The Quidditch Pitch - "Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power." by William Gaddis
Drabble Club - "We have, I fear, confused power with greatness." by Stewart Udall
Written for the Quidditch League, Chaser 3 for the BallyCastle Bats, round 10.
Task: A relationship between two characters from rival schools.
Prompts:
4. (word) careless
5. (quote) 'Out of the millions and millions of people that inhabit this planet, he is one of the tiny few I can never have.' - Tabitha Suzuma, Forbidden
15. (song) 'Thousand Needles' by Lea Michele
Word Count: 2 995
-wWw-
It was time.
Albus stood on the sandy beach in the cold April morning as waves crashed behind him, foreshadowing the coming storm. His eyes soared up the frame of the dark fortress towering before him and the even darker skies looming above it. For too long he had put this off. He had hoped in vain that someone else would rise and end this terror for him, but he could wait no longer. The public outcry was too great, the monstrosities committed so numerous and horrific, that Albus was finally forced to face the truth - if he did not take down Gellert, no one else would.
Approaching the jet-black building and easily dispatching the admittedly powerful and numerous wards and shield charms surrounding it, the British wizard stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the large entrance. He looked at the inscription carved in big golden letters above the door, and felt a thousand needles pierce his heart.
For the Greater Good
Those foolish words he had spoken as a boy were now the banner under which all manner of Dark Wizards gathered, the slogan they parroted to justify their many horrible acts. And suddenly, it all rushed back…
-wWw-
"So you agree with me then?" Gellert said instead of a greeting early one morning, a smirk on his lips and a letter in his hand. "That we need to seize control?"
"I do indeed." Albus returned the smirk, ushering his friend into the house.
"And it just struck you in the middle of the night that I was right?" Gellert said teasingly, following him to the small kitchen.
"I couldn't sleep," Albus admitted, his face still stretched into a smile. He took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table and threw it to his friend, who caught it effortlessly with one hand.
"And you couldn't wait to tell me in the morning? That owl of yours woke me up, you know."
"Don't pretend you have not sent me letters in the dead of night. Hypocrisy does not look good on you."
Gellert grinned devilishly, and Albus thought to himself that there was nothing in this world that would not look good on him.
"You know I speak the truth," the early guest said, taking a bite out of the red apple. "Not all men are born equal. You may attempt to learn more, develop your brain to think certain ways that might make you smarter, but you are not going to be able to work your way into a genius IQ. People like us are born with certain advantages, and it is our right, nay, our responsibility to take the lead.
"Just look at what a mess of things muggles make on their own! They simply do not have the understanding of how the world works that we do, and I dare you to point to two wizards more brilliant, more worthy than the two of us to be at the helm! We need to do this, not just for the good of the muggle community, but for our own as well."
Albus took a fruit from the bowl for himself and twirled it in his fingers.
"Under our rule, no muggles would have ever dared do what they did to my sister. If we had been in charge she wouldn't have to suffer the way she does now," he said darkly and Gellert beamed at him.
"Exactly. We seize control for the Greater Good, as you say in your letter. You will do this with me, then? You will join me in my quest to bring about a golden age for wizard kind, one where we don't have to hide and live in fear of those inferior to us?" Gellert extended his hand. Albus stared at it for only a second, before taking it in a firm grasp.
"For the Greater Good."
"The Greater Good," Gellert echoed, squeezing his hand lightly. "Then leave with me. Tonight. We must not delay any longer."
"And just leave Aberforth and Ariana on their own?"
"Why not? Is that not what you've been dreaming of ever since you got stuck in this miserable little village?"
"Gellert, they are my family."
"And since when have you truly cared about your family?"
Albus was quiet for a moment. True, he did not want to waste away here, and he could hire someone to look after his sibling while he was away. There were ways, things he could do to get out of Godric's Hollow without having to be burdened by his responsibilities for the rest of his life… While he still could.
"So you plan to leave us, do you?"
The two young men turned to the door, where they saw Aberforth, hand clutching the frame and face contorted in anger. Albus stomach dropped and he let go of Gellert's hand. He hadn't even closed the door! How could he have been so careless?
"You want to abandon us to our fate and run off with him on some… on some what, conquest? You fancy yourself worthy of ruling the world, do you? You are not worthy of ruling chickens!"
"Be quiet," Gellert hissed threateningly.
"I will not be quiet!" Aberforth exploded, then turned to his brother. "Ariana depends on you! You know I cannot take her to Hogwarts with me, and if I don't go back, we will starve!"
"Aberforth..."
"No, Albus, I don't need your excuses! We're a burden to you, you have made no secret of that! Yet like it or not, I am not of age and should I drop out, we'll have no hope of a livelihood! If you abandon us, you sign our death sentence!"
