Author's note: Another favorite chapter! Plotty McPlot Things Are Center-Stage. Not sure if I will get to post the next one before Christmas, (and the next one is very smut-heavy, lol, sorry not sorry) so if I don't get the chance, happy whatever you celebrate to all of you. I love your reviews and all your interesting theories and comments. They fill the heart with joy!
Chapter 59: Revelations
"Bloody hell, Dumbledore was brilliant, but he was a daft old sod for making people walk down that every time!" Ron exclaimed as they finally reached the last few steps.
Ginny glanced at Harry and Brogan, who both looked cold and had matching bright spots of color on their cheeks from their morning trek down 372 steps in the frigid, Scottish Highland wind and mist.
"I don't think it's every time," Hermione said, looking at Ron. "You heard Lupin say the first time someone visited. He probably did it as a test of character."
"Test of something," Ron muttered. "Probably his visitor's sanity."
"Cheer up," Ginny said, bumping into her brother with her shoulder. "At least we don't have to walk back up them to get home."
Ron's face brightened. "Hey, yeah, you're right. Er, we don't, do we?" He looked at Harry, who shrugged.
"Beats me. Does anyone see anything that looks even remotely like a library?"
They all looked around, and while Ginny could appreciate that it was a spectacular view of the ocean, she was not sure it had been worth it. They were in a small enclosed grassy area, and the sound of seagulls could be heard far below them. Ginny shivered as a cold wind swept through the area. She could hear the waves crashing against the rocks at the cliff's bottom, and everything just felt...wet. She sneezed suddenly, and Brogan handed her a handkerchief, from seemingly out of nowhere.
Ginny looked skeptically at him as she blew her nose. "You carry a handkerchief? In this day and age? Why have I never known this about you?"
He smirked as he told her to keep it. "You've never sneezed in my presence before, and it's not usually something I tell people. Hi, I'm Brogan Caley, Empath and handkerchief keeper. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But my Mum always made sure I had one. I reckon I just kept up the habit."
Harry, who had been listening to them, grinned as he walked by to look over the cliff's edge. He seemed impressed with the drop. Ginny couldn't even imagine what it had been like for the Muggle women who'd had to walk up and down the steps all day, carrying fish. And that had probably been without the safety spell Lupin had told them to use.
"Oh, look!" Hermione said, pointing towards the far side of the cliff, and even as they all turned their heads to where she was indicating, Ginny saw a house start to appear out of nowhere. A small walkway to get across to the other side appeared to lead them over the split between two substantial breaks in the mountain wall. Ron whistled.
"Nice. And old. It looks…ancient…it has to be older than Hogwarts, even!"
"I think he's right," Brogan murmured, and Ginny could tell he was in awe. And it was impressive. The dwelling was built into the mountain's side, seemingly being held by up by gravity and the physics of hard stone meeting an even harder stone. It was grey, with massive boulders on both sides of the house. Ginny wondered how many reinforcing spells someone had used to make that happen. She could very well just picture Dumbledore arriving here and disappearing into the place to get away from all the troubles of the world. But, she also had to admit, it seemed a rather bleak and lonely place.
Lupin opened the front door as they made it across the walkway, and he smiled widely at them.
"Good to see all of you made it in one piece. I had all the faith in the world. Now I am sure that descent took a bit out of you, so come in and get something to warm you up. I'll give you the tour."
Once they were all inside, the ocean's sound was gone – swallowed up by a spell, most likely, Ginny thought. The inside of the residence was not stone or cold – but was warm and done in rich, cozy wood. The room was in brilliant reds and bright, golden accents. There was a fireplace near the door, and Ginny sighed. She could already feel the warmth starting to eat away at the damp that seemed to have attached itself to her since they'd started their walk.
"Well, gee, you certainly can't tell a Gryffindor lived here," Brogan observed as he smirked. He looked around as though just realizing that he was traveling with a small horde of them and apparently decided to keep anything else he was about to say to himself. Ginny raised her eyebrow at him.
"I think it looks and feels very cozy," Hermione said, glancing around as she removed her jacket and scarf. The rest of them followed suit, and Lupin showed them a little room off to the side where they could hang everything up.
"This is the entrance to the residence, obviously, and there are a bedrooms for guests down this way," Lupin said, pointing down the hallway to the left. "There is a kitchen and eating area in the back, and the building's right side is all books. Three floors worth."
"Three floors?" Hermione asked, sounding impressed.
"Are we actually inside the mountain at this point?" Brogan asked as they headed towards the kitchen area Lupin had mentioned.
Lupin turned and nodded. "We are. Albus felt it was the best way to keep everything secure. The library itself is completely built into the mountain and added later under Albus's specific request. This part of the building is the oldest, and, as far as I know, has always belonged to the Dumbledore family. However, not all of them used it. I know for a fact, Aberforth was only here once or twice."
