Heiress Grindelwald (II)

It was much harder than he had thought it would be. Taking care of a child is no easy thing… especially one who is scared of you. Gellert finally understood how Albus must have felt while taking care of Ariana. 

He could clearly see that due to the presence of this girl he had to take a not so small break from his ambition but could he abandon the girl so he could chase his dreams? The answer was simple, he couldn't. 

He couldn't do that… his dream was to make a better world for children like her and if he abandoned her then he would simply be insulting his own ambition and dreams. He won't be making the mistake his best friend had made. 

Glory could wait… this girl, who was currently sleeping tucked in the bed with a peaceful look on her face is going to be his priority for now. His Destiny had led him here… if he hadn't taken the scenic route then he would have never met the girl. 

It has been quite a chore but he was able to convince the little one to drink the potions and apply the burning salve. He hasn't talked to her about the bones though… he had decided to wait for that. 

After that, he had Transfigured the clothes in the house to fit the girl. For a moment he saw the look of longing and need in the girl's eyes. She had thought that he didn't notice it but he had. Gellert Transfigured the table into a bed and decided to call it a day. 

<Line Break>

The next morning, the little girl was up just before the sunrise. She shot out of the bed as she looked around hurriedly. 'So, yesterday wasn't a dream. I am really a Witch' the girl thought as she climbed down the bed. 

Surprisingly she didn't flinch in pain when her feet touched the floor. She looked at her feet and found that most of the burns were gone. Her eyes finally landed on her saviour. She didn't know what to think about him. 

This was the first time anyone had shown her kindness. He gave her food, he had given her potions. Those were yucky and gooey, they tasted horrible but he had told her that those potions would help her. Could she trust this man? 

The answer was simple, she couldn't. Yes, there was nothing she could lose but that didn't mean that she would simply trust him blindly. The little girl contemplated as decided to approach the door. All of a sudden the girl froze. 

She was no longer living in the forest, she could use the loo. So she quickly made her way towards the loo to take care of business. But she failed to notice that the man who had saved her had also woken up due to her footsteps. 

The girl finally came out of the loo after taking care of her business and found the man standing near the window. "How was your sleep?" The man asked, still staring outside the window. 

"It was pleasant" the little girl answered as she made her way towards the table. The girl didn't fail to notice that the man was sleeping on a bed and now the bed was nowhere to be seen, instead it was replaced by the table from yesterday. 

"Good. Take your potions and then meet me outside" the man said and started to approach the door. With a wave of his hand, the door opened and the man left the house. 

The girl wanted to protest… The potions were yucky but she decided against it. She made her way towards the cupboard where he had placed the potions. 'Green potion followed by the blue potion' the girl thought as she picked up a vial filled with green liquid. 

She uncorked the vial and tipped it inside her mouth. The little girl grimaced at the taste but she put down the vial and picked up a vial with a blue potion inside it. Repeating the routine she made her way towards the door with a grimace on her face. 

She finally walked out of the door and found the man who had saved her standing in front of the pile of Mudbloods. The little girl seethed in anger as she made her way towards her saviour. She finally reached beside him and stood silently. 

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, the sun was already up. The girl stared towards the rising sun and for the first time in her life, she was looking forward to the rest of the day. 

"They are dead if you are wondering about them" the man was the first one to break the silence. The little girl didn't say anything and kept staring at the man who had saved her last night. 

"Today, I am going to teach you magic" the man said as he turned around to stare towards another pile of humans. But this pile was much different from the other one. 

"They are alive" the little girl muttered darkly. 

"Yes, they are. We are going to use them to teach you magic" the man said and the girl nodded her head. "I have bound them and silenced them as if they keep screaming they could break your concentration" the man said and the little girl nodded her head in understanding. 

The man pulled out his Wand… last night she had asked the man why he was waving a stick. The man had laughed and told her that it was a Wand and he would explain later what a Wand was. The girl paid rapt attention to the man, as she didn't want to miss anything. 

"As you already know… this is a Wand. This is a magical focus. There are different types of foci used in different parts of the world but Wands are most common. Wizards and Witches require a focus to cast magic" the man explained and the girl nodded her head in understanding. 

