I was standing in the corridor, still holding my wand, watching the teacher leave, followed by the rest of the guys dragging away their injured partner.


    "How were they?" Grindelwald asked while I tilted my head, thinking back.


    "I never truly fought with Krum... but I did go against Fleur, and she was more dangerous than these guys. I think I could have killed them if I wanted." I wasn''t boasting; it was my honest thoughts after our little bout.


    "Killing is easy. It is the easiest way, but that won''t hone your skills. Taking the easy path every time will never prepare you for challenges... and then when you fail, you will fail hard and never stand back up."


    "What''s next?" I asked after a brief pause, asking about what to expect.


    "I will deal with the higher-ups'' pressure if they try to do something—not that it matters for us. I will keep it at bay until all three of my belongings are found, and I remember everything. Then we leave—simple. For the rest, do what you want."


    "Really?" I asked, smiling, but he didn''t answer. He simply left me alone, departing from the messed-up corridor.


    A short pause later, I walked back to Dimitris''s room, opened the door, and almost bonked his head with it when I pushed it in.


    "You weren''t subtle at all." Quincy giggled, kneeling on the floor and stirring her new, favorite cauldron and the green, bubbling sludge within it.


    "I was bored."


    "Did they die?" She asked nonchalantly, but the question scared Dimitris. Looking at me, he tried to say something, but his puffed-up head and stiff muscles prevented him from making any sound.


    "Nope. All of them are fine. Well, one of them was hurt by Professor Andrei and not by me. The guy tried to ambush me, but he was not that good of a duelist, indeed. How''s it at your end?"


    "I am almost done. The curse they hit Dimitris with is not a big deal; after prodding it with my wand, I got the gist of it."


    I knew Dimitris had so many questions bubbling in him, but he was unable to ask them. Well, only for a short time. After Quincy was done with the potion, she held up the cauldron, and right before our confused eyes, she poured it on the top of his head. I would have thought she was just torturing him if I didn''t know her this well... it was surprising, for sure. And it was nasty because those lumps and swellings began dripping down from Dimitris''s face like lard, landing on the floor with loud splatters, releasing a foul stench.


    "Merlin''s drunken breath, this is awful!" I gagged, rushing towards the window and throwing it open.


    "Hmmm, it is. It was a strong curse." She nodded, covering half of her face with her robe as we watched Dimitris''s regular face reappear after wiping it down. It was as if his face melted away, revealing a shiny, new look. Ugh... I felt sick.


    I think Dimitris also felt flabbergasted because he was speechless, rubbing his cheeks, and surprised by the quick effects. In the end, we cleaned up the mess, and after we could breathe freely again, it was time to listen to his questions.


    "Who are you? Why are you here? How are you not in trouble yet? You fought with others, and are you still alive? Andrei will-"


    "Woah, woah, slow down!" I laughed, stopping her before he bit off his tongue. "One at a time! First, we are Alexander and Alexandra. Remember?"


    "..." Looking at us silently, his head was going back and forth, the gears within his mind turning so quickly that I swear I saw his ears smoking. He finally took a deep breath after putting everything together, speaking calmly. "Got it."


    "That''s it?" Quincy exclaimed, surprised at how quickly he agreed to accept it.


    "That''s it... and... thanks." He added with sincerity, saying it to both of us. "But it was stupid; It would... it would have been fine in a day or two! Now you made a lot of enemies!"


    "It wouldn''t be the first time." We said in unison, "But I wouldn''t worry, not really. We are not that easily bullied or terrified, not even by someone like Andrei."


    "Andrei is influential... he has friends at good places and-"


    "So what?" I asked, interrupting him, "Others can have friends too, don''t they? Is being influential only for one person? I didn''t know that guy monopolized it for himself. How weird!"


    "Okaaay... I get it..." Dimitris grumbled, looking away with a half-smile. "You don''t need to mock me; you are clearly weird and unafraid. Even using fake names and polyjuice potions... whatever! I won''t ask!"Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "..."


    This time, it was our turn to be greatly surprised, looking at him, and he kept averting our gazes, but I think we just confirmed it for him with our silence. I knew he was way too perceptive of a guy... but I couldn''t tell how he figured out the polyjuice part.


    "The names were easy as you used them," he explained, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "And while Quincy prepared the concoction, I noticed the ingredients in her alchemical box. Most of it was organized, and although it was well stocked, those who needed that potion were low, meaning you had been making the thing. Add the fake names, and here we are. I won''t ask why because you helped me, so you are clearly not bad guys, so... Well, that''s it."


    "You were right, he is weird." Quincy added with a giggle, elbowing me.


    "I now also understand why you are this close; you are not siblings but lovers, yes?" He pressed on, clearly driven by his curiousness, making my wife answer.


