"Integrate wizards into the Muggle world?" Grindelwald frowned.
"Yes… Over the past few centuries, magical development has almost completely stagnated, while Muggle science advances at a breathtaking pace," Jon replied.
"For us wizards, there's much we could learn from the essence of their knowledge and use their techniques to strengthen ourselves. In fact, I think our education in Muggle Studies has been an outright failure. The wizarding world's understanding of the Muggle world is still largely stuck three hundred years in the past…"
"This sounds…" Grindelwald frowned. "As if we're admitting we can't compete with the Muggle world, and are choosing to join them instead…"
"Is that so…? I guess it does sound a bit like that…" Jon gave an awkward chuckle.
In that moment, he suddenly thought of a famous basketball star from his past life.
He hesitated before saying, "Learning… there's nothing shameful about that…"
"Is this your plan?" Grindelwald looked at him meaningfully.
"A plan? No, no, no…" Jon shook his head quickly. "It's just an idea. I'm not like you or Professor Dumbledore—figures on the level of a Dark Lord or a Light Lord. I'm just an ordinary wizard."
"An ordinary wizard, huh?" Grindelwald laughed softly and shook his head. "Then I wish you good luck. Don't end up like me—a failure, locked away alone in prison for over fifty years."
"I'll take that as a blessing."
"I always thought my failure was nothing more than an accident… Until meeting you today, I realized it was an inevitable outcome," Grindelwald sighed. "To be able to leave this world with clarity is, in itself, a blessing…"
"Why would you say that…?" Jon frowned.
"Because my time is nearly up… You just told me as much."
Seeing the shock on Jon's face, Grindelwald spoke calmly.
"When I asked you when I would die, you chose to lie to me. That means you've already seen my death—and it can't be far off."
"That was just an accident…" Jon argued hastily. "What I saw can't possibly happen again!"
"Whether it was an accident doesn't matter," Grindelwald said with a faint smile. "I'm already a very, very old man. All I have left is loneliness and solitude."
"If I were to stay here, watch your plans succeed, see balance restored between the wizarding world and the Muggle world, and witness everything I once believed in declared a mistake—that would be truly unbearable."
"But… you could…"
"You want me to leave this place? That's impossible," Grindelwald shook his head. "I've committed too many sins. My hands are stained with too much blood."
"Leaving would only plunge the world into panic, infuriate my enemies, and cause trouble for Albus Dumbledore. It would be utterly meaningless."
"Mr. Grindelwald…" Jon said softly.
"Death isn't something to fear—at least not for people like us," Grindelwald said with a smile as he looked at Jon. "Don't forget, I'm Predictmagus."
"Who knows? After I die, I might return to the world spoken of in the prophecy."
"What about Professor Dumbledore?"
"Albus… he's old as well," Grindelwald sighed. "Perhaps he longs for Death's arrival even more than I do."
"He must dearly want to see his parents and his sister again."
...
A brief silence fell between them.
Jon didn't know how to persuade him, and Grindelwald didn't speak.
Several minutes passed in silence—
"Oh, right. I haven't even asked why you came all this way," Grindelwald said at last. "You didn't travel such a long distance just to chat with an old man like me, did you?"
"I…" Jon nodded solemnly. "That's right. There is something I'd like to ask you."
"A question about dark magic, I presume," Grindelwald said lightly. "If it were anything else, you would've gone to Albus."
"Don't worry—my memory may be failing, but I can still answer a few questions for a youngster like you."
"I want to ask you how to split a soul," Jon said quietly.
Asking Gellert Grindelwald how to separate Astoria's soul from the Blood Curse was the only solution Jon could think of.
After all, Grindelwald and Tom Riddle were arguably the only two true masters of dark magic still alive in this world.
Tom Riddle would have been the better choice, given his extensive experience creating Horcruxes, but consulting him was far too difficult.
"Splitting a soul…" Grindelwald frowned. "You're not thinking of making a Horcrux, are you?"
"I may not know much about Horcruxes, but I do know they're an incredibly foolish thing."
"It does involve making a Horcrux, but not in the way you're imagining," Jon answered honestly.
"I doubt you'd be that foolish. There are several spells capable of cutting a soul, for example…" Grindelwald began, speaking at length.
"May I interrupt for a moment, Mr. Grindelwald?" Jon said softly.
"The situation is this: if two souls have fused together, how can one be completely severed and made into a Horcrux without harming the other?"
"That sounds rather complicated…" Grindelwald frowned. "Two souls fused together—how long have they been fused?"
"Fifteen years. It's the soul of a serpent and the soul of a girl," Jon replied truthfully.
"A Blood Curse?"
"That's right…"
"That's impossible," Grindelwald said gravely. "The fusion has lasted far too long."
"The Blood Curses soul must have already infiltrated the normal soul. There is no magic capable of accomplishing this."
"Alright…" Jon nodded dejectedly.
Although he had learned many useful things from Grindelwald atop Nurmengard Tower, he still hadn't received the answer he most desperately needed.
"Using a Horcrux to deal with the Blood Curse is, in fact, a brilliant idea," Grindelwald continued, watching Jon's crestfallen expression.
"If it had been done when the girl was just born, before the Blood Curse soul had matured, it might have worked."
"Strictly speaking, though, it's not entirely without hope…" he added softly.
"Really?" Jon's eyes lit up at once.
"No magic exists that can accomplish this, but…" Grindelwald hesitated, his words trailing off.