look what you made me do

by TheAuthor01

Summary:

Now that Albus Dumbledore knows the truth about what happened in Brazil he must make a decision as to what he will do about this atrocity that has been committed. He is still stuck with Gellert and the world sees him as a murderer, which limits his options but the decision he does make could change his relationship with the single most important person in his life for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, Gellert Grindelwald has a vision of a fate that is to befall one of his acolytes. He declares that he will finally take a step to ensure that the Nazis do not rise to power. However, the vision continues to haunt Gellert and he must ask how much is he willing to sacrifice in the name of his husband.

Runs after false god and The Hero of the Great War. Runs concurrently to The Hero and the Auror.

Notes:

Note:

This entire story, plus The Hero and the Auror are a philosophical exercise in asking the age-old question is murder ever justified? To explore the concept some characters will be having difficult conversations in future chapters. The timeline with Hitler is what is given to us by JK so it is the time period we are going with. Please know that no offense is intended with the writing but merely asking the question and looking at it from all angles.

Please don't hate this.

Lea

Chapter 1: The vision

Gellert Grindelwald looked down at the paper in front of him. He had been working on a speech for over an hour with very little forward movement. He was slated to give a speech in Brazil in a few more weeks. It would be the only one that he would do in the lead-up to the election to vote on whether Vicencia Santos, the leader of the wizarding world, would keep her position as Minister for Magic of Brazil or be voted out by the people in her country. 

In just a few weeks the people of Brazil would vote in a recall election. They could choose between Santos, the leader who had vowed to bring Gellert down or Gustavo Torres, the leader of the opposition party. The election itself had been manufactured by Gellert. He had burned down a Prison in Brazil that had been the impetus for the Brazilian parliament to vote to have a recall election in Brazil.

With the election just a few weeks away Gellert had agreed to give a single speech to make his feelings on the recall election known to all. This speech wasn't necessarily something he wanted to be given but to be fair, Gellert probably owed the efforts at least one attempt. After all, it was his vision that brought the election and he wanted people to know that he wanted Santos thrown out of office. Perhaps if all things considered giving a speech would help the cause more than hurt it he would give a million speeches just to ensure that Santos lost her position and was pressured into resigning.

But on the other hand, Gellert wasn’t daft. He was a controversial figure and for the time being he wanted to keep his direct involvement hidden. There was no need to make this election about himself when that could derail his entire operation. Instead, Gellert was content to sit on the sidelines and watch as the plan he put into place unfolded.

But it wasn't just the election that was bothering Gellert. No, work often bothered him but things would have been better if not for the fact that he was almost certain that Albus Dumbledore had seen a memory of his. he was sure that Albus had seen the memory of him speaking with Seyon Chavez about the terrorist attack at the prison. He had kept the attack secret from his husband for a number of reasons but none more prevalent than the belief that Albus would not have approved. He was never one to consider murder an option and indeed, the belief that Santos had burned down the prison had caused Albus to switch sides.

And Gellert had been content to keep this secret but one night while the two were having sex Albus read Gellert's mind. Gellert wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't let Albus read his mind. It was very possible that Gellert had invited his husband into his mind under some fantasy that all would be OK if only Albus knew the truth.

But all was not OK. Since that night Albus had been cold and distant. They no longer slept in Gellert’s bedroom together, Albus was back downstairs most nights. They were doing what they could to keep up appearances with his acolytes but there was a fracture and while Gellert was confident it could be repaired it would take some time.

 Gellert couldn't take back what had happened in the prison, nor should he have to. it didn't matter that Gellert had been the one to burn down the prison. No, what should have mattered to Albus, the only thing that should have mattered to Albus, was that people were willing to believe that she had done it.

Gellert had infiltrated Ministries around the globe. People should have suspected him, he was certainly capable of it. But they trusted that he would never, ever burn down a prison full of his own supporters. Perhaps people were being too naive. Or perhaps they, just like Albus, wanted or somehow needed to believe that it was Santosn and not Grindelwald.

Either way, he relished in it. It was nice to be able to operate without having to tell as many lies as he otherwise might have needed to. He thought that perhaps he should have felt bad but he didn’t. He wished that it hadn;t needed to be the way that it was but he didn't have much choice. This is how it was and how it would always be as far as Gellert was concerned. Now all that was left was got Gellert to see Vicencia thrown out of her position in Brazil and then resign from the ICW, leaving a clear path for Gellert to take the lead. 

If that happened with Gellert sitting on the sidelines. However, he was asked to speak by Gustavo Torres and Gellert knew that if he was asked to speak he needed to deliver. This would be an important speech, nearly as important as his speech in Paris that had marked the start of him telling the people about the horrors that he had encountered in America when he was tortured.

Gellert often invited a number of different acolytes to help him write his speeches but today he had chosen Vinda Roiser and Abernathy. Vinda was on his right every second he needed her and while Abernathy wasn’t the best at knowing how to sway crowds he had a certain polish to him that some of his acolytes lacked.

On a day like today though, Gellert might have otherwise enjoyed the company of Henrietta Fischer. She was still off in Germany, running the German ministry of magic. He knew that if he reached out to her and asked for her to help him write his speech that she would answer. She would proudly help him write the speech but she was busy preparing for the muggle elections. 

German Wizards not aligned with their cause were concerned that Gellert would do something and so as a result she was working with the International Confederation of wizards to set up election security.

So instead he was sitting here with Vinda, ever the extremist, and Abernathy, the former government man who had freed him from the Prison in America. His two acolytes the furthest away from each other on the ideological spectrum trying to scrape out something resembling a political speech that would convenience the people of Brazil to throw Vicencia out.

“I think we need to keep our rhetoric focused on what happened in Brazil,” Abernathy insisted.

Vinda gave a slight eye roll as she said, “they’ve killed our supporters in seven different countries. It is the establishment we are fighting against and so it is the establishment that we need to attack. We cannot do that we only focus on Santos and not the other world leaders that have killed out followers.”

“Santos is the establishment,” Gellert pointed out.

“Liu Tao is the establishment, Santos is just the person who is leading the ICW right now,” Vinda said. “We all know that they were shocked that he did not win. If Santos wins they ”

Liu Tao had been Albus’ man in the election that had taken place nearly a year ago. Albus had surely hoped that his candidate would dissuade Gellert from seeking election as Supreme Mugwump but instead he just lit a fire under Gellert. He could not let Albus stop him and he began to seek after the seat of power even more. He campaigned more vigorously but stoped short of trying to mess with Liu directly, he knew Albus would not take so kindly to Gellert assassinating one of his friends.

