The Black Bloodline of Hogwarts

"Its existence is not for measuring time, but for measuring the dark energy of another world and stopping it."

"But now this sundial is damaged and malfunctioning?" Julien said. He could see that some of the concentric circles in the image had stopped rotating or were rotating in the opposite direction.

Black mist seeped from those still areas, condensing into some blurry shape—a Dementor.

“It’s not the mechanical structure that’s failed,” Grindelwald corrected, “it’s the alchemical apparatus itself. The ‘Eternal Dark Sundial’ needs a tuner to stabilize it—not manipulation, but tuning. Just like…”

He paused, searching for a metaphor, "Just like marriage requires balance between the two parties, not one party controlling the other."

"Does Headmaster Dumbledore know?"

"He knows. But he can't solve it. His choice is to reinforce the outer defenses, use Dementors as a 'buffer,' feed them with fear, and make them consumers of negative energy rather than converters. It's a kind of... delaying tactic."

"What if there are too many Dementors?"

"Then we had to find a way to eliminate them. That's why ancient wizards invented the Patronus Charm, a spell originally created to destroy Dementors. Of course, Dumbledore was one of the best at using this spell. But..."

"I understand that this approach is too passive. And one day, the number of Dementors will become so large that wizards will be unable to eliminate them in time and thus lose control."

"Absolutely right. It's laughable that the British Ministry of Magic is even trying to use Dementors. They've raised a tiger only to be eaten by one, playing with fire and getting burned."

"And what are your thoughts?"

"Julien, our world collided with other worlds, and the energy from outside led to the birth of wizards. But this energy also gave rise to dark creatures like Dementors, and caused many wizards to go insane."

"You mean there are positive and negative types of energy?" Yu asked.

"Well, we can categorize it like that for now," Grindelwald shook his head noncommittally. "So my method is to complete the alchemical cycle. Not to banish the darkness, but to transform it."

Grindelwald paused for a moment, "Dementors are also a form of energy. The 'Eternal Dark Sundial' was probably a product of an attempt to transform negative energy, and after it was damaged, the Dementors became a material form stuck in the 'corruption' phase of negative energy."

He approached Julien, his steps carrying a certain ceremonial quality: "I want you to enter the core of Azkaban. Not as a restorer, but as a tuner. You will establish a connection with the eternally dark sundial, not to control it, but to listen to it. And then—"

His fingers lightly touched Julien's right wrist, and the totem emitted a dazzling silver light the instant they touched. "You will complete the transformation. You will bring those Dementors, that solidified darkness, back into the cycle."

"Of course, that's dangerous."

"Extremely dangerous. You could be swallowed by the darkness and become another Dementor—or worse, another me, another Dumbledore, another man imprisoned in Azkaban by his own 'rightness'."

Grindelwald took a step back. "But you have something we don't."

"What?"

"It's your bloodline and your companions that I've repeatedly mentioned."

The old man's voice was as soft as a sigh. "That girl from the Rozier family. She will be by your side, not just as an assistant, but as an anchor. Her bloodline has an ancient connection to the Eternal Dark Sundial—the Rozier family were descendants of the 'Silent Ones,' though they themselves may have forgotten."

"Also, do you remember what I told you about the most important aspect of alchemical transformation?"

"It's about channeling and guiding."

"That's right. So don't forget, you have a companion."

"Lyria?"

"Yes, the people of the Verakati in the North are probably the most capable of managing resources in all of Europe. That's what I discovered when I was in the North."

"That's why I said you're the most suitable person. You know, people from the North don't just make friends with anyone. Let alone be on friendly terms with the Rozier family."

"I thought the people of the North only possessed unique natural magic, but it turns out they can also..."

"The so-called natural magic originates from the perception of ley lines," Grindelwald explained. "The Eternal Darkness Sundial is essentially a device that transforms negative energy from another world into positive energy through an alchemical cycle, requiring a connection to the energy veins deep within the earth. Lyria can sense the flow of these 'ley lines,' helping the sundial find the most suitable energy nodes."

"And..." Grindelwald stared at the 'Tears of Eternity' necklace hanging around Julien's neck, "In a place like Azkaban, there is no better purifying item than the 'Tears of Eternity', whether it's fighting against the despairing aura of Dementors, protecting one's mind, or maintaining self-awareness when being corrupted by the negative energy of another world."

---

On the last day of the course, Grindelwald gave Julien a gift.

It was a small, alchemical device, only the size of a pocket watch, made of the same black stone as the Eternal Dark Sundial. Its surface was engraved with miniature concentric circles, with a stationary gnomon at the center.

“The Shadowdial,” Grindelwald said, “is a resonator I made from fragments of the Eternal Dark Sundial that I obtained. It guides you when you approach Azkaban; and when you face the Eternal Dark Sundial, it points out what needs to be repaired.”

He connected with it and felt the dormant pulse within it—the same pulse as that of Nurmengard, as of Falling Star Bay, and as of something ancient in his blood.

"And this," Grindelwald said, taking the stone tablet—the Star Chart Tablet—from his robes again, "is not for you now. But when you complete the tuning of Azkaban, when you prove that you can understand, and not merely control… it will be yours."

"You seem to trust me too much. I am not a..." Julien thought of Dumbledore's fate. "I am not a person who would sacrifice himself to save the world."

Grindelwald smiled, a smile tinged with a sense of desolate relief: "Actually, I now understand what Dumbledore meant by choice."

"I don't trust you, I trust the possibility. You could be the one who opens the door, you could be the one who seals it, you could be a third kind of being we've never imagined. And the possibility—"

He turned and walked to the window. "Potential is what our generation lacks most."

Grindelwald turned around, winked, and said with a rare hint of mischief, "Anyway, I've made my choice. It's up to you now."

The vibration of the key to the Rose Gate pulled him back into the starlight of Bavaria.

He stood in the garden, holding a sundial, and in the distance came Elizabeth's voice calling him.

Summer vacation was coming to an end, and the third year at Hogwarts was waiting, but Julien knew that the real lessons were just beginning.

The eternally dark sundial waits in the mist of the North Sea.

The castle bells tolled seven times. Under the dome of the planetarium, Ophelia Rozier turned her chair to face south—towards Azkaban.

"He passed the test, didn't he?" she said softly, seemingly to no one in particular. "Lord Grindelwald, are you certain that this child, this one who isn't entirely pureblood, is a tuner..."

Her thin fingers traced the star fragments on the ring, feeling a faint resonance with the distant Nurmengard.

"He will choose to begin, not now, but eventually."

Outside the window, a shooting star streaked across the Bavarian sky once more. This time, its trajectory pointed north.

Ophelia smiled, a smile as desolate as Grindelwald's:

"And we will live until that day. All the withered roses, all the entwined stars, all the ghosts that have waited a thousand years..."

She closed her eyes, letting the prophetic weariness overwhelm her:

"Everyone will see the view behind the door."