Before midnight, at 10 p.m., in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.
"Go to Austria."
Severus was stunned when he heard Dumbledore's sudden words, and he pointed at himself.
"?"
Dumbledore reached a hand toward the golden perch by the door. The phoenix, Fawkes, fluttered its crimson wings and landed on his shoulder.
"Yes, you go find him. Tell him about what's happening in France. He'll tell you what to do."
Severus was sowhat puzzled by this.
"Why don't you go yourself?"
Dumbledore simply picked up the glass of soda on his desk and blinked.
"We haven't seen each other in a long ti. Since the International Confederation of Wizards sentenced him and locked him in that tower, the number of tis I've visited him can be counted on one hand."
"If it's just his forr followers, acting on their own wishful thinking to do sothing... well, you understand..."
Severus tentatively continued along his line of thought.
"It's not worth you making a special trip?"
"It's not worth eting him again specially."
Dumbledore shrugged.
"Many people in the Wizarding World don't want us to have any more contact. Even though I was the one who defeated him and stopped his plans, they probably prefer I stimulate him as little as possible in his presence, lest he regain his forr ambition."
"Alright, if you think it's appropriate, I'm willing to go see him on your behalf."
Severus certainly didn't believe Dumbledore's nonsense. There had to be another reason he wasn't going himself. But if it could wrap this up quickly, that was best.
He had already been delayed long enough in Paris. The main purpose of this trip was to go to that forest in Albania.
Before that, he needed to find Nicolas Flal as soon as possible and figure out a solution to the spell-casting problem.
"Fawkes will take you there. You can't Apparate there, and there's no Floo Network coverage. If you want to get there quickly, you'll need its help."
As Dumbledore finished speaking, Fawkes hopped onto Severus's shoulder.
But Severus obviously wouldn't bother with it. Before leaving, he suddenly rembered sothing.
But Severus obviously didn't bother with it, but before leaving, he suddenly rembered sothing.
"That diadem I left for you before I departed the other day… you must have studied it by now?"
Hearing Severus bring this matter up, Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly. He was about to open his mouth and share his findings with Severus when Severus waved a hand at him.
"No need to say anything in a hurry. I've brought you another good thing."
Then, he placed the black-covered diary on Dumbledore's desk.
After setting down the diary, Severus patted Fawkes on the head.
"Let's go!"
The phoenix gave him a displeased look, then spread its wings. A gold-red light emanated from its body, enveloping Severus, and finally, they both vanished from the Headmaster's office.
After he left, the Headmaster's office fell silent. Only Dumbledore remained, staring at the black-covered diary for a long while.
This old wizard, who had lived for over a hundred years, had certainly never played any [Travel Frog] ga.
But at this mont, Severus gave him the feeling of being Hogwarts' very own travel frog.
You never know what kind of surprise he'll bring back next ti!
Austria, Nurngard.
This gloomy prison stood deep within an uninhabited forest.
Under a starry night sky, Fawkes brought Severus to the gates of Nurngard.
The tower stood out in this silent, deserted place. The ground was covered with dead leaves and weeds, looking like no one was usually responsible for cleaning or maintenance.
After delivering Severus here, Fawkes promptly disappeared.
At the prison's entrance, a sowhat mottled and unclear motto was inscribed:
[For the Greater Good]
The gate beneath the motto was tightly shut. But when Severus walked up to it and tried to push it open, it yielded with surprising ease!
The interior of the prison seed deserted. On the ground floor, almost all the cell doors stood wide open, empty.
Severus began climbing the only upward spiral stone staircase toward the top of the tower. Before long, he reached the prison's highest level, the only occupied cell.
The place is extrely simple.
The room was empty, containing nothing but a wooden plank bed in the corner.
On the plank bed sat an emaciated old man.
He looked unremarkable, his body so dry and thin it seed he had barely any flesh. When he saw Severus approach, a peculiar smile appeared on his face.
"Mr. Grindelwald?"
Severus called tentatively.
