章 24: Aftermath
Albus Dumbledore was having a very bad day…
"Dumbledore, did Potter just disappear?"
"Yes, I'm afraid your analysis is correct my dear Ludo," answered the older man, looking exactly his age and inwardly calculating the shortest way to a calming draught.
The boy had gotten strong, far too strong, in a very short amount of time.
'Not even a whole term passed since young Harry started showing signs of rebelliousness,' he observed.
It was worrying and it reminded him of another one of his students during his time at Minerva's post. A young chap named Tom Marvolo Riddle, and even then, the future dark lord was falling short when compared with the raw talent Harry started displaying…
'That last spell he cast was truly worrisome. I've never heard of anything like it,' he thought, moving closer to Ozeth's body.
Uncaring about the audience, Dumbledore waved his wand over the corpse while murmuring in a language that none near him understood.
He was casting esoteric diagnostic spells, trying to figure out the dragon's cause of death.
'Hmm, what's this? It feels familiar… Wait— It feels like the killing curse,' he realized with terror, letting his display of mock cheerfulness crumble; he had gone white from worry and his wrinkles seemed to multiply.
He immediately turned around and started walking away, heading towards his office.
'I need to make new plans. Somehow, Harry learned a soul spell capable of killing a dragon. He has become a wild card, and with the rhythm he's improving, he'll become a danger to the light sooner rather than later. By the end, we may have to bring two dark lords down. I just hope he won't try creating horcruxes,' he mused.
"Dumbledore, wait. You've yet to give your score for Potter," shouted Snape from behind him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
The renowned potion master knew exactly how his employer felt about killing and dark curses.
'Can't have Harry thinking that what he did was in any way right,' the headmaster concluded swiftly.
"Ah, you are right Severus. Alas, Harry will get no points from me," he said, and due to his unwillingness to deal with the questions that were no doubt about to be thrown his way, Albus disapparated away.
"Bloody hell. He just left," Bagman masterfully observed again.
"He's not getting any points!" shouted an angry, plump man, not dissimilar to Fudge, who heard the last part of the conversation.
The owner of the dragon reserves in Romana then proceeded to remind them of the exaggerated rule that denied a champion their right to get scored if they slayed their dragon.
"We tried making it a passing requirement for the task, but the damn goblet wouldn't budge," he said.
There were some protests at that news, specifically from a very anxious McGonagall and an ashen-looking Moody. However, the two professors didn't achieve anything and the young dragon slayer found himself in the last place with no points in his name.
Snape was barely holding himself from jumping around in ecstasy.
[BREAK]
The smell was so familiar, so distinct.
He breathed in, feeling the natural scent of fine linens and fabrics that surrounded him. There was also an undertone of a burning cedar coming off from a hearth.
He was inside the chamber's secret room.
Harry was home.
Heaving a heavy sigh, he slowly got out of the bed sheets and sat on the bed's edge.
"You know, we should have practised some moves before the task," Harry murmured while starting to massage his temples.
For some reason, he woke up sporting a headache…
'Maybe, but I was mourning the loss of my lifelong companion,' said Fawkes and gave him a look that asked "Are you stupid?".
'Ah, shit,' Harry thought, realizing where the phoenix was going.
'Crude, but yes. I know you may feel disinclined to do so, however, you must let yourself mourn for Salazar's "death". As I understood, the late founder meant a lot to you,' finished the old avian.
"A lot? Salazar did not simply mean a lot to me…" he stated, standing up.
"He was my mentor. He was a man who sat down and listened to my whole life, getting downright furious at every wrong done towards me. He showed me how flawed my way of thinking was and gave me the tools to become a better man," he continued heatedly, covering his face with his hands.
"He sometimes displayed an unbelievable sternness but also had a heart to match it. In the start of his tutelage, when I was plagued by nightmares, I'd simply move in the room and sit in front of his portrait and he'd tell all about his adventures with Godric and the others until I fell asleep,' Harry finished softly.
"Sal, in a way showed me what it means to have a dad," he realized, letting his exhausted mental shields fall.
That night, Harry had cried for the man who had come so abruptly into his life before he was mercilessly snatched.
The fact that it was a consequence of his actions, wasn't a comforting thought and made him throw up.
Luckily, he knew how to cast the vanishing spell and some air-freshening spells.
As luck would have it, he was also very adept at casting the repairing charm which was needed in spades as he fell into a vicious cycle of destroying every object inside his room, before putting them back together.
'Are you done?' asked Fawkes, letting out a calming trill.
"No and fuck off. I thought we agreed that I should let some steam out," Harry replied during another of his destructive moods.
He momentarily tapped into his occlumency and masterfully stopped Fawkes' singing from influencing his mental state.
He also stumped the burgeoned annoyance that he felt towards the phoenix, not wanting to direct his rage at the fiery avian.
