A dark, intimidating structure towered high above.
A gloomy fortress with soaring towers.
This place could not be mapped.
It should have been a building standing atop a cliff.
Yet now, it moved endlessly across the open sea.
Looking closely below, ripples could be seen pushing the colossal structure forward.
From the sky, it was nothing more than an impenetrable mass of fog.
Apart from the waves that appeared from nowhere, there was no trace of it at all.
Beneath the gloom, vivid red roses grew wildly before the entrance engraved with the words, "For the Greater Good."
The white-haired man's fingers brushed over the untamed roses.
Beneath the delicate flowers were sharp thorns capable of drawing blood with the slightest touch.
One thorn cut across Grindelwald's finger, and a bead of crimson blood gathered at the tip.
He looked at the drop of blood, then moved his finger over one of the roses.
The blood fell into the red centre of the flower.
The rose, which had yet to bloom, slowly unfurled.
A rose nourished by human blood.
Its red was as vivid as blood itself.
Its beauty was captivating, so striking that it made one want to tear it free and crush it by force.
Grindelwald slowly reached toward the blooming flower.
"Grindelwald."
A wizard called his name.
His hand stopped.
He was only a fraction away from touching that fragile yet arrogantly enchanting rose.
With the slightest force, it would be destroyed.
But he did not continue.
Instead, he withdrew his hand and looked toward the speaker.
"Garland."
Grindelwald hid his injured finger behind his back and raised his chin slightly.
"What is it?"
Garland, the man who had stolen the weapons, said, "You need to see this. It's upstairs."
Grindelwald lowered his eyes.
"I understand."
He gave one final glance at the rose that had absorbed his blood, then walked through the entrance marked with the words, "For the Greater Good."
This prison, once built by Grindelwald himself, had continued to confine him.
That had never changed.
He went to the room.
And there, he saw it.
A creature so beautiful that words failed to describe it.
A phoenix.
And its master...
Dumbledore.
"You still found me, Al."
That unforgettable, magnetic whisper filled the room.
Grindelwald walked toward the phoenix.
Fawkes stared at him and placed down a letter.
For decades, how many times had Fawkes acted as a messenger, carrying letters to the man imprisoned in the tower?
That familiar, marked building.
In this world, no one but Fawkes could have found this place.
Grindelwald reached out as though to touch Fawkes.
Flames suddenly flared across the phoenix's body, preventing his hand from drawing any closer.
Fawkes took flight and left.
Soon, it disappeared completely.
Grindelwald opened the letter.
It was written on a sheet of parchment.
"Gellert. Such a familiar yet unfamiliar name."
In the letter, Dumbledore expressed his hope that he could meet with Grindelwald.
He did not understand why Grindelwald was doing something so insane.
Even if it was for that goal, his current actions had already strayed from their original purpose.
The Grindelwald Dumbledore knew had never wanted to destroy wizards.
He had wanted wizards to live openly and proudly, just like Muggles.
That was the ideal they had once established together.
Not the destruction of wizardkind.
Fawkes flew back into Hogwarts.
Snape stopped in his tracks and looked up as the phoenix passed overhead.
A thoughtful look crossed his face, but he did not pay it much attention.
He left the castle and headed toward the Forbidden Forest.
After entering the forest, he first glanced toward Hagrid's hut.
During the holidays, Hagrid had gone to stay with Grawp in the cave inside the Forbidden Forest.
The giant had contributed greatly to Hogwarts, and Slughorn had also tacitly accepted Grawp's presence.
But Snape's destination was not there.
He followed a thorn-covered path deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
A silver light suddenly appeared.
Then a beautiful unicorn emerged.
It nodded toward Snape, signalling for him to follow.
They continued farther inside until they reached what had once been the Acromantula nest.
The place had now collapsed and been completely buried.
But that was only the surface.
"Partis Temporus."
Snape drew his wand and pointed it forward.
The collapsed earth split apart to both sides.
A dark passage leading deep underground appeared before him.
The unicorn did not continue.
Instead, it turned and left.
Snape stared at the passage, a faint gleam flashing through his eyes.
He stepped inside.
Behind him, the earth closed again on its own.
Not a single trace remained.
...
The day after Christmas.
John received a letter.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"I think I'm getting close to finding you, Grindelwald."
His fingers brushed over the Slytherin locket resting against his chest.
The imitation he had carried before had already been put away.
This one was the real thing.
He lightly tapped the locket.
The tightly sealed lid sprang open.
A pitch-black stone floated out before him.
John reached out and gently supported it in his palm.
A Deathly Hallow.
The Resurrection Stone, said in legend to possess the power to bring back the dead.