"Can I get my own Wand?" The girl questioned and the man simply smiled and shook his head. 

"No, at this moment you can't. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, children under 10 aren't allowed to wield Wands" the man explained and the girl sullenly nodded her head. It was clear that the girl wasn't happy. 

"So, I can't use magic?" The girl asked in a saddened tone and the man crouched in front of her. 

"I never said that. I have heard that there is a shop in China which is renowned for Wands made for children. Those Wands aren't strong like your regular Wands but you can use them to cast simple Spells" the man explained and he could see that excitement in the little girl's eyes. 

"So, how am I going to learn magic today? Are we going to China?" the little girl asked curiously as she tilted her head in slight confusion. 

"No… we are going to use this for today" the man said and pulled out another Wand. This was much different than the one he had been using. 

"This is my old Wand, this might not be perfect for you but I think this will work" the man said and he placed the Wand in the little girl's hand. The little girl stared at the Wand with awe in her eyes. 

"13½" Blackthorn, rougarou hair" the man said in a melancholic tone and the little girl excitedly nodded her head. She tried but it was simply impossible to hide her excitement so she gave up. 

The man finally stood up, breaking the girl out of her trance. "We are going to start with the most basic Spell in existence, the Levitation Charm" the man said and once again the girl excitedly nodded her head. 

The man jabbed his Wand towards the pile and a man was levitated out of the pile. The girl's eyes hardened as she immediately recognized the man. This was the leader of the village, it was the same man who had hit her and who had lit up the torch. 

"Looks like you recognized him" the man mused as he unceremoniously dropped the man on the hard ground. The girl nodded her head with a hard look on her face. 

"The incantation of the spell is Wingardium Leviosa and this is the Wand movement" the man demonstrated and the little girl gave him a curt nod. 

"The pronunciation will be wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa" once again the man slowly explained and the girl nodded her head in understanding. 

"wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa" the girl muttered as followed the Wand movements but nothing seemed to happen. The man simply urged her to continue. 

After trying six times the little girl started to get agitated. The man noticed it and decided to stop her. "Listen, getting agitated won't help. Magic is all about intent, you need to have a clear picture of what you want" the man explained and after a few moments, the girl nodded her head. 

The little girl took a deep breath and started to picture what she truly wanted. She had seen her saviour use this spell without any incantation or Wand movement. She decided to forgo the Wand movement as she found it completely silly. 

"wing-GAR-dee-um leh-vee-OH-sa" she said and jabbed her Wand in a similar manner her saviour had done previously and to her complete shock, it worked. The man lying on the ground started to float. 

She immediately turned towards her saviour wanting to see his reaction and she didn't know what to make of it. The man was staring at the scene with wide eyes. 

"Incredible…" the man muttered and the girl cheered, losing her concentration. Her subject promptly dropped to the hard ground and the girl relished at the look of pain in the man's eyes. 

After a moment, the little girl froze as she slowly turned towards her saviour. She thought that he would be disappointed in her for losing concentration but instead, the man seemed to be really happy. 

"...That was incredible, you performed the charm without Wand movement" the man praised and the girl didn't know how to react. 

Just this morning she was questioning if she could trust this man or not and now the same man was praising her? This was the first time someone had praised her. It was the first time someone was proud of something she had done. 

The gears inside the girl's head started to turn as she came to a decision. She decided to take a leap of faith… for the first time in her life she decided to trust someone. She decided to trust the man in front of her. 

That is when she remembered that she didn't even know the name of her saviour, the man she had decided to trust. "What is your name?" the little girl asked and a genuine smile appeared on the man's face. 

"Gellert Grindelwald, you can call me Gellert" the man said with a smile and the girl etched the name on her mind and the man's face inside her mind… 

(Image Here) 

<Line Break>

It has been a week since she had started to learn from Gellert. She hadn't made much progress in the practical department but Gellert had said that it was understandable as she was very young and she might be using a mismatched Wand. 

She didn't know what Gellert had done but the village was completely empty except for the two of them and her live subjects. She didn't know what happened to the children as none of them were in the village square that night but all of them were gone. 