Ginny noticed there were no paintings on the walls, which was odd for an ancestral home. She would have expected at least one or two previous Dumbledores to be gracing them with their presence, but there were none. As they entered the dining area, they came across a broad set of windows showing the view they had just been standing in front of outside. Based on her knowledge of direction, which had never failed her during Quidditch, Ginny thought they should be staring at a tall wall of rock, not water and sky.
"That's a brilliant piece of magic," Hermione exclaimed. "They've reversed the view!"
Lupin nodded. "You'll find it that way throughout the house, with one or two exceptions. It also helps if you're in the kitchen or at the table, and someone is approaching via the steps. It gives you time to go out to greet them. I was sitting here enjoying my tea when I noticed you had arrived."
He gestured toward the table, which had an excellent offering of tea and coffee for them, and Ginny poured herself a generous cup, still feeling slightly chilly. She noticed Brogan handed Harry a cup of coffee and shook her head. Great, now they'll both be addicts.
After they were feeling a bit more human, Lupin led them towards the library. He did a complicated spell over the doubled entranceway and then had Ron and Harry make sure each door was secured against the wall. He turned to them.
"Right, well, I am going to pop back to town and leave you all to it. I suggest you break the list in half, with Ron and Hermione taking the more arcane books on the bottom floor, and the three of you focus on the main level. I think in particular there is a book you'll need in the older section, towards the back, Harry." Lupin gave him a knowing look, which Ginny found peculiar, and then they were entering the room.
The library was massive.
Ginny had always taken for granted what magic could do – make things smaller, bigger, grander, closer, whatever, it was all part of being magical, but even she had to stare in awe at what Dumbledore had accomplished with his library. It appeared to be even bigger than the Hogwarts library, but she knew that couldn't be possible. It felt open and wide, yet comforting and cozy, as well. Of course, Dumbledore's library did not have the looming, miserable face of Madam Pince glaring at them either, which probably helped with that feeling.
There were two sets of swirling, gilded stairs, one leading down and one leading up. And then there were rows and rows of books. It reminded her of the Abbey library, to be honest, and she half-expected to see Garrett come walking around the corner. Gold chandeliers were hanging at various points overhead, casting a beautiful and intimate light over everything. Ginny assumed it was to make it easier to read for long periods. There was a scent to the air as well – it smelled of parchment, of course, and of something soft and sweet, like vanilla biscuits just out of the oven. She could tell Hermione and Brogan were absolutely in love at first sight – their eyes wide and their mouths hanging slightly open. Even Harry and Ron seemed to be gobsmacked.
Harry eventually reached into the bag he'd brought and pulled out the list that Aberforth had sent him. Ginny frowned when she glanced over his shoulder and saw he also had a box tucked away in it. Harry used his wand to make a copy of the list and handed one to Hermione. They conferred over which ones to work on, and then Hermione smiled as she tugged on Ron's hand and headed downstairs. Ron gave them a long-suffering look but followed his girlfriend without much grumbling.
Ginny glanced at Brogan. "You know who would absolutely love this?"
Brogan looked at her, his eyes bright. "Garrett."
Ginny nodded. "Garrett."
Harry turned to them. "All right, here are two more copies for you two. Why don't we break up and then meet in the middle?"
"Er, let's go to the middle first and make sure there's a there to meet at," Ginny suggested. ''I don't fancy us getting lost. Who knows what sort of tricks Dumbledore could have planted in here for sneaky readers."
"I'm sure Lupin would have mentioned it if he had," Brogan said as they all started forward.
Ginny snorted. "Yeah, right. The same Lupin that just made us traipse down a long, steep, and deadly collection of stairs in the Scottish wilds?"
Brogan nodded his head as though to concede her point, and they eventually found what looked like a little room off to the side of the main thoroughfare between the rows.
"Well, it's not the middle, but close enough, and homey too," Harry said, putting his bag in the table and sitting in one of the comfy-looking chairs, trying it out. He smiled at them as he stood back up. "I've brought parchment and quills for us to take notes with."
"Harry, you've come very prepared," Ginny said, going to him. She wrapped her hand around his waist as he smirked at her.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"No reason," Ginny said, grinning as she kissed his cheek.
"I'll take the top three books, then Ginny can take the next, and you can take the last two?" Brogan asked, looking at his list.
Harry looked at the paper. "That should work. I have an extra one to find first anyway. I'll show you when we meet up again."
They went their separate ways, and Ginny tried to find her first book – De Lapide PhilosophicoTriga Chemicum, which sounded like more than a mouthful, in a section that bore the words Essays and Other Thoughts. She found it fairly quickly and then moved on to the next book – The Serpent Who Ate the World by Jedson Pepperpot. A wizarding book, Ginny thought, based on that colorful name. It sounded silly because of the title, but Ginny assumed that if Dumbledore thought it important enough to keep it with all of the rest of the ancient books around her, it must have some worth.
