Albus Dumbledore and the Everlasting Flame

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

"Sometimes the good must walk the evil path to win the ultimate battle over evil"

Chapter 15 – The Horse Man

After the wholly unsatisfactory meeting between Archaeon Dumbledore and the other judges of the Triwizard Tournament, Albus returned to the second year boys' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, to be alone with his thoughts. It was the last day of the Christmas break, so Alabastor and William were only returning that night. Edward had gone to the library to catch up on his Potions essays and Mars was in St Mungo's with Victoria, Aberforth and Albus' mother. So Albus was able to sit in the large window sill behind his bed and confront his thoughts; only the sound of Fawkes crooning behind him.

At first Albus was angry with the Minister for Magic, Lionel Wilberforce. How could a man of such intelligence and high standing be prepared to discard Albus' testimony without even using Veritaserum to confirm its truth? Albus was too young to understand the consequences for Britain should they insult Germany in such a manner, so his lack of political nous only made him the angrier. Likewise he could not forgive Dr Vladimir Strovsky of the Moskva Academy for being unwilling to choose a side, namely, Albus'. At least Professor Prewett had shown where her loyalties lay.

Once Albus' anger cooled a little, or perhaps it was just his toes going blue from the sleet that was raining down upon the window on which his feet were resting, he slipped off the ledge and clambered into bed. There, he began to ponder the problem posed by the Grundelwald brothers, Admiral Scholtz and Phineas Nigellus. He was uneasy at the thought that someone, namely Phineas, wanted him dead, and terrified at the thought that the Grundelwald brothers now knew what Albus held dear to him. Fawkes and the Everlasting Oak were in danger, but more importantly, Victoria could be a target! Albus felt a searing heat rise within his chest on her behalf, a burning anger that he could almost feel radiating from his skin. He could almost imagine himself radiating with power in the same way Archaeon Dumbledore was capable of.

'It is decided,' Albus said loudly to the empty dormitory, 'I have no choice but to protect Victoria for the remainder of the Triwizard Tournament, and I may have to place some befuddling charms of some sort around the Everlasting Oak so that nobody can find it.'

Somehow, Albus felt that declaring his resolutions out loud made them more real.

But Albus had added incentive to take action now. Jannes Grundelwald had committed a mortal offence against him, and Albus took it as given that the entire Black Forest School of Magical Arts was involved. After all, it's Headmaster and a few of its other students had been present in the dark castle where Albus had been kidnapped to. So Albus made another verbal resolution out loud.

'I will do everything in my power to see that Thomas Jones wins the Triwizard Tournament,' Albus said loudly, 'and the Black Forest School of Magical Arts will have to answer to The Guardians of Gryffindor, of Justice and Victory, Defenders of Truth and Pirates of Points Undeserved!'

'What's that about the Black Forest School of Magical Arts answering to the Pirates?' asked William Potter, striding into the dormitory with a swing of the suitcase in his one hand and the other hand raking his boyish black hair.

'Yes, I could have sworn I heard Dumbledore talking to himself up here,' Alabastor said, following William in with his bags in tow.

'Why are you bringing your bags up by yourselves?' Albus asked. 'Where are the house elves?'

'Oh, they have all taken ill,' William grumbled.

'Most probably with laziness disease,' Alabastor added uncharitable. He dumped his bags behind his bed and bounced onto his mattress, eyeing Albus with curiosity. 'So Albus, who is doing what to whom, may I ask?'

Albus sighed. Already William had heard too much. Albus was quickly reminded of Archaeon's request that he not tell anyone about his kidnapping, but Albus figured that he could trust the Pirates. More importantly, the very reason that he had been considering starting a new club the other day whilst talking to Swarbrick Snape over Christmas breakfast had been because the Pirates had not had anything to do. This was the perfect opportunity to get the Pirates acting as a united group again.

'I will tell you shortly,' Albus said, breaking into a smile. 'I have chanced upon an opportunity for the Pirates to get up to mischief again, without invoking the ire of Professor Prewett.'

'Without invoking her ire?' exclaimed William, dropping the invisibility cloak that he had been unpacking from his suitcase in excitement. 'This must be good. I want to hear.'

'I will tell you,' Albus said calmly, 'but first we must await Edward from the library, and as a matter of fact I think we should bring the girls up here. This story cannot be told in the Gryffindor common room; I do not want anyone else to hear.'

'What about Mars?' asked Alabastor, frowning.

