HP Midnight Light

- January 1981, 3 - Nurmengard

"Dumbledore:

I still stick to my old thinking: there are neither good nor bad people in this world, there are only people who stand on your opposite side.

I admit that I don't know Riddell - in the past 35 years, Nurmengard's time has been frozen, the scenery outside my window has changed countless times, and I have gradually become an unpleasant old man, your world, your world The world has long been separated from mine and cut into two halves. The Riddle between your lines is no different to me from the croaking crow on the top of the tower—but he is very similar to you and me when we were young: the same ambition Ambitious, as whimsical, as reckless.To you and me, Riddle is obviously still a child, and he doesn't even understand that all the power he gains from indulging his heart now will be repaid in the future.Well, you should have been able to predict his end.Just as I lost to you, Riddle will lose to someone.You ask me why?I have no idea.

You claim that Riddle is emulating me.That's almost an insult, Dumbledore.I never sought immortality.Immortality is the prize of cowards and idiots.We all know that all the things that can get 'immortality' in this world are in the end just in exchange for a defiled, cursed, lingering soul.What can Riddle get?Nothing at all.

You claim that you hate my old plans and pursuits, you are angry at my leaving, and you are afraid of becoming my defeat.So, Dumbledore, ask yourself—are you disgusted, angry, and terrified of Riddle?He will be your opponent only because he threatens you.Admit it, Dumbledore, there are no bad people in this world, there are only people who have a different position from yours.

You claim you need me to use my rusty brain, but you won't even confess anything more to me.Your lines are full of secrecy, which makes me wonder what news you know about Riddle.Remember, Dumbledore, I am your captive, your prisoner, but I am your equal.

Yes, as you can see, what I said 35 years ago is still what I believe in today.You ask me how I pass the years.The answer is simple: I still have the greater good in mind.So I can now answer the question you want to ask but won't: I have no regrets, but I do.

……

Your courier took the risk of going round and round to get the letter from you to mine, and from Nurmengard back to Hogwarts.That's ridiculous, you're not one to go through a lot of trouble.Since when did you become timid and prefer to be evasive?I never thought Nurmengard would destroy me, but you seem to be slowly being destroyed by Hogwarts.What are you afraid of, Dumbledore?Why don't you step into my cell yourself and question me—demand the answers you want, force me to confess?

Of course, another way I pass the time is reminiscing about the past.I mean, the stream, the hillside, the weeping willows, the sun, you and me.I reminisce about the way you took your glasses off, the sweet taste of the molasses you left on your mouth, the stubble on your back... Would you like to hear me describe more details, Dumbledore?

best regards:

Gellert"

Grindelwald slid the envelope over the gap between the bars to the young messenger.He was staring out the window in a daze when the courier jumped up startled when the edge of the envelope touched his robe.

"What are you afraid of?" Grindelwald laughed hoarsely.

The messenger stared at him, pale and thin, and Grindelwald couldn't understand why Dumbledore would let such a man do the heavy lifting of delivering the message.

"You're afraid of me." He said firmly.

Remus put the letter in his pocket, he still remembered the Germans' warning, and he was determined to turn a deaf ear to Grindelwald's words, but——

"Do you like my army?"

Remus' eyes had betrayed his heart.

Grindelwald smiled smugly: "You are 35 years late, boy. If you have seen them, you will definitely obey me through and through."

Remus took a step back to distance himself from the dark wizard in the cell.

"I can't do anything to you, Lupine." Grindelwald's smile gradually faded, and he looked at Remus with unusual calmness, "Dumbledore's own spell has ensured that I can't leave here for half a step. The magic of this castle is not against anyone but me. As you can see, my armies are long gone, and they vanished with my power 35 years ago."

"What's that made of?" Remus finally couldn't help asking, looking at the army wreckage scattered on the wasteland under the setting sun, "What kind of substance is that?"

"An evil, dark thing. If you know its name, then you will definitely do everything possible to get it. Don't rush to deny it. No one in this world can resist the temptation of power."

Under Grindelwald's almost defiant gaze, Remus flinched.

"Why did Dumbledore choose you as a messenger?" Grindelwald asked sharply, "A weak young man... I thought he would at least respect me, an old opponent, and he would at least send an Auror to deliver a message. Have you What's so special about Dumbledore looking at you?"

Determined to ignore him, Remus turned and headed down the spiral staircase leading downstairs.

