Work Text
Albus was looking at himself in the mirror, attempting to brush his hair into place. "How much Wilkie's Hair Potion do I need to get this to stay still?" he muttered, as he liberally applied more of the liquid to his head."I think you look like a newborn kid," Ariana said, walking into her brother's room. She then perched on her brother's bed, staring at him in fascination. "Very wet.""Thanks, sis." Albus rolled his eyes. "Don't you have some goats to feed?""But it's not time to feed them, Alby, we only just gave them lunch an hour ago," she replied. Albus turned to her. "Ari, I need you to scram. You know that I have to make a good impression on Bagshot so that she'll hire me as her research assistant. But if you keep chattering away, you'll make me late to tea.""Okay! Let me see if Goat-goat wants to play!" Ariana jumped off the bed and ran off.Thankful, he turned back to the mirror and frowned. Ari was right, he thought. His hair did look rather wet. Groaning, he grabbed his wand and headed towards the washroom, hoping that he'd be able to get the excess product off before he had to leave. He didn't want to keep Bathilda Bagshot waiting, even if she had known the family for the past decade or so. It just wouldn't be proper, not after she expressed an interest in meeting with him after his graduation from Hogwarts.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Albert arrived to Bathilda Bagshot's house five minutes before the appointed time, hair now looking less wet. "Professor?" he called out, knocking at the solid oak door. The door opened, revealing a petite woman, who had brown hair streaked with grey and piercing brown eyes. "Oh, hello Albus. I hope that you are well? Come in, come in, you're early.""I'm doing well, Professor," Albus said. "Thank you for inviting me over.""It's no problem, Albus." She moved aside to let him inside the house. "You know you don't need to be so formal, you're not a student anymore and I was a friend of your mother's." "I know, but it doesn't feel proper to not call you Professor... Professor," Albus explained. The two of them began to walk towards the parlor, where the ceramic kettle, cups and saucers, and food were laid out on the lace tablecloth. "I hope you don't mind, but we'll be having an additional guest today. He's just arrived yesterday from out of the country, and he needs to meet people."Inwardly, Albus groaned, but out loud, he said "I don't mind, ma'am."Bathilda smiled. "Good! I think the two of you would get along well, he's a bright lad and very intense. Let me go get him." She then exited the room, leaving Albus alone wondering what this mysterious guest would be like.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Albus could hear Bathilda's voice from the parlor room as he helped himself to a tea sandwich. "Gellert! Come downstairs! We have a guest!""But Aunt, I'm busy!" yelled a deep, accented voice. Albus wasn't sure where to place the accent. "Can't I just stay here?""You and I talked about this yesterday, he is a family friend, and you cannot be cooped up in your room all day. Come down!"A door slammed, and footsteps began to plod down the stairs. "Alright, Aunt, fine, but I'm going back to my room after!" the voice called.Bathilda walked back into the parlor. "I apologize, Albus. My great-nephew can be a bit rude. He just needs some time to adjust, he's been going through some rough times recently and his mother thought it good to get him away from his previous surroundings.""That's alright, ma'am, I don't mind," Albus said. He looked up from his plate, hoping to get another tea sandwich, and laid eyes on what he thought was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.The man standing before Albus was tall, his blond hair cut short and sticking out in spikes. His black, hooded eyes glowered at the room before him, seemingly angry that he had been interrupted at whatever task he had been doing. Albus couldn't do anything else but stare, his hand outstretched, the tea sandwiches forgotten. "Hi," the blond man said in that same deep, accented voice from before. "You must be the guest.""Be nice, Gellert," Bathilda admonished. "Gellert, this is Albus Dumbledore. Albus recently graduated from Hogwarts." Albus, having remembered himself, lowered his hand and bent his head down in acknowledgment. He hoped Gellert didn't see his reddening cheeks, or hear his pounding heart. "Albus," Bathilda continued, "this is Gellert Grindlewald. Gellert was, until recently, a student at Durmstrang. Have a seat, Gellert, and have some tea and crumpets."Gellert pulled out a chair across from Albus and slumped into it, legs spread out