Grindelwald's mouth was unsealed?
Garfield blinked. So they forgot to shut him up today?
But it didn't matter. Garfield was not an ordinary orange cat. He flicked his eyes upward, yes, Grindelwald's mouth was free, though the man's entire body was still tightly bound by enchanted restraints.
Fortunately for MACUSA, Grindelwald's supporters in America weren't strong.
Or perhaps, Garfield's whiskers twitched the dark wizard was waiting for something and choosing not to leave.
Either way, Garfield pretended not to care.
He padded casually to his small mat in the corner, circled twice, and flopped down.
Grindelwald stared.
This was… different. Wasn't the orange cat supposed to be intelligent? Why was it ignoring him? Or his eyes narrowed was this not the same cat at all?
He cleared his throat. "Orange cat. I'm speaking to you."
Garfield answered by closing his eyes, curling into a perfect loaf, and…
huhuhu… (~o~)~zz
That suspiciously familiar snoring began.
Grindelwald froze.
Is this little creature truly ignoring me?
Had he imagined everything? Perhaps the cat from before had never been real, just a hallucination, a moment of magical stress?
He tried again. And again. And again.
Garfield did not respond.
Not even a twitch of the whiskers.
An hour passed.
A guard finally peeked into the cell. "Lord Grindelwald, it's time. We need to apply the restraints."
Grindelwald nodded calmly. "Go ahead."
"My lord, forgive the insult."
The guard raised Grindelwald's chin, and a magical muzzle shimmered into place, sealing the dark wizard's mouth with a click.
Snap
A coil of glowing golden rope materialized beside the guard like a striking serpent. It wrapped around him instantly, knocking the wand from his hand.
Grindelwald jerked upright in shock.
Garfield opened one eye. A lazy, mocking smile curled across his face.
"Idiot."
The guard thrashed helplessly. Grindelwald's eyes widened.
How did this happen?
He had miscalculated… again.
Garfield didn't bother summoning help. Instead, he turned toward Grindelwald with delighted malice.
"Tsk, tsk. The great Grindelwald… so patient, so obedient. How disappointing."
(￣︶￣)
Grindelwald chuckled and the magical muzzle began to tear apart from sheer dark force. In moments, it shredded like paper. He lifted his chin triumphantly.
"You underestimate me, orange cat."
Ah. So Grindelwald did have a backup plan. Garfield had predicted that much.
"That's better," Garfield purred. "This level of cleverness is what I expected from a top-tier dark wizard. Still a bit sloppy, but… entertaining."
(￣︶￣)
Grindelwald smiled thinly. "If I wanted to leave, I would have left already. I'm here because I'm searching for something."
"The Elder Wand," Garfield said casually, "and the Resurrection Stone."
Grindelwald's pupils shrank. "You truly know. Who sent you?"
"Spicy man," Garfield answered.
"…Dumbledore."
Garfield only blinked once. It was enough. Grindelwald's expression twisted with a mix of melancholy and curiosity.
"Why would he stop me?"
Garfield didn't actually know, but he could at least reference a story that would get under Grindelwald's skin.
"Do you know the Tale of the Three Brothers?"
Grindelwald's jaw tensed. "Of course."
"Then tell me…how did the second brother die?"
"…"
Grindelwald knew exactly what he was being reminded of.
Garfield let his voice deepen, borrowing that solemn, gravelly tone he loved to imitate.
"At dusk, three brothers reached a river that would claim the life of any traveler," Garfield began. "But they were powerful wizards, so they built a bridge."
"The Reaper was displeased. So instead of force, he chose deception."
Garfield extended a paw, tapping the air as if turning a page.
"To the eldest brother, he offered power a wand unrivaled by any other."
Here, Garfield's eyes narrowed meaningfully.
"The second brother," Garfield said, "Was proud, far too proud. He wanted to humiliate Death himself. So he demanded resurrection. Death stooped, picked up a simple stone, and told him it could bring back the dead."
Garfield continued.
"The youngest brother was wiser. He didn't trust Death for even a heartbeat. So he asked for something that would hide him from Death forever."
"Reluctantly, Death sliced a piece of his own cloak and handed it over."
His tail flicked.
"And the endings? The eldest brother died for his wand, murdered in his sleep."
"The second brother brought back his lover, only to discover resurrection has a price. She returned hollow and tormented. She told him she didn't belong in the world of the living. Her presence was suffering."
"He couldn't bear her pain. So he killed himself, hoping to follow her into the next world."
The cell went quiet.
"As for the youngest," Garfield concluded, "He lived wisely, evaded Death until old age, then removed the cloak and handed it to his son. And when Death finally came… they left like old friends."
A long silence stretched.
Grindelwald's expression darkened, shadows twisting across his face.
"So what?" He growled.
Garfield's whiskers twitched. "Resurrection breaks the law between life and death."
"There's always a punishment. You know the legends, death knights, corpses forced back into motion. Empty. Unable to taste, to smell, to sleep. Nothing left but rot and a tortured soul."
Grindelwald's hands clenched. "That is a story. A warning fable. It has nothing to do with Ariana. I can bring her back."
He pushed against the restraints, desperate fury rippling through the air, but magic held him firm.
Garfield watched him quietly, tail flicking once.
Ariana had died long ago.
No soul remained to call back, and even if it did, preserving or recreating her body was an entirely different problem.
Grindelwald didn't understand the limits of magic, or how unforgiving they could be.
Love, Garfield thought, watching the desperation flicker in Grindelwald's eyes, was sometimes more tangled and cruel than any Dark spell.
"Her body," Garfield asked quietly, "Is it even preserved? If she came back like the second brother's lover… suffering… what then?"
Grindelwald flinched.
"And what would Dumbledore see?" Garfield pressed on.
"The sister he loved, dragged back into torment by the man who helped destroy her? Do you think he'd forgive you?"
"…" A trembling breath escaped Grindelwald.
Garfield sighed.
"Don't ruin another life trying to fix the first one you broke. That's not redemption… it's selfishness."
Grindelwald said nothing.
"… What do you know? You're just an orange cat."
"Your plan, Grindelwald, is doomed to fail. It destroys wizards. It destroys ordinary people. And it destroys you."
"Every step you take widens the distance between you and Dumbledore. Soon, you won't even be walking the same world."
He stood, tail curling like a period at the end of a sentence.
"So Grindelwald."
Grindelwald now looked less like a dark wizard and more like a man standing at the edge of a cliff.
Garfield flicked his tail one last time. "Your move."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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