HP: A different time, A different story

This is chapter 13, i just messed up the order and uploaded chapter 14 earlier.

have a nice time reading and drop comments.

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A Duel of Titans: Albus Dumbledore vs. Gellert Grindelwald

Nurmengard Prison, Austria

The towering spires of Nurmengard loomed over the darkened Austrian mountains, its once-pristine walls now worn and blackened, like the soul of the man who had built it. In its heart, the inner sanctum, Gellert Grindelwald awaited, alone, standing tall against the flickering torchlight. The room was vast and echoing, its walls carved with ancient runes of protection and domination. Albus Dumbledore stepped into the chamber, his footsteps soft yet echoing with purpose.

Grindelwald smiled at the sight of his old friend, his mismatched eyes gleaming with both affection and disdain. "Albus, at last. I wondered how long it would take for you to muster the courage to face me."

"You don't have to do this, Gellert," Dumbledore began, his voice tinged with sadness. His phoenix-feather wand was raised but steady, the pale blue light of its tip glowing softly in the gloom. "This is not the way to protect our world."

Grindelwald's laugh echoed, sharp and bitter. His wand, a dark and jagged relic of elder wood, thrummed with ominous power. "Protect our world? Look around you, Albus. The Muggles are advancing faster than we can comprehend. They have machines that kill thousands with a press of a button. They dissect the mysteries of the universe like children tearing apart a butterfly's wings. If we do nothing, they will outgrow us, surpass us, and we will be nothing but whispers in their books of myths."

Dumbledore took a step forward, his expression softening. "So you seek to dominate them? To enslave them? Do you truly believe that is the answer?"

Grindelwald's eyes flashed with anger. "I seek to preserve us! You have always been blind, Albus. You sit in your ivory tower, teaching children to wave their wands for parlor tricks while the world crumbles. You could have stood with me, but you chose to do nothing."

"Through terror and bloodshed," Dumbledore said, stepping further into the chamber, his wand barely visible beneath his cloak. "You see the world's flaws, Gellert, but you seek to remake it into your own reflection."

Grindelwald's eyes gleamed like shards of ice. "And you, Albus, seek to do nothing. You stand idle, believing the world will mend itself. But that is why I will win, and you will always lose."

Dumbledore's expression was solemn, his voice quiet yet firm. "I've come to end this, Gellert. Your reign of terror, your dreams of domination—it all ends here."

Grindelwald raised his wand, the Elder Wand, with a theatrical flourish. "Ends? No, Albus. This is where it all begins. The world must be remade, and you are blind to its need. Shall we enlighten one another, as we once did, in fire and fury?"

Dumbledore didn't reply. With a flick of his wand, the air itself seemed to shift, and the duel began.

 Grindelwald moved first, his spell carving a jagged line of purple lightning that cracked through the air like a whip. The force shattered the marble floor where Dumbledore had stood, but the other wizard had already vanished in a blur of movement, his robes swirling like smoke.

"Still so quick to evade," Grindelwald mocked, his voice echoing through the chamber. "But you cannot run forever, Albus."

A wave of shimmering golden light surged toward Grindelwald, the air humming with its raw power. Grindelwald raised his wand in a sharp, precise movement, and a translucent black shield formed before him. The golden light collided with it, splintering into a thousand glittering shards that rained down harmlessly.

 Grindelwald struck again, his wand carving an arc of golden fire that roared like a living beast as it surged toward Dumbledore. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore conjured a crystalline wall of water that met the flames with a hiss, the resulting steam obscuring the battlefield.

Out of the mist, Grindelwald's voice rang out. "This is what it comes to, then? Two archmages, once allies sharing a unified dream, now throwing ancient spells at each other like children squabbling over a broken toy!"

A spear of ice shot from the fog, but Dumbledore twisted it into a flock of shimmering birds that scattered into the stormy sky. "It need not be this way, Gellert. Surrender, and we can still find a path forward."

