Albus Dumbledore and the Everlasting Flame

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

"In life; do we ever truly know what we are doing?"

Chapter 18 – Mysteries, Clues and Dead Ends

Albus let out a gasp of disbelief, but he was the only person in the Great Hall to do so. Several heads turned in his direction and his cheeks went pink. Once their attentions were diverted again by the chatter that rose amongst the students, the Gryffindor second years confronted Albus in whispers.

'What is so special about the Everlasting Flame?' William asked.

'Or more importantly, what is the Everlasting Flame?' Victoria asked. Of the nine other second years, only Mars had a look of comprehension on his face. He had, after all, been in the Chamber of the Everlasting Flame with Albus all the way back in the summer holidays, when Archaeon had revealed it to be "missing". Albus now knew that it was not missing, but that Archaeon Dumbledore had removed it from the Temple of Ast and taken it somewhere. Where, only Archaeon knew.

'I shall tell you in a while,' Albus said, pointing at the front. Archaeon Dumbledore was holding his arms up in a call for silence, about to make another announcement.

'The three components of the Map available to the Champions in their Guides will lead them across dozens of countries over the next hundred days,' Archaeon said. 'Their journeys will be arduous and filled with magical obstacles and challenges. There are approximately one hundred clues for the Champions to solve, and only a true Champion will be able to accomplish the finding of the Everlasting Flame within a hundred days. In terms of the help granted to the Champions, it will come at an unexpected time, in an unexpected fashion. Do not rely on help to achieve this Task! One hundred days from now, we will all be waiting for you here, in the Great Hall, to see which Champion returns bearing the Everlasting Flame. You may go.'

The three Champions paused in front of Archaeon, as if unsure what to do with themselves. Jannes Grundelwald was the first to respond. He turned on his heels and strode confidently down the main aisle towards the door. Admiral Scholtz, Grindelwald and a half-dozen of the Black Forest students also got to their feet and followed him out. Albus could hardly believe how blatantly obvious their intention to help him with the Task was! And Scholtz was one of the five judges, for Merlin's sake!

Anastacia Volkova followed in Grundelwald's stead, and, like the Germans had, Dr Vladimir Strovsky and a few of her schoolmates from the Moskva Academy accompanied her out. Thomas Jones cut quite a lonely figure walking to the door without Professor Prewett or any other staff member in pursuit, but a half-dozen of his Gryffindor friends loyally got to their feet and followed. Just as he passed the second years, Thomas gave Albus a concerted look. Albus was smart enough to interpret that Thomas wanted to consult the Orb of Duality before he embarked on his epic hundred-day Task.

'There is not time to explain what the Everlasting Flame is,' Albus hastily told his friends. 'I will tell you about it once I have seen Thomas off. You see, I have been assisting him in the first two Tasks by letting him read the Orb of Duality. He needs to use it again before he goes.'

Albus waited until other people in the Great Hall started getting to their feet so that his sudden exit was not so conspicuous. He hurried out the door and made a beeline for Gryffindor Tower. Along the way, he had the cold sensation of being watched, a tingling of the fine hairs on the back of his neck. But it was only a sensation of being watched, no more, as though the watcher had no intention of coming after him, not yet anyway.

He found Thomas in the Gryffindor common room, surrounded by dozens of well-wishers but clearly looking like he wanted to be alone with the few he respected enough to use as advisors. He looked relieved to see Albus, pushing past the haggle of girls and hurrying up to meet him.

'We must go to the turret at once,' he said. 'I do not wish for Grundelwald to get a day's start on me, but it is vital that I obtain what I can from the Orb.'

'What about Volkova?' Albus asked; following a flustered Thomas through the portrait hole and past yet more admirers and well-wishers. He had to endure a dozen pats on the back before they were clear in the corridors and he could reply to Albus' question.

'Anastacia and I have formed something akin to an alliance,' Thomas said, smiling with a wistful look at the ceiling. 'I think she plans to lose contact with Dr Strovsky as soon as is possible and meet up with me. From there, we shall confront this Task together.'

'Are you certain she would be loyal to you?' Albus said, totally perplexed by Thomas' belief in this foreign girl. Much as he liked Victoria, Albus was not yet old enough to understand the true power of love.

