Hello everyone, happy Thanksgiving. I hope this chapter finds you well. I saved this for today, so you all have a little something extra to be thankful for. All suggestions from the reviews have been taken into account, and I will say now, some of them did make the list. But for now, I'll just let you all (hopefully) enjoy another one shot from the Lantern Chronicles. This week: Albus Dumbledore.
-Black Light-
There's a funny thing about death. It's not nearly as peaceful as people always depicted it as. One would expect one's lifetime of worries to just disappear the moment one shuffled off the mortal coil. Maybe it was the manner in which he had died? He hadn't considered that. Perhaps people who died with strong regrets experienced the afterlife differently? He didn't know, he really should have taken the time to ask one of the ghosts when he had the chance.
But boy did he have a list of regrets nearly as long as his arm. Firstly, how he died. He knew it was part of a plan, and that it was necessary, but being hit by the killing curse and then falling out of the tower window was not really what he had in mind when he envisioned his final moments. Personally, he always hoped it would be after eating the world's sweetest Lemon drop, while wearing that nice pair of fuzzy socks he'd gotten at Christmas from Minerva. Just his luck he would die wearing his least favorite pair of socks.
Another thing was Harry. No doubt the poor boy would be distressed beyond belief at his passing, given that it happened right in front of him. Poor child, having to deal with the Horcruxes without him there to lend a helping hand… even with his friends help, the task would be monumental. How he wished he'd told the boy about the prophecy earlier, then maybe they could have had more time together.
For that matter, he wished he had insisted all those years ago on being the Potter's secret keeper. There was no way Tom or his minions would have been able to get the knowledge out of him! But Lilly and James had been adamant in their decision; and despite what some may say about him, he was not one to take away people's ability to chose intentionally. But if only they had listened to him, the world might still have two bright souls shining in it today!
If only, if only… If only he had been able to convince his predecessor that Hagrid wasn't behind the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets, and that Tom shouldn't walk away smelling like roses! If only he had taken that job as Minister of Magic instead of Fudge, perhaps their world would have thrived under someone who wasn't an incompetent, hateful, spiteful, mistrusting, small-minded bigot!
But perhaps the biggest regret of all, was on that day some fifty odd years ago, he hadn't seen the evil in the boy before him. If he had only gleaned even a portion of the malevolence in the boy's heart… he knew that no one was born evil, but if anyone could make the case, Tom Riddle would certainly be his first bit of evidence! The boy clearly had coal where his heart would be, and his soul (if the fragment he still held in his body could be called that) was no doubt twisted and rotten to the core! If he had known then what he knew upon his dying day… he might have actually killed the boy right then and there. Obliviate the muggles on the way out, and no one would have been any the wiser.
It disturbed him sometimes when he thought like this. He had alway strived for peace, and now here he was thinking of killing a teenager. Granted, that teenager would grow up to be a homicidal maniac with delusions of grander, but still….
Yes, Albus Dumbledore had a lot to think about in the afterlife. For some reason his was a train station. He'd been sitting on a bench for quite some time now, waiting on a train to come and take him away from here, but one had yet to show up. He supposed that could be because he was still racked with guilt over his perceived failures in life. He knew he should let go… but there was so much he could have done. Should have done! If only he'd had just a little bit more time….
-Black Light-
Far above the monument that was Albus Dumbledore's grave, a small black projectile sensed the the tomb's occupant's unrest, and quickly flew down to greet its knew owner…
-Black Light-
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore" a voice rang out through the vast train station, startling Dumbledore out of his self-loathing thoughts. Looking up, he saw a long Black train suddenly pull into the station. "Rise"the voice spoke again. Despite looking as foreboding as Snape to a group of first-years, some force compelled him to board it. As the doors closed, he felt his worries fade away. As the train started to move… the voice returned, and he felt a chill about his hand.
"The Blackest Night falls from the sky"
A Black Ring with a strange insignia had appeared on his hand, the same hand that had been ruined by the cursed Horcrux he'd found earlier that year. The ring emitted some strange black light that was quickly spreading up his arm.
"The darkness grows as all light dies"
Where were those words coming from? The light had turned his skin a morose grey, while turning his jolly purple robes into the darkest black. He felt power flowing through him, and yet he felt trapped, as though he'd somehow been buried alive!
"We crave your hearts and your demise"
It was then that he realized the words were being spoken by none other then himself! The light had spread up to his head, and the insignia was burned onto the front of his robes. It was getting so hard to think straight, as all his old feelings seemed to be draining away, replaced by knew knowledge that seemed so drastically foreign, he almost wanted to naturally reject it. And yet he couldn't keep fighting it. He felt so powerful… and yet so helpless…
"By my black hand, the dead shall rise!"