If only Gellert had not used the Qiliin perhaps he would have been successful. At the time it had seemed like the simplest solution to guaranteeing that he would win an election. Gellert truly thought that the creature would bow to him. However, it did not and Gellert felt he had no option but to slay the creature and enchant it so he could win the election.

Of course, Anton Vogel had been in agreement with using the qilin. That should have been his first sign that something was not right witht he arrangement. Though Gellert supposed that there was no one anyone could have known that there would be two qilins born on that night, not Gellert, not Albus, not Liu Tao, not even Anton Vogel.

It hurt more than a little bit that Albus had been so sure that the qilin would not pick Gellert. But he didn’t say that to Albus, instead he preferred to pretend like the incident never happened, they were happier that way. Albus had killed for him, what more could Gellert ask of him to prove his loyalty? If there were a test Albus already passed it.

But Gellert knew well and good that sitting here and bickering back and forth about Liu Tao would not bring them any closer to their goal. It would not help Gellert write his speech, it would not help Santos be pressured out of office and it would not stop the muggle Adolf Hitler from rising to power and starting another war in Europe.

“No one thinks that Liu Tao is establishment, not anymore,” Gellert told them. “He is Albus Dumbledore’s man and he will always be seen as that. As long as Albus Dumbledore is seen as on our side Liu will be doubted by the ICW.”

“But Henrietta said that the ministers have allowed him to remain at the helm of the ICW ministers group. He is establishment,” Vinda said.

Abernathy shook his head, “Some may not trust him but others will. He was respected and after he ran for supreme mugwump and lost handily. That loss is nothing if not evidence that the people didn’t trust him even before Dumbledore killed Travers.”

As Gellert listened to Vinda and Abernathy argue back and forth over who the speech should attack he felt himself going into a vision. He had no time to leave his office or even lay down on his couch. Instead, he decided to put his elbows on his desk and leaned his head on them.

Gellert saw Theseus Scammandar, of all people, his eyes were fiery and he was moving quickly through the hall despite still using his cane. Gellert did not recognize the building, the photos were not moving meaning they were somewhere that the muggles must have congregated.

As Gellert followed Theseus through the hall he caught a glimpse of familiar red hair. It was Carrow, they were following Carrow! He narrowed his eyes as he watched as Theseus got closer and closer to her. She easily could have easily lost him if oly she knew that she was being followed. However she was moving with the naivety of a doe being tracked by a hunter.

“Verdimillious,” he heard Theseus utter and Carrow stopped as the sparks past her. She turned to face him and raised her wand at him, but he was faster, “Avada Kedavera”.

His spell hit Carrow square in the chest and she fell over dead. Gellert narrowed his eyes as he wondered what Theseus would do next. But he just stood there, leaning on his cane, almost as if the former auror could not believe what he had done.

Gellert felt the vision fading. He noticed he was not as tired as he usually was, but he supposed that it was because the vision was short, only a moment or so. He knew that what they were doing was dangerous but there was something different between a general danger and what Theseus was doing. It was as though he was stalking her through a government building, just waiting to pounce on her, to take her life. Gellert killed people all the time but there was somethign harsher about what Theses was doing, some evil and Gellert could not shake the look from his eyes.

“Gellert,” Vinda said calmly. “Are you back with us?”

Gellert shook his head, “I’m fine.” he said. He could not tell her what he had seen but it haunted him. Was it true? Was the man who ran from his bedroom the night Gellert had killed Torquil Travers more dangerous than he seemed? Nonetheless, Gellert knew he was not ready to tell VInda what had happened. He was not ready to confront the reality that he would need to kill Albus’ friend to save the life of his follower, not yet.

He looked into her eyes and noticed the concern in them. He pressed into her mind and felt her barrier give way 'Gellert, I know you had a vision, I’m worried. Please just tell us what it was.'

But Gellert was not foolish, he knew that it was a bad decision to admit what he had seen, Vinda would demand he do something about it and right now he could not. He could not murder Theseus Scamandar while still trying to stay on good footing with his husband. But saying nothing also was not an option, she knew he had had a vision and as a result, she would want to know exactly what he had seen.

Gellert thought back to his last vision, the one he’d had on the evening before Vicencia lost her election. It had been a vision of people on trains, of the mass slaughter of innocent people, likely innocent muggles, by other muggles. He took, a deep breath and said, “I had another vision.”

“What was this one about?” Abernathy said, sitting stiffly in his seat.

“This time it was about the muggles, it was about the genocide.”

“Genocide of wizards?” Vinda asked, fairly intrigued.

“Maybe,” he lied. “I couldn’t tell. It could have been muggle doing it to each other but the perpetrators of the Genocide were definitely muggles at the helm of what was happening. I didn’t see any magic being used.”

“And the muggle radical?”

Gellert shook his head, “he wasn’t there. But that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t lead it.”

Vinda eyed him skeptically. He tried to push into her mind but she offered resistance and he decided not to push past it. “We need to do something about it,” he said grabbing his crutches and raising himself up out of his chair.

“But what?” Vinda asked.

Gellert looked at her and then he looked over to Abernathy. HIs mind was much easier than Vinda’s to enter, perhaps because he didn’t know Gellert was an legillimense or perhaps he didn’t know occlamency. Either way, Gellert was grateful as Abernathy’s thoughts were clear as day.

‘Herr Grindelwald needs to take out the muggle at the heart of this madness. If we get rid of their leader the others will not dare follow in his place. We could put the muggles into a panic which would make them ripe for us to start a war with them.’

“The solution is neither simple nor straight forward. What did we promise Herr Vogel when we told him of our plans?”

“We told him that we would be working to stop the muggle who was trying to start the next world was and bring Germany to ruins,” Abernathy said,

“Exactly, then our next move must be to make a move against him.”

“How?” Vinda said.

Gellert but his tongue, his brain swiveling around slightly too fast then he said, “We are going to assassintate Herr Hitler.”

“What!” The two said in sync.

“You heard me. We have been promising Anton Vogel for years and now we will,” he said. “We are actually going to do it.”

“When?” Vinda asked.