"Since Albus sent you to find , you should know I'm the only one here."
The gaunt old man spoke. His voice held a strange hoarseness, yet it carried none of the resentnt or depression one might expect from soone who had lived decades in prison.
Instead, it sounded sowhat light.
Hearing his words, Severus glanced at the small, glassless stone window. From here, one could overlook almost half the forest and clearly see the area in front of the prison entrance.
Ghost Snape also watched silently, seeing no trace of the rampant, wanton figure who had once warranted joint pursuit by dozens of Ministries of Magic in this old man.
Grindelwald seed to guess what Severus was thinking as he looked at the window.
He stretched out his dry, long fingers and shook them.
"No, no, no, Professor Snape, you must be mistaken. I didn't guess Albus sent you because I saw the phoenix nad Fawkes. Rather, from the very beginning, I saw so things that haven't happened yet."
He stared into Severus's eyes, pointing at his own.
"I was born able to see things... things ordinary wizards might strive their entire lives and still fail to see."
"Only... well, clearly I didn't study this innate talent very diligently. Otherwise, I wouldn't be locked up here now, would I?"
Grindelwald spoke to himself and laughed to himself. He seed utterly unconcerned with Severus's purpose for coming, rely chatting about what he wanted to discuss.
Compared to his self-proclaid identity to Ghost Snape as a Seer, Severus was rather curious about a true Seer.
He didn't avoid Grindelwald's gaze, not minding chatting with him before bringing up official business.
"So the future you see is uncertain?"
Ghost Snape was very sensitive to this question. Inside his body, the cold-faced ghost pricked up his ears.
"Predicting the future is exceedingly difficult because the cause and effect of people's actions are always complex and variable."
Grindelwald said softly.
"Even for natural Seers, it's the sa. We can only see fragnts of what might happen in the future. As for why such things happen and the consequences they bring, it remains quite blurry."
"Moreover, even the future we see can be changed."
"Just like... I never saw, before the day of my death, that anyone would co to this prison to see ."
This answer made Ghost Snape's gaze turn sowhat weird.
Grindelwald's description of prophetic vision was nothing like Severus's actions and words!
Every one of Severus's prophecies was extrely detailed and precise, with no hint of ambiguity whatsoever!
Severus obviously noticed Ghost Snape's strange look. He coughed lightly to cover his embarrassnt.
Then he spoke.
"Then you probably didn't foresee in advance what your forr subordinates have been doing to rescue you from here either, did you?"
Grindelwald still hugged his skinny, atless legs. Hearing Severus's words, his expression underwent a subtle change.
"A long ti ago, probably eight years back, the future I saw was that Vinda and the others would give up their original unrealistic plans in
He stared at Severus.
"But if you're here on Albus's behalf regarding their affairs... that ans a cause and effect that shouldn't have appeared has interfered with the future I saw. What have they done?"
Hearing this, doubt arose in Severus's heart.
'Could the one interfering with the future be ?'
'I'd only stirred up a couple of minor things in Britain last month. How could that affect those old-tirs in France?'
But thoughts were just thoughts. Since Grindelwald asked, he certainly had to explain what happened in France.
"They kidnapped Nicolas Flal and his wife. They also collected all sorts of data and materials about Nurngard Castle, preparing to rescue you from here."
When Grindelwald heard Severus's answer, he showed no surprise, no tension or unease. Instead, he laughed heartily.
"They are going to succeed?"
Severus looked at him, puzzled. Grindelwald's current deanor didn't match Dumbledore's claim that he was staying here voluntarily.
On the contrary, he seed quite pleased to hear soone was coming to rescue him.
"They deliberately led the French Aurors to suspect the Death Eaters. The Aurors fell for it. But after I found evidence that their real target was this prison and handed it to the head of the Auror Office, they actually stopped from investigating further."
Severus spread his hands, "So I went to Dumbledore. Dumbledore sent to you with his phoenix, saying that if I told you about this, you would understand."
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