"Obsession and regret. Even saints cannot escape them."
John stared at the stone for a moment, then closed his fingers around it.
A wave spread outward with him at its centre.
Nothing changed before his eyes.
John fell silent.
Tommy pushed open the door and walked in.
"My Lord, this is another wish from the Christmas Astral Spirit event..."
Tommy's voice abruptly stopped.
He stared blankly at the scene before him.
A young girl in a suit was patting down her pockets, searching for something.
"Lippi..."
The documents in Tommy's hands fell to the floor.
He could hardly believe his eyes.
Lippi searched through all her pockets before finally seeming to realise that she was already dead.
"Hm? Tommy?" Lippi asked in surprise. "Where am I?"
Tommy had no idea what was happening either.
He walked toward Lippi and reached out to touch her.
But his fingers passed straight through her body.
"Oh. Right. I'm dead."
Lippi froze as well.
Then she remembered something.
"I thought I was going to get promoted."
Lippi shook her head helplessly.
"Looks like I won't be able to become your child's godmother after all."
"Hey, don't look so shocked. I should be the one who's more surprised."
Seeing that Tommy still had not recovered, Lippi waved a hand.
"Where's Oz? Why can't I see her?"
"You're dead," Tommy said with difficulty. "Why aren't you sad?"
"Sad? A little, I suppose."
Lippi spread her hands.
"But it happened too fast. I didn't really have time to feel anything."
"I can feel myself leaving soon, so I should at least wish you a happy marriage. Wait, have you and Oz gotten married yet?"
Lippi's body gradually began to fade.
"Not yet, but soon."
"That's good. Tell your child they're unfortunate enough to have missed out on a very good godmother."
Lippi disappeared completely.
Tommy still could not recover from what he had just seen.
He turned toward John and asked,
"My Lord, was that your doing?"
John had simply watched Tommy speaking to himself the entire time.
His eyes darkened slightly.
"That was the regret in your heart."
Tommy nodded vaguely.
He just...
He just needed a little time.
Still dazed, he walked out.
Tommy had completely forgotten why he had come in the first place.
John opened his hand.
The Resurrection Stone rested quietly in his palm.
"So you brought back the dead... no. Perhaps you only awakened lingering attachments."
That phenomenon had been caused by the Resurrection Stone.
As the only person in the world who had successfully used the Resurrection Stone, John understood it extremely well.
The wave just now had altered the space around him.
Aside from John himself, anyone who entered could see the person they most wanted to see but could never meet again.
The effect had a time limit, just like Lippi's disappearance.
"The power of death?"
John released the Resurrection Stone and watched it fly back into the locket.
It was an ability that could mend regrets.
Unfortunately, it did not seem to work on John.
John's regrets...
He slipped the locket beneath his clothes and looked toward the wish list Tommy had dropped.
The paper flew up and landed in John's hand.
Hermes had been caught by Ariana.
Hector had been caught too.
"Let's see what your wish is."
He looked down at the paper.
"Make every teapot fly."
John fell silent.
Then he glanced at the name of the person who had made the wish.
"Xenophilius Lovegood."
Why had Luna's father gone to catch an Astral Spirit?
And that strange wish really did seem perfectly in line with the Lovegood family's personality.
John sighed.
What kind of situation was this?
It had been such a normal Christmas event.
He walked out of Silverhand Johnny Specialty Store.
Someone spotted him, and excited screams immediately erupted.
"Ahem."
John cleared his throat, holding the wish list in his right hand.
He cast an Amplifying Charm, sending his voice across both alleys.
"The following is the wish submitted by Mr. Xenophilius Lovegood after completing the Christmas Astral Spirit event at Silverhand Amusement Park."
"He wishes for every teapot to fly."
John's solemn announcement left everyone intrigued.
The next second, golden flames ignited across the wish list.
John smiled.
"As he wishes."
With that, the announcement ended.
Outside the open-air tearoom in the Inverted Garden, a wizard reached for his teapot.
His hand closed on empty air.
He turned his head and saw the teapot floating upward.
And he was not the only one.
Everyone stared in surprise as their teapots began flying away.
Even in the wizarding world, the sight was bizarre.
They all immediately remembered the wish the Second King had just read aloud.
The Lovegood father and daughter, who had been preparing to visit Silverhand Amusement Park again, stopped in their tracks.
"Luna, look!"
Xenophilius Lovegood stared excitedly into the sky.
Every teapot in the entire area had taken flight.
They gathered together overhead.
Everyone had originally assumed that the Christmas Astral Spirit wish list was merely part of the game.
No one had expected the wishes to actually come true.
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