Albus Dumbledore and the Everlasting Flame

by Grandson of Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore returns to Hogwarts for his second year. A major competition is going on at Hogwarts this year and Albus finds himself embroiled in another mystery. But will his growing magical abilities be enough to see him through?

11. A Hallowe'en Task

Albus Dumbledore and the Everlasting Flame

Disclaimer: this is a work of fan fiction based on the worlds created by JK Rowling

'In the night our fears are realized in our dreams'

Chapter 11 – A Hallowe'en Task

The much awaited first Task of the 1853/54 Triwizard Tournament was due to occur on Friday, the 31st of October. As such the afternoon lessons were cancelled, which was a disappointment to Albus because he enjoyed Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Solstice and Transfiguration with Professor Bones. But he soon forgot about lessons when he returned to the Gryffindor common room with the other second years. They entered the portrait hole to find the room exploding with noise. The sixth and seven years were chanting 'Jones-zee, Jones-zee, Jones-zee!' and several were holding aloft crimson and gold banners. A flustered Thomas was at the centre of it all, trying to look calm in the midst of the expectation that seemed to float in the very air like a mist. Albus and the other second years joined right in with the chanting, and were swept up in the motion of bodies when the time came to head down to the Hogwarts grounds for the first Task.

Rickety wooden stands had been erected in an arc facing the Forbidden Forest. Albus was pleased that he and Thomas had at least been right about one truth from the Orb of Duality. It was unlikely that Thomas would have to murder any Transylvanians tonight. Although, Albus thought with a snide grin, Jannes Grundelwald might not mind.

As Albus and his friends took seats in a stand occupied mainly by Gryffindors, he noticed that each of the three Champions standing in the grassy patch in front of the stands had a retinue of supporters. Thomas Jones was standing with his parents and his two brothers, Gareth from Ravenclaw and Davey from Hufflepuff. Albus remembered fondly how Mr. and Mrs. Jones had got hopelessly drunk last Christmas at the Dumbledores when Aberforth had spiked their drinks with Firewhisky.

Anastacia Volkova from the Moskva Academy was standing next to her Headmaster, the shaggy haired Dr Vladimir Strovsky, a tall blonde haired witch like herself and an even taller, leaner man; whom Albus suspected were her parents. Anastacia looked gritty, her lips pursed together and her eyes locked on the shadows of the Forbidden Forest. A handsome young Russian with a woolly hat and thick robes over his broad shoulders had his arm around her waist, but she barely appeared to notice his presence.

By contrast, Jannes Grundelwald did not have any parents with him. He was accompanied by the muggle-dressed Headmaster of the Black Forest School of Magical Arts, Admiral Wolfgang Schultz, and a small boy. Albus could only presume that this boy was somehow related to Jannes Grundelwald, but it hardly seemed possible. Where Jannes Grundelwald was square-shouldered and stocky with a sharp nose, a square chin and deep set grey eyes, the boy was small and ratty looking, as if he had been scraped out of the gutter and taken to an orphanage to grow on up thin soup and little else. His skin was covered with frightful scabs and he had scarce, grayish hair that barely covered his scalp. The boy was plain ugly. Already there were murmurs in the audience of primarily Hogwarts students, and fingers were being pointed as students drew their friends' attentions to the hideous little boy. The boy seemed to notice, and turned to glare at everyone. His eyes seemed to latch on to Albus'. And for the second time that year, a chill ran the full length of Albus' spine, putting every hair of his body on end. The boy had extraordinarily pale eyes. They were so pale that they appeared to be entirely white. And like Jannes Grundelwald standing next to him, this boy seemed to radiate power. In his scrawny little hands he held a crooked grey wand.

Albus' jaw quivered as he and the boy stared at one another. There was something enigmatic about this child, and he did not want to lose eye contact with him for some reason. Equally the white-eyed boy seemed intrigued by Albus, and both felt like their minds were trying to be read. Albus certainly was not yet capable of legilimency, and neither was the boy, because Albus did not feel the sensation of his thoughts being probed. It felt more like the top of his brain was being scratched gently with a feather. But for a boy who looked no older than ten and more like six, Albus realized that this was someone with natural talent that might even surpass his own.

