Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the idea of Harry Potter or any of the money making forms of it.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews :D

Questions/Concerns Concerning:

Harry's mental state concerning age: He's had the entire summer with Sirius and Remus, and has been allowed to act like a kid, for the most part, so his maturity level, I suppose, has slid back. It doesn't mean it's not there anymore, it's just taking a little vacation, though I think if one looks closely, one can still see it (such as the conversation with Mr and Mrs. Weasley before term). His leadership skills will get back into action very soon, don't worry.

Occlumency: Yes, Harry still has Occlumency, it was a skill he taught himself to remain calm with all the insane memories of Riddle swimming through his head. And to avoid any confusion, it was not an ability passed onto him by Riddle, but even if it as, he would still have it (like Parseltongue) since the bond and stuff had separated the memories and powers from Riddle's soul fragment.

Salandra's effects on Dumbledore: I suppose you could say he has 'de-aged' slightly, but it isn't to the point just anyone can notice. Someone would have to look closely. Since he looked the same as he had at age 90 or so before taking Salandra as a familiar, the change in his appearance age-wise now wouldn't be seriously noticeable, just to those who know him well, though he does feel like he's about 40 again. I hope that answers your question.


- - - Book 3 — Part 6: Attack at the Ministry

Dumbledore entered the Chamber, happy he had cast a few cleaning charms a few days after he had become Salandra's master.

:Master?:

:Yes, my dear, it's me: Dumbledore said.

Dumbledore had tried to stop Salandra from calling him Master, but she had been stubborn, so he finally relented.

:Not that I really need to ask…: Salandra said, slithering forward with her eyes closed. :I can taste those tart lemon things from the moment you step foot in the tunnel:

Dumbledore chuckled.

:Is there a reason for your visit? Or is this simply another small talk visit; I much like those:

:Actually, I have thought of something. I came across a book in my travel years ago, and have just recalled something within it about magical stares:

:What brought this on, Master?:

:A few things, but mainly after a minor incident at the ministry last week:

:Ah… you scared a poor sap, I take it?:

:More like terrified them to the point of nearly causing them to faint:

:What did he do to anger you, Master?:

:She, actually. Madam Dolores Jane Umbridge…. Anyways, she had once again insisted on having Dementors guard Hogwarts. I refused, in front of many governors, I might add, as well as other important officials within the Ministry and those who happened to be there. She didn't like it and started accusing me of risking the lives of my students:

Dumbledore paused, recalling and retelling the incident…

Flashback

Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace and onto the main floor of the Ministry. He was quite pleased with how things were going, considering the circumstances.

He was about to begin his journey to the chamber where Wizengamot meetings took place when a pink blimp bumped into his side.

"Pardon me—" He looked down, mainly to identify the gender, species, and, if possible, employment of the person who had hit him before continuing. After convincing himself that this…individual…wasn't a sad attempt between gene splicing and scientific experiments of and on pink hedgehogs and lumpy swamp frogs, but was the horrible woman who had contaminated his office weeks ago, he finished. "—Madam."

"Quite alright, I am sure you had not meant to get in my way," she replied with disturbing 'sweetness'.

Dumbledore gave a simple nod in greeting and parting before turning slightly to continue on his way, but evidently the human toad—er, toad human—had other ideas. She placed a hand on his arm, quite firmly, Dumbledore noted, forcing him to stop.

Dumbledore could have continued, of course, but he rather liked these robes, and did not desire for her nails to damage the fine threads.

"Headmaster, actually, I am glad you bumped into me, I have a matter I wish to discuss with you."

"Oh, Madam? I am sure this discussion would be enlightening and informative for us both, but my presence is currently needed elsewhere."

"I am sure it can wait for just a moment, Headmaster, since this discussion concerns Hogwarts and its inhabitants."

"Hmm, very well, I am sure they can excuse a few minutes," Dumbledore said.

"I do not know why you turned down the Ministry's gracious offer of improving the protection around Hogwarts, but you should reconsider," she stated bluntly, straightening her back in vain to gain more height and importance. "Dementors can offer a protection no one else can."

"Not a single dementor will ever protect anything or anyone, and not a single one will ever 'try' to, near or on the grounds of Hogwarts," Dumbledore stated simply, unintentionally (or intentionally…) gathering the attention of a number of people walking past them.

"You are making a mistake, Headmaster. You should want to utilize every protection offered to protect your school and your students," she argued, more people now turning to see what was happening, especially when they recognized Dumbledore.

