Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The “he” Dumbledore was referring to was undoubtedly Grindelwald; that was the moment when the two of them first met.

Evan knew quite a bit about Dumbledore’s early life.

His sister Ariana was an Obscurial; as a child, she was accidentally seen casting a spell by three Muggle boys, who did terrible things to her, causing her to lose control of her magic and drive her mad.

Their father, Percival, in revenge, brutally murdered the three Muggle boys and was thus imprisoned in Azkaban.

To prevent Ariana from being confined for life in St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Dumbledore’s mother, Kendra, resolutely took Ariana, Dumbledore, and his younger brother Aberforth away from their former home in Mould-on-the-Wold and moved to Godric’s Hollow, where no one knew them. To the outside world, she claimed that Ariana was in poor health and therefore unable to attend school.

As for what followed — when Dumbledore and his brother grew older, they entered Hogwarts one after the other.

Their mother, Kendra, stayed at home with Ariana, avoiding contact with the outside world, until just before Dumbledore’s graduation, on the eve of his planned journey around the world. Then, suddenly, she died in an accident caused by one of Ariana’s magical outbursts.

Dumbledore was forced to abandon all his plans and return home to care for his sister. The precise details of that time had long since been lost, but for the extraordinarily gifted young Dumbledore, it was undoubtedly a devastating blow. Day after day, he remained in that old house, wasting his talent and his life — until the appearance of another prodigy, Gellert Grindelwald.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald spent a wonderful time together. They got along very well, were deeply impressed by one another’s brilliance, and shared a grand vision: to seek out the Deathly Hallows and, through them, reshape and rule the entire Wizarding world — for the greater good. This became the creed the two young men swore to uphold.

Had they succeeded, the Wizarding world would certainly not have been what it was today.

But as everyone knows, the story ultimately ended in tragedy.

When Aberforth returned home from school and accused Dumbledore of failing to care properly for their sister, a conflict erupted among the three of them. In the chaos that followed, no one knew whose spell went astray — but the frail and sickly Ariana was killed. Grindelwald fled Britain as a result, and Dumbledore was forever changed. He returned to Hogwarts to teach and devoted himself to the fight against the Dark Arts, seeking atonement for his past.

Of course, it had all started with his encounter with Grindelwald in Godric’s Hollow.

“He went to Godric’s Hollow for Ignotus Peverell’s grave. He wanted to investigate the place where the third brother died,” Dumbledore said softly. “You’ve read The Tale of the Three Brothers, haven’t you? The youngest brother in the story, Ignotus Peverell, survived thanks to the Invisibility Cloak and lived in seclusion in Godric’s Hollow…”

“That Invisibility Cloak — the one Harry later inherited?”

“Yes, the Invisibility Cloak has been passed down through generations of Ignotus’s descendants, from father to son, from mother to daughter, until the last living descendant of Ignotus, who, like Ignotus, was born in the village of Godric’s Hollow, and that person was Harry. The Potter family are descendants of the Peverell line.”

“Is that Invisibility Cloak different from others? What secret do the Deathly Hallows actually hide?” Evan pressed.

“Legend has it that a wizard who possesses all three Deathly Hallows can conquer death, but that’s ultimately just a despairing dream,” Dumbledore said with anguish. “In truth, the three Deathly Hallows might also be related to this place.”

“Related to this place? You mean the Deathly Hallows were created by Herpo the Foul?”

“I’ve studied the Elder Wand and the Invisibility Cloak extensively,” Dumbledore said. “That wand and that cloak are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. They’re incredibly ancient, perfect in every way. They’re not modern craftsmanship, nor are they from the time of the Peverell brothers. They are clearly much older, much more perfect, astonishing. I’ve searched through many alchemical texts and found no similar records, but they were clearly created by the same wizard, Death… It wasn’t until I came here that I discovered many similarities between the magic left by Herpo and the craftsmanship on the Elder Wand and the Invisibility Cloak.”

Evan’s eyes widened. Could the Deathly Hallows really have been created by Herpo the Foul?!

“The specific details are lost to history, but if the stories passed down are true, then the Peverell brothers must have been to this place. They encountered Death, or rather, Herpo, who became Death, and asked him for the way to conquer death,” Dumbledore said. “For certain purposes of his own, Herpo gave each of them one of the three Deathly Hallows. Of course, it is also possible that they came here exploring and, under Herpo’s guidance, stole the three Hallows from the ruins he left behind.”

“But why would he do that?”

“Certainly not out of kindness!” Dumbledore said weakly. “The Elder Wand was very likely Herpo’s former wand, its purpose being to create bloodshed. Every wizard who ever possessed that wand was eventually killed, without exception. As for the Resurrection Stone, we already know the truth: it does not truly bring the dead back to life; it’s also a weapon. Giving the Resurrection Stone to an enemy is like giving them a knife to commit suicide. Every person who has possessed the Resurrection Stone has met death in the end…

“The only Hallow that won’t kill its master is the Invisibility Cloak, but it also won’t help them survive. However, I believe, like Death in the tale, Herpo didn’t actually want the Peverell brothers to get the Invisibility Cloak. The third brother getting it was clearly an accident, allowing him to escape Death’s pursuit,” Dumbledore closed his eyes and paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, before continuing, “We can only speculate, Evan. Considering Herpo was sealed by Slytherin at the time, I suspect there’s some connection between the Deathly Hallows and his soul. He might be hoping to regain his power through them.”

“Herpo’s power comes from death; he wants to create death!” Evan immediately realized.

“Yes. He seeks to create death, to use souls to restore his strength,” Dumbledore said, pausing again. “The truly troubling one is the Resurrection Stone. We later encountered a fifteen-year-old Riddle within it, which is profoundly abnormal…”