Albus was unsurprised to find himself walking through a jungle as he entered Gellert's classroom. He hadn't expected his friend to keep the classroom atmosphere for long, particularly given his own lack of schooling.
He had one messy encounter with a Chupacabra which launched itself from a tree, latching onto his upper arm. He swore, tearing the offending creature off him and hurling it into the shrubbery.
'I hope you're not planning to set those loose on the children.' He challenged, noticing Gellert standing on a balcony overlooking the room. The dark wizard vaulted over the rail, landing softly in front of the headmaster.
'Of course I am.' He waved his wand and the forest melted away, leaving no evidence of any creatures or the injury on Albus' shoulder. 'It's all a glamour of course, completely within their minds. I'm rather pleased it worked.'
The headmaster wasn't entirely sure whether he should be allowing such practices, but he decided he could easily call a stop to it if rumours of terrified students reached him, and they would, rapidly.
'How have you been going with the stone?' Albus asked, addressing the real reason he was visiting.
'Slowly. It's difficult to discover what the curse was designed to do without seeing it in action. How is your research going.'
'Well enough, Gryffindor owned the sword and the hat, both of which have not left my sight whilst Voldemort has been alive. Ravenclaw owned a diadem, which hasn't been seen since her daughter lost it.'
'So that's a possibility.' Gellert interrupted, pausing in his rebuilding of the jungle.
'It is. Hufflepuff had a cup and a belt, the belt is missing and the cup was owned by the direct descendants – the Smith family, until it went missing.'
'So that's almost certainly one. He probably stole it.'
'Most likely, Slytherin owned a wand which is buried beneath Ilvermorny and a locket which is unknown.'
'So we have a locket, a cup, a diadem and a belt. The diary and the ring, that should be everything.' Gellert added a finishing touch of some vines to his forest and turned to give Albus his full attention.
'You're aware that one must be hidden here?' The dark wizard asked and Albus sighed, rubbing at his skull. He'd suspected as much; Voldemort had always been attached to the school and he'd had the perfect opportunity to hide it when he'd applied for the job. It was almost certainly in the chamber; a room that could only be accessed by someone who spoke parseltongue.
Or someone with little respect for school property... he eyed Gellert up appreciatively. The dark wizard did like explosions.
As it turned out, Harry was only too happy to help during his free period, and the boy-who-lived met the two wizards at the entrance to the bathroom, looking confused but otherwise happy. He was alone, and still carrying his school bag.
'Ah Harry, we were hoping you may be able to help us.' Albus started. Harry nodded eagerly.
'I guess you want to get into the chamber, right?' The teenager asked, looking between them and the door.
'An astute guess.' Gellert replied sarcastically, earning an unreadable look from Harry. The boy led the way into the bathroom, pausing in front of one of the sinks. Gellert seemed slightly awkward, looking around as though terrified a girl would leap out and start screaming accusations. It was, Dumbledore supposed, a side effect of having been imprisoned whilst the world became more lenient. For once, Gellert had been left far behind.
Harry hissed at the sink, which began to grate apart, spiralling outwards with a deep grating of stone against stone. Harry watched dubiously, whilst the two older wizards could only admire the magic that must have been cast to make this possible. Gellert tapped the grate experimentally, then ran his fingers along the bottom of the sink, then he peered down the massive pipe.
'Perhaps we should leave our outer robes here. I suspect nothing that goes in will be fit for use again.' The dark wizard said dryly. 'You would have thought such an illustrious wizard could cast an anti-damp charm.'
He felt slightly naked wearing only a shirt and trousers after so long in the voluminous, dress like robes he usually wore. Gellert looked as dashing as always, his lean, scarred body almost visible through the thin fabric of the white shirt he wore. He was suddenly very self conscious of how old and worn his body looked and rather wished he'd just let his robes get ruined.
Gellert slid down first, then Harry followed, as grimly silent as the wizard who had gone down before him. Albus peered down the hole, noting the thick slime that could hide anything. He conjured himself a large serving platter, then perched on the edge with his legs dangling over the pipe. With a last, bracing breath he clutched the plate beneath him and shuffled off the edge. What followed next were several minutes of heart-stopping turns, rushing wind and the grating of his metal tray against the pipe. Then he whooshed into freefall, landing with a bone-shaking, sickening crunch a fraction later. His momentum sent him spinning off his tray, skittering across a bank of slimy pebbles. He lay limp for a moment, groaning as his body ached in protest of the sudden rough treatment.
Then Gellert was standing over him, green slime smeared up his face and through his hair, and his shirt untucked. The eerie glow lit up his fiendish grin and he brandished Albus' rather dented tray above him.
