New Information
Utterly overwhelmed with information, Grey hurried from the office. He wasn't certain, but he didn't want to tell Richard what he had learnt. His views had just entered a whole new realm of complicated and for the first time, Grey wasn't sure that Richard would understand. How could he explain Dumbledore without the proof and conviction Grindelwald had used to impart the news?
Tucking the charm into his shirt, Grey began mindlessly wandering the corridors, replaying the conversation in his head. He'd almost forgotten the unpleasant incident of the morning. The sleet had turned to rain beyond the castle and the rhythmic patter on glass kept his mind far from his eyes as he wandered. The wounds on his palms were sore yet he continued to dig his fingers into them.
Grey was pulled unexpectantly from his raging thoughts as a voice sounded beside him.
"Are you ok?"
Pausing, he turned to see Aurelias standing in an open doorway of what must be his room.
"I-"
"Queenie said you'd been hurt before. Is that true?" Aurelias pressed.
Grey silently cursed the legilimens.
Yes." He forced.
Aurelias' face fell and he rubbed at his hands. The movement was familiar to Grey, and he spied the linear scars on the other's palms.
"You were too." He remarked without thinking.
Aurelias flinched at his words.
"Sorry," Grey muttered.
"It's ok, would you like to come in?"
Grey accepted his offer silently, following the older boy into his room. The room felt much darker than his own, with its walls painted a deep navy. All the furniture was disorderly placed and covered with papers and books. Yet, unlike in Grindelwald's office, the chaos leaked desperation rather than power.
Aurelias lent against a wall beside a faded mirror and sink, watching as he glanced about the space. Hairs on Grey's neck prickled uncomfortably.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" He asked tensely, tracing his fingers across indents in the walls.
"He's been talking about you for so long, but you're not what I expected," Aurelias murmured.
"Grindelwald's been talking about me for a while?"
Though he half knew about it already, the thought of Grindelwald talking about him made Grey anxious.
"It's complicated."
"Can you explain?" He pleaded quietly.
Grey didn't want to upset the obscurial but he was equally desperate for answers. Aurelias moved past him, softly closing his door. He then pulled over a chair for Grey, which he accepted. They sat opposite each other, observing the other carefully.
"For a while, he sought two people," Aurelias began to explain in a hushed tone, "After he found me, he'd constantly talk about the other child of Tycho Dodonus' prophecies. He wanted to find them and bring them here."
Grey nodded encouragingly.
"On top of his other goals, he sent people out looking for traces of this person. But a couple of months into his investigations, he came back here, after a rally, I think. He was upset and confused. He shut himself up in his office for three days, not even Queenie knew what he was doing. When he finally emerged, he informed us that there was someone else he wanted to find, a child around the age of fifteen or sixteen, most likely in England."
Grey's brows furrowed at Aurelias' words. The young man noted his expression.
"I was confused too, but he refused to explain, just reiterating that the child was important to him. I thought it might be someone else like me. He got into contact with magical orphanages in England who directed him to Hogwarts. Thankfully he had a supporter at the school-"
"Fallow," Grey hissed.
Aurelias nodded, "Fallow. So Fallow began informing him, and your name came up, followed by the news that you were a seer. I remember that day when he found out that both of the people he sought were actually just you. I've never seen him so happy. He started plotting to bring you here. It was all he talked about, like an obsession and, well, here we are." He finished awkwardly.
Grey was unsettled by what he'd learnt. He wondered what Grindelwald had discovered to make him want him so much.
"Thank you for telling me this," Grey muttered with a small smile.
"I wished there had been someone to be direct with me, so you're welcome."
"Have you been here long?" Grey asked cautiously.
He watched Aurelias' expression melt to one of distant sadness.
"Just over a year."
A twinge of sympathy flared in Grey for the man.
"Must be lonely," He mused.
Aurelias just shrugged, "I was never one for friends."
Grey nodded, unsure of how else to respond.
"I should go," He murmured, rising towards the door.
"Do you know how to play chess?" He stopped to ask quickly before leaving.