“Abernathy, find out when his next speech is.”

“During a speech?” Vinda said. “The ICW will be all over him, they will suspect something.”

“They have recently put Tina Goldstein in charge of their efforts to protect their candidates. I worked with Tina for months. She is many things but she is strong headed and will see him for the scourge he is. She is our weak link, exploiting her weaknesses is how we will take him out.”

Gellert looked into Vinda’s eyes and could see that she was, at least for the moment, satisfied with what he had to say. But now he had the question, how they hell were they going to do it?

Chapter 2

Summary:

I'm back with an Albus chapter. Why do these chapters always take months to write, I have no clue. I hope you enjoy

Albus Dumbledore found himself staring at the clock. it was nearly 3:00 p.m., the time he had arranged to meet with Newt Scamander. His old friend was one of the only people who was still standing by his side.

It had been months since Albus had killed Travers, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the British Ministry. It hadn't been meditated, no Travers had used the cruciatus curse on Gellert Grindelwald, the man Albus loved. It had happened in an instant, one second Gellert was being tortured and the next Albus had cast The Killing curse. He told the whole world he was on the side of the his terrorist husband.

The world had decided that Gellert was evil and Albus understood why. His husband had murdered, perhaps, hundreds of people. He had killed dozens of aurors, first in Paris and later the aurors that attacked them in Nurmenguard that fateful night. Nothing in the papers confirmed their deaths but Albus knew better. he knew there was no way they were still alive. Gellert had left the castle all but unattended for days at a time, something he would not be able to do if there were captives under his control.

But it wasn't the Aurors, innocent as they may have been, that kept turning over in Albus’ head. No, it was the 74 innocent people who had been killed in Brazil when the prison burned to the ground. According to the papers Seyon Chavez, the head of magical law enforcement in Brazil had given the order to burn down the prison to keep Grindelwald supporters from escaping. The newspapers, at least the ones delivered to Nurmengard, said that Vicencia Santos’ Total War policy had led to Chavez feeling like he had no other choice than to murder Grindelwald supporters.

It has certainly convinced Albus. He knew that Santos had adopted a scorched Earth policy the second she dumped Liu Tao as an advisor and instead brought in Seraphina Piquery. Burning Down the prison seemed harsh, but Albus couldn't put it past them. He had believed it, mostly because he wanted to believe it. He supposed that he couldn't accept the fact that his husband had done something so cruel as to burn down the prison. It hadn't been until Albus had read Gellert’s mind weeks ago that he knew the truth. Chavez was working for Gellert and together they had framed Santos.

Liu being chosen by Santos as an advisor had made sense. Not just because he was the minister for magic of China, but because of his personality. He’d always been level-headed and stood out among his follow-up politicians for that very reason. Albus had known him since they were teens. Even then Liu seemed destined to become China's Minister for Magic. He was often dubbed the brightest wizard in Asia. While it was true that Liu valued action over waiting, it wasn't without consideration for other factors, and that made him a wise leader.

For Albus' part, Liu never suspected him of helping Gellert, instead he became part of Albus' underground network of wizards. It had been useful to have someone on his side in the government. Of course, Anton Vogel was also on his side and unlike Liu he was still a part of Santos's inner circle.

In the grand scope of things Albus had known the two men the same amount of time. He should have trusted Anton but he didn't. They were ex's, after all, and Anton had seen Albus’ family tree. Anton knew that Albus was romantically linked to Gellert. Perhaps that is why Albus didn’t trust Anton enough to put him into the magical book, ALbus could’;t be completely sure that Anton trusted him knowing his secret. And if Anton didn’t trust Albus then Albus couldn’t trust Anton.

But that all changed in 1928 when Anton was elected to lead the International Confederation of Wizards. In the days after he was elected Anton sent Albus an owl asking if he could fight Gellert or if whatever magic had wed them prevented them from fighting. Anton took Albus’ answer at face value and didn’t fight it. He did not demand an explanation of the magic or ask Albus to try to break his promise. Instead Anton just went about his investigation, occassionally asking Albus for help and Albus mostly complied.

When 1932 came around Anton had agreed to Albus’ plan to defeat Gellert democratically. However, the plan fell apart with Gellert capturing the Qilin. Anton had worked with Gellert and Gellert had nearly taken over the wizarding world. Only a well timed second qilin had saved the wizarding world from Gellert and allowed VIcencia Santos to become Supreme Mugwump.

Albus had had difficulty trusting his former flame since that time. Even now he had a sneaking suspicion that Anton was only helping him because he thought it was his own best option, not because it was right. Anton had always seemed to lean into doing what was popular with people instead of what he thought was right. He supposed that this was the ultimate difference between Anton and Gellert -- Anton did what was legal and Gellert did what he thought was right.

But how could he possibly think that what he was doing was right. He had killed so many innocent people. Did Gellert even care? Or was it just about the Greater Good? Did he really feel that he had to pave the road to Wizarding freedom in the blood of innocents? How many more people had to die to satisfy him that his current system of committing these terror attacks weren’t working. Sooner or later he had to realize that, didn’t he?

Maybe he already did.

All Albus knew was that he could not be here anymore. He could not pretend like he was OK with the death of innocent people.He could not pretend like he was OK With framing VIcaencia Santos over something that she did not do. Instead he needed to leave. But if only there was a clear cut way. He had a sneaking suspicion that ANton would help him if he asked. However he knew that he could not do that. He knew that accepting Anton;s help was not necessarily picking Anton over Gellert but it would certainly feel that way.

“Albus,” he heard his former student’s voice call out to him.

“I’m here.”

“And Grindelwald?”

“He’s in his office. He’s been up there with his Accolytes all day, I doubt he will be down here for several more hours. Where’s Tina?”

“Still at work for several more hours. She and Theseus had a meeting in Brazil today and her portkey is not due back for several more hours.”

“Good,” he nodded. “Good.”

“Why did you want to talk to me?”

Albus sighed and glanced over to his door. He knew that Gellert wasn’t going to be done for several more hours but he did not want to overhear. He could not let Gellert knew he was planning to leave. Indeed it would be best if Gellert came home from a mission to find Albus and his things gone. Him finding out what had happened would ruin everything. He took a deep breath and said, “I need to leave.”

“E… Excuse me?”

“Newt, I cant stay here anymore, not with Grindelwald.”

