Chapter 29: Spelunking
I dodged the stunner and was immediately beset by three spells one after the other. My hastily erected shield managed to hold on somehow. But before I could think about what to do, another salvo of spells raced towards me.
If he thought that I would be overwhelmed by this… he would be partially correct. I was not one to give up that easily though. I twirled my wand as layer upon layer of brick walls spawned in front of me.
As he began vanishing the solid barriers, I charged up a spell that I had been wanting to use in a fight for quite a while. A red orb shone at the tip of my wand and kept growing in size as I kept feeding it more magic. The heat emanated by the thing was unreal, and I hoped that it would be a nice surprise.
The moment the last wall winked out of existence, I unleashed the spell. A thick red laser shot out of my wand, homing in on my target within a fraction of a second. To my surprise though, the beam curved around him and melted a hole through the wall.
I had to quickly let go of the beam as another deluge of spells rained upon me. Another hasty shield stopped the spells initially. But one of the oncoming spells exploded on the shield and took it down. Acting on instinct, I took another step to the side and began batting away the incoming spells with a deflection charm.
Ever since I came here, I had been in many fights, and I could say with utter confidence that this was the most annoying fight of them all.
I grunted as I let loose a concussive spell that repelled the bout of spells and immediately ensconced myself within several spherical shields. Using physical shields against him was a foolish mistake, so I hoped that the ethereal shields would hold on for a little while.
Without breaking the pattern, multiple spells began impacting the outermost layer one after another. He had already made his point, this was just rubbing salt on open wounds. I needed to find a counter for this quickly before the shields exploded. What I didn't expect was for the assault to stop after the first shield shattered.
"I think this is enough for now, Harry," said a huffing Dumbledore.
I deactivated the shields and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Hah, I am an old man, Harry. Casting spells nonstop for more than fifteen minutes is quite hard on me," he said. He then waved his wand and two chintz armchairs appeared in front of us. Despite his breathlessness, he elegantly sat on his armchair and leaned back in relief.
What he was not saying was that his misadventure with the ring had taken more than his hand. I noticed it during the Abbott raid as well. He seemed to be getting tired quickly, a definite side effect of his wilting magic. Well, casting nonstop for fifteen minutes would tire me as well if I wasn't actively using the fourth path.
"Having performance issues in your old age eh?" I said as I sat opposite to him.
"It happens to the best of us. I hope some young chap asks you the same when you are in your twilight years, young man," he said with mirth.
"Hmm, nah. Can't be me," I replied with a shrug.
Kreacher appeared in front of us with a pop and handed me a bottle of Gatorade. He threw another bottle at Dumbledore before disappearing. The old elf often made it a point to mock the Order, and Dumbledore was no stranger to the grumpy elf who often badmouthed them when they conducted their meetings. I honestly want to set the elf on some pureblood morons and watch them have conniption fits.
"Interesting," he said as he looked at the bottle oddly. At this time, Gatorade as a brand was not as widespread as it was later on. I myself found the difference in the bottle design to be quite jarring. The wizards wouldn't have even heard about it at this time.
"It's a sports drink, sir. Here," I motioned towards my bottle as I showed him how to use the sipper. He observed it curiously and replicated the process with his bottle.
"Cherry Rush? Muggles do come up with the most interesting names," he read the label after taking a sip.
"That's going to be your new password isn't it?" I asked in exasperation.
"Of course," he hummed in amusement and began gulping the drink in earnest. I followed suit, as the spar had left me quite parched.
"Anyway, back on topic. Can you tell me what you learnt from this brief spar?" he asked after he was finished with his drink.
"That a nonstop barrage of spells is annoying to counter," I said.
"Quite. So now I want you to think on how you would go about bombarding people with spells without giving them respite," he said.
"I… was there a pattern to it?" I answered after thinking for a second.
"Exactly. Good job on spotting it. Now if this were an actual battle, I would have employed some tactics that would have obscured any discernable pattern. These tactics will be the focus for this month."
I nodded in response, waiting for him to continue.
"Tell me, Harry. When you want to bury someone under a rain of spells, which spells would you choose?" he asked.
I thought for a while and noticed the problem immediately. He caught the change in my expression and nodded sagely.
"This is a persistent problem when one knows too many spells. Most witches and wizards only have a couple of go-to spells that they use in combat. The issue arises when someone has mastered many combative spells. It causes a dilemma when attacking. That split second of decision-making about which spell to use can be the difference between life and death. Hence, the concept of spell chains came to being."