She wondered if Gellert had killed them or not… but she couldn't find herself caring about that. All of them could just die and she wouldn't bat an eye. She was having the time of her life… she couldn't believe how her life had changed. 

Potions were still yucky but she could see the improvements with her own eyes. Previously, she had been thin like a twig and now… she could easily compare herself with one of the bigger kids in the village. Alas, they were nowhere to be found. 

Her crimson hair could be seen growing and according to Gellert, she would never need to cut off her hair again. That was great news… as a matter of fact she loved her crimson hair, but for her survival, it was necessary to remove her hair. 

Since the first day, she had been trying to replicate Gellert. She had noticed that she was able to forgo the silly Wand movements just like Gellert had done and now she could replicate that every time but then she wasn't able to forgo the incantation. 

According to Gellert, her intent was more than strong enough as she could perform the Spell sans any Wand movement but she might be lacking power for the silent casting or Gellert's Wand was really a bad match for her. 

Gellert had also brought a lot of books for her… though she didn't like the name of those books. Everything ended with Dummies, like Transfiguration for Dummies, Potions for Dummies, Charms for Dummies, she wasn't a dummy. 

Gellert has been helping her so much, she didn't want to disappoint him so she had been studying and trying to learn everything Gellert brought her. She still remembered what Gellert had told her at the end of the first day. 

'Your Magic is like a muscle so the more you practice the stronger it becomes' She had etched those words inside her mind. From that day, she used magic until she couldn't cast any longer. Once she had seen Gellert practice magic and she had been stumped after that. 

Could she even cast like that? Gellert had laughed and told her that there might be better Wizards or Witches out there and that is why he needed to practice and keep practising even if he became the strongest. You couldn't stagnate or someone might overtake you. 

She had nodded her head with a determined look on her face. She had also learned a couple of new Spells like the toothbrush charm, stinging hex, and the Lumos Charm and the Nox Charm. 

It might have taken her some time to learn all these Spells as she was adamant that she would not use those silly Wand movements. Gellert had found that pretty amusing but he had encouraged her even more. 

There was another thing Gellert had done, he had warned her not to try learning a new spell in his absence. She had taken that warning to heart and didn't practice any new Spells or try to learn new Spells in Gellert's absence. 

The little girl took a deep breath as she was about to start her Magic practice. She decided to forgo the incantation too and jabbed her Wand at the cowering subject in front of her. The subject started to shake but she failed to lift her subject off the ground. 

Even though it didn't work, she knew that she was going in the right direction as the subject was shaking due to her spell. So she decided to give it another try… it wasn't like she was going to lose anything. Once again she jabbed her Wand at the subject without any incantation. 

The subject shook for a few seconds and she was about to give up but the subject was finally lifted from the ground. The girl could feel only one emotion at that moment… elation. She levitated her subject several metres high in the air. 

"I see, you have started your practice" a voice whispered behind her ear. The girl almost jumped out of her skin as she lost her concentration and her subject dropped on the ground with a loud Crack resounding through the area. 

"Is he dead?" the girl asked curiously as her subject's neck was split open and a Hollow bone could be seen poking out. 

"Yes" Gellert said with slight worry in his voice. He didn't know how the girl was going to react as this was the first time she had taken a life. 

"Pity… I wanted to practice more magic with him" the girl said, looking almost saddened. Gellert felt proud after hearing the little girl's words. 

She was a Witch, she shouldn't be worried about a Filthy Muggle. The Muggle should in fact be proud that he died for such a glorious cause. The girl suddenly perked up as stars appeared in her eyes. 

"Gellert! See what I can do!" the little girl exclaimed excitedly and silently jabbed her Wand at a new subject. The subject was slowly levitated from the pile. Gellert was stunned silent… not only did the girl cast the Spell without Wand movements but she also did it silently?? 

Yes, it was a beginner's spell but the girl was only 6 years old for Morgana's sake!! If nurtured correctly then this girl could easily rival him and Albus in the future. 

'I need to get her a Wand that fits her… looks like I need to change my plans, again' Gellert thought as his eyes focused on the little girl who was expectantly looking at him. He finally understood what she wanted… 

"Brilliant!! You are going to be a very strong Witch in the future" Gellert praised her genuinely and the girl beamed at him as she continued to practice magic. 

