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(Enchanting Melodies) Chapter 383: Shades of Grey
🕑 Added 2024-11-30 14:00:55 +0000 UTCChapter 383: Shades of Grey
24 April 1995, Nurmengard
Albus Dumbledore appeared out of thin air at the entrance of the fortress of Nurmengard. It was pretty taxing apparating directly from Greece, but it was very much worth the strain. He hadn’t been thinking clearly ever since Grindelwald disappeared in a fit of rage during the Sixth Task and hadn’t come back since. He could understand his frustration. For the first time since they began their plans, someone had finally been able to mess with their plans.
The magical release from the destruction of Olympus should have been immense, so much so, that they relied a very high weight of their ritual on it, and yet it was by far, the least magic they were able to store. The former headmaster had been forced to stay back and modify the ritual on the fly, a very risky endeavour, but it was still far safer than letting five prophecies’ worth of stored magic, get released at once in a chaotic way. He spent hours doing that, while Grindelwald went to investigate the matter.
Albus was able to wrestle down the magic and spread it out so that it could meet the necessary quota, by switching its energy requirements with that of their planned ritual in Britain, and even that had needed him to take some of the excess energy he had stored from the previous rituals. All in all, it was a very stressful evening, but the plan was still technically viable. The only issue was that Neville Longbottom’s prophecy would be no longer enough to power the last seal. Albus had been planning on just killing both the boy and Voldemort himself, destroying the Horcrux in Neville’s scar, and killing the so-called Dark Lord.
It would have been fitting. His and Grindelwald’s plan would have worked. And this would have also paved the road to continue his plans in Britain. If he survived Ragnarök, that is. The idea of how close the End of Days was, made every single plan he had just go up to flames. Grindelwald’s solution was wonderfully brilliant. It would be the single greatest feat of magic that the world had ever seen, would ever see even. And yet, someone had tampered with it. Someone or something had done something that could have doomed the world in the long run, and Gellert had gone to confront them, without ever coming back.
Oh, he wasn’t dead. Albus would have felt that. The entire world would have felt that. But something had undoubtedly happened. Albus had pushed himself to clean up the mess that was the task, helping them move forward with the event in Hogwarts and wasn’t that an almost impossible endeavour?
He had no idea what the hell the Greeks were thinking. The idea that they would have even considered sending students to Mount Olympus had never entertained Albus’ mind, because, even if he had taken his fair share of risks, he would have never risked so many lives needlessly. And the Academy’s headmaster was barely even facing the consequences of the dozens of deaths he caused. Hell, the only thing that happened was him being ousted from his post, and that was it.
To be fair, it was obvious that the man had a skewed sense of morality as he sent his own son to the task. That had probably helped since it showed the illusion that everything that occurred was an accident. And if that was the rationale that the worship of Olympus created, then Albus was glad that they had made sure that the Olympians fell.
The original plan was destructive but wouldn’t have had any real casualties. He was planning on sneaking an army of vampires to the Labyrinth to do the deed. The students should have been performing the task elsewhere, and he was going to personally be there, shielding the school from the destructions’ fallout, but that was it. No student should have been endangered.
However, the decision from the part of the Academy’s headmaster to turn the task into some sort of quest in Mount Olympus changed things. He couldn’t change a lot of his plans, since it was all done in advance, and he couldn’t exactly sneak an army of vampires into the Labyrinth if the task was taking place on the mountain. And so, he had taken a chance on young Cedric. He had infused him with a small contained of Light, made him the recipient of the energy absorbed by the crowd’s emotions, and Albus’ grace guided him to the Labyrinth’s core, before releasing the energy buildup.
It was a noble sacrifice, even if it wasn’t exactly willing. Still, Albus would see the Diggory family rewarded and would make sure to compensate young Cedric’s parents for raising such a wonderful son. It truly was a shame to see such a bright young man having his potential cut short, then again, what better destiny would he have had, other than helping to safeguard the entirely of the magical world. The death of the students on the mountain was tragic, but it was also necessary. It wasn’t like the Academy’s headmaster hadn’t already sent them to their deaths on his suicidal quest for the Golden Apple.
Even if things hadn’t exactly gone to plan with the magical release, Albus was able to patch things up enough so that their plan be workable. He had to pressure the ICW who wanted to end the tournament prematurely, then get them to somehow agree to lose a lot of their influence in Britain for the task to take place. He lost more than enough goodwill with that last stunt. But that didn’t matter. It was all for the greater good, after all.
In a way, he was happy that he was distracted with trying to keep their plan together. It was better than worrying about what happened to Gellert. Still, he had put some detection charms to know when he finally returned to Nurmengard, which was why he came to the fortress as quickly as possible.
He ran towards where he could detect Gellert’s office, ignoring the hundreds of vampires who flinched from his sheer presence. He had let go a bit of his control over his magic, but he hadn’t cared. He finally opened the door and suppressed the urge to gasp as he saw Grindelwald’s appearance.
He could barely recognize the man if he could even be called that. He looked more like a burn victim than anything as if someone had thrown him into Fiendfyre. There were chunks of the Dark Lord that were missing, filled with nothing more than shadows. The only reason Albus recognized him was because of his familiar silver eyes. He had never seen Gellert this injured. He wasn’t even regenerating, which was already worrying, but even during their fated duel, the Champion of the Dark did look better.
Albus took a deep breath, “What happened Gellert?”
“You were right. The Potter boy is a lot more dangerous than I expected.”