She wandered into another section that lay more towards the back and realized these books were even older and most definitely magical. She shivered as she felt something wash over her and stopped, looking around. Seeing and sensing nothing further, she went with her gut to trust in Dumbledore and kept walking. It reminded her of the restricted section, except minus the chains and muffled screaming.
For some reason, Ginny felt compelled to go down an aisle that was simply called Enchantments Arcane and absentmindedly let her fingers run over the spines of the books nearest to her. Suddenly, she heard a soft 'thud' and was dismayed to see that one of the old books had fallen to the floor just in front of her feet. She bent to pick it up and then got a strange feeling as she touched it. It had a blank, dark purple cover, although there was sort of emblem etched into it if the light caught it just right. It looked like a heart, and she curiously traced her finger around it.
Shrugging, Ginny opened the book and gasped as she read the title page – The Copulatus Spell and Its Variations, by Cornelius Agrippa. Without even thinking about it, she sat down on the floor and began to read.
o-o-o-o-o
Harry groaned. He'd been excited to find the book he'd needed, but now he was pushing it away from him in frustration. Harry moved his head from side to side, rotating his neck to try to get rid of the soreness. He frowned as he heard a slight popping noise as he did so – that couldn't be healthy. He stared at the book, feeling miserable. It wasn't what he'd thought at all, and he was a bit nonplussed as to what to do with it. Harry almost jumped out his skin a moment later when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Brogan chuckled down at him.
"Sorry, thought I could help."
"Please do," Harry murmured, and released a soft sigh as Brogan brought his hand to rest on his shoulders and then began to rub the back of his neck, in gentle, pleasing circles. He used his thumb to put pressure on the knot at the base of Harry's neck, and Harry let himself enjoy it. After a few minutes, Harry felt better and brought his head back up, nodding at him. Brogan sat down next to him and put his books on the table in front of them.
"Find the ones you needed?" Harry asked.
"And then some. You?"
Harry nodded and closed his book, turning it over as he frowned at it. He glanced at Brogan. "You haven't seen Ginny, have you?"
"I think I saw her earlier; she was heading towards the back. Want me to get her?"
"No, let her read for a bit more."
Brogan nodded and idly opened one of his books. Harry read through the notes he'd made so far from the other books he'd looked through and realized he'd made more headway than he'd thought. No wonder his neck had been hurting; he probably hadn't moved it in an hour. He took off his glasses and closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a few deep breaths. He felt like he was starting to get a headache from all of the intense focusing he'd been doing.
Brogan sighed next to him, and Harry slipped his glasses back on, looking at him. The other man gave him a small smile.
"You look like you need a break. You wouldn't mind indulging me with something, would you?"
"Er, I think I do a lot with indulging with you, actually, but what specifically do you need?"
Brogan snorted softly. "Come on, you."
He got up and led Harry through a few different rows of books until they came across a small alcove that was decorated with soft pillows and had a high surface for sitting. There was also a wide, rounded window behind the ledge that overlooked onto the ocean like the one in the dining area. There were white puffy clouds in the sky now, and Harry was momentarily mesmerized by the sight of the blue-green water and the waves as they rolled out to sea with the wind.
"You know," Brogan said, turning around and sitting up on the alcove's top ledge so that his legs dangled off the side. "Being the book lover that I am, I have always wanted to be snogged in a library. Do you think this means I am a foolish swot or just a hopeless romantic?"
Harry grinned at the other man and moved forward so that he was between Brogan's legs. "I think it means I get to grant you your wish."
"Hmm," Brogan hummed, his eyes changing to dark blue. Harry put his hands on Brogan's hips, pulling him closer. He gazed at the other man, feeling his heart start to beat faster, and a warm spike of desire traveled through his blood. He captured his lips and was soon pushing against him, as Brogan's hand found its way to his hair. Harry gave himself over to it, thrilling at the way Brogan responded. The other man's lips were soft and firm and very easy to get distracted by. Harry didn't know how long they snogged, but it felt absolutely divine, and he definitely felt less tired than before. He was just moving his mouth to Brogan's neck when they heard a voice behind them.
"Hem, Hem," Ginny said, and Harry snorted, turning his head to look at her.
"Perfect way to ruin the mood, love," he said, pulling away from Brogan, whose eyes were still slightly glazed from their kisses. Ginny joined them and wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulder, smiling at him.
"I see how it is. I do all the research, and you two just snog each other's brains out. Unfair, Harry."
"It was just a tiny break. Brogan had a fantasy; I obliged him."
"Hmm, did he now?" Ginny smirked and moved to stand in front of Harry. She nodded at Brogan. "Help me up, please?" She turned around, and Brogan reached down, pulling her up onto the surface and wrapped his arms around her. Harry thought they both looked good enough to eat. Ginny smiled at Harry.
