Author notes: There it is, the next chapter! I really enjoyed writing this one. Before we start, here goes the traditional disclaimer that I do not own Harry Potter or The Witcher, and nobody tosses a coin to this Witcher, sadly. Gosh, that reference is gonna get old one day, I know. Still couldnt help myself from making it. But hey, if I ever become a billionaire, buying the rights to these two is definitely on my Top 10 bucket list! Hope you guys enjoy, let me know what you think in the reviews! If I have any typos, I'm sorry. I'm trying to flush them out before I post this, but some always slip through the cracks.
14th November 1798 AD, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The Head-Boy was walking along the empty halls of the castle at Midnight, stifling a yawn every few minutes or so. He felt so exhausted by this entire situation! He'd been at it for almost a year and a half now, and he finally felt some small amount of relief at the notion that he was almost done! His father would surely be proud of him when he hears the news!
He ran a hand through his black hair, making a short stop in his walk and then letting out an exasperated groan when he felt some sort of sludge stuck on the top of his head. He didn't even bother to stop and clean himself; he was too tired to even think properly! He walked straight towards a large portrait of Leofric of Mercia, the famous slayer of the last specimen of the Silver-flame species of dragon, and muttered 'Aldorner fram Bael'. In that moment, the portrait of the fierce wizard moved to the side, leaving behind an opening towards a dark corridor. He took out his wand and cast a silent Lumos, advancing through it. It was cold and smelt stale and humid, but it was the fastest way to reach from the second floor of the main building all the way to the dungeons. Though, how exactly that worked, was quite beyond him, as he was absolutely certain that not only the strangely short tunnel – given the distance it was supposed to cover – was only a straight like, but he had the distinctive feeling of a slope that went upwards.
Nevertheless, he felt grateful for small shortcuts like that. He always felt surprised but just how many secret passages were around Hogwarts, and how few of them were actually public knowledge. The trick was to say the password in the native language of whoever it was the painting was depicting. As to actually figuring out what the password was in the first place, well, all the passage-portraits were painted in such a way that their content was actually a riddle whose answer was the password. Of course, a competent enchanter could have easily pried it out of them by force, but he had neither the skill nor the patience to do that. And plus, it was an entertaining exercise to uncover the passwords. The tunnels made his life much easier, as they saved him some time and made sure he wouldn't be caught by teachers while wandering the school at night. Even though, as a Head-Boy, he was allowed to – that being the sole reason he bothered putting in effort to become Prefect and then Head-Boy – and he always played the role of the over zealous student who should just learn to stop and smell the roses, he wasn't always in the mood to hear his teacher's praise, or to hear them in general. Especially that Mudblood that Headmistress Derwent brought from Spain. Always loud and so assured of his own righteousness, especially when lecturing him about his choice of spells during class, starting long lectures about the dangers of Dark curses. As if such a thing as Dark Arts even exists, he thought in utter distaste at the notion. And that was how, what he assumed was going to be his favorite class, quickly turned into a most annoying affair. He even contemplated skipping the class altogether and taking his NEWT exam for Defence Against the Dark Arts straight with a Ministry examiner. Another accomplishment of the annoying Professor Diego Serrano was to change his opinion of Gryffindor House from one of happy and willful apathy to a strong dislike, after the man was named Head of House less than three years ago.
Well, less than a year left and it's all over, he thought as he exited the pitch-black tunnel into the cold and rather gloomy dungeons. Even as a seventh year Slytherin, he and the dungeons still shared a strange relationship. The whole place kept feeling too claustrophobic for his liking, and more than once thanked Merlin that there were no classes down there. Growing up he spent so much of his time outdoors, tending to the small herd of Granians, the gray, winged-horses that his family still grew. Even though they only had five of them, his family did their best to take good care of them, and he would spend most of his days with them, which eventually led to a great love for flying. He was quite handy on a broom too, though he never tried for the Quidditch team. The young man would have never admitted it, not even to himself, but the prospect of having the worst broom among all the other players bruised his pride too much for him to consider joining the team. Although, the prospect of joining the team only for then to shake hands with the opposing Beaters and fling Bludgers at that annoying ponce Runcorn was quite a tempting one. No occasion to get one over the envious prick was to be dismissed.
Corvinus Gaunt walked past by the closed wooden doors of the empty classrooms, on his way to the Slytherin common room, thinking back on his final years at Hogwarts. It has been quite a tiresome and complex affair, ensuring the secrecy of the famed Chamber of Secrets. He discovered the wondrous thing ever since his first year, using only a few clues given to him by his father, paying attention to the little hints and riddles scattered across the entire castle only for Parselmouths to find, and, he had to admit, no short amount of luck.
Throughout the past decade there had been increasing pushes from Hogwarts for the Ministry to offer extra funding for a modernizing the castle. That varied from quite necessary things like upgrading the wards, refurnishing, new, house colored cloth decorations for the Quidditch stands; to the rather bizarre if not outright pointless, such as Christmas decorations (as if any self-respecting witch or wizard would ever celebrate a holiday of the people that forced them into Secrecy to begin with! Corvinus was quite certain in his belief that it will never stick, and everyone will continue to celebrate Yule), and a new plumbing system! As if the old vanishing enchantments on the toilets were not doing mostly the same thing these pipes would have!
