บท 154: Epilogue & Alternative Ending

His name was Shade Umbrus Dumbledore.

Hero of a war that was never truly fought. Survivor of a Dark Lord that was never truly his to fight. He lived a long, and fulfilling life. He briefly stepped into politics and had Azkaban's guards replaced to Aurors rather than Dementors. He led a set of changes to the Wizengamot's structure, rendering positions fully elective, and stripping the privileges of blood from allowing one a seat.

He was known as the One Man Evil Feared, and his kindness was second only to his determination.

Most of his life, he then spent in seclusion, enjoying the company of his friends -some claim that one among them also held a special place in his heart, but those rumors were never fully proven, just like his harem of Veelas. Shade's Harem-paradox became a well-known theorem in the Wizarding world for a while 'If you inhabit a desert island where no one can visit you, do you, or do you not have a harem of Veelas?' and many a wizard today still does wonder about the answer to such a difficult question.

News of his death reached us through one of his children, who actually refused to answer the ever-old question of whom the man actually loved, and married.

When asked for further clarification, the wizard merely answered.

"His name was Shade Umbrus Dumbledore, the Incredibly Annoyed Ravenclaw. Since the wizarding world annoyed him such, he decided to annoy you all one last time by leaving you without answering the eternal question of whom he truly loved-or who my mother is, for what it matters."

That, indeed, was all that the young man who held an incredible likeness to his father had to say about him.

-Article by Merry Righter, Daily Prophet, Year 2068.

Alternative Ending

There was something to be said about how living a good life was the greatest revenge one could give one's enemy. Flipping through the newspaper articles on the latest news from the Wizarding world, my eyes caught the news of the Boy-Who-Lived death's, and the mourning of its family.

"You know, Shadowdrake," I said as if to make conversation with the statuesque beauty that sad demurely by my side, eyes glimmering green, yet with a bright brilliant fire within them. "The fallen fifty motivated me, and all those others that died in the meantime. Yet how many did I actually kill to get to this point, I wonder? You ever think a Slytherin will ever wish to go back in time, and try to save them?"

"I...I don't know, my Lord," Shadowdrake whispered. "The Boy-Who-Lived has died. Shall I give the order?"

I glanced at her, and then back at the newspaper. My eyes them moved towards the surface of the sea where lazy, tall tentacles were enjoying the warmth and basking in the tranquility. "Once, a long time ago, I would have said yes," I mused aloud. "I don't know whether it was because I was blind, or a fool, but a long time ago...a really long time ago, like, one lifetime ago, I would have said yes without a fault." I folded the newspaper and stood up from the beach lounger, stretching and tightening the grip on my straw hat to keep the sun away.

"And now, my Lord?" Shadowdrake mused.

"Now...I don't think I want to do it after all," I said with a dreadful sigh. "I have achieved...everything." I extended my arms to encompass the sheer everything around me. "I have an island. I have magic. I have you, and my creations. I have a fulfilling, beautiful life. I live without worries-nothing is beyond my grasp-and so I find myself wondering what, indeed, is the next great adventure I am bound for now that this one is over."

"We can keep on resting, my Lord. I will guard over you," Shadowdrake mused. "It is my duty, and my pleasure."

"I know," I said with a small nod, walking on the sandy beach and watching Shadowdrake follow me. Her skin gleamed under the sun. "You must understand, it's just boredom I'm afraid of right now. I do need to do something, perhaps pick up a hobby that isn't building more Draghuls, and isn't politics. Because hell if I don't want to deal with other people's arrogance -unless it's my own."

Shadowdrake remained silent as I came to a halt at the entrance to my beach house. There were a lot of pictures inside, some beautiful paintings that winked in my direction, and a lazy figure sleeping away on the couch in front of the television. Setting up a TV had taken surprisingly little time once I found where the internet cables were on the ocean floor, and after wire-tapping them for a bit of that juicy connection, I was ready to stay here until the end of my days, or of the world. Probably the latter, rather than the former.

"Nagini," I said with a dreadful sigh, "What did I tell you about washing the salt off before sitting on the couch after a swim?"

"N-Not to do it, my Lord?" Nagini replied, her hisses words that I could easily understand.

I shook my head and muttered in disbelief about retainers and their inability to remember simple instructions, and pulled the straw hat off to place it on the hanger by the entrance. Then, with a gentle tug, the Ravenclaw Diadem came loose from within the flesh of my forehead, and I placed that too beneath the straw hat. With a dreadful sigh, I sat down by the large snake's left side, and glanced at the television screen in front of us both. Shadowdrake took the seat by my left.

"My Lord," Nagini began, hesitantly, "I overheard-what comes next, now?"

I hummed. I smiled. I laughed once, a rich, full laughter that echoed in the room.

"I don't know," I admitted, and then grabbed hold of the television remote with but a flick of my hand. The prophecy from the hall of prophecies tinkled a bit from the small table where I had left her after settling in the house. Next to it was a Time Turner, essential for the great plot of scaring myself to death during the Triwizard Tournament. "But I guess we can enjoy eternity, and see what humans, muggles and not, do throughout the ages."

For at my core, beyond being the unholy merging of two souls into one, I was also something else.

I wasn't just Shade Umbrus, and I wasn't just Tom Riddle.

I had made amend for the mistakes of the past by learning what Love was...

...and had become the Incredible Last Man Standing.