Approaching the castle, we could feel passing through some kind of barrier. I don''t know what its job was, but none of us felt weird, and we quickly tried casting spells... all of it worked.


    "Alarms? Maybe?" Quincy asked, and I wasn''t that sure about it.


    "Could be... I... I can''t tell. The only feeling was that breeze. No matter... Let''s go. It is not like we can just leave. That storm outside is dangerous; we need to rest before we attempt to leave it."


    It was not a lie... but also not the truth either. We could leave... I just didn''t want to. The Felix Felicis was still working, although the feeling of accomplishment was fading quickly. Still, it told me to stay put. I didn''t feel threatened.


    The outer walls were tall. Built from some kind of black rock that I couldn''t recognize. Its front gate was massive, made out of metal with a straightforward decoration. It had a giant triangle plastered on it, encompassing a circle within and right where it could be opened; it seemed like that vertical line was running down from top to bottom.


    "Is it an emblem?" I asked, making Quincy tilt her head, thinking.


    "Could be. I know of none that is like that, but I only know about our magic families and their crests. Grindelwald wasn''t English... I think. I don''t remember any book mentioning where he was from."


    "True enough." I shrugged, touching the door and pushing on it, but it wasn''t budging. Scaling the thing would be impossible. "Well... it is locked. There are no surprises there; how will we get in...? This is- Ah." I stopped because Quincy was giggling, watching me think how to open the door, feeling a bit stumped. "What...?" I asked, getting embarrassed.


    "You are tired." She skipped over, giving me a peck on my face before mounting her broom.


    "Oh... no comment..." I grumbled while I looked away, wanting to bury myself in the snow.


    We flew very slowly, carefully inching forward, exploring the air so as not to crash into some invisible wall, passing over the physical one below us, and finally landing in the snow-covered courtyard. There were ancient statues and a once maybe green garden, now frozen in ice and time, surrounded by a black castle. No... by a fortress. Watching the small, slit-like windows, this was more like the latter. It wasn''t nearly as welcoming as Hogwarts.


    "The tower is giving me the creeps."


    "I agree," I added with a hum, holding her hand as we walked towards the front gate, turning our heads up, watching the tall, black spire, "It is ominous. But I do want to scale it; the view from the top must be something else!"


    "Maybe we can use it as our room for the time being? If there is a room, that is. Like back in school..."


    "Um, that would be nice."


    Maybe it was the works of the last drops of luck in my body, but when I pushed on the front doors, it opened with a deep, low moan, letting us in.


    "Ugh! This... bleh!"


    I had to agree with Quincy, as the wind created a real duststorm as if we had introduced air to a vacuum. The marble floor was layered with a blanket of dust, taking us minutes to breathe again as the dust swirled up into the air, controlled by the sudden rush of air.


    "The last time anyone came here had to be decades ago!" I complained as we pulled up our scarves before our mouths and made sure the front door was wide open.


    The situation never improved as every room we discovered was the same. Everything was covered in grey dust. The floor, walls, ancient furniture, paintings, everything. In the end, we used magic to open the windows, letting the cold air do its thing, blow through, and create some kind of draft to help us a little.


    "I will enchant some mops and brooms and let it clean everything!" Quincy complained between two coughs as we arrived back to the main hall.


    "Me too, oh man, this is bad! The air inside is like walking into a catacomb!"


    "It is probably one." She grunted, picking out a bottle of water from her bag and sharing it with me. "But at least we have a kitchen, a ballroom, a dining room, and an alchemy room!"


    "Yes, but the storage room in the latter is sealed with magic. We will need to crack that first." I reminded her, as whatever was in there was sealed away. Same with the kitchen''s trap door, leading down to who knows where.


    "We can try to go at it later!" She hummed, looking excited, which was good to see. It helped me not think of Squeaky or Dad; maybe that''s why she was doing it. It was a bit like being back at school. I... liked the feeling of it.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "True!" I answered, trying to sound just as upbeat. I had to; bad things would happen if I started thinking darkly. I can''t believe that I am saying it, but it would be best to be like Professor Lockhart. Jolly, even if things get out of control. "Let''s go; time to check the other rooms upstairs!"


    Besides the clouds of dust, we found multiple bedrooms, a library, and a war room. At least, that is how I interpreted it. The wall opposite the entrance was replaced with a map of the world, and dozens of pins were still stuck into it. I couldn''t tell what their different colors meant, but it was clearly signaling moves, allies, enemies, and bases worldwide. What else could their meaning be? Before it stood an elongated conference table with chairs at one side, facing the map, and I could see the same symbol drawn on the floor as on the gate outside.


    "This had to be Gellert Grindelwald''s symbol." I pointed it out to Quincy, and there was no reason to think otherwise.


    "Some of the battles of the First Wizarding War had to be planned here. I am surprised it was left untouched."