The Dark Lord’s words were raspy, almost artificial, in a way. However, it took the former headmaster a couple of seconds to register what the man had just said, “Harry Potter did this? I did not know that he was still alive.”
“Neither did I,” Gellert confessed, “It is rare that my sight fails me so. I suppose with the space-time disturbances resulting in the destruction of Olympus, it might have been inaccurate. But no, my current state is not because of Harry Potter. He might grow to be a threat, but I will not be defeated by a child, Albus. No, this was a courtesy of our lovely Red Witch.”
“She was the biggest threat to our plans in Britain,” Albus commented.
“Not anymore. This was more akin to a farewell gift. Lily Evans is dead.”
“And yet, Harry Potter lives.”
The Dark Lord chuckled, “I suppose a mother’s love is a powerful thing, even if I never expected Lily Evans of all people to ever display that. It has been a while since I’ve been surprised by anything, really. There’s a charming quality to it, even if it is annoying.”
Albus chuckled at that, “Welcome to the way the rest of the world experiences life, old friend.”
“I realize now that I have been relying on my sight too much. The boy exploited that many times. He almost killed me. Twice. And his mother has wounded me in a way that I never have before.”
“Can’t you regenerate? I’ve seen you return from far worse.”
Gellert nodded, “This is just physical. The Witch wounded my connection to the Dark, which was the source of my regeneration. It will need to reform. I am already using whatever I can to stay alive, to anchor my soul to this dying body.”
That surprised Albus more than anything else Gellert had ever said. If someone managed to wound Gellert’s connection to the dark, then they could do the same to him. They could also destroy it altogether or just suppress it. That raised the Potter boy’s threat significantly. This knowledge had to be purged, at the very least, “How long will it take you to recover?”
“A little more than a year, if I remained with the same pace. However, I do have a plan to accelerate things. I will need to be whole when Ragnarök comes. You will have to take the lead for the next part of our plan.”
Albus nodded, “We do have a complication. I managed to stabilize the seal, but at the cost of the next one needed even more magic.”
“And yet you already have more ideas. There are more active prophecies in Britain or even powerful curses. Do the arithmancy and make your decision. I trust that you will not fail.”
“What about the boy?” Albus asked, “He’s proving to be far more dangerous than even I expected. You said he was almost able to kill you.”
“The boy must die,” Grindelwald answered decisively, “It truly is a shame for the Peverell bloodline to end, but he is a threat. We cannot allow any more mistakes. We simply cannot, and the boy being able to circumvent my divination makes everything around him inherently chaotic and unreliable.”
“That’s a large shift to your previous position,” the former headmaster commented.
“He was my candidate as Ragnarök’s hero and hoped to use him when the end of days finally came. A Peverell would fulfil the prophecy perfectly, especially one that killed the World Serpent and signalled the start of Ragnarök. Perhaps it is because he is the prophecy’s chosen hero that makes his existence so chaotic. In the end, my choice of letting him live was incorrect, and it will be up to you to correct it, old friend. A prophecy as old as Ragnarök will find another candidate for its champion and the wheel will turn once more.”
Albus hummed. He had to admit that he was pleased with Grindelwald finally giving up on his plans on the Potter brat. The boy had cost Dumbledore more than he could have ever imagined, helped destroy his very dream and killed the World Serpent, which was what prompted Grindelwald to resurface once more.
At least the Red Witch was gone. That, alone, made implementing his plans in Britain far more likely. Lord Voldemort was barely more than a single wizard, a very powerful one but still a shade of his former might at best, without any support. He didn’t have the resources to perform demanding rituals on the fly, nor did he have powerful artefacts that he used to enhance his own might and that of his followers. The only powerful force in the country was the Lycans.
An idea bloomed in Albus’ head, and he had to suppress a smirk. This could very well work. It would even be fitting in a way. His musings were broken by Grindelwald speaking up, “You seem excited by the idea of killing the boy.”
“I suppose I am looking forward to finally being vindicated.”
“Don’t lose yourself to it. He is a very tricky opponent. My current state is the living proof of that.”
Albus nodded, “I won’t,” he was going to leave the room and continue his planning. He had a lot to do and figure out, after all, but he froze as he was halfway out of the room and asked without looking back, “Do you ever wonder if we’re in the wrong, in all of this? We’re trying to manipulate the very first prophecy ever uttered, the most powerful one. Historically, it rarely ever ended well.”
Albus could hear a hitch in Gellert’s voice when he answered, “I have asked myself this question for decades before even the World Serpent perished. I saw what was coming, Albus. I saw the dust and ash that remain of our beautiful world, and I can tell you with absolute confidence that whatever the consequences of our actions may be, it will not be worse than what is meant to be. We are not doing this for power or for strength but for our very survival. We are the will of humanity, Albus, the shields that guard it even if they hate us for it. We are the architects of our own destiny and only we have the knowledge and the foresight to guide humanity towards a future where it thrives, not succumbs to oblivion. It is our duty, as it is our burden, as much as we wish it wasn’t. This is not the time for doubt, old friend. Ragnarök is coming, and we will need to be ready for it.”
Albus nodded resolutely and left the room. He had a lot to do after all.
AN: I haven’t done a proper Dumbledore POV in a while. Not sure if it came out right, but here it is, don't worry we're going back to Harry in the next chapter. As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
Comments
Garri Sarkisov
Good intentions and all that. Just wow
Afterdark230
I like it, perfect look into those two.
MonolithV
Well done, I think you're a bit hard on yourself in the author note. This chapter explained Dumbledore's thoughts and motivations in a concise manner, we can't ask for more than that.