"Where's my snog?"
"Hang on, there's only one of me," Harry said, smirking. "I was just appreciating the view. And I don't mean the Atlantic Ocean behind you."
"Now that'd be an interesting thing to try," Brogan said, resting his head on Ginny's shoulder. Ginny joined her hand with his and kissed the side of his head.
"You want to take polyjuice potion?" Ginny asked. "Hmm, a girl could enjoy that."
"Uh, hello, don't you two think that would be weird for, well…I don't know, actual ME?"
Brogan chuckled and sat back. Ginny reached out and put her hand on Harry's chest. "You might be able to see that very commanding look of yours finally, Harry, think of it that way."
She grinned, and then she was kissing him, and Harry sighed, forgetting to be outraged. Honestly, for the rest of his days, if he could just do this – with the two of them, he would still be a happy man. He breathed in Ginny's flowery scent, which was now mixed in with Brogan's more masculine, citrusy scent, and forgot about everything but the two people in front of him.
"I have something to tell you," Ginny finally said, pulling away, her skin flushed. "Er, well, show you."
Harry sighed, realizing their break from the research was coming to an end. "Yeah, and I have something to talk to you two about, as well. Should we head back to the table?"
Brogan jumped down first and then helped Ginny. She slipped a hand into each of theirs, and they walked back together. Harry saw she had put her books on the table before coming to find them. He looked at the comfy chairs next to them and nodded at them.
"Let's sit over there; it looks more comfortable. And everyone is within reach."
Brogan raised his eyebrow at his suggestion. They all got arranged in the chairs, with Harry using his wand to move them closer together. He sat in the middle and then used his wandless magic to call his bag to him. He looked at Ginny and then at Brogan.
"I'm not sure exactly what this means, but one of the books I needed to read today is regarding these. Aberforth sent them to me, and apparently, Dumbledore thought we would need them."
He removed the boxes for the bracelets and handed Brogan his and then the other one to Ginny. They both looked at him, and then Ginny opened hers first, holding it in her hand. The snake's amber eyes blinked at them as it caught the soft light of the library.
"Uh, you're switching houses to Slytherin, and this is your announcement party favor?"
Brogan laughed and then opened his box to reveal his blue-eyed bracelet. Ginny made an 'ooh' noise as she looked at it.
"Brogan, the eyes match yours perfectly."
"As does that one to yours."
They both looked at Harry expectantly, who nodded as he showed them his.
"What in the world?" Ginny asked, reaching out for his. Her eyes met his. "What are these, Harry?"
"They are called the Ophidian Armilla, and they are…well, I don't know, exactly. Aberforth said they are mine to give to the two I chose. Obviously, they're meant for us. I think they're here to help me defeat Voldemort. Somehow. Here, read what Aberforth wrote."
Harry pulled the book he had found earlier out of the bag and placed it in between them as he watched Brogan and Ginny read the letter. When they were finished, they looked at him.
"Well, that explains why I was finding books about snakes," Ginny said, looking at the bracelet again.
"How are these supposed to help you, I reckon? Link us? I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I think we do a good job of that already ourselves," Brogan said. "Have you put yours on? Did anything happen?"
Harry shook his head. "No, I wanted to wait until we were together. And also, I wanted to check the book about them and make sure they were all right to wear. However, there's one problem." He handed the thin tome to Brogan, who flipped it open.
"It's in Greek," Brogan said, looking at him. "Ancient Greek, by the looks of it."
"I don't reckon you know any, do you?" Harry asked. Brogan sadly shook his head.
"Not really, no. Just a few words. Did you try a translation spell?"
Harry nodded. "Nothing. It's like the book is immune to magic."
"Hmm. We may have to see if there is a way to decipher it the hard way," Brogan muttered.
"Yeah, leave it to Dumbledore to leave me with a book in a language I can't read or translate. Ugh." Harry closed his eyes, his headache from before returning. Ginny tsked, and he felt her move until she was curling around him. He gave her a little smile.
"Take a deep breath, Harry. There has to be a way to translate it, and I don't care if we have to trick Hermione into learning Greek or not."
Harry snorted, despite his mood and shook his head at her. "Did either of you two spy a loo when we came in?"
"I think there was one by the door, in the entrance room. Next to where we hung our jackets up," Ginny said as she sat back, letting him get out of the chair.
"I'll be back," Harry said needlessly and wandered out towards the library's doors. After making his way to the loo and splashing some cold water on his face after he was done, Harry sighed and again took off his glasses. He had wanted to get some answers today. Maybe Hermione and Ron were having better luck. He remembered that Ginny hadn't yet told them what she'd found, so perhaps hope was not lost yet.