'Oh, Anastacia and I have agreed to be honest with one another,' Thomas said, ruffling Albus' hair as if to confirm that he was still a child. 'We will probably part ways when we are a few days short of our target. We both wish to win, but we share the common aim that one of us two wins ahead of Jannes Grundelwald.'

'That is a fair arrangement,' Albus said, shrugging. He supposed the beautiful Russian blonde would make a better Champion than Grundelwald, and he had yet to see any evidence of dark motives coming from Dr Strovsky and his students.

Thomas and Albus arrived at their secret turret in the highest tower and took their customary seats against the wall inside a little enclave. Albus unveiled the Orb with the Amon-nu spell and gave the smoky black ball to Thomas.

'Orb, where is the Everlasting Flame?' asked Thomas without hesitation. Albus grinned. Wouldn't it be something if Thomas could return with the Everlasting Flame after just one day of a hundred day contest? The Orb went smoky white, the smoke faded and a single sentence written in gold lettering appeared.

'Safely stored in its rightful place in the Temple of Ast'

Thomas looked jubilant, but Albus was crestfallen. He waited desperately for a second answer to emerge, but none was forthcoming.

'I have bad omens, Thomas,' Albus said. 'I was in the Temple of Ast in the summer holidays, and I saw the bracket where the Everlasting Flame is meant to lie. It was absent, and I am certain that my father has removed it.'

'You mean to say that the Orb has revealed a lie, and not the true location of the Flame?' asked Thomas. 'Are you certain your father hasn't put it back since then?'

'As certain as I am that this answer is a lie,' Albus said. 'Try asking something else.'

'Very well,' said Thomas, holding the Orb aloft in his two hands. 'O Orb, how can I find the Everlasting Flame?'

'Follow the Guides' was the instantaneous reply.

'That is the truth,' Albus said, shaking his head, 'and an obvious truth at that. The Orb is being deliberately difficult today!'

'It has helped me to win the first Two Tasks,' Thomas said grittily, 'I am determined that it will help me win the Third. Orb, what is the first thing I must do in order to win the Third Task?'

This time the Orb responded with two answers:

'Hasten away from this place for danger here lurks'

'Peruse the texts in the library for answers there lie'

'Oh I am lost!' Thomas bewailed. 'Neither of these answers are a blatant lie, and neither or them sound entirely true. Which is the truth?'

'I think I know,' Albus said, a tightness creeping into his gut again. 'I think it is the first answer. There is a great deal of danger in this place. The Grundelwald brothers … Admiral Scholtz … these are bad people and they will do whatever it takes to obtain the Everlasting Flame. I think you should leave Hogwarts at once.'

'But … but the Orb!' Thomas protested. 'I need this in order to win. Oh, Albus, I beseech you to let me take it!'

'I cannot do that,' Albus said immediately. 'It was entrusted to me and I alone can keep it. But I have can idea … can you apparate?'

'Well, I'm not yet seventeen,' Thomas said, but he lowered his voice as if to keep Professor Prewett from listening in, she of the hawk ears, 'but I have been doing it for the last few months. We have been having lessons in the Great Hall in preparation for our test once we turn seventeen.'

'That is perfect,' Albus said happily. 'Rather than burden you with the Orb during your travels, which you could easily lose or have stolen from you, I shall keep it. And, every night at midnight, you can apparate back to the gates of Hogwarts. I will borrow William Potter's invisibility cloak and sneak down to meet you every night; and you can consult the Orb. Hopefully it will not be this obstinate every time you ask it questions.'

'You are a mite genius,' Thomas said, grabbing Albus in a headlock and ruffling his hair. 'That is a perfectly splendid plan.'

'Well in that case,' Albus said, struggling to escape from the headlock, 'you had better be listening to the Orb and getting away from Hogwarts.'

'But what if the truth is that I should be reading texts in the library?' asked Thomas uncertainly.

'Then I shall spend every spare minute in the library,' Albus said, 'and if anything arises from my readings I can tell you at midnights.'

'I cannot express how remarkable you are,' Thomas said. 'If they hold this Tournament again before you leave Hogwarts, you will be Hogwarts Champion and you will win it.'

'Perhaps, but we have to see you home first,' Albus said, trying to ignore the praise. 'Come on, be off with you.'