wide. "Fine, I'll have a cup of tea. But I must return to my work, so I won't be here long.""That's fine," Bathilda said, setting a cup in front of her great-nephew while serving herself some scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam. "Why don't you tell Albus what you're working on? Get to know each other a little."Gellert frowned, then turned to Albus. "I've been researching this old wand. People say that it's a very powerful wand, the best in existence." Despite his nervousness, Albus was intrigued. "The most powerful wand in existence? How so?""I'm sure you wouldn't be familiar with it, but this wand is said to do impossible feats that no wizard or witch has ever seen or done." Gellert took a sip out of his cup. Leaning in towards Albus, he whispered "The only way that you would be able to use it, though, is if you shed the blood of the previous owner.""You mean murder?" Albus was shocked. "Who would resort to such a thing?""It's the price for power," Gellert replied back nonchalantly. He straightened up and shrugged, then looked straight into Albus's wide blue eyes. "Who wouldn't want to be the most powerful wizard alive?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As promised, Gellert didn't stay very long after that, excusing himself back to his room and leaving Albus sitting there shellshocked. The rest of the tea went by quickly after that, as Bathilda talked about her recent research in animal Transfiguration and Albus sat there not hearing anything she said. Eventually, Albus made his excuses and left for home, his mind still spinning. All Albus could think about was Gellert's question. Who wouldn't want to be the most powerful wizard alive?Albus didn't want to admit this out loud, but Gellert had voiced an ambition that some part of him resonated with. Ever since Ariana had been attacked by the Muggle children and his father was sent to Azkaban for retaliating against said kids, Albus wanted to get stronger, so that he could protect the Arianas in the world. At Hogwarts, he threw himself into his studies, hoping that with enough hard work, he would get a job at the Ministry and change the fate of the wizarding world. Sadly, his mother's recent death had put a stop to those dreams, and Albus had returned home as soon as he graduated, forced to take over household duties. As he put his brilliant mind towards chores and taking care of his two siblings, he had felt so frustrated and so bored. The tea had promised to give him an opportunity out of this monotony, and it had delivered. Oh, had it delivered!And those eyes, those hooded eyes. Albus opened the front door of his home, remembered how those eyes seemingly pierced into his own, and suddenly it was like he was staring into the sun in all of its glory. How hot he felt inside then, even as his intellect was piqued. How dark, how determined, how–"Alby, you're home!" Merlin's beard, Albus swore to himself.Ariana had been sitting near the door, and as Albus closed it, she jumped up from her spot and hugged her brother. "Hi! Abey let me give the goats a treat, and Goat-goat ate oats out of my hand, and–""Hi, Ari." Albus gave her a quick squeeze, then untangled himself from her arms. "Calm down, you know it's not proper to shout. The neighbors might hear you, and they don't know you're here.""Oops!" Ariana covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide in shock. "I'm sorry," she said in a loud whisper through her fingers."It's okay, Ari. Just remember what Mum used to say. Stay quiet, stay inside...""Stay safe." Ariana lowered her hands. "How was the tea, Alby?"Albus took a moment to consider his response. He really didn't want to talk about this with his sister right now, not when he needed time to think about that voice, that hair, those eyes looking at him into his own and maybe into his soul and– "It went well, Ari. Productive."Ariana's eyes lit up. "It went good? YAY! Did Bathy give you the research position? Tell me, tell me, tell me!""Ari, calm down, what did I just tell you?" "Oh!" She covered her mouth again. "Sorry! Calm down, right."Albus suppressed a groan. He loved Ariana, but sometimes she got too excited for her own good. "Ari, I need to do some work in my room for a while. Why don't you look for Aberforth and see if he needs your help?" he suggested in a gentle voice. "Okay. I'll go find Abey and see if Goat-goat needs anything." Ariana nodded, and ran off towards the back garden and the goat pen. Albus let out a sigh of relief. Good, now he can think in peace. He went upstairs, thinking about power and a man with blond hair and dark eyes.