He almost had a heart attack when he heard of that particular thing. He knew it was quite unlikely for the Chamber to remain undiscovered at the rate things were going, so he made it his life mission to keep the Chamber, his Chamber, hidden at all costs! So, he pushed through a truly exhausting task involving Transfiguration, Charms and no short amount of Confundus and Obliviate Charms placed on the workers. And even though it annoyed him to no end, he also had to make sure there will be a functional piping by the end of all that work, or it was all for naught. All in all, he did good work. And in the vein of the repairs throughout the castle, he did some cleaning in the Chamber too.
If ever there was an overrated story… he thought with a tinge of regret. His father told plenty of stories growing up about his own grandfather, Rechtabra Gaunt, who previously discovered the Chamber. The stories always talked about hidden rooms filled with books, manuscripts and other insights left behind by Salazar Slytherin himself. Apparently, the knowledge he discovered there was what allowed him to rise so quickly to the position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. It was a tragedy that he was deposed after only a few months in office! At least Corvinus knew one thing for certain: he was not going to be deposed by any Blood-traitors, because he did not find the famed records of Slytherin to begin with! The only thing which he found in that place was a giant basilisk. Slytherin sure knew how to pick a pet, he thought drily. He woke it, of course, but it only took a less than thirty minutes chat to decide it's best to let that old girl sleep. Xuxa, as the creature preferred to be refered as, clearly did not age well, as most of her speech was a strange mixture of creative combinations of the Parseltongue words for protect, defend, enemies of Hogwarts, kill and devour. Corvinus could only conclude that it… she was referencing its original purpose, to rid Hogwarts of all Mudbloods. His father told him that was the reason the Chamber was built in the first place! And he was yet to see his father wrong! The young Gaunt thought he may be able to impose his will on the basilisk strongly enough for her to have at least a semblance of coherence, but he was not fully sure if he would succeed or not in such endeavor, so he resolved to immediately trick the ancient serpent into returning to her slumber. As much as he hated the Mudbloods in the school, he wasn't stupid enough to set free an ancient, crazy snake that could kill the entire school with a mere gaze!
The young Slytherin was nearly back to his familiar grounds, that tunnel opening quite further back in the dungeons from his common room. He was already loosening the green and silver belt at his black, knee long tunic with the Slytherin House crest sewed on the chest. He was thinking greedily at his bed, those soft, deep green coverings, and the…
Corvinus stopped to a halt. If one was to ask him why, he would not be able to tell, not really. All he knew was that something felt… wrong. He quickly took out his light-wooden wand and placed his back towards a wall, scouring both sides of the hallway he was in. He saw nothing. And yet… something was so off.
"Homenum Revelio!"
The gently bulb of red light formed at the tip of his wand, but even after a whole minute, it did nothing! According to the spell he was alone! He frowned, but knew that there were ways to trick that damned charm. Very well! Two can play this game!
"Creo Cibarium!" He moved his wand in a complicated pattern vaguely resembling an X, and the moment he was done, the tip of his wand flashed a dim, lime light, before the entire corridor, as far as his eyes could see, got covered in flour! He looked around excitedly, ready to see the tracks of his follower and thus reveal his position! Instead, he saw nothing! Absolutely nothing!
That's strange…
Corvinus lowered his wand and looked around a few more times, before lowering his wand and dispelling the thin layer of flour he placed all over the hallway. He took a few more steps towards his common room, when all of a sudden, he stopped again. This time, not because he felt something, but because he heard something! Or better said, he didn't hear something! In his seven years at Hogwarts, he must have walked by the torches which lit up the hallways thousand of times. Every time he did, he heard a small sound from them, as if a log of wood was burning! Every single time! Not now! Why don't I hear them now?! The fires were burning in complete silence! Everything was so… still! Like he suddenly found himself into a picture repeating the few seconds of movement it had captured for an eternity! He felt an increasing sense of dread rising within him and had no choice but to lean on the wall as his knees began to shake. He was about to drop his wand when, just as mysteriously as this horrible darkness appeared, it had suddenly vanished! It was gone! The silence of the fire! The dread, the feeling of stillness, everything! And he was left feeling like an idiot, sweating and breathing heavily. As he was trying to regain his composure he cast a short Tempus. A glowing of a clock materialized in the air just near the tip of his wand, showing it was almost two in the morning! What?! It was as if almost an hour passed in the span of a few minutes! Just as he was trying to process the latest strange event of the night, he let out a short scream when one of the doors right in front of him suddenly unlocked itself. Unlocked itself! There were so many oddities about the Hogwarts Castle that it really was no point in trying to keep track of them, much less to approach them by the same standards you would approach regular magic. But time disturbances were definitely a new one! Corvinus, now as awake as one can be, just stood there, staring at barely open door in front of him.
I swear, if that bastard Peeves is doing this, I'm learning Necromancy just so I can come back here and exorcise his spectral butt out of this castle!
The young Gaunt mustered up all the courage he was capable of mustering at the time being, took a deep breath and slowly walked towards the door. He pushed it cautiously, as if expecting something to snatch him at any moment. Wand ready in hand, he entered the dusty old classroom, casting a short Homenum Revelio and, of course, finding out he was alone. He was worried. He was a great student and a fearsome duelist, but that blasted hallway made him truly worried!
"Hello? Is anyone there?!"
A voice inside of him scolded him for giving away his position like that, but he already knew that if someone really was there, his position was already long known. And I'm being played with! His bright green eyes narrowed at the thought, and his grip on his wand tightened. No one played with a Gaunt and lived to tell the tale! Corvinus slowly made his way through the room, inspecting the towers of chairs and desks, and looking behind the stacked chalkboards leaning on one of the walls. The classroom really was empty! Which made everything all the stranger. Curious, he turned around to some rather tall object, covered in a dusty cloth. He approached it carefully, keeping his wand aimed at it. He already noticed it, but preferred to clear the more plausible hiding spots before checking it out.