"You will manage," Gellert said dismissively. "You have a garden, do you not? You will be of age soon enough, and you will find some employment. You cannot expect to hold Albus here to play babysitter, when he could be out there, making an actual change in the world."
Albus spied the fearful eyes of his sister peeking around the corner, but his brother was too riled up to notice.
"You think yourself so superior to everyone else, but you know nothing of what it means to be a leader, to inspire others to follow you; you only know of power and taking what you want, without regard for anyone else!" Then he turned to Albus again. "He means to use you, can't you see that? People like him only want power, and once he has it he will discard you like yesterday's paper!"
"I said, be quiet!" Gellert snarled and his arm suddenly whipped forward, his wand pointed at Aberforth.
Albus' hand immediately shot out, gripping his friend's wrist.
"Gellert. Don't."
"Oh, you think he's going to talk his way into ruling the world, do you?" Aberforth continued scathingly. "You think he's not prepared to trample over anyone that got in his way? Wake up, Albus! You have gone completely insane this summer! You two and your endless arrogance, it's a wonder you're able to walk upright with heads this big!"
"Aberforth, for heaven's sake, shut up!"
"Not until I make you see! He will use you and then discard you, just like you're trying to do with us!" His head whipped to Gellert again, whose eyes were narrowed to slits. "You, Grindelwald, are nothing but a pathetic little man with delusions of grandeur, who is pissy at the world because he doesn't have anything to live for, nothing and no one important in his life, and no matter how 'great' you fancy yourself, you will never have what is truly important. You'll die a lonely, bitter old man, still angry and still inconsequential, until the very—"
"Crucio!"
Gellert's patience had finally worn thin. Aberforth writhed in agony on the ground, Ariana shrieked, and Albus just stared at the sight before him, completely thunderstruck.
His best friend had just used the darkest of curses and, judging by the smirk on his lips, he enjoyed it.
That was when, for the first time that summer, Albus saw the glorious halo around Gellert's head fall apart. The distorted lenses of his feelings cracked, then shattered, and he no longer saw Gellert as the shining white ideal of his imagination, but as the Dark Wizard he was, peppered in shades of grey.
The subsequent duel was a blur of spells and shouts, and by the time Albus could think clearly again Gellert was gone, and Aberforth was crying over Ariana's dead body.
-W-
'How could I have been so blind?' Albus thought, standing over his sister's coffin.
Gellert had gone that very night; to where, he did not care. All that mattered was that he left, and that sweet, innocent Ariana had paid the price of Albus' foolishness. In all the hours they spent together, he had failed to notice Gellert's true nature. He chalked his thirst for power up to ambition, his arrogance to justified pride of his own ability, his megalomania to a greater purpose.
But he could no longer avoid the truth. It was his own fault really, for allowing himself to live under a delusion for so long. Out of the millions and millions of people that inhabit this planet, he was one of the tiny few Albus could never have. Not now, and perhaps, not ever.
Gellert had never truly cared about him, that much was clear now. If he had, he would not have been so quick to break away, to pack up and walk out of his life when so much grief was heaped upon his shoulders. His heart was raw and bleeding, his guilt heavy and suffocating like a thick blanket, and yet all Albus craved was his company. All he wanted was to see that grin again, and look into those beautiful blue eyes, in which he had lost himself so often in the past…
But that bridge was burned, leaving only the bitter taste of ashes in his mouth.
-wWw-
When he walked through the big black doors, Albus found him at the head of a long table, around which his followers had gathered to discuss the next piece of land they would conquer. As soon as he stepped inside, a deadly silence fell over the room. Blue met blue, as the two former friends saw each other again, for the first time in forty-five years. And after all that time, he still looked just as beautiful.
Gellert did not seem the least bit surprised to see him. Albus suddenly realized how he had been able to dispatch the security charms so easily, and why he met with no guards inside the fortress.
"Albus," Gellert said, and the mere sound of his name coming out of that mouth almost made him want to run. "I haven't seen you in quite some time. I hear you have done quite well for yourself. Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and as I understand it, you have been offered the post of Minister for Magic. Why turn it down?"
"You taught me a long time ago that I cannot be trusted with power," Albus replied gravely. "It corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power," Gellert sneered. "Power is neither dark or light; it is simply a tool. A tool anyone with enough wits can wield to achieve greatness. It's not too late, Albus. Join me. You know that with our combined power, neither men nor gods can stand against us!"
Albus looked sadly into those piercing blue eyes that had captivated him so in his youth and saw the maniacal gleam in them clearer than he ever had. How had he not noticed it before? That obsession, that cruelty, it had always been there, but he was too foolish, too entranced by that beautiful, eloquent stranger who spoke so passionately of his ideas to notice it. He got swept up in the enthusiasm, almost hypnotized by the conviction with which the other boy spoke.
