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Word Count 1850
~~~
"I've come to make a deal of course. What can you offer me in exchange of your freedom?"
Grindelwald turned to where the voice was before he scoffed
"Don't play coy with me child. I can't see you but my ears work just fine"
"Oh right, forgot I had that" Harry removed the invisibility effect
"Aha." he clearly didn't believe the boy. "And my freedom? What a laughable plan. First of all they bound me to this cell. I can not leave at all. And second of all no sane person would release me. Unless you tell me your true goal, stop wasting my time and leave me be"
Harry just smiled. 'Well apparently age and isolation haven't dulled his mind'
"You are completely right. See old man you have something I want. Your memories and experience. So either you agree to work for me, in that case I will free you and restore your youth on the condition that you take some extremely powerful and controlling oaths. Or i rip your soul out of your body and I take the memories through force."
The old man just frowned "I am Gellert Grindelwald one of the most powerful wizards to ever walk the earth. I will not follow some arrogant child who thinks he can get everything he wants. Go and tell your master or teacher that if he wants to talk to me he can come here himself instead of sending an errand boy"
Harry blinked 'He thinks I'm just a messenger. Well now that's interesting. I didn't mention my name but would he even recognize it'
"You think I'm just a messenger? Old man you really might be going senile. Oh how rude of me. I just realized I didn't give you my name. Harry Potter its a pleasure to finally meet you. If its any consolation I think you were right with your idea. Sadly it wasn't possible from the start"
Grindelwald's eyes widened for a split second clearly recognizing the name
'So he does know me'
"So you are the magical genius who developed those Pots I have heard so much about" Gellert rubbed his chin
"And how have you heard about me?"
The old man scoffed "Boy I might be a prisoner here, but i still have people loyal to me. I periodically get information about the state of the world"
Harry raised an eyebrow "Even about the 'other side'?"
"Hoo.. you even know about them. Then again with your creations it was impossible for them not to notice you"
Harry smiled "When did you learn about them, before or after your war"
Grindelwald sighed as he slumped slightly "After. You are correct, my goal was impossible from the start. Even if I had conquered the magical people, as soon as I started a large scale invasion on the no-maj the Supernatural community would have killed me"
"Yep. Definably, and since you were fighting your war mostly around West Europe, it probably would have been the Church, you didn't go too far north for the Norse and didn't bother Britain too much so Tuatha Dé Danann from Ireland wouldn't have cared as well. Well since their dwindling faith they really don't care about anything other than their believers."
"Impressive, you know even more than me about the current state of the world. How sad, a brat barely out of his dippers has surpassed me. You couldn't have gotten to where you are without power. Most likely you have as much power as I did in my peak" Grindelwald leaned back against the cold stone walls. 'What the world has come to, even a child can come here and mock me'
"Well I am once in a millenia talent. So what is your answer. Will you follow me or will you die" Harry said completely seriously, the small talk was over.
Grindelwald took a breath and looked fearlessly at Harry Potter "Get it over with. I have gotten tired from all this useless talking"
Harry shook his head "A pity. Well looks like we are going to have to do this the hard way"
He spread his arms apart and clenched his fists. Magic circles formed around his fists and the ward alarms were instantly activated. They were made so that if the slightest bit of magic was used in the area where Grindelwald's cell was located.
Harry uses magic to block off the entire section of the prison so he is not interrupted, he sealed off the entrance and exit with transfiguration and put up a barrier as well. They would not be getting near him.
He uses Legilimency first. The old man's mind was extremely well protected. Far more than any wizard Harry had encountered.
"AHHHHHHH!!!" Grindelwald trashed in pain
For an ordinary wizard even for someone who specializes in Mind Magic it would be impossible to break a mind that has been designed and improved for decades.
But Harry wasn't ordinary. He has a lot of practice going through wizards, devils, fallen and vampire minds. Using them for training. And since Grindelwald's magic was sealed. He couldn't use it to boost his Occlumency Shields.
Harry was currently a lot stronger than Grindelwald and was used to tearing apart minds. He wasn't anywhere near to the level of skilful information extraction. His methods were crude and painful. But its the best he has currently and he gets quite a bit of information from his 'test subjects'
Harry gets as much information as possible from Grindelwald before the old man's mind broke, then he just used the Emerald Soul flame to capture his soul and burned his body, so he can slowly extract any information he missed.