When he finally reached it, Corvinus stretched out his free arm and grabbed the cloth tightly, pulling it down. He took a few steps back, coughing and clearing away the dust in the air with his hand. Eventually, everything settled and he finally saw the mysterious, locked away thing. It was a mirror! That was… not what he expected. Deep down, he could not shake off the suspicion that this mirror and whatever it was that happened to him earlier were somehow connected. And it really worried him. But how? He approached it, trying to read the inscription on top of it. At first, he frowned, being sure it was not a language known to him, but then he noticed it! The writing was as if reflected on a mirror!
"I show not… your face…but your heart's… desire." He slowly lowered his wand; curiosity beginning to agitate him just as much as fear did.
"Well… let's see how accurate you are, Mirror of Erised!"
He placed himself right in the middle of the mirror, taking a deep breath and waiting. For a few moments he saw nothing but his sharp features and shoulder length hair. Just as he was about to back away and let the whole issue drop, the image in the mirror changed! He instinctively wanted to dash away from the mirror, but his curiosity kept getting the better of him. Instead of the young student, he saw himself as a middle-aged man in fine, black robes made of Oriental silk. He had a wide, green belt and various silver jewels attached to it. His eyes then darted to the gold locket around his neck, Corvinus quickly touching his chest, almost expecting to have it on him in reality too. He was wearing Slytherin's locket and the ancestral ring of the Peverell family!
"I'm the family's Lord!"
But that was not all! Behind him stood the majestic manor of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Gaunt, the manor that his family was forced to sell back when Rechtabra was still a small child! The building was even more beautiful than what his father told him! It rose like a palace in the Irish countryside, surrounded by beautiful gardens and gilded fountains! He wasn't living in that pitiful farm anymore! He saw his family returned to its former glory, and it filled him with happiness.
Corvinus quickly cast some rudimentary ward detection spells, the tip of his wand glowing in various shades of blue. The Mirror was truly a work of art, whoever made it must have been a master of his craft! Even with the little enchanting and warding he knew; he knew enough to appreciate the subtlety of what stood in front of him. His mind made, he decided that by the time he finishes school he will learn as much as he can about the magnificent artifact in front of him. Afterall, there was a reason why the Sorting Hat considered Ravenclaw for him! He will figure out the secrets of Erised's mirror. And if his skills were not enough to do it, he always knew he can rely on the Parselmagic he learned from his father!
25th December 1991 AD, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Albus Dumbledore stood there on the cold floor of the empty classroom, surrounded by open books and a small package of Rascal, tropical flavored candies ripped wide open, some of the lively colored sweets scattered on the floor. Above his right shoulder flew a sphere of bright, white light, which lit up the room as if it was the middle of the day, not a few minutes passed midnight. Every once in a while, he would hunch over one of his books, switch pages and hum to himself, or move his lips in an almost silent whisper as he was reading. Sometimes, he would run his fingers over some line or word he needed more time to ponder over, before turning back towards the Mirror of Erised and getting back to work.
In his hand was the Elder Wand, one of the three mythical Deathly Hallows. Artifacts so powerful that, at least as the story went, made one into the Master of Death if united. Whether or not that was true, it didn't matter to him. At least not anymore. He enjoyed studying the Hallows, oh no doubt about that, but the actual mastery of death and promise of formidable power which they held was of no consequence to him.
The long, elder wood wand with dark bulbs along its length moved graciously in his hand, each movement revealing intricate knots and ropes made of pure light, all over the Mirror's surface. He had been working on deconstructing the enchantments on the Mirror for almost two years now, more than once owling his old master, Nicolas Flamel for advice.
The plan was flawless. Flamel, the renowned inventor of the only true means of achieving immortality and gold beyond one's need or imagination, the Philosopher's Stone, would borrow him his creation. Albus would then instrument a fake paper trail of locations where he would supposedly have placed the Stone, until his target would finally emerge. And he had no doubt he would come out to play. Tom never could resist snatching something shiny. Once his former student was in England, he would send Hagrid, the most good and devoted of his staff and also his most careless and clumsy, to retrieve a decoy from Gringotts and bring it to Hogwarts. There he would place some token defenses guarding it and boldly announce to his students a seemingly random part of the castle where they were not allowed to go to, for no apparent reason. He knew they would be confused about his statement, but the one he was baiting would have surely knew the reason for the ban. And from then on, it was a game of waiting.
True, it surprised him when Tom arrived at Hogwarts right before the start of the year, hitching a ride on the back of professor Quirrell. It surprised him, and worried him all the same. He had to lower some of Hogwarts' wards in order for someone in Tom's current… predicament to even be able to enter the grounds, but he never imagined his student taking such a bold advantage of his hospitality.
Always a showman, Tom. He couldn't help a small chuckle, thinking about the entire thing. The biggest problem with overtly complex plans meant to display grandeur is that they are always more likely to fail than a scheme based purely on simplicity and stealth. If the stakes were not so high, he would feel slightly disappointed that his once brilliant student made such foolish mistakes. But as the stakes were as high as they could be, he could only feel relief. It bothered him to no end knowing that Riddle was so close to his students, but he did not risk placing any tracking and surveillance charms on him. He wanted him to feel like he had the upper hand, having fooled the entire school. He did ask Severus to keep an eye on him, and ordered the entire school's portrait network to give him constant reports regarding Quirrell's whereabouts and actions. It was lucky that Riddle chose to go with the incompetent fool image rather than anything resembling his true nature. It meant that his students were most likely in little to no danger from him. The wards of the castle would have alerted the Headmaster immediately if one of the students was severely wounded, or even killed, and Tom would not have risked discovery until he had his hands on the Stone. Still, Albus could not help but feel worried, especially for Harry Potter, who was in more danger than anyone.