“So now you want to leave?”

“I have to leave.”

Newt gave a deep sigh, “DO you have a plan? The ICW has a warrant out for your arrest, where would you go? They would arrest anyone who would help you hide from the ICW.”

“I don’t know where I would go,” Albus said.

“You’ve got to have some plan, you always have a plan.”

“I thought…” Albus paused. “I thought you could help me.”

“Albus,” Newt said, he could hear the frustration in his voice. “I can’t help you. I want to help but I don’t have that kind of leverage that you need. You’re wanted as an accessory to Grindelwald, I can’t proptect you from that. If you come to my house you’ll get caught and you’ll go straight to jail/”

“There has to be a way,” Albus insisted.

“Maybe…” Newt said. “But it will take time.”

“I need to leave as soon as I can. The longer I stay here the harder it is to prove that I’m not conspiring with him.”

“The entire ICW already believes that you are.”

“But not your brother,” Albus pointed out.

Newt was quite for a moment and cut off his eye contact. Albus knew enough about his friend to know that this was not a good sign.

Albus pressed again, “Not your brother, right?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Theseus helped us steal the family tree… He--”

“He told me,” Newt stopped abruptly. “Nevermind.”

“Newt, what did your brother tell you?”

“Theseus… He thinks that you’re working for Grindelwald.”

“Because I killed Travers?”

“That’s part of it,” Newt said.

“Just part of it?”

“Theseus believes that you’ve always been working for Grindelwald”

“How could he believe that? I… I,” Albus paused. As he thought back he realized that he ahd left a trail of suggestive evidence. E had, after all, told Thesus not to arrest Gellert at his rally in Paris. It had been his plan in Bhutan that had almost gotten Gellert elected as Supreme Mugwump. But even still, Albus knew Theseus. How could Newt’s older brother believe that he had been conspiring with Gellert this whole time.

“I know you keep telling him that you are not working with Grindelald. But he won’t hear it. He just insists that I’m wrong about you and he won’t help you.

 

“Maybe I could hide out at your house until we come up with a plan.”

“I can’t,” Newt said. “Tina is there”

“You don’t think she’d --”

“No way. Tina doesn’t trust you. She is by the book and you killed Travers

Albus sighed again. “We need a new plan.”

“Is there anyone else who could help you,” Newt asked. “What about Liu Tao?”

“No,” Albus dismissed. “Have you seen the papers lately?”

“I haven’t read them, not since the night Travers died. I find the papers only have negative things in them,” Newt said.

“Well, at the moment they seem to feature Liu more heavily than usual.”

“He is the head of the minister’s group. He’s the second most powerful politician in the world.”

“But not if he is tied to me. He has been doing everything possible to distance himself from any public connection to me. He won’t help us.”

Newt was silent for a moment. “Albus, I think we have to involve Anton Vogel.”

“No,” Albus said softly. He knew that Anton would help him if he asked but there was another reason he couldn’t, a reason he wasn’t ready to admit. He knew if he admitted to Anton that he was leaving Gellert that this would make it real. He really would have no option but to leave Gellert with no looking back. As much as he wanted to be free of him, was he really ready to accept the finality of not just leaving, but taking Anton’s help to do it?

He had seen into Anton’s mind, he knew that Anton still loved him. And Albus knew that he could manipulate that love to get Anton to come to his side. The two of them together they would be able to do just about anything. However, could Albus really do that? Could he really leave Gellert and run into the arms of Anton, even if they were wide open? Gellert would see it as such a betrayal that there was no telling what he might to, to Anton or anyone else for that matter, if he found out what Albus had done. “I don’t think he’s our best option.”

“He’s our best choice,” Newt said. “He seems to believe you and if you need to leave, I can’t imagine that he would turn you away.”

“That doesn’t necessarily make him the best choice,” he shook his head. “There has to be another way.”

“I’m having a hard time seeing how,” Newt said.

“Albus,” he heard Gellert say.

“What was that?” Newt asked. “Is that Grindelwald?”

“I have to go,” Albus said as he shut the book quickly.

Chapter 3: The argument

Summary:

Gellert visiting Albus prompts an argument.

After his vision, Gellert felt less weary than he usually did. This time he was able to push through and do some planning with Vinda and Abernathy. They discussed how they would kill Hitler, deciding that he was correct that the best time to take him out was while he was giving a speech. They weren’t sure of his schedule but they knew it would not be hard to find out, it was likely that Henrietta would be able to find out when his coming speeches would be. 

Of course, if this had been a few weeks ago Gellert would have made quick work of dispatching the man. He could move about almost undetected and he would have accomplished the goal of taking out the man without needing to involve his acolytes. Considering his vision he felt slightly uncomfortable asking his acolytes to put themselves in a stuatuon that involved Theseus Scamander but he also knew that if he voiced this concern Vinda would insist that they take out Scamander, not tip toe around him.

But there was another reason Gellert wasn’t the best choice.  Vinda had pointed out that if the International Confederation of Wizards was, indeed, using Tina to protect the man that they might not be able to effectively manipulate her if she saw Gellert. He knew that Tina would have serious moral qualms about allowing such a vile person to continue living, but he wondered if she would have the moral terptitude to forgo her anger at him and do what was right to stop a war that she knew was forthcoming. Of course Gellert created this mess for himself, after trying to kill her in New York six years ago she would not be as easy to manipulate as she had been before he had done that.

At the time, Gellert had spent months trying to build up a relationship with Tina. When he first met the Auror she was working as a low level auror in the Office based in New York. He knew she had an obsession with the Second Salemers but he couldn’t tell if ths was because she realized the threat that muggles pose to the wizarding world or if there was some other motive. Around that time Gellert recognized that the obscurial must have been one of the children in the orbit of Mary Lou Barebone, the leader of the Second Salemers. 

Gellert had grown to loath the woman. It did not take long to realize that Aurelius, then called Credence, was actually Aberforth Dumbledore’s son. They hadn’t died at sea, as Gellert had seen in a vision, but instead had somehow managed to escape. With their dark hair and eyes they must have looked remarkably like Kendra Dumbledore, Albus’ mother. But considering their age and total lack of magical abilities, especially considering their inability to defend or heal themselves from the abuse of their adoptive mother, Gellert surmised that they were a squib. He’d gone back and forth on whether he should just kill the woman to free Aurelius and the other children but before he could decide Tina had attacked Mary Lou and thus he knew he could not do anything.

