NOTES:
SPOILER FOR "FANTASTIC BEASTS - THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE" AHEAD
So, after four years we finally have the third movie of the series. As I specified at the end of the last published chapter, I waited to see "The Secrets of Dumbledore" in case we were given more details regarding the relationship between Grindelwald and Dumbledore. What I hadn't anticipated (and I guess none of us did) was that this third instalment of the saga would introduce such massive changes to the Wizarding World canon as we knew it until now. Honestly, I don't fully grasp the reason behind these decisions by J. K. Rowling, but, although I'm not even 100% sure whether to consider what happens in this third film as canon, she remains the "goddess-creator" of this world, so there is nothing else to do. I started with the intention of writing a canon-compliant fanfiction and now I'll stick to it.
Obviously this sudden sprouting of new branches in the Dumbledore family tree is a problem for my story for several reasons:
- I cannot simply ignore the existence of Aurelius Dumbledore (is this even his real name?), nor "write around it" because in short, the procreation of a child is slightly difficult to oversee
- the fact that Aberforth is only 16 years old in the summer of 1899 (if I consider 1883 and not 1884 as his birth date), which implies the introduction of a fairly heavy new theme, namely teen parenting
- absolutely not knowing who Creedence/Aurelius's (?) mother is and/or if she is important in any way
So expect the introduction of this new narrative thread, albeit in a vague way, because, oh dear, I really don't know where to put my hands.
Moving on to the next big problem: the blood pact.
My expectations for this film included an explanation of how exactly a blood pact works and above all how it was possible for Albus and Gellert to fight in the three-way duel or whether this duel and therefore not respecting the blood pact killed Ariana. Now, the fact that the blood pact strangles the creator if not respected seemed to me a weak and not really logical explanation, but I am ready to accept it. What seems really inexplicable to me is the fact that in the end a pact that seemed "indestructible" is broken by faith. It is literally what Dumbledore says: "Call it faith" and excuse me, but no. So another thing you can expect is that in this case I will really try to "write around it" without breaking the canon.
My dear readers, I really don't know what to tell you. Sure, "The Crimes of Grindelwald" was somewhat problematic, but at least it respected the canon, "The Secrets of Dumbledore" instead will be a boulder to digest for all the fandom.
But by now I have embarked on this literary adventure and I am not going to disappoint you if you'll bear with me. So, wands at the ready, there's a lot of work to do! May the Muses, and while we are at it also Merlin and Morgana, support me!
Albus woke up after what seemed like a long and beautiful dream to him. It was that feeling you get as a child when sitting wrapped in a blanket and listening to a fairy tale. He remembered the dancing fire of a feast, an angelic voice singing, a blue stream flowing under a sky of stars and a kiss, a secret kiss in the middle of the night.
Soon after, when the young wizard opened his eyes completely, he realised a couple of things that made him pass in an almost brutal way from the dream dimension to the real one. In fact, the feast had really taken place: he had gone to Godric's Glimmering Gathering with his siblings. Secondly, he was lying sideways on his bed and he wasn't wrapped in blankets at all, but fully clothed and was definitely feeling a slight hangover headache. Finally, the last thing he realised, and which made him jump up and almost fall out of bed, was that if everything else hadn't been a dream at all, neither were the kisses he and Gellert had exchanged. His cheeks suddenly turned hot despite being alone in his room.
He ran a hand over his face, unconsciously touching his lips. Merlin, had it really happened? He wondered if he really had found the courage to do it or if in the end it was just a dream in which his desires had come true. But then he distinctly remembered the sweet taste of Gellert's lips and his heart started beating wildly. He wanted to see him.
He jumped up and just at that moment Ariana entered the room; arriving home quite drunk he hadn't bothered to close the door.
"Good morning, Albus" she chirped. "Can we finally have breakfast?" she asked cheerfully and immediately after her gaze fell on his vest. She frowned and he stared at her for a moment with his mouth open.
"Ah, right ... I was so tired when I got back last night that I fell asleep before I could undress" he told his sister. He decided that explaining to her that he had come back drunk was not exactly a good example.
Ariana laughed: "You look so messy! But don't worry Ab too must be very tired, he hasn't woken up yet!"
Albus ran a hand through his hair trying to remedy his disastrous appearance, he remembered how Gellert had told him the night before that he liked his hair a little longer.
"Really? Hasn't Aberforth come downstairs yet? Didn't he come home with you last night?" he asked.
His sister shrugged her shoulders. "Well, yes, he did," she replied, then her stomach grumbled.
"Can we have breakfast now? I've been waiting for almost an hour!"
Albus found that while his sister was definitely hungry, he couldn't swallow a bite and that the hangover was definitely worse than what he had initially perceived.
"It was wonderful last night!" Ariana was telling. "Everyone loved my wreaths and it was so much fun dancing around the bonfire!"
"That's great" Albus replied absently. He was in a strange state between exhaustion and agitation. He wanted to leave the house immediately to find Gellert, but at the same time he wanted to sleep for another couple of hours.