He pulled one of the strings of light just so, and another strange, reddish mist shot out of his wand, the small ball of mist lighting up and getting fixed into place, the string of light returning to its spot and fixing everything into place. When he saw his success he let out a long breath and stretched himself, taking a candy from next to him and skimming through one of the books next to him. He was quite proud of himself, being almost done with the Mirror. Definitely one of his better ideas, if one was to ask him. The defences he was placing were quite devious, as took full advantage of the Mirror's insidious nature. He was going to place the Stone inside the Mirror. And in order to take it out, one had to desire it, but not want to use it. Something which Tom would never be able to simulate. In that point, he saw two options: either the Mirror's nature ensnares Riddle's mind and keeps him in place, or he will simply keep wasting time thinking he will be able to figure out a way to get it and Albus will have enough time to sweep in and finally destroy him.
There was, however, one thing which bothered the old Headmaster. When he started his work on reordering the enchantments on Erised's mirror in order to be able to hide the Stone in it, he counted to fortify the Legilimency charms on it, so they are even more proficient in keeping Tom in place. That was when he noticed the rather strange thing. There were no Legilimency charms! Everyone that looked over the artefact, he included, assumed their existence. After all, how could an inanimate object know with such certainty the deepest, most secret desires of any that looked in it! And yet no matter how deep he dug up into the magic placed on the Mirror, he still wasn't able to find them, and that frustrated the Headmaster. For a moment, worried that the famous object won't show Tom anything, he thought about placing such charms himself, but then he worried that his work will interfere with whatever method the Mirror was using for reading minds. He could not risk messing up whatever it was that made the whole system work. Too much was on the line.
After twisting a couple more strings of light into a knot and untying a couple more near the base of the Mirror, Dumbledore stood up examining his work. He pushed up his glasses and holstered the Wand into one of the pockets of his auburn robes, lifting all the books from the ground using wandless magic and placing them on one of the desks in the abandoned classroom. He sat down on one of the wooden chairs – oh, how he missed the excitement of being a student! – and pulled out a shiny, ruby-like stone out of his pocket. It felt warm. Alive, somehow. Oh, of how many troubles was that little stone going to spare him. And yet, even now, so far along that road, he could not help but feel a tinge of regret when thinking about what the most brilliant student that ever graced the halls of Hogwarts became. And how much a fool I have been when dealing with him.
Suddenly, Albus lifted his blue eyes from the Stone and looked up at the door. The proximity alerts he placed along the corridor outside triggered. Guests! Well, that is surely one way to shake off the monotony, he thought bemused. Although he never outright said it to either of the two men, he took a great delight in seeing how riled up both Severus and Filch were in regards to ensuring no student wandered the halls after curfew. It was a sort of personal affront to them, and their patrols were more akin to a hunting session. Naturally, the students picked up on that and upped their game, bringing the whole chase to quite high standards. He always made sure to discreetly award a couple of points to whoever managed to outwit the two. Not all lessons are taught in classrooms, he thought.
And so, Dumbledore placed a Disillusionment and Silencing charm on himself and waited. It took less than a minute for the door to open and close itself, all by its own. He smiled, not needing a second thought as to who his visitor might have been. He gave him that Cloak not even twenty-four hours ago, and he was already out on mischief! Oh James, you would be so proud!
And there he was, like clockwork! The levitating head of a small boy suddenly appeared in the room. He seemed quite scared and eventually took off the Invisibility Cloak entirely, looking around and making sure he closed the door well. Albus smiled when the child looked straight at him but did not have the faintest of clues of his very own Headmaster standing there, munching on fruit flavored candies. Harry Potter let down a couple of books he was carrying and Albus tilted his head slightly to read the titles. Everyday Spells and Charms Every Wizard Should Know, by Eveline Lars. Dumbledore approved of the book; it was a truly useful lecture. One in which even he discovered a few new things. He moved on to the other book the young boy was carrying. 1001 Curses and How to Properly Defend from Them, by Arcturus Black. The Headmaster's eyebrows lifted all the way into his auburn, pointy hat. The boy must have taken his first trip to the famed Restricted Section of the Library! Albus had to thread carefully with him. Having grown up with no knowledge of the Magical world – Oh, Petunia, how much I over estimated you! – the boy did not truly grasp the implications of some aspects of Magic, and what diving into them would have required. If Harry was intent on returning to the Restricted Section, Albus must keep track of what he studies, and be ready to guide him towards safer knowledge, or place minor compulsion charms on books which better explained the things he was already building up an interest in. It was a rather charming coincidence that the very first book he took from the Library was one written by his great-uncle. I wonder what you would have thought of this, Arcturus. How many of those curses will he be able to cast properly by the end of the year?