That had given him an inkling that perhaps Tina had felt the same way he did about muggles. She clearly didn’t have qualms about attacking muggles who deserved it. He tried to show her favoritism when he could but with Seraphina Picquery’s eye forever upon him he had to be careful not to show his hand. 

He had not even considered how he would exit the country when his time America ended badly. Aurelius nearly exposed wizardkind, which Gellert was not to upset about, but he had also lost Aurelius' trust which was a difficult thing to earn back. Looking back he knew he should not have lost his temper with his nephew but he also though that the obscurial child was dying. He had done something understandable and he had done what he could to try to make it up to Aurelius, by telling them the truth of his identity and the plan to give him the choice to reunite with his family. Of course Gellert hadn’t thought that Aurelius would actually switch sides, to reveal the truth of the qilin at a crucial moment which had cost them the election they had worked so hard to steal.

Tina had not been there at the time, she was tied up in America. He knew that magically she was no threat to him, and the only true mastermind that could undermine his plans was his husband. But instead, Tina often fell backwards into plans to stop him, as she had in both America and Paris. She had been tied up in China when he burned down the prison and there were no plans for her to foil this past time in Brazil. 

If he were to assassinate Hitler though, there was every reason to believe that she would try to stop him. She had never faced off against his acolytes and Gellert wasn’t sure where to place her skills. She was unlikely to be stronger than Vinda, and Abernathy had previously assured Gellert that Tina would be no match for him magically, that still left everyone else. If it came down to a fire fight there was no telling what would happen without Gellert there to control the situation.

After hours of discussion, Gellert, Vinda and Abernathy had decided they would have to do something that the muggles thought was done by muggles. Of course, they would also have to do something they could clearly take credit for. The best way to do that would be to do something right under the nose of the ICW, and most likely right under the nose of Tina. The decision was to put a muggle under the imperious curse and carefully guide them over to Hitler, casting spells on the muggles around them and making a clear way for the muggle to take out Hitler.

It would be messy and nearly impossible but he knew that his people could do it, if they had enough time and planning. Members of the ICW would not be able to turn it into a fire fight, not with “innocent” muggles everywhere. It would kill two birds with one stone, the war would be stopped and Gellert would have been able to point out how the Muggles would have easily voted in the genocidal maniac. The war would be averted and Gellert would still have grounds to argue that wizards needed to take over the world to prevent the next muggle from rising up.

Eventually, Gellert dismissed Vinda and Abernathy, they were just talking in circles. How are we going to do this he thought to himself. He longed to ask Albus for his help but he had a feeling that his husband would not be in favor of murdering a muggle, even if that muggle was going to bring untold evil into the world. Gellert thought back to the vision he’d had months ago about the train. He wondered if he could tell Albus the fate that was to befall the innocent people, whether it would matter enough for him to forget his moral stance and instead agree that Hitler needed to be killed. But all Albus cared about was morals, never doing what needed to be done for the greater good, regardless of what happened. 

But that wasn’t the only reason that Gellert was killing the man. There was a reason he had avoided it, he couldn’t be sure what the muggles would do if the man were murdered. He was well aware that that this could launch the war that Gellert knew was coming but what other choice did he have. Well, he did have a choice, he could have told Vinda the truth about his vision, that he had seen Theseus kill Carrow. But that would launch a quest to kill Theseus Scamandar and Gellert could not afford to do that, certainly not now. He needed to do everything that he could to protect his relationship with is husband and killing Theseus Scamandar would make things worse.

Gellert wanted to spend time with his husband and he knew exactly where to find him, Aurelius’ old bedroom. He was down there speaking with Newt, something he did often. Gellert thought about years ago when he had wondered if Albus was smitten with the younger Scamandar brother. When he had met Anton it had pushed all doubts out of his mind, it was Anton that his husband was interested in, not his student that was much younger than him.

As Gellert walked down the stairs he was amazed at how much easier it was for him to manuver on his crutches. He still felt weak and knew that he needed them but it felt more normal. After months post-injury he was starting to adjust to his new normal. As he approached his husband’s office he heard his voice, but not what he was saying.

“Albus,” he said before entering the room.

“I have to go,” Albus said and Gellert heard the book shut. “Gellert, you’re out of your meeting,”

“It has been a couple of hours,” he shrugged

“I thought you were preparing for your speech to the people of Brazil,” he said as he stood up and moved across the room.

“We were,” Gellert said before walking over to the bed and sitting down. “But we reached an impasse.”

“Well, working with both Vinda and Abernathy has a tendency to do that to you,” Albus said, putting his book into a bookshelf on the wall. Now it looked like a  perfectly normal book for anyone who happened to pass by. 

Gellert let out a laugh, “I suppose I should know better than to have the two of them in the same room without other people to buffer them.”

“Just hearing you talk about them told me that,” Albus said as he walked to sit down on a chair not far from the bed.

“But they both have an important place.”

“Abernathy is a former Government man who knows how to speak in a way that can convince Moderates and Vinda…”

“Vinda is even more vital,” Gellert said. “She knows the organization better than anyone.”

“Even you?” Albus said.

Gellert smiled, “you never know.”

“What do you have planned for the rest of the night?” Albus asked.

“Why, trying to tear me away from my work again?” Gellert said playfully.

“No, I just wanted to know what to expect. Are you going out of town again soon?”

“Maybe.”

Albus looked at Gellert with eyes that he couldn’t decipher. Then he sighed and said, “any grand plans?”

“You know, maybe I can be persuaded to divulge those secrets,” Gellert said. He thought about the last time they had sex in the middle of the day, how Albus had all but demanded it. Gellert thought that if he could persuade his husband to feel that way again. That would be one way to know that Albus wasn’t angry with him over what he had seen in his vision. 

“I’m not going to make you,” Albus said stubbornly.

“Surely you want to know.”

“Honestly either you are going to tell me or you aren’t.”

“Like I said, I can be persuaded,” Gellert smiled. “What are you going to do for me if I do?’

“I don’t want to play games Gellert,” Albus said flatly. “This is serious.”

Gellert took a breath and shrugged, “I can’t tell you everything.”

“Why not?” Albus said. “If we are in this together, if we are truly a team, you would tell me everything,”

“I can’t.”

“More like you won’t.“

“What is this about?” Gellert said. 