    "More than that. We are married."


    "Oh, that makes sense. Um... What I don''t get is why you came for me or why you helped me?"


    "Coincidence... and well, we are getting along, so we are not that far from helping you out. You helped me; I helped you. Simple." I answered, making him furrow his brows.


    "I helped you? When? Ah. The casket!" Damn it. This guy is good. How the hell did he put that together?! "You are here for Grindelwald''s stuff! I get it now! Is this a heist? I''ll help!"


    "R-r-really?" I asked, feeling flabbergasted, but... sure. Why not? I am not against a helper, even if his attitude surprised me.


    "You would help? Why?" Quincy asked, unsure about his motivation, but then again, Dimitris flashed a grin, showing a thumbs up toward us.


    "You helped me, I help you! You are my first friend here, so... Yeah! I''m in!"


    "That''s touching and sad," we told him, making him chuckle as he was already in a good mood and no longer worried. He was about to ask something again, but I cut into it before he could.


    "Speaking of origins... Who are you, Dimitris? This was not just a simple bullying. What is going on?"


    "I think they used the excuse of talking with you to ''warn'' me of my behavior... but it was more so because of my family''s bloodline. They simply find any reason to try and chase me away."


    "Why?" Quincy asked, feeling sorry for him, knowing how he must feel.


    "My family in Greece are descendants of an ancient, dark wizard, a very, very evil person who still has enemies to this day. Well, not enemies but other families who remember his name and hold grudges against us. I study here because it would have been impossible to do it back home. You see, even if my family is wealthy and has power, we must hide or risk being attacked in the open. Sadly, their reach is just as long, so they pay and bribe others here to make my life miserable."


    "Heh, fuck them!" I snorted, feeling angry about it, "Who was that wizard? Your ancestor? He had to be a menace if they are still this angry about it."


    "He was called Herpo the Foul."


    "..."


    "..."


    "You... know about him?" He asked, getting nervous, reading our amazed and shocked expressions.


    "You... you could say that!" Quincy stuttered, licking her lips and looking at me hurriedly while I was screaming within for Herpo to immediately wake up and explain this.


    "I get if you-" Dimitris began at once, dejected, thinking he just screwed things up by telling it.


    "It''s fine!" I exclaimed, patting his shoulders. "You are you and not your ancestor. Herpo lived in the ancient days, heh! Keeping a grudge for thousands of years? Are your enemies goblins?" I joked, but then again, he nodded, making my mouth twitch.


    "Those too. And some other magical beings besides some surviving wizarding families... But we are persona non grata in Gringotts because of our past."


    "His family could have been mine. Or related to me... but not from my main bloodline." Herpo stated, finally willing to speak to me within my head.


    "What do you mean?" I asked back, wanting to know more


    "My bloodline protection spell only manifests itself in the male line. Think of it as the trunk of a tree. That is where I live. Through the ages, the tree has grown to be a giant, so it has a wide trunk... with hundreds of branches coming off of it. Right now, the only ones connected to this trunk and thus connected to my consciousness are Tom and you, Conrad. All those tree branches? I know nothing about them. Not even if they sire a kid like him... they are too far away from the trunk, and even if they bear fruit, they would be cut off from my consciousness. The blood in them is too thin to awaken."


    "So... he may be of your descendant but like... a cousin of a cousin of a cousin?"


    "Something like that. Yes. Going by your paternal line, the further you are from me, the less blood of mine circulates within your veins. After a certain threshold, I will never know about you."


    "Which means if I ever have a child with Quincy, if he is a boy, you will be able to talk with him, and not, if she bears a girl?"


    "Exactly."


    "Weird."


    "A different era."


    "No, I mean, if your plan was to live on like this or something, I would have made it so all my descendants have it..."


    "..."


    Heh... I understand why he felt like stopping the explanation, and I was silent for long enough for Dimitris to begin noticing its weirdness.


    "Well, Dimitris the Foul!" I chuckled, making him flinch.


    "Please, don''t call me that."


    "Too late! Anyway, we came here because, as you said, we are here for what''s in the casket. We were about to go back tonight to check it out once again. You found it, so we thought it would be best if you knew about it, too. So you wouldn''t feel betrayed."


    "Thanks..." He whispered, looking down and I watched him shuffle, "I didn''t think you would have done it... I was wrong..."


    "Heh! You said it, we are your first friends, huh?" Quincy added with a laugh, patting his shoulders, "Let''s celebrate it then with stealing a treasure, hm? What do you say?"


    "That I''m in!"


    His answer was the first time when I didn''t feel weird looking at him. Instead, he was fired up... he reminded me of Neville. I wonder how he is...