Suddenly the boy mouthed something. Albus' eyebrows closed in ever so slightly. His eyes could just discern a ripple in the air moving swiftly towards him. It was a spell! The boy had not even flicked his wand! Albus instantly deflected it with his wand, and looked straight back at the boy. The white eyes hardened, and the boy turned away swiftly, not wishing to look at Albus any further. Albus felt himself sweating and breathing hard, as though he had been running. The encounter had left him perplexed. He knew now without any doubts that the white-eyed boy was the younger brother of Jannes Grundelwald, but why both seemed to exude such dislike and seemed so willing to cast secretive spells at people in the Hogwarts audience (Jannes had tried to jinx Aberforth in the Great Hall when the Champions were announced) was beyond Albus. There was something about those two that he did not like.

'Can I have your attention please,' Professor Prewett commanded. She was pointing her wand to her throat, so as to magnify her voice. The stands went silent. Professor Prewett was standing with two people, facing the Champions and the audience. Albus realized that one of the five, a tall, auburn haired man with a great beard over his chest, looked extremely familiar. Professor Prewett said, 'I would like to welcome the three Champions and all in attendance today, to the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. May I introduce the judges for the Tournament … standing to my left is the esteemed Minister for Magic, Lionel Wilberforce! And to my right is the magical world's leading Archaeowizard, Archaeon Dumbledore!'

The crowd gave the two men their approval with a round of applause. Victoria tugged on Albus' robe, as excited as he was to see his father present. Albus was relieved to see his father there. It lowered his sense of anxiety ahead of the first Task. He had a vision of the boy with white eyes casting one of his wandless spells at Archaeon, and Archaeon responding by casting a permanent self-smacking charm on the little German brat. Archaeon was the only person other than Grundelwald and his little brother who exuded power in a similar way. Albus reasoned that father would easily match the two Grundelwald boys, given his decades of experience and knowledge gathering.

'The other three judges will be Admiral Schultz, Dr Strovsky and I,' Professor Prewett continued. 'Tonight's task will take place under the full moon on All Hallows Eve. The muggles borrowed this night for a festival, but Hallowe'en is a night that belongs to the wizarding world. Tonight our three Champions must face their gravest fears in the darkest of places. They have until the end of the witching hour, one o'clock in the morning, to navigate their ways through the Forbidden Forest in search of their reward. On the way they will meet some of their worst nightmares. Only exceptional magical skill and determination will see them through.'

There was an audible shuffling of the audience in their seats. Albus looked across the stands and saw countless harrowed faces. Many of the Gryffindor girls had their hands covering their eyes. Thomas was well liked, evidently. The Moskva Academy students in their black robes and hats looked pale and nervous; and even the arrogant faces of the Black Forest School of Magical Arts students were tense. The atmosphere seemed to sparkle with magic. Albus shivered again. This was exciting and nerve-wracking.

'Will the Champions' families please take their seats in the stands,' Professor Prewett said, 'and can the three Champions please step forward to their starting positions. Now, Champions, you are aware of the rules. No assistance can be sought from anyone else. You are permitted wands and wands only. If you find yourself in trouble, send up red sparks and we will fetch you, but you are likely to be penalized heavily on points. You achieve points by reaching the target within the time period. If you arrive late, or fail to arrive, you will not be awarded many points at all. Good luck, and may the best witch or wizard emerge victorious. You may begin!'

The stands shook with noise as the three Champions stepped forward and disappeared into the dark bushes at the mouth of the Forbidden Forest. The cheering lasted for some minutes, until the noise died down and there was a palpable silence in the clearing. Albus felt like the entire audience was straining every nerve together, like one massive ear, trying to hear the first sign of something. But the Forbidden Forest was very good at soaking up noise; Albus knew that from his journeys into the Forest to plant Fawkes' Everliving Oak last year. So the audience soon became bored and chatter arose while the sun set and the full moon rose, heavy and yellow against the horizon.

'You know what Thomas has to face don't you?' William asked, leaning across Mars to talk to Albus. The other second years turned to Albus, expectant looks on their faces.

'Well, I suppose I have an idea,' Albus said. 'I admit I fell asleep before Thomas had finished asking the Orb questions, and we weren't even certain about most of the Orb's answers. But I think it is safe to say that Thomas will be facing a werewolf, a hundred Dementors, a horde of centaurs and a giant. He might also have to face a black unicorn and a flesh eating ghost, but we weren't sure whether the Orb was lying or telling the truth.'

'Ooh, a flesh eating ghost,' Emily said, rubbing her hands together salaciously. 'I do hope Anastacia Volkova returns with a leg missing.'

'Emily, that is positively horrible,' Victoria snapped. 'It would be better if half of her head was missing, as a simple healing spell would fix her leg.'