Dumbledore chuckled; thankful he placed a Silencing Charm on himself. His first ever trip to the Restricted Section was far more… explosive in nature. How was he supposed to know how minimally warded the entrance actually was?! An intentionally botched potion meant to explode seemed a rather sensible approach at the time! His Head of House, Professor Serrano, went ballistic when he ran there and saw what happened, taking a record 500 points in a single swoop and giving young Albus detention until the end of the term! Not even Minerva managed to top that with a punishment, and Merlin knew she had plenty of opportunities, having to deal with the infamous Weasley Twins and previously the Marauders.
Still smiling, the now old Headmaster lifted his eyes and looked at Harry. It broke his heart seeing him so small and shy, clearly the result of his upbringing at those horrible Muggles. He kept looking at the boy as he slowly took in the sight of the Mirror of Erised, and was looking intently at the intriguing inscription on it. He slowly ran his fingers on the solid gold, then looked at his reflection. Albus smirked when he saw Harry trying to fix his unruly raven hair. James always kept it as untidy as possible, much to Lily's annoyance. And then, the famous Mirror sprung into action. The young Gryffindor let out a surprised noise and took a few steps back, quickly stopping himself and breathing fast. And then, his next words made Albus's heart sink.
"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"
His bright, green eyes danced across the Mirror's surface taking in a sight visible only to him. Dumbledore assumed he saw more relatives of his, as he was clearly looking at more than just two persons. The boy got as close to the reflections as he could, his hands touching the Mirror. Eventually he cuddled on the surface of the Mirror, in a manner which did its best to resemble a hug. It was heart wrenching for Albus to know that his was as close as he will ever get to getting a hug from his family. Harry closed his eyes, clearly trying not to cry, though he finally resigned into a silent sob. In the meantime, Dumbledore stood there and watched, at the moment feeling almost as sad as Harry himself, while holding the Wand and looking at the scene in front of him.
The child stood there for a few more minutes, looking at his family, taking in even the smallest detail of their faces. Every once in a while, he would say mom, dad or grandpa, and look in a certain direction in the Mirror. Albus, as much as he would have given Harry all the time in the world to at least see his family, decided it was to call it a night for his young student. No matter how it was exactly that the Mirror work, he knew this: it was not a friend of anyone staring into it. And he would not risk Harry being taken in by its influence. Thus, he raised his wand, deciding to make a small noise and scare the boy into returning into to his bed. But just as he was pointing his wand, Harry spoke. And Albus's blood suddenly froze. He spoke! The Headmaster may not have understood what it was actually being said, those hisses and eerie twists of the words were unmistakable! Harry Potter was a Parselmouth! Dumbledore's mind raced, trying to list all the possible explanations for the unexpected turn of events. He felt quite uneasy, especially since Parseltongue was an area of Magic he never had the need to do proper research on. Could this be because of that night? Could Tom have done something to him? This was bad news. No, to Albus, this had the potential to be a truly devastating news! And suddenly, he felt every bit his age, wanting nothing more than to have someone else to pass down all these worries to. Tiredly, he waved the Wand, creating a small noise, at the sound of which Harry's attention to the reflections was snapped. He looked around and darted towards his books, then quickly pulling the Cloak of Invisibility over his shoulders. He took one last glance towards the Mirror then completely covered himself and ran from the classroom, heading towards Gryffindor Tower.
Albus followed him with his gaze, and when the door was shut behind the boy, he removed the invisibility and silencing charms he placed on himself. Sighing, he got up and slowly made his way towards the Mirror, looking at its gold edges intently. With a silent flick of his wand, a whole slew of thin, strings of light appeared on its surface. Dumbledore cast a few more spells, the tip of the Elder Wand flashing in colors of red, white, yellow and orange, before the Headmaster lowered it. He then pointed his other arm at the Mirror and did a clockwise motion, muttering some complex, Latin incantation. And then, he found something that surprised him almost as much as Harry speaking Parseltongue! Beyond all those layers and layers of light strings, beyond all the new enchantments he himself placed, buried as deep as possible, was a feint trace of a spark barely holding on to life. A spark of deep, green light. Even with his minimal knowledge on the subject, Albus recognized it.
"Parselmagic…" he muttered. "How extraordinary…"
Most intrigued by everything that happened, he holstered the Wand and, for the first time in many years, allowed himself to glance into the Mirror of Erised. His heart's desire appears to have remained the same. The old man looked into it, feeling riddled with regret and sorrow at the thoughts of how different everything would have been if only he would have done things differently. His stomach clenched, and he felt tears building up at the edge of his eyes. Two people looked back at him from the Mirror, both smiling, and waving back at him. One was a most handsome man with piercing, dark blue eyes, with short, blonde hair and a goatee. He was wearing the most expensive clothes there were, black and burgundy red, with a long, black trench coat. Next to him stood a teenage girl, her bright blue eyes were full of life, and her long, auburn hair with silver strands almost reached her waist. Albus stood there, alone with the reflections of a life that never was.
4th June 1992, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Albus was ecstatic! No, he was more than that, he was thrilled! Euphoric! If the need to hurry was not so urgent, he would have stopped and danced of joy across the halls of Hogwarts! The moment the wards activated, he took the Floo back to his office from what was an obvious set up at the Ministry of Magic, meant to keep him distracted. His navy-blue robe with silver patterns in the shape of stars was billowing behind him, as he was holding tightly the Elder Wand in his arm. The Wand felt as if it was singing under his grip. It always sensed when he was heading into a fight. And it loved it! It was in those moments when he truly understood why the Elder Wand won its reputation as undefeatable. It reveled in the thrill of combat. Its answers to commands were faster, sharper, hungrier. As if it was saying to his owner, Yes, yes, good job, now fire again! Another spell! Destroy them! With such potent weapon in hand, Albus Dumbledore strode across the halls of the ancient castle, looking like one of the great wizards of ancient times. The air around him was almost electrifying, perhaps as a result of the glee in his eyes.
