A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 1119 Grindelwald is no more

Grindelwald set foot on this unfamiliar land.

Death's dwelling place is very small; in terms of area alone, it is smaller than Nurmengard.

In this tiny place lived a god who influenced human history for thousands of years.

Grindelwald followed in the footsteps of Death, circling the river once, and finally strolled to the tall elderberry tree.

The island was simple, barren, with only elderberry as its sole living organism; everything else was inanimate.

It's hard to imagine that this is the abode of death.

It's more like a cage.

So, as the only living thing, what makes the elderberry tree so special?

The reason is simple: it grew from an elderberry seed planted by Death when he became a god.

Over the next thousand years, Death used the waters of the River Styx to irrigate it day and night until it grew to this size.

It is both the source of death's power, an inseparable life, and the embodiment of his soul.

This elderberry tree is Death's...destiny!

Only by cutting it off can the man be stripped of his identity as the Grim Reaper, thus giving us the opportunity to kill him completely.

Grindelwald entered the underworld and has been lying low ever since, all for this elderberry.

Of course, as the embodiment of "destiny," it cannot be destroyed by just anyone.

Magic, weapons, and even prehistoric mysteries are all impossible to achieve!

Only Death's weapon... is possible.

Death has two weapons: a scythe and an axe.

Holding a sickle, one can reap millions of lives;

With an axe in hand, one can change the world.

They are the only two things that can cut elderberry.

A rusty axe appeared in Grindelwald's hand.

After entering the underworld, he rode the Kraken and ventured to the end of the River Styx. In the land of the dead, he finally found the battle axe.

But even with an axe in hand, how can a mortal cut through the elderberry tree of death?

You can't get anything without sacrifice. To gain something, you must pay an equal price.

The elderly person's sacrifice is... death.

It was not an ordinary death, but a complete sacrifice of the soul.

After the sacrifice, one cannot become a ghost, cannot enter the River Styx for reincarnation, and cannot be summoned... completely vanishing into nothingness.

Grindelwald knew this all along, yet he still didn't hesitate at all about this trip to the underworld.

They were even quite happy.

He hasn't killed a god yet.

On his deathbed, he traded his old and frail life for death... It was worth it!

Or rather, in Grindelwald's view, he should have died long ago.

Back then, during the three-way battle, did no one really notice Ariana?

No, Grindelwald saw it.

He could foresee the future and "witnessed" the girl's fate at the very beginning of the chaos.

He still didn't stop it, and was even... secretly pleased.

Ariana is an Obscurial, and she wouldn't live much longer anyway.

If she dies in an accident, it will be a relief for everyone.

Especially for Albus Dumbledore!

The young Grindelwald thought to himself:

Albus no longer needs to be a burden to his sister, nor does he need to bear the responsibility of taking care of her.

They could finally fly away, following the preordained journey to seek the sacred, to obtain the mysteries of prehistory, and to find the Grim Reaper.

They united,

Revolution has failed in this world!

Let's build a whole new world!

Ariana's death was for... a greater good!!

but,

When the girl actually died in the melee, Grindelwald felt a pang of panic.

What followed far exceeded his expectations.

He still remembers the scene:

The young Dumbledore slowly knelt down, embraced the small corpse, and pressed his forehead tightly against hers.

At that moment, the boy hugged his sister, tears streaming down his face, and he began to sob.

Looking at that extremely pained face, Grindelwald was momentarily dazed and lost in thought, even feeling a pang of heartache.

He had a premonition:

I might lose Dumbledore.

Grindelwald's hunch was right.

They poured out their hearts to each other and had in-depth exchanges. They were like-minded comrades, even closer than blood brothers.

Or should we just part ways like this?

Dumbledore completely broke down. His eyes were filled with pain, and he didn't say another word to him. He just knelt on the ground alone, digging a grave with his bare hands, his fingers stained with blood...

Grindelwald was disappointed.

Then, he ran away.

Like a coward.

He came alone; when he left, he took only the medicine bottle with which he had made a blood pact with Albus.

This is a keepsake between the two of them.

But Albus didn't catch up at all, and Grindelwald's disappointment turned into despair.

Aberforth was the one who came after him, intending to kill him.

The outcome of the battle was predetermined.

Grindelwald easily subdued Aberforth. He hated Aberforth, but he didn't harm the boy.

After all, he was Albus Dumbledore's only family.

From then on, Grindelwald continued on his journey alone, following the plan he had made that summer.

He was like someone who kept running forward, never looking back, simply because...

I feel guilty.

Ariana's death left Grindelwald with lifelong guilt.

He should have died at Dumbledore's hands in that final battle.

He didn't kill him; instead, he spared his life.

From then on, in Nurmengard, in that dark and gloomy prison, Grindelwald imprisoned himself for fifty years, spending the rest of his life solely to atone for his sins.

Not only for the Muggles and wizards he killed over the years, but also for that innocent girl.

Grindelwald was not afraid of death; he lived on, merely seeking redemption.

If one can atone for the sins committed over the years with one's own death, what could be easier than that?

The old man raised his axe and, without hesitation, chopped hard at the elderberry.

As the axe struck the vines, the phantom of a sickle appeared in mid-air.

It was like a reaping tool, slowly drawing Grindelwald's soul away.

The soul, separated from the body, is burning intensely; it is a piercing pain.

He didn't stop.

He kept swinging the axe.

As long as Death doesn't leave this island, the wizard will have no chance to come up.

Even if Death leaves, once it senses something amiss, it can instantly traverse space and return here;

Even if Death doesn't return, and we don't find the axe at the end of the River Styx, we still can't destroy the elderberry...

Now, all of this is happening at the same time.

This was what he told William… his only hope.

How could he give up so easily!

The old man, like a diligent lumberjack, kept raising his axe and chopping at the elderberry.

Click!

The elder tree that had been used to make the Elder Wand, the Holy Grail, and countless Deathly Hallows... fell to the ground.

By this moment, Grindelwald's soul had been completely torn out, like a long-burning cigarette about to burn out.

"Please, Albus, forgive me, forgive me for all the harm I have caused you in this life."

In the darkness, the old man stretched out his withered, bamboo-like arm, reaching towards the sky.

On his deathbed, scenes from that summer replayed in his mind:

Young Dumbledore and young Grindelwald stood facing each other in a barn.

Both of them used their wands to draw a line on their palms.

Blood flowed out, and they clasped their hands together.

"Ten fingers intertwined,

Blood flow.

I will always remember my love.

Never hurt her.

The old man's five fingers began to disappear, then his arms, and then his body.

"The most precious thing in my life is that you came along with that summer."

"But summer is over, and so is my story..."

"So, Albus..."

"Bye now."

So... Albus Dumbledore is gone forever.

A gentle breeze swept across the land, dispersing the stench of blood and the dust.

Grindelwald vanished without a trace, never to be seen again.

Gellert is no more.

……

……

(End of this chapter)