"Finally, I was starting to worry!" Quincy grumbled when I got back, coming to hug me. "How was it?"


    "Weird. There was a phantom that was Grindelwald''s, but it was definitely not a ghost. I think it is a defensive spell decorated with a riddle as its lock."


    "Did you memorize it?"


    "Of course!" I answered while rolling my eyes, quoting it word for word.


    In twilight''s veil where shadows glide,


    A shroud of whispers, unseen guide.


    Through realms of mist, I softly tread,


    Embraced by secrets, all unsaid.


    In whispered hush, I''m but a wraith,


    A fleeting breath, a hidden faith.


    Beyond the grasp of mortal eye,


    In echoes soft, I pass on by.


    What am I, in twilight''s sheen?


    A whispered secret, yet unseen.


    That''s it."


    "Hmmm... Peculiar... Hopefully, it will jar something within his mind. There have to be clues hidden within because there was one in the alchemy set!"


    "What do you mean?" I asked, raising my eyebrows while she cracked a wide grin, dragging me into our room.


    It was messy beyond belief. Most of the furniture was swept out of the way while the cauldron of Flamel was sitting in the middle, a pinkish potion bubbling within it, releasing a cherry-like aroma from within. Next to it, on a potion-holding rack, five vials were corked up, making something of a rainbow with their different colors.


    "He didn''t lie; in the documents, I found clues! Look, it is evident if you look hard enough!"


    "Evident... for you..." I muttered, smiling, watching the different ingredients circled by her.


    "I think it is pretty easy to find out..." She mumbled, biting her lips, "When I began trying to make the potions he mentions, the ones that he practiced with to recreate the Philosopher''s Stone, all the recipes had a dud ingredient hidden within! See these completed ones?"


    "Yes?"


    "Give it a sniff!" She exclaimed, uncorking one, and the moment I leaned forward, I could smell death.


    "Ugh! What the-?! This stinks!"


    "Isn''t it?"


    "I wouldn''t laugh, damn! What is in there, liquified rotten meat?"


    "Nooo~!" She continued after quickly resealing the vial. As I told you, all the recipes, besides detailing why they were a failure, also had one in them that turned them from potion to poison. The one I am brewing right now is without the planted Trojan horse!"


    "What is it? It is sweet..." I asked while leaning forward, trying to wash the horrible, rancid smell from my nostrils.


    "This one is a love potion."


    "Why do you need one?"


    "I don''t need it!" She answered at once, blushing and suddenly realizing why I was asking. Although I knew full well she wasn''t going to use it, it was just her curiosity and love for potions that made her cook up all the new recipes; I couldn''t help but tease her a little.


    "Uhum..."


    "Uuu, no, it is nothing like that! Conrad!" She moaned, crawling over me, kissing me in a hurry, and hugging me tight, "Sorry... I didn''t think ahead..."


    "As long as you don''t plan to use it..." I continued with a sulking whisper, and her hug became even stronger.


    "No way! I would never! Hauh... Sooorryyy! Really!"


    "Okay, okay... I believe you!" I chuckled in the end, making her ease up, giving me another kiss, nestling in my lap, and turning around to face the cauldron while pulling my hands on her tummy.


    "It''s Grindelwald''s fault because he added a love potion recipe into the mix!"


    "Um, um, I agree! So... what did you discover?"


    "Oh, yes! So, those duds I mentioned. It took me a bit of time, but I figured out which ones were as they were opposite to all the other elements within the recipe. No wonder they turned it poisonous! After looking them up, all those ingredients were synonyms for death, resurrection, and stone."


    "So the one piece of information hidden in there is related to the Resurrection Stone. Got it. I would have not thought about it!" I laughed, kissing the top of her head. "So the second one has to be either the Elder Wand or the Cloak of Invisibility."Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "But he remembers the wand..." Quincy added with a confused murmur.


    "He could have still excluded some of his memories of it. Maybe it''s how he found it or some other lore. Perhaps a countermeasure against it? He couldn''t do much more because he was using it while fighting, so... we will see when he remembers it fully! Plus, there is more!"


    "Oh? What else?"


    "Let me tell you about this Dimitris guy I have met. He is interesting and weird. And I learned something that I may use—about someone who is destined to the same fate as Umbridge!"


    "But we don''t have a basilisk."


    "Huh?" I flinched, tickling her before playfully pinching her sides. "What are you saying, silly? We do have one!" I added, using parseltongue, making her blush because she was so used to our animagi form that she instinctively ignored mine.


    ...


    ....


    ......


    When the following day came, I was surprised to see that Dimitris approached us without any hesitation during the breaks between classes. We were heading to the grounds where our following class would be about maneuvers with a broom, something that I was looking forward to. When we stopped, turning towards him, I saw the surprises and question marks on the others'' faces, watching him, halting their stops not that far away to make sure they could listen in. Did they think he came to confess to Quincy?


