𝑆𝐴𝑉𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐷𝑅𝐴𝐶𝑂 𝑀𝐴𝐿𝐹𝑂𝑌

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖 - 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞

She played it cool.

"Well, I never survived that either, so I might as well compare them..."

Not one of her best answers. She must have been too stunned to think of one of her sassy answers.

I watched her as she hopped into the meadow and suddenly many things made sense.

I remembered the way she danced that night at the Yule Ball; the night we met. I remembered how smooth each movement was, how elegantly she carried herself, how easily she followed the rhythm of that one song. She was almost floating in the room, daintily swaying from side to side. She was never impressed by twirls... She was a dancer. Maybe she didn't still dance but the poise had remained.

Suddenly, I realized how many things I didn't know about her; how little of her I had absorbed; how many secrets I was yet to discover.

I spread the blanket on the damp ground and sat comfortably, resting my back against the elm tree.

Ophelia sat opposite me. She had her back to the lunar slice and the moonshine was so bright that her face seemed darker and hidden.

I didn't make a sound but she was sure of what I wanted so she opened the book and started reading.

"...and used them as conduits for the practice of alchemy. The side effects of the potions were unknown at the time and although most of the experiments were harmless at the time or easily reversible, most of the muggles developed conditions heavily unexplained to the muggle world. Although in most cases the muggle lives were saved and their memories modified, at the 3rd of October 1778 the Ministry of Magic enrolled the Protocol for the Ban of the Use of Muggles in Magical Experiments.

"Although there have only been only a few recorded cases of muggles being abused for such purposes the same doesn't stand for minor enchantments for the pure benefits of wizards-"

"I don't get," I interrupted. "If their memories are modified, then what's the big deal?" I shrugged.

"How would you feel if some random wizard used the Imperius Curse on you? It's literally the same thing. Even when they didn't use the actual curse of them, they used them for what they needed and then threw them away with an Obliviating Spell."

I was unmoved but bothered. I had been brought up in a world where the Unforgivable Curses were not that unforgivable. Father used them and managed to escape the judgement of the law one way or another. The equivalent of these curses was not that unforgivable either. In a way, I couldn't think like any other cloistered, sugared teenager in this school. I bet no one had known the reality of the world. These manipulations were more often than people thought them to be. Ophelia seemed terrified in the thought of a person being used – well that was an everyday matter where I came from.

"Gellert Grindelwald, a firm believer of the superiority of the wizard's nature, forced muggles into subservices and often neglected to return them to their world but rather killed them or sold them for servants-"

"Is this what this book is about?" This time I interrupted indeed. "It's a chapter from our History of Magic textbook? How in Merlin's name did I find it interesting the other night?" I said.

"How else are you going to discuss morals, if you don't see examples from this world?"

I never understood why Grindelwald was always under attack in the school books. Yes, of course, he was a dark wizard. Of course, he cursed people but I strongly believed he was a product of his times with valid ideas and beliefs. He started the revolution before the Second Muggle War. He had heard the prophesies; he knew what these muggles were capable of. Wars, guns, concentration camps, atom bombs; Grindelwald knew he could save millions, both muggles and wizards. It is no wonder that many, including my ancestors, followed him. But no, for the new generation he was nothing but a murderer. He was still locked away and the muggle wars never stopped.