They slipped out of the common room — fortunately, the corridor outside was enclosed, or the fierce wind would probably have knocked them off their feet.
The Room of Requirement wasn't far away, and before long, they arrived.
To their surprise, the Room of Requirement had already been opened.
They pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to find it completely empty —
except for a single, vacant picture frame.
After a short while, someone finally emerged.
It was a middle-aged woman, looking somewhat thin, and dressed in slightly old-fashioned clothing.
Harry was sure he had seen her before — back when he visited Dumbledore's — no, Professor McGonagall's — office.
(Though at the time, it was still Dumbledore's.)
Back then, she had been dozing with the rest of the portraits, eyes half-closed.
"Good evening, ma'am," Harry greeted respectfully.
"Good evening," Fitzgerald nodded in return.
"I'm here to pass along some important information for Cyrus. The Guardians and I usually have no way of contacting him — it's regarding Death."
"Did you say—Death?"
Everyone's hearts clenched tight at once; Fitzgerald had clearly struck upon the topic they cared about most.
"To be precise, the one impersonating Death," she said.
"I have once witnessed the true form of Death. During my trials, I even painted His shadow. Of course, that was never the true extent of His power," Fitzgerald explained.
"The true Death does not rely on overwhelming magical strength. He never needs to act directly to destroy someone."
In other words, He cannot act directly either.
"Because this world belongs to the living," Fitzgerald said. "As the god of death, He is heavily restricted here.
Just like in the fairy tale — the Three Brothers had powerful magic, and perhaps together, they could have defeated Death.
But once divided, they were no match for Him."
"And Death never personally killed them — He simply allowed them to destroy themselves," Hermione said thoughtfully, suddenly realizing the implication.
If a god cannot act directly, then the one who killed Dumbledore couldn't possibly be a god!
"He's just a despicable villain!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Indeed, extremely despicable," Fitzgerald agreed.
"Over the past days, I visited many portraits — you know, most of them are historical figures.
While I wouldn't claim they know everything, at least they are very familiar with matters of the past," she said modestly.
"And we discovered the true identity of that man: He is the one who invented the Horcrux," Fitzgerald said, revealing the most crucial piece of information.
"Death's... messenger?"
"Exactly," Fitzgerald nodded. "Herpo's history is ancient, even older than Hogwarts itself, we suspect.
He invented Horcruxes and gained immortality. His soul could not return to the world of the dead, which greatly displeased Death."
"He was smarter than Voldemort, knowing how to escape death — and more importantly, he understood not to expose himself to danger.
Death could do nothing to him, but conversely, though he gained eternal life, his body remained mortal."
"In order to achieve true immortality, Herpo struck a deal with Death," she continued.
Harry and the others held their breath, afraid even a whisper might interrupt Fitzgerald's explanation.
"He would offer Death souls powerful enough to achieve immortality, and in return, Death would break His chains and return to the mortal world.
Cyrus, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald — their souls are among the strongest!" Fitzgerald said.
In fact, there were others who fit the conditions too — like Harry's soul.
But Harry was the Master of Death.
Even Herpo couldn't kill him.
"Cyrus and Dumbledore's souls are great and eternal, but is Grindelwald's soul truly great?" Harry questioned.
Dumbledore's greatness was beyond doubt, and through the lens of Harry and his friends, Cyrus's soul seemed to fit the criteria too. But Grindelwald—he was a dark wizard.
"Being a dark wizard is just a label people gave him," Fitzgerald said. "In reality, Grindelwald spent the first half of his life dedicated to breaking the Statute of Secrecy.
No matter what he did, no matter how cruel his methods, he always acted for what he believed was the greater good of the wizarding community."
"Of course, I'm not saying he was truly great, or that his actions were right. In fact, there were times when Grindelwald was undeniably cowardly and despicable."
She looked at Harry. "But whether a soul is eternal isn't judged by those things. It's about something else—just like you.
Your souls do not fear death. And such souls are what Death desires most."
Dumbledore's soul could be called noble, but Grindelwald's and Cyrus's might not deserve that praise.
Yet their souls were still immortal.
"So he's killing them because of the deal he made with Death?" Ginny asked.
"Yes," Fitzgerald nodded.
At that moment, she stepped aside within the frame of the portrait, and a small, thin girl slowly emerged.
"And you are?" Harry and the others looked at her, feeling a strange sense of familiarity from her features.
"Hello," the girl said, "my name is Ariana Dumbledore."
"You're Professor Dumbledore's sister?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Albus was speaking with me just before he was attacked."
Harry froze for a moment.
Then Ariana continued, "Death can only be defeated between life and death by three immortal souls with great power."
"But... Professor Dumbledore is already..." Harry said sadly.