Thomas gave the Orb back to Albus for concealment and got to his feet. He shook hands with Albus, a grim look on his face, and then he was gone. Moments after he had vanished down the stairwell, Albus came to a shocking realization: Thomas was going off into the magical, dangerous world without a shred of protection.

'Thomas!' he yelled, running as fast as his legs would carry him down the stairs without falling head over heals. 'Thomas, wait!'

'What is it, Albus?' asked Thomas, hurrying up around a bend in the stairwell and crashing head first with Albus' chest. By some stroke of fortune neither fell over, just holding on to their balance by clutching at the stone wall.

'I want you to take this with you,' Albus said, 'Amon-nu.' He revealed the Eye of Horus locket that Archaeon had given to him at the start of the year. Archaeon had said to him that it would prove 'useful this year'. Albus now realized what that use was. He presented the locket to Thomas and said, 'this is the Eye of Horus, a protective locket my father gave to me. I will conceal it on your person and then it will protect you while you undertake the Third Task.'

'Are you certain?' Thomas said. 'Wouldn't your father have given you the locket for your own protection?'

'I have an ankh from the Temple of Ast,' Albus said, fingering the sapphire ankh in his pocket. 'Besides, your need is presently far greater than mine. I will not take no for an answer.'

Albus reached forward and dropped the locket inside Thomas' pocket, concealing it as he did so. Thomas tried to find it, but could not.

'Where did it go?' Thomas asked, bewildered. 'I cannot even feel its weight!'

'That is because I have concealed it,' Albus said. 'Provided you are wearing this robe at all times, you cannot come to harm. Now go, before you fail to follow the instructions of the Orb!'

Thomas hurried off down the stairwell, and Albus followed at a slower pace. He felt only marginally better now that Thomas was protected by the Eye of Horus, particularly because he now felt more vulnerable than ever. Another major concern that crossed his mind was the fact that Archaeon had put the Everlasting Flame up for anyone to claim! After all this secrecy and protection, how could his father do something like that with an object as precious as the Everlasting Flame? Was he luring the Germans into a false sense of hope, or was he simply out of his mind? Albus could not fathom the rationing of his father, but chose not to dwell on it. Archaeon had never failed him as a father thus far, and he hoped that this would not be the first time.

Back in the Gryffindor common room Albus had no choice but to explain what the Everlasting Flame was to an attentive audience of Gryffindors. Not only were the Pirates crowded around his couch, but all the first years and several third and fourth years stood about, undisguised interest on their faces. Albus' face grew hot as he began to explain everything that he understood of this mysterious light.

'I have had the privilege of accompanying my father on a few expeditions to Egypt,' Albus said, 'where he works as an Archaeowizard digging up ancient magical treasures and lost cities. This summer past he was digging up the Temple of Ast, and Mars McGonagal and I both ventured into the innermost chamber. We weren't supposed to, but we did, and we found what was meant to be the bracket wherein the Everlasting Flame is kept.'

'That is very interesting,' said an impatient third year named Clarence Buckley, 'but what is it? What is the Everlasting Flame?'

'I was getting to that,' Albus said. 'Ast is another name for Isis, the supreme goddess of the Egyptians, muggle and magical. I read about a myth in Magyk before the fall of Empyres by Achmed Al-Mohammed in which Isis, upon marrying the Sun God Ra, received a gift of everlasting fire. It is this Everlasting Flame which used to be kept in the Temple of Ast, until my father came and removed it for the Triwizard Tournament.'

'Are you certain he was the one who removed it?' demanded Clarence Buckley. 'What is he is merely using the Tournament as a means to find the Everlasting Flame for himself?'

'Don't be absurd!' yelled Aberforth, stepping out of the shadows where he had been listening to Albus' tale. 'Our father is a great and good wizard. If he wanted the Everlasting Flame for himself, he would already have it. The Three Guides and the Map have clearly been created by our father to lead the Champions to the Flame, where so ever he hid it.'

A couple of Clarence Buckley's third year compatriots started bagging him for being such an idiot as to accuse Archaeon Dumbledore of nefarious motives. The second years were intent on Albus, however, and William demanded that he finish his story.

'What is so special about the Everlasting Flame?' asked William. 'That is what I would like to know.'

'I am not entirely sure of it myself,' Albus said. 'From memory, Magyk before the fall of Empyres said something about it giving the bearer eternal life, or perhaps some sort of godly protection against the magic of the world.'

