Chapter 22- Pass the Torch
"I still think they need to rest...", "No!", Albus' father firmly said, "We first need to find out where he is". "He must have run away already", Ron said in a calming voice, "It doesn't make sense for him to stay here now that reinforcements have arrived...". "It also doesn't make sense for him to do what he did in the middle of Hogwarts", Harry impatiently cut him off, "We have to know for sure! Good, I see James is waking up…".
Albus felt as if his mind was detached from his body, his consciousness slowly clearing up. Multiple footsteps were heard as people moved into a place next to him, "Hey James, how are you feeling?", their mother gently asked. "Still hurts a little", his brother said in a hollow voice, clearly lying about the amount of pain he was in. Albus felt relief wash over his body- he survived!
"He'll be fine!", Hanna, the matron, exclaimed, "Apart from a few scars that will make you look really cool...", "Do you know where the Professor is?", their father interrupted her as well. "No", his brother slowly answered, struggling to keep a groan of discomfort within, "Where's Al?", he asked.
"He's here", their mother said, "He hasn't woken up yet", Albus felt as their gaze turned to him, but didn't even have the strength to move his eyelids to show he heard them. "Tell me what happened!", Harry said, "Everything you remember, even if it doesn't seem important to you, and don't worry if you broke any rules".
"Well", James sighed, "I had a map that showed where everybody at Hogwarts were...", "How did you get such a map?", Longbottom inquired. "Teddy gave it to him", his father said, "How did you know?...", Albus' brother began to ask, "Because he got it from me ", he hurriedly answered, "Carry on…".
"At first I used it to find secret passages to avoid being caught by the Professors", Longbottom made an indecipherable voice as James spoke, "But then I started noticing that the prefect Mortimer kept disappearing from the map at night somewhere deep in the dungeons".
He paused for a moment to breathe heavily, "I tried to find out where he disappeared to, but the map didn't show how to enter this opening for some reason...", Albus remembered his brother staring at the wall…"I kept checking the place, and nothing changed. Until Halloween…", his brother gulped air with a shaky voice as he himself finally accomplished moving his eyeballs.
"Finish talking and we'll leave you alone", their father urged him. "It was the only time I saw Professor Doyle down there by Mortimer, but I didn't think it was weird because he also didn't disappear into the secret passage. I thought they just happened to encounter each other there in their strolls…", James stopped to moan in pain, his voice betraying him.
"You couldn't have known", their father's tone remained firm as the others held their breath. Albus remembered how happy the prefect was back then. He must have managed to get past one of the many defences below and informed the Professor about it.
"So, you think he was the one responsible for Miss Williams' attack?", McGonagall asked with a throaty voice, as if she had a cold. "I'm almost sure of it", Harry replied, "She must have discovered something, and probably the fat friar as well, though I don't know how he got rid of him...".
A surprising low cry was ousted from the headmistress. "She'll be fine till next year, and the fat friar can't be hurt, he's a ghost...", Hermione reassured her. The black beam that hit nearly headless Nick flashed through Albus' head, who was almost able to open his eyes by now. "There was no reason to think otherwise at the time, carry on…", Harry again told his son.
"Then Al too started strolling down there, and eventually also found the opening, but he didn't succeed to get in just like me", James continued, "I watched him and the prefect every night, and I think he somehow found out about it because he put up some sort of barrier that I couldn't get through...". It wasn't meant for him, Albus knew, still unable to move his mouth.
"But that was it. I decided to focus on my training after Easter and stopped looking at the map. And nothing happened until...", he paused and struggled to inhale, but now it wasn't clear whether it was due to pain or sobbing, "Go on...", their mother said in a soft voice.
"He told me to meet him on the seventh floor", he now tried talking as fast as possible, "And when he arrived, he looked delusional… Or… Like in a daydream… He told me I was the only one he could trust even though we'd never even spoken before…", his tone became shallower as he continued.
"He told me to make sure Albus didn't wandered in the dungeons, that Professor Doyle is dangerous and that he's actually...", now it was uncontrollable crying that interrupted his already weak speech, "...And then... before he even... he… just...", he barely managed to inhale, unable to breathe, letting a thunderous silence to fill up the space instead.
Albus sensed his heart once more, only to feel it burn as if on fire. "Sounds like the unbreakable vow", Hermione quietly said as Ginny soothed James, "It's okay, my baby", she repeatedly whispered. "Nick was around so I told him that, I wanted to tell Longbottom as well…",James' voice trembled as he was held by their mother, "…But then Professor Doyle showed up...", he choked, able to speak no more, even if he wanted to.