Gellert kept watching from the sidelines as the girl kept practising magic with a determined look on her face. Her drive and passion to learn was so similar to him. Gellert was brought out of his musings when the girl stopped practising and approached him. 

"Is something wrong?" Gellert asked curiously and the girl shook her head. 

"In the books, I read that dark magic is bad, why?" the girl asked curiously, it was obviously a loaded question and Gellert rubbed his chin thinking about how he should answer the question. 

"There is no light magic or dark magic… most of the Spells branded as dark magic aren't even dark magic… yes, I agree that there are some Spells which are truly dark as they can twist a person's personality" 

"But as long as you know what you are doing and you are doing it correctly, you can avoid those risks. I know a lot about the so-called Dark Arts but I don't know everything" Gellert said and after a few moments, the girl nodded her head in understanding. 

"Do you need anything else?" Gellert asked and the girl shook her head and walked away to continue practising her magic… 

<Line Break>

Gellert Grindelwald found himself standing in a line and he wanted to curse the whole lot of them… they were simply… so slow. Even putting Muggles on the counter would have been much faster. 

Finally, he reached the counter after a gruelling hour. "I want to submit my request for an International Portkey" Gellert said and placed the parchment on the table. 

"What kind of personal business?" the clerk asked and Gellert had to restrain himself from slapping the stupid buffoon. If it was public business then he wouldn't have written personal business. 

"It is personal" Gellert said primly and the clerk simply sighed and tapped his Wand on the parchment as a bold red 'REJECTED' appeared on the parchment. Now Gellert wanted to strangle the man.

"Even if the business is personal, you need to mention it as the Hungarian Ministry is privy to your personal business. We have tightened the security. Some Wizards from our country have created a ruckus in Muggle Germany" the man drawled and handed the parchment to Gellert. 

Gellert left the Hungarian Ministry of Magic frothing in anger. It was a miracle that he was able to hold himself back from Crucioing that stupid buffoon. Once again, Muggles are being prioritized by the Magical Governments. 

Gellert released a sigh and decided to make his own International Portkey. It wasn't that hard, but he simply wanted to use the legal channels of travel. With that, Gellert Apparated back to the village after buying some food. 

He appeared inside the house and found the girl reading a book. 'She is studious' Gellert noted internally as he cleared his throat. The girl perked up and looked up from her book. He really needed to think of a name for her… 

"We will be leaving for China tomorrow" Gellert said and the girl excitedly nodded her head. Gellert Accio'd a metal flask and started to charm it using the Portus spell. He could have used anything but sturdy objects were good when you were making an International Portkey. 

He noticed that the girl was curiously watching him but didn't interrupt him. She simply kept her distance and kept watching. After a moment, Gellert was finally done and placed the flask on the table. 

"What did you do to the flask?" the girl asked curiously. 

"I charmed this into an International Portkey" Gellert said and the girl tilted her head in confusion. "A Portkey is an object enchanted to instantly bring anyone touching it to a specific location, by a specific activation method, that can be, time, touch or an activation code" Gellert elaborated. 

After a few moments, the girl nodded her head in understanding and went back to reading her book. Gellert released a sigh. The rest of the day passed pretty normally, the girl had another magic practice session with her subjects. 

The next day Gellert found that the girl was ready even before he got up. It was pretty clear that the girl was really excited. "You look pretty excited" Gellert commented as he pushed himself out of the bed. 

"Yes, I will be getting a Wand" the girl said like it was the answer to all of his questions and in a roundabout way, it was the answer to all of the questions he had at this moment. 

Gellert didn't waste much time and took care of his business and packed all the books he had bought for the girl inside a trunk and placed the trunk in his pocket after shrinking it. It was a normal trunk but it was more than enough to store a few books. 

"Stay beside me" Gellert said in a firm tone and the girl nodded her head. Gellert activated the Portkey and both of them felt a tug around their navel as they were whisked away. 

The two of them appeared right in the middle of a street. Gellert landed on his feet so he grabbed the girl stopping her from falling on the ground. The girl gave him a pained look. 

"I don't feel so good…" the girl said but thankfully she was able to stop herself from emptying her stomach. Gellert looked around and a grin appeared on his face… Yes, this was the right place. 

