It's not easy to deal with Dumbledore.
"Resurrection Stone, this damned thing mustn't let Albus see it... Hmm, hope Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart will also be satisfied with what I've arranged for him."
While Grindelwald was resting.
Austria.
The night was falling.
Nimongard Castle seemed to be gently covered by a mysterious black veil. Moonlight poured through the sparse clouds, casting upon the ancient and mottled stone walls, adding a touch of eeriness and poignant beauty to the abandoned castle. Outlined clearly in the moonlight, the turrets reached into the clouds, yet remained desolate for reasons unknown.
Many dared not approach.
Even the Ministry of Magic officials responsible for this place.
Most of the time.
The branches and leaves of the trees cast dappled shadows under the moonlight, making the forest surrounding the castle unusually quiet at night, with only occasional cries of night birds and the rustling of wind through the leaves.
But today was somehow different, even the atmosphere today puzzled the local Ministry of Magic officials observing from very, very far away using devices like telescopes.
Unexpectedly yelling something in front of the iron window? Such an unusual reaction made their decades-long goal of relaxing with tea and chess seem different from usual.
"Could it be related to Albus Dumbledore's recent registered visit?"
Someone speculated aloud.
So.
A few Ministry of Magic officials exchanged glances, suddenly enlightened, and went back to their wizard chess without further concern about the castle far, far away from them.
It wasn't negligence.
Their assignment from the higher-ups was simply to play chess there, taking a look every few hours was enough, regardless of whether the person was still inside or not, it wasn't their responsibility to worry about.
After all.
Everyone knew what the current Minister of Magic of Austria had done in the past, they were all getting paid, just trying to make a living, and even if no one remained inside, they would just assume the person was hiding under the bed to sleep. Asking them to check it out, no fool would go, was the salary not high enough, or was life not precious enough?
"Let me out! It's a conspiracy! It's persecution!"
"You can't do this! I want to see Dumbledore! I want to see Dumbledore!"
The doors of Nimongard Castle were tightly closed, with rust on the iron doors glinting darkly in the moonlight. The path leading to the door had long been overgrown with weeds and vines.
Within the heavy iron windows.
"Grindelwald" was clutching the window, screaming at the top of his lungs, yet the unguarded Nimongard Castle, accompanied only by the sound of the sea waves beyond the locked doors and windows. Just an Unlocking Spell could solve the problem, but even without losing his magic wand, he was unlikely to perform such simple magic.
Perhaps it was indeed the Obliviate that made Gilderoy Lockhart forget his past in his plunder, after all, he spent most of his life living in others' past glories.
Now.
Fate wasn't harsh on Gilderoy Lockhart, it once again responded to his need, giving him a truly glorious past to immerse himself in.
How wonderful.
...
Aurora's talent was truly impressive.
At least more impressive than most little wizards Ian had seen, even learning Sectemsempra quickly, though inexplicably unable to master the Patronus Charm.
Ian chose an empty room to teach Aurora, but during practice, although his guidance was detailed, Aurora's magic wand remained only with silver threads.
After hours of practice.
It still was hardly any progress.
"Patronus Charm!"
At the last attempt, Aurora failed once again. She gripped her magic wand, took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart and recall the warm and happy moments in her life. Her wand merely flickered at the tip, spurting a weak beam of silver light with no follow-up.
Like a shooting star vanishing in the night sky.
"It's okay, take your time, maybe I'm just too bad at teaching right now. Surely you're also not happy enough, but that's easy to fix... you wait, I'll ask my good uncle Snape to brew a cauldron of Joy Potion for you." Ian was comforting Aurora as he left the Room of Requirement.
"Is there really a Joy Potion for practicing the Patronus Charm?" Aurora wasn't really concerned, she was just frowning and trying to recall various recipes.
"Alright, the Half-Blood Prince can't exactly be used like Doraemon, so let's create more joyful memories, maybe having hot pot could become one of your happy memories!"
Ian took Aurora to the kitchen where the house-elves were always present.
"What's Doraemon?" Aurora followed closely behind, very curious as she observed the paintings in the corridor before the kitchen differing from others.
"It's one of my happy memories." Ian scratched the giant pear painting, which laughed and dodged, turning into a green door handle.
Seeing Aurora's surprise.
Ian waited for the pear to return to its original state and let her scratch it once more—the door was opened, and enthusiastic house-elves would respond to every little wizard who could find their way to the Hogwarts kitchen.