But he had always known. Somewhere deep down, Albus had always known, though he had chosen to turn a blind eye to the truth. Gellert was a monster.
"Exerting your power over others does not make you great," Albus said quietly.
"Come now, Dumbledore. Do not pretend you have not said the same things to me. Hypocrisy does not look good on you," Gellert said with a twisted glint in his eyes and Albus felt like he had punched him in the stomach.
"That… was many years ago. We have, I fear, confused power with greatness. One cannot truly be great when all he has achieved has been taken by force."
"I beg to differ," Gellert said, holding up his wand for Albus to see. "Do you know what this is, Albus? Do you recognize it? After so many hours of discussing what it must feel like to hold this in your hand… you must know."
Albus' eyes widened with realization.
"The Elder Wand?"
"Precisely," Gellert said with an air of smug satisfaction, and for a second, Albus was able to glimpse that boy again, the golden-curled stranger who shared his fascination for what many considered to be a baseless fairytale. "I took this from Gregorovitch many years ago. It has helped me on my quest for the Greater Good!"
"The Greater Good," echoed the wizards around them. Albus had almost forgotten they were there.
"And I know the location of the other two," Gellert continued. "Soon, I will unite them and I will be the true Master of Death!"
The wizards and witches around them began chanting his name, but Albus was not impressed. If Gellert knew the other Hallows' location, he would have them by now.
"You are wrong, Gellert," he said mildly. "People like you and I can never be Masters of Death. Only one who does not fear Death, but accepts it and welcomes it like an old friend, can truly be its Master."
"I fear nothing!" Gellert hissed. "And that includes you! You came here today to face me, did you not? So do it then! Draw your wand and test it against the might of the Deathstick!"
Albus hesitated. True, he had come here with the intention of stopping his old friend, but something weighed on his shoulders. He knew what it was, yet did not want to admit it.
Gellert, however, had no such qualms. He fired a purple jet of light at Albus, who had to erect a wall of stone to block it. The wall exploded upon contact and he was forced to cast his most powerful shield charm to absorb the debris. When the smoke cleared, he saw Gellert's followers had fled the scene and a large hole was gaping from the ceiling above them, giving them a clear view of the gathering storm.
What followed was a three-hour duel between two of the most powerful wizards that ever lived. Both did things with their wands no one had ever even thought possible, and the onlookers who survived the initial explosion observed it all in terror and awe.
"You wonder why the wand resists you, don't you Gellert?" Albus said, blood streaking down his forehead and seeping into his robes at the shoulder, where one of his opponent's ice spears had pierced him.
"It does not resist me!" Gellert spat, trying to stand on his injured leg. "I am the master of the most powerful wand in existence!"
"You are the wielder of the most powerful wand in existence," Albus corrected him. "But you are not its master. You stole this wand, you have not won its allegiance. Would I have lasted this long, if this wand was truly as potent as you claim?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Gellert's eyes and he looked down to his hand. Albus took advantage of the distraction and blasted him into the wall. The fair-haired wizard was caught unawares and the impact knocked the wind out of him, as he collapsed in a heap on the ground. Standing on one knee, he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath as his former friend approached him slowly, wand pointed at his head.
"So what now, Dumbledore?" Gellert wheezed. "Will you kill me?"
"... No," came the barely audible response. The kneeling man looked up and saw the electric blue eyes of his opponent were wet with tears. "You showed me forty-five years ago that there are things much worse than death."
For a moment, Gellert was stunned into silence. He had known Albus cared for him in that way, he had always known… but for the first time in his life, he realized just how deeply he had cut the other man when he turned his wand on Aberforth and fled the scene of Ariana's death. The grief and pain in those eyes, whose happy twinkle he still remembered so clearly, completely overwhelmed him and he felt as if a thousand needles pierced his skin, unexpectedly leaving him mute as a turnip.
Gellert did not know what sort of magic Albus weaved into those words, but he found himself paralyzed before the other man. The hand holding a wand to his head fell to the wizard's side, and though this would have been the perfect opening for retaliation, Gellert did not strike. He simply stared into his old friend's eyes, unable to look away, as his grasp on the Elder Wand weakened and the wood slipped from his stiff fingers and rolled away.
In the end, it wasn't Albus' talents with a wand that had won him that duel. Oh no, it was a much greater power he wielded, something whose effects Gellert had greatly underestimated – until the moment it was used on him. For it was a magic that reaches beyond life and death, more ancient than the Hallows and more potent than any a wand could provide.
Love.