Grindelwald himself, face to face.

Would her old father speak the reason he had kept hidden for decades, the one so hard to put into words?

No! Of course he wouldn't!

If he could have been a little more sincere, a little more forthright, and simply said what he had buried deep in his heart, the two of them wouldn't have gone more than twenty years without seeing each other.

There hadn't even been a single letter!

Anna had guessed correctly. As soon as Grindelwald heard the question, he reached into his coat pocket and cut off the connection to Anna.

He opened his mouth, but for a long time, he couldn't get a single word out.

"It's late. I should go back to Nurmengard. I'm glad I saw you today, Al..."

Those were the last words he said to Dumbledore before returning to that prison.

The phoenix's clear cry faded away beside the Black Lake, along with the old friend Dumbledore had seen again only after twenty-six years.

The elderly headmaster stood there for a long time, like a dark statue.

Two evenings later, when Anna came to the Headmaster's Office again, she saw Fawkes the phoenix perched on his stand.

His brilliant scarlet feathers spread out, and a glittering golden tail feather swept through the air in a dazzling arc.

The phoenix flew gracefully onto her shoulder and lowered his noble head, letting the girl stroke him gently.

He was not the phoenix of ancient Chinese legend, but the immortal bird of Western mythology. Though they shared the same name, there were still differences between them.

That did nothing to diminish Anna's fondness for him. Being able to touch Fawkes's feathers was something many wizards could never do.

"He likes you very much."

Anna heard Dumbledore's voice from beside her and smiled faintly.

Fawkes was Dumbledore's pet, and the phoenix's affection for her also held a measure of affection for someone his master loved.