'Ah, Mars and Victoria are in St Mungo's, and I don't know when they will be back,' Albus said, prompting the other two boys to gasp. 'And that is part of the story, if you'll have patience.'

'I wish I could do Legilimency,' Alabastor grumbled, 'as I do not wish to wait.'

It was William who had the sense to run down to the library to fetch Edward, while Albus ventured down to the Gryffindor common room to summon the girls. Girls were permitted in the boys dormitories, but the reverse was not true, and had been since boys would be boys. When it became clear that neither Victoria nor Mars would be back from St Mungo's that evening, Albus called for silence from his fellow second years and proceeded to tell them about his kidnapping. He would tell Mars and Victoria later. When he was finished with the tale, he went on to explain his plans.

'So,' Albus said with finality, 'my plan is for the Pirates to take whatever action is necessary to make the Black Forest School of Magical Arts' stay here miserable. So think of them as being the new Slytherin; and think of Jannes Grundelwald as being a dozen times worse than Noxious Black. But most importantly, you are not to mention anything of my kidnapping to anyone, is that understood.'

'Your father did not want you to tell anyone about it, did he,' Alabastor said, a shrewd look upon his face. His brown eyes were looking at Albus with a discerning gaze. He said, 'well the way I see it, Albus has disobeyed his father out of loyalty to us, his friends. So we should take it upon ourselves to do as he asked and keep it a secret.'

'You say it as though we Pirates are too stupid to keep something like that a secret,' Emily snapped, champing at the bit to have another argument with Alabastor. But Albus was secretly pleased with Alabastor for finally showing some faith in him.

'Thank you Alabastor,' Albus said loudly, giving Emily a look that told her to keep quiet. 'Now our priority is to conceive of some brilliant means of getting at the Black Forest School of Magical Arts, without them being able to suspect us. That will not be easy because the Grundelwald brothers already know and dislike me, but they do not know any of you. So I may have to be some kind of decoy, or have legitimate alibis whenever you chaps perform a prank.'

'Do you mean to say that you will not be taking part in the pranks?' Maggie asked, pulling at a tuft of her red hair.

'I will whenever possible,' Albus said, 'and I will certainly be helping to plan them. However, my chief priority is to help Thomas Jones win the Triwizard Tournament, and that will take a considerable amount of my time. As a matter of fact, I really ought to speak with him tonight, before the term recommences.'

'Very well,' Alabastor said, puffing out his chest and taking charge as he liked to do, 'you go on, Albus, and we will start bandying about possible pranks.'

'Yes, that we shall,' William said, also puffing out his chest. 'I already have two ideas. The first is …'

'I beg your pardon, Potter,' Alabastor snapped, 'I was speaking when you rudely interrupted.'

Albus could sense a quarrel brewing, and although it mildly amused him to see it developing even before he had left the room, he was in no mood to have arguments upset his plans. He allowed some of his anger from earlier on to seep back into his countenance such that his face went red and he could feel power radiating from his skin again.

'Be silent the both of you!' yelled Albus, sending William and Alabastor tumbling back into their beds in surprise. 'This is no matter for quibbling and trifling. Emily, take charge of this meeting and ensure that there are no quarrels. I will be back later to add my two pence worth.'

Albus whipped out of the room, his striped green and crimson Caerphilly Catapults robes sailing along behind him. He had yet to change out of them, throughout the entire tumultuous day. It felt like a lifetime since Archaeon had taught him the Amon-hen spell. It was one of the benefits of being a boy – time passed by at a leisurely pace so that a day could last a year if enough happened in a short space of time.

Albus found Thomas Jones in the Gryffindor common room and asked if he could speak alone with him. Since Jones had let his fellow sixth years know that an item Albus owned had helped him to win the First Task, none of the sixth years even raised an eyebrow. Albus was fast developing a reputation for being competent beyond his years at Hogwarts, and so Thomas had no qualms in agreeing to go with Albus to his secret turret in the highest tower where they could examine the Orb together.

'So, you've come to help me for the Second Task,' Thomas asked, settling down against the cold stone wall in the turret's enclave and conjuring a blue flame to keep them both warm.

'That I have,' Albus said, 'and it is of great importance to me. Grundelwald has performed a slight on me and I have added motivation to see you victorious.'

'May I ask what the slight was?' Thomas said; a light of curiosity in his blue eyes.

'Alas, you may not,' Albus said, 'but rest assured that I wish for you to win as strongly as you do.'