Before it was just up to chance what information he would get. But so far Harry has captured dozens and dozens of souls in there. Slowly trying to unravel the mystery that is the Peverell Family Magic. Soul Magic. It was deep and complex magic. One of the hardest magics that is possible to study. It would take time, lots and lots of time to improve. But it will be worth it.
Since he was done here, he just blows up wall of the cell and leaves. He places an illusion on himself to look like Grindelwald and leaves on a broom. Making everybody believe that Grindelwald had escaped.
Might as well cause a little chaos to get the British off his back. He made his way to a nearby town and dropped the illusion in an alley. After that he returns to Hogwarts. Completely uncaring about what he has done.
~
The news of Grindelwald's escape reach the leaders in the Wizarding world. And as Harry predicted, chaos followed.
The horror from the previous war flashed in their minds. Everybody was afraid. Grindelwald was a master of Dark Magic. Who is to say he can not regain his youth. Who is to say he can not rebuild his army. Many of his supporters are still alive. His Acolytes, who have never forgotten their cause.
Everybody was making preparations, ironically Harry's Potion and Pot Sales went through the roof. Everybody was stacking up for war. Potions would be invaluable to saving the lives of their soldiers. As will Pots for growing the plants quickly so they could start making their own potions.
The Americans Wizards were on alert. Grindelwald caused chaos in New York. So they were eager for some payback. The leaders of Europe however were extremely nervous. The previous war ravaged the wizarding region.
~ Hogwarts
'How did you escape Gellert?' Dumbledore was sitting in his office, thinking about the news he had just received through his 'network' of people who are indebted to him. He had received the news directly from one of the guards he had placed in Nurmengard Castle.
And it was not good news. He still couldn't figure out how Grindelwald escaped. ' Gellert designed and built that castle to house his enemies and take safe refuge in, not thinking that he would be imprisoned there one day.'
It was full proof. He had double checked everything himself, the cell could not be broken out from the inside, and the prisioner's magic was completely sealed and rendered useless. The security was strict, not many people even know where Grindelwald was. Less than a hundred people from various governments knew he was even alive.
'This is going to blow up in our faces rather badly' He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache forming.
' Did one of his Acolytes infiltrate the castle? But all guards are carefully chosen and each have a complete background check done on them. Even the slightest bit of inconsistency with their records and they are denied the position. Any contact at all with Traditionalists and Blood Purists and you would be denied. In a way all the guards are part of the White Faction from the Austrian Magical Government.'
Dumbledore stood up and started pacing in his office 'Why can't things just go my way for once. This has been one of the worst years in my life.
Now I have to add Gellert to my list of messes I need to clean up. On the other hand however this is a great opportunity. The people are panicking, they will look to their leaders for answers and hope. And those leaders will ask the only person who has ever defeated Grindelwald.
Myself of course. I can use this as leverage against the people who strongly oppose me in the ICW. (The International Confederation of Wizards).
If I play my cards right I can even throw Voldemort in the Frey. My influence can even surpass the one i had gained after I defeated Gellert.'
He started to pace faster and mumble to himself. The Portraits in his office just kept quiet and watched the old man scheme and plan.
"Yes. Yes. This could work" Dumbledore smiled as he mumbled to himself. "Now I need to start making preparations. Just to give some of those members a little nudge."
~
The next day, news spread like wildfire.
[ Gellert Grindelwald Escapes Nurmengard! ]
[ Escaping after spending 46 years in prison! ]
[ The Worst Dark Lord in History is Free! ]
[ Grindelwald wasn't killed? Why? ]
[ Why was the TRUTH HIDDEN?! ]
The people were obviously in panic. All sorts of newspaper companies were reporting the same thing.
Grindelwald was still alive. He was being held in a castle for almost fifty years. And now he had escaped. How was he alive, they have been told he was killed in the Final Battle.
Why was he imprisoned and not executed after all the crimes he had committed? And how did he supposedly escape this inescapable prison?
Harry looked at the newspapers with a smile on his face as he drank his cup of coffee.
"Ahhh. Nothing like a little chaos to start the beginning of a great day."