He left the loo and went over to the kitchen area, looking to see if Lupin had left the tea and coffee out. Maybe he had a headache because he wasn't used to so much caffeine. Bypassing the tray that was still on the table, Harry went into the kitchen looking for pumpkin juice or something cold. He settled on water and morosely stared out the giant windows. Harry felt a tingling sensation at the base of his neck and turned around, frowning. Spying a door he hadn't noticed before, something compelled him to go to it.
He stuck his head through it, but didn't see anything that would have caused him to feel the need to enter it and started to back away when he heard a voice call out his name. Harry glanced up as he made the lights come on with his hand and felt his stomach drop to his knees.
"Hello, Harry."
Harry stared at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore and didn't know what to say.
o-o-o-o-o
Brogan and Ginny had stayed in the joined comfy chairs reading together until she suggested they move to the table to take notes, and 'not get distracted.' Now they were next to each other at the table, and she was reading one of her books quite ferociously. He smirked to himself and realized he had wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger. Brogan let it go and then watched as it fluttered into a half-curled shape. He wondered what her hair would look like if she curled it more and sighed out loud as he imagined it. She honestly did have the most amazing hair.
Ginny glanced at him and then stopped reading, raising her eyebrow at him when she caught the look on his face. She closed her book and scooted closer to him. Brogan smiled at her and put his arm around her.
"For someone who loves books and learning, you're sure are getting distracted a lot today," she said, teasingly.
"I know. I don't know what my problem is. I can't seem to concentrate."
"Hmm," she said, nuzzling his neck. "Do you think Harry got lost on the way back from the loo?"
Brogan frowned. "I reckon he has been gone a while. I don't know, maybe he just needed to be alone. He seemed frustrated about not being able to read the book about the bracelets."
"What do you think they mean?"
Brogan sighed and grabbed the box from the table, looking at his bracelet again. "To be honest? I'm not sure. As I said, the three of us are pretty well linked already. But, when Dumbledore came across them, it was probably back when he thought we'd all need a push to link up as Aine intended."
Ginny gave him a wry look. "Little did he know we'd develop a Brogan fever all on our own."
"Hah. More like the other way around."
"Well, since Harry's taking his sweet time, I'll show you what I found. Well, I say I found it, but really, I think it found me." She leaned back to the table and grabbed the book she'd been reading. She handed it to him but then suddenly looked worried. Brogan removed his arm from around her and took it, frowning at the blank cover, wondering what was wrong.
"Try it," Ginny murmured.
He opened it and then glanced at her after he'd read the title. "Really? You finally found a book on it?"
"Yep. It goes over everything. All the things Harry and I were wondering about before…remember when I was sick, and we found out it was because of that spell Voldemort had made Percy do? And Harry sort of…made me better? It's because of the Copulatus Spell. Because it's sexual in its compulsion, we can give each other…well, let's just say that I think his power was greater than the spell Voldemort used to make me weak, and they canceled each other out. All because when Harry loves me…he loves me."
Brogan started looking through the book, feeling fascinated as Ginny continued.
"But there's something else I found, too…look at page 55, Brogan." She was biting her lip as she looked at him, and Brogan worried at the tone in her voice. She nodded her head.
Brogan turned to the part she suggested and felt a hot and cold feeling push through him – half disbelief and half in anger. Ginny took one of his hands in hers, trying to calm him. He swallowed roughly.
"Do you think…I mean… he wouldn't have, would he?"
Ginny looked sad for a moment. "At one time, I would have said no, without even thinking about it. But knowing what I do now about Dumbledore? Yes. Yes, he most definitely would have if he thought there would something to gain from it."
Brogan reread the title of the chapter and felt a sickening feeling in his stomach. "The Application of the Copulatus For Three."
o-o-o-o-o
"Professor Dumbledore, sir!" Harry blurted out and then recovered. The portrait smiled benignly at him as he sat on a purple, high-backed chair, complete with a footstool for his feet. He had been painted wearing one of his more eccentric robes, Harry saw. It was turquoise and silver, with dark blue suns and moons speckled throughout. The inner robe was a deep red, and Harry wasn't sure, but he thought the cravat his professor was wearing had dancing hippogriffs on it. They kept moving every time Harry tried to focus on one of them. Behind Dumbledore were shelves and shelves of books.
Dumbledore clasped his hands together. "I see you have found your way to my library. Welcome, Harry. If you like, there is a container of lemon sherbets on the desk in front of you. Please feel free to indulge yourself, since I no longer can. Oh, if only I'd had that painter include a candy dish in this portrait, but alas."
"Sir? Why aren't you hanging at Hogwarts?" Harry didn't know too much about wizarding portraits, but he had assumed that Dumbledore would have taken his place in the office like all the other Headmasters and Headmistresses.
"Well, at this moment in time, the office is locked up tight as you probably know. It seems it was most fortuitous of me to have commissioned two portraits at the time that this one was being painted. One, so I could stay at the school and help the next Headmaster, as is my duty, and the second, so I could visit my library in peace."