'Then there is no doubt why Grundelwald and his ghastly Headmaster seem so eager to obtain it,' Victoria said. She received strange looks from the students in the other years (none of them knew the details of Albus' kidnapping and Grindelwald's attack on Albus' room), so the second years ended their conversation until everyone else had drifted away and they could speak in private.

'You are clearly too deeply involved in this to allow Grundelwald to get the Everlasting Flame first,' Alabastor said astutely. 'So what do you intend to do?'

'Exactly as I have promised Thomas,' Albus said. 'He will come back to Hogwarts every … every now and again to consult the Orb. But further down the line I do not really know how I can help. I will read as much as I can in the library, but other than that I really fail to see how I can help him.'

'But that means that Grundelwald could win the Tournament!' cried Victoria. 'If he was prepared to cheat in the Second Task, then surely he will do it again.'

'I have no doubt,' Albus said. 'But I trust my father. He said Thomas would get some special kind of assistance at an unknown time and place because he is leading the Tournament, but more importantly, I know my father could not put the Everlasting Flame in danger of being stolen by the Germans.'

'Well it seems to me that he has,' Alabastor said. Albus hated Alabastor for saying it, but the truth was too hard to ignore. Archaeon was up to something that made little sense.

Albus spent the remainder of the day in the Hogwarts library, crooked nose immersed in such voluminous texts as Magykel Escapaydes, Codes of the Egyptians and Grail Quests and other Tragedies. The Pirates accompanied him, but only to do their homework, and every five minutes or so Albus was interrupted by Maggie asking him what the correct ingredients for a Simmering Sheen were or Alabastor wanting to know whether Merlin had lived to three hundred or four hundred for his History of Magic essay. Eventually Albus gave in and abandoned his search for knowledge to help Thomas, admitting that he had his own homework to complete and in so doing was able to help his friends.

That night the Gryffindor second years played board games in the firelight. Albus was too distracted by the fact that he was going to be meeting Thomas for the first time at midnight that he lost four consecutive chess games to Mars.

'You're not usually this hopeless,' Mars remarked. 'Anyone else fancy a game? Dumbledore is vanquished.'

Albus let Mars have his victory moment, staring into the fire in mixed anticipation and dread of what the evening held. He had not summoned the courage to ask William permission to use his invisibility cloak, so he was going to have to borrow it without asking. But more risky was the trip through Hogwarts castle and across the grounds in the middle of the night to meet with Thomas. He wondered if this was such a good idea after all, but there was no backing out. Thomas would be waiting for him at midnight, and he had to be there.

'We're going to bed, are you coming?' asked Mars after he had thrashed Alabastor and Edward in successive games. The girls had already left a few minutes prior.

'In a while,' Albus said, feigning a yawn and a sleepy stretch. 'I am very comfortable here at present.'

'Very well,' Mars said, and the other four boys hurried upstairs in a howl of pushing, shoving and laughter. Albus regretted not being a part of the amusement, but he had more worldly concerns to deal with.

At a quarter to midnight, Albus hustled upstairs to the boys' dormitory. Only once he was certain that the snores from William were genuine, did he start probing inside William's trunk for the silky soft invisibility cloak. He felt immensely guilty doing it, but it was necessary. He donned the cloak and disappeared out the door.

From the portrait hole it was a long and chilly walk down Hogwarts' darkened, still corridors. The wind was howling somewhere in the dungeons, or perhaps that was Peeves giving the Slytherins a torrid night. Whatever it was, Albus sensed a chill on his neck, much the same as the feeling of being watched he'd had earlier in the day. He came to the great Hogwarts entrance, feeling miniscule beneath its towering height, and slipped through the door as quietly as was possible; which meant of course that the door uttered a horrendous creak that seemed to echo all the way up the many stairwells of Hogwarts and would surely awaken every Professor from their sleep.

Albus ran out into the chilly night, clutching the invisibility cloak around him and feeling like the whole world was chasing after him. He pulled out his wand to light the way in front of him. The Hogwarts gates seemed a mile off, but he arrived puffing and panting before he knew it.

Albus stopped cold. There was something unnatural about the scene. He slipped through the gates, looking around uncertainly. The fine hairs on his skin were all upright, tingling madly. He could feel power radiating from somewhere, and it unsettled him.