"But won't it make me predictable? You said that there are tactics to obscure the patterns, but how many chains would one need to know to remove that predictability?" I asked.
"You raise a valid concern. But do tell me, when you were defending from the barrage, were you thinking about counters for individual spells?" I shook my head and he continued, "This is one tactic where quantity is better than quality. When you are hammering an opponent with a multitude of spells, many a witch and wizard will only think of weathering the storm behind a shield. I was genuinely surprised when you were able to ensconce yourself within multiple shields. That is no easy feat, and I congratulate you on achieving it."
"Thanks," I responded.
"Don't mistake me, just because most people can't defend themselves from such an onslaught doesn't mean that we should stay complacent. I will be teaching you multiple spell chains, and how to mix and match between the spell chains for variation. And finally, how to mount a counterattack against such an offense. Your method of raising solid obstacles and counterattacking with overwhelming power is a valid tactic. It would have worked on almost everyone, but a duelist with only one plan is an unprepared one. My job here is to prepare you," he said and waved his wand. A stack of books appeared in front of me and landed on my lap.
"I want you to go through these before our next session. One of the main tenets of weaving spell chains is what muggles call muscle memory. Your body should be accustomed to shooting off different combinations of spells at the drop of a hat. For that reason, do not do repetitive practice until I permit you. Bad habits are easy to accrue when learning spell chains. It's easier to nip them in the bud than undoing the process and relearning," he said as he got up.
"Why haven't I seen people use these tactics?"
"The major reason would be the inherent laziness of our species. Back when we were fighting Grindelwald, Aurors used to be trained in these concepts. There was one particular battle that I'll show you in the pensieve later. MACUSA officials had surrounded Grindelwald and were bombarding him with spells. That is what you'll be trying to achieve on your lonesome. At the same time, I will also teach you how to replicate his particular counterattack to the said barrage."
I nodded in agreement as I asked another question, "In the Ministry battle, why didn't you use this?"
"Frankly because I was not in the right mindset for it, Harry. In duels, you would see participants shooting off one spell after the other in quick succession. Skilled casters can often let out a steady stream of spells. The difference between that and a spell chain lies in efficiency and speed. When you cast multiple spells, you cast a spell, you give a minuscule pause, and then cast another one. Mainly because you execute the motions of casting a spell, then begin the motions of casting another one. In a true spell chain, your second spell starts midway through the completion of your first spell."
"Wouldn't that affect the performance of the spells though? Is that why you didn't use it?" I pondered.
"Partly. As I said, executing a spell chain requires immense focus and magical capacity. There would be a degree of diminished power in the individual spells. But as we know, the strategy is more reliant on not giving them room to breathe and subduing them. The most effortless chain consists of the stunning spell and the impediment jinx, for their hand movements are a vertical line and a horizontal line respectively.
"You might ask, then why can't everyone do this? The simple answer is that almost everyone is conditioned to pause after executing a spell. It is how magic is taught so that children do not cause accidents while learning. One's mind, and one's magic, can be more flexible than that. It requires mental conditioning, but it is well within your capabilities to chain multiple spells together. I will be teaching you how to let your magic flow from one spell to another.
"Answering your question now, I didn't use this tactic in the Ministry because half my focus was divided on protecting you from Tom's stray attacks. Another major factor is the drain. In my old age, I can't regularly use such tactics and hope to engage in a drawn-out battle. You, on the other hand, are young. Your mind, body, and magic are still growing. Especially after the removal of the leech, your growth has been tremendous. My aim with this lesson is to engage you in an activity that would stress all three of these, and help you grow further. At the end of the year, I hope that you would have this as another arrow in your quiver and that these exercises would help you get used to draining combat engagements. Do not forget, as you get better with silent casting, we can start shaving off wand movements from some spells altogether. At the highest form of such an offensive, you would just need to twitch your wand a couple of times, and a steady burst of spells would be unleashed onto your foes. Tom himself would know how to counter it, but the rest of his cohort would not. Even Tom, if not given room to breathe, would suffocate. The only issue with that avenue is that Tom himself is a veritable master at combat."
"I get it. Will I be able to make some chains of my own then?" I asked as we walked towards the exit.
"Most definitely. Every duelist has their personal combinations. I fully expect you to create your own variants. I ask you to be patient regarding it though. It would be easier once you learn some basic chains and how they work," he said.
