9: Our Curse

[3rd Pov]

In the dining room, a long walnut table was set in the middle. The table was decorated with various candles and flower pots and was arranged with fourteen plates.

When the guests moved to the dining room, Lily brought an enchanted moving cart with various dishes on top of it.

Before Ron could attack the trolley, she, with her wand in hand, enchanted the plates, plates which started to float, and landed softly on the diner table.

James sat at the left head of the table, with Sirius on his left, and Lily on his right. Besides Sirius, sat Harry, with Ron, Fred, George, and Percey also on his left side. As for Lily, her daughter sat on her right, with Ginny, Lysandra, Alaric, and Molly beside her. At the right end of the table sat Arthur.

After everyone was sitting, Lily, with another wave of her wand, conjured several utensils for the food.

"Alright everyone, dig in~," she said.

The sound of cutlery being used and the occasional chatter gave the dinner a cozy feeling. The topic changed constantly, from quidditch to Auror cases, to new stores in Diagon Alley, and some drunken stories from James and Sirius. Even politics were discussed, something that, apart from Alaric, the young ones didn't seem interested in.

At some point, the sound of people talking disappeared and was replaced with a comfortable silence.

However, the silence was broken by Ron.

"Say, did you really used to live in the middle of nowhere? Harry told me you both were from Austria..." he asked curiously.

"If by nowhere you mean the snowy Austrian Alps, then yes. And we're not from Austria. We just lived there," answered Lysandra, slightly bothered by the boy's ignorance.

"There's quite a bit of magical and non-magical settlements at the base of the mountains. So we weren't that isolated," continued Alaric.

"But wasn't it cold? I couldn't live in the middle of snow all year long, that would be mental!" exclaimed the red-haired boy.

"We lived there our whole life, so we were used to it. And most of the time our house elves would keep the castle warm during winter with warming charms," responded the Grindelwald boy.

After dinner was over, the adults stayed at the table chatting and drinking, while the kids moved to the living room.

While they talked, Alaric brought out a book about Findfyre applications, disguised as a magical creatures book, courtesy of his grandfather's library.

"Mom said that you two just moved to Godric's Hollow. Are you liking it here? There isn't much stuff to do, but most of the people are kind," asked Hope.

"We are. We're staying at our great-aunt's cottage. She's really sweet, even if she only met us today for the first time," responded Lys with a gorgeous smile, causing the two younger boys to blush.

"We didn't have the time to explore the town yet," said Alaric, closing his book, "but we'll take a stroll tomorrow maybe" he continued, resting his head on his hand, supported by the sofa's armrest.

"We could give you a tour, what do you say?" exclaimed Hope, looking at Alaric.

"If you don't mind me asking, who's your great-aunt?" interrupted Harry.

"Bathilda Bagshot," answered Lysandra, not thinking too much of the question.

"Oh, Old Bathilda! She's a really caring old lady~" commented the Potter girl.

"Are you both Bagshot then? I don't think you ever said your family name..." asked the younger Weasley boy, absentmindedly.

With that question, the Grindelwald twins froze. Lysandra was cursing herself for being so careless, while her brother glared at her.

"Oh, look at the time! Lysandra, Mother will be upset if we are late! I think we should get going!" said Alaric, with his pocket watch in hand, faking his hurry.

"You're right Alaric, it's best if we excuse ourselves," she then turned to the rest of the kids "It was nice meeting you, tell your parents that the dinner was splendid!"

The twins left in a hurry, leaving a group of startled people behind.

"D-did... did I say something wrong?" questioned Ron nervously.

"They", "seemed", "nervous?" commented Fred and George.

Ginny looked at the spot Alaric was sitting. She then turned to the rest.

"Maybe... maybe it's a sensitive topic for them. They looked rather tense after Ron started asking questions about their home..." she said.

"Or they actually were in a hurry. Who knows, their mother might be strict with their curfew," dismissed the Potter girl.

"It's not like they're the son and daughter of the Dark Lord, right?" joked Harry, earning a chuckle from those present.

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Sometime later, a boy with silver-blonde hair and a girl with raven hair were walking through the streets of Godric's Hollow. The girl had a downcast expression, while the boy seemed indifferent.

"And here I thought that we were finally making some friends..." said the sad-looking girl.

"Apart from the intrusive questions, they were rather good company. Especially that man, Sirius. He had some quite interesting stories about dark wizards. Some of them even gave me ideas for new spells," mentioned the handsome but cold-faced boy.