With a fearsome roar, the corpse of Albus Dumbledore finished reciting its oath as it punched a fist through the lid of its coffin and fired off a bold of pure darkness into the sky!
-Black Light-
The man that was once Albus whistled a merry tune as he strolled along the ground of Hogwarts. Not much had changed since he'd been gone (though to be fair, according to the ring on his finger, that hadn't been more then a few weeks at the most).
However, so far he hadn't seen a soul! Which was a shame, too-Wait! There! Why it was old Filch heading to Hogsmeade. He was absolutely green with will, how nice. With a thought, he flew towards Filch and grabbed him by his scrawny throat. How quickly Filch filled with yellow fear as he saw his attackers face. Strangled cries of 'Inferi' escaped his lips as Albus slowly crushed his throat.
He almost paused for a moment to wonder why he was killing this man. That thought was quickly buried under a 'why not'? So, without anymore preamble, he snapped the caretaker's neck like a twig and dropped his corpse to the ground. Turning, he saw the glittering lights of Hogsmead beckoning him. So, turning away from Filch, the former headmaster made his way towards the little town, filled with so many happy little people.
It was only with passing interest that he felt the Black Lantern battery at his side flash before another ring flew from its core towards the dead man behind him. Dumbledore's rotted face almost managed a grin. Looks like he wouldn't be making the walk alone then…
-Black Light-
After a lovely (if tragically short) time at Hogsmead, he decided he'd see how his old chums were. He figured the Weasly's would be the best place to start, so with a thought, Dumbledore took to the air. It was a wonderful feeling being able to fly without the use of a broom, he could see why Fawks enjoyed it so much. Speaking of which… he hadn't seen his familiar since he rebirth. Oh well, he was sure they'd meet up eventually…
As it turned out, the Weasly's were in the middle of hosting a big wedding when he arrived. It seemed Bill and that French girl from the Tri Wizard Tournament were getting married. He could practically see the love radiating off them… he found that it was far more delicious then the fear he'd put into Filch.
Alas, the wedding festivities were ruined by the untimely arrival of some Death Eaters. Some might argue that the wedding was turning sour when he tore off Arthur's head and chucked it through Molly's sternum, but that's really all semantics. They were all so surprised by his behavior too; when he'd first arrived, their was a mixture of lovely blue hope and yellow fright. Some thought that the great Albus they'd known had somehow cheated death. He had, in a sense, but not in the manner they were hoping. Harry had been especially hopeful, but sadly, had apparated away before he had the chance to speak to the boy.
No matter, there were still plenty of fool hardy death eaters mucking about for him to have a pleasant chat with… That is, at least for a few seconds. A flash from his ring was just as deadly as any killing curse, as were the knights he summoned to cut down any resistance. Soon, he once again stood in a field of corpses, his Lantern flashing like the siren on a bobby's car.
This had been fun, but perhaps now he should focus on some serious business. He really should go and speak to Cornelius…
-Black Light-
He'd been wrong! That was just as fun as the wedding! Perhaps even more so! All those aurors running around with their wands and casting their barely lethal spells… Ha! His head had been blasted off twice, only to grow back in a matter of seconds, but the idiots just weren't getting it!
Fudge, for perhaps the first time in his life, had put up a fight. It hadn't ended well, but that was to be expected. Delores faired no better. Nor did the heads of any of the departments. But at least they had died standing on their feet. Those who tried to flee were met by the other Black Lanterns Albus had brought with him to guard the exits.
The most interesting thing to happen the entire time, was the arrival of Fawks. The phoenix had issued the most horrid sound Albus had ever heard in his life (relatively speaking) and the light given off by the flaming turkey stung his skin. Sadly, he'd had no choice but to blast the bird to atoms with his ring. But that became a problem when the ashes revealed the bird was still alive. Thankfully, Albus was able to solve this little set back with a bit of practical Black light application. After smiting the bird again, he gathered the ashes in an airtight bubble, and fired the lot of it into space. By the time the bubble dispersed, Fawks' remains would be in an oxygen deprived atmosphere, rendering him incapable of regeneration.
Still, he almost felt remorse for killing his once good friend. Thankfully, his rings sensed this, and created a perfect replica of the phoenix, now made entirely out of Black light. And as he stood there, petting his new pet, Albus realized he had overlooked something. His mission! He had died in the pursuit of seeing Tom put six feet under, and now here he was, lollygagging about at weddings and the Ministry. Age made one so forgetful it seemed.
-Black Light-
It almost felt like cheating really. Since he still had the horcrux ring on when he'd been buried, it had been child's play for him to scan the soul fragment with his ring, and set said ring to track down the rest.
