When Grindelwald arrived at the Headmaster's office, he discovered that he was not the only guest there. There was also that student, Harry Potter.
"Sorry, Harry, I have a guest now. That will be all for today's lesson."
Dumbledore waved his hand, and the materials on the desk slowly gathered themselves together, forming a thick stack in the corner.
Harry was reluctant to leave, but he also knew this was not the time to be willful. He stood up readily and said goodbye to Dumbledore.
"What are you teaching that boy?" Grindelwald casually sat down in the seat Harry had just vacated, his tone just as casual.
Dumbledore did not mind. Instead, he waved his hand again, and Harry's teacup was replaced with a new one. The teapot beside it was quite considerate, pouring a full cup of hot tea by itself.
"I'm helping Harry analyze Voldemort's past, so that he can understand Voldemort a little more deeply."
Grindelwald raised an eyebrow in surprise.
To be honest, when he had asked, he had not expected Dumbledore to answer so amicably. He had assumed he would receive some perfunctory reply.
But since Dumbledore had shown goodwill, that was also a good thing for the purpose of his visit.
"So you really do intend to let that child face Voldemort himself?"
Having Harry understand Voldemort's past was simply a way to let him know that Voldemort was nothing more than a pitiful product of a Love Potion. His actions seemed terrifying, but in reality, they were only the most incompetent way of venting the unease that had always filled his heart.
To a certain extent, for Voldemort, killing and destruction were the only things he wanted to do within his own understanding.
Of course, this was Grindelwald's view of Voldemort, but all roads led to the same place. As long as Harry understood this, then even if he still feared Voldemort's power, deep down, he would look down on him instead.
That way, even if he faced Voldemort directly, and even if their clash was essentially on the level of souls, Harry's trace of contempt would allow him to maintain a certain advantage.
This was the result of Tver and Dumbledore's discussion, and also the reason Sirius had ultimately been chosen as this term's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.
Dumbledore planned to use this method to let Harry feel the love of family, as well as disdain toward Voldemort.
But there was no need to explain all this to Grindelwald, even if he was Tver's teacher.
"This is the best solution," Dumbledore said lightly, as though the one who would face Voldemort was not Harry, but Tver.
"Tell me. You came to me so solemnly. What exactly is it for?"
When it came to serious business, Grindelwald also became serious. One could even say he became too serious.
"I want to borrow something. No, I should say, retrieve something that ought to belong to me."
"What thing?" Dumbledore's hand paused as he reached for his teacup, as if he had already sensed something.
The corner of Grindelwald's mouth curved into a faint smile. He stared at Dumbledore without blinking, already looking forward to his expression in a moment.
"The Elder Wand," Grindelwald said, opening his mouth wide and enunciating each word.
The ease on Dumbledore's face instantly vanished. His head lowered slightly, while his blue eyes lifted upward, his gaze slipping out from behind his glasses and landing on Grindelwald without the slightest obstruction.
The sharpness within it reached Grindelwald just as clearly.
"You know I won't agree, yet you still say this. So what is your reason? What excuse do you intend to use to persuade me?"
"Hah." Grindelwald chuckled, not surprised by Dumbledore's wariness.
"I know you don't trust me. Don't worry. I only want to give the Elder Wand to Tver."
"That reason is not enough. Even with Tver, I cannot trust him completely." Dumbledore's tone softened slightly, but his face remained cold.
His previous tolerance toward Tver had partly been because the things Tver did were indeed beneficial to the wizarding world, at least so far.
On the other hand, it was naturally because of his own profound magical strength.
However, Tver's actions over the past two years had become increasingly difficult for him to see through. The only thing he was clear on was that Tver's strength was growing more and more powerful.
Even now, he still could not see exactly what level Tver had reached.
If the Elder Wand fell into Tver's hands, then with one side rising and the other falling, Dumbledore would have even less confidence that he could defeat Tver.
Grindelwald was rather surprised. He had been too leisurely these past few years, so he was not very clear that Tver's actions and growing strength had already caused Dumbledore unease.
He had thought that Dumbledore was still the same powerful wizard who sat calmly in the Headmaster's office, observing the treacherous currents of the wizarding world like a god, able to solve any problem with a casual adjustment.
Even you have reached a time when your strength is no longer enough?
Grindelwald looked at Dumbledore with complicated eyes.
"Tver and I have no ambition to rule the world. That is the one thing I can be most certain of."
He thought for a moment and felt he still had to be honest with Dumbledore. Otherwise, that guardedness would not be so easy to remove.
"You know as well that Tver carries a curse."
Dumbledore nodded. "As far as I know, it has already been removed."
"But only on the surface." Grindelwald shook his head, which immediately stirred Dumbledore's curiosity.
"In truth, Tver was innocently drawn into this curse because of a certain unimaginable existence."
Noticing this, Grindelwald no longer kept him in suspense. As sunlight slowly spilled in, he began to explain the matter of Death.
Of course, he did not mention that Tver was a time traveler, nor did he reveal the function of the badge.
After all, he was different from Dumbledore. He only cared about the result. As for what identity Tver had, that was not important.
But if Dumbledore learned of Tver's identity as a time traveler, he would probably study Tver's soul from top to bottom just to determine whether this world truly existed.
Even so, the matter of Death was still beyond belief. After Grindelwald finished speaking, the Headmaster's office fell into silence.
Only Fawkes the phoenix shook his head from time to time, looking at Grindelwald with some curiosity.
To avoid the awkwardness, Grindelwald decided to speak first and ease the atmosphere.
"You know, we once studied the Deathly Hallows, and we explored death…"
"Death is inevitable, and Death is unknowable," Dumbledore said slowly. "That is my conclusion, Grindelwald."
If death could be avoided, if Death could be clearly understood, Dumbledore absolutely would not mind using his greatest power to take his sister back from Death's hands.
But in this world, there were no ifs…