"I've learnt to," Aurelias shrugged again.
With one more half smile, Grey opened the door.
"We should play sometime," He remarked then left before the young man could respond.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grey paced the castle once again processing the vast amount of information he'd gotten over the day. At some point, he heard the distant call for lunch but ignored it, not feeling hungry. So many of his prior beliefs had been uprooted in so little time and the fact he didn't trust any of what he'd been told added to his unease.
He wanted to believe that Dumbledore was the man he had thought, but it was unrealistic to think he didn't have a past. Everyone always had something to his, that Grey knew for certain, and Dumbledore wasn't excused from that. But murder, muggle hating?
Seeking guaranteed isolation, Grey tried most of the doors he passed. The majority were locked until by chance he tried what he assumed was just a broom closet. Much to his surprise, the little door opened to reveal a cramped spiral staircase, twisting upwards. Relieved, he entered the stairwell making sure to close the door behind him.
Lighting his wand, Grey began climbing the stone steps. it was incredibly drafty and the funnel had no windows so he had to rely solely on the light from his spell. Grey didn't have time to dwell on his worries because he was so focused on not tripping.
After several minutes of climbing, he finally emerged into a circular room about eight feet in diameter. The domed ceiling and slit windows drew him to the conclusion that he was in one of the towers. It was bare and very cold thanks to the absence of glass in the windows, but it felt like a world away from the rest of the castle.
So Grey picked up a piece of start stone from the floor and transfigured it into a glass jar. Sitting beneath one of the slits, he conjured a lump or portable blue fire within the jar, sealing it and clutching it to his chest for warmth.
Then, he took a deep breath, finally alone.
The whistle of the wind through the windows separated him from everyone else. As his mind flashed with escape plans and memories, something miraculous struck him - patronus charms.
Newt had Dumbledore said they were a good form of communication! If he could just get a message to someone.
But he'd never produced a corporeal patronus and he had no idea how to send a message through one. If Grindelwald discovered what he was doing, Richard would suffer.
But what if Grindelwald didn't find out? A voice sounded at the back of his head.
Look where you are.
A small smile began to grow on Grey's lips. This little room, barren and unused, stood way above the castle. A quick detection charm on the stairs, and he could be alerted if anyone began to come up.
It couldn't be a better place to practice.
Hurrying to the steps, Grey performed a spell he'd learnt earlier that year in Defence against the dark arts. Now if anyone ascended, red sparks would shoot from his wand. Grey vanished his little fire jar and stood at one end of the room, trying to remember how to cast the patronus charm. From what he could recall, he had to think of his happiest memory.
It wasn't difficult to choose, he immediately remembered the first time that he, Richard and Derric found the room of requirements. The day that followed was the happiest he'd ever felt. So he raised his wand and tried to focus on everything they had done.
"Expecto Patronum." He muttered.
Something happened, a silvery dome-like shield fizzled from his wand. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't corporeal. Grey wondered where he'd gone wrong, he had been picturing the games they'd played and the conversation.
Yet, was that why it was his happiest memory? Grey scoffed at his own stupidity. Of course, it wasn't.
He raised his wand again. This time, he focussed on his friend's faces, the beaming grin on Richard's handsome face and the rich, unwavering laughter of Derric. This time, he spoke with empowered confidence, his mind filled with the joyful visages of those he loved most.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A huge silvery blue shape erupted from his wand. It almost filled the small tower room, radiating with pale yet warm light. As Grey took in the tight rigid back, bat-like wings and hooked equestrian snout, a sense of melancholy pride filled him for his patrons. He'd been expecting a raven, but now he saw it, he knew it couldn't be anything else.
The thestral bowed its head, observing him with its eyeless sockets. Deep within him, some strange instinct told him what to do next.
"We're alive and being held in Numengard, Austria. Please help."
As the words shakily left his lips, the thestral diminished into a pale blue orb of light and shot out of the window into the storm. Slumping down against the wall, a mixture of relief, hope and utter disbelief consumed Grey.
But, before he had a moment to process - red sparks shot from the tip of his wand.