Summary:
Set in the Marvoloverse, a look into the interactions and rivalry of Hogwarts' two greatest students, when the only witnesses to their power plays are silent walls.
In which Albus Dumbledore tastes power from an unlikely source.
Author's Notes & Disclaimers:
This Marvoloverse is the brainchild of the amazing Minerva McTabby, and this fic is set in the Two Worlds and In Between timeline.
None of the characters are mine; Albus Dumbledore and the other canon characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and Minerva McTabby gets the credit for Julius Marvolo and the other original characters mentioned.
Julius
Valery was fidgeting, obviously not comfortable with the fact that he was standing in the middle of Central, not two meters away from where two of Hogwarts brightest and most powerful students stood facing each other. Julius understood his discomfort, but was not in a position to acknowledge it. Not that either he or Dumbledore would ever draw wands at each other when two head teachers were also in the same room, observing them with curiosity; no, that would have been beyond foolish. Julius understood where the apparent danger was, and it was in the electricity that was growing more palpable the longer the two wizards continued their silent stare down. There was tightly controlled anger from Dumbledore more emotion anyone had ever seen from the normally calm Gryffindor and barely suppressed fury from Julius.
And there between them both, shaking like a leaf and cowering in fright, was the person responsible for the rather unfortunate incident: Aberforth Dumbledore. Who had somehow managed to switch both his brother s and the Slytherin heir s clothing so that they were now wearing each other s robes. And if that were not already bad enough, it seemed that there was somehow no way for their robes to be switched back magically they would have to get undressed to get their clothing back. Julius would rather go naked than wear anything that had touched Albus Dumbledore, and woe betide anyone who even so much as cracked a smile at his circumstances.
The tense silence was finally broken by Professor Fitch.
"Mr. Dumbledore, Mr. Marvolo. Considering the rather unfortunate circumstances of your clothing, may I suggest that you both retire to your chambers in order to return to your appropriate house robes? He paused, then added, unless of course you would rather wear each other s clothes?"
The snickers and stifled guffaws only made Julius face grow darker, and Valery stepped back instinctively.
"Of course, professor," the elder Dumbledore nodded slightly to his head of house and made his way out of Common.
Julius turned on his heel and left without a single word. As he left, he heard Valery say to the younger Dumbledore, You are very much dead.
Aberforth whimpered in response.
Albus
He is furious as I suspected he would be, striding across the pitch hands clenched and robes billowing around him. I could very well imagine the source of his ill-temper, my brother s latest unfortunate actions also still playing over in my mind. I would have found the situation amusing, had I already not been in a foul mood and had had to endure the gawking of what seemed like all of Hogwarts, and though I was not normally given to displays of temper, the Owl from Ariana had gnawed at me in worry, and being forced to wear Marvolo s robes did nothing to lessen my anger. At the end, I had only just resisted the urge to burn the expensive clothing and send them back to Marvolo in an urn.
Instead, I wait silently as Julius makes his way up the stands to where I stand. I raise an eyebrow at him, not uttering a word as he shoulders past me and leans heavily over the railings. The Quidditch pitch is empty as most everyone is inside sheltering from the storm that is surely to come the air is thick with moisture already.
Looking out towards the castle, I idly consider that we are here, in the Slytherin section of the Quidditch stands. It could possibly have been Gryffindor or neutral Ravenclaw but it isn t. I am comfortable in all things Slytherin, their common room is as familiar to me as my own, and I allow my lips to curl up slightly at the thought that Julius had never crossed the Gryffindor threshold. Whether it is because Marvolo didn t want the aggravation of being punished for violating House rules, or whether the proud Slytherin simply didn t want to contaminate himself by venturing into my chambers, I am not sure, but it had never occurred to Marvolo to confront me anywhere outside of his comfort zone, and I wonder whether he knew he was subconsciously revealing a weakness in our personal game.
"Your brother is this close to getting himself hexed into next week." The words came out through clenched teeth, and Marvolo fixes me with a dark glare; there is no discernible space between the thumb and forefinger he is holding up.
Ah, yes, my brother. I smile again; it is almost gloating. "Your status partner," I remind him.
The wand is in his hand and pointing at me in a blink, but I had anticipated this and have mine out a split second before his. We have been here before, of course. If Julius wanted, a duel would commence up here in the stands, where no-one would ever witness the outcome, but not today. I knew he would withdraw, and am not surprised when he lowers his wand and storms back down the stands and towards Hogwarts.
(When had we become so attuned to each other s unspoken words?)
I stay where I am for another few minutes, once again mildly perturbed by our almost innate and unwanted understanding of each other. I suspect that the repercussions of Marvolo s anger would be hot and fast and soon, and I am no longer sure whether Aberforth is the Dumbledore responsible.
Julius
As soon as Julius woke, he knew he was not in his chambers, but the disconcerting moment only lasted a second as memory flooded back and he recalled where he was. In the corner of the room, his robes and broom lay on the table, and he quickly dressed before returning to the castle alone. Experience told him that he would be back before anyone knew he had not spent the night in the Slytherin dungeons, but that doesn t necessarily comfort him. Julius almost cursed himself for once again finding himself in this situation, and silently cursed him that he was. As rare as these circumstances were, he always managed to leave before he woke, and would later look at Julius from across the Transfiguration table with the same calm, mildly curious expression on his face.
Their power plays had some time ago moved from Julius chambers to other venues outside of the castle, and though the rush of the danger of being caught was addictive, the Marvolo in him and long experience playing the Game told him that should that happen, it would be such a blow to his status that he may never recover from it. Though the professors were incredibly lenient with their golden boy, and their preference for Dumbledore allowed the Gryffindor access to parts of the castle that no other student would normally be given so that the Slytherin stands and an empty cottage had become the most common places for confrontations, had any of the professors actually come across them during their interactions, there would be no escaping the inevitable punishment. Marvolo knew for a fact that docked house points would be the very least of his problems should that happen.
Cursing his greatest rival with sufficient amount of venom to make him want to punch a wall, Julius angrily bathed and got ready for breakfast. He needed to retain control and teach the detestable Gryffindor about respecting his betters. The fact that Aberforth was still causing all sorts of headaches only served to aggravate the situation more; how did the elder Dumbledore manage to stay so impeccably calm? Moments like last night were evidence that the infamous control could be broken if the right technique was used, but even Julius had to admit they were few and far between, and Albus Dumbledore was too smart not to recognise patterns so that he could undoubtedly retaliate and protect himself accordingly. Julius knew that he had Dumbledore confused at his actions; politeness had never been a major part of their school interactions in the past four years, and though it required a great amount of control to stop himself from hexing Dumbledore every chance he could, he kept the civil fa ade whenever they met. Not once since the incident with the robes had Julius shown aggression privately or publicly and it was slowly starting to break down the Gryffindor s defences. Julius just needed time to re-assert control. Their personal game would continue, and Julius would use the rather extensive weapons in his arsenal, because his pride demanded it, and his status would be established when the one they whispered was the greatest wizard since Merlin would fall at his feet. He could be patient.