    "Is he?" she asked, making the boy nod and quickly shake her hand without reserve.


    "Hi, my name is Dimitris! Alexander-" He turned immediately to me, making me want to laugh, "I was thinking yesterday, and you are probably right! It must be a spell... A trick! We should go back and try to dispel it!" Tsk... I no longer wanted to laugh. This was precisely what I was afraid of.


    "I don''t know if that is smart. Just look at that!" I added with a shrug, pointing towards Grindelwald''s emblem on the wall.


    "I agree with Con-, cough, with Alexander." Quincy added, making almost the same mistake as I did.


    "..." Dimitris was surprisingly silent, narrowing his eyes, furrowing his brows, and looking back and forth between us. "Hm. Okay... But if you two go down there and take it away without telling me, I will tell everything to the teachers!" He whispered seriously, making me twitch my mouth.


    "Damn... Are you threatening us? And you said that you are being bullied?" I asked with a soft chuckle, beginning to nod my head, watching him turn a bit white, realizing that what he had said could easily be thought of as one.


    "N-n-no... I... I just... It would be unfair... I discovered it..."


    "Hah, relax!" Quincy giggled, patting his shoulders before holding my hand, "We won''t do it~ Let''s go, we don''t want to be late! See you around, Dimitris!"


    As we left, he hesitated a little, maybe wanting to say something else, but in the end, he didn''t and went on his own way.


    "Interesting guy, you were right about that. A bit weird but interesting." She murmured, looking back at once. I think the others also listened to her well.


    "I told you." I was about to continue when a second voice belonging to Grindelwald interrupted us.


    "Come with me for a moment." He appeared from nowhere, taking us away without any option to question why. Haaah... too bad, it was the only lesson I was looking forward to, and it will be the first one I miss. Typical.


    "Did something happen?" Quincy asked when we entered his temporary office, and with a flick of his wand, he sealed the room around us.


    "Yes." He nodded, leaning against a desk and crossing his arms. "I was extracting memories of the different teachers and came across a coup. At least four of the teachers are ready to launch an attack to rob Karkaroff of his Headmaster''s position."


    "That''s good, isn''t it?" I exclaimed, not getting why he wasn''t more happy about it.


    "For now, it has stopped because of our arrival, and they are trying to assess whether they can still win or not, so I can''t be sure yet. My only concern is that if something happens before we find my belongings, it will become impossible to do so afterward."


    "About that, I think I found a second one!" After retelling everything that happened, he nodded, confirming my conjecture.


    "Yes. You are right. Don''t try to steal the cask without answering the riddle. I made it so that if anyone tried that, the spell would detonate and probably kill you. But for sure, it would destroy what I hid in there."


    "Great. Now we will have to go back and start guessing until we get it right, huh?" I smiled, but his next words quickly erased it from my face.


    "Don''t fail too many times. If my returned memories are intact, the spell will turn against you after three failed tries and become hostile towards your presence."


    "Wonderful... Well, at least Quincy has better news!"


    "Oh?" Grindelwald was visibly excited hearing it, and when my wife retold everything she discovered, I watched his body shiver while he took a deep breath. "Yes... I remember now. Good work, Alexandra! What?" He asked, looking at me, noticing my twitching mouth.


    "Nothing." It''s just that even now, he keeps using our fake names while we both almost tripped up. Ugh, we are still not there!


    "Now I remember." Grindelwald continued, no longer questioning me but letting his memories flood back while reciting them loudly. "The Resurrection Stone is small, smooth, and grayish-white, with the symbol of a circle inside a triangle engraved on it. The stone itself is somewhat translucent, and when held up to the light, it appears to have a slight luminescence, giving it an otherworldly aura. Its supposed ability is to bring back the spirits of the dead, allowing the bearer to converse with them, but this does not mean that they will become flesh and bones. Think of them as spirits who are there and only perceptible to the one holding the stone."


    "Huh..." We couldn''t help but look at each other, and my first thought was that I could speak with Father if I had that... I... wanted to ask him some questions I buried deep within. I think Quincy thought of something similar, seeing the light in her eyes and how she quickly held onto my hand. Then I remembered Herpo, but... I already communicate with him. Well, at least when he decides to answer me, of course.


    "Rude." He quipped at me in my head, almost making me burst out laughing.


    "There is more." Grindelwald continued, "I already found the stone; I just failed to physically track it down and get it for myself."


    "Oh? Where is it?" We asked simultaneously, but his words were like cold water on our heads the moment we heard him.


    "It is embedded into the ring of the Gaunts. It is a heirloom of Salazar Slytherin''s bloodline."