'It must have been a significant slight then,' Thomas said. 'Very well, before we both freeze to death up here, why not undertake to ask your Orb some questions then?'

Albus realized that he had not yet revealed the Orb with the Amon-nu spell.

'Amon-nu,' Albus chanted. Immediately the Orb, the Eye of Horus amulet and the ankh in his pockets were revealed. He pulled out the Orb and handed it to Thomas. He said, 'it is very important that you do not speak of how I conceal the Orb to anyone. This is a powerful object and some bad people want it.'

'You can trust me,' Thomas said confidently. He turned his eyes on the Orb and asked, 'what, o Orb, is the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament?'

The Orb went murky and stormy like the night outdoors, before golden letters appeared.

'A race aloft creatures magical and deadly'

'A duel to the death with Lords darkened'

'Which is it?' Albus cried, a lump in his throat. He did not want to have to help Thomas deal with Dark Lords – he had already faced the reborn Imhotep last year and had the dark wizard Phineas Nigellus as a mortal enemy; he did not want more to do with them. Not to mention that the Grundelwald brothers were future Dark Lords in the making.

'To be fair, this is a difficult one to deal with,' Thomas admitted, 'and I do hope our future questions shed more light on the right answer. But on first impressions, I daresay the race sounds more likely.'

'Why do you think that?' Albus asked.

'For one thing, Albus, I doubt any Dark Lord would volunteer their service for a competition such as this,' Thomas said whimsically.

'That may be true,' Albus said, 'but what if the task involves locating and killing a Dark Lord?'

'Possible,' Thomas said, his face turning a little pale at the prospect, 'but I am going to hope for the former, to be honest.'

'Ask the Orb another question,' Albus said. 'Perhaps that will reveal more.'

Thomas looked down at the mysterious ball and nodded several times, as though confirming something inside his own thoughts rather than simply agreeing with Albus.

'Orb, what must I do in order to guarantee that I win the Second Task?' asked Thomas.

'Befriend that which bears you hence,' replied the Orb. This time there was not a second sentence.

'I am going to take that as a truth,' Thomas said. 'If the Task is indeed to race on the backs of magical creatures, then it makes sense to befriend them first.'

'In that case,' Albus said, 'I am more than happy to spend my free time in the library finding out ways to please magical creatures.'

'You cannot be serious,' Thomas said; a puzzled expression on his face. 'You have your own business to attend to, Dumbledore! What with all the homework teachers load on us, I cannot expect you to spend time trying to help me!'

'Thomas, I assure you that I have the time,' Albus said, his jaw struck in a determined extension of his face.

'Well in that case,' Thomas said, 'why not bypass the library and speak to Professor Equus, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher? He will have all the answers … if you can find him, that is.'

'Professor who?' asked Albus. He had never heard of Professor Equus, and it came as a surprise to him that Hogwarts even had a Care of Magical Creatures teacher. The first and second years never took the subject, and moreover, Albus had never seen the said teacher at the staff table.

'I'm not surprised in the least that you do not know of Professor Ebenezer Equus,' Thomas said. 'He only ever appears to those who take Care of Magical Creatures as a subject, and as the rumour goes, he might even be a horse-like creature able to transfigure at will into a human.'

'No such creature exists,' Albus gasped, so confident that the existence of such a creature would not have passed his knowledge by.

'As I said, it is a rumour,' Thomas said. 'But do what you can to find him. The Care of Magical Creatures class takes their lessons on the edge of the Forbidden Forest in a paddock hidden from Hogwarts' view. Now, I must ask further questions of the Orb if I am to win this Task.'

Albus and Thomas pondered late into the night over each and every response from the Orb. As was to be expected from an object providing the exact truth and the exact untruth, and sometimes only one or the other; it was difficult to conclude the truth with every question. However, Albus got the impression that the Orb was telling the truth more often than it told lies, and he began to wonder whether the Orb of Duality had a conscience of its own. He could have sworn that the Orb was actually trying to help Thomas to win the Second Task.

Ultimately Thomas was able to declare at the end of the evening that he was satisfied he had extracted all that he could from the Orb, and that he was relatively confident that he could win the Task.

'The way I see it,' Thomas said, 'I will have to race on a unicorn across the highlands, a thestral over sea to reach the other side, an ocean serpent under sea, a minotaur through a maze and a dragon back to Hogwarts with the fragile egg that I find at the centre of the maze. With you going off to find Professor Equus and researching what I need to do to befriend these creatures, I can get my sixth year colleagues to research magical maze navigation and I can practice spells to protect myself against any harm these creatures might try to inflict on me. I might even ask old Professor Rolleston if he knows any good charms to make magical creatures move faster.'

