We were standing in the garden of the black fortress, the snow around us thrown to the sides, still fluttering in the air now and then before it could settle back down to the ground. Quincy was lying in a destroyed bush, only her legs sticking out, trying to somehow climb out from under the heavy snow, while I was gasping for air, holding my wand with a trembling hand, aiming it at Grindelwald.


    "You are good." He smiled, one hand behind his back, holding his wand as a fencer would aim with his rapier. "Better than I expected, but your movements still need refinement." He attacked with a spell I didn''t comprehend, but I managed to deflect it. I was already on the back foot, constantly retreating, only defending and finding no chance to go on a counter-attack. "Good, good! But not enough!" He shouted, pushing on, and I could feel that one millisecond of lapse in my focus, and I would join Quincy in the bushes with a painful slam.


    I could feel my anger rise, and his movements seemed to become slower in my eyes. I knew by now it was the basilisk''s blood becoming irritated within me because I was losing and putting myself in danger, so it was trying to take over.


    "Control it." Echoed Herpo''s voice within my mind, and it was the distraction I couldn''t afford. It made me eat Grindelwald''s spell, which launched me into the sky before I slammed against a row of hedges, breaking them with a loud crunch. The heavy snow on them quickly fell on me, burying me under a cold blanket, leaving only my boots sticking out.


    "Your spellcasting speed and reactions are top-notch, Young Conrad." He continued, and I could hear him, albeit muffled, while I was digging myself out. "But what happened? Your concentration faltered as if something interrupted your thoughts."


    "Something like that..." I grunted, sticking my head out, looking around, watching Quincy finally free herself, shivering, trying to get the snow out of her hair and from under her jacket.


    "Not the first time either. This has happened in every session in the past two weeks."


    "..."


    "No matter." He waved his hand, smiling, "Secrets are the ultimate weapon of wizards. Just don''t let it become a visible weakness, Young Conrad. We will repeat this bout tonight once again. The conditions can not be advantageous at all times. As for you, Young Quincy..."


    "Eh..." She flinched, twitching her mouth as she also knew she was not a duelist.


    "I will test your advancement on apparition."


    Ah... Now, it was me who began pouting as I was still struggling with it, yet Quincy could apparate four out of five times. Of course, Grindelwald was not satisfied with that. He said that we would have to master it in a way that we could jump between spaces freely and duel while using it. While Quincy was close to finally getting an acceptable mark from the old wizard, meaning she was able to apparate five out of five times in under ten seconds... I was still struggling with it.


    "It is a concentration issue." He repeated, glancing at me, reading my thoughts. "Your mental state is what is holding you back. I can''t really help you with that, Young Conrad. It is your fight. Alone."


    "I understand..." I whispered, lowering my head and climbing out from the snow.


    "Don''t get disheartened. You two are very talented, and I am glad for your show of force. You just need experience, experience, and more experience. I will be there to guide you and protect your lives from certain death."


    "But not from consequences." We added it before he could, as we had heard it multiple times already.


    "My lessons are working." He chuckled, holstering his wand. Looking at him, he was no longer like a thin skeleton and regained much more vitality than when we first met. He looked... noble. I was wondering if he would be recognized by anyone outside... Probably not.


    "You okay?" I asked, watching Quincy rub her chest, grimacing a little.


    "Yeah, it just still stings."


    "You were too late to erect a proper shield-charm. You need to hone your defensive skills, Young Quincy. You are less as good a fighter than your husband, so you must focus on defensive and support spells. It would be best if you could share the burden amongst yourselves."


    "What do you mean?" We asked, listening to him as his lessons were triumphing over anything that we ever had in Hogwarts.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "You are a pair. Back in the old times, a couple that went by the name of the Bathory Duo came up with a unique fighting style. They were lovers, just like you. The woman was a master in defensive charms, while her husband perfected the art of dueling. He never faltered, never hesitated, and forgo all defenses, always going on the attack. One could call him reckless... or a berserker."


    "Because his wife protected him..." Quincy murmured, echoing the same thoughts I had.


    "Exactly. He had complete and utter trust in her. Their combo was deadly and unbeatable for twenty long years."


    "What happened?" I asked, gulping, feeling a sad ending, and I wasn''t wrong.


    "Maria Bathory got pregnant. Their enemies used it to ambush them, and this time... Her husband, Attila Bathory, was the one to protect her. With his life."


    "What happened to her? And their child?" Quincy yelped, wanting to know their end, and I saw Grindelwald lower his gaze.