"You are a werewolf." Grindelwald's calm and smiling voice came from behind.

Remus froze.

"You can fool others, but you can't fool me." Grindelwald laughed hoarsely, "I can even see through Dumbledore at a glance, do you think you can hide it from my eyes? ——I didn't expect my old friend to become It has become like this, so ignorant, so kind, and so sacred, how dare you hand over such an important matter to a werewolf..."

"You may be able to see through Dumbledore, but you lost to him." Remus turned his head and looked out of the window past Grindelwald. At this time, the sun was setting and an incomplete moon was rising in the sky, "So You've been locked up here for 35 years."

Grindelwald suddenly fell silent.

"Dumbledore trusted me. He made an exception and gave me a chance to go to school, make me a prefect, and let me enter the Order of the Phoenix. I know you won't understand him." Remus continued, "He is different from you, You are arrogant and self-righteous, and it seems that 35 years in prison have taught you nothing. Poor you."

After saying this, Remus didn't stop for a second, he couldn't wait to walk down the stairs.In the blink of an eye, there was the sound of the iron door closing downstairs.

Grindelwald crouched in his corner, staring foolishly at where Remus had been standing.

-June 4th - Parkinson Manor

Needless to say, this is a beautiful estate.

Sirius flicked the ash lightly.

"You can go in, Mr. Black." The Auror behind said, "I'm sorry, but this is a necessary inspection procedure."

"I understand." He threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and the spark was crushed out.Sirius took the wand from Auror, but the moment he stepped into the gate, Sirius suddenly felt a bit of hesitation and uncertainty, he turned his head:

"Who's home?"

"Just Edmund Parkinson and their daughter," the Auror replied.

It was an answer beyond his expectations.

Sirius didn't know whether he should be grateful or regretful, an emotion between sadness and relief rose in his heart.He should have asked where Mrs. Parkinson was going, but he abnormally didn't, and under the slightly surprised eyes of the Auror, Sirius walked past him into the house he hated to the bone.

Unlike all the other mansions that Sirius had seen, the Parkinson's house was a standard rectangle, with an unusually spacious hall at the entrance, with stairs leading upstairs on both sides.Living in this house must feel that you have no privacy, there are no deep, dark corridors, and no winding passages.Just standing in the middle of the hall and looking up can easily see the structure of the whole house.

—a cage without privacy.

At the same time as Sirius had this odd idea, he saw the man sitting on the sofa with his back to him: Edmund Parkinson.

Edmund was leaning over something on the carpet, and it took Sirius a few seconds to understand.It was his daughter he was looking at, or - Sirius hated to admit it - his and Hyacinth's daughter: Pansy.

"Pansy," said Edmund softly, "Pansy - that's your name, my little princess. It means pansy, and your mother gave it to you, and you Like it?"

Before Sirius had time to laugh at Edmund's pretentiously gentle tone, his last sentence stabbed Sirius straight in the heart.

"It's really a scene of deep love between father and daughter." He even laughed softly.

Edmund turned his head quickly in response, then he stood up all of a sudden, and made a movement similar to holding a wand.Of course, he hit a blank.

"Why are you here?" Edmund asked impulsively, and soon he found that his tone was ridiculed by the other party:

"Just to take a look at our prisoners." Sirius walked up to Edmond unhurriedly, "I have to say, you are much more emaciated than when we last met, Parkinson. You like Life as a prisoner?"

"Maybe, but obviously you're not much better." Edmund stared angrily at this thinner but still handsome face, and raised his voice coldly, "Tata, bring Pansy back to her s room."

Sirius' eyes naturally fell on the girl crawling on the carpet.Even though she had flaxen hair, she was nothing like Hyacinth, at least that kind of spoiled look that Hyacinth definitely didn't have.Sirius was caught in a dilemma again, he felt that he should relax a little, but there was nothing to be happy about.

"When she grows up, she will look more like her mother." Edmund corrected Sirius provocatively, "Their facial features are very similar, have you noticed?"

Sirius looked away. He knew that Edmund was trying to provoke him, so his tone became more flat: "It seems that the punishment given to you by the Ministry of Magic is not severe enough. House arrest may be more like a long vacation for you. Maybe we should Suggest that they transfer you to a Ministry dungeon or Azkaban."