'Do you think Professor Rolleston would help a student with the Triwizard Tournament?' asked Albus, astonished that Thomas could consider approaching a teacher.

'Not all teachers have the same approach as Professor Prewett,' Thomas said, smiling. 'You should know by now, Professor Rolleston is a good sort. I look up to him, I do.'

Albus nodded silently. He himself had come to look up to the stocky man with the half-moon glasses and eagle-owl eyebrows, since Professor Rolleston had started pushing Albus past the normal curriculum in Charms classes in the same way Professor Prewett had. Albus had long ago forgiven Professor Rolleston the slight of embarrassing him in class and getting him to realize that he was not infallible just because he could perform charms from a textbook a few years above his level.

'It is high time we went to bed,' Thomas said, consulting his personal hourglass. 'It is already past witching hour, and we have classes tomorrow.'

'Yes,' Albus said, yawning widely. 'If I am to locate the mysterious Professor Equus tomorrow, I must have my beauty's sleep.'

'Unto bed we go,' Thomas chirped, handing the Orb of Duality back to Albus. Albus concealed it and the other two objects with the Amon-hen spell. As they walked back to Hogwarts Tower, Thomas asked, 'how did you learn to conceal things like that? It seems even beyond what we do in sixth year Charms.'

'My father taught me,' Albus said.

'Ah, naturally,' Thomas said. 'Were I ever to have an hour to learn from Archaeon Dumbledore, I would become twice the wizard I am.'

The idea burst into Albus' head like a beam of light.

'I have it!' Albus exclaimed. 'I will plead with my father to give you lessons in wizardry before the Second and the Third Tasks!'

'He is one of the judges, Albus,' Thomas said, but there was hope yet in his eyes.

'True,' Albus conceded, 'but I confess that my father himself has reasons to want Grundelwald to fail in his bid to win the Tournament. I will ask him nonetheless.'

'I am not going to stop you from doing so,' Thomas said. They had reached the portrait hole. Thomas grasped Albus' hand and shook it hard, saying, 'I am eternally grateful to you, Albus. Without this help I would be entering each Task blind. Now, at least, I have a path mapped out for me. Using the Orb doesn't guarantee that I win each Task, but it certainly aids me.'

'The pleasure is mine,' Albus said. 'I want you to win the Tournament. Not just for you, or Hogwarts, but for my father and for me.'

Albus and Thomas parted ways at the bottom of the stairwell up to the second year boys' dormitory. Albus slipped into bed as quietly as he could, hoping not to disturb the others; but William was snoring loudly enough to silence an elephant stampede. Albus fell asleep almost immediately. It had been an exceptionally long and draining day.

Come the following afternoon, Albus left the Pirates to scheme in the Gryffindor common room and headed for the Care of Magical Creatures paddock, where the fourth years were finishing up after the final lesson of the day. Gareth Jones from Ravenclaw gave Albus a grin and a wave, ruffling his hair as he walked past with a group of his friends. Apparently Thomas had let his brother know how useful Albus was being in his attempt to win the Triwizard Tournament. Albus missed seeing Aberforth, for the fourth year Gryffindors shared the class with Ravenclaw. Aberforth had not yet returned from St Mungo's.

A short figure in a simple brown cassock stood at the far end of the paddock. After what Thomas had said last night, Albus had half expected that he would spend weeks trying to locate the mysterious Professor Equus. But, there he stood, using a wand to lock flying lemmings in a brown wooden crate. Albus approached cautiously, his small legs sinking thigh deep in the heavy overnight snow. As he got closer to Professor Equus he realized that the man was ancient and withered like a thousand year old tree, his face swathed in lines and a few pathetic white strands of hair growing out of a bald scalp. When Professor Equus turned his eyes on Albus they were cold and silvery pale.

'You are the second boy of Dumbledore, the one in whose eyes glows the light of flame everlasting,' said Professor Equus in a raspy voice. 'You have come to elicit my help in your pledge to aid the oldest boy of Jones in his Task.'

'Er … yes,' Albus said awkwardly, wondering how Professor Equus could know so much about him when Albus had only heard of him for the first time last night.