I nodded in agreement as the stack of books floated behind me. My mind was already going through the various spells that I knew. The second path would help me in this endeavor greatly.
"Have a good night, Harry. I'll schedule the next lesson once you let me know when you've finished reading these books," he said as we parted ways.
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Unfortunately, we didn't get much of a reprieve and had to convene soon enough for a pressing matter. Well, pressing matter for Dumbledore. I had already taken care of this issue, but he was unaware of it. It had only been a couple of weeks since Hermione's birthday, and my last lesson with Dumbledore, yet here we were.
"They left kids unsupervised at this place?" I asked in exasperation as I looked at the cave. I lazily flicked my wand, and my wet clothes dried up within seconds.
"Not exactly at this location. I believe Tom had used his budding magic to reach this exact spot and dragged his victims alongside him," he said morosely.
"Peachy," I grumbled. I watched with conflict as Dumbledore went about with the same song and dance he did in canon. A part of me wanted to tell him that this was unnecessary, that I had gotten rid of all the horcruxes. Yet, I would not have a proper explanation for how. I could tell him that Kreacher gave me the locket and he had been to this cave… yet I did not. It all came down to greed. Dumbledore was dying, and this trip would most likely shave off some of his dwindling time.
It was callous of me, but I had done worse things in this war. Dumbledore was fine with sacrificing me if it came down to it, so I really shouldn't be thinking too much about this. In a way, I was fulfilling his last wish. There would not be a better opportunity other than this.
The Abbott raid and the subsequent cleanup at the ministry had derailed the plot something fierce. Here we were, doing something that was slated to happen at the end of this year. We were just barely into October, whereas Harry and Dumbledore went spelunking the coming June. Due to Voldemort's forces getting decimated, Dumbledore had spent a lot of time finding out the location of the cave. So here we were, way ahead of schedule. I wondered how he would proceed with his suicide plan. Because there was no way in hell that I was loosening my leash on Draco. He would only be opening up the cabinet when our traps were ready. Also, Amelia had wrapped up the mess at the Ministry and was soon slated to go after the Order. Snape, at the very least. So, I was really curious about how Dumbledore would proceed.
While I was lost in my thoughts, he had already prepped the boat and instructed me to climb onto it.
"Don't worry Harry, just stay close to me. We'll be fine," he reassured me, mistaking my contemplation for nervousness.
"Yes, professor," I replied as I boarded the boat.
Despite knowing about the inferi, I was not prepared for the sheer creepiness factor of the whole thing. A lake teeming with zombies was not a prime spot for boating. What made it worse was the piss poor visibility. The greenish glow of the place and our lit wands were the only sources of light. It all added up to a highly disturbing experience. I half expected the inferi to jump out and try to drag us underwater.
I clutched my wand in anticipation, wholly willing to incinerate the entire cave if anything made so much as a twitch.
Soon enough, we reached the small island in the middle of the lake. I disembarked the boat, pretending to listen to all the exposition Dumbledore was giving about what was to be done. I knew what was supposed to happen, and I knew what I was supposed to do. My mind was entirely focused on the task at hand.
"Your word, Harry," he said at last.
"You have it, sir. Are you sure about this though?"
"Absolutely. I implore once again. No matter what I do, no matter what I say, please ensure that I finish the potion. I am an old man, it won't make a difference. Moreover, my time is yet to come. I will make it out of here," he said resolutely.
I nodded my acceptance as he conjured a goblet and dipped it into the bowl, scooping up a glassful of the potion. It shone an eerie green, the so-called Drink of Despair. Raising it in a mock toast, he downed the entire thing in a single gulp.
He went on to scoop up another glassful and repeated the process a couple of times. Slowly, his limbs began trembling, and by the third glass, he dropped the goblet and slumped on the ground, muttering in delirium.
Steeling myself, I picked up the goblet and began feeding him the remainder of the potion. I resolutely ignored his moans as I had ignored Pettigrew's. Sure, Dumbledore was willing to do this at all costs. That did not take away from the fact that I could have easily prevented this from happening. The skullduggery of my motives did not make me feel better.
Thankfully, it ended soon enough, and the man slumped on the floor, unresponsive. I swiftly pocketed the fake locket and began casting diagnostic charms that I had learnt from Andromeda. His body was under tremendous stress, and he was severely dehydrated. I stabilized him to ensure that he would not die, and then summarily stunned the man for good measure. Some good hydration and rest were all that he would need to recover from this ordeal, but it would take some time.