"You must be jealous, angry and helpless, Blake. I can see it from your expression—even if you hide it very well." Edmund raised a very shallow smile, "Unfortunately, you The person I want to see is not here today, I really trouble you to make a trip in vain."

Sirius lowered his eyes and stared at him: "I've read your marriage agreement, Parkinson."

Edmund was taken aback for a moment, then smiled even more maliciously: "Then do you feel despair?"

"You should be the one who feels hopeless." Sirius replied calmly, "As time goes by, the evidence of your crimes will only increase, so you should know that the day when your agreement is torn apart is not far away. Yes. The Ministry of Magic does not take it lightly to invalidate an agreement, but when it is part of a crime...you know that is the exception, after all you have worked for the Ministry."

Edmund's smile froze for a moment, and he blinked quickly: "But you must be puzzled by how the agreement was signed, right?" He lowered his voice before Sirius could speak, "She Cried so sad, she thought you were caught by Rozier, she thought you were going to die... I just put the quill in her hand, and she obediently signed it. I bet it didn't matter at that time She will do whatever I ask her to do...Calm down, Black, I haven't talked about the most important part—" He paused to appreciate Sirius's sudden change, "I admit that you have a lot of influence on her, Blake, she's more persistent than I thought. My wife forced the house-elf to take her out of Parkinson's Manor shortly after the agreement was signed, and I guess she was afraid to go to you with my baby, and the result was She met the Death Eaters at the Leaky Cauldron and gave birth prematurely. You probably guessed the continuation, Blake...she fled back to the last place she trusted, the Woods Orphanage."

"You're lying!" The Aurors around cast inquiring glances, but Sirius ignored it, staring at Edmund's distorted face with joy, "You still like lies so much, Parkinson!"

"I didn't!" Edmund almost laughed, "You didn't open that door, Blake, you might regret it for the rest of your life - Rozier and his daughter hid in the house and controlled Hyacinth Well, she knows you're outside, but she can't tell you she's in. It's sad, Blake. You were so close, how she wishes you would push that door open, how she wishes you would ask more questions Oh, but you didn't, Blake, you didn't!"

Sirius suddenly recalled that day.He stood outside the door and said something - "Is it a boy or a girl?" How stupid, there was a strange feeling clearly lingering in his heart, but he decided to ignore the hints his intuition gave him.What Edmund said was true, how pathetic he was! —It was just a door!

"Just let me finish, Blake. When I took Hyacinth from your love nest, she already had my child. You may have vaguely known that your negligence in the protection charm has caused a lot of trouble." This is an opportunity for me to take advantage of, but you may not know that since May 1979, I have frequently been in and out of your residence—" He sighed deeply, rolled up the sleeve of his robe to reveal a light brown scar, Like being scratched by a fingernail, "This is what she left, and there are more scars like this in places you can't see. Women always like to make some useless resistance, don't they? But I am painful and happy And all of this, just an oblivion spell can make you unaware. I guess, in the last moments of your relationship, Hyacinth complained to you about memory loss and headaches, right? I remember that you were once a magician. A top student in the spell class, but you can't imagine that this is the aftereffect of the forgetting spell!"

He laughed morbidly—at last he had done it, and Edmund had a chance to tell these truths to his wife's loved ones himself.They belonged to each other, body and soul, but so what?For a person immersed in grief, there is nothing more heart-piercing than having the murderer himself tell every detail.So what if they were in love?In his lifetime, Edmund finally defeated the last line of defense of this man who made him mad with jealousy.

"I should thank you, Blake." Edmund laughed maniacally, and he staggered back on the sofa, completely out of control, "You sent your lover into my hands and made her my wife, I mother of daughter."

"Maybe I'm pathetic, but you have to be more ridiculous, Parkinson." Sirius continued to spit out every word calmly with a pale face, "Even though you've already become a prisoner, you still try your best to make yourself look even more unbearable, You think your words can hurt me, don't you? They do. But you are sympathetic—the only way you can defend your poor dignity."

Edmund wiped away the tears from the laughter: "Do you think you are noble, Blake? Do you think pretending to be calm is considered a hero's performance? Don't you think that your so-called love is no longer pure? Don't you know your—"

"Of course people like you don't understand what love is. Love is neither possession nor snatching." Sirius stared at Edmund like a dying worm, "I took her away from the darkness, she made me grow up As an adult, even if she is crippled and riddled with holes, she is still the girl I fell in love with at first sight on the Hogwarts Express six years ago."