That was when Albus saw Thomas' body lying in the snow.

He hurried forward, collapsing on his knees beside his older friend, hardly believing what he saw. The invisibility cloak fell from his shoulders as the truth hit home. Thomas Jones' blue eyes were staring blankly at the star-strewn sky, his pale white face lifeless.

'No, Thomas, no,' Albus cried, 'no, not you, Fawkes couldn't have meant you!'

'Stand up and face me, Dumbledore,' said the heavy, thick German voice of Jannes Grundelwald. Albus spun about so fast he nearly fell backwards onto Thomas' body.

'You killed him!' Albus yelled, feeling every bone in his body burn with hatred for Grundelwald.

'I offered him his life in exchange for his Guide,' Jannes Grundelwald explained, 'and he refused. So I killed him, and I will shortly remove his Guide from him regardless. Expelliarmus!'

Albus saw his wand sail away into the fitful night. He now stood unarmed, defenseless against his enemy. Grundelwald bound him with an anti-disapparation jinx and a body-bind to prevent him from moving a step in any direction. Albus was powerless.

'How did you know about our meeting?' Albus demanded, hoping that he could get Grundelwald talking and thereby delay his death, at least long enough for help to arrive, if help existed.

'I happened to probe Jones' mind as he left Hogwarts this morning,' Grundelwald said, baring his yellow teeth in a leer. My inquiries also revealed that you use the Amon-hen to conceal the Orb of Duality on your person. And no, I am not going to stand here talking just so that you can await rescue. I do not waste time.'

Grundelwald advanced on Albus with his wand held aloft.

'Amon-nu!' he cried. Albus felt the Orb of Duality heavy inside his pocket. Grundelwald said, 'Accio Orb!'

With his heart tumbling into the snow, Albus could only watch as the Orb sailed through the air into the greedy hands of Jannes Grundelwald.

'That is not yours to take!' screamed Albus, but Grundelwald had taken from him all that he desired. He was finished with him.

'Avada Kedavra!' cried Grundelwald.

A jet of green light shot towards Albus from Grundelwald's wand. Bound by the body-bind, he could only watch as his death came towards him.

Albus felt a strange sensation as the spell hit. The anti-disapparation jinx and the body-bind seemed to come undone, and though Albus fell backwards into the snow, he definitely did not feel dead. Grundelwald looked momentarily stunned to see Albus still alive and moving, so Albus used this to his advantage.

'Accio wand!' cried Albus, every inch of him straining to make the wand-less magic work. To his surprise and delight, he felt his willow wand fly into his hand. At the tender age of twelve, Albus had achieved wand-less magic for the first time in his life. He cried, 'Impedimenta!' but the spell missed the astonished Grundelwald. Jannes disapparated; he was clearly unwilling to engage Albus in combat.

Albus scampered over to Thomas' lifeless body, tears now seeping down his face.

'Oh, I have failed you Thomas!' he cried. 'Jannes has the Orb, and you are dead!'

'No, I am not,' Thomas said, sitting up bolt upright. Albus gave a shriek and fell backwards into the snow, his heart pounding like cannon-fire. Thomas got up swiftly and helped Albus to his feet. Albus could barely stand. His mind was a maelstrom of confused thoughts. How had he survived the Avada Kedavra? How had Thomas survived it?

'How are we alive?' Albus murmured.

'Why, the Eye of Horus is what saved me,' Thomas said. 'Grundelwald appeared before me, disarmed me, bound me with anti-disapparation jinxes and demanded the Guide. I refused, so he cast the Avada Kedavra. It never hit me, but I fell back in the snow and was rendered motionless. At first I thought I was dead, but then I realized that I could still feel the snow around me. I think the Eye of Horus took the spell.'

'Ah, of course!' exclaimed Albus. 'For no person can survive the Avada Kedavra. My sapphire ankh must have absorbed the spell for me also, though I cannot explain why I was able to move and you were not.'

'The two devices must work by different means,' Thomas said. 'But come, we are standing in the open and grave danger is all around us. Pull on the invisibility cloak and let us go back to Hogwarts where we are safer.'

Thomas led a shaken Albus back to the castle. Nothing was said between them until they were inside the Entrance Hall.