"I do not believe Dementors can be utilized in such a way," Dumbledore flatly said, annoyance barely below the surface.

"Why, I see that you have not an open mind, Headmaster, or an intelligent one," she said.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at that, deciding now was the time to take off the gloves, so to speak.

"I do not claim to be seriously intelligent, and I am certainly not extremely wise or perfect, but I do know a very bad idea when I hear one, and using dementors to guard a school, my dear, is a very bad idea."

"What if one of the escaped convicts tried to get into Hogwarts? Are you willing to risk the children of Hogwarts because of your stubbornness?"

"I am not willing to risk anything when it comes to those I protect, which is why I will never allow a dementor near them while I draw breath."

People were now clearly staring, gaping at Dumbledore's responses, and amazed and appalled by Umbridge's words.

"You are a danger to Hogwarts and to the Ministry if you cannot see reason," she said. "I have tried to show you reason, convince you that your beliefs are unfounded, but you have left me no choice. I don't know how you convinced the Minister of not pursuing the aid of dementors — perhaps you felt it 'right' to overstep your bounds and trick the Minister…I wouldn't be surprised if an imperio was involved — but I will see you removed from your post and exposed as the crooked and deplorable man you are! For you are risking the children of Hogwarts on a false belief!"

That did it.

Drawing use of his full height, he towered over her, too angry to really bother hiding half of his magic that was now pouring from him and visibly rippling across the floor around him.

The normally busy and chattering traffic that traversed across the main floor of the Ministry was now silent and focused on the two brightly clothed people near the middle of it. People stepped back, their feet actually feeling angry magic brushing under them as the air thickened with apprehension.

"A 'danger,' Madam? 'Unfounded beliefs'? 'Tricking' the Minister? Using the Imperious Curse?" His voice was just as even and soft as the start of their conversation, but it had a sharpness to it that no one had ever heard before. If a physical thing, it could have easily sliced an atom in two. "People have accused me of many things, and I often ignore those absurd accusations, even the imperious, but the one thing I will never allow to slide by without open and firm argument and comment from me is the allegation that I do not hold the safety and welfare of my students to the highest degree."

He was now almost glaring down at her, and she actually took a shaky step away from him, no longer touching his arm—for which Dumbledore was thankful, privately promising himself to wash his robes three times once he got back to Hogwarts.

No one moved as he opened his mouth again, clearly not done.

"I value the lives of my students and those I protect above my own. I treasure each life that accepts the invitation to attend or teach at Hogwarts, and I certainly know every child is a precious, priceless, and sacred gift. I will treat them as such." His eyes narrowed, his voice for the first time rising as he continued. "Which is why no dementor will be allowed near them, why I will be speaking with the Minister after I attend the meeting I am now late to, and why you will be unable to step foot on the premises of Hogwarts from this moment onwards."

Umbridge was white, breathing shallowly, her eyes wide as Dumbledore's eyes continued to ground into her.

"Make no mistake, Madam, I take the safety of my students very seriously. I daresay you are incapable of comprehending how grand and heavy such a proud and important burden that is. Good day to you, Madam, and please note that I do not think it would be wise for you to attempt a conversation with me in the future."

He drew in his magic, though it still ebbed a few inches from his skin, as he side stepped and began walking forward, going past her without another glance.

End Flashback

:I can see why you have taken a recent interest in magic gazes and glares: Salandra said.

Dumbledore couldn't be sure, but it seemed as if Salandra was smiling. She was definitely pleased.

:Yes, and it also got me thinking a little bit more about your eyes. I don't know if it will work for you, but the book did talk about placing a spell on magical eyes enabling the individual to control when to hold and release the effects of their eyes. I was wondering if you would be willing to try. I know the spell:

:I would be most pleased if we tried: she said, suddenly sounding oddly touched.

Dumbledore smiled, pulling out his wand.

:Master, I am sure you know that, besides my gaze, I am also spell resistant: Salandra advised. :My magic coats my entire body, neutralizing magic that is not my own:

:Is there a way around that?:

:You are my Master, so at least some of your magic should make it through; just put as much power as you can into the spell, hopefully that will be enough:

:If not, we'll see in the test afterwards: Dumbledore said.

Dumbledore cast the spell, touching his wand to the middle of her forehead between her eyes. There was a tiny flash, but other than that, there was nothing.