He didn't ask how Ariana knew all of this. She had long since passed away, and perhaps her portrait still retained some connection to her soul.
When Dumbledore had used the Resurrection Stone to bring her back, maybe she had learned something about Death then.
"And you, Harry," Ariana said softly. "Albus asked me to apologize to you.
He said he was sorry to once again place such a heavy burden on your shoulders."
Harry shook his head, showing that he didn't mind.
"I'm happy to help," Harry said. "When Cyrus comes back, we'll go together to defeat Death."
Ariana shook her head again.
"Albus said Grindelwald is too impulsive, especially after his death. Grindelwald will be blinded by rage and hatred."
"You're right," Harry nodded. "We all think Grindelwald has probably already gone with Cyrus to find trouble with Herpo."
He wasn't too worried.
Because Ariana said Herpo wasn't actually Death itself, Harry wasn't particularly afraid.
Was there really anyone in the world stronger than Cyrus and Grindelwald combined?
Harry didn't believe it, not even if that person had killed Dumbledore, not even if they were wielding the Elder Wand.
But when Ariana heard this, she was filled with despair.
If she hadn't been just a portrait with a fixed expression, her face would surely have turned pale.
"You're all wrong. Herpo is Death's emissary. His power comes directly from Death."
"And especially now that Herpo has the Elder Wand, he can fully unleash its magic, making him truly invincible!"
In other words, in Herpo's hands, the Elder Wand had become a true weapon of causal law.
It was said to be invincible—then it truly was invincible!
"But there must still be ways to break that kind of causality, right?" Harry said, full of confidence in Cyrus.
Cyrus had defeated Voldemort with careful planning; was there anything he couldn't do? Harry firmly believed that Cyrus would never face Death's emissary without preparation.
Not to mention, they had two people on their side!
But Ariana didn't seem optimistic about it.
She knew a little about Grindelwald. Regarding the man who had likely been responsible for her death, Ariana understood that beneath his handsome exterior lurked madness and an obsessive fixation on Dumbledore.
...
In reality, the battle was nothing like what Harry and the others imagined.
At that moment, Cyrus and Grindelwald were struggling hard.
The biggest difference between Herpo and Voldemort was that Herpo's power far surpassed Voldemort's.
He kept boasting about being a god—and with such power in his hands, he was indeed not much different from a god!
Herpo spun his wand, and in an instant, the world seemed to turn upside down. The sea and the sky flipped directions; terrifying currents churned wildly under his spell, and the heavens collapsed as if the end of days had arrived!
Amidst the chaos, the figures of Cyrus and Grindelwald seemed as small and insignificant as ants.
In that fleeting moment, all their power appeared utterly insignificant before Haierbo.
They were like two pebbles beneath a towering mountain.
"You two are no match for me," Herpo said easily, still looking entirely at ease.
But in truth, the gap between them was not as insurmountable as it seemed.
Grindelwald cast a despairing glance at Haierbo, then turned his eyes toward Cyrus. At last, he seemed to reach a decision and moved to stand beside Cyrus.
"I heard Albus say that your soul is far stronger than that of an ordinary person?" he asked.
Cyrus nodded. It wasn't exactly a secret—however, the more important question was:
"What do you intend to do?"
"Our scattered strength will never be enough to match his," Grindelwald said, his expression twisted in pain. The resentment of the Dementors was raging wildly inside his body!
Those creatures, both fearful and vengeful toward Haierbo, erupted in fury the moment they realized Grindelwald could not fulfill their expectations. They tried to burst out from within him.
At this moment, Grindelwald's body seemed stuffed with countless decaying worms. His already withered frame swelled grotesquely as things writhed under his skin. They gnawed at his flesh and spirit, corroding him like salt poured into an open wound — a pain almost beyond endurance.
But that was not the worst of it.
The most painful thing was that even while enduring such agony, Grindelwald still lacked the strength to defeat Herpo.
He could not even avenge Dumbledore!
He felt like a useless failure, having achieved nothing with his life.
Back in his school days, despite showing astonishing talent, he was expelled; in Godric's Hollow, he met his soulmate, Dumbledore, and together they challenged societal norms, only to become bitter enemies through his own foolishness; when he finally reached adulthood and had a chance to reshape the world according to Dumbledore's vision, he was stopped by the one he loved most...
He hadn't been able to prevent Dumbledore's death, nor could he avenge him.
Still, even in such a life of failure, Grindelwald knew the one thing he could still do.
Just as he always had — he would be the foundation that helped another ascend the throne!
He seized Cyrus's arm. Enormous magical power wrapped around them both, forming a crimson cocoon in the midst of the stormy sky and earth!
_______
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