On the last day before the Christmas holidays arrived, the castle, enveloped in a blanket of white snow, also put on a new look of Christmas decorations.
Thick garlands of holly and mistletoe were hung along the corridors, and a mysterious light glowed from within every suit of armor.
As usual, twelve Christmas trees stood in the Great Hall, their branches glittering with golden stars.
During this holiday, it was rare for Kyle to remain at school.
Being reluctant to part with Hermione was one reason, but a more important reason was actually that he wanted to work with George to modify the Asura Path, which was why Kyle stayed behind at school.
However, he didn't neglect the old Dark Lord, who was keeping watch over an empty bedroom all by himself back in New Nurmengard Castle.
Before the holidays, Kyle had written a letter and stuffed it into the warhead of his custom-made, precision-guided intercontinental ballistic broomstick. After setting the coordinates, he launched it over to his old man, Gellert.
Of course, he was afraid of the missile—no, the broomstick.
He was afraid that before the broomstick could even get close to the vicinity of New Nurmengard Castle, it would be shot down by the Muggles' air defense systems.
So, Kyle also made a copy of the letter and specially dispatched the crow, Itachi, to deliver it to Grindelwald in the most primitive way.
With this two-pronged approach, even if the broomstick was destroyed, Grindelwald should have received his letter by now just relying on the slow flight of the crow, Itachi.
Kyle planned to invite Grindelwald to come over to Hogwarts to keep him company—cough, primarily to keep Dumbledore company for Christmas.
Although the journey from France to Britain was long, it was nothing at all to the first-generation Dark Lord.
As for exposing his identity?
There was even less to worry about. Who among the youngsters at Hogwarts knew what the former first-generation Dark Lord looked like now?
The only few who knew Grindelwald's identity would not breathe a word.
After all, this man belonged to their Headmaster, and they didn't want to be given a hard time by the Headmaster at Hogwarts in the future.
On the morning of the day the students left school, a Victorian-style vintage steam train slowly pulled into the train platform of Hogsmeade Village.
A handsome old man with completely white hair stepped off the train at an unhurried pace.
One of his eyes was a deep brownish-black, while the other was a sinister, pale white.
His heterochromatic eyes, combined with his aged yet still handsome face and the wicked slight smirk at the corner of his mouth, caused passing passengers to involuntarily steal frequent glances at him.
Amidst the vast crowd, Kyle spotted the old codger in his flashy attire at a single glance.
"Dad! Over here!" Kyle, who had come to pick him up, raised his arms and waved continuously.
Looking at his own mischievous child whose heart was leaping with joy, Dumbledore's heart suddenly welled up with a hint of sour jealousy.
The amount of time he spent with Kyle was clearly several times that of Grindelwald's.
Except for the summer before Kyle entered his first year last year, and the Christmas of his second year when he himself stayed at school to protect the students due to the Chamber of Secrets incident, Kyle had basically remained by his side.
Every summer, he had also gone to New Nurmengard Castle to accompany his son.
But why was Kyle just closer to Gellert?
Don't they all say boys are closer to their mothers?
Why was it the exact opposite in his case?
How infuriating!
Seeing the father and son, who hadn't seen each other in a long time, give each other a big hug, the jealousy in Dumbledore's heart reached its absolute peak.
His cheek twitched slightly.
Dumbledore suddenly felt a strong urge to pull out the Elder Wand and fire an Impediment Curse at the father-son duo to separate them.
After the father and son finished their pleasantries, they finally remembered that Dumbledore, the old mother, was still waiting on the platform.
By the time Grindelwald walked up to Dumbledore, Dumbledore had already controlled his facial expressions, showing no signs of anything unusual.
However, as Dumbledore's old lover and old rival, Grindelwald saw right through Dumbledore's true thoughts with just a single glance.
Grindelwald: No one knows Dumbledore better than I do. accordion.jpg
Standing in front of his old lover, Grindelwald swayed his head, looking smug and triumphant. "Albus, long time no see."
Although it was just a simple greeting, the aura called "showing off" radiating from his tone could not be suppressed no matter what.
They say that the look of love in someone's eyes cannot be hidden.
Similarly, the urge to murder someone in one's eyes cannot be hidden either.
If possible, Dumbledore really wanted to go back to the Valley of the End from over forty years ago and give Grindelwald, who had lost to him in the duel, a supplementary Avada Kedavra.
Rather than letting him off the hook like this just because he couldn't bear the thought of his child losing a father at such a young age.
Seeing these two tsundere old men on the verge of bickering again the moment they met, Kyle sighed helplessly.
The sum of their ages was almost equal to twenty of him. How could they still bear a grudge against each other like children?
Kyle took a proactive step forward, grabbed the withered and thin hands of the two old men respectively, and then put them together.
The moment their hands touched, both Dumbledore and Grindelwald subconsciously gripped each other's hands tightly.
Realizing what they were doing, the two of them flung each other's hands away as if they had received an electric shock, and then glanced at each other in perfect unison.
With a synchronization rate reaching one hundred percent, both of the old Dark Lords' old faces blushed.
In broad daylight and under the watchful eyes of everyone, it was quite embarrassing for old men with one foot already in the grave to engage in the public displays of affection typical of young people.
Fortunately, the passing students all around were in a hurry to go home and spend Christmas with their families. Busy moving their luggage, absolutely no one noticed what happened here.
Looking at the two of them, Kyle laughed in his heart like a fox that had successfully stolen a chicken.
Don't look at how these two fought with each other all day long; in reality, their relationship was extremely good.
Just now, the passing students might not have noticed the two old men tightly holding each other's hands, but could he, the bridge built between the hearts of the two old men, fail to notice?
Sensing Kyle's teasing gaze, there wasn't even a shred of embarrassment on the faces of Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
Dumbledore even glared at Kyle with a threatening gaze.
Look again, and I'll break your leg!
With the thick skin of these two great Dark Lords—one white and one black—this minor awkwardness was tossed to the back of their minds in an instant.
Looking with great interest at the castle with its numerous towers in the distance, the old Dark Lord raised an eyebrow at Kyle. "Let's go. I've never properly toured Hogwarts Castle to see what it's like."
Grindelwald casually stuffed the luggage bag he was holding into Dumbledore's arms.
The two Grindelwalds, one old and one young, walked toward the distant castle side by side, chatting and laughing.
Leaving only a lonely Dumbledore standing bewildered in the freezing December wind of the Scottish Highlands.
Dumbledore: (╬▔皿▔)凸
"Avada Kedavra!"
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