“Nothing,” Albus said.

“Obviously not.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Albus snapped. “I just want to know what you’re doing,”

“No,” Gellert said. 

“And why not?”

“Because it's not just up to me.”

“You’re the leader, it is up to you.”

“Like you are of your… your little friend group.”

“Yeah, exactly like that,” Albus said. “You are the leader and you can make decisions.”

“Well unlike your little friend group I don’t just keep everyone in the dark. I don’t lie to my people, they know what we’re doing and why,” it wasn’t a complete truth, but Gellert liked to think that he was more truthful than Albus ever was to the people who had given so much for the cause.

“I did that to help you,” Albus said.

“Oh yeah?” He challenged

“Yeah.”

“You plotted with Anton Vogel to steal the election behind your friend's back and that was to help me?”

“You got off. You could go back to a normal life. But that wasn’t good enough for you, was it? I put in all that work and you just ruined it,” Albus said.

“The work you put in?” Gellert Roared. “I campaigned for years before that election. I worked to show people that I was the best choice, settling things throught less effective means to keep my nose clean and people on my side. Then Anton Vogel announced to the ministers board that they were going to throw out an election and use a Qilin to circumvent the will of the people.”

“I worked just as long as you did on that election to get you off on those charges. I knew that the Qilin was a foolproof method of keeping you out of leadership and out of prison.”

“I never asked you to get me off on any charges,” Gellert fought back. 

“All you had to do was be normal for one day,” Albus shot back. “All you had to do was stand up there, not get chosen and walk away. But you couldn't even do that for me.”

“FOR YOU?” Gellert said.

“You never cared what what you were putting me through, you only cared about your self."

“What I put YOU through? What about what about what you put me through.”

“I didn’t put you through anything Gellert.”

“Don’t play innocent Albus. You sent both Scamandar brothers after me, first Newt in America and then Theseus and his men in Paris. But no it’s all about you and what I put you through.”

“I told Theseus NOT to arrest you Gellert. Maybe if I had kept my mouth shut,” Albus stopped.

“Go on.” 

Albus shook his head, “no.”

“Go right ahead. Tell me what you were going to say.”

“Fine,” Albus said. “Maybe if I hadn’t told Theseus not to arrest you he would have done it before you could kill my former student.”

“Maybe if she hadn’t come to the mausoleum or broken my method of communicating my visions to the people she wouldn't have gotten herself killed."

“So those people you killed, its all their fault is it?”

“You act like this is easy for me,” Gellert said.

“Well you’ve certainly killed enough people to make it seem like that,” Albus said.

“Here it goes,” Gellert said. “What, I kill people for fun?”

“You expect me to sit around and just… just let you kill untold numbers of people--”

“To save lives and stop a war. Yeah I do.”

“You act like you don’t even care how many lives you tear down as long as you get your way. It’s all for the greater good.”

“See, that’s your problem you aren’t willing to make sacrifices to do what needs to be done.”

“Don’t you lecture me on Sacrifice Gellert. You never seem to sacrifice much to me. But I have to sacrifice any hope I have of making the world a better place in a moral or merlin forbid ethical way because it's easier for you to act without those things.”

“There are some things that are more important than “Morals” or “Ethics”. I have the power to stop a war, to stop them from destroying our world and massacring our children. Don’t you care about that?”

“But what about how I feel about what you are doing, does that matter at all?”

Gellert stopped. He didn’t know what to say. How could he say, in good conscience, that stopping another war and saving countless lives, was less important than how Albus felt about it? Albus who he loved and had longed for, Albus who had killed for him. All Gellert could do was look Albus in his eyes.

“I thought so. I think for tonight I’ll be staying down here,” Albus said, his eyes starting to well with tears.

Gellert sighed, he knew he couldn’t force the issue. “Alright. Well if you change your mind, you let me know,”

“I will.”

Gellert stood up, leaned on his crutches and walked out of his husband’s bedroom. If Albus didn’t want to spend time with Gellert that was up to him. It had been a long time between when Ariana had died and when Albus met him in the cafe and he knew that neither could last that long again. Albus would get in the way of what needed to be done. He would have objections and qualms and there wasn’t time for that.

Gellert made up his mind right there that when the two did eventually make up there would be less sharing of what was going on. He could not allow Albus to steer his organization they way he had in the lead up to the vote in Brazil. He had to remain in control, with Vinda at his side. He knew that the two would make up but for tonight, and the time being, they would be separate.

Notes:

I hope you liked that. Yes they fought, yes Gellert was being at least a little bit selfish, denying that he made things hard for Albus. But I think that it is very much in character for him to only see the world through his own eyes and not see that hey yes you were making things hard for Albus.

Chapter 4

Summary:

Anton meets with his department heads but not before talking with Henrietta to try to learn Gellert's plans for killing Hitler

Notes:

Sorry it has been over a year since I have posted. Not sure when I will post again either. I work and do school full time so I am trying my darndest to keep up with those and writing kind of fell through the cracks. I really enjoued writing this chapter so I hope you enjoy reading it.

Anton Vogel cradled his head between his hands as his elbows rested on his desk. Today was to be yet another meeting between the members of his cabinet. There was once a time, before Grindelwald, that he enjoyed these meetings. It felt good to know everything going on in Germany but now they only added to his stress. Every meeting brought news of another uprising or attack against Muggles either by Grindelwald or in his name. Anton could never be sure how many fell into which category though most intelligence said there was a clear difference between Grindelwald inspired attacks and Grindelwald planned attacks. 

That wasn’t the worst part of the meetings though. No, instead the worst part of the meetings was having to play it cool under the watchful eyes of Henrietta. While he could never be totally sure, Anton had a sneaking suspicion that no one on his cabinet worked for Grindelwald but they all suspected he did. He could see it in their eyes and careful remarks about him. Most of all, he could tell by the way they whispered between themselves before staff meetings and stopped whenever he entered the room.

‘Why don’t you just throw me out’ he had wanted to say to them. Surely they had the power. But he supposed they had hedged their bets on him losing his election and when he remained in power they were afraid. There could also just be the general fear of what Grindelwald would do if they tried to toss out his inside man. Deep down Anton knew that if he were still head of International Magical Cooperation he would vote to throw himself out as well. Even if they were wrong, it would be for the best. After all, he could not move against Grindelwald’s people within his organization but someone else might be able to. Henrietta would be gone with Anton and it would be simple enough to put Helmut on duties which did not involve Grindelwald supporters.