Edmund's laughter stopped abruptly, and he stared at Sirius trying to find traces of lies.However, after saying this, Sirius left Edmund and walked away. He walked forward quickly, and stepped out of the door before he collapsed.

"Where did Hyacinth go?" He grabbed the Auror desperately and asked, Sirius unconsciously tightened his fingers, and the Auror coughed again and again, he looked into Sirius' red eyes in horror, not understanding What went wrong with this Order of the Phoenix member who made a surprise visit:

"Frank took Mrs. Parkinson to Birdstead Park—to see her friend."

Sirius let go, and the Auror staggered back and rubbed his own neck in shock. Only then did he remember the title issue in Sirius' words just now.However, the latter has silently walked down the steps of the Parkinson Manor, walking step by step in the sunshine of April.

Has she ever wandered here?Had she stared countless times at the barrier that imprisoned her in the void?Had she ever sat here and read a book?

That was just what Edmund said, how much pain he didn't know was hidden in the rest?

None of this was known to Sirius.

Why do they always pass by?If they were meant to be separated, why did they meet in the first place?If he hadn't stepped out of the box on the train in September 1975, would the love and desire, hatred and sorrow, togetherness and parting thereafter have ceased to exist?

It was a riddle that he could not find the answer to in his entire life.

Sirius raised his hand in a daze to cover his dazzling gaze, but a dead leaf hovered and landed on his palm.

This is the last leaf of spring.

"April 1981, 4 light rain

They finally agreed to let me go down to Burstead Manor with Frank - also guarded by Aurors - and I finally met Olivia: after three full years of separation.

Everyone says Olivia has gone nuts after all the blows she's been through, but I'm not sure.On the one hand, she was talking nonsense and insane.But on the other hand, when I met her eyes, my intuition told me that it was still the Olivia I knew—the Olivia before the fourth grade.

Old Mrs. Bulstrode chose to hide part of the truth from me. She refused to admit the big mistake Signus had made, and attributed everything to Margaret and Catherine.However, through other people's narration, I have been able to piece together the general course of the matter.To be honest, 13 years in prison is too light a sentence for Signus, his crime is enough to get him sentenced to Dementor's Kiss, not to mention I don't know what he did in Death Eater something happened.

Frank allowed me to have a 15-minute chat with Ollie alone.There was no direct conversation between us, and she didn't seem to have a clue who I was.Most of the time, she was repeatedly humming some songs that Regulus liked in the past. She stopped and recited a poem for me in the middle. If I remember correctly, it should have been written by Regulus to her.I don't know what to say. For me, life has no meaning so far, but Ollie may be lucky. At least she is living in her dream. Reality is much more beautiful.I don't know if she really can't get out of this illusion, or if she doesn't want to get out.The truth doesn't matter to me, I don't care if she's crazy or not, I just know she looks happier now than when we parted.

I don't hate Olivia, I never hated her.But I resent Cornelia more and more.I admit that there are personal emotions in it, and I also know that my tragedy has nothing to do with her, but I can't forgive her for putting everyone on the chessboard.Is there a big difference between her and Signus?not.

After Frank accompanied me back from Burst Manor, an Auror immediately pulled him aside and said something. Judging by his expression, it seemed that something was not a good thing. I hope the Death Eaters are not causing trouble again.The funny thing is that Edmund hasn't come to me about how to celebrate Pencey's first birthday in a week's time, which is unusual until I'm sitting here writing in my diary.

It suddenly occurred to me that we had been separated for a year and a half.I have occasional fears of being weak, occasional fears that you've forgotten about me (I know you won't), and I'm genuinely afraid that one day I won't be able to hold on, and frankly, it's been too long, too long To the real hope.

I don't seem to be 20 yet, but sometimes I feel like I've lived my whole life.

I still love you. "

The author has something to say:

Note:

1. Between this letter from Grindelwald and the first letter from Dumbledore, they had already exchanged one letter.Skip it here.

2. Grindelwald will appear again in this volume.

3. The appearance of Grindelwald is to make Dumbledore's image fuller, and the relationship between them will not be written here.

4. Hyacinth wasn't exactly counted among those under surveillance by the Ministry of Magic, so Frank took her to see Olivia.

5. The appearance of Parkinson's Manor refers to the house in "The Sound of Music"

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