Even though the two of them had appeared right in the middle of the street nobody was freaking out. As this was a magical street, appearing out of thin air is one of the most common things. Though the two of them were getting odd looks from everyone due to their clothes. 

Gellert grabbed his Wand and pointed it towards a nearby Wizard. "Imperio" Gellert muttered in a low tone, his voice was so low that even the girl wasn't able to hear him clearly. 'Lead us to an empty part of the street' Gellert mentally commanded the man. 

Gellert urged the girl to follow the man and soon the three of them found themselves in an empty part of the street. Gellert handed the man two vials filled with blank language potions. 

'Cut your finger and drop your blood into the vials while thinking about Mandarin. Don't stop until they look like mercury' once again Gellert mentally commanded the man. 

The man sliced open his finger with his own Wand and poured a few drops of blood into the vials as they turned into something similar to mercury. The girl was interested in the spell Gellert had used but she held back her curiosity for now. 

"Legilimens" Gellert muttered as he kept staring at the man's eyes. After a few moments, Gellert smirked and once again pointed his Wand towards the man. 

"Obliviate" Gellert muttered and the man's eyes turned glassy. 

'You cut your finger due to a misfired spell. Now, walk away' Gellert mentally commanded. 

After a few moments, the man shook his head and walked away without paying any attention to Gellert or the girl. 

"What were the Spells you used? What do they do?" The girl finally asked, unable to hold back her curiosity. Gellert simply handed her a vial, the girl grabbed the vial and gulped down the contents. Gellert also did the same. 

A lot of new memories appeared inside both of their minds. The girl hissed in pain and rubbed her temples. "The first two Spells I used are illegal in China… at least for the common folks" Gellert spoke Mandarin fluently. 

The girl understood that Gellert was speaking Mandarin and she decided to speak in Mandarin too after Gellert finished explaining. 

"The first one was Imperius Curse, it is one of the Unforgivables, it carries a life sentence in most of the Magical Societies, Magical Spain is one of the rare exceptions" Gellert said and the girl paid him rapt attention. 

"Imperius Curse, when cast successfully, it places the victim completely under the caster's control" Gellert explained and the girl pondered his words and nodded her head after a few moments. 

"Why don't we use the Imperius Curse to control the Muggles?" The girl asked curiously. 

"Because it would be too much of a burden on the caster's mind. As of now, I can probably put around 50 Magical people under the Imperius Curse" the man explained. The little girl cutely nodded her head in understanding. 

"The second spell was Legilimency… Legilimency is a form of Mind Arts. It is used to magically navigate through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpret one's findings" Gellert explained. 

"Mind reading?" The girl questioned and the man simply shook his head with an amused look on his face. 

"It is much more than that… I can even plant fake memories inside someone's mind or I could slightly alter their personalities though doing either of the mentioned takes some time" Gellert said and the girl froze for a moment. Gellert immediately understood what she was thinking. 

"No… I haven't used Legilimency on you and I won't be using it on you even in the future" Gellert placated and the girl finally nodded her head in understanding. 

Gellert had noticed that the girl had started to trust him and he didn't want to jeopardize that in any way. "The third Spell, Obliviation, is used to lock away or completely remove some memories from a person's mind… It depends on your proficiency" Gellert explained. 

The girl started to think about everything she had learned today. She kept walking silently beside Gellert as she kept wondering how easy it would be if they could Imperius all the Filthy Muggles. Or how good it would be if she could alter the mind of Muggles, making them think that they were slaves. 

"We are here" Gellert spoke out loud, breaking out the girl from her dark musings. Both of them were currently standing in front of a glass shop. 

Gellert led her inside and the girl already had stars in her eyes as she kept looking around with awe in her eyes. The shop was filled with Wands as a lot of them could be seen on the display. A young Witch could be seen attending the counter. 

She noticed the new arrivals and decided to greet them. "Hello, how can I help you?" The woman asked in broken English as she had noticed that the customers were probably Englishmen. 

This shop was world-famous as this was the only known shop in the Magical World where you could get a Wand for someone younger than 10. There were other shops where you could get other types of magical foci for children but if you want a Wand for a child then this is the only place. 