The girls giggled wickedly at their mutual dislike of the blonde Russian Champion.

'I would prefer it if the black unicorn pokes Grundelwald in the eye,' William said, grinning sideways at Mars and Albus.

'It might help his little brother to have those ghastly white eyes poked out,' Albus said, peering down at the front of the stands, where the families of the Champions were sitting. Albus did not see the scrawny grey haired boy at first. He strained his eyes, trying so hard to see the boy that they started to water. Growing quickly frustrated, he turned to Victoria and asked, 'can you see that weird Grundelwald boy anywhere, because I can't.'

Victoria looked for a minute before concluding that she, too, could not see the boy. Soon all of the Gryffindor second years were looking, but none could find the boy.

'I have a premonition about this,' Albus said. 'I didn't tell you before, but that boy tried to cast a wandless spell on me earlier. I deflected it, but he seems evil. I think he has slipped into the forest and could be helping his older brother.'

'Are you out of your mind, Albus?' Alabastor growled. 'How could a mangy little beast like that boy possibly do wandless magic? It is a skill even beyond some sixth and seventh years. And why would a defenseless child go into the Forbidden Forest? He could be eaten by a werewolf in one bite, or worse, turned into one.'

Most of the other second years nodded in agreement as Alabastor spoke.

'You make a fine argument, Alabastor,' Albus said, 'but I sensed that boy's power earlier. He seems to radiate power, much in the same way Grundelwald does, and my father.'

Alabastor snorted, but both William and Emily in particular looked more believing now.

'I must say, I thought I felt something strange when I saw him for the first time,' William said, stroking his hair back. 'You may be right, but that is one bold little rat if he has gone running into the Forbidden Forest to help his brother.'

'Why would Jannes Grundelwald want help from a little boy, anyway?' Alabastor said.

'Well that is precisely what worries me,' Albus said. 'I think the boy has gone out to harm Thomas or Anastacia.'

'So what are you going to do about it then?' Alabastor said. The acid in his voice had been neutralized a bit. He was looking at Albus with uncertainty; a little more like the willing friend Albus had known last year, instead of the jealous and angry boy that he had been this year.

'I think I should sneak into the Forest as well,' Albus said.

'But that would be cheating!' Emily said.

'No, I have no intention of helping Thomas,' Albus said. 'I just want to stop that white-eyed boy from doing anything to stop Thomas or Anastacia from competing against Jannes.'

'In that case,' Mars said shrewdly, 'you'd best make sure nobody sees you entering or leaving the Forest; especially not your father.'

'I assure you, Mars,' Albus said convincingly, 'I would rather I fail to stop that white-eyed boy than be caught coming out of the Forest by my father.'

'Do you even know your way around the Forest?' Victoria said, looking distraught.

'Of course,' Albus said. 'I went in to tend to the Everliving Oak numerous times. Besides, I will take Fawkes with me. He will help me to find that white-eyed boy.'

'But what will you do when you find him?' William asked. 'Do you know a good binding spell?'

'Yes,' Albus said, 'but it might take more than that. Perhaps I will have to duel him. Whatever I do, I just have to keep the boy occupied until after witching hour. That way, Thomas will be free to complete the Task on his own account.'

'You are bloody minded and brave,' William concluded. Even Alabastor was looking at Albus with newly restored respect. Albus did not ask if anyone wished to join him; he could tell by the looks on their faces that none would have come.

'Fawkes, come here,' Albus said softly. 'We have a job to do.'

The magnificent crimson phoenix appeared on Albus' knee without even a trace of flame. One of the things Albus liked best about his phoenix was how it managed to know when to make a quiet entrance. It stared at Albus with its mysterious eyes, gleaming and full of every colour but overwhelming dark and powerful. They communicated in this way, because Fawkes could confer messages to him through his wise eyes.

'What is he saying?' Victoria asked curiously.

'That the boy with the white eyes is presently stalking Thomas,' Albus said. 'My suspicious were correct. I will have to duel with him. Fawkes, we need to apparate to wherever that boy is.'

Albus looked at Victoria one last time and grasped hold of Fawkes' tail. In an instant he was whisked away. He found himself standing underneath a very tall, imposing pine tree. It was very dark, for the sun had set and none of the light on the horizon was getting through the dense foliage of the Forbidden Forest. Even the light of the moon was obscured. Albus lit up his wand and looked around.

