The Greater Good: Dumbledore and Grindelwald

In The Deep End

"Level Nine - Department of Myseries."

"Lumos."

Gellert Grindelwald held his wand high above his head as he stepped from the lift. The light that shone from the tip cast a wide beam into the darkness. Gellert inwardly remarked that the name 'Department of Mysteries' was a well-chosen name. There was nothing more mysterious than the Dark - one was never quite certain what lay in it. 

Gellert advanced on tenterhooks down a narrow walkway. Flanking him on either side were dusty shelves as high as his eyes could see, stacked and packed with scrolls of parchment. These were the Ministry of Magic's files, their records of everything that had ever existed. 

Gellert took in a breath. He'd known there would be a lot of information to sift through, but the sheer amount of data that stood before him blew his mind. 

Gellert cast a furtive glance over his shoulder. He'd expected the Department of Mysteries to be crawling with security, and even through he'd only stood in the hall for the the scarcest of moments, Gellert was surprised that no one had accosted him yet. He raised his wand arm to shoulder height. "Accio records."

Nothing happened. Gellert wasn't disappointed. He hadn't expected the Summoning charm to yield any results. Apparently he would have to navigate the Department through more conventional means. Gellert raised his wand higher. The light illuminated the shelf nearest him. Branded on it was the letter 'Z'. 

Gellert frowned. Z? he thought to himself. If that's alphabetical order, then that would mean I'm at the far end of the Hall. So what letter am I looking for? D for Deathly Hallows? Or E for Elder Wand? Perhaps the Ministry have researched the Hallows separately. Maybe they haven't made the connection between the story of the Three Brothers and the Wand of Destiny.

Gellert's legs had already started moving, carrying him deeper into the dark abyss. He counted the shelves as he passed until he came to stop at the letter 'D'. 

"D," Gellert murmured to himself. He turned to the left and began walking down the shelf. "So what am I looking for?"

Gellert squinted. It was too dark, but he dared not cast a brighter light, for fear of bringing down every Auror the Ministry had on his head. Gellert instead clamped his wand between his teeth and pulled a scroll from the shelf. He directed the light at it and scanned it. 

"D for Dementors," he said to himself. The scroll depicted a piece of the Ministry's research into the nature of the dark and mysterious guards of Azkaban prison. 

Gellert, ever the avid reader, almost got caught up in reading the fascinating dissertation before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He replaced the scroll and chose another. This continued for another twenty minutes, and Gellert found nothing.

He went back down the shelves before he came to the letter 'P'. P for Peverell, maybe? he thought. 

On the tenth scroll he checked, Gellert hit the jackpot. 'Peverell, Antioch'.