KNOCK. KNOCK

“Come in,” Anton said as he lifted his head to see Henrietta standing with her head peeking into his office. Much like everything in the German Ministry, Anton’s office was quite grand with vaulted ceilings and large glass windows that overlooked the terrace below. He recalled the day, nearly a year ago now, when he had watched the terrace be taken over by election goers. He had stood outside watching it with Ida and Hector. 

Anton had been friends with the French minister going back to their early adult years, thought it was after he and Albus had been estranged. Hector may have heard the rumors but he had always called them such. Ida, on the other hand, had always known they were true. Nonetheless she never treated him any differently. At least not until it appeared he was colluding with Grindelwald, since then the trust between them had been severed and he wondered if it would ever be repaired.

“Herr Vogel,” Henrietta said.

“Yes Frau Fischer.”

“Your cabinet meeting is in ten minutes,” she said.

“Thank you,” he said. As she turned to leave he said, “Wait. Close the door.”

She looked at him but, after a minute, did as he said. She shut the door and walked over to his desk, her heels clicking against the stone floor. 

“Take a seat.”

Instead of sitting she said, “What is this about, Anton?” 

He looked up at her and said, “I think you know what this is about.”

“Herr Grindelwald?”

“I need to know what he is planning,” Anton said. 

“Why, so you can raid Nurmengard again?”

Anton Scoffed, “Yeah because that worked so well the first time -- Travers dead, Albus revealed to be a Grindelwald supporter and--”

“And now the ICW believes you are on their side,” she said bitterly.

“It certainly worked out excellently for you. But no, I need to know what he is planning surrounding Adolf Hitler.”

Henrietta tensed, “why.”

Anton rubbed his eyes. He was used to playing games but this was exhausting. Surely here, in his office, they could be honest with each other. What did they have left to hide from each other? Only that he was in love with Albus and, judging on how she talked about him, the idea that she could detach Albus from the alliance would only be a positive thing for her. “If he intends to take out Hitler I need to know so I can minimize Wizard lives lost. You’re supposed to care about such things.”

“I’ll assure you, Herr Vogel, we do not need your assistance in protecting Wizard lives.”

Anton scoffed, “yeah, because it went so well in Brazil. I hear you killed one of your own supporters as well as dozens of innocent people you had locked up! But I suppose your concern only extends to pure bloods.”

Henrietta shook her head, “you have no clue.” 

“You’re spending all this time following him and for what? I bet he doesn’t even have a plan, he just wants you all to follow him along, to prove he is powerful, to prove he can rule wizards.”

“It’s time to go,” Henrietta said. “If we sit here arguing we will be late and everyone will want to know why and we can’t have that can we?”

“No, we can’t,” he sighed as he got up and followed her out of his office. The minister’s conference room was on the other side of the ministry, where his department heads kept their offices. Anton did have a small conference room where he would meet with just a few staffers but in a meeting like this he knew everyone would be in attendance. After just a moment they were met by Auror Helmut.

“Auror Helmut,” Anton said looking directly into his eyes. “Do you have news for us?”

“I just thought I would accompany you to the meeting.”

Anton nodded and they continued trekking to the conference room. 

“I assume Henrietta prepped you properly for this meeting,” Helmut said.

“I was unaware that there were any unusual procedures,” he said as he saw Henrietta exchange a concerned glance with Helmut.

“We need to know what the DMLE is planning regarding Hitler’s upcoming in-person appearances. Frau Schechter has not seen fit to share any plans with me.”

“Would you like to join us? Then you can hear for your own ears what we are talking about.”

“Henrietta can handle it,” Helmut shrugged.

“She always has,” Anton said.

“Don’t fuck this up, Vogel.”

“I have not so far.”

“Oh I’d say Bhutan was a pretty big fuck up,” he said casually.

“If it was he would have killed me in the rebellion,” he said. Anton had long grown tired of veiled threats. The only power he had now was to pretend they didn’t bother him, to pretend he thought Grindelwald needed him. The three walked in silence for only a moment until they reached the threshold of the conference room. “Thank you for the escort Auror Helmut. I think Henrietta and I can take it from here.”

“Very well,” he said as he dipped his head and turned around. 

Anton himself took a deep breath and then pushed open the double doors. “Thank you all for coming to our staff meeting,” he said as he walked to his seat.

After he took his seat he looked across the table. It was only department heads here today, no staff members. He wished he could just send Henrietta away so easily but he knew there would be a punishment. Maybe more watches, maybe more Acolytes committing crime in the country. Whatever it was, Anton knew he couldn’t. So instead he took his seat and said, “Let’s begin with department reports. Leo?” 

Unlike Anton, who came from old money and rose through the ranks quickly, Leo Wieseltier was a man who had taken his time, rising from just a worker in the Portkey office to head of Magical Transportation.  Though Leo was much older than Anton, two had risen through the ranks together, first as office heads, later department heads and now as boss and subordinate. Leo knew what he was doing and Anton had never doubted that Leo gave his full loyalty to the German Ministry. If Anton was to bring Albus here, to Germany as a political refugee from both Grindelwald and the ICW he would need Leo’s help.

“Everything is going well with our expanded Floo network. Now the network reaches increasingly to more rural villages. They seem to like it, apparently years of being treated like they aren’t part of our magical community had soured them on us but now they quite like the inclusion in this new technology.”

“What about the street car?” Anton asked. 

Leo sighed, “Grindelwald’s attacks on the street cars have increased slightly. Nothing major, mostly vandalism, especially leaving “GG” or “Greater Good” in street cars.”

Anton massaged his temples, he’d long had a sneaking suspicion that these were random vandals, not the mark of Grindelwald supporters but it seemed improper to say here. He looked over to Gabriella Schechter, the head of the Department of Mysteries, only to see her pursed lips. Gabriella was a formidable woman, but Anton had inched her out twice to become Minister for Magic, once after the prior his initial appointment and now after his attempted outster. They had promised no hard feelings against each other but he couldn’t help but feel her anger after such a devastating loss.

