Chapter 38: ch 38
"Bloody hell."
I couldn't help but smile at his reaction to the wand.
"Be careful, Harry. It is a tool that comes with a burden so heavy, I can't put it into words." Dumbledore warned.
"Now, let's continue." Dumbledore said as he moved forward through the cave with his original wand in his hand.
Harry and I followed behind him. As we moved forward, the light in the cave disappeared and a bright light shot from Harry's wand into the air in front of us. I had to shield my eyes at the overpowered light.
"Shit, sorry." Harry said as he willed the light to dim a little.
"It will take some getting used to." Dumbledore said in a soft voice as he too shielded his eyes from the light.
I looked up as the light dimmed and was met with a familiar sight that scratched the edges of my memory. I recognized the feeling of my mind wanting to unravel and clamped down on it with occlumency.
The cave opened up to a massive cavern that had an eerily still lake smack dab in the middle of it. At the center of that lake, laid an island with a raised pedestal in the middle of it. I couldn't tell but it looked like a bowl sat on the pedestal.
"Impressive." I said as we observed the cavern.
"If you say so." Harry responded.
I looked for a path to the island and found none. Instead, I raised my wand and felt the wards again with my magic. I was instantly overloaded with information and cut the magic off quickly. I let out a hiss in response.
"Yes, I believe it is the lake interfering." Dumbledore said as he noticed my reaction. Obviously, he was still a step ahead of me.
"I guess we have no option then." I said.
"I agree, how did you phrase it? 'Play his game' was it?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
He took way too much enjoyment in turning my own words against me. Harry snorted and I smirked, finding the humor in it too.
"After you then." I told him, completely willing to use him as a meat shield.
Dumbledore nodded and moved forward to the end of the rock we were standing on. He kneeled in front of the water, way easier than a man his age should be able to. His eyes peered deep into the water, searching for something.
I moved to join him and look. I wished I hadn't.
Faces peered up at me from the depths of the water, faces that shouldn't have been so smooth or preserved after years under water. I forced myself not to look away, even though my instincts screamed for me to erase them from the face of the earth.
"Inferi." I deduced as I looked into the depths of the water.
That made Harry move behind me to confirm my announcement.
"And how do we deal with such things, should the occasion arise?" Dumbledore asked, even though he knew that we knew the answer.
"Fire." I answered him quickly.
"I am somewhat known for my ability to control the element, I think this particular defense was not made with me in mind." Dumbledore said as he rose his wand to the water. He flicked his wand and a chain rose from the depths of the water.
"I don't think there is a defense known to wizard kind that is made with you in mind, Headmaster." I said, feeding his ego a little more.
Harry snorted once again. Dumbledore smiled but did not comment. Instead his eyes were focused on the boat that was rising from the depths of the lake in front of us.
"This has a Hercules feel to it." I said as the boat docked and waited for us to board it.
"A good comparison, Ronald." Dumbledore said as he put his foot on the boat and tested its ability to hold him. "Let us descend into the depths of the underworld, and retrieve what we came for, before Hades can discover us."
Harry didn't comment, I wasn't sure if it was because of his ignorance of Greek Mythology or his uninterest in the conversation.
"I'm just curious as to the price the ferryman will demand." I mumbled loud enough for them to hear as I followed Dumbledore and stepped into the boat. It didn't rock once with the increase in weight, it stayed completely still. It threw me off for a moment.
Harry watched our interaction, and waited for us to make room for him before he climbed in too. Dumbledore raised his wand and then stopped. His head tilted and he dropped his wand. With no warning at all, the boat moved forward on it's own.
"That is interesting." Dumbledore said in response.
We passed over hundreds of faces on our way to the island, and I prepared myself to end the inferi from their imprisonment on the earth. I knew they weren't conscious or alive, but I felt the need to rid them from this world.
"Do they always feel this unnatural?" I asked, assuming the headmaster had come across inferi before.
"Yes." Dumbledore said. "You know, as well as I, that the body holds an integral part of the soul. They were most certainly dead before their conversion into inferi, but the vessel has yet to be allowed to give back to the earth. It is unnatural."
I thought about that for a moment. We really have no idea what a soul is, or what it's made up of. I just hope that they have moved on to whatever it is that is after this life.
We fell into silence then, and the boat continued its crawling pace across the still waters of the lake. It took longer now that I was aware of how slow it was. Eventually we docked, and I was about to be the first to step off. Dumbledore stopped me with a raised hand and went first.
His foot hit the ground, and we waited for a moment for something to happen. Nothing did. I hopped off of the boat, eager to speed up our adventure.