:Well, now let's see if it worked:

Dumbledore conjured a mouse, dangling it in front of him as he closed his eyes.

:Okay, look at this mouse, but don't kill it:

:I'll try, Master:

The mouse continued wiggling.

:It worked!:

:Good! Now go ahead and turn, um, your gaze back on:

The mouse became still.

:I have turned it back off, Master. You can open your eyes:

Dumbledore threw the mouse into Salandra's open mouth, seeing the hungry look in her eyes. Dumbledore blinked, realizing he may be the first person to ever look a basilisk in the eye and live to talk about it.

O o O o O

It was a week into October, and Harry and the other Gryffindors were in Charms.

Teddy was standing on a chair between Ron and Harry, watching them try to change the color of the apples provided. Harry succeeded of course, having seen how to do it in Riddle's memories.

Teddy was eyeing Harry's wand. Teddy reached behind his back, his eyes glowing happily as he pulled out… a twig!

Harry and Ron quickly noticed, finding Teddy proudly holding a 4 inch or so long twig, bark and all, including a leaf that was still dangling off the tip of it.

"Um… Teddy?" Harry asked, Ron stifling a laugh. "What is that?"

"My wand!"

Teddy had now gotten the attention of those around them, including Hermione and Neville.

"See, look!" Teddy said, copying the wand movements and incantation perfectly, aiming at the purple apple.

Pfft…

The apple remained the same, but the leaf at the tip of the 'wand' was now shriveled and looked like it would fall off very soon.

"AHH!" Teddy cried.

Harry and the others blinked.

"Did that twig just fart?" Ron asked.

"My wand!" Teddy exclaimed, mourning over the pathetic looking leaf.

"Teddy, you can't make any stick of wood into a wand," Hermione said.

"What's wrong with it? Oh, my poor wand!" Teddy was clearly not listening to Hermione.

Professor Flitwick noticed the disturbance and went over to the distraught bear and confused Gryffindors.

"What happened?" he asked.

"My wand!" Teddy sniffled, thrusting the twig forward, the leaf flopping precariously.

"Wand?" Flitwick asked, taking it. He examined it closely. "My dear, lad, this is not a wand, and though there is some magical residue on it, you can't use magic through this. In fact, I don't think it is possible for you to use magic through anything."

"I can't?"

"You are sort of like Hogwarts. She is a magical object with intelligence and will. She can't use magic through anything but herself, much like yourself."

"Oh. So did I kill my wa—twig?" he asked, looking apologetically towards the dead leaf.

"It was already dead the moment it fell from the tree."

Teddy breathed a sigh of relief, the others going back to what they had been doing during the lesson.

O o O o O

Classes and meetings continued as usual, and the lessons with Snape on the weekends continued to go well, as well as the lessons with the Army of Hogwarts.

They had just started Patronuses, and only a few of them had managed to produce silver mists. Harry hadn't been able to produce anything yet.

It was rather frustrating for him, but he was still proud for Neville, Hermione, Luna and a few of the others who had succeeded in creating a misty patronus cloud.

Teddy pat his leg supportively as he tried again, and failed, again.

He sighed, Professors Somac and even Snape telling him that it was a very hard charm, and not everyone could do it. Harry noticed Snape had yet to cast a patronus.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Somac had said.

Harry and the others went off to dinner after that meeting, Ron and the others deciding to steer the conversations away from anything even mentioning shiny protective things like patronuses.

Dinner was nearly over when a dark important looking vulture swooped in and dropped an official looking envelope in front of Harry.

Harry quickly recognized it as something from Rook. He immediately snatched it and shoved it in his robes.

In the safety of the Come and Go Room, Harry and the others gathered around, quickly reading the letter.

Mage,

Through overhearing a certain dark conversation, no doubt related to a certain Dark Lord, we have discovered some disturbing information. This Halloween, an attack is planned on the Ministry in hopes of obtaining a 'valuable'. I apologize for not being able to offer more information, but felt it best to give you what we know.

Contact those you feel will be able to help. For the moment, the Goblin Nation must stay in the shadows.

Rook

"Well, that's informative," Ron stated.

"I'll contact Long Beard tonight. We have a week to prepare. I wonder what this 'valuable' is," Harry said.

"Maybe Dumbledore will know," Hermione said.

"Maybe it's some kind of weapon," Neville suggested.

"Or something to increase magical power," Draco said.