"Did this portrait activate when you, er, that is…"
"When I died, yes, Harry. Do not censor yourself for me. I know that I am now truly dead, Harry. It's all right."
Harry sat in one of the chairs at the desk, feeling strangely unreal. "Can I say…I am sorry, Sir. Sorry I wasn't there that night to help you."
Dumbledore studied him from behind his half-moon glasses. "It was a fight that you were never meant to partake in Harry, do not let it bother you. Tom and I had made that date with each other long before you were even born, I dare say. I feel as though I must apologize to you, Harry. I never meant to leave you without…explaining some things to you."
"There has been a lot that has happened," Harry admitted, absentmindedly reaching for one of the lemon sherbets from Dumbledore's desk. He glanced up at the portrait, seeing a happy smile on the Headmaster's face. "There are things I wish I could have talked to you about more."
"My previous self, that is, the living me, talked to this portrait at least twice a week to keep me up to date on what he was thinking. I will answer your questions to the best of my abilities, I promise. I owe you that, Harry. It was never my intention to keep information from you. But by his own nature, my human self was a bit…tight-lipped, shall we say?"
Harry snorted despite himself and then felt embarrassed. Dumbledore's portrait merely looked amused and folded his hands in front of him, as though waiting. Harry frowned as he thought about what he could ask. He looked up again at the portrait.
"Perhaps, er, you could tell me…that is, your brother sent me a letter and gave me these bracelets that he said would be important, but I reckon I don't understand what they're for."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrow and brought his fingers to his lips in a steepled fashion. "He sent you the Ophidian Armilla, did he? Interesting. Did he explain them at all?"
"Not exactly, no. He mentioned a book that I should read, which is why we came here today, but er…the book is in Greek and refuses to respond to the translation spell I tried."
Dumbledore gave him a little smile. "Why, Harry, I would have thought it was obvious what you should do to translate it."
Harry frowned. "Obvious? Is there a spell for quick-learning Ancient Greek?" Harry wondered if he should ask Hermione if she knew of one.
"Do you know what the word ophidian means, Harry?" Dumbledore asked him now. Harry startled and then took a guess.
"I assumed…snakes."
"Yes. And what ability do you and Voldemort share?"
Harry felt stupid suddenly and looked at Dumbledore. "You mean, I just need to use Parseltongue to get it to translate?"
Dumbledore smiled. "That particular book was written by a very devout Slytherin. The spell was later put on the book to protect it from impure eyes. Try the translation spell in Parseltongue, and it should work for you."
Harry shook his head. "Sir, why…how am I ever going to defeat him, if I can't even remember to try Parseltongue on something?"
Dumbledore leaned forward in the painting. "Harry, you must not be too hard on yourself. I am sure you have a lot of things on your mind at the point. That's why I came to the library, hoping I could be of some assistance."
"You knew we would eventually want to come here?" Harry asked.
"I hoped. I knew there were things you would need to learn before the end. Tell me, how is your wandless magic coming along?"
"It's…it's fine. More than fine, actually," Harry said. "I think you would be proud of me."
"I was always proud of you, Harry."
Harry experienced a choked up feeling at the portrait's words and looked away, blinking fast. When he finally looked back up at the portrait, the Headmaster was pretending to clean his glasses.
"Sir, when we visited Lough Gur, before you, er…got hurt, we visited Black Castle and…"
"You met Peabody Grange."
"You knew?"
Dumbledore sighed. "I suspected. It had occurred to me more than once that Peabody was still alive, but I only half-knew about his connection to your godfather's family. I had no idea he had been keeping himself locked away there. What did he tell you?"
"Not much, it was like talking to someone who knew the end of a book you hadn't even read yet. But, he showed Ginny a portrait. It was, she claims, a portrait of herself, but from a different time. Do you know anything about that?"
Dumbledore's portrait studied him openly, and Harry was relieved that the painted Dumbledore couldn't make him squirm like the real Dumbledore had done, or use Occlumency to read his mind. The portrait finally answered his question with a few of his own.
"How far have you come in your research of Aine? About her Well? The fact that she studied time-travel?"
"Ginny knows more than me, but, Sir… the portrait. It's changed. It's…blank now. Brogan and Ginny went back to the castle to talk to him, but he had left, and that was what they found."
Dumbledore's eyes widen as though surprised, and he then shook his head. "Harry, you have just completely knocked me for a loop. The portrait still exists, but it's…blank, you say? Interesting. Very interesting." The portrait rested his chin on his hand, his eyes taking on a faraway gleam.
"But why has it changed?" Harry asked, feeling frustrated. He felt as though portrait Dumbledore was just as cagey as the live one used to be. He ran his hand through his hair, wondering if he could get Ginny to join them. He was sure she had her own questions to ask their former headmaster.
"Tell me, Harry, is Brogan Caley with you today?"