"I want a Wand for the little one" the attendant's eyes grew wide in surprise when she heard the man's fluent Mandarin. 

"Uh… yes, sure" the girl stammered out as she walked out of the counter. The woman waved her hand and pulled up a large display case. 

"These are the types of Wands we have, tell me which of these Wands give you the warmest feeling" the woman said and the little girl excitedly nodded her head as she started to touch the Wands inside the case.

Only after a few minutes, the girl was done. "This one" the girl said pointing towards a slightly curved whitish Wand. 

"11" yew with a dragon heartstring core" the woman said and pulled out the Wand from the case. 

"Remember, she won't be able to cast stronger Spells with that Wand as it isn't designed to handle strong magic" the woman said in a serious tone while looking at Gellert. 

"But why is it designed like that?" the little girl asked curiously. 

"It is because we produce generic Wands for children. Magic could be dangerous if it went out of control. Children are known for uncontrolled Magic, also referred to as Accidental Magic" 

"Even grown Wizards and Witches can sometimes lose control of their spells and Children are more prone to lose control of their magic… the risk of losing control increases with stronger Spells and Magic… so, to prevent an accident we have to apply such methods" the woman finished. 

The girl wasn't happy but there was nothing she could do so she reluctantly nodded her head. Gellert cleared his throat to gain the attention of the attendant. 

"How much do I need to pay?" Gellert asked. 

"One galleon and five sickles" the woman said and Gellert promptly took out the money and left it on the counter. 

(A/N: I know that Magical Societies around the world have different currencies but I have decided to use Galleons, Sickles and Knuts as global currency for the Magical World as a whole. 

America uses Dragot and Sprink while France uses Bezant. But there are no conversion or comparison ratios, that is why I decided to take that path as the MC will be travelling around the world). 

Gellert quickly led her outside the shop. "Are we going to go back?" The girl asked as she kept walking beside Gellert. 

"Do you want to go back?" Gellert asked softly. He hasn't made any plans of returning to that village, but if the girl wanted to, then he would make her his heiress.

The girl promptly shook her head. "No… though I would miss my practice subjects" the girl muttered in a saddened tone. Gellert couldn't stop himself from smirking. 

"We can get more practice subjects if you want. Muggles are pretty abundant all over the world" Gellert said in an amused tone and once again the girl excitedly nodded her head. 

It was almost like the girl didn't even consider muggles to be humans, though Gellert didn't mind it as it was better this way. Gellert led her towards an inn so that they could spend the night. Gellert was from a pureblood family and he was the last of them, so he didn't have any shortage of money. 

It didn't take them much time to get a room. After entering the room Gellert took out the book trunk from his pocket and enlarged it. "I have an errand to run, don't practice magic until I get back" Gellert said and the girl reluctantly agreed. 

She was really excited to use magic with her own Wand, but it looked like she needed to wait for Gellert to return before she could perform magic. But all of a sudden the girl remembered something and perked up. 

"Gellert, can I have some new books?" the girl asked and after a small pause, Gellert nodded his head with a small smile on his face and left… 

<Line Break>

Gellert was finally back and he brought a lot of new books for her. She was really excited about them but there was something else she was excited about… she could finally try out her new Wand. 

'Lumos' the girl thought and the tip of her new 11" yew and dragon heartstring Wand lit up. The girl internally cheered because this Wand functioned even better than the Wand Gellert had given her. 

'Nox' the girl thought and the tip of her Wand stopped glowing. She pointed her Wand towards the book in front of her and it started to levitate in the air with just her thought. Unlike previously, she didn't even have to jab her Wand. 

"It seems this Wand is faring even better for you than my Wand" Gellert said with an amused smile on his face. He was quite proud of the girl's progress. She was only 6 years old and she was already able to cast Spells with just her intent. 

"Yes, using magic feels more natural to me now… the interval between my thought and the actual spell being cast also seemed to have decreased" the girl stated with a thoughtful look on her face. Gellert nodded his head, suddenly, a thought appeared inside Gellert's mind. 

"Can you tell me where your magic is originating from?" Gellert asked and the girl shook her head. 

