A Story of Mortality

Chapter 8

That's right – Albus Dumbledore had a love affair with Gellert Grindelwald.

To find out more about this affair, we spoke Lord Potter, who worked closely with Dumbledore to defeat the terrorist. We asked if Lord Potter knew of this affair, to which he answered us:

"Yes. I was never told directly, but it was obvious; Dumbledore may well still have had feelings for him, may now still have feelings for him."

This is a confirmation as any that Dumbledore had close ties to Grindelwald in his youth. Lord Potter has always been a preacher of the truth, despite being naturally biased to Dark, and certainly would not be expected to lie about such an accusation. Lord Potter had more to say on the matter:

"It's tragic, really. It was difficult for him to fight against his ex-lover at all, I'm sure, but it always felt off. I know Dumbledore well, he's a very powerful man; do you not think that he would have had the power to kill Grindelwald?"

I told Lord Potter that I agreed, Dumbledore should have been able to kill Grindelwald.

"It's often assumed that my parents were killed by supporters by Grindelwald, and I assume this too, and so I had a very personal tie to the fight. I, along with hundreds and hundreds of families across Europe, wanted justice. Grindelwald was the cause of so much death and destruction, so much pain, he deserved to die. But where is he now? In a prison, because his ex-lover did not have it in him to kill him. That, to me, is the most tragic part of this affair. That it has affected Dumbledore's idea of justice."

It was amazing to see such a powerful figure as Dark Lord Potter talk about his own past, his own wish for justice, and this gives us perhaps a stronger idea of just how significant news of this affair is. We are all shocked to discover that Dumbledore could be so terrible as to love a man who surely had already established his ideals for terrorising Europe. But the issue is bigger than that – because of Dumbledore's perverted interest in this murderer, Grindelwald is sat alive in a prison cell, with no thought given to those that had lost so much during his war.

Ignatius was incredibly disturbed by what he was reading. He knew that he should not have picked up the paper in the first place, should not have turned to this page, but he was burning with curiosity. Corner was right – he did not know much about Dumbledore, despite how close he was to the man. But this was ridiculous. It was surely a load of garbage. Propaganda for the upcoming war; Lord Potter even was quoted, it must be Dark propaganda...

Not that The Daily Prophet was known for Dark leanings.

The accusations just did not seem right to him. Dumbledore was a kind hearted man, a father or even grandfather figure to everybody he knew, he genuinely cared about the people... But Ignatius could not dispute the information he had been given either.

On cue, the fire turned a bright green and Dumbledore stepped through the threshold of the fireplace.

"Ignatius, my good friend!" Dumbledore cheerfully greeted, acting as if he had not just walked into somebody's home invited. "How are you faring?"

Ignatius blanched. How could Dumbledore be so casual after such horrific allegations had been made against him? "Have you not read today's edition of The Prophet?" he asked, astounded.

Dumbledore laughed. "Why of course I have! It is important to stay on top of things in these times."

"But... these accusations against you, they're absolutely horrific!" Ignatius floundered. If he had been the victim of such media abuse he would be hiding away in his home refusing to speak to anybody but his wife, not making merry visits to his friends.