The Greater Good: Dumbledore and Grindelwald

Return to Godric's Hollow

It had taken some convincing on Elphias' part, but Albus had come around. The return trip from Diagon Alley had been a blurred one, and Albus soon found himself walking the sun-kissed streets of Godric's Hollow. The last time he'd been there, during the Christmas Holidays of his seventh year at Hogwarts, the village had been all but blanketed in snow.

Now, however, in early August, Albus' home looked quite different.

Home. It was funny how Godric's Hollow had never felt like home. It had always been like...a hideout.



A temporary place to lay low until the world had forgotten that Albus' father Percival had tracked down and murdered three Muggles in cold blood. Or so the rumours said anyway.


"Albus," Elphias said softly, breaking Albus out of his trance. "Here we are."



Albus glanced up. They were stood outside of a two-story cottage with a slightly Shakespearan appearance to it. In normal circumstances, the house would have offered a warm feeling of comfort. However, Albus knew what lay inside. The brother and sister that he would be burdened to watch over for years to come.

Externally, it was a home. But on the inside, it was a prison.



"Albus," Elphias murmured. "If you'd prefer I came in with you...?"



Albus took a deep breath before answering. He knew what the right thing to do was, and he refused to allow himself to do wrong by his best friend. "I can't ask that of you, Elphias...these are my duties, not yours. I abandoned my family as much as my father did, and now I must face the music."


Albus raised his wand arm and gave it a sharp flick. The garden gate whooshed open and without another word, Albus traipsed down the path to the front door. He hesitated for a moment before proceeding to rap sharply on the door.



Within seconds, the front door was thrown open. Behind it, stood a boy in his late teens, around sixteen years old. He was a foot shorter than Albus with jet-black hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to bore into Albus' very skin as he surveyed him with a certain level of...displeasure.


"You," the boy said grumpily. "Didn't expect to see you here again, Albus. Expect you'd be off partying and travelling the world with your pal Dodgy Doge."



"It's good to see you too, Aberforth," Albus nodded. "Where is she?"




"I buried her out back," Aberforth said. "She would've wanted it that way."




Albus nodded. "I take it my room is still the same?"



Aberforth nodded too. "Nobody has touched it since you last left."





Albus gave his brother a sort of sad smile. "I didn't think so," he said softly.