Written for the Guardian challenge; Dumbledore's death in the style of...another author.


Dumbledore's Death in the style of Longfellow;

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of Dumbledore's death and shed a tear
On the sixth of October in ninety-five
Hardly witch nor wizard is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to staunch Filch, " If Deatheaters march
By land or lake to Hogwarts to-night
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the Hogwarts Tower as a signal light, --
One if by land, and two if by lake,
And I on the opposite shore will wait,
Ready to fly and raise the alarm
To save Harry Potter from Voldemort's harm,
To save all the children with protection charms."

Then he said, "Good-night!" and with a soft "poof"
Quietly vanished from castle roof,
Just as the moon rose over the trees,
Something softly rustled in the breeze
The Womping Willow, stately and grim,
A phantom shadow, with each branch and limb
Across the moon like a fiendish whim
And a huge black trunk, that was characterized
By gnarls and burls of unearthly size.

Meanwhile, loyal Filch from high castle walls
Wanders and watches, listens in halls,
Till in the silence around him it falls
The sound of Deatheaters far off in flight
The swish of robes, and the throb of hate,
And the malevolence in the atmosphere,
Fearlessly they approach on the night.

Then he climbed the tower of Hogwarts Castle,
By the secret stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled sweet Fawkes from his perch
On the somber rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade, --
Yet onward and upward, he did crawl
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
To the glistening lake far below
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, on the grounds, the Willow stood,
In its sentinel pose on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a whispered breath
The watchful night-wind, soft as death
Creeping along the castle's breadth,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and is misled;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On the shadowy something out of sight,
Where swiftly flies on the wings of the night, --
Far off a movement soft belies
Villainous fiends who on the night-wind ride.

Meanwhile, impatient to face the tide
Of evil forces, with heavy stride
On the opposite shore paced Dumbledore.
Now he patted his beard down,
Now he gazed at the landscape 'cross the shore,
Then, impatiently, paced anon,
And turned and fingered his waiting wand;
But mostly he watched with eager eye
The tower silhouette against the sky,
As it rose far above the castle dark,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and stark.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He nods mute acceptance, the hour is near,
He lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp flickers bright and clear.

Then standing before the grey grizzled mage,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And flashing, in the darkness, a glinting, a spark
Reflecting the moonlight in eyes filled with rage;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of all wizards hung suspended that night;
And between two lonely figures, wrong or right,
Destiny set the last scene on the stage.
"So at last, Dumbledore, the moment is here",
Said the figure, "Do you tremble with fear?"
Said Dumbledore, meeting the baleful stare,
"I fear no foul blackguard of evil design;
I beg you, relent; the triumph is mine."
And drawing his wand, he brought it to bear.

It was twelve midnight on the stroke
When the first blue flash cut through the darkness.
The dark wizard just twitched his cloak
And Dumbledore's strike fell to the ground
Where it withered with a hissing sound,
Disabled and rendered harmless.

The next instance a double flash
Filled the air with brilliant blinding light.
They say that the deafening blast
Was heard and felt for miles that night.
Not one trace of Dumbledore was found
Just two marks upon the ground,
One black, one white,
Indelibly inscribed in the shore for all to see
Where two wizards came to face their destinies.