Harry wondered what Brogan had to do with it. "Yeah, he is. He, er, we're all friends now. Good friends." Harry didn't want to say anything more than that. To a portrait of all things.
"Excellent!" Dumbledore's portrait cried. "I was hoping the two of you would be able to become better acquainted."
Harry was about to ask another question when he heard voices talking outside the room. He heard Ginny calling for him and got up to see what they wanted. He suddenly felt a deep sense of betrayal burn through him and shook his head a moment to clear it. What on earth had happened? He realized it was coming from Brogan and quickly opened the door, finding them standing in between the dining room and the kitchen. There was an air of tension between them that Harry immediately picked up on.
"What's going on?"
Ginny turned to him first. "Harry! We got a bit worried when we couldn't find you."
Harry looked at Brogan, who wouldn't meet his eyes for some reason. He watched the other man for a moment and then looked at Ginny. "Sorry, it's just…there's a portrait of Dumbledore here, and I was talking with him and…"
"What? Where is he?" Brogan exclaimed, looking upset. "I need to talk to him."
"He's just in here," Harry said, indicating the room behind him. Brogan pushed past him and stormed into the room, leaving Harry looking after him, confused. He glanced at Ginny, who came over and took his hand.
"Gin, what's going on?"
"I found a book on the Copulatus Spell and…" She stopped when they heard Brogan call out for them. They went to the doorway, watching as Brogan paced back and forth in front of the portrait, the air around him crackling with angry energy.
But Dumbledore was no longer in his portrait. It was empty.
o-o-o-o-o
Harry shook his head at Ginny as he flipped through the Copulatus book. "This doesn't make any sense, why would Dumbledore do this, if he did? I'm not convinced."
Brogan grunted as he still paced beside them. They'd moved out to the dining table, and he was walking back and forth in front of the large windows. Harry vaguely noticed that the waves seemed choppier and windier than before. Ginny sighed.
"He was manipulative, Harry. You have to admit this seems like something he would do."
"But Brogan didn't feel any compulsion to have sex with us constantly. Er, well, not back then. Are you telling me Dumbledore included him in the spell he cast on us from the very start?"
Ginny frowned. "Well, no, that does seem far-fetched. Not to mention we'd never even met Brogan before the Abbey and he couldn't possibly have cast it until later."
"It's all been a lie," Brogan muttered, and Harry sharply turned his head to look at the other man.
"It has not. You are not under the same spell as us. And even if he did do it, Brogan, the spell can't bring out anything that isn't there already. He told us that, and the book even says it."
Brogan gave him a pitying look and didn't say anything. Ginny reached out and squeezed Harry's hand.
"I know you want to think well of Dumbledore, love, but…"
Just then, they heard Ron and Hermione coming from the library. The other couple smiled at them, and Hermione looked particularly happy.
"Is it time for lunch? We're starving, and we've learned so much!" Hermione paused as she caught sight of Brogan, who was still pacing, and she frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Ginny said, hiding the book under the other ones she'd brought with her. "We were just wondering about lunch as well. Do you think we should go up to that café and see what they have?"
As the others talked about it, Harry got up and went to stand next to Brogan, who had finally stopped pacing and was looking out the window, a grim expression on his face. Harry let his arm rub against the other man to try to calm him and gave him a half-smile.
"It has not been a lie," he said again, much softer this time so only Brogan could hear him. "Push that thought right out of your head. We want you because we want you, not because of some stupid spell."
However, Brogan did not look convinced, and Harry knew that until they got a chance to talk to Dumbledore's portrait, the other man would not be able to let it go. Just then they heard a chiming noise echo through the residence. They all looked at each other, and Ron and Ginny already had their wands out, Harry was proud to see. They all breathed a sigh of relief as Lupin came around the corner.
"Oh, you're all here! Great, thought I would have to round you lot up for food. I should have known better," he said, smirking. "I took the liberty of bringing lunch with me. From the Whaligoe Café to you."
He opened his pocket and then used his wand to re-enlarge various bags and boxes of food. Hermione and Ron and Ginny started to open the different containers and see what they had to offer when Harry happened to catch Lupin's eye. The older man came over and smiled at them.
"Not hungry yet, you two?"
Brogan merely grunted and turned away. Harry frowned and pulled Remus to the side.
"Er, I am, actually, but…look, Remus, I have a favor to ask. Is it all right if we stay here tonight and go back to the flat tomorrow? Brogan needs to talk to Dumbledore's portrait."
Lupin blinked at him, and then his eyes went to the door in the kitchen. "You discovered him, did you? I should have mentioned it, or warned you, Harry. I'm sorry. I should have known the portrait would want to talk to you."
"It's fine, we had an informative talk, but again, like I said, Brogan needs to ask him a few things, and right now he's scarpered. I thought maybe if we waited long enough, he'd eventually come back."
