only angel- harry potter

Chapter 43

The next day after a well-rested sleep, the three sat down in the snow with blankets draped on them as they ate their dinner of mushrooms. A fire blazed in front of them to keep them warm.

"You've outdone yourself this time," Harry grimaced as he spooned mushrooms into his mouth.

"I'm gonna be nice and not say anything," Riley smiled as the other two laughed.

Hermione had a book in her lap as she scanned it.

Harry looked pale and battle-worn as he looked out into the open. The beautiful hillside was coated by thick snow.

"The Forest of Dean. I came here once with my mum and dad, years ago. It's just how I remember it. The trees. The river. It's like nothing's changed. Not true, of course. Everything's changed. If I brought my parents here, they wouldn't recognize any of it. Not the trees. Not the river. Not...me," Hermione had a sad smile on her face.

She had told Riley about how she had to wipe her parent's memories of her.

"Where are they?" Harry asked his friend.

"Wendell and Monica Wilkens now reside happily in Sydney, Australia. They have two dogs, run a small sweet shop, but floss daily. No children," the brunette sighed as Riley and Harry exchanged grim looks.

"Maybe we should just stay here. Grow old," Hermione said.

"Maybe," Riley offered Hermione a smile.

Harry stayed silent as the girl in front of them shook off her tears.

"You wanted to know who the boy in the photograph was. Well, I know," Hermione told Harry recalling their last night in Godric's Hollow at Bathilda Bagshot's house.

She held up a book in her lap. It was called The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. She had collected the book from Bathilda's house.

"It was in Bathilda's sitting room. Rita Skeeter had sent it to her. Harry, it doesn't make for very nice reading," she looked up at Harry knowingly.

"Who is he, Hermione? The thief? Did Dumbledore know him?" Harry implored.

"Yes," Hermione answered.

"Well, who was this guy?" Riley cocked her head to the side.

"Gellert Grindelwald," Hermione stated which caused chills to come up her spine.

"He stirred up a lot of crap in America. With MACUSA and stuff I heard the story about the battle of 1945," Riley recalled at Ilvermorny during her second year when they taught her about the dark wizard.

She remembered how Amira used to tense up whenever she heard the name Grindelwald.

"Yeah, he's not very well known in Britain, but there was a time, before You-Know-Who-" Hermione was interrupted by Harry.

"Hermione, I don't need to have read A History of Magic to know who Gellert Grindelwald is," Harry sounded impatient.

His friend noticed his impatience and then handed him the book which showed a picture of a teenaged Dumbledore laughing with Grindelwald who had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

On the opposite page, Grindelwald was holding a jagged wand while dressed in all black.

"When Grindelwald was seventeen, he was expelled from Durmstrang. He'd started doing some twisted things at school... experiments. A few teachers had always protected him, but they couldn't anymore. After he left, he traveled for a while, then ended up in Godric's Hollow where his greataunt lived, Bathilda Bagshot," Hermione explained.