"No path exists, Albus. Only victory or extinction."

Dumbledore replied with a flick of his wrist, sending a barrage of spells—each a different hue, each a different shape. Spears of ice, fiery tendrils, and silver chains whipped through the air toward Grindelwald. With graceful precision, the dark wizard deflected them, twisting the magic into serpents that coiled and snapped at Dumbledore before disintegrating.

"Your tactics are as elegant as ever," Grindelwald said. "But elegance will not save us. Humanity marches forward, blind and unrelenting. Machines, Albus. Machines that dwarf our magic in their soulless efficiency. How can you not see? If we do not rule, we will be destroyed."

Dumbledore's voice was strained, but steady. "You seek to control them out of fear. But fear has never built a better world, Gellert."

Grindelwald's next spell tore the ground asunder, revealing glowing veins of molten magic beneath. Dumbledore responded by raising the rocks into towering pillars, which he sent crashing down toward Grindelwald. The dark wizard deflected them with a wave, but his expression grew strained.

A deep rumble shook the chamber as Grindelwald raised his wand, summoning a cascade of boulders from the ceiling. The massive stones plummeted toward Dumbledore, but with a swift motion, he turned them into roaring lions of molten rock. They leaped at Grindelwald, their fiery forms lighting up the chamber.

Grindelwald countered with a hissed incantation, freezing the lions mid-leap and shattering them into deadly shards of ice, which he hurled back at Dumbledore. The other wizard twisted his wand, transforming the shards into fluttering phoenixes of flame that spiraled toward Grindelwald which he deflected easily.

The walls of Nurmengard trembled under the fury of their battle. Grindelwald's curses grew darker, more sinister. A streak of sickly green light—the Killing Curse—shot from his wand, narrowly missing Dumbledore as he dove behind a pillar. The curse struck the far wall, causing a section of it to collapse.

"You can't evade forever!" Grindelwald snarled, his wand carving arcs of black lightning that scorched the air and obliterated Dumbledore's cover.

Dumbledore retaliated with a wave of transfiguration. The fallen debris reassembled into a colossal iron golem that lunged at Grindelwald. The dark wizard grinned wickedly, muttering an incantation that caused the golem to implode in a burst of dark magic. The shockwave sent Dumbledore stumbling back.

As the battle raged, Grindelwald's voice grew louder, more impassioned. "You accuse me of domination, but it is you who has failed us, Albus! How many lives could you have saved if you had joined me? How many innocents died because you stood by, too afraid to act? You hide behind your so-called principles, but the truth is you are a coward!"

Dumbledore faltered, just for a moment. Grindelwald saw it and pressed on. "You knew what I was becoming, and you did nothing. Not because you couldn't, but because you didn't want to face me. You loved me, Albus, and that love made you weak."

Dumbledore's grip tightened on his wand. "Perhaps I was weak. Perhaps I let my feelings for you cloud my judgment. But love is not weakness, Gellert. It is strength. And it is love that tells me you must be stopped."

Grindelwald's laugh was sharp and bitter. "And what of the blood pact? Your sacred excuse?"

"It was broken long ago," Grindelwald sneered, his voice cold. "But you clung to it, Albus, because it was easier than admitting you were afraid."

The words cut deeper than any spell, but Dumbledore straightened, his resolve hardening. "You're right," he said softly. "I was afraid. But no longer."

The fight escalated. Magic, wild and untamed, surged around them. They called forth spells long forgotten: firestorms, chains of starlight, shadows that slithered like serpents, and barriers of diamond. Each was countered with precision, their mastery of magic unmatched. But the dark wizard showed his suppeority, his command on magic seemed superior as Dumbledoor founded it harder to evade his spells.

The onslaught was relentless. Grindelwald conjured a storm of blades, each glowing with a sickly green aura. Dumbledore deflected them with desperate, fluid movements, but he was losing ground. A bolt of black lightning struck the floor near his feet, shattering the stone and causing him to stumble.

