Greater than Good (Grindeldore 1899)

Chapter 4. Every Saturday Afternoon (Part 2)

When Ariana, Bathilda and Aberforth left for the barn Albus and Gellert where left with their cups of tea still full and the plate of scones uneaten. Albus reached for another scone. "Please, be my guest" he offered.

Gellert waved his wand and one floated off the plate and into his hand. It seemed like he always kept his wand in his sleeve.

"You always use magic for every simple task?" Albus asked with a slightly mocking smile.

"Of course, I do. Why else would I be given it? Since we have it, we should use it to its fullest potential, don't you think? That's what makes us wizards, that's what makes us special." Gellert spoke like he had thought about it a lot before.

"But don't you get tired of waving your wand all the time?" Albus took a bite off the scone

"No, never. It's my nature. Do you?" Gellert gave the same sarcastic smile back.

Albus smiled. How did Gellert know that he does that too? He shook his head in a smile. "No, I don't." After a short pause, he asked. "Where did you learn magic? Clearly not Hogwarts."

'Hogwarts doesn't want you to use your magic to the fullest potential' Albus thought, reminiscing on Gellert's words

"Durmstrang. Though only the basics. I don't find magic schools good for much else. All they do is try to limit you once you get too good for them. Is Hogwarts not the same?"

Albus thought about it for a little while, about everything he's achieved so far. Barnabus Finkley Prize, becoming British Youth Representative to the Wizengamot, and, most recently, Gold Medal at the International Alchemical Conference. Great achievements, for sure, but it was something for which Albus liked to give credit to himself. It was him who strived for more. "If you really want to learn magic, the curriculum is not enough. You won't find the spells the great wizards and witches used on the page of a school book. And you won't progress if you blindly keep to what's told."

A little fire lit up in Gellert's eyes, he leaned in. "Exactly. We need to go off the beaten path to find the magic that's truly powerful. To try the spells we've been told we shouldn't try, to read the books we weren't offered to read by the people who think they know what's best for us." He spoke with grand gestures with his arms.

Gellert spoke so convincingly that Albus felt like he was at one of the conferences he frequented. Inspired and hopeful for what awaits. He also noticed how Gellert used 'we' instead of 'you' that Albus used and that's more common. He didn't know if it was intentional or if a language barrier played a part in it (though Gellert's accent was almost unnoticeable this time around) but it made Albus feel as though Gellert's thinking about them together as he was talking.

Albus didn't have time to respond, Gellert continued. "Bathilda told me you visit her library time after time. You should come and see the new additions. I brought quite a number of books with me. To tell the truth, I was hoping you'd stop by her library sometime until today so I could show you them."

Gellert said it so nonchalantly but it did matter to Albus. Gellert hoped to see him in those few days between their first meeting and this Saturday. It mattered to him that Gellert wanted to see him again even if only to show his collection. Not only to show his collection, Albus hoped. He didn't know why but he was so interested to learn more about this foreigner.

"Of course I'll come-" Albus stopped because he heard the back door open. Ariana, Aberforth and Mrs Bagshot came back from the barn. Their footsteps didn't come toward the dining room, instead, they were slowly heading straight to the front door.

"Guess it's time to go." Gellert slapped his hands on his thighs and stood up. He went around the table instead of heading directly to the door which made Albus turn his head to follow him. He stopped behind Albus for a moment, putting his hands on Albus's shoulders "I'll await your visit." He almost whispered then stopped again, one hand on the doorframe. "Anytime you like."

-

Author's note

Strangely, I didn't read much Grindeldore 1899 fanfiction before starting to write one. I was afraid to read them because I was afraid my work would become overly influenced. But I'm not afraid of that anymore, I think I'm now capable of coming up with ideas lol.

Anyway, the point is: I started reading other Grindeldlre 1899 fanfiction and Y'ALL ARE SUCH GOOD WRITERS!!! Kinda starting to feel imposter syndrome (can you have imposter syndrome if you weren't ever good or successful at the thing?)