"I have read that in the case of Witches, their Magical Core is somewhere around here but I can't sense it" the girl said with a crestfallen look on her face while pointing towards her lower sternum. 

This was a small difference between Wizards and Witches, in the case of Wizards their Magical Core was present somewhere around their upper sternum and in the case of Witches, their Magical Core was present somewhere around their lower sternum.

It didn't affect their magic in either case. It was simply a difference of body constitution and nothing else. Gellert nodded his head, maybe he was expecting too much from such a young girl. 

"Can I practice the Summoning Charm? I have read the theory but I haven't practised it yet" the girl asked and Gellert promptly agreed. 

The girl jabbed her Wand towards a book on the bed but nothing happened. The girl sighed and tried the second time but once again nothing happened. The girl took a deep breath and tried for the third time, the book was lifted from the bed but it didn't reach the girl and dropped midway. 

'At least I am on the right path' the girl thought and continued practising the Summoning Charm. After an hour, she was completely proficient with the spell. 

The girl had read that to Summon smaller objects she needed to spend less magic and to summon a larger object you obviously needed more magic. But the book didn't mention from how far she could summon something. 

She tried to test Summoning the book from everywhere around the room and she could do it pretty normally. She decided that she needed to conduct more tests with that. Gellert couldn't believe how quickly she was progressing. 

'Yes, it was the right decision to train her' Gellert mused as he kept reading a book he had found regarding rituals. One particular ritual had caught his eye… the blood adoption ritual… 

After another couple of hours, the girl finally ended up exhausting her magical core. Casting Magic with her own Wand felt a lot nicer and exciting. The girl decided to see if there was something new in the books or not. 

The girl picked up the book named Elemental Magic… just after the first page, she knew that it was way out of her league but she couldn't stop herself from being entranced. Elemental Magic was one of the most obscure forms of Magic… 

She had read about the Aguamenti Charm, it was the water making Charm, it was the same charm Gellert had used to save her. At first, the girl had thought that she was going to find something like that Aguamenti Charm in the book but she had been wrong. 

Instead, this book was all about the Manipulation of elements existing in nature. According to the book, there were 7 elements naturally present everywhere around them. Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Lightning, Light, and Darkness. 

Apparently Lightning was a bit different from the other natural elements, as it didn't exist in nature, naturally but Wizards and Witches have shown the ability to manipulate and create Lightning through magic. 

There were many Lightning Spells but true Lightning Manipulation was overpowered. You could kill a dragon if you can create true Lightning via Elemental Manipulation. The girl was also awed by the supposed ability to create storms. 

It is said that if someone is a decent enough practitioner of Elemental Magic then they could change the landscape of a small area as Elemental Magic was an Area of Effect type of Magic. 

The girl was saddened to read that somewhere in the late 17th century and early 18th century, Elemental Mage fell out of practice in favour of the generic Elemental Spells like Aguamenti Charm. 

You needed to be a strong Wizard or Witch if you wanted to practice Elemental Magic. It was time-consuming and at the same time, Elemental Magic was very hard to control. Most of the things you could do with Elemental Magic could be easily done with the generic form of the magic. 

Yes, Elemental Magic was way stronger than the generic Element creation magic but you needed to be extraordinarily talented in Elemental Magic to be able to create a difference. For most Wizards and Witches, the difference wasn't significant at the lower level so no one bothered to continue using True Elemental Magic. 

In this era, Elemental Mages were considered to be a thing of the past. It was more like the stories of the legends of a glorious past. There were only two people recorded in history who could be considered extraordinary in the department of Elemental Magic. 

They were Myrddin Emrys or generally known as Merlin and Morgana Le-Fey. The girl was completely awed by the book and the feats they have created. She decided to try Elemental Magic… at least when she became strong enough to do that. 

For now, she decided to put away the book. She was really tired so she fell asleep right after dinner. Gellert had to tuck her in and that is when he noticed what she had been reading.

A small smile appeared on his face. He had read this book when he was a child himself and he was awed by the tales… he had tried to use Elemental Magic but he ultimately gave up when he found that it was simply too time-consuming but not equally rewarding. 