The island was not big, maybe ten feet in diameter. Just enough for all three of us to stand and defend ourselves if the opportunity arose.
My earlier description of the pedestal seemed to be accurate. On top of the pedestal, sat a bowl with a clear liquid, that didn't move hardly at all, similar to the lake. Dumbledore's wand flicked around the bowl and he stared intently at it.
We waited patiently for him to deduce what the object was. It took him a surprisingly long time to figure it out.
"I have a request to make." Dumbledore said, turning to us.
Harry looked up from where he was staring at his new wand. I stood up from the rocky bench I had been sitting on while I was waiting.
"Let's do it." I said approaching him.
"I think I have to drink this ...potion, it looks like." Dumbledore said, still staring at the bowl.
"Ok." I said, waiting for him to continue. "What's the problem?"
"It will, no doubt, cause me to hallucinate. I need you to force me to finish it, if necessary." Dumbledore finished.
That was a bit unexpected, but I shook it off. "Ok." I said. "Would you like me to drink it?"
Dumbledore's answer was quick. "No, I am the least valuable of us in case the potion doesn't act like I think it will."
"I would have to disagree with you there headmaster." I said, objecting immediately.
Dumbledore turned to me and he had this look on his face, a look that said he had already won the argument. "You have a child on the way, Ronald. And we both know Harry can not be risked."
That floored me and I just looked at the old man. Eventually I nodded in acceptance.
He's right. I admitted to myself as I stepped back and let him do his thing.
He conjured a glorious cup, and went to dip it into the potion. It did not act as it was intended to. The potion did not rise as the cup did, instead it fell through the cup as if it wasn't there. We all paused for a moment as we watched the events unfold.
Then the purpose of the seashell/cup on the side of the bowl was made known. Dumbledore vanished the cup and grabbed the seashell. He dipped it in the bowl experimentally and the potion filled it, as it was supposed to.
He brought it out of the bowl and turned to both of us with a grin, and then with all of the practice of a college student, he took the shot of the potion to the head. My eyes widened as I realized the headmaster had done some partying in his days. I shook my head and focused as the headmaster paused for a moment.
His eyes looked to the ceiling and then he seemed to snap out of it and then go for round two. He downed the next cup full quickly and let out a grunt. His hand dipped to grab another glass quickly, and that one he drank quickly too.
After he drank the last drop on the third cup is when we started having problems.
"Ron?" Harry said.
"Go away! You're not real." Dumbledore said, staring right at me. It was obviously getting to him.
"Ron!?" Harry said.
My eyes tore from the headmaster's form and I looked to see what Harry wanted. Apparently, the inferi were not going to just allow us to drink the potion without worry. Five arms appeared out of the water and pulled their bodies onto the island. I snapped out with a flame whip and they disintegrated as I slashed them.
Fire really does the trick.
I made an executive decision then. "Harry, force the headmaster to drink. I'll take care of the inferi."
It was a simple decision really. Harry wasn't that much of an elemental dueler. I was.
Five more bodies appeared, and five more turned to dust because of a flame whip. That was when it started to get harder. Inferi started to crawl from all around the island, and my whip was slowly losing ground to the massive amount of bodies.
I decided I needed a new plan at about the thirtieth inferi. I ran through the list of fire spells in my arsenal. Ninety percent were thrown out the window because they wouldn't be as wide ranged as I needed.
Protego Diabolica is intent based. I thought, considering the spell. I'm not sure if these inferi even think, so it may not work.
That really only left me with one option, but I didn't want to reveal my proficiency with it near Harry and the headmaster. I struggled with the decision just as I kicked an inferi into its friends and I realized they were too close for comfort.
"Fuck." I said as I prepared myself. My occlumency locked down and I whispered the spell. I grabbed my magic and emotions and wrenched them into place.
"Fiendfyre."
The world exploded, and so did my mind. Destruction incarnate leapt from the end of my wand and didn't even have to touch the inferi near us to cause them to disintegrate.
I rotated, and dominated the will of the spell. The fire ran around us, growing in size with each inferi it destroyed. Eventually, the spell cleared out about twenty feet worth of breathing room from us and the nearest inferi.
More.
It whispered seductions in my ear, and I could feel myself slipping. It just wanted to be let free, to roam as it was meant to. The shields around my mind began to slip unconsciously and it brought up images of my enemies dying to a wall of flame.
Voldemort screamed as he was burned alive.
Bellatrix laughed as she disappeared from the world with blackened skin.