He'd hoped the Gringotts one would at least be difficult to get to, but with a swarm of Black Lanterns tearing through the bank (not to mention Diagon Alley), they hadn't lasted long. At least he'd had the chance to face off against a real live (albeit sickly) dragon! The thing had set him on fire three times, and swallowed him whole before he finally brought it down! The efforts were worth it though, because not only did he get the Hufflepuff's cup, he also got his own Black Lantern Dragon! The only thing that would have made him happier would have been a bag of Lemon Drops (which he actually did pick up before leaving the alley)
The next stop had been the Locket; but when the ring lead him to the middle of a forest, he found it was already destroyed. His ring scans told him that it had been taken care of by none other then Harry and his little friends. He could feel his stiff face twitch into a grin at that. How proud he was of the young boy. He'd have to make sure to let him know just how proud he was when he saw him later.
Later would apparently be very soon, as it turned out that the last of Tom's soul fragments were all at the same place: Hogwarts. How fitting that it would end where it all began.
-Black Light-
Harry panted as he leaned agains a stone wall, his eyes dim as he breathed heavily. He'd been through so much lately… he'd only recently died, only to come back after some comforting words from his parents at the crossroads of life and death. He'd asked them about the thing that was parading around Albus Dumbledore, but hadn't received a straight answer. All his parents knew was that something dark and evil had woken the headmaster from his eternal sleep, and they didn't know how to stop it.
He'd hoped that some of the headmaster might still be inside. When reports came in that he'd invaded Gringotts, Harry figured it had been for the same reason they'd been about to: for the horcrux. But the way the inferi with the kind Albus' face conducted such massacres, he had lost hope.
But at the final battle with Voldemort, he'd managed to triumph over his arch enemy when help came from the most surprising of places: Neville Longbottom had managed to destroy the last horcux, which had resided inside the dark lord's pet snake. With it dead, Harry had blasted Voldemort to atoms, finally putting an end to his evil.
Still, the celebrations hadn't lasted long, before Neville was struck from above by a Black light Harry was starting to fear more then the Avada Kadavra. Looking at the skies, he saw that the morning was darkened by the presence of hundreds, perhaps thousands, or the Black ring bearers. And at their leader was none other then Professor Dumbledore.
Without preamble they had descended on Hogwarts like a plague. Death Eaters and Light Wizards alike were mowed down as they Black Lanterns fell from the sky. The few good wizards left fled to the sanctuary of Hogwarts, while those not close enough decided to take their chances; either fighting to (the inevitable) death, or attempting to flee far enough to apparate away.
The next few minutes were a virtual bloodbath. Hagrid, McGonagal, Flitwick, Molly, Ginny, Snape… wait, Snape?
Yes, Severus was back on his feet, with a black ring on his finger. With a gesture of his hand he sent a wave of black energy that took the lives of many students, among them Percy and Luna.
Finally, after what seemed like ages of running, Harry heard a gasp behind him. Turning, he saw that Ron had shoved Hermione out of the path of a beam that would have ended her life. Harry ran to help her up, but stopped when another blast blew him back against the wall. As he fought to retain consciousness, he knew it was too late for his brilliant friend.
That was where he was now: lying on the floor, bloody, tired, and alone. His wand had snapped, and his glasses had cracked in so many places it was difficult to see. But what he could see wasn't good. Professor Dumbledore was walking towards him, that grandfatherly smile only appearing frightening on his current countenance. Behind him, more of the Black Lanterns came. Some walked, others glided like ghosts. He even saw some of the ones so recently cut down among them, all wearing the Black ring.
As Albus stood before him, Harry watched the solid black lantern at his hip flash twice, before two small rings flew towards where his friends lay. Soon, they would rise, the friends he once knew gone, replaced by some horrific parody.
And as Harry stared at Dumbledore, a mixture of emotions flooded across his face. Fear, anger, sadness… and will. Even now, he would not back down, he would not beg in the face of this enemy.
But as the ring began to glow with its malevolent light, Harry knew he wasn't going to be the 'Boy-Who-Lived' much longer…
The End.
Sorry if the ending was kind of a downer, but that's how I see a Black Lantern tale ending. Badly. Oh well, maybe the next one will be more upbeat. Speaking of which, I'll be putting up a poll, so you my readers can vote on the next lucky candidate for a Lantern ring. Your choices? Orihime Inoue, and Hinata Hyuga. I won't tell you which ring they represent (and I'm saying it now: they aren't the same ring), so that'll be a surprise.
Also, since this is Thanksgiving, I've gone ahead and updated another one of my stories: Naruto: Card Captor. Why don't you go check that out?
And finally, a one shot featuring all my characters (with the exception of these lanterns and the Deadliest Character fighters) getting together to celebrate the holiday. Please check it out, and let me know what you think.
