Riddle And Grindelwald

49. The Victor

Genevieve had never seen such an incredible duel before.
Gellert and Dumbledore fought like two powerful gods, fighting for the right to rule over the tiny humans. And no one in the square made any attempt to interupt them.
But even gods can't fight forever, and Genevieve noticed that Gellert was starting to tire, for he no longer rebounded Dumbledore's spells as quickly.
Because of this, Genevieve could see what was about to happen before it did.
Dumbledore got the upper hand of the fight, and Stunned Gellert, before taking Gellert's wand, making him the new master of the Elder wand.
With Gellert wandless and tied up on the floor, his followers began to fight back once more.

Genevieve crawled out from under the truck, and as she looked around she saw Gellert's followers dropping like flies.
The aurors fought dirty, and killed everyone in sight, making no attempt to stun first.
Genevieve tried to back out of the square undetected, but she failed.
"Stop!" Ordered one of the aurors.
Dumbledore and Gellert looked over at her, but Genevieve knew she couldn't wait for one of them to save her.
She placed her arms around herself and closed her eyes before disapparating.

When Genevieve opened her eyes she found herself back home in Bulgaria.
Apparating such a large distance was ill-advised, for it was so dangerous.
And as Genevieve looked down at her body, she realised that she had Splinched herself, leaving parts of her body behind.
There were large chunks of her leg missing, and when she saw this she nearly vomited it horror.
As she began to bleed out, Genevieve lost consciousness, and her last thought was that she would never get to see Tom again.

****
When Genevieve opened her eyes, she found herself lying in her bed, but she had no idea how she'd gotten there.
Her whole body ached, and pain shot through her, when she attempted to push herself up into a sitting position.
"I'd lie still if I were you".
Genevieve turned her head to the side, and saw Dumbledore sat on a chair beside her bed.
"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?" Questioned Genevieve.
"I came here looking for you. I assumed you would make your way back here eventually, as it is your home. But I had no idea you were going to attempt to make the trip in one go. Apparating to another country is very dangerous, and you very nearly killed yourself" answered Dumbledore.

"Why did you come looking for me?" Asked Genevieve, as she made another attempt to push herself up.
Despite the pain, this time she was successful in reaching a sitting position.
"I saw you disapparate in Stockholm yesterday, and I wanted to make sure you were O.K" revealed Dumbledore.
Genevieve frowned, "Yesterday? Are you saying I've been unconscious since yesterday?".
"I'm afraid so. You were drifting out of consciousness when I found you. Luckily I am a skilled healer, so I was able to patch you back together. But I don't think you should over exert yourself today. You need rest. I wanted to take you to St Mungo's, but I thought your injuries would be too difficult to explain. As you were injured in the battle before you Splinched yourself. Which is why I decided to treat you here instead".

"What happened yesterday, after I left?" Quizzed Genevieve.
"Your uncle's supporters were rounded up, and taken to Nurmengard" informed Dumbledore.
"But that's Gellert's prison for his enemies. Why would his supporters get taken there?" Questioned Genevieve.
"Nurmengard has been taken over by the Ministry of Magic. All of Gellert's supporters have been placed there, and Gellert himself is also there, in the highest cell in the tower"
"They imprisoned him in a cell of his own making? That's just cruel".

"After all his supporters were arrested, a massive clean up operation began, and all of the Muggles in the area had their minds wiped. They will not remember any of the events that took place yesterday" revealed Dumbledore.
"So no one will remember what we did?" Asked Genevieve.
"The Muggles won't, no. Which is probably for the best, as many of them were harmed during the battle" replied Dumbledore.
"Everything we did was for nothing then. All of those people died for nothing. We failed"
"Tell me Genevieve, did you really want Gellert to win?"
"Of course I... No, not really. I thought that traumatising the Muggles was wrong. And I'm not sure I want them all to know about our world. But I don't want my uncle to be executed either".

"Gellert isn't going to be executed. It was decided that he will spend the rest of his live imprisoned in Nurmengard. Many may have wanted him dead, but I tempted them away from that idea. And since I defeated him in combat, a lot of people felt I should be the one to decide Gellert's fate" admitted Dumbledore.
Genevieve looked down at the wand in Dumbledore's hand.
"I know what winning the fight means for you. I know about the Elder wand" revealed Genevieve.
"Are you going to tell anyone that I am now the master of one of the Deathly Hallows?" Asked Dumbledore.
"No, I'm not. The wand should be kept safe. And I don't think the Ministry should know such an item exists. You can keep it safe from the world. And if you keep your mouth shut about it, then I will too"
"Thank you".

"What happens now?" Questioned Genevieve.
"All the countries in Europe are meeting together to officially sign the international Statue of Secrecy, to make sure something like this doesn't happen again" answered Dumbledore.
"That's not what I meant... What happens to me now? Many people saw me yesterday, fighting with Gellert. Am I going to be locked up in Nurmengard as well?" Genevieve asked nervously.
"No" replied Dumbledore.
"How can you be so sure?"
"No one who saw you yesterday, knows who you are. You were just one of many, and you weren't the only one of Gellert's supporters to escape. No one knows that you are related to him, or that you are still a student at Hogwarts".

"You do" Genevieve said quietly.
"Yes, I do" agreed Dumbledore.
"You once said that you would only keep my secret, if I didn't give you a reason to make you doubt the goodness of my heart. But you saw me fighting beside Gellert yesterday, fighting for his cause. That means I've proved to you that I was evil all along" replied Genevieve.
"I do not think that at all"
"But I fought alongside a tyrant. If Gellert had defeated you and overthrown the Ministry, the world would have been thrown into chaos. And I fought for that goal".

"The fact that you can see that Gellert's ambitions were wrong, proves that you don't want the world to be that way. You were indoctrinated from a young age, to believe a certain thing, but in the end, you realised that ruling over the Muggles would have been wrong" said Dumbledore.
"When I performed magic in the square, for a moment, it felt good. It was nice to not have to hide the fact that I'm a witch. But when I saw the Muggles hurting, I decided that knowing about the existence of magic, would only cause them harm. They would live their whole lives in fear, and I didn't want that" admitted Genevieve.
"You chose good"
"I didn't fight for the good side though. I still fought for Gellert, even though I no longer wanted him to win"
"That doesn't matter. You realised what was right, which means you don't plan on taking Gellert's revolution into your hands, and continuing his fight".

"Does this mean that you aren't going to tell anyone who I am, or what I did yesterday?" Asked Genevieve.
"No, I'm not. The battle is over, and I see no reason to ruin your life by revealing your relation to Gellert. Nor do I want to see someone as young as you, spend the rest of their life in jail" answered Dumbledore.
"Thank you, Professor" replied Genevieve.
"You're welcome. However, if I hear any rumours of you trying to resurrect your uncle's army, I will take action against you"
"Don't worry, I plan on putting all this behind me"
"Good. I think it's time you looked to the future, and forgot about your past".

Something in Dumbledore's voice made Genevieve frown, "What is it?" She questioned.
Dumbledore sighed, "I spoke to Gellert once he was imprisoned".
"And?" Demanded Genevieve.
"He told me who your father is" revealed Dumbledore.
"He did? Then tell me, who is my father?"
"I think it would be best if he told you himself"
"Then take me to him, so he can tell me"
"You're too weak to travel at the moment. I don't think you should apparate anywhere for a few days"
"Dumbledore, if you don't take me there now, I will make my own way there, which will be even more dangerous for me"
"Alright, you win, I'll take you today. But I want you to have something to eat before we go"
"Fine".