"Maybe it'll be something concerning dementors—" Fred said.

"Or vampires," George added.

"Whatever it is, I don't think we can let Voldemort get it," Vince said.

They all nodded, Harry already mentally preparing himself for the conversation he would have with Dumbledore the following hour.

O o O o O

Dumbledore sat down, having contacted those he felt would best be able to help in protecting the Ministry that Halloween. Moody, Somac, Snape, Sirius, Remus, Bones, Diggery, Arthur and Bill Weasley, Shacklebolt, Moy, and Craw had all been contacted by either the Amici and Costosae contact chain or by Dumbledore directly. These would play a hand in aiding in the defense of the Ministry, though by the next day, all members of the Order, Custosae and Amici had been alerted to the coming attack.

Dumbledore relined back in his seat after grabbing a few lemon drops, thinking back to the meeting he had with Mage.

He was grateful Mage had contacted him about the coming attack, and didn't really care how he came to the disturbing information. All that mattered was that they had gotten it. Toward the middle of the conversation, Mage had asked him what he thought this 'valuable' could be.

Dumbledore took a moment to think on it, but couldn't be sure. He still answered the best he could, however.

Flashback

"I cannot be sure, Mage, it could be a number of things, especially if the 'valuable' is in the Department of Mysteries."

"I think it has to be something Riddle personally wants. He wouldn't carry out this sort of attack unless he felt he really needed whatever it is," Mage said.

"Well then, if I had to guess, I would say he wants the prophesy."

Harry paused, letting what he knew about Riddle take over his thoughts before giving a little nod.

"I think you may be right."

End Flashback

So Voldemort was most probably after the prophesy. Too bad he couldn't just take Salandra to the Department of Mysteries and allow her to protect the prophesy. She would then, no doubt, death-glare anyone who would try to steal the prophesy.

Dumbledore sighed. He seriously doubted the Ministry would agree to allow the King—er…Queen of Snakes do such a thing.

So he would do the next best thing. He would set up a guard and place members of the Order and the Amici in strategic places of the Ministry, including himself. Mage had said they felt it best for Dumbledore to run this operation, since Mage was not very familiar with the set up of the Ministry, and could not organize the members appropriately due to that.

After the discussion with Mage, Dumbledore had contacted the Minister and invited him into his office. It was a quick meeting, simply telling Fudge that he had been contacted by the Custosae and that they simply wished to notify him that they would be keeping a watchful eye on the Ministry that Halloween for security reasons.

Dumbledore continued by asking the Minister to keep this to himself and that the Custosae merely wished to keep him informed of things they believed worthy of his attention, which this no doubt was.

Fudge was pleased that the Custosae had taken an interest in the security of the Ministry on Halloween. It seemed to always be a day Voldemort liked to exploit. Maybe this year they would be able to have some peace of mind. He bid Dumbledore goodbye after agreeing to keep the Custosae activity to himself.

Dumbledore was proud the Leader of the Custosae had appointed him 'commander' of this mission, but also couldn't help but feel humbled. Mage no doubt had a larger organization to manage than he did, juggling who knew how many members, spies, and friendlies against Voldemort and his dark allies.

Dumbledore thought back to his meeting with Mage, recalling some of the little things he had recently learned about the fellow Light leader.

Flashback

"Have we covered everything?" Mage asked.

"I believe so. Now we just need to carry out our plans for Halloween, and try our best to prevent Riddle from getting what he wants."

"I hate Halloween," Mage stated in a tone that actually took Dumbledore by surprise.

Dumbledore decided Mage probably hadn't meant to say that out loud, and by the look in Mage's eyes, he truly hated Halloween.

Dumbledore gave a slight nod in agreement. "The appeal to Halloween has lost its affects on me as well, and I find myself unable to truly celebrate it as the rest of the Wizarding World does," Dumbledore said, pausing slightly before continuing. "Out of all the days of the year, October 31st is one of my least favorite; it has too many dark memories attached to it."

Dumbledore met Mage's silver-blue eyes after his little speech, startled by the huge sense of loss within the other man's eyes, as well as an odd dawning of understanding.

Dumbledore was certain bad things had happened to Mage on past Halloweens, and, after hearing Dumbledore's reply, knew Mage had drawn the same conclusion about him. That Dumbledore had had similar experiences where it came to the last day of October as well.

Yet another similarity between the two leaders of light.