Albus realised he was tortured, but still couldn't stop himself, "Coward!", he exclaimed in a hoarse voice, finally managing to speak. He knew it wasn't fair to blame him but still wanted to run and hit every part of his body- that's how the Professor found out he knew about the secret hatch. But he only succeeded to shake with anger, his body too spend to do much else.
"Albus!", his father's call, combining anger and relief, was heard as Ginny rushed to hug him as well. He struggled to open his eyes, seeing the red of his mother's hair swirling in front of him. Slowly he was able to focus on a large group of people who surrounded his bed- the matron, the headmistress, Professors Longbottom and Ayers with Hagrid huge figure behind, and Ron, Hermione and of course his parents right by his bedside.
"The Professor...", his father's glasses were completely opaque; his black stubble standing out against his now pale skin, his face emotionless. "…Isn't here", Albus tiredly finished, wanting everyone to stop staring at him so much. "Are you sure?", Hermione chirped in, "You've been through a difficult experience and...". "Yes!", he had no patience for her energy at the moment, "He disappeared in a blue light". "Sounds like a portkey", Ron heavily nodded, "Makes sense".
"I discovered the secret hatch by accident a long time ago, but I only managed to get in there… yesterday", Albus replied to his father's inquisitive look, wondering how much time had really passed since then. "And Nick is dead... and probably the fat friar too", he continued and remembered something else, "Where's Scorpius?", his already croaky voice broke.
"He and Pechman are in good condition, they only had a few fractures that I healed in an instant", Hannah reassured him, and he felt as if a stone had been lifted from his heart, although a larger one still remained, "And Bren? Are you sure he's...?", he wasn't able to finish his sentence.
"Yes", his mother said in a quiet voice, she no longer hugged him, but her hand still gently held his, "I'm sorry". In the back McGonagall loudly blew her nose into her plaided handkerchief while Hagrid patted her back with such force she almost fell over. Albus chuckled at the surreal spectacle, the words not registering in his mind. It couldn't be, he saw him only a few hours ago after all!
"I need you to tell me everything you know", his father continued, angering him, why was he so keen on this investigation right now? "Herpo used some dark spell to get rid of nearly headless Nick, and probably did the same to the friar", Albus just wanted to be done with it, "He caught me on the second floor and chased me down…", he turned his head towards James, to see his reaction.
His neck hurt, even this simple task came with great effort, and to no use as the matron already gave his brother sleeping draught. "…I managed to hide behind the secret hatch, but he blasted his way in…", he almost couldn't turn his head back, "…So I went down to the hall below...", he stopped after seeing the faces of those around him.
"Herpo?", Ron doubted, "Herpo the foul? Like the one from the chocolate frog cards?". "He must be confused", Hermione annoyingly interjected, "You can't just 'get rid of…", she made quotation marks with her hands, "…'ghosts'. And how would he even know it was him?".
"But we know they can be hurt", Ron's freckles stood out against his white face, "In our second year here Nick got petrified by the Basilisk". "A creature created by...", Hermione said in disbelief, her face even paler then his. "…Herpo", Harry quietly finished, "Go on!", he ordered Albus in the tense silence that prevailed.
"Um...", now, thinking about it, Albus realised how ludicrous it sounded, but he was still sure of it. "The password was 'Merlin', I found that out by accident when...", he paused, remembering that this name didn't work the second time he tried to enter, but his did!
"The password was changed into my name!", he called out as the understanding dawned on him, straining his already aching vocal cords, "It must have had something to do with the blood that I left on the door...", he saw the confused looks of those around and explained how the events unfolded.
Now, despite his pain, he couldn't stop himself, his words pouring out like water, "...and the dead knights behind the barrier ignored me as if I didn't exist but attacked Herp… the Professor", he changed his words mid-sentence at the sight of Hermione's hesitation.
"Behind them was a lake full of inferi with platform in the middle", her face changed into shock as she exchanged looks with Ron and his father- even he couldn't hide his astonishment. In a better mood now that they truly begun believing him, he continued his story with more confidence.
"The only way to get there was by pretending to be dead- meaning without hearing, sight, breathing...", he suffocated on his words and felt his mother's hand tighten in his, he didn't even notice his excessive sweating. Albus cleared his throat and persisted, "I sensed passage above the lake and when I got to the middle I...", he stopped again, this time out of confusion, not able to recollect what happened next.