Grindelwald seized the opportunity, sending a wave of dark energy that smashed into Dumbledore, hurling him against the far wall. Dust and rubble rained down as Dumbledore struggled to rise, his breath ragged.

"Is this how it ends?" Grindelwald mocked, his voice echoing through the ruined chamber. "The great Albus Dumbledore, brought low by his own cowardice."

As Grindelwald raised the Elder Wand for a final blow, a burst of golden light erupted between them. A piercing, melodic cry filled the air, and from the flames emerged Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix.

Fawkes flapped his wings, the golden fire radiating from his form scattering Grindelwald's magic. The phoenix swooped toward Dumbledore, his song filling the chamber with renewed strength. Dumbledore rose to his feet, his eyes blazing with resolve.

"Still clinging to your symbols, Albus?" Grindelwald spat. "They won't save you."

But the tide had turned. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore transfigured the falling debris into a storm of jagged spears that rained down on Grindelwald. The dark wizard conjured a shield of blackened energy, but Dumbledore pressed on, driving him back with a barrage of alchemical constructs: fire serpents, crystalline shields, and bolts of pure sunlight.

Fawkes joined the fray, swooping and diving, his fiery talons disrupting Grindelwald's concentration.

The prison trembled as the duel reached its climax. Grindelwald, battered but defiant, unleashed a desperate spell. A vortex of dark magic erupted around him, threatening to consume the entire chamber.

Dumbledore stepped forward, his wand raised high. Fawkes flew between them, his flames blazing brighter than ever. The phoenix hovered directly in front of Grindelwald, his light searing and blinding.

For a moment, Grindelwald hesitated, his gaze fixed on the phoenix. "Even now… you still cling to hope," he murmured.

In that instant, Fawkes burst into ashes, his light extinguishing in a final, brilliant flare. Grindelwald's momentary distraction was enough. With a sharp, decisive motion, Dumbledore struck.

Dumbledore unleashed a final spell, his wand carving a rune into the air that glowed with pure, white-hot energy. The rune exploded outward, a wave of light and sound that engulfed Grindelwald. The dark wizard's defenses crumbled, and he fell to his knees, the Elder Wand slipping from his grasp.

The Elder Wand clattered to the floor, its hum silenced. Grindelwald lay motionless, his chest rising and falling as he stared up at the ruined ceiling.

Breathing heavily, Dumbledore stepped forward. "It's over, Gellert."

 Grindelwald on his knees, was breathing heavily when suddenly his eyes gleamed. "This is never about you and me, Albus. Ancient powers are stirring, Destiny itself is at play here. Humanity's time is ending, and we are but the heralds."

Dumbledore stood over him, his wand steady. "You sought to lead us into darkness, Gellert. And now, you will answer for your crimes."

Grindelwald chuckled weakly. "I was never meant to lead. I was just the first to see the storm coming. You… you will face the tides, Albus. Change is approaching albus whether you like it or not."

As the chains of magical restraint bound Grindelwald, he looked up at Dumbledore with a mix of sorrow and defiance. "We were pieces, Albus. You and I. Players on a board too vast for us to comprehend. I was just a man who saw the glimpse of destruction, never the complete picture. But it… it has shown me the full picture. Only in these final days, I now see my role to play "

Dumbledore frowned, his heart heavy with both victory and despair. "What is it, Gellert? What have you seen?"

Grindelwald's smile turned sinister. "Destruction. Ancient powers rising from the depths. A reckoning unlike any before. The next few days are but a prelude to the end. Humanity's light will flicker and die. You cannot stop it."

As Grindelwald was dragged away to his prison cell in Nurmengard, Grindelwald threw back his head and laughed, the sound chilling and filled with madness. "Be ready, Albus! Wild times are coming!"

And with those words, the storm finally broke, Dumbledore stood amidst the wreckage of Nurmengard, the ashes of Fawkes glowing faintly at his feet.