The trap worked! Tom is down there, I finally have him cornered!
Albus quickly walked through the now abandoned third floor corridor, made his way past the sleeping Cerberus Fluffy and burned a hole through the Devil's Snare plant below the trapdoor and cast a silent Aresto Momentum, slowing down his descent into an empty corridor. He passed by the buzzing, flying keys, the needed one already in the door wide open, allowing him passage to the next defense. The Wizarding chess set Minerva conjured was an absolute wreck.
Must have been a match for the ages! Good job, Tom! I didn't think you'd have the patience to actually play!
He then almost ran through the last solved defenses, the troll, Severus's potions and then finally! Finally! With a flick of his wand he separated a hole the circle of fire that stood ahead, already pointing his wand towards the middle of the room. He was ready to see the possessed Quirrell staring at the Mirror of Erised, his master berating him for not managing to steal the Philosopher's Stone already. Albus already had a cascade of spells whirling in his mind, ready to fire them. I have him, it will finally be over! And then, his world drew to a close, as he finally entered the last room and looked around. His heart tightening in his chest, he took a look around, slowly starting to tremble, not being able to comprehend yet the reality of the situation. Instead of a Tom Riddle fallen into his carefully laid trap, as he knew just happened only a short while ago, he found a shattered Mirror of Erised, a Philosopher's Stone lying around on the floor, a pile of ashes he could only assume to have once been Quirrell, and an unconscious Harry Potter fallen on the stairs of the floor, with severe burn marks on his palms.
"Child, what have you done?!..."
His heart racing, Albus quickly cast some diagnosis spells on Harry, making sure the boy was still alive, which, thankfully so, he still was. He wandlessly summoned the Stone to him, pocketing both it and his wand, then took Harry in his arms and darted towards the Infirmary as fast as he could, panicked and still processing what he witnessed. All his plans had been ruined, and he knew the consequences will one day prove disastrous.
Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter left the room for some time already, leaving behind only the sound of the flames which surrounded the place.
The Mirror of Erised was completely destroyed, pieces of glass from it being scattered across the floor. To anyone that would have looked back, it would have seemed like a deserted, circular room. To anyone that would have looked back, not a single spark of life would have seemed to have remained in the room. All that made it a rather eerie experience to hear clear, heavy footsteps walking across the room. No one was there to make such sounds. An even more bone chilling experience for someone that looked back towards the room was hearing the eerie whistling that made itself heard! It sang an eerily cheerful lullaby, the kind that was more useful if you wanted to give your children nightmares rather than put them to sleep. And then, the true source of all those happenings made itself known. No one would have been able to tell how he appeared there, it was clearly not through regular Apparition. Only that, one second, the room was empty, and the next, he was walking slowly towards the exit, whistling, his eyes full of glee and mischief. When he reached one of the shards of Erised's Mirror he stopped, hummed thoughtfully, and lifted it. He smirked while examined the small fragment, gently placing it in the leather pouch he was carrying. He turned around and took one last look at the ruined Mirror, before turning towards the exit and grabbing hold of the thin, leather shoulder strap holding his pouch and walking out in a rather carefree manner.
"Time to see what's new in the world!" the satisfied man said as he left the room.
5th July 1996 AD, somewhere near Little Hangleton Village, England
It was a silent evening, not one person in sight, thus giving the rural landscape a rather serene look. In the distance one could see the lights coming from the little Muggle village, while a dark, desolate manor dominated one of the nearby hills. The old Riddle Manor, long since deserted, was slowly decaying under the eyes of everyone in the village, while they hoped someone would just buy the land and tear down the sinister dwelling already.
Given the blissful serenity of environment, no one would have conceived it possible to witness something as extraordinary as what happened that one 5th of July evening. It first started near the tree line of the nearby forest, where, from absolute nothingness appeared an old man with long hair and beard. He wore a long, silver robe with golden patterns along his chest, surrounding the buttons. The robe had a long hood with golden tip, and on his head, the man wore a small, square hat, with a thin, golden line on its edges.
Albus Dumbledore pushed his thin glasses up his nose and stopped, taking in his surroundings. He quickly whipped out his wand, playing with it, constantly changing his grip. He looked around, pleased to see there was no sign of any Muggle around. He then turned towards the tree line, laying sight upon his final destination that evening.
After about a hundred more meters, he stopped and looked with obvious curiosity at something he could see. He tilted his head to the side and chuckled, waving his wand over the empty air in front of him. Strangely enough, the moment he did so, a ripple of iridescent, green light appeared in the air, quickly disappearing.
"A good attempt, Tom. But I wonder…"
Albus made a swirl with his wand, a loud bing noise being heard somewhere above him, accompanied by a flash of light. He looked up, genuinely curious. He then placed his palm on the invisible shield in front of him, the green light attaching itself to the tips of his fingers.