He had found the Chinese edition of this book in the bookstore today and several memories of his childhood had resurfaced. It was at least a good motivational storybook for Magical Children, so he had decided to buy the book for the little girl… 

<Line Break>

Almost a year has passed since the duo has arrived in China. Throughout the year Gellert and the girl have gotten really close… It was almost like they were father and daughter. 

Regardless of Gellert's initial feelings about the whole situation he was glad that he had decided to take the scenic route after getting the Elder Wand or he wouldn't have met such a wonderful girl. He wouldn't change the fact for anything. 

The girl has also grown quite strong in the past year… she wasn't anywhere near the level of adult Wizards or Witches but she would beat any 11 or 13 Years old without breaking a sweat and that was a huge achievement. 

Gellert has been wondering about making her his heiress, but he has yet to bring up the topic. He wanted her opinion before deciding anything and he had also decided upon a name he wanted to give her. 

At first, Gellert has thought of her as a challenge presented to him by Fate or Destiny. Fate Grindelwald doesn't seem to fit that well, but Destiny Grindelwald was a completely different story. The name had an impact behind it. 

"Gellert, what are you thinking?" Gellert was brought out of his musings when the girl called him out. 

The girl has grown up quite a bit throughout the past year. All signs of malnourishment were gone, her beautiful crimson hair flowing down her shoulders. Her bright crimson eyes focused on him with concern. 

Gellert simply grinned and rubbed her head. The girl shot him an annoyed glare and slapped away his hand. "Don't mess my hair!" the girl declared and with a twitch of her Wand, she fixed her hair.

"Fine fine…" Gellert said and raised his hands in a surrendering manner. The girl stomped her foot and a grin appeared on her face. 

"You said that you wanted to talk about something…" the girl inquired as she raised her brow. 

Gellert nodded his head and with a small jab, he conjured two wooden chairs. "Have a seat" Gellert offered and the girl plopped down on the chair while staring at him. 

"I have been thinking about this for some time" Gellert said and noticed that the girl has been paying rapt attention to his words. 

He took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you would agree to become my heir… I mean heiress?" Gellert asked softly and for a few moments, the girl simply kept staring at him with a dumb look on her face. 

"You don't need to answer right now. You can take your time" Gellert added hurriedly. 

"Do you really mean that?" the girl almost whispered. Her crimson eyes filled with both happiness and fear. 

"Of course, I mean that or I wouldn't have asked you" Gellert said and before he could say anything the girl lunged into his arms while continuously muttering 'Thank You'. 

She started to sob so Gellert started to rub her back. It took her almost 10 minutes to calm down. "What do I need to do?" The girl asked and Gellert shook his head. 

"Nothing… you would simply need to drink this potion and…" Gellert paused and pulled out a potion vial from his jacket. It has taken him around a month to prepare this potion. She almost snatched the bottle from his hand. 

"Wait… let me finish. The potion isn't complete yet. I need to add my blood to it and we also need to complete a ritual. Wait here, let me prepare the ritual circle" Gellert said and when the girl was placated enough, he Conjured a small goblet. 

"Fill this up with your blood" Gellert said and handed her the goblet. The girl readily cut her palm with her Wand and returned the blood-filled goblet to Gellert. The girl sealed her wound with a silent Episkey. 

Gellert mixed a few ingredients with her blood and started to draw a ritual circle on the ground with her blood. The girl kept watching Gellert throughout the process. 

"Now stand in the middle of the circle…" Gellert said and cut his palm to add his blood to the potion vial. Gellert handed her the vial and when he was done, he gave it to the girl and healed his palm. 

"Don't drink it until I say so" Gellert said and the girl nodded her head with a serious look on her face. 

Gellert activated the ritual circle and the whole thing started to glow. "Now, do you agree to take upon the name Destiny Grindelwald?" Gellert asked and the girl almost teared again when she heard that she would be getting a name. 

She never said it but she hated the fact she never had a name. "Yes, I do" the girl said and the ritual circle brightened. 

"Then, drink the potion" Gellert said and the girl didn't need to be told twice. She immediately gulped down the potion and she immediately felt something shift inside her. 

"Welcome to the family Destiny" Gellert said softly and that was the last thing she heard before she passed out…