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The next day was laundry day. Albus hated doing the laundry more than any other chore. Even though there were spells to make the task easier, there was still quite a lot of physical exertion involved. Since Aberforth was not of age yet, he was at the washboard, while Albus was nearby levitating the laundry to a waiting clothesline. The one benefit of this work was that he was able to imagine Gellert Grindlewald sitting before him without being interrupted by either of his siblings. Since Ariana wasn't allowed outside during the day, she was inside playing with one of her dolls, and Aberforth was too busy scrubbing to bother him.As Albus levitated one of Aberforth's trousers, he heard a deep voice behind him. "Aunt told me that you were one of the most brilliant minds in Britain. I'm surprised to see you stooping below your station and doing house-elf work."Albus turned red as he turned towards Gellert. "It's not house elf-work, I'm not using my hands to hang the laundry. What are you doing here anyway?""Nevertheless, you shouldn't be doing it yourself. Don't you have a house-elf?" Gellert asked."No. Mum didn't have that kind of money, and anyway she wouldn't trust a house-elf, beca–" Albus interrupted himself. Mordred's arse, I nearly gave away the secret. Bathilda had known about Ariana by chance, but no one else knew she existed. Gellert was Bathilda's great-nephew, but Bathilda wouldn't have betrayed his Mum's trust in that way. "Because what?" Gellert cocked his head. "Did a house-elf overcook her dinner one day?""Um," Albus stammered. "It's uh- it's nothing, it's just her distaste for house-elves. Her distaste, yeah, her disdain and her dislike, yeah." Could Gellert hear the panic in his voice?"Uh huh." Gellert didn't look convinced. "Anyway, I thought you were one of the brilliant minds of our generation, if not all time. Was Aunt wrong about that?""No!" Albus said, a bit more forcefully than needed. "It's only because we don't have a house-elf, and my brother isn't of age. You see that I'm not scrubbing the clothes," he continued, nodding his head towards Aberforth. "I can't just make him do this himself, not when he can't even use magic."Gellert frowned. "There's no reason why we wizards should be doing this work at all. Once I become the most powerful wizard in the world, I'm going to change that.""After you find that super powerful wand, right? Maybe we could use it to develop a spell so that the clothes would wash and hang themselves," Albus suggested. "If I had the time, I'd experiment, but I can't. Have to be at home; Mum died earlier this year and Dad's in Azkaban, so I have to be the head." "Yeah, after I find the wand," Gellert said in agreement. "I think you need some time to yourself, too. You were at tea yesterday, right? Why not come to tea again tomorrow? You could help me with the wand research.""I can?" Albus squeaked. "I-I mean sure, I would lov–like to come to tea again. Like to." "Then it's a date. I'll let Aunt know to expect you. See you tomorrow." Gellert sauntered off, while Albus stared. He was so shocked at the invitation that he didn't realize that Gellert had not answered his second question.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Albus was pacing the floor between his wardrobe and his bed, frustrated. It was two hours before he had to leave for tea with Gellert, and he didn't know what to wear. The floor was littered in colorful clothes from bright robin blue to deep wine red to pale lavender and everything in between, and still more were being added to the pile. What does one wear to do wand research with Gellert?Plum-colored robe with black trim? Nah, it made him look bruised. A simple grey robe? Too ancient, and anyway it looked baggy and didn't suit his figure.A white robe with vertical light blue stripes? It looked like undergarments. He'd been to tea with Bathilda before, in fact he was there two days ago, but now he couldn't figure out a proper outfit to wear. Back then, Gellert hadn't been there, a small voice nagged at the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside. How would he decide?There was a knock at the door. "Albus, what are you doing? You're making a ruckus."Albus stopped pacing and turned towards the door. "I'm trying to prepare for tea, Aberforth.""If you're preparing tea, you're being too loud about it. I couldn't focus.""What were you trying to focus on, whose house was next due for Dungbombs?" A loud thud could be heard. It sounded like Aberforth had punched a wall. "Shut up. If you want to know, Ariana asked me to make another straw doll for her, and I was trying to put it together when you kept interrupting with your