"How extraordinary! Though, rather sloppy work on connecting the secondary ward to the decoy…"
He nodded his head and took a few steps back. There were two defensive wards on the area, with multiple decoys and fail safes attached to both of them. How typical of you, my boy! It was so very characteristic of Riddle to find some obscure piece of Magic, and then use it without ever considering someone else may stumble upon it too. He did tend to stumble upon admittedly powerful, obscure Magic, and he always thought that no one in the world could have the power to successfully pull it off, even if they knew it. Thus, Tom tended to prefer taking largely unknown things and overpowering them to the point of the extreme. The mighty Lord Voldemort had little care for the subtleties of things. This, of course, let his works vulnerable to two types of people, both of which Tom would never even imagine existed. One that had more patience and knowledge, and another that had more power than him. Such a thing was inconceivable to him, or rather, he willingly forced himself to consider it so as he got drunk on the power commanding his dreaded Death Eaters gave him. But much to his misfortune, Albus Dumbledore, was both smarter and more powerful.
He pointed the Elder Wand at the ward and shouted Rixtelisimus, a continuous jet of blinding pale blue light coming out of his wand and smashing into the shield, causing a large wave of green ripples appearing across it. Albus used his free hand to grab his wrist, then slowly turning his wand counter-clockwise and pushing even more power into the spell. Tom was strong. He was stronger. As the ward started collapsing, all the countermeasures got deployed. Snakes made of dark, red light formed on the edge of the shield, coiling and setting themselves in such a way to jump at Albus. The moment one of the large reptiles did, he let go of his wrist and pointed his now free arm towards it, tightening his fist. The moment he did so, sparks of white light started appearing around his clenched fist, and a ghostly mist enveloped the snake right below its head. Albus sharply moved his fist downwards, the snake then being smashed on the ground in an explosion of red sparks. Upon seeing that, two more snakes from the shield bolted towards him.
Immediately, Dumbledore slightly moved his wrist, and a red spark appeared on the Elder Wand, right above where it was gripped. That caused one of the serpents coming at him from the side to be kicked in the head by a powerful, bright red flash of light, throwing the snake up in the air, where it quickly vanished. For the remaining one, Albus ended his spell, took a few steps back, and just as the menacing reptile was a few meters from him, he shouted:
"Aysmeshakh!"
In that moment, a sphere of orange light left his wand and exploded the moment it touched the snake, dispelling it. With a quick movement of his hand, he cast the blinding blue light once more, sensing the first ward weakening under his power. It was almost entirely, opaque green, and finally, with a deafening noise, it broke.
Albus immediately cancelled his spell and did a pirouette, his wand pointed at the ground. Suddenly, a circle of golden light formed on the ground around him, forming an invisible, protective shield around the man. He then pointed his wand towards Tom's ward and shouted Coercium! Initially, a small bulb of red light came out of his wand, but it quickly expanded into a bright net which encapsulated the entire shield. It was much larger than he initially thought. Fifteen points to Slytherin for a magnificent display of Magic! One point, Mr. Riddle, from Slytherin, for not taking the proper measures to protect it! Albus chuckled and pointed the Elder Wand at his wrist, making a small cut. He immediately contained the gushing blood with a spell, capturing a bit in a levitating ball before casting a healing charm on his wound, which was as if it never existed. He then brought the blood ball in front of him, making complex circular patterns with his wand, slowly molding it into an array of Norse Runes. The moment the shapes of the Runes took form, he used his other hand to point two fingers at them, and the levitating array started glowing a bright, almost living, red light. With a grunt he then pushed his wand towards them, the Runic circle flying fast towards the ward. The moment it made contact, a loud, buzzing noise started, and Albus made a twirl in the air with his wand, expanding eerie tentacles of light across the shield, all emanating from the blood Runes he imposed on it. Occasionally, across various parts of the shield, one could hear large banging noises and see explosions of various lights. No matter how much they tried, Tom's counter-measures could not penetrate the net spell Albus had engaged. And once the tentacles finally extended over the entire shield, Albus pushed his power through the wand, in a matter of seconds his little Blood Magic trick seizing him complete control over the ward, which, with a mere thought, he brought down.
Albus was breathing heavily and looked at what was once thought to be an impenetrable defense by its creator. It was now nothing, Dumbledore erasing the small golden shield he placed around himself as a precaution.
The moment he took a single step towards the desolate shack in the distance however, he stopped in his tracks, taking a worried look at the Elder Wand. It was vibrating under his grip! It felt… as if it was shouting in ecstasy, unable to contain its enthusiasm. The Headmaster frowned while looking at it, clearly not expecting such odd behavior from his wand. He only remembered it reacting like that once, so many years ago.
"But that would be impossible, there is…"
Unfortunately, his musings were interrupted by the hissings of a giant swarm of snakes crawling towards him menacingly out of the shack. This time, he couldn't help himself and he actually rolled his eyes. He quickly positioned himself towards the incoming swarm and pointed his wand at them.
"Creo Aranea Maxima!"
At his forceful command, the tip of his wand lit up in a bright teal light, and around him appeared out of thin air seven Black-widow spiders, larger than even Muggle cars. The arachnids immediately launched themselves into the snakes, starting to inject them with venom or catching them into cocoons of web. In the meantime, Albus was shooting various spells at the swarm. As one somehow jumped from the ground and tried biting him, Dumbledore instinctively shouted Falx, immediately severing the snake in half. As more and more were approaching him, he lowered his wand and stretched his other arm towards them, pushing through as much power as he could. It came out in the shape of a powerful wind, which took a large group of snakes and violently blasted them all the way into the trees, killing them almost instantly.
In between spells, Albus observed the battle between his conjured spiders and the snakes. He knew he would be able to win the fight with little to no difficulty, but he wanted to go back to his comfy office at Hogwarts and frankly, Tom's little Heir of Slytherin power trip was boring him. And so, Dumbledore simply stopped his casting and whispered two words:
"Ignis Malus!"
