That's also a possibility. Still, it's probably best not to think too hard about it - just when you think that you have things figured out, Mashima throws another curveball into the series' chronology (ex. making it seem like Grandeen had become the elf-like healer whose name I can never spell correctly - though at least he immediately solved that one, rather than dragging it out for an arc).

I was going to tell you my AIM name, but I see you already found it. XD