Africa
Swoosh!
Boom!
"…"
"Listening to Dumbledore's nonsense and coming here as your so-called adventure assistant is the single worst decision I've made in my entire life! I should have looked into the future first!" Grindelwald shouted, riding a flying broomstick alongside Kasen in midair.
Swoosh! Boom! Boom!
"Hey, you can't blame me! How was I supposed to know there'd still be wizarding cannibal tribes in this world… and they've got flying carpets too!" Kasen yelled back.
"This is…" Grindelwald twisted his body to dodge a jet of sickly green light. "Look at this mess! Just look at it!" he shouted at Kasen.
"Yeah! They're already firing Killing Curses at us. This isn't some casual pursuit anymore—we've gotta go all out!" Kasen snapped his head around and hurled a rapid volley of wither skulls, which smashed into several enemy wizards.
BooOOoom!
They were obliterated into ash!
Beside him, Grindelwald unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of Avada Kedavra and Cruciatus curses, practically turning the Killing Curse into machine-gun fire.
But their goal wasn't to exterminate the enemy completely, just to shake off their pursuers, so most of the time they were laying down suppressing fire rather than truly reaping souls.
Well, except for the wizard who had fired the first Killing Curse—that one got special treatment. As for the rest, most were only injured. Although, well… let's just say the ones hit by the Wither effect…
With proper care, they might just recover.
"Fly a bit ahead," Grindelwald suddenly shouted to Kasen.
Kasen nodded. At a time like this, you had to place absolute trust in your teammate—no time for hesitation or doubt.
Once Kasen had flown a little in front, Grindelwald drew his wand and went all out.
"Well, you guys pissed me off. Now Dumbledore can't complain if I killed you all~" Grindelwald smiled.
In an instant, brilliant blue flames engulfed all of their pursuers.
"Woooah! By Merlin's beard… well, there's no way they're recovering from Wither damage now!" Kasen glanced back and commented while still flying.
"Alright, let's head down…"
The two of them landed, collapsing under a tree to rest, leaning against it as they caught their breath.
"We should've just eaten that piece of meat," Kasen sighed helplessly. "Would've been way better than having to take out so many people."
Back then, he and Grindelwald had almost successfully won the trust of the cannibal wizard tribe that possessed the magical flower they were after. The tribe's chief had even invited them to join the evening bonfire feast.
And then, wouldn't you know it—the highlight of this tribe's bonfire party turned out to be a live-action Hannibal cosplay!
The two of them had tried everything to politely decline, but the chief saw their refusal as a sign of deep disrespect. He angrily flung a spell at them, making furious gestures as he did so…
And then…
Well, and then this happened…
"It's impossible, absolutely impossible. As a human being, there are certain lines we simply must not cross," Grindelwald declared. "Some lines must be defended, even at greater cost. Things like dignity, friendship, and the basic fact that as people, we should not eat our own kind."
"Okay, okay, I get it, I get it… did you get the thing, though?" Kasen asked.
Grindelwald shook his head.
"Ah! Fuck mee! We're going back tonight. We have to get that magic flower seed today… because our flight's tomorrow morning," Kasen said, feeling parched. He grabbed a water bottle and took a long drink.
"You spend Galleons like you're blowing on dandelions, but when it comes to Muggle money, you pinch every penny," Grindelwald grumbled, reaching into his pocket.
"Hey, do you know any kind of earth-burrowing spell? I saw it once in Doraemon, you could swim through soil like it was water. Your magic's that good, you should be able to manage something like that, right?" Kasen asked.
Grindelwald sighed. "I'm a wizard, not a god. But if you really want that magic flower, I do know a bit of spatial magic. Maybe I can directly teleport the seed out of there."
As he spoke, he started gathering the magical flower seeds from his pocket into his palm.
The seeds were treated as sacred relics by the tribe, enshrined on the totem altar of their village.
Back then, he'd accidentally left auto-pickup on and grabbed a handful of the seeds in the chaos.
"We already tested that altar, didn't we? Whatever method they used to stabilize the space there, it's strong. Even my Ender Blink can barely get through, let alone regular spatial magic," Kasen said.
"And what if I can get it for you?" Grindelwald asked.
"If you really manage to get me the magic flower seeds, I'll do… wait, hang on—you're not actually about to pull this off, are you?" Kasen suddenly realized, halfway through his sentence. This felt like he was walking straight into a trap.
He hurriedly asked, "What are you going to do if you really manage to get it out?"
Grindelwald, accepting the bottle of water Kasen handed him, replied casually, "I'll just say this—even if you give me water, I won't hand over the flower seeds until you've made a wager."
"…What's your relationship with Dumbledore?" Kasen quickly changed the subject, deciding to try a bit of misdirection and verbal strategy to get Grindelwald to willingly hand over the seeds.
"Lover."
"Oh… lover… huh? What?"
Kasen shot to his feet in an instant, while Grindelwald, clearly expecting this reaction, had already braced himself with both hands to steady his posture.
"Am I seeing a pattern here… Sherlock and Watson were like this, and now you and Dumbledore are like this too…" Kasen looked at Grindelwald with a very strange expression.
At this moment, the image of Grindelwald—Europe's most feared Dark Lord, the cool, imposing old man—was starting to crumble in Kasen's mind.
Bit by bit, it was being replaced by something more like…
"So between you and Dumbledore, who… uh… which of you is…" Kasen gulped. "Which one of you is…"
"What exactly are you trying to ask?" Grindelwald asked, a little helpless.
"Who's the, you know… the little spoon?" Kasen finally blurted it out.
"Is that question really that important?"
"It's very important! At first, I thought you two were like, long-lost half-brothers or something. But turns out it's this kind of relationship… Wait, did you two break up?" Kasen asked.
"We did not," Grindelwald replied flatly.
"Oh, come on! If you give me the flower seeds and also tell me about your active-passive arrangement, maybe I'll even consider giving you a little help with your relationship," Kasen coaxed.
Grindelwald rolled his eyes, conjured a small pouch with a wave of his hand, stuffed the flower seeds into it, and tossed it to Kasen.
Rustle rustle rustle…
Out of nowhere, rain began to fall over the scorching African savannah.
Grindelwald stood up helplessly, glanced at Kasen, then frowned in confusion and asked:
"…Are we supposed to drink the rainwater?"
[Whose the Little Spoon!?]
[Vote for Dumbledore — Comment D.]
[Vote for Grindelwald — Comment G.]
"What are you writing on that wooden board?"
Under the sudden rain, Kasen—feeling that drinking from a bottle was too dull in this weather—started messing around with a raffle, while Grindelwald stood there utterly baffled.
_________
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