The potion had weakened his mind and body tremendously, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I stood up and let out a deep breath. It was time to get to work. Wand outstretched, I slowly walked in a circle, casting one of the most effective spells for this particular location.
"Protego Diabolica," I intoned as a blue ring of fire sprang up around the tiny island. Any inferius that tried to breach the circle would be burnt out of existence.
Flicking my left hand, I summoned Hirudo and deftly made a small incision in his palm. As the sixth path was already active, I barreled into his mind using the magic injected into his blood. It was exceedingly fragile due to the effects of the potion. I carefully took control of his body, and then switched to the second path.
At an astonishing rate, all his skills were imprinting themselves into my mind. When I did this to the Death Eaters, it was instantaneous. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was a walking library. The sheer number of spells and magical theories that he knew was mind-boggling. Within a minute though, I was done. I staggered for a second under the weight of everything I knew now.
All my pussyfooting about the morality of it was laid to the side. It was worth it. Absolutely worth it. I just needed to brush up on all these skills and make them my own. Then, I would be ready for whatever Riddle threw at me. Dumbledore wanted to prepare me before he died. I would say that he had inadvertently achieved that goal now.
Without wasting time, I healed the cut I made and stabilized the man once more. The mission was not over yet.
No matter what the case, if Voldemort entered this cave, he would know that this particular horcrux was gone. Either he would have found the fake left behind by Regulus, or he would have found nothing. So what I was doing was not much of an issue. As long as the cave stood still, it was fair game.
"Always wanted to do this," I muttered as I held my wand with the tip of my fingers and began twirling it as if I was conducting an orchestra. Sadly, there was no audience to witness the magic at work. Ah well, these dead bodies would do. This concert was being conducted in their honor after all. The flames began surging and coalescing into something bigger than a mere circle. Despite the sheer power and heat of the cursed flames, they did not do anything to me and Dumbledore because I willed it so. It truly was a magnificent spell.
With a final flourish, I unleashed the true might of the protego diabolica as the cursed flames transformed into an enormous dragon. It dove into the water at once and began evaporating everything it came in touch with.
In a span of a few seconds, the entire lake and the countless inferi inside the lake were reduced to nothing. The only thing standing was the island we were on. With concentrated effort, I dismissed the cursed flames and looked around, satisfied at the lack of the knockoff zombies. I did not want Riddle to get a bright idea and use the undead army that he had stashed over here in his desperation. So that was one thing nipped in the bud.
I spent the next minute muddying any traces I left behind. This place was a complete mess. I made sure that I had not burnt anything except for the lake and the undead in it. Between Voldemort's dark magic, the undead, and my fire, if magic physically stunk, this place would be akin to a toxic wasteland. If Shirou Emiya was here, his nose would have shriveled and died to the sheer foulness of this damn cave. Courtesy of my newfound knowledge, I knew that there was no way to find out what exactly I had done over here as well. Time to get out of here.
Voldemort had placed some strong anti apparation measures in this place, but he had done nothing to prevent elves, as displayed by Kreacher's past misadventure at this place.
"Dobby, Kreacher," I called my trusty elves. Dobby appeared in front of me with nary a sound, clad in his neon pink ninja outfit. Kreacher on the other hand appeared with a pop and looked at Dobby's outfit in distaste. He then froze in horror, identifying the place we were at. He turned around, gawping at the lack of the inferi in this place.
"Regulus is no longer trapped in here Kreacher. Nor are any other victims of that wanker. Nobody can use them anymore. May they finally rest in peace," I said. Kreacher was already loyal, but I was sure that playing it up a bit would just cement it even further.
As he began tearing up, I fished R.A.B's locket out of my pocket and handed it out to him. I had already given him a copy of the original locket, but the more the merrier, I suppose.
"Here, this belonged to your master. There's a letter inside it as well. Keep it hidden for now, along with the copy I gave you. Go on, keep it and come back at once please."
"Thank you, master," the old elf croaked as he cradled the locket and disappeared with a pop.
"Dobby, get to the underground vault at the HQ. Find the trunk marked with the number seven. In the hidden compartment, the original locket will be there. Please bring it here."