'Wuss.' He teased, offering his free hand. Albus closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to take the hand Gellert offered him. He yelped in surprise and pain as something sharp pierced his skin, he snatched his hand back, inspecting the damage as Gellert burst into delighted laughter. Albus pulled the animal bones out of his skin as Gellert scattered those he still held, still laughing.
He got to his feet without assistance, glaring at Gellert all the way. Harry stood a little way away, watching their interaction with a fascinated expression. Albus took a moment to straighten his clothes, his beard was a lost cause and he wished he'd braided it before they came down here.
'We are searching, Harry, for an object of great personal importance to Lord Voldemort.' Albus said, trying to regain some of his dignity. Gellert went on to describe the items as they followed the boy-who-lived down a large corridor. They passed a massive snake skin, the dry coils crinkling as Gellert ran his hand over them.
'This is incredible.' He marvelled, bending down and picking up a massive shed horn. It was at least as long as his arm, hollow and brittle with age. The dark wizard dropped it suddenly, darting away into the shadows, his attention drawn to something else. Moments later he rejoined them, slithering through the small hole in a rock slide with laughable ease. Harry joined him, his feet disappearing with a rattle of sliding stones, then it was Albus' turn and he suddenly wished he'd paid more attention – had the others gone through arms first or head first?
He went through arms first, which proved awkward but doable, and he didn't know whether to be gratified or offended that neither of the waiting wizards helped him through. They left before he had even climbed to his feet, their footsteps crunching on the bone strewn floor. Albus had to hurry to catch up, and he was more than pleased when no more physical challenges presented themselves.
They climbed through a massive, circular doorway, then followed a dank, dripping pipe. Then the smell drifted to their noses, coiling around them with putrid toxicity. Albus' stomach roiled, Harry managed a couple more steps before hurling his lunch into the passage. Albus summoned a strong wind, sending it barrelling down the passage and sucking the smell away with it.
'No breeze down here.' Gellert commented, 'I wonder if the venom affects the decomposition process?'
If it had, Albus decided, it certainly hadn't done so enough to prevent only bones being left. Huge bones; ribs taller than he was and a skull bigger than a thestral and carriage littered the central pathway, the spinal cord looping through the water to either side. Gellert blasted his way through, magically pushing the bones to either side, where they landed in the water with massive splashes. Albus cast a lumos maxima, deciding they would have a far better chance of finding the horcrux in real light.
The glowing orb soared up to the ceiling, and he had to cast another three to light the whole cave. Most of it was just water, rippling on either side of the walkway. He peered over, unable to see the bottom, or even the bones which Gellert had pushed aside and concluded that it must be very deep.
Giant stone snake mouths reared from the water, looking eerie but otherwise purely decorative extensions to the tail shaped pillars that held up the cavern further back. A brief inspection showed there to be no void in the back of their mouths and he only bothered to briefly scan them for magical residue – the large statue at the far end was a far more likely candidate.
Gellert had taught Harry a clever little charm so that he could see the bottom of the murky, shallow lake, and the boy was happily scouring the bottom whilst the older wizard scanned the large statue. Albus gingerly waded through the water, coming to stop beside his old friend.
'Any luck?' He asked, unsurprised when the other wizard shook his head.
'There must be a room behind. Harry says the snake came out of its mouth.' Gellert tapped the firmly closed mouth with his wand. Frustration leaked through his every move as he snapped out several opening charms with no success. Then Harry hissed from somewhere behind him, drawing both wizards attention. The mouth grated open, the ancient charms no longer running smoothly, revealing a gaping black maw. Both wizards turned back to stare at the young man, who seemingly unaware that he had just bested two of the greatest minds in wizarding history, was using his newest charm with relish, peering at the variety of crustaceans that had taken up residence on the floor.
Albus led the way into the gaping hole, his wandlight a beacon that lit very little in the thick darkness. It smelled back here, although not of decay, just a pervading odour of fish and damp. The slime was less prevalent, which was a relief because the ascent was steep, followed by a steep, slippery drop.
They emerged into a stinking mess that could only be a nest; splintered furniture, shredded paper and soaked fabric, mixed with more dead fish and rodents.
'There could be anything hidden beneath this lot!' Harry groaned, having followed them in.
'How big was that snake?'
'Massive.' The boy answered, gesturing widely with his arms.
'Would Voldemort have been able to get down here to hide something?' Albus asked the room in general.
'More importantly, would he have left something that important to him here? A rank, stinking animal nest? It hardly fits his pride.' Gellert levitated something that looked like a sanitary pad from the mess. Both Albus and Harry gagged.
'So where is it?' Harry asked the question that was pressing on all their minds.
'Maybe there isn't one here at all.'