End Flashback

Dumbledore found himself wondering what Mage was doing at that moment, before just hoping they would both, along with those they were desperately trying to protect, make it through the war.

O o O o O

Harry and the others were anxious. It was Halloween morning.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Ginny asked.

"We have done everything we can," Susan said. "Lone Lantern has finished making preparations at the Ministry, and I'm sure Long Beard and the others have as well."

The others nodded, Vince and Greg being more quiet than usual.

"You two okay?" Draco asked.

"Do you think our parents are going to be there?" Greg asked.

The others sighed, not answering since it wasn't exactly a question they wanted the answer to.

"Grim and Lunar said they'll keep in contact with us throughout the day. When something happens, they'll know and tell us, and then we'll contact Dark Knight to tell the others to go. They can't all wait around there, it would look suspicious," Hermione said.

It was just before dinner when Sirius contacted Harry, alerting him to unfriendly activity (conspicuous people wondering around more than normal).

Harry and the others quickly went into action, Draco rushing to Snape to tell him he had just received word that the Dark Lord was making his move….

O o O o O

The Ministry

Sirius and Remus went along the walls after contacting Harry, keeping their eyes on the darkly robed men, the way they walked alone telling them that they were about to be up to no good.

Ministry workers continued going about their business, oblivious to the danger, but not for long.

It was dinner time, and although most people were either home or going home, there was still a number of people about who would most probably come under spell-fire.

Well, Sirius and Remus were going to do something about that.

Placing the tip of his wand by the side of his throat, Sirius' voice roared across the Atrium of the Ministry.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, and Honorable Magical Creatures, may I have your attention please? Due to a security reason my company, the Custosae de Lux, has discovered, I ask all of you to please vacate the premises as quickly and as orderly as possible right now. Thank you."

The reaction was instantaneous, everyone (save the darkly clothed stalkers) dashed to the closest fireplaces and flooed away. The disguised Death Eaters must have been taken by surprise, for over half of the people who had been there had already flooed away by the time they began shooting curses.

"Crucio!"

"Bombarda!"

"Diffindo!"

Sirius and Remus immediately went into action, trying to take down the offending spell casters.

"Reducto! Didn't see that coming, did you, you creep?!" Sirius shouted.

"Protego! Stupify!"

It was utter chaos. Things catching on fire, exploding, people falling, screaming, running, crying. Very few fought back.

Sirius and Remus sighed in relief as reinforcements arrived, Snape, Somac, and Moy stepping out from the fireplaces. Moody, Bones, and Craw were somewhere else in the Ministry, closer to the Department of Mysteries.

Most of the Ministry Employees had gotten out, but a few were still there, laying on the ground, injured, if not worse. Suddenly the fireplaces flared again. More Death Eaters.

"Oh, come on!" Somac shouted, hexing one behind her before turning her sights on another in front of her.

Before they knew it, they were out numbered, though their skills and superior reflexes kept them on their feet, at least before something shook the entire building.

BOOM!

"What in Merlin's name was that?!" Moy asked.

"A bomb," Snape managed to answer as he dodged a curse and got up.

"INFERI!!" someone shouted from one of the branching Ministry halls.

"FIRE! Conjure fire!" Sirius shouted, dashing towards the hallway.

Sure enough, there were dozens of Inferi.

"Incendo!" he boomed as the man who had shouted before ran past him.

"Where did these all come from?!" Remus shouted, helping Sirius take them out.

"The D-Death Eaters!" the man from earlier began. "They shot some kind of curse, and it made them like that!"

"What?! Who?!"

"Ministry Workers!" he cried hysterically as others around him fought.

Burning their forms to crisps, Sirius felt the mirror in his pocket heat up. He quickly pulled it out, the others covering him, a number of the Death Eaters down for the count.

"Peg (Moody), where are you?!" Sirius shouted, seeing the condition of the ex-auror.

"Department of Mysteries. He just went in; he kept us busy with Inferi and his followers. Reducto! Stupify! Protego! The little creeps also seem to have come up with a few new curses too. Don't let anything purple or yellow hit you, better the green than one of those."

Sirius felt it better not to ask why, just trusted the experienced fighter.

"Got it. We're coming! Where's Long Beard?"

"He's with Lone Lantern, he just mirrored me. He's heading towards Voldemort, Lone Lantern's heading to Fudge. Oh, and that big boom was them blasting through an exterior wall. Stupify! Reducto! That's how some of the Inferi got in, as well as Voldemort."