Others might not see it, but his sister could feel that he was quite happy with the prospects of new magic.

"For the love of Merlin, Al. All you think about is magic! Aren't you remotely bothered that we can't even make friends just because of our name?" annoyingly exclaimed the girl.

The boy then suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned to her sister, before patting her head, his eyes filled with familial love.

"I am, Lys. I am. But you have to understand something. As long as our name is associated with Grandfather, this will be our curse. It doesn't matter if you run away from our family's history, it doesn't matter if you pretend that it never happened, because it did, and we can't change that. What we can change is the way people see our family. We have to distinguish ourselves, show our worth, and prove to everyone that our name means much more than just a Dark Lord." he said, bringing his sister into a tight hug.

"We'll start at Hogwarts. We'll be the best students that ever stepped foot in that school. We'll show them how magically gifted we are, and we'll leave our mark in that castle for generations to come. And even when we're long gone, the magical world will remember the Grindelwald name, not because of our grandfather, but because of the most powerful witch and wizard that ever existed." he then looked at her in the eyes.

"We both care a lot for Grandfather, but we're NOT him. As he said, you're the most gifted witch of the last three generations. You've long mastered healing magic, only lacking in experience. You're a genius in herbology and potions, and I'm sure the professors will be astonished by your capabilities. As for me, you've seen yourself. Even without dark magic, I'm at a level most people only dream to be. I won't say I'm stronger than the professors, but it won't take long," Alaric reassured her sister.

Lysandra looked at her brother with a wide smile, happy tears streaming down her face. She fiercely hugged her brother. "Just promise me you won't lose yourself. I know you have everything under control, but I'm afraid to see my brother turn out like Grandfather. Or even worse, like Voldem..."

Before she could finish speaking, her brother put his finger over her mouth

"I promise Lys. For you and Mother, I'll do anything."

The twins then shared another hug, before continuing on their walk home.

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A few days later, the Grindelwald twins were in their aunt's living room, enjoying some tea. While Lysandra was studying a book named Moste Potente Potions, Alaric had a notebook with numerous different spells created by Gellert Grindelwald himself.

Out of nowhere, Alaric jumped out off the sofa, screaming "Finally!"

His sister just looked at him as if looking at an animal in a zoo.

Alaric, noticing her expression, looked at her straight in the eyes, before exclaiming.

"I wasn't understanding the arithmancy equations Grandfather did for a certain spell, but now I finally get it!" he said, before instantly apparating away.

Lys just looked at the spot her brother was, before sighing.

"I swear, he gets crazier by the day," she said, with a sweet smile, before returning to study her book.

As for Alaric, he apparated deep into the woods next to Godric's Hollow. He casted multiple analyzing charms in the area, making sure no one was nearby, before casting a wide Disillusionment charm, protecting the clearing he was in from prying eyes.

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[Alaric's Pov]

After Merlin knows how long, I finally understood an advanced spell from the notebook. It has numerous curses, charms, and jinxes, some original, some not. But the true powerful spells are only ten. And this is the first I was able to decipher.

It's called 'Candidus Impetus', which, in Latin, means 'white blast'. Grandfather describes it as a wave of white, volatile magic, that incinerates everything in its path.

I took my wand out and transfigured five targets from the ground. They were close to each other so I could test the power of this spell against more than one target.

I breathed in and out, concentrating on having the maximum output of magic possible for the spell. I looked at the targets and pointed the wand in my right hand.

"Candidus Impetus!" I chanted. From the tip of my wand, a white, fiery-looking blast came out. Like an ocean wave, it spread in front of me, before completely irradicating the targets I had transfigured. However, it didn't stop there.

Being the first time I casted the curse, I lacked proper control of it, and was only able to cancel the spell after the wave of white magic decimated the trees on the other side of the clearing.

"Merlin's balls," I said, looking at the pure destruction I had caused. The ground looked as if it was dug out, and a charred scar spread until the trees that disappeared.

With a wide grin on my face, I looked at my wand, astonished by the magic I just performed.

'If the weakest of those ten spells could do this, I can't wait to master the rest' My grin continued to grow, thinking of the possibilities.

In about a month, a new chapter of my life was about to start, and I was going to shock the magical world.

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A/N: Fun fact, the white blast is an actual spell used by Grindelwald in the movies and books. However, the chant isn't known, so I took the liberty and did my own.

Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter.