The Greater Good [GrindelwaldxDumbledore]

~Chapter Eighteen~ Happy Birthday

A discarded newspaper fluttered around Gellert's ankles as he trudged through another non-descript village. His eyes flashed at the headline 'Mintumble Brings End to Long-distance Time-travel'. He scoffed and kicked it away. He watched the stricken paper separate and disperse, only to try snatching it back a second later. The date had caught his attention.

"Can it really be?" he held the paper close to his face and scrunched up his face to read through the dirt. "Just another 24 hours and I will be free." He let the paper loose on the breeze.

The village continued to move around him. Women yelled for their children to behave as they ferried them into the shops. Men found excuses to socialise around pubs and taverns. Gellert paused to look in the window of a bookshop. The faded titles amassed Shakespeare, Austen, Grimm and Goethe.

He half-turned when one of the books tucked away at the back glimmered. The front cover melting from a faded Pride and Prejudice to a fresh print of Everyday Magical Maladies. Curious, he stepped inside.

The shop was cramped, the towering bookshelves reminiscent of Bathilda's great library room. A man and his son laughed at the owner's joke as they handed over their money. Gellert watched them from behind a bookcase. The owner wrapped the books in brown paper and tied the package neatly with a string.

"I wish you a good first year at school, young man, study hard and you might be as good a wizard as your father." The shop owner handed the man his change. He pushed the tower of books towards the boy who could barely see over the counter.

"Thank you, Friedrich." The man placed his hand on his son's shoulder and guided him from the shop.

"And how can I help you, sir? Are you in the market for some school books?" The old man moved with the grace and speed of someone half his age. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes.

"No, I'm done with school."

This statement only added to Friedrich's suspicion. He stared Gellert up and down looking for any book-shaped concealment.

"I was looking for a gift for a friend. He's had a tough time lately and is stuck caring for his idiot brother. He likes books."

The shopkeeper considered it for a moment and then stepped back out of Gellert's space. "Any particular area of interest?"

"History, or Transfiguration, but I'm sure he would ravage anything new."

"Ezmeralda Abasolo has just released her Transfiguración Tenaz, Tenacious Transfiguration, it's a hard read but those with a passion for the art have relished it. History is a little trickier, nothing of note has come on the market recently." He walked Gellert through a tight alleyway and plucked a book from the shelf.

The vibrant yellow leather was inked with intricate Mexican patterns. A wand divided the cover in half, a bunch of flowers on one side and a coil of serpents on the other. Gellert flicked to the contents page and picked a chapter at random.

Complex, long sentences carried over the pages. An illustration at the bottom indicated the correct motion for the spell. He scanned a finger over the page, the words filled his head like static. "I'll take it."

"Not going to ask about the price? A translated edition of a new book is more than a pretty penny."

"I have money."

"I know you do Gellert."

Gellert snatched the book from the counter as Friedrick dropped his disguise. The man lost his stooping posture and gained three feet in height. His greying cloak replaced by a jet black travelling cloak with the Ministerium für Magie logo emblazoned on the chest.