At that moment Aberforth came down the stairs, he had large dark circles under his eyes, but at the same time he didn't seem to have slept particularly badly.
"Ab, you are such a sleeper!" Ariana teased him playfully, her brother sat down at the table with a great yawn.
Albus wondered if he could have dared to leave the house right away, or if it would seem that he was taking advantage of his brother's presence. He told himself to wait at least another half hour, but after less than five minutes of thinking about Gellert's lips brushing against his, he couldn't help himself anymore.
"I'll be out for the day" he announced. "Gellert and I have a lot of research to do."
He finished his apple with one last bite and hurried to the door, expecting a rebuke from Aberforth. He was surprised when all that reached him was a "See you later."
As he walked towards the square, to then turn towards Bathilda's house, his courage somehow vanished step by step. What if it had really all been just a dream? Just imagining the scene in which he dreamily talked to Gellert about their kisses and how happy they had made him, only to find himself in front of the young German wizard horrified by his reveries, made him sick. The hangover obviously didn't help.
Halfway through he decided that he would tackle the issue with sobriety and accept whatever Gellert's reaction would be, once he arrived in front of Bathilda Bagshot's house he was completely set on not uttering even a word about what had happened and simply see if his friend would touch the subject.
With decidedly absurd nervousness he pointed his wand towards the attic window, ready to send his usual light signal to announce his presence. He jumped back when the door suddenly opened and Gellert, amused, waved him inside.
"You have the luxury of entering by the door today, my aunt is in London to discuss the publication of her new book with the publisher" he explained.
Albus just nodded and entered with his heart pounding in his chest.
"Oh dear, Al, you look terrible. Someone was definitely just used to cider, your face is the definition of a hangover" smiled Gellert, but the tone was not derisive.
"And you? How is it possible that you, on the other hand, always have such a handsome face?" he asked him in response without thinking and immediately bit his tongue hard at the thought that had escaped him. Nausea made itself felt, he was just a mess that morning.
The other did not seem to notice his embarrassment. "Well, as you said yourself, I'm used to German beers. Besides, I didn't say you're not handsome, just that you don't look fully awake yet."
The auburn haired wizard turned away when he felt himself blush and fortunately found a more than credible way to change the subject.
"Gellert, do you think Bathilda would be angry if I used some of her ingredients to brew something that will help against this nausea?" he asked him.
The blond shook his head and pointed to the cauldron hanging near the fireplace: "Not at all, she always tells me that everything is at my free disposal."
Albus walked over to the shelf in the kitchen looking for anything that could make him feel better. He didn't have a specific potion in mind, he usually decided the result he wanted to achieve during the process. He reached for the ginger powder and ginseng leaves for an invigorating effect. While rummaging, he found turmeric and chlorella, perfect for their regenerating qualities, and Gellert handed him some mandrake root extract and peppermint oil. He decided that as a last touch he would add some rosemary and billywig stink slime to get his stomach back on its feet.
For a while they were silent, cutting ingredients and stirring in the cauldron. There was no need for one to ask the other to do something, Gellert and Albus anticipated each other in perfect harmony. Occasionally their shoulders or hands brushed and the young English wizard would remember the last night, but for a while he could concentrate only on the potion, enjoying his time with Gellert.
Once the potion had boiled long enough, he poured some of it into a glass and blew on it to cool it. He took a couple of sips and immediately felt a pleasant freshness run through his veins.
"And?" the blond asked him.
Albus pursed his lips in a funny grimace as if he was carefully savouring the concoction: "You can definitely work on the flavour, but I'd say the effects have been achieved, I'm much better."
Gellert laughed: "You look better."
The young English wizard watched the happiness flow from his friend's laughter and he smiled too, it was all so simple together.
His Gryffindor courage resurfaced with those smiles and Albus set the glass firmly down.
"Gellert" he said to get his attention. The other took a step towards him.
"Hmm?"
Albus took a breath: "Last night ... I drank too much and my memories were a bit confused, but ... well ..." he started, but stopped when he realised he was avoiding the topic.
"I remember when we talked on the bridge and then we ... we ..." he let out an annoyed sigh when he couldn't finish the sentence.
Gellert had a mischievous smile on his lips, one that invited you to slap or kiss those smiling lips with passion.
"We ... what?" he said with a low, mischievous murmur and Albus decided it was too hot to finish that talk.
"Um ... I think the memories have yet to come back, I'm just very confused. I'm sure the potion will have a better effect in a while" he stammered.
Gellert held his gaze in his asymmetrical eyes for a moment longer, then nodded: "Very well, in the meantime I have something that will surely help wake you up."
He took a copy of the Daily Prophet.
"All-England Wizarding Competition: Miss Djamila Shafiq triumphs over Thaddeus Abbott" read the front page headline and a detailed description of the duel followed.
"England has a new duelling champion!" Albus exclaimed, taking the newspaper from his hands. "I've always wanted to take part someday" he said as he quickly scanned the article.
"Why didn't you?" Gellert asked. "You would have won."