The next time Fawkes flashed in the room, he found Harry slumping on the bed.
'What no megalomaniac tendencies anymore?' he asked.
'Had I not known any better, I would have thought that the majestic, benevolent, and pure-as-they-come, phoenix, was just being sarcastic to me,' Harry barbed, slowly straightening his back and glancing at Fawkes.
'Are you feeling better then?' the avian asked, this time genuinely.
'I'll live.'
'Great, go take a shower then. Dumbledore stopped stalking around the arena about an hour ago but he placed some wards before leaving. Ozeth of course, is still here,' the third member of their little group announced.
'You are at the arena?' Harry asked through their soul channel, getting a confirmation from the snake.
Heading the advice, Harry moved towards the room's bathroom.
The hot water, warmed by some ancient runes, fell on his skin, washing away the dirt and blood, his blood, that he got from the task.
It didn't make him feel any cleaner though…
He still felt dirty, even more so if that was possible.
His soul was dirty.
The water couldn't wash away his part in Salazar's death nor could it purify the dark lord's soul inside him.
And the blood in his hands, did it really wash off?
He started scrubbing his skin furiously as his breaths turned shallow and quick.
He only got back to his senses when he noticed the pain he was causing himself.
Harry took a deep breath.
With practised precision, he exploited his skill in the mind arts and steadily purged his bad thoughts.
He quickly finished his shower and moved back to the room.
"Ready when you are," Harry nodded to Fawkes who was perched on his bedframe.
He also caught the look of pity that the avian held before quickly concealing it.
The phoenix flexed its wings and took a single strong flap, finding himself sitting on Harry's shoulder.
With an all-familiar fire running through his being, Harry was flashed away.
"You are here," came a hiss that made Harry cringe.
Ash sounded as if he had spent hours upon hours slithering on the cold ground of Britain's November.
Even a non-parseltongue could guess that the snake was irritated…
"Yeah. Is the coasst clear?" he asked, not bothering to explain or come up with any excuse for his tardiness.
Ash could feel his emotional state, and Harry knew that his friend wasn't annoyed at him but about the fact that he had to slither on the wet and slippery ground all day.
Harry also felt that the snake was cold, prompting him to bend and grab him off the floor.
"Thanksss," he hissed in an undertone, moving inside Harry's robes and curling around his arm.
Harry's muscles tensed up and he shivered as the chilly scales of the snake made contact with his bare skin.
Luckily, the snake wasn't wet at the moment.
'That wasn't pleasant,' Harry stated through their soul link.
'I'm glad you understand my feelings. Now let's go inside the arena, they've yet to pull it apart,' he commanded.
Not needing to be told twice, Harry quickly went to the colosseum-like building, trusting Ash to inform him of any dangers that escaped his senses.
There was also Fawkes, who was flying over them.
"Okay, can you feel the ward that Dumbledore placed?" Ash inquired as they made their way into the pit.
"Yess, though I can't tell what it doess."
"Go closer and try again then," Ash stated and Harry moved.
"Hmmm. The magic feelsss like it's searching for ssomething, albeit I can't tell what," Harry contemplated, standing just outside of the ward's range.
"It's looking for any kind of pressence inside it. If anything triggersss it, I'm ssure Dumbledore will materialise somewhere nearby, wand in hand."
"I could try the cloak," the parselmouth suggested, earning a nod from his companion.
However, Harry didn't simply rush inside now that he had a plan.
He started by walking around the pit's perimeter and applying a little gift of his own to the headmaster, in case he decided to show up.
An anti-apparition ward.
If Dumbledore decided to apparate inside the pit, he'd be surprised, to say the least.
"Okay, the preparations are done," Harry thought out loud, reaching inside his trustworthy pouch and grabbing his cloak.
Thankfully, he didn't have to use it during the task and it wasn't revealed to the public.
Putting the cloak on, the duo made their way to the dragon.
The ward didn't respond to their presence…
"Okay, here comes the tricky part," Harry said and removed the cloak, feeling the magic turning around him.
"Reducio," he cast, watching in fascination as the thirty-meter beast turned into a miniature dragon that was no bigger than his fist.
'If only magic thought that Malfoy was my property, I could do the same thing to him. Ant-sized Malfoy sounds golden,' he mused absentmindedly.
Harry quickly grabbed the dragon's now tiny body and flashed away, just in time to hear a crack followed by a pained yelp.
.
The fact that I don't have to keep going over the pasted text in webnovel and apply both the bold and italic styles again and again is amazing.
Also, holy fuck.
We have 1k collections.
That's pretty amazing if you ask me.
Elijah Rabren, Elijah is a really nice name, and Jordan Gray, thanks for subbing on the website that must not be named :]
[https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] -> "Chapter 27 - A monster"
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