O o O o O

Near Hall of Prophesies

Dumbledore made it around the corner just as Riddle stepped out of the Hall of Prophesies, looking particularly pleased, and it didn't take long for Dumbledore to see why.

The Prophesy was in his hand, and he was about to activate it.

"You shouldn't have come, Tom," Dumbledore stated, his voice echoing forth, down the empty chamber.

Riddle, his appearance resembling a handsome 25-year old, turned his eyes to Dumbledore, raising his wand.

As Dumbledore rose his own, Voldemort tapped his wand on the orb, shrinking it, before placing it in his robes. And then he advanced.

Dumbledore felt Riddle's dark magic rush forward, brushing against him. It actually made him feel a little sick. Such dark and evil malevolence so close. He retaliated by expanding his own magic, the place where the conflicting magics met seemed to make the floor and walls warp slightly.

"You will die here, old man," Riddle said, throwing out several strong curses that Dumbledore easily blocked, calling chunks of the wall in front of him.

The hall was wide and long, lit by hundreds of candles and odd magical lights, though it was still rather dim.

Dumbledore fired off several curses that slowed Riddle's aggressive approach, before transfiguring the floor into molten marble.

"Fancy," Riddle said, waving his wand and throwing columns from the walls at Dumbledore.

Dumbledre raised his wand, making the liquid marble swallow up the pillars, but when the wave went back down and reformed back into the floor, he found himself facing several curses coming right at him.

He acted instinctively.

Dodging the first one, he sidestepped, waving the wand in front of him to deflect the next. It ricocheted up, hitting the ceiling and causing some chunks of debris to fall. Definitely not a curse one wished to be hit by.

The next was right after that one, and with his wand-hand occupied, he called forth his wandless abilities, which he had happily discovered had increased, thanks to Salandra. Too bad the curse was a second too fast.

He felt it hit his hand, which he had been expecting, but it was too close to his body, right in front of his chest. He slammed his hand down and over, managing to guide it away from his torso, but failed to get it to miss him completely as it shot down right into his left knee.

He instantly knew what it was. Having seen the color, he knew it was one of the possibles, but now he knew. The Bone Splintering Hex. It hurt. A lot.

His attention, however, was soon diverted to something much more serious.

"Avada Kedavra!" Riddle shouted, soon followed by other curses and hexes, one of which Dumbledore had never heard before.

Green, yellow, red, purple, and black streaks of light rushed forward, not all directly aimed directly at him.

He dived to the left, just as he felt something surge from his core and drive into his injured knee. His knee suddenly felt tight, but there was no more pain. He didn't dare glance down at his knee as he rolled to the side, firing off some curses of his own, one of them streaking past Riddle's head.

Dumbledore awkwardly jumped to his feet, barely missing the yellow hex as he conjured a shield to block the red.

The purple whizzed past him, specks of green within, and the black curse hit the wall.

Dumbledore realized Riddle was definitely faster than he used to be, and he was much more aggressive than he had been in Diagon Alley. He was much more confident.

"You're getting slow in your old age, Dumbledore," Riddle noted snobbishly. "You almost got hit several times there."

Riddle waved his wand again, calling the chunks of wall around him to form into sharp cones before shooting forward. Dumbledore reacted by calling a whole section of the wall to swing in front of him, as if on a hinge, before thrusting the whole thing back at Riddle.

It exploded, sharp pieces of stone and marble going everywhere.

Dumbledore passed his hand in front of him, banishing the pieces of wall as the chucks going toward Riddle erupted into flames.

Riddle had underestimated Dumbledore.

He managed to miss getting hit with most of them, but a few grazed him and ignited the edges of his robes and one nicked the side of his head. Riddle quickly put out the flames, now furious.

He began spouting off as many curses as he could, the curse Dumbledore had been unable to identify being said several times.

Once again on the defensive, Dumbledore blocked, dodged, and deflected, throwing back a few of his own curses when he could. Deflecting one curse, however, turned out to be a bad idea, as it careened into the wall and caused a good portion of the wall to explode out.

The only good thing was that Voldemort wasn't out of harm's way and was forced to shield himself instead of completely focusing on his attack. However, the shield Dumbledore conjured was slammed back, protecting Dumbledore from being crushed by the crumbled wall, but it also pushed him back into the path of a curse.