The eccentric elf saluted and vanished the next second. Within the end of the minute, both the elves returned. Dobby wordlessly handed me the locket and I scanned it once just in case. Despite ridding it of the horcrux and fixing it up, the trace of the foul magic was still present, as potent as the day I destroyed the thing. It wouldn't matter anyway. The thing was going to get up and personal with a basilisk venom empowered sword soon enough.
"Alright. Get us out of here. Shrieking Shack," I said. Kreacher latched onto me while Dobby held Dumbledore.
The next moment, we were all inside the so-called most haunted building in the country.
"Go and get some rest. I'll handle it from here," I said as I hefted Dumbledore on my shoulder and shifted to the first path. With just a thought, I applied an illusion over us that rendered us invisible.
I made it to Dumbledore's office soon enough as I did not need to worry about anyone coming across us. My illusions had evolved and were strong enough to bypass almost anyone at this point.
"Cherry Rush," I stated the password and the gargoyle stepped aside at once. I undid the illusion around us and stepped onto the moving staircase. Time to put on a show.
I rushed into the room, overlaying the entire place with an illusion that would create realistic magical constructs when I wanted it to.
The portraits all clamored in alarm as they saw me carry the headmaster of the school and place him on his chair in a hurry.
"What are you doing?" shouted Phineas, the old coot. He definitely needed some proper acting lessons. He was steadily reporting to me what Dumbledore was doing, but here he was, trying to act all headmaster-like. Ironic, considering the man was the most hated headmaster the school ever saw.
"He'll tell you later," I replied right as Fawkes let out a mournful trill and hopped from his perch and landed on the table. Dumbledore had explicitly told the bird not to come unless either of us called for him. Given that I was on top of my game, there was no real danger the man was under.
I hurriedly placed the locket on the table and walked to the wall mount where the sword of Gryffindor rested. I hefted the sword free and gripped it steadily.
"Move away from the table Fawkes. It's like the diary," I said. The phoenix glared at the locket, probably sensing the remnant of the dark magic, and hopped onto Dumbledore's chair. He spread his wings in front of Dumbledore protectively and began singing.
I could vaguely feel something in the back of my mind. I quickly analyzed it and found it to be the emboldening effect of the song. Although, courtesy of the paths, my mind was too much of an isolated fortress for it to directly take effect unless I allowed it to. It was nice to note that it did not attempt to strike fear into my heart on account of me being wicked. I was not too far gone, I suppose.
Without preamble, I plunged the sword into the locket, and a shrieking black cloud burst out of the locket with concussive force. Or that's what everyone saw and felt. I wove an illusionary construct that took the trace of the dark magic inside the thing, and amplified it for a moment, before dissipating it. The explosive force was another effect generated by the illusion. It was gratifying to finally see my illusions taking physical characteristics and interacting with reality.
I pretended to stumble and placed the sword on the table in relief. I ran a diagnostic charm on the locket and saw that the basilisk venom's effect had mingled with the taint in it, burning through.
"Kreacher, some Gatorade please," I said and the elf appeared with the requested drink within a few seconds, "Thanks," I mumbled and the elf popped out at once. I looked over to see that Fawkes had cried into Dumbeldore's mouth, curing him of most of the wear and tear he had accumulated today.
Fawkes moved out of the way as I pointed my wand at Dumbledore and cast a rennervate at him. He woke up with a start and began dry coughing.
"Here. Drink this sir," I told him as I handed him a bottle. He took the bottle with shaking hands and drank the entire thing in one chug. Feeling that it was not enough, I handed him the other bottle.
"What happened, my boy?" he asked after finishing his drink.
"You fainted after drinking that awful potion…" I began talking, telling a story that was mostly true.
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A.N: I posted my new Naruto story called "A Strawberry Hidden in the Leaves" in WN recently. It was there in my other sites previously, but I migrated it here once I got above 10k words. You can find it in my profile. Would love it if you gave it a shot as well. Although, Six Paths would be the main focus. But we are at a point where we are getting close to the end, so I wanted to experiment with another story.
Well, I am back from the vacation. I wanted this chapter to be a juxtaposition of Dumbledore's efforts vs Harry's cheats in terms of scaling up. I don't know if I properly explained my interpretation of spell chains or not. As for the lake scene, it was something I planned a long time ago. Happy to have finally penned that down.
Please do keep in mind that Dumbledore is highly desperate at this point and some other factors are driving his decision-making as well. I will be revealing it later on. Things are not as simple as how they seem.
If you want to talk to me on discord, please find the invite in the auxiliary chapter.
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