"I had a choice…", he stumbled on his words, feeling the burning stares on him, "…between the sash and the stone", he unsuccessfully tried raising his hand towards his neck. "You mean this?", his father drew his wand, making a nightstand with the item on it to glide into his line of sight, "We found you wrapped in it".
"Can you put it back on me?", Albus didn't like the pleading in his voice, but couldn't hold back his urge. "Do you know what it is?", his father asked, careful not to touch the object. "It protects against magic", he simply answered, remembering how the spells slipped from the dead knights' armor, "It protected me from the killing curse".
His mother's hand closed with such force that he felt as if the bones in his were about to break; his father's face grew even paler, and the rest made a variety of fearful and surprised sounds. Harry contemplated for a few seconds and then aimed his wand at the sash, "Sectumsempra!".
There was a whoosh of air and the part of the nightstand that wasn't covered was cut in half as if hit by an invisible sword, but the rest remained unscathed. "Wait, it's too dangerous!", Hermione called out as he reached for it and ran his fingers through the poisonous green surface that shimmered in a beautiful golden light.
His father muttered something that sounded like, "Not the only ones", and then, despite Hermione warning call and his wife scared look, leaned forward, and rewrapped it around Albus' neck. It was soft as silk yet hard as steel, and unlike anything else he had ever felt, it didn't radiate any kind of power. Its opacity acted as buffer between him and the rest of the world, exuding a sense of security onto him.
"You had a choice? How exactly?", Harry continued as if nothing happened. "I don't remember", Albus admitted, "Everything was foggy at this point". "And the stone?", his father persisted in such low voice only the other three around the bed heard him, his eyes unseen beyond his round glasses, reflecting the golden light of the chandelier above, "Did it happen to be cracked and with a triangle and a circle curved onto it?".
Hermione gasped in surprise as Albus nodded in confusion and had to step on her husband's leg to keep him from opening his mouth. At that moment Professor Flitwick came running in as fast as his short legs allowed, "Sullivan says the perimeter is clear, ma'am, Potter", he breathlessly chirped towards McGonagall and his father, "And the background check about Doyle came up clean, the recommendation was real!".
"I think we're done here!", Harry said, even though it was clearly false, "Can I have some privacy with my son please?". The others were in no hurry to do as he asked, knowing full well that he hadn't been completely honest with them. "Come on people!", the headmistress called out in her firm voice. She seemed to return to her usual stiffness as the others followed her instructions and reluctantly spilled out, leaving only his parents, Ron and Hermione behind.
"I'd be happy if you stayed here as well", his father quietly told Neville and he awkwardly stopped on his tracks, looking puzzled as Hagrid was the last to leave the infirmary, blowing into his handkerchief, which was the size of a small tablecloth, with a loud trumpet noise.
"I'll be right here if you need me", Hanna entered her side room, closing her door at the same time the hospital wing's gates were shut. "Mufliato!", Harry waved his wand once more and unidentifiable buzzing sound filled Albus' ears, "Continue!", he ordered.
It took him a few moments to sort things out in his head- the effect of the invigoration draught that the matron had probably given him had begun to wear off. "The spell that protected that place was broken", he eventually resumed, "Herpo got over the defences and aimed the killing curse at me. I don't think he noticed it didn't work. Then he held the stone and I… I was in his old memories…".
He was forced to expend in detail every single thing he recalled, "…finally he understood that he needed his own blood to ensure immortality so he…", Albus stuttered, "…got rid of his mum". "Did he have any feeling when he did that?", it was a very specific question his father asked, the rest holding their breath.
"Remorse", he replied, "But you already knew that didn't you?". A few apprehensive glances were exchanged between the adults. "Yes", Harry confirmed, "And I'm also presuming he experienced excruciating pain afterwards". Albus nodded and finished his story, describing how the stone was ruined (to the visible relief of his father) and how the last thing he remembered was him floating towards the exit.
"Wait a minute!", Hermione interjected, "But it can't be the stone! Harry clearly didn't leave it there…". "Well …", Ron shrugged, "It means someone else clearly did…". "You're sometimes so dense I'm surprised you can even walk and breathe at the same time…", his wife impatiently scolded him. "Enlighten me then", he mocked her, unfazed. "It couldn't be, because it sounds like the 'Electio bond' was enacted…".