'I have time in infinite amounts,' said Professor Equus. 'When the first horse was tamed by man, there was I. When equine sports and wars frequented the lives of men, there was I. When the ancients spoke words of wisdom on Grecian mounts, there was I. When Lysander conquered the East on Bucephalus' back, there was I.'

Albus was befuddled. Not being a muggle, he had never heard of Alexander the Great and his horse Bucephalus. However, Albus was astute enough to realize that Professor Equus was claiming to be exceptionally old.

'May I ask, sir,' Albus said politely, for he had been taught to be polite to one's elders, and Professor Equus was potentially the eldest of all elders, 'how it is that you have lived for such a long time, for I would not have thought it possible.'

'The answer, second son of Dumbledore,' said Professor Equus in his mysterious way; 'is that I am immortal in my equine form. As a horse, I cannot be parted from this life. As a man I am mortal. Hence, I exist only as a human for short periods. In my lifetime I have lived many thousands of years as a horse, but only a few months more than a hundred years as a man.'

'I have never heard of such a being as you,' Albus said, looking upon the ancient horse man with wide eyes. 'What are you called?'

'There is no name attached to me,' Professor Equus said. 'I have lived and galloped under many banners, for many riders, for many nations. I was Bucephalus, and before him I was the mount on which Heracles ascended Mount Olympus. In my time at Hogwarts I have been called Professor Equus, but there is no title for my type. I am unique, and if I should ever outlive my human life, I will remain a horse until the light of this world is extinguished.'

'In that case,' Albus said earnestly, 'I do not wish to use up your precious time as a man, but I do wish to help my friend Thomas. I need to know how he can win the trust of the magical creatures he will have to ride in this race, and he suggested I turn to you.'

'The first son of Jones is wiser than many his age,' Professor Equus rasped. 'And the second son of Dumbledore is wiser still.' Albus flushed red in the cheeks. Professor Equus went on to say, 'the answer is simple. For the first son of Jones to accomplish his aim, he need only say to each creature, "Behold, I am sent by he who was called Bucephalus, who rode with the ancients, who saw history unfold and galloped through the Ages unto this day. He who was and is the horse man of Ages hath sent me to you, o mighty beast, that I might ride you a part way through history. For the one who hath sent me art great, but you are greater yet and I bow to you".'

Albus had to frown while he concentrated on remembering the long and arduous statement that Professor Equus had suggested Thomas use.

'Thank you, o Professor Equus,' Albus said, finding his head bowing at the ancient man without hesitation. He felt humbled to be in the presence of this great creature and realized that he had subconsciously made the decision to take Care of Magical Creatures next year, if only to learn from this vastly intelligent being.

'O second son of Dumbledore, I am myself honoured,' Professor Equus said to Albus' complete surprise. 'In the many Ages of my life I have oft known which human would rise to greatness. In you I see the light of greatness shining brightly at a very young age. You are destined to do much. Thus I shall permit you the sight of something few have ever seen.'

Albus then bore witness to an amazing transformation. Professor Equus threw off his brown cassock and instantly he went a blinding white colour. Within seconds the ancient old man was replaced by a magnificent stallion, a young and muscular horse in the prime of its galloping life. It had a brilliant ebony coat that glistened in the pale sunlight trying to break through the grey clouds overhead. It reared up against the snowy white backdrop and whinnied in a fashion that had the hairs on the back of Albus' head tingling. Then, without further ado, the horse man galloped into the Forbidden Forest and vanished within.

Albus had to fight to control his breathlessness as he returned to Hogwarts castle. He could scarce believe that such a creature existed, let alone at Hogwarts, and what's more, had let Albus see a transformation that it rarely permitted anyone to see. He broke out into an uncontrollable smile. He had found the answer for Thomas and with the minimum effort. There was now time to muster an ingenious Pirates prank against the Black Forest School of Magical Arts.

Author's Note – The plot thickens, or so I hope! Thank you to those loyal readers continuing to review for me and thanks to all my silent readers. I truly hope that you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Creating Albus Dumbledore's childhood world at Hogwarts is a heap of fun because I am free from the characters we see and hear all the time in fan fiction – those from canon and the Marauders etc. I am also largely free from the constraints of JK Rowling's creation itself. Okay, occasionally I make an error relating to canon, but seeing as JKR rarely ever writes about pre-1900s magical England, I am able to be flexible in my creation.

One thing you can know for sure, though, is that Albus won't be dying in my stories. After all, we all know when he dies, who killed him, where it was, how it was done, and hopefully book seven will explain why! RIP Albus Dumbledore! Until next time, readers!