Disclaimer: This story is provided by the author 'as is' and does not contain or represent any expressed or implied ownership of any fictional characters and/or creatures created by J.K.Rowling.
The next week, Harry still hadn't found anything in any of the books he had looked through. He would've given up, except Dumbledore seemed to believe there was a way to track Voldemort. However, before he could get to the library, he was waylaid by McGonagall. "Good morning, Head… Minerva."
"Good morning. I need to tell you something."
Harry looked carefully at the headmaster, and saw that she was looking business like, or at least even more business like than usual. "Yes?" Harry asked, wondering what was going on.
"Albus wants to talk with you. It seems to be his time," McGonagall said slowly.
"His time?" Harry asked. "You don't mean… he's not dying?"
"Harry," McGonagall gently said, "Albus turned 171 last month. To tell the truth, I thought this time would arrive many years ago. Over the last several years, he's seemed to hang on by sheer will. But over the last week he's rapidly withered away, almost like he welcomes death.
Harry was bewildered. A part of him knew this day would come – Dumbledore wasn't going to live forever. But another part didn't believe Dumbledore would ever die, that he would be a permanent part of his world. "Where's he at?" Harry asked a little sorrowfully.
McGonagall had a sad sort of smile and replied, "Actually, he asked to spend his last few days in his old office. The password is Sugar Quill."
Harry smiled – the password was a fitting touch – and he quietly made his way to see Dumbledore. As he got up to the headmaster's office, he gave the password to the stone gargoyle that was still guarding the entryway.
"Hello Harry," Dumbledore said as Harry entered the room. Harry gasped – Dumbledore's form was much frailer than when he was in the Department of Mysteries. His skin had gone slightly sallow; his skin looked drawn over his bones; his hair looked hard and brittle. Surely his time was almost up.
"Albus, you've looked better," Harry admitted.
"I know," Dumbledore rasped. "Have you found how to trac…" Dumbledore burst into a weak hacking cough.
Harry quickly said, "No, I haven't found out how to track Voldemort."
A painful smile appeared fleetingly on Dumbledore's face, and then he said, "Search the restricted section."
Harry studied Dumbledore for a minute before asking, "Why? Do you know if there's a book in there?"
Dumbledore smiled and closed his eyes, but did not answer the question. After a few minutes, Harry hesitantly said, "Dumbledore, is there a book in there?"
Dumbledore didn't open his eyes, and Harry quietly said, "N… no. Enervate. Percuro." Yet the ex-headmaster didn't stir.
The memorial for Dumbledore was to be quiet affair – at least McGonagall had planned it that way. However, it looked as if almost every living alumnus of Hogwarts over the last several decades appeared to be present, and the large crowds around the Great Lake were obviously stretching McGonagall's logistics. Harry and Ginny smiled as they saw Hermione looking disapprovingly at the overburdened house-elves trying to get everyone served.
Harry turned around as he heard a distinctive clinking sound and said, "Hey, Ron! When are you going to ditch the brace?"
Ron put on a friendly scowl and said, "The Mungo quacks say I need it for another couple of months, but I figure I'll give it two weeks."
"You will do no such thing, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione hissed; she was obviously upset by Ron's statement.
Ron's cheeks flushed and he retorted, "And I'm sure you'll see that I won't! Imagine your wife telling Mungos to encrypt the brace! I still haven't figured out where the runes are from!"
Seeing the look of confusion on Harry and Ginny's faces, Hermione smiled and said, "I told the doctor to put a puzzle on the brace. It can't be taken off unless the solution is given."
Ron angrily gestured to his leg, almost falling over awkwardly doing so. Harry looked down and saw an odd rune diagram.
A/N: I apologize, but I haven't been able to find a way to easily portray the chart in fanfiction.net. ff.net doesn't allow for images (img tags), it doesn't allow for tables (table tags), and it doesn't allow for a lot of odd looking characters. So I've posted the diagram as an image at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~kweber/rune.jpg If it's no longer there (which will probably happen when ISU removes my account after I graduate) you can email me and I'll send you a copy. 5 points if you figure out what it is; 20 points if you can actually solve it (without a computer helping you out)
Harry studied the unusual chart. While he was considering it, Ron continued on angrily, "I'm thinking it's a code – but I haven't figured out what the runes or colors mean."
Harry looked up from the brace in disbelief. How could Ron not have figured out what the puzzle was? Ron – of all people! Harry's lips involuntarily curved into a smile, and Ron disbelievingly said, "You… you know what it is!"
Hermione looked sharply at Harry and said, "Don't you even THINK about telling him."
Harry couldn't help but laugh and Ron asked, "You don't know, do you?" obviously unsure whether Harry had figured it out or not.
After doing his best to stifle his smile, Harry said, "No. I, er, don't know what the puzzle is." Ron looked at him skeptically, and Harry said, "Why? It seems you've been working on this for a long time – did you think I could just look at it and know the solution?"
Ron looked a little downcast. "No, I guess not."
However, as Hermione and Ron went to look around the grounds, Harry pulled Hermione aside and whispered, "Ron honestly hasn't figured out what the puzzle is?"
Hermione smiled and said, "No. You won't…"
Harry grinned and shook his head. "I want Ron to make a full recovery just like you. And that's a lot more likely if he follows the orders from St. Mungos."
Hermione whispered her thanks, and went to catch back up with Ron.
Harry and Ginny wandered the grounds, catching up with the various friends they had back at Hogwarts, although it wasn't long before McGonagall's voice cut across the crowd. "Albus Dumbledore," she began, catching everyone's attention, "I could tell you all about what he's accomplished. I could tell you about Grindelwald, Dragon's Blood, or the Draught of Rest. But I don't think that any of those things really show who he truly was."
"I remember my first day as a professor. Like most of you, I had heard about all the amazing things he had accomplished and was already in awe of him. But when I met him, he wasn't what I expected. His password to his office was always a candy of some sort – not a very secure way to lock his sanctum. And he decided to create a school song, which everyone would sing to different tunes – how did that help students learn? Or what about the 'few words before the banquet'? Toast. Hiccup. Porky. Niffler. When he said those words, my jaw fell. This was the man who defeated one of the greatest dark wizards of all time?"
"I didn't understand at first – I couldn't – that Albus was far wiser than I had ever imagined. I only began to understand when I saw the school transform through the years. An aura of magic settled in – not the simple magic I taught, but a far greater one. A sense of the unexpected, of mystery, but with a sense of homeliness – like sitting comfortably by a warm fire. Albus Dumbledore put a bit of himself into this castle, and I finally realized how great the man truly was. Not because of Alchemy or Grindelwald, but because of Lemon Drops and Hoggy Warty Hogwarts. Finally, I'd like to close the day off with a few words: Silver. Humbugs. Lumpy. Toothbrush."
At the closing of McGonagall's eulogy, Harry and Ginny made their way back to Hogsmeade, and Harry noted that there weren't many dry eyes in attendance.
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Long chapter… and it's hard to write a eulogy for Dumbledore.
DragonLord: Thanks!
Lakergurl13: Hmmm… when you put it that way, what are those Hogwarts women thinking? I'm just glad I didn't get any pro-slash flames asking for the males at Hogwarts to ogle him as well.
Feel free to review!