    "Superstition?"


    "Maybe. We do have a lot of those, huh?" She giggled before we left, heading to the last place... the entrance to the tower.


    To our surprise, the door was open... no... It was missing. It was clearly torn down as only its hinges remained, exposing the spiral staircase leading upwards. I insisted on going first, telling her that my instincts would be faster if anything dangerous happened, thanks to the basilisk blood.


    The first floor we reached turned out to be a prison. The inside of it was much larger than what was visible on the outside, which, of course, was not surprising. These cells looked simple, and we couldn''t see any clues indicating that they were magically reinforced in the past or today.


    "Maybe this was for muggles." Quincy suggested, and I couldn''t help but agree. He did have it out for them, so it was a possibility.


    The second floor, once again, was a prison. Now, this was smaller, and the cells were all busted open, their bars bent out of shape as if there was a breakout, which was probably true. We even found some weird fur or hair left behind and came to the conclusion that this was to imprison magical beings. Maybe even centaurs. Werewolves? Who knows...


    "Another prison..." I shrugged after we climbed another level. It was the same as before, with the same busted cells, some clearly opened by destructive magic, leaving marks on the stone floor and walls.


    "Well, we won''t settle at the top floor then, huh?"


    "Nope! But if you want to role-play as inmates, I''m in! Should I be the bad guard?" I joked with her, making her blush and kick my shin. "Owie... I take it as a no, then!"


    She was about to say something when we heard a clang. It was like a clock reaching its hour mark, but then it began ticking louder... no. Those were footsteps. Above? Below? We couldn''t tell as it was echoing throughout the castle. We looked at each other, trying not to move, and crouched, waiting. Soon, the clanking became louder, and it didn''t take long to watch as a slightly rusted, copper figure walked up the stairs, holding a tray.


    "An automaton?" Quincy whispered, watching the genderless figure go on its way with a bowl of congee, heading up the stairs, ignoring us.


    "Where did it come from?"


    "Beats me... Probably left here, and it keeps operating, following the spell engraved into it?"


    "Huh... I never saw one functioning. I thought they were old-fashioned. Outdated." I murmured, watching it disappear.


    "I think I read somewhere that many automatons also protect Hogwarts. You know, the statues and the many suits of armor!" She said quickly and with great excitement.


    "Well, they did not act when the Order attacked, so they are pretty useless!"


    "They need activation, anyway; let''s see where it goes!"


    I didn''t argue because I was just as curious, so we went after it, following it from a safe distance. It straight skipped the following levels, which were, once again, prison cells. They became more decorated than the others the higher we went.


    "It''s going to the top!" She whispered, and sure enough, there was the last floor. The automaton walked up, disappearing, and we waited on the stairs for now.


    We heard a clang, rattling and shuffling around before the steps resumed once again. The automaton didn''t take long to walk by us, heading back down without bothering with our presence.


    "Skeleton or not?" I asked, making Quincy roll her eyes.


    "Not. I don''t want to find a dead body!" She moaned, standing up and walking forth.


    I quickly followed her just for both of us to freeze and look at the one and only cell on the top floor. It was spacious, yes, but it was unadorned. It had nothing but a bed, a hole as a ''toilet,'' and that was it. Worse, thanks to that hole, it was cold up here. Very cold. There was only one window, higher up, giving a look at the sky but at nothing else... only the black walls remained to gaze at.


    That was not what was surprising. No. An emaciated figure was sitting on the bed, holding the tray the automaton had brought up and calmly eating the congee. His messy, long, grayed-out hair almost reached his ankles, while his beard was just as long, touching his knees, I guess. His skin was sticking to his bones, and he wore nothing but the remains of a once elegant robe, now faded and dirty. Yet when his piercing, sky-blue eyes looked at us, it was just as vivid as any living person''s.


    "Visitors..." He spoke, and his voice was hard to listen to. It was as if his voice chords hadn''t worked for decades, trying very hard to remember what it was to produce sound... words. "How quaint."


    And with that, he refocused his attention on his lunch, not looking at us. We couldn''t decide what to do. We did not expect to find a prisoner, at least not one that was still alive and being fed by an automaton. He wasn''t that surprised or just didn''t show it... who the hell was he?


    "No..." We said at the same time, looking at each other, knowing full well what the other was thinking about. While debating without words, the man finished his lunch, put the bowl down, wiped his mouth with the end of his beard, and finally stood up, barefooted. His nails were gross and long, but... I could understand why. This is not exactly a health resort.


    "I had no visitors in my prison for more than forty... no, this is the fiftieth year... yes. My last visitor came here fifty years ago. A jubilee of sorts... how... interesting."


    "Are... are you?" We asked, speaking simultaneously.


    "Gellert Grindelwald... welcome to my castle, to my home, and... to my prison: Nurmengard."