Chapter 2:Visiting the prison, but my dear brother
1096 Words
"Low profits?" The man in the middle seemed confused. "But madam, many years ago, the magical creature materials produced in this area were already being sold at sky-high prices..."
Ywen tilted her head in puzzlement. "Why?"
"You don’t know?" the man replied. "Because after Gellert Grindelwald launched the wizarding war, lost, and was imprisoned in the high tower of Nurmengard, dark wizards have avoided this area like the plague. This place boasts the most advanced defensive system in the magical world. No one can be certain how extensive its coverage is or how far its surveillance reaches… After all, the one imprisoned in Nurmengard is Gellert Grindelwald. Who would dare gamble with how seriously the magical world takes his containment?"
As Ywen's expression grew increasingly stiff, the man's voice trailed off, and he fell silent.
Ywen lapsed into a long silence herself.
Then, she tugged at the corner of her mouth, her smile cold and sarcastic. "You're saying Gellert Grindelwald started a wizarding war?"
"Yes." Wasn't that standard content in magical history classes?
Ywen pointed to herself with her index finger. "Do you know who I am?"
The three of them stared at her blankly, shaking their heads in unison.
Ywen chuckled lightly. "I’m Ywen Grindelwald. Nice to meet you."
The trio: ...
They erupted into screams loud enough to qualify them for the finals of a world tenor competition!
Grindelwald—when—did—he—have a child?!
Suddenly, everything made sense. No wonder there was a little witch in the desolate Alps where even birds avoided. No wonder she took them all down so easily. The little girl was a Grindelwald! How could it not be reasonable?!
The three adult wizards huddled together in despair, sharing the same expression of terror and helplessness.
One question answered, a new one arose…
Now that they had fallen into the hands of a Grindelwald, did they still have any hope of survival?
Human emotions are not universally understood. Ywen could not feel the trio's terror, just as they could not comprehend her confusion and frustration.
Good news: after traveling a hundred years into the future, the first news she received was about her beloved younger brother.
Bad news: her brother had reached the end of his story, with a lifetime prison sentence to show for it.
So, her eight-year-old brother… what kind of thought process led him to start a wizarding war?
Ywen sighed and picked up one of the trembling wizards. She shook him slightly. "You said Gellert Grindelwald is in... what’s it called? Nurmengard?"
Looking past the three figures, Ywen gazed into the distance. This time, she fully took in the towering structure hidden in the mist and snow.
She tightened her grip slightly, pointing toward the tower. "Is it that one?"
...
Ywen bundled up the three adult wizards and tossed them into a corner, instructing them to stay put. She then began her solitary journey to Nurmengard Tower.
She expected to trigger a cascade of magical defenses and thought the upcoming challenges would rival the battles she’d faced against Ranrok in the dungeons beneath Hogwarts.
But she quickly discovered something unexpected.
The magical fluctuations throughout the tower were dim and subdued from the outside, as if the runes carved into the stone walls had been eroded by time and lost their effect. However, when her hand touched the wall, she sensed an overwhelming surge of magic—flowing inward.
As the three dark wizards had said, Nurmengard’s defensive magic was indeed the pinnacle of the wizarding world.
But they had made one mistake. This defense system… wasn’t designed to keep outsiders out. It was meant to keep someone in.
Countless top-tier wizards had devoted their time and energy to crafting this intricately layered defense system—physical barriers, magical curses, a seamless shield from underground to sky—all for the sole purpose of restraining the person inside the tower.
To prevent one prisoner from escaping, they had gone to such lengths?
Ywen withdrew her hand, realizing her palm might now be colder than the snow outside.
She tried sensing the tower’s enchantments for any activation or disturbance. Even a single instance could give her a clue, a glimpse of her sibling’s existence in this future.
But she was met with ancient, profound silence.
The magical reserves were full. That meant Nurmengard’s defenses had never been triggered. It meant the painstaking work of so many wizards had been in vain. It meant the prisoner they feared so much had never once attempted to leave.
…Even worse news: her brother’s ending seemed to be the bleakest of all.
What could have driven him to willingly imprison himself here?
What had extinguished the light in his heart to such a degree?
She hadn’t even seen him yet, but a dull ache spread through her chest, like being pricked by splinters from an unpolished wooden board. It wasn’t sharp or excruciating, but it was unbearably uncomfortable.
She climbed upward.
—What had he been through in these hundred years?
"Welcome."
A man leaned idly against the wall, his face lifting as he offered Ywen a faint smile. It wasn’t warm, nor was it cold.
"It’s been a while, sister."
If she hadn’t recognized his eyes, she might have been stunned on the spot.
Ywen silently approached him, crouching down to meet his gaze. He looked back at her just as intently.
Gellert spoke softly, "You’ve always been able to see things we can’t. So, my dear sister, what do you see this time?"
Ywen pressed her lips together, bitterness surging within her. She looked at Gellert, at his very soul, and silently questioned herself:
Did she even have the right to ask him?
Even if he had become the terror of Europe, even if he had plunged the land into chaos… What right did she, someone who left him when he was only eight years old, someone who broke her promises, have to question his choices?
Yet, in her memories, Gellert was the child who wrote her three or four letters a week, eagerly asking about life at Hogwarts and brimming with curiosity for the magical world.
What had she said to him back then?
Ah, yes. She had smiled, hugged him, and looked at his golden hair, identical to her own, shining like molten sunlight in the dawn.
She had told him, naturally:
**"Yes, Gally, you’re your sister’s pride. No matter what happens, I’ll always be by your side."**
The boomerang came back to hit her squarely in the chest, leaving Ywen speechless.
- Writer