Dumbledore cringed, quickly realizing it was the unknown curse. He braced for the impact, knowing it was inevitable since both of his hands were preoccupied with fending off the wall and he couldn't turn away, but his core wasn't as helpless.

He once again felt it rumble, before feeling it quickly surge and pool at the area the curse was about to hit.

It felt like a sledge hammer, and that was putting it lightly, ramming several inches below his right shoulder. Dumbledore had no doubt he had just suffered at least one broken rib.

He somehow managed to stay on his feet, though, having had a solid stance before being hit. He raised his eyes to see Voldemort, who had obliterated the portion of wall that had been threatening to squish him.

His eyes fell on Riddle's face, confused when he found utter shock. Riddle had obviously seen the curse hit him. Was he surprised the Great Albus Dumbledore had actually been hit, or was it something else?

Dumbledore continued to stare at Riddle, who was staring back with angry surprise, and he was certain he saw Riddle mouth 'impossible,' but their staring contest was short lived as they heard running footsteps racing towards them.

Voldemort straightened, patting the spot on his robes where he had placed the prophesy.

"I have what I came for and have had my fun," he said, and with that, he apparated away as Moody and several others of the Order and Amici made it around the corner, finding the hall in utter devastation.

Dumbledore looked down at himself as he took a few steps to the side to lean against the most undamaged portion of wall. His knee was still tight and the right side of his chest was now throbbing. He knew his knee was in bad shape and that the only reason he was still standing was because his magic had wrapped the bones, keeping the splintery mess together. He knew the damage branched up his femur and slightly down below his knee. He wasn't looking forward to Madam Pomfrey's ministrations, but then changed that opinion when he felt some of the magic there draining back into his core.

He, with as much dignity as he could manage, crumpled down against the wall, beads of sweat quickly gathering on his brow as the pain in his leg came back, suddenly pounding with each beat of his heart. He idly wondered why it was getting so hard to breathe.

"Albus!" someone shouted.

He was suddenly aware of a presence hovering directly over him, and could make out several other people rustling just beyond. Opening his eyes, confused since he never remembered closing them, he found Moody's bulging eye right in front of his face.

"We need to get him to Poppy," he heard Kingsley say.

Moody grunted, his large eye now twirling around as his normal one continued examining him.

"His left leg is splintered and I think he might have a punctured lung, I can't be sure though, something's blocking my eye," Moody said, pulling out what Dumbledore recognized as one of the portkeys he had given all of the fighters.

"Is it safe to move him?" Sirius asked.

"We don't have a choice. St. Mungo's has enough on their hands right now," Moody said, motioning for Kingsley to help Dumbledore into a better position for portkeying to Hogwarts.

"Albus, can you tell us anything about what happened? What you were hit with?" Moody asked.

"Bone Splintering Hex and something I don't know," he answered, before pausing as a strong wave of pain came and went. "It was purplish-blue with green streaks."

He heard several people gasp before mumbling things he couldn't make out. Moody seemed to freeze before going into action. Before Dumbledore knew it, a portion of his robes had been banished and Moody had leaned forward, peering at the skin he had just exposed around his right shoulder.

"Bloody hell," Sirius breathed. "What is that?"

"Alastor?" Dumbledore asked, wanting to know what they were seeing and what the curse had done to him.

"You're going to be alright, Albus; the curse seems to have been stopped somehow," Moody managed, actually trying to sound consoling.

"Then what's wrong?" Dumbledore asked, pushing aside the stabbing pain in his leg and the odd sensation that had taken over the entire right side of his ribcage.

"I don't know," Moody whispered. "Just hang on; we're taking you to Poppy. She'll know what to do."

Dumbledore was too weak to press for answers, and all words escaped him when Moody took hold of his left arm and activated the portkey. He felt himself get yanked back, the familiar uncomfortable feeling of the portkey temporarily clouding all other unpleasant sensation.

They landed, Poppy's wand immediately waving over him even before he could realize he was on the floor of the hospital wing. He could hear her jabbering over him, but it was all muffled by a ringing in his ears and a burning sensation saturating his knee. He didn't even want to think about his chest, but soon it didn't matter either way, for his vision was growing dark, frantic shouts turning into a blissful hum of silence.

And so, for the first time in over a century, Albus Dumbledore passed out.


Next part: Salandra's Magic

A/N: I did warn you people, my bad guys are not pushovers. Hope you enjoyed this part, it was a little hard to write at times.