An army of Death Eaters stood in front of Hogwarts as a phoenix made of flame the size of Hogwarts washed over them, sending them to the next great adventure.
Yes. I want it. They deserve it.
Fleur stood in front of me, holding a bundle of cloth. Holding our baby. The fire started at her feet.
The image shattered before it could go any farther.
I came to with a roar, and the fire in front of me formed the familiar shape of a nundu and roared in sync with me. My shield fell back into place as I got a hold of the magic threatening to break free of my control.
My wand rose as I directed the flame where I wanted it. The runes that ran up and down my wand shone with a red light and I could physically see the amount of magic I was pouring through it. The fiendfyre ran in circles around us, getting farther back with each pass it made towards us. Eventually, the fiendfyre ran into the lake.
The water offered no resistance for the nundu shaped flame. It passed through it as if it wasn't even there. The water levels began to shrink, but no steam appeared. Cracks started to sound off in the air around us as the fiendfyre ate through the wards around us and destabilized them.
A hand fell on to my shoulder, a blackened hand.
"Ron!"
Dumbledore's voice cut through the roar of the flames ahead and I spared a brief glance behind me. Harry held something on a chain and Dumbledore wasn't fumbling about because of hallucinations.
I turned back to the raging fire and with another huge wrench of my magic, it dispersed back to wherever the fuck it came from.
I sat there for a moment, breathing heavy and staring at the empty lake around us. There was no inferi, there was no water, there was nothing. Nothing but rocks from the cave formation, and some of that was melted.
I reached out with my magic, and my connection with my wand shifted. I looked down at the wand and saw that the runes had a faint red hue to them. It looked beautiful on the light brown wood that made up the wand.
Did the runes just now activate? I wondered as I looked at my companion. In the end I shrugged it off and put it in the back of my mind for later investigation.
I felt for the wards around the cave and found that nearly all of them were gone. The ones that were there were holding on by a thread.
"Fucking hell, Ron." Harry said.
I turned to them once again. Harry's hair fell around him in sweaty locks and his robes clung to him like he had been running a marathon. Dumbledore didn't look any better. Soot clung to their frames.
I let the Fiendfyre get too close. I realized.
"I'm so sorry." I said with an apologetic look on my face.
Dumbledore looked at me with pity, and regret. "No, my boy. I am sorry."
"Red hair, blue eyes, magical presence that cannot be denied, and pity in your eyes. Are you sure you are not Albus Dumbledore reborn."
The memory played in my mind as I was on the receiving end of Dumbledore's pity. Why did I feel like Gellert Grindelwald?
"I'm sorry I have pushed you to these extremes." Dumbledore continued as his eyes roamed up and down my frame.
"It wasn't you, headmaster." I placated him. "You are not my enemy."
"No, but it is my weakness that is the cause of this." Dumbledore retorted quickly.
I couldn't deny him, so I didn't. Instead I just stared at him trying to catch my breath. He was correct if we were being honest. Whether it was his optimism, or his declining ability, it didn't matter. He had failed to bring down Voldemort, so Harry and I would have to.
"You have my blessing for the mind palace." Dumbledore said out of nowhere.
I took a step back in surprise and my eyebrows furrowed at the unexpected announcement. Happiness soared in my chest at the validation I didn't know that I needed. I went to thank him, or something but he interrupted me.
"You have proven that the power you have achieved was for the protection of the ones you love, instead of selfish reasons." Dumbledore elaborated. "That's all I needed to see."
I smiled as I walked towards the old man and wrapped him up in a hug. It was a feel good moment, and then it ended.
The next few things happened so fast, I couldn't react to stop them. He grabbed on to me and faster than I had seen anyone cast, he whipped his wand towards Harry.
Harry flew through the air towards us and just as Dumbledore touched him, he twisted. We moved through the hole Dumbledore had punched through space as a result of his apparition.
I landed on a hard floor and the air flew out of my lungs in response. Dumbledore's magic hit me again and I was moved through the air to a specific spot in whatever room I had landed in.
I forced my lungs to work and I heaved air into my body. I coughed as I crawled onto my knees before trying to stand. That's when I noticed the familiar glow of runes activating. I froze, and a quick look around the room told me what was happening.
Dumbledore stood off to the side, looking at me without the normal twinkle in his blue eyes. Instead, tears pooled in those exact eyes. Fawkes was perched on his shoulder. Another man stood beside him, a man with hair just as long as the headmasters, except his beard had a little less white in it and more grey.
Aberforth. I recognized. I looked around the shack and confirmed it was Aberforth's pub in Hogsmeade.