The English wizard blushed: "It is not allowed to participate before the age of 18, so until next year I would not have been allowed to participate in any case."
"Speaking of that, I'd like to try something. On the Prophet it says spell by spell how the duel between Shafiq and Abbott unfolded, why don't we try to recreate it? Let's see if Shafiq was really that good, or if Abbott simply made mistakes" Gellert suggested.
Albus nodded with a smile: "Yes, I'd love to."
They left the house, passed the square and the bridge on which Albus imperceptibly accelerated the pace, it was as if the stones under his feet burned. They came to the clearing of the grove where they often took refuge from the summer heat to read. This time, however, they stopped facing each other and pulled out the wands. With a funny smile they bowed and turned away and took a few steps away. With an non-verbal geminio spell Gellert made an exact copy of the Daily Prophet appear which hovered in the air until it stopped suspended beside Albus.
"Who do you want to play?" the latter asked.
The German wizard inclined his head: "The choice is yours" he conceded.
Eventually the auburn haired decided to try playing the underdog, he had heard a lot about the famous duelist and was curious to find out if Shafiq was really good enough to beat a master like Abbotts had been.
Shafiq had opened the duel with a confringo, parried by Abbotts with a simple shield charm. However, she had subsequently switched to a more intricate combination of bombarda maxima - reducto, with which she had effectively managed to hurl the former champion to the ground, even if only momentarily.
The two young wizards tried only these two moves and stopped immediately exchanging a puzzled look. Albus ran a hand through his hair slightly frustrated: "He made a mistake in the very first move!"
Gellert nodded, "Yes. Djamila Shafiq's intent was clearly to start with a simple spell to confuse the opponent and then surprise him with something more effective. Abbott would have had a chance to gain the advantage right away by responding with something powerful, instead he was lazy and parried with basic protection, which allowed the opponent to attack again right away."
A familiar feeling rose from Albus' heart to his mind: disappointment. It was something he had come to know well from a very young age, it had been an annoying pain to his neck whenever a teacher at school couldn't answer his questions or incorrectly performed a spell. It was that sense of disbelief accompanied by loneliness that emerged immediately afterwards along with the question: how is it possible that only I understand? How can they not see?
The myth of the great duelist Thaddeus Abbotts had vanished in the air like a soap bubble in just a few seconds. The disappointment, however, was brief this time, the young English wizard was no longer lonely, now there was Gellert and so he brought his attention back to analysing the duel.
"You know what? I think Shafiq could have done better too though. She continued her offensive with something more powerful, but it was a classic combination. Bombarda maxima and reducto are dangerous curses, but at the same time nothing special, we learn them at school! She could have answered with something more ... more ..."Albus then hypothesised trying to find the right word.
"Something more original, something less banal" suggested the blond and he nodded, frowning.
"Come on, this should be the event in which the elite of duelists confront each other!" he snorted.
Gellert took a step towards him: "Al, do you see? This is why you would win. What seems trivial to us is almost imaginable even for the best. Why use defined spells when you could use pure, raw magic that you could work into anything? You know why, don't you?" deep frustration had invaded his face, his clear eye shone with the intensity of suns and the dark one was a bottomless pit.
"We're not like the others" Albus said, and for the first time realising it didn't make him feel like a stranger.
Gellert smiled: "No, we're not. And think how many things we could do with a tool like the elder wand, we were born to change the world."
A wonderful feeling spread throughout the mind of the auburn haired, suddenly it all made sense. For seventeen years he had engaged in a mad and desperate search for his way, he had never found a place in which to feel perfectly and harmoniously at ease. Now the road was clear before his eyes and he also knew who he would walk it with, he was right at the beginning of a winding path and in the end there was a different world, a better world. Walking that path was their birthright, the elder wand was their birthright.
The light in Gellert's eyes had changed, that mischievous smile was back: "Should we duel properly?"
Albus let the magic that flowed in his veins invade him and raised his wand, a bright flash made its way into the clear summer sky and a laugh rose in the air. Immediately after that the same air that had seemed so warm and calm exploded in a powerful vortex that Gellert sent in his direction.
It was beautiful, it was pure joy, for the first time he was free to completely follow his instinct, he didn't have to hold back in any way because he knew that his opponent was equal to him.
Spell after spell they advanced, neither ready to withdraw by even a step. And then they were facing each other, wands pointing at their hearts, their hearts beating for each other. Gellert still had that magnificent smile painted on his lips and so Albus kissed him to blend his smile with his. He felt the wand of the young German magician go down his chest, playful. When the kiss was over, the auburn haired one looked down, cheeks burning like embers.
"Ah, I see that the duel helped you recover some memories of last night" Gellert murmured a breath from his cheek, his hand ran down his arm, up to the wrist where Albus blocked it in his. Their eyes chained.
"I thought it was a dream" he admitted, but the embarrassment was gone now.
Gellert touched his knuckles: "Was it a good dream?" he asked.
"Wonderful" Albus replied.
"Then we can make it come true."