She rolled her eyes when her husband expression turned into a polite confusion, Longbottom, who stood aside, seeming to be even more lost then Albus was. "It's one of the oldest and most powerful types of magic in existence- it basically forces two wizards to make a choice...".
She reminded him the tedious history teacher, or Scorpius when he tried repeating his essays for Violet. "…Each must select a different option, and when it's done, the bond dissolves… Which means…", she declared in a triumphant tone, "… It can't be the resurrect…", she quickly corrected herself, "…The stone!".
"You never traded chocolate frog cards, did you?", his uncle asked. "What? What does that have to do with any of that?", now she was the one confused. "You were busy reading books, Harry was in his training and I...", he pulled out a pack of cards that looked older than him from his pocket, crumbling right in front of their eyes, "…I was busy getting a full set…"
Ron drew Harpo's faded blue card from the pack, "If you want to get something of high value you don't just take it...", he shook his hand and the card changed to a torn and almost gray card that contained Morgan Le Fay, "…You trade it… For something of equal value…".
"But…", "Don't you wonder how we found you?", Harry, who remained fixed on Albus all this time, asked. "I want to know…", he begun, "It was a little black cat… It practically dragged us there…", his mother pounced on him again, her eyes full of tears.
His father's face softened now that he was done with his questioning, "We managed to get you out of the ruined hatch just in time", he placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "It looked like a kneazle half-breed", Hermione quietly said, Ron's comforting arm around her, their whole previous conversation as if forgotten, "I'd say the odds of that are slim, but after what I've heard tonight...", she trailed off.
Countless questions swirled inside Albus' head, and he had no idea where to start. "I guess it's our turn to shed some light on what we know", Harry sat next to his bed, removing his hand. "Are you sure about that?", Hermione raised an eyebrow, Ron nodding in agreement.
"Yes", he replied, looking straight at Albus, "He's a smart kid, he'll find out the finer details eventually, whether we like it or not. It's better come from us. You see Al, the three of us...", his father pointed towards them, "... already faced something like this before, with Voldemort…". Albus was completely engrossed by the words, yet he couldn't help but notice that the rest weren't too keen on him sharing this information.
"He as well split his soul to gain eternal life. This act is done by an unspeakable cruelty, insuring that even if your physical body is harmed, you'll still wouldn't die. And the only way to cure it is by...", "...Remorse", Albus finished again. "Exactly, which is not likely if you did the deed in the first place".
Harry pondered for a few seconds, but then decided to keep going. "This is where the stone you saw came into play... Its magic is beyond our knowledge- It could reflect people who died into our reality... and apparently could also help reunify a torn soul. An act so painful it by itself could kill you", a shiver went through Albus as he remembered the Professor's frightening body contortions.
"Why would he do that?", he asked, feeling his eyes growing heavy despite his will. "I learnt the answer to that from Dumbledore himself, the greatest wizard to ever live, though it wasn't his immense power that made him that. You see…", his father lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "…There are things beyond magic, things you shouldn't mess with- like souls…and love…Which are much more interlinked than you would imagine".
Albus scoffed, what did love had to do with any of it? "It something you will have to learn yourself one day", Harry wearily smiled, "And unfortunately, not everybody is capable of it. Take Voldemort for example, who lived his whole life in fear of death, not understanding the terrible meaning of his actions- not only to others, for whom he didn't care at all, but to himself as well", he raised his hand and, without noticing, touched the bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
"He discovered things that few knew about, if at all, and progressed his abilities beyond the known limitations, only to endure almost unbearable suffering during his life, which ironically were shorter than most other wizards, or even the muggles whom he hated so much...", "But he isn't dead, not really, is he?", Albus asked.
This time Ron was the one who had to stop his wife from opening her mouth, while his mother and Longbottom just gawked at him, lost for words. But his father expression didn't change, "That's right", he said, not inquiring how he came to this conclusion.
"By destroying his soul, he prevented himself from moving forward- faith much worse than death, which is just the next natural step of life". Albus' memory of a man stuck forever underwater flashed through his mind, frightening him to his core. "Tell me", his father pulled him out of his thoughts, "Why would Herpo do that?".
The need to analyze was a great relief. "His life revolved around quest for knowledge", Albus speculated aloud, "Every action he did was for that purpose". His stomach turned remembering how much damage he caused, "But splitting his soul cost him this desire, the only thing he ever cared about", in a way he still felt sorry for the man.
