Burned Into Glory

Arrogance

Grindelwald Disapparated in perfect silence, and when he came to, he was standing in the snow outside the cottage on the mountainside. He stalked through the snow and walked up to the door, opening it and pushing it open. Night had fallen, and he half expected that Credence would already be asleep. But the boy was seated on the sofa in front of a raging fire, wearing just a white dress shirt and a black waistcoat with his trousers. He had his arms sprawled across the back of the sofa. Lying all across his lap and on the sofa was a heavy, intimidating snake. Nagini.

"Don't get up," Grindelwald commanded as he stepped into the cottage and shut the door. "I came to see how your training went today."

Nagini slithered off of Credence's lap and made her way over to the corner of the cottage. The Maledictus began to shift and warp, changing back into her human form. Credence murmured,

"She's more comfortable relaxing as a snake sometimes."

"Mmm." Grindelwald nodded, and when at last Nagini was standing before him in a simple black dress, her hair pulled back tightly, he greeted her, "Good evening."

"Hello," Nagini nodded. "Credence was practising for hours earlier with his wand. He was Levitating things. Vanishing them. He melted and re-froze the snow. He knocked over trees and then repaired them."

"Good." Grindelwald smiled a bit at Credence and said, "Aurelius, your training is progressing much more quickly than any Hogwarts or Ilvermorny or Durmstrang student would be able to say. You are becoming a proper wizard very, very quickly. Soon enough, your raw potential will be harnessed into incredible strength of magic. You will not be an out-of-control Obscurial whose magic just blasts its way through innocents. You will be an unstoppable force. You are truly gifted, Aurelius. But your brother moves to contain you."

"Why does Albus Dumbledore want to capture or kill him?" asked Nagini curiously, and she came to sit beside Credence on the sofa. She took Credence's hand in hers and squeezed tightly, and Grindelwald was surprised at the level of affection. He raised his eyebrows and said,

"Albus Dumbledore has experience with an Obscurial in his family. And so do I. We both witnessed the decimation of your sister, Ariana, by her own Obscurus, when we were boys. Dumbledore believes that once a soul has an Obscurus attached, the person must be destroyed. And when he learned it was his own long-lost brother who was the hunted Obscurial, he became hungrier than ever to see the so-called wicked magic destroyed."

None of this was true, of course, but Nagini's eyes widened, and Credence looked utterly filled with rage. He asked seriously,

"When will I get to kill him?"

"When you are ready to move against him, my boy," Grindelwald assured him patiently. "We are none of us in any rush, are we? Besides, he's just done something to personally wrong me, ad I just might need him alive long enough to fix it. So... not yet. For now, you continue your training until you can say that you have the same magical skill with a wand as any adult, fully-trained wizard in my retinue. You are doing phenomenally well. I am proud of you."

Nagini smiled a bit and turned to Credence, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek and making him flush red. He bowed his head and muttered,

"Thank you, sir."

"Nagini, will you be staying the night up here?" asked Grindelwald, for he'd been surprised to find her up here. He tried to keep his tone light and airy, but Nagini seemed nervous as she said,

"Vinda Rosier brought us up here by Side-Along Apparition. She said it was all right if I came. I don't know if she's coming back for me tonight or tomorrow. Sir."