    "Self-sacrifice is a powerful spell. They survived as the killing curses all rebounded, destroying the attacking wizards and witches. But she never recovered. When her son became an adult and found his own love, Maria Bathory disappeared forever."


    "..."


    "There are scars that can never heal. No matter what."


    I understood that. Just like how my Father must have felt... even if he had me, he couldn''t get past what happened to him, and if anything would happen to Quincy, I wouldn''t be able to do it either.


    "Let''s head in, children!" He clapped, drawing us back to reality, "It is time we go over some theories of magic while we dine!"


    ...


    ....


    ......


    "What are your plans now, Minerva?" Asked Alastor Moody, sitting in a pub in the Czech Republic where local mages surrounded them, going on with their lives, not paying much attention to tourists.


    "Good question. I very much so want to discipline Regulus Black for his wild antics. He had a chance catching that slimy Lockhart, but let him slip from his hands... He doesn''t know subtlety and acts like a wild mongrel most of the time."


    "You are right about that." Moody agreed, his blue eye locked on the figure of the grey dog, sitting outside of the pub, leashed onto a fire hydrant. "Still, we need warriors, and he is one that Dumbledore can do without. Plus..."


    "Charlie is worse." McGonagall agreed, raising her mug, taking a slip like an elegant lady, "But he is the best tracker in the Order. We can''t keep him leashed like the other."


    "I am beginning to doubt it. He keeps saying he is in the Alps, but we have already looked everywhere in both Switzerland and Austria. I didn''t plan to be away for this long... This should have been a shorter search. England is burning right now, and my place should be there, not here, searching for two runaway children!"


    "I understand." McGonagall smiled, even though he had often disagreed with Moody''s methods. He was a damned good wizard and one of the best warriors in their ranks. He is being wasted here. "I don''t think Dumbledore thought so either."


    They were about to continue when the door to the pub opened, and Charlie walked in hurriedly, looking disheveled and troubled, something they hadn''t seen before.


    "I found a trail. But..." He said in a dry, hoarse voice, leaning against their table while many patrons were watching his scarred face and feeling the weird, draconic aura coming off him.


    "What is it?" They asked while Regulus, in his dog form, was also looking in through the windows.


    "I found a place that is protected by some kind of wild, dangerous magic that I couldn''t crack. They are hiding in there..."


    "What do you mean?" The older wizards'' duo asked, feeling baffled, "Are you sure?"


    "I am. I smelled the stench of the boy... that rotting smell of a snake. He is inside."


    None of them doubted his words, as his senses were enhanced by the dragon blood flowing within him. If he said he smelled it, he indeed did. After paying and leaving the pub, the quartet of mages didn''t hesitate but got on brooms, following Charlie''s directions. It was a mostly silent flight, lasting from dusk into the night until they were deep into the Alps again.


    With charms protecting them from the cold, it was not so bad, no matter how high they flew, yet when nearing that clearly magical place where an endless blizzard ruled, they couldn''t help but shiver.


    "What is this...?" McGonagall asked, looking at it with disbelief. This was a definitive, mage-made barrier, strong enough to keep them or anyone else out. No child would be able to erect something like this, nor could they head in and survive. Not even if they are lucky...


    "This is an extremely powerful charm!" Moody shouted over the wind, waving his wand, examining it, "I feel multiple, different characteristics hidden within; this was made by multiple... Oh...? Oh!"


    "What is it? Is she in there?!" Regulus asked, afraid that his daughter committed suicide going in... no, if that happened, then she was murdered by that good-for-nothing brat.


    "Shut up!" The old auror grunted, his blue eyes rolling into the back of his head, "This snowstorm has a very familiar feeling within! It has a part of Dumbledore''s magic."


    "You are right..." McGonagall hummed, trying to feel it out too, and finally, Charlie also realized it.


    "So they are not dead..." Regulus sighed, supposing that anything by Dumbledore would not be dangerous enough to kill others, not even if he wanted to keep something hidden. Whatever it may be.


    "Are we going in, Minerva?" Asked Moody, but she shook her head.


    "Let''s find shelter first. We need to make contact with Dumbledore. If this place has a connection to him, he must know. Whatever is within, it won''t be able to come out; the same is true for the children. First, we will wait for his answers, and then we will act. Understood?" She asked not from Moody but from Charlie and Regulus, looking at them sternly, making the two think they were little kids once again.


    "Yes." The two answered in tandem, making the old witch nod, maintaining her piercing, stern gaze.


    "Good. Let''s go; the sooner we get the answers, the sooner we can capture them and return home to liberate our country!"