A large jet of incandescent, menacing red flame erupted from his wand. It was quickly forming a circle around Albus and extending itself towards every direction, carefully under its caster's command. He let it go for about half a minute before extinguishing it with a mere flick of his wand.
Dumbledore looked around at the hellish scenery around him. The earth was absolutely scorched, and a large area around him was riddled with carbonized snakes and spiders. He carefully made his way through them, eyes fixed on the shack ahead and wand strongly in his grip. He was not foolish enough to let his guard down.
When he was just a few steps away from the abandoned house, Albus had to wonder how was it that it was even still standing. The infamous Gaunt Shack. The place where the once powerful, rich, feared and respected Most Ancient and Noble House of Gaunt ended. Where it was relegated to live, in squalor, feeding mostly from its own bitterness and hatred rather than from food like all other people. They moved here somewhere in the mid-1800s, and not much later completely faded from public view and mind. Lord Corvinus Gaunt was the last great product of the fallen family, though his efforts to restore his name to its former glory were already an uphill battle by his time, and dying young with no heirs of his own meant the little he did manage to achieve quickly went down the drain. His nephews squandered away the small fortune they had left, having to sell almost all their belongings and moved to the repulsive hut that now stood before Albus.
Dumbledore advanced slowly, casting a silent Lumos and finally entering the shack. It no longer had any furniture left, and some of the greenery that completely overtook the outside of the house was already forcing its way in the interior too. The wooden floors were squeaking under even the lightest pressure, and there were quite a few holes in the roof, with various vines hanging from them.
It did not take long for Albus to spot what he was looking for. A small, unassuming wooden box, seemingly forgotten in a dark corner of what was once a living room. He took a good look at it, casting a plethora of detection charms, all coming back to him with no results.
"Interesting."
He knelt down next to the small box when he finally reached it, not daring to make a single move, as if merely breathing to fast next to it would have triggered an attack. One of Tom's creations was definitely there. A Horcrux. He could almost feel it through the thin layer of wood. What have you done, you foolish boy? He sighed and eventually mustered up the courage to flick his wand, slowly opening the lid on the box.
The second he did that, the Elder Wand started vibrating stronger than ever, Albus quickly retracting his hand to examine his prized possession. It was just as before. It was as if the wand was… celebrating. But, what could it have been? The imminent destruction of the Horcrux? Plausible, Albus thought, but why would the Wand be so invested in such a quest?
And then, every train of thought in his mind ground to a screeching halt. Albus even forgot to breathe since the moment he saw it. The Horcrux. Or better said, what the Horcrux was! This explains the Wand's behavior, he thought. He felt completely overwhelmed by emotion! The ring! Of course, how could he not have noticed it in the memories?! The Gaunt family ring, the simple, gold jewel with that strange pitch-black stone attached to it. The stone that, he just noticed, had the Peverell crest on it! The crest of the Deathly Hallows! It was the Resurrection Stone!
"This cannot be…" His breathing grew faster and faster, being flooded by so many memories of his youth, searching for the Hallows. And so much of his later years, hoping to at least find the Stone, but for a much different reason than before. "Impossible" he muttered faintly.
And unable to contain his enthusiasm anymore, Albus Dumbledore reached out for the ring. And just as the tip of his fingers made contact with the cold metal, he let out a horrifying scream, retracting his hand and falling on his back, screaming. His hand was shaking violently, and the pain he was feeling from it was something he would not have wished even on his worst enemies. Something that made the Cruciatus Curse feel more like a mild Stinging Hex by comparison! He barely managed to focus enough to lift his wand and point it at his arm, casting as many numbing, healing and diagnosis charms as he could. And when he discovered what happened to him, he felt his entire abdomen constrict out of stress and fear. The Withering Curse! It took all the power he had left to slow it down, but it was already passing his knuckles by the time he got back on his feet.
Well done, Tom! Well done indeed!
He shut the lid back down over the ring, and levitated the box, no longer taking any chances with it. He was going to destroy it right there, but now he felt too weakened to actually do it. He decided to take it back to his office at Hogwarts and use Gryffindor's Sword to pierce through and destroy the Horcrux while keeping the Stone intact. And he needed Severus. If anyone could manage to have some useful ideas about how to best contain this curse, it would be him. For he had no doubt, the most that could be done was containing it. Such a curse could only be removed by its caster. As Albus Dumbledore Apparated away from the Gaunt Shack, only one thought kept screaming inside his mind: I am dying!
Author notes: Lots of things happened in this chapter! I really really enjoyed writing it! I feel like I could branch off into a full on fanfic at every stop along this time jump. So, first glimpse of Harry and Master Mirror, and a small taste of the bad ass Dumbledore, all in one chapter. And some more mentions of the Gaunts, which I'm weirdly fascinated by. Good thing Corvinus fit the timeline I was going for! We should really get into the meat of things starting next chapter, which will be posted sometime within the next week. I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think! Oh, almost forgot! Aldorner fram Bael, the password at the beginning, should mean Refuge from Flame. I say should, because who knows if that Old English translator I found didn't bamboozle me or not! Professor Diego Serrano is really starting to grow on me. I didn't really think of a life story for him beyond the little piece at the ending of the previous chapter, but now that I put a bit more thought into him, I really find him an awesome guy! The dude was Albus Dumbledore's DADA teacher and Head of House, for crying out loud! Y'all just know he has to be an impressive individual on his own right! Alright, see you guys within the week!