"Well, I suppose, it would be all right. There are certain books here you can't take out of the library. As long as you promise to continue researching, I don't want Molly to get too worried. There's not much in the way of food, though. I could pop out and get some essentials for you. Do you want Ron and Hermione to stay as well?"
Harry glanced over at his best mates and frowned. "Normally, I'd say yeah, but…there are some things the three of us need to talk about." Harry saw Hermione glance at Brogan again, and then her eyes drifted over to Harry and Lupin, and he realized that she could probably tell something was going on.
"All right. This library is as secure if not more so, than the flat. I'll be back with food for you three when I come back to pick up Ron and Hermione."
"Thanks," Harry murmured as he glanced at Brogan again. The other man was standing with his back to the room, looking lost and still angry. Harry sighed and went to the table to eat, knowing he'd probably need to keep his strength up for what was probably going to be a long night.
o-o-o-o-o
"What I don't understand," Hermione was saying as they finished eating. "Is that the Ouroboros is presumed to be a positive thing – representing life, death, and eventual rebirth. Muggle religions the world over have versions or representations of it. Even science has its own variant in the form of the sign for infinity! How did Voldemort turn that into something bad?"
Harry snorted. "Isn't that what he does, though? Everything he touches turns evil, somehow."
"He's probably twisted it," Ron added. "One of the books I was reading said if the cycle was interrupted, it could, quite possibly, go on in one direction forever. So if he somehow got in between, let's say life and death, he could make it so he would never die."
Hermione glanced at Ron in fondness. "You really were reading down there."
Ron gave her a look that was mildly insulted. "This is important to Harry. Of course, I was reading."
"Cheers, mate," Harry said, smiling at Ron.
Brogan and Ginny had gone back to the library ahead of them. Brogan had barely touched any food, and Harry thought that maybe Ginny could get him to talk better than he could.
"In the Eastern religions, the symbol for the yin and the yang could be seen as an Ouroboros. The symbol that continually feeds and ends itself," Hermione said, as though thinking out loud. "You know if he figured out a way…if he figured out how to exist in two places at once…somehow. Say on one plane and then another, that would explain how he'd managed to pull it off."
Harry and Ron exchanged mirrored blank looks. Ron frowned at Hermione. "Okay, you've lost us already."
Hermione didn't say anything, clearly thinking faster than either the two of them could comprehend. She finally blinked at them and shook her head. "Sorry, I thought I had something."
"No, it's good, Hermione," Harry, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "I want to hear everything and anything, I reckon. You more clever than anyone I know, after all."
Hermione smiled, and her cheeks turned a bit pink at the compliment. "I think I should read a bit more before I go off into fits of fancy. How are you three doing with yours?"
Harry told them of the notes he'd already taken, but he didn't mention either the Ophidian Armilla or the Copulatus Spell book. It was not because he was keeping anything from them, but mostly because he felt Brogan and Ginny should be a part of the discussion. But he did tell Hermione that Dumbledore's portrait had helped him figure out how to decipher something.
"Blimey, what was it like…" Ron asked. "I mean, you know, talking to him? Every portrait I've ever talked to has been dead for centuries. I can't imagine talking to one just…turned on."
"He seemed…all right," Harry said, shrugging. "It's not him, exactly, but…he said the real Dumbledore spent time with him, filling him in with stuff to help us now."
"Wow," Ron said. "Can you imagine telling yourself about yourself for when you…died?"
"Oh, they've always done it that way," Hermione said as she started to clean up their mess. Harry got up to help her. "The previous Headmasters and Headmistresses want their portraits to be as helpful as possible to the incoming Professor. Regular portraits only have a small part of the subject's personality, but the ones like the headmaster's have to be more three dimensional while remaining two-dimensional." Hermione laughed at her own joke as Ron and Harry exchanged amused glances.
"Well, however they've done it, it works. I wish he hadn't left, though. I reckon they kept that part of his personality very true to form," Harry grumbled. "Actually, could have done without that bit."
"Oh, he'll be back," Hermione said as they headed towards the library again.
"How do you know?"
"Well, he'll feel compelled to return, if he knows you're still here, Harry."
"And how do you reckon that?"Ron asked what Harry had been thinking.
"It has something to do with how they're animated within the frame. If someone really wants to talk to them, they're compelled to show up. Of course, they've been known to fake being asleep, to get out of things, but physically, he will be back. Honestly, I wish you two would read more."
"Let me guess," Ron said affectionately, putting his arm around shoulders. "Hogwarts, A History?"
Harry smirked as Hermione started telling them it was a very informative book to have read as Ron snorted.
"I'll see you two before you leave?" Harry interrupted before their friend could start her speech for what was probably the 500th time in their entire friendship with one another. They nodded and headed back downstairs. Harry shook his head. Some things just never changed.
o-o-o-o-o