Fawkes had vanished, leaving Albus alone amidst the trunks of hundreds of faceless trees. He looked around for the white eyed boy but realized that Fawkes would not place Albus in direct harm. He knew that the boy must be somewhere around here. So he closed his eyes and strained his ears, trying to hear the distinctive sound of a foot treading on crusted leaves.

He heard the soft sound of someone breathing. It could not be more than ten feet away. Albus opened his eyes. His wand was still glowing, so he defused it. The person stopped breathing. Albus realized that the boy must have seen Albus' wand-light and had been in the process of stalking him!

It took Albus a few moments to adjust his eyes to the darkness. When they did, he could vaguely make out the outlines of tree trunks. Standing in between two very wide trunks was the scrawny little boy. Albus guessed that he too must be struggling to come to terms with the darkness. He knew that he had to act fast.

'Stupefy!' incanted Albus. An instant later a wave of energy hit him in the chest. He flew backwards and his head connected with a tree trunk. Everything went black.

'…absolutely brilliant performance really, I wouldn't have believed it myself … yes, the Minister was very generous in giving you ten, but I suppose he is biased … but Dumbledore you'd expect to be the fairest marker, wouldn't you, and he gave you eight and a half … rotten of Admiral Schultz though, giving you three … so Jones-zee leads with forty points and Grundelwald has thirty nine, but Volkova only has thirty-five …yes, I thought she deserved more than the two points Lionel Wilberforce gave her. Our Minister for Magic takes parochialism a bit far, if you ask me… hey, quiet down, you lot, Dumbledore junior here is waking up.'

Albus opened his eyes and saw a cluster of Gryffindor sixth years standing around his bed. He was in the Hospital Wing. Apparently the sixth years had been discussing the results of the first Task. They looked down at Albus with barely discernable interest. The only one who seemed eager to see Albus awake was Thomas. His robes were mud-stained and torn, and he wore grazes on both cheeks, but more importantly he was grinning from ear to ear.

'What happened?' Albus mumbled.

'Jones-zee won the first Task!' exclaimed Ella Eades, one of the Gryffindor Chasers.

'No, he means what happened to him,' Thomas said, grinning even more widely. 'Well what I do know, Dumbledore, is that after I succeeded in reaching the finish line first, your distraught little second year mates came hurrying up to me, asking if I had seen you. My opponent Grundelwald also seemed a little upset in discovering that his little brother was missing. So we organized a search and within minutes your father had found you, and the boy, lying unconscious somewhere in the Forest.'

'My father found me?' Albus cried; his throat constricting.

'Yes, and the boy,' Thomas said. 'Whatever you two did to one another, you did it better, because he is still conked out.'

Albus looked over at the neighbouring bed. Jannes Grundelwald was sitting on the edge of the bed, next to the grey haired boy. The pillow was blood-stained. Albus guessed that they must have both cast stupefying spells at the same time, and both had been thrown backwards into tree trunks.

'So what were you doing in the Forest during the Task?' Thomas asked. Albus hesitated to answer. Jannes Grundelwald was within hearing distance, and Albus was scared to anger the hulking German. But his flippant side got the best of him.

'My phoenix told me that the boy was trying to track you down and jinx you so that his brother would win,' Albus said. 'So I went after him and we must have knocked each other out at the same time.'

'Are you accusing my brother of cheating?' Jannes Grundelwald said, rising from his brother's side and pushing through the crowd of Gryffindors. 'Zat is a very bold claim indeed, and one I contest is a lie.'

'Yes, I am,' Albus said, fixing the hulking German with a stare. Grundelwald's face went red and he snatched at his white wand. But Thomas and the other Gryffindors quickly had theirs out, and a mass dispute looked set to break out.

'Put your wands away!' commanded the powerful voice of Archaeon Dumbledore from the door of the Hospital Wing. He addressed them all as he marched across the wooden floor. 'Jones, you and your compatriots should be in Gryffindor Tower. A celebration awaits you. Grundelwald, I assure you that your brother is safe in the hands of Madam Rose, but you too should return to your school's compound. They, too, wish to celebrate with you.'

'I'll tell you about the Task later,' Thomas promised Albus, before his friends whisked him away. Grundelwald was more reluctant to leave, but leave he did. Albus found he was alone with his father; and the sleeping rat child to his left.

'Just so you know father, I had no intention of trying to treat on Thomas' behalf,' Albus said without taking a breath, 'this was entirely my own actions and I am profoundly sorry.'

