Chapter 128 – Grindelwald’s Spirit
It was already night, and we were sneaking around the castle's abandoned corridors. Unlike in Hogwarts, there were no ghosts here, at least, not like there. I already argued this with Dimitris, clarifying that he was not talking about regular ghosts but about a weird apparition. In his words, the spirit of Grindelwald was damaged and evil.
"I already told you," He whispered as we were hiding in an empty classroom, listening to the sounds of a walking suit of armor getting farther and farther away from us. It was what patrolled the grounds after dark, and if they caught you, they would continue to try and beat you mercilessly. "The spirit of Grindelwald was probably destroyed in his last battle, and what remains here is only a piece of it!"
"And I told you, he was imprisoned in Nurmengard and not killed."
"Propaganda."
That was his one and only answer when he didn't want to believe me, and I was getting frustrated because I could not go and tell him, 'You idiot, he is teaching right here, right now! You have already met him!' So, what remained for me was to gulp back my thoughts and curiously tag along to see this wicked spirit.
"So..." I asked, slowly opening the door and confirming that the corridor was safe to continue our slow trek to the supposed dungeon below the castle. By his words, its entrance was hidden under an ancient, human-sized cauldron that had been left collecting dust in one of the abandoned chambers. "How did you discover him? Or the entrance to this dungeon?"
"Um..." After a brief hesitation, he stopped to think but answered in a quiet voice, continuing to lead me to the correct spot, "I was thrown into the cauldron and locked in there. They said it was a prank..."
"Ah. I see."
"Yeah... and as I was trying to get out, I used magic to finally flip it and force the top open so I could climb out. It was then that I noticed the thing was atop a locked trapdoor leading down to somewhere."
"And you decided to go down?"
"Well, yes! It was interesting, and I was curious about what would be hidden down there, so I opened it and went to look. They always said the castle holds secrets of old and if I could get lucky..." He trailed off, but I could guess some of his ideas. Because I had the same ones against Umbridge.