"I think you exactly right!", his father agreed, "Considering what you saw tonight I thought it is fair for you to get some answers on all of this, but you can tell no one about it! understood?", he firmly stated and Albus nodded as much as his stiff neck allowed him. Harry nodded as well and waved his wand again, removing the buzzing spell from the space.
Their mother hurried to James's bedside as a groan was heard from him, even in his induced sleep he still felt pain. "We'll be at McGonagall's office", Hermione said, and she, Ron and Neville left as well. "Where's Lily?", Albus asked, feeling looser with only his father around.
"She's with Luna. I won't lie and say she isn't worried, but she'll be able to see you two tomorrow when we move you to rest at our house", Harry paused, "You're aware that your brother acted the exact opposite of cowardice, right? After encountering the Professor, the first thing he did was send nearly headless Nick to protect you… I guess he's really gone now…".
Albus knew he was right but preferred to keep the anger- it was the easiest feeling to maintain, "Harpo got help, didn't he?", he pivoted. "Very observant of you", his father absentmindedly said, "It wasn't random, someone must have told him to come here...". "Why didn't you want me to come here?", he took the opportunity to do his own questioning.
"I always knew you'll be different", his father avoided a direct answer, his face showing no emotion, something Albus learnt by now was an indicator that he was either lying or hiding something. "And I was right, wasn't I?", he was undoubtedly much better than him at changing the subject.
"Yeah, no one quite understands how my powers work", Albus wondered, "And the ability to sense magic...", "…It's a rare one, which I've seen once before, performed by none other than the one from whom you got your name from", his father said with a small smile.
A new feeling, one of pride, spread in his heart. Yet the name reminded him something else, "I didn't get to talk to him too much but every time we had interactions, Snape's portrait seemed to hate me", he said. "I'm not surprised at that, especially since you look so much like me, and I in turn look so much like my own dad", his father sighed, "And that's only a reflection of the real hatred that man had, one that many times I was almost able to match back".
An obvious question hung in the air, "I'm never done telling you what happened the night you were born", he said instead. Albus wondered if he decided to divert the subject again, feeling like he was returning to his early childhood, being read bedside stories.
Albus' eyes began to shut against his will as his father commenced his tale. "It was freezing outside, and everything was silvery with the fresh snow. The mission failed, because of me. It wasn't the first time that something bad happened because of my mistakes- because I was young inexperienced fool; because I confronted people who were much more powerful and smarter than me; because I wasn't able to control my emotions…".
His father's gaze was directed at some distant memory. "But that day it was because of arrogance- all the praise I got over the years got to my head, making me exaggerate my abilities", he twirled his wand in his hand, "I later came home and stood outside the door for hours, until the sun came up, not wanting to see my wife", he glanced at Albus' mother, who was preoccupied with his brother.
"How could I stand up in front of her? In front of my newborn child? When I just denied it from two mothers on the same night. How can I celebrate the expansion of my family when I was responsible for the shrinking of others?". His father crookedly smiled, "Your mother and I already decided on names on our wedding night- and yours should have been Rubeus Remus".
He looked directly at Albus, reflecting his face like a blurry mirror, "The names of two of the most important people from my childhood, who taught me love and loyalty. But it didn't fit, and when I saw you, with those green eyes and black hair, just like mine, I knew I was right. Instead, I gave you the name of two people who were much less simple in the way they saw the world; who did dishonest things in their lives; made mistakes that led to unprecedented destruction for themselves and others..."
Albus began to lose control of his wakefulness, his exhaustion taking over, though somehow it only made the words resonate louder in his head. "...But their many faults are probably also the only reason we won in the end. After being blinded by selfish love they learnt the hard way to put others first. They both sacrificed their lives for lesser ones, and Snape even did it for someone he personally hated, because he knew it was the right thing to do".
Harry stood up in the prevailing silence, signaling the end of the conversation, "I've taken enough of your time, you need to rest". "Wait!", Albus' body won, and he began to lose his consciousness, "The wand!", he called with the reminder of his already depleted strength, "Who does it belong to?". His father backed to the exit, responding just before he reached it, "You're a smart kid. I think you know… I think you've always known".
"Voldemort?", Albus was half asleep now. But his father didn't answer, not even turning his head back as he left, ousting only one more word beforehand, "Rest!".