What the fuck is happening, Dumbledore?
Harry fumbled around beside me on the floor and made to stand up. I reached down and pulled him up but I didn't let him stumble into the runic cluster on the ground in front of us.
"Why?" I asked the simple question. If he wanted to kill us, then he would have just done it. No, he wanted to stall us.
"You would deny me the death I seek, Ron." Dumbledore said, as a tear ran down his cheek. His face didn't show the agony he must have been feeling inside his brilliant head.
He had said those exact words to me once before, except then it was a question. Now it was a statement.
I wanted to deny him and tell him that I wouldn't, but I knew he was right. I wouldn't let him die by Snape's hand.
"I need you!"
I didn't mean to say it, it was the only thing that I could get out of my mouth.
"No." Dumbledore corrected me. "I am but a hindrance now. It is time." He raised his right hand and peeled back the robe. Almost his whole right arm was blackened and looked like it would fall off with but a simple pull.
I looked away from it, unable to stare at it anymore. "I will not go, laying in a bed, or in my sleep. You know the story of the Deathly Hallows, Ron. What happened to the third brother?"
My jaw clenched and I refused to answer with a shake of my head. I locked down on my occlumency as my heart clenched. It didn't help, the tear still ran down my face.
"Play my game." Dumbledore whispered. I gave in and stared at him with a trembling lip.
"He greeted death as an old friend."
A flash of flame, and he was gone.
I stared at the spot he disappeared from for a couple of seconds. Aberforth did the same, before he sunk to the ground. The old man brought a glass full of firewhiskey up to his lips, and downed it in one go.
"Ron!" Harry said and shook me. "We still have time!"
I looked towards him, confused. Harry pointed down at the ground. "There is a reason he used runes. You can get us out of here"
For what felt like the thousandth time of the night, I grabbed my mind with occlumency and willed it into focus. My eyes roamed the cluster, and it was immediately apparent to me that there was only one person in the world who could have made it.
Albus Dumbledore.
He was very fond of showing off his genius. And the cluster beneath me was an example of that.
"If you can get out of it, my brother made sure that it would be just enough time for him to get what he wants. He always gets what he wants." Aberforth said from his spot on the floor.
"You helped him?" Harry asked.
"I always help shatter the image of my brother. Any opportunity for him to reveal his true self, is how I win." Aberforth said with a slur.
"You.."
"Shut the fuck up!" I said. "I'm trying to concentrate!"
My eyes roamed over the runes on the floor. Of which, there had to have been over a hundred total, in clusters all around us. All of them were interlocked together.
I saw one that mimicked the one on the floor of the Room of Requirement. In fact, it was an exact replica. He obviously had known about my plan for a long time and had been visiting the Room in his free time.
My eyes continued to roam the clusters for a few minutes until I caught the first inconsistency. There was a determined spot that was excluded from the rest of the runes. My eyes found the next one and slowly traced it from the outside of the runes to my location.
It was a pathway, directly to where Dumbledore was standing before he had Fawkes teleport him away. I didn't even hesitate and took a step. My foot landed in the middle of a cluster, and I waited.
Nothing.
"Step where I step." I told Harry.
I walked the rest of the path, and found myself outside the clusters and standing where he stood.
"A big fucking illusion." I said as I looked at the useless runes on the ground.
I watched and waited for Harry to leave the last cluster and immediately I sent my magic to my second wand and shot towards the roof of Aberforth's pub. I didn't even care.
My main wand fired and a hole the size of a semi truck punched through the ceiling of his roof, I flew straight through it. Red smoke billowed out around me as I took off in the night sky. I immediately found the Astronomy Tower amongst Hogwarts towers and shot off towards it. The wind whipped at my face as I flew at the speed of an actual broom.
The Dark Mark loomed above Hogwarts as an omen, but I didn't see any signs of fighting so I took it as a sign that I had time. I shot towards the castle and I felt myself pass through the wards of the castle, and I felt them activate.
I plummeted towards the ground immediately as the enchantments on my wand failed for a moment. I didn't panic. I just allowed myself to fall and right before I was about to hit the ground, I slowed my momentum with a spell. As soon as I hit the ground, the wards let me go and the enchantments on my wand sprang back up.
Hogwarts didn't let you fly into the grounds from outside, but it did allow you to fly on a broom around the grounds if you started within its wards. So when my feet hit the ground, I jumped and rocketed back into the air.
I got to eye level with the Astronomy tower and I made out the shape Dumbledore facing someone. My magic reacted and I shot off in a burst of speed.
Almost there, there is still time.
A flash of green.
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