It wasn’t hard for him to notice her stares, she knew who he was. She even acted like she knew his actions, which clearly benefited Grindelwald, were not his own doing. He could not help but wonder if he had been so obvious all along, so clear in his dealings, that they all felt this way. He suspected that even if she knew that there was no way these attacks were Grindelwald’s doing, she would not say it. Likewise, she would never forgive Anton if he took on Albus after he left Grindelwald. Gabriella would make things difficult for him and he thoroughly expected her to be angry at him for even suggesting that Grindelwald wasn’t behind these attacks.

But she said nothing. Leo finished with his report and then Gabriella went. After a moment it was Helen Stengelin’s turn to report on the events gooing on within the department of magical cooperation. Helen had been Anton’s number two for several years when he was a department head. When he was elected minister he had to reassure her that he would not be bringing in someone under her to run the department, as the previous minister had done with him. At first she tiptoed around him, carrying out business just as he would have done when he ran the office. Then, six months in, she relented and began running the department without looking over her shoulder with every decision.

Next came Erwin Hitzig, head of Accidental Magic and Catastrophes, and Elina Adelman, head of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They had small reports in their own right, mainly dealing with their attempts to make and sign treaties with other countries. Elina had some suspicion that Grindelwald was working with creatures which Anton had to admit he put down a little too quickly. It didn’t go unnoticed by him that Nicole Kretschmer, his head of Magical Law Enforcement was watching him closely as well, but with a different glint in her eyes than Gabriella. Nicole was suspicious of him, that much was clear. It was even more so when she gave her report. It did not go unnoticed by Anton how much she was leaving out, names and locations of raids. It was as though she was guarding the last of her secrets against Grindelwald. She was, not from Anton but from Henrietta, who would never be as bold as to ask for a report from her directly. 

Anton supposed the scrutiny was justified. He told himself he would be equally suspicious of someone in his position. Obviously there was a leaker in these meetings and while he thought it was clear the leaker was Henrietta, there was so little he knew that she didn’t. She sat in on every meeting and conversation. But still, it was a problem that Helmut was allowed to roam free with no intervention and he could not undestand why Nicole would not put a stop to it. It was so obvious to who he was, so much so that he might have otherwise suspected she, too, was a follower of Grindelwald. However, there was no mistaking the judgment in her silver blue eyes that told him she was not the problem.

After each department head spoke, Anton opened the floor to discuss other items, and it was no surprise the first to speak was Helen.

“Are you really going to campaign for Vicencia?” She asked, a slight hint of judgment in her tone. He knew that Helen had a problem with the Brazilian minister. Despite no clear ties to Grindelwald she had always preferred Liu Tao. She was among the camp that discarded his ties to Albus just as quickly as she had discarded Anton’s. Despite her disappointment in Vicencia becoming the head of the ICW, he thought that Helen would understand how important it was that she stay in office.

“You’re surprised?” He asked. His eyes swept across the room. Leo shifted uncomfortably, Gabriella and Nicole stared at him intently and Erwin and Elina exchanged glances with each other. “Does no one see why it is important for Vicencia to win this campaign? That Grindelwald not be allowed to seize power in Brazil through a Puppet Minister?”

“Oh I know it is important,” Helen said. “I just…”

“You just don’t think I’m the right choice?” Had this been in his office he would have had a lengthy conversation with her. He would have laid out all the alternatives and why they all sucked. The ICW Minister’s group refused to help, Theseus wasn’t well suited and Ida had long since given up her public speeches. Anton was the only person left.

“It’s not that you aren’t the right choice,” Elina said. “It is just… are you the best choice? I mean…”

“I beat a recall once, who better to help her beat it this time?”

“I don’t know that people want to hear from someone who cannot even manage to take care of Hitler,” Elina said.

For a moment the room was quiet. Elina had always someone who you would never think would agree with Grindelwald. Anton wasn’t sure if it was safe to steal a glance from Nicole, but he knew he would have to say something. He could feel Henrietta’s eyes burning into him. This could be the moment he showed what side he was on. “What did you say?”

Elina didn’t look away, she simply said, “you heard me.” 

“And what do you propose we do, Fraud Adelman? Kill him?”

“That might be an option," she said.

And with those simple words the room erupted into chaos. Despite her generally mild mannerisms, Elina proved to be quite the staunch supporter of what amounted to murder. Not far behind her, Erwin argued that she was right that people are scared. If people are scared, he reasoned, the person who kept them in that constant state of fear was the wrong person to reassure them. However, if Anton knew he could not even entertain this notion. Not if he wanted to avoid the constant assumption that he was working with Grindelwald.

 In an odd turn of events Gabriella and Nicole were taking the side that killing HItler was wrong. Nicole because wizards were never meant to rule over muggles, Gabriella because there were simply too many moving pieces. 

Throughout all of the arguing, Nicole sat silent, her lips pressed together. He could feel her judgment in the way that her eyes turned toward him. Her occasional words about the separation of muggles and wizards being sacred. Even with those few words it was clear where she stood, utterly against it. 

“That’s enough,” Anton eventually had to cut in. He couldn’t stand hearing the same four arguments over and over again. “For the time being Nicole is right. We have agreed to let the muggles run their own affairs. Hitler is indeed a dangerous man however we agreed to let the 

“But-” Erwin said.

“We have enough problems of our own without debating the solving of muggle problems,” Anton took a deep breath and looked into Henrietta’s eyes. She offered no pity or understanding. He wondered if she reveled in this, tearing his cabinet apart. She had offered no words but her subtle glances had guided Anton down a path he did not wish to follow. But he had made it all the way here, hadn’t he? “The problem here is Grindelwald. Hitler didn’t cause the division among us. The false prediction that a second war did.  

“We could kill two birds with one stone, take out Hitler and show the pure bloods they do not need Grindelwald,” Elina said. “It’s the easiest solution we have.”

Without thinking Anton banged his fist on the table. “The next person who mentions a solution that includes killing Hitler or Grindelwald will be cleaning out their office. We are a government,” he slammed his fist again, “we do not just kill people because it is the easy solution. We need a real solution to our problems”

As the meeting Continued, and moved away from Hitler toward combating Grindelwald. Even still Anton knew what he had to do. He knew, unequivocally, he would need to find a way to take care of Hitler. And taking care of Hitler was going to involve getting Grindelwald to do as he promised and kill Hilter. Anton could only hope that Grindelwald had gotten enough pressure to see that waiting to fulfill this promise was the wrong idea.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of delicate.