constant pacing.""I'm sorry, but this tea is really important to me," Albus said."I thought the tea earlier this week was really important to you. Something about a research position.""I can find multiple things important!" Albus could feel heat on his face. "Anyway, I was invited to do research on some artifact, so there!"There was a moment of silence, then Aberforth's incredulous voice came through. "Albus, I thought you were a Transfiguration genius. What are you doing hunting down some artifact?""It's none of your business. Leave me alone, Aberforth. You're bothering me now.""I'll leave you alone only if you promise to stop stomping around and wearing a tread on the floor. You're a wizard, you don't need to make so much noise." Albus imagined Aberforth looking smug. Aberforth was not pleased about the restrictions on underage magic, so getting to hear his older brother forgetting about magic would have pleased him."Fine." A flick of Albus's wrist, and the clothes on the floor flew back into the wardrobe. "Now leave me alone!""Thank you." Aberforth's steps could be heard going down the stairs. Albus rolled his eyes, then turned back to the wardrobe's doors, using his wand to summon new outfits for evaluation.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Finally, Albus selected an outfit that he thought somewhat acceptable (a white button-up shirt with a navy blue overcoat and black trousers) and left for Bathilda Bagshot's house. The walk from his house to Bathilda's wasn't very far–only ten minutes, he had to walk around the block–but it was enough time for him to fret over what he was going to say. Would Gellert open the door to greet him, or would Bathilda? If Gellert opened the door, would they have some small talk, or would they jump into the wand research project? Would Bathilda join them for the tea, or would it just be him and Gellert? Soon, he was at the oak door, and he froze. Obviously he should knock, but would he tap on it like a hummingbird, or make some solid hits that thudded throughout the house?But before he made a decision, the door opened. "Hi," Gellert greeted, smiling. "You've arrived just in time. Come on in, Aunt made some sandwiches. We're going to say hello to her, and then we're going into my room."Gellert's room? Albert felt giddy and nervous at the same time. He didn't expect to be in Gellert's own room so soon, and now the two of them would be alone together. He followed Gellert inside.Gellert stopped in front of the parlor room door. "Aunt, Albus's here," he announced. Albus marveled at the sound of his name on Gellert's lips; how had he not heard its beauty before? "Thank you for the food," Gellert continued, "we're going upstairs to work.""You won't even sit and share a cup with your Auntie, Gellert?" Bathilda sounded disappointed, but there was a smile on her face. "Alright then, you two rascals go do what you're doing. I'll be down here, Albus, when you want an old woman's company.""Thank you, Professor," Albus said. Gellert grabbed a plate of food, and the two boys headed upstairs.Gellert's room was the second room to the left. It was dark, the curtains drawn against the sun, and there were books and parchment scattered between the desk and unmade bed. Gellert closed the door behind him, set the plate on the desk, then turned to Albus. "Okay. Let me catch you up to speed."As Albus sat on the edge of the bed, Gellert detailed the state of his research so far: there was a wand that was so powerful, wizards and witches would literally murder for a chance to own it. Only one person was defeated in a duel when in possession of it. It was variably called the Deathstick, or the Wand of Destiny, and its known owners were notable in their own right. "I don't know what happened to it after the 17th century, as the stories seem to stop there," Gellert stated. "I've been trying to track down some rumors to try to locate it, but I haven't gotten very far, other than it's supposed to be in Britain somewhere. That's where you come in.""Me?" Albus was shocked. He couldn't think of anything to say; he knew that he would be assisting Gellert, but he didn't expect such an important task. "What am I supposed to do?" he finally squeaked."Like I said, Aunt told me you were one of the most brilliant minds of our generation, and I think you can find some truth in the murk." Gellert held out some sheets of parchment. "These are my notes of what I've found so far, but I can't make any sense out of it. Study these, and let me know what you think."Albus took the parchment, praying he was up to the task. "I'll try to make you proud," he told Gellert."I wouldn't expect anything less."