Procuring Veritaserum, for she, and she alone, knows the full story of the bestkept

secret of Albus Dumbledore’s life. Now revealed for the first time, it calls

into question everything that his admirers believed of Dumbledore: his

Supposed hatred of the Dark Arts, his opposition into the oppression of Muggles,

Even his devotion to his own family.

The very same summer that Dumbledore went home to Godric’s Hollow,

Now an orphan and head of the family, Bathilda Bagshot agreed to accept into

Her home her great-nephew, Gellert Grindelwald.

The name of Grindelwald is justly famous: In a list of Most Dangerous Dark

Wizards of All Time, he would miss out on the top spot only because You-

Know-Who arrived, a generation later, to steal his crown. As Grindelwald never

Extended his campaign of terror to Britain, however, the details of his rise to

Power are not widely known here.

Educated at Durmstrang, a school famous even then for its unfortunate

Tolerance of the Dark Arts, Grindelwald showed himself quite as precociously

Brilliant as Dumbledore. Rather than channel his abilities into the attainment of

Awards and prizes, however, Gellert Grindelwald devoted himself no other

Pursuits. At sixteen years old, even Durmstrang felt it could no longer turn a

Blind eye to the twisted experiments of Gellert Grindelwald, and he was

Expelled.

Hitherto, all that has been known of Grindelwald’s next movements is that he

“traveled around for some months.” It can now be revealed that Grindelwald

chose to visit his great-aunt in Godric’s Hollow, and that there, intensely

Shocking though it will be for many to hear it, he struck up a close friendship

With none other than Albus Dumbledore.

“He seemed a charming boy to me,” babbles Bathilda, “whatever he became

Later. Naturally I introduced him to poor Albus, who was missing the company

of lads his own age. The boys took to each other at once.”

They certainly did. Bathilda shows me a letter, kept by her that Albus

Dumbledore sent Gellert Grindelwald in the dead of night.

“Yes, even after they’d spent all day in discussion --- both such brilliant

young boys, they got on like a cauldron on fire --- I’d sometimes hear an owl

tapping at Gellert’s bedroom window, delivering a letter from Albus! An idea

would have struck him and he had to let Gellert know immediately!”

And what ideas they were. Profoundly shocking though Albus Dumbledore’s

Fans will find it, here are the thoughts of their seventeen-year-old hero, as

Relayed to his new best friend. (A copy of the original letter may be seen on

Page 463.)

Gellert ---

Your point about Wizard dominance being FOR THE MUGGLES’

OWN GOOD --- this, I think, is the crucial point. Yes, we have been given

Power and yes, that power gives us the right to rule, but it also gives us

Responsibilities over the ruled. We must stress this point, it will be the

Foundation stone upon which we build. Where we are opposed, as we

Surely will be, this must be the basis of all our counterarguments. We seize

Control FOR THE GREATER GOOD. And from this it follows that where

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 847