'I am dreadfully sorry, Thomas, but Grundelwald has the Orb now,' Albus said.

'I heard him take it from you,' Thomas said, 'but let us look on the bright side. You scared him off so he forgot to take the Guide from me. At least we have that small thing to hold fast to.'

'I hope the Orb is revolting to him,' Albus spat. 'I hope it utters nothing but lies.'

'I do not think the Orb picks and chooses,' Thomas said, 'but that is no longer our concern. Come; let us go into the Great Hall. I came for your help, and I may as well use it.'

'What use am I now?' said Albus miserably. 'I have no longer got the Orb.'

'You know more about Egyptian magic than anyone at this school,' Thomas said, 'and most of my portion of the Map is drawn in hieroglyphics. I cannot lose anything from letting you take a look.'

Thomas pulled Albus into the Great Hall and unveiled the contents of his Guide. The ceiling filled with the yellow, brown and gold tones of the Map, but a much smaller portion of it than the whole school had seen that morning. Albus and Thomas stood in the middle of the Great Hall, staring up at the ceiling at the wondrous Map.

'So what have you accomplished thus far?' asked Albus.

'I have visited the most obvious point on the Map, the Pyramids at Giza,' Thomas said. He pointed at the Pyramids that Albus had noticed earlier that day.

'What did you find there?' asked Albus.

'Well, only an entrance to a maze,' Thomas said. 'I dared not venture inside it, for if I were to get lost in a Pyramid I would never emerge. One cannot disapparate from inside a Pyramid. I thought you might be able to help me read all these hieroglyphics around the Pyramid on the Map.'

Albus strained his eyes to read the hieroglyphics. He had a limited understanding of them thanks to two visits to Egypt with his father. Archaeon was an accomplished reader of hieroglyphics and had taught Albus some of the basics. Albus knew enough to give Thomas a fragment of help.

'I think the symbols indicate that you need to take the first left, and thereafter take every right turn you meet,' Albus said. 'Use a compass spell to keep track of where you are, but it is not so much a maze as a spiral. You will eventually be led into the inner chamber, but I suppose you will probably encounter several magical obstacles.'

'That makes sense,' Thomas said. 'I suspect that I may be more than a few days inside that Pyramid. Given what has happened tonight, we should not meet again outside Hogwarts. In future, if I need your counsel I will come up to your dormitory. But do not await my coming.'

'I wouldn't expect to,' Albus said, 'for I do not think I can be much further help to you without the Orb.'

'I would not have got this far without you,' Thomas said, 'so do not feel bad in the slightest. Now I had better be going. With every minute Grundelwald is closer to the Everlasting Flame and I will not have him winning.'

'Aren't you going to report his attempt to murder us both?' Albus asked.

'I trust you to do so,' Thomas said. 'You have time, I have not.'

'But they won't believe me!' Albus protested. He was not ready to have his story disbelieved for a third time in succession.

'I am certain they will,' Thomas said. 'Farewell, Albus Dumbledore.'

Thomas was gone from the Great Hall before Albus could issue another protest. In his absence Albus felt wholly alone inside the vast Hall, underneath a sky riddled with stars. There were only two options now.

'Fawkes,' Albus muttered softly. 'Come here.'

A flash of flame announced the arrival of his crimson plumed phoenix. Fawkes landed on Albus' shoulder and nuzzled his cheek.

'Fawkes, I need you to do two things for me,' Albus said. 'First of all, go to my father and convey to him the gravity of what has just happened. Grundelwald tried to murder Thomas and me, and he stole the Orb of Duality that you gave me! Once you have done that, you must promise me to watch out for Thomas for the remainder of the Task. Follow him, and keep your watchful eye on him.'

Fawkes turned his deep, mysteriously swirling eyes on Albus and conveyed that he understood, and would do as Albus asked. Then, without a sound, the phoenix vanished and left Albus alone again. Albus pulled the invisibility cloak over his head and returned to Gryffindor, feeling more helpless and empty than he ever had. He deposited William's cloak back where it belonged and clambered into bed, only to lie there the whole night with recurring visions of a green flash of light coming towards him and striking him down…

Author's Note – thanks to the influx of reviews over the Easter Weekend. As a reward, I hereby post this chapter up the day after the last one. Enjoy, for the story will soon be at its end… your loyal Grandson of Dumbledore!