'Do not be,' Archaeon said kindly. The great wizard sat down on Albus' bed beside him. Albus felt the warmth of Archaeon's power radiating from him. It always comforted him to be close to his father. Archaeon looked down on him with blue eyes glowing with pride. He said, 'your marvelous phoenix appeared before me once the Task was complete and informed me of your whereabouts. He also communicated to me the details of what happened in the Forbidden Forest.'

'So you know about Grundelwald trying to cheat?' Albus said. 'Are you going to disqualify him from the Tournament?'

'Albus, you surely appreciate that nobody is going to believe the word of a twelve year old, or even the "word" of a phoenix,' Archaeon said gravely. 'Neither will anyone believe that a ten year old boy is capable of any kind of magic at all, let alone magic dangerous enough to harm two Triwizard Champions.'

'So he will get away with it, then,' Albus said bitterly. He almost felt like sitting up and jinxing the scrawny little boy beside him with a curse to make his scars even more repulsive.

'No, he will not get away with it,' Archaeon said. 'I will be ensuring that this child does no further harm to the competition. From now on he will be under my watch during Tasks.'

'Who is he, anyway?' Albus said.

'He is indeed the younger brother of Jannes Grundelwald,' Archaeon said, frowning at the sleeping boy.

'What is his name?' asked Albus.

'Grindelwald Grundelwald,' Archaeon said. 'Peculiar name, but there you go.'

Albus shivered. He wanted to be out of the Hospital Wing, away from the creepy boy with the white eyes and the capacity to perform wandless magic. Archaeon seemed to sense Albus' discomfort.

'Now son, you ought to be running along to Gryffindor Tower,' Archaeon said. 'You have every right to share in the moment of Thomas' celebration.'

'Thank you, father,' Albus said. He gave his father a hug and threw off his blankets, running past a furious Madam Rose; who started loudly berating Archaeon for discharging her patient. Albus laughed happily as he ran off, feeling lighter than a feather quill.

Back in Gryffindor's common room there was bedlam. Aberforth's supply of Firewhiskies and Butterbeers had ensured that the House was lubricated and jovial. Merry songs were sung about the fire, and Thomas Jones seemed to be plastered with admirers everywhere he went. Albus quickly joined his fellow second years and received a full recount of how the Triwizard Champions had emerged from the Forest in order; Jones, followed by Grundelwald and lastly by Volkova; and how each had been awarded points by the judges. But the best part of the story, the one involving what Thomas had faced, had to wait until Albus could speak with Thomas alone.

That only happened at about five in the morning, when more than a few sluggish bodies lay strewn across the common room, and most of the second years were asleep in the couches; Annabel and William, Emily and Alabastor all notably comfortable on each others' shoulders. Victoria was sleeping next to Albus, but he extracted himself quietly and went off in search of Thomas, whom he'd seen escaping through the portrait hole a half hour earlier.

Albus found Thomas in his secret spot high up in the turret of the tallest tower.

'Oh, morning there, Albus,' Thomas said. 'I just had to get away; I have been forced to re-tell the story of my success about a hundred times.'

'Oh dear,' Albus said. 'That was what I came to ask you about!'

'Ah, never you mind,' Thomas said, 'I can tell it one more time for the man who saved my bacon! Twice, in fact! Not only did you provide me with the Orb, but you knocked out that little German rascal for me!'

'It was not anything you wouldn't do for someone else,' Albus said modestly.

'Well I thank you nonetheless,' Thomas said. 'Now; why don't you sit down and I'll tell you what happened in the Forest. We did well with the Orb, incidentally. I mistook at least one left turn for a right and one right turn for a left, but somehow the two mistakes seemed to cancel each other out. There was no such thing as a flesh-eating ghost, but I had to get past a black unicorn, would you believe? It had red eyes and I swear it would have stabbed me through had I not enchanted it with a sleeping spell. But that was not the worst thing I encountered; I tell you, that werewolf scared me half to death …'

And so Thomas recounted his dramatic adventure to Albus, who, for the second time in a week, fell asleep against Thomas' shoulder. This time Thomas was too exhausted to carry him back to Gryffindor Tower, so he too slept in the turret. Hardly a single Gryffindor slept in their actual beds that day; and it was day, for none woke up before mid-afternoon. Gryffindor's School Champion was winning the Triwizard Tournament!

Author's Note – Hope you all enjoyed that, and are enjoying where this tale is taking you. I am getting excited again by what the rest of the story offers. At a similar stage in "The Phoenix Feather" I got similarly excited by where the plot was heading. Things are looking up. Keep reading and reviewing, peoples!