章節 3: Loss
The door to Dumbledore's office creaked open as Poppy Pomfrey entered. She was an elderly lady whose brown hair was slowly losing its color. Her uniform was similar to nurses of the Victorian era except for the small change of hers being magical. "You called for me?" she asked curiously.
"Yes, could you please come over?" Dumbledore requested.
"Of course, what's wrong?" she asked while striding over. As soon as she saw Eleanor she gasped and quickened her pace.
She tried to check her temperature but recoiled at the sudden cold.
"Albus, what happened, who is she?" Poppy asked frantically.
"Well, we know her first name. Which is Eleanor but the rest that's what we were trying to find out. But either accidentally or purposely she used legilimency. And received a content overload as for why she's so cold I believe she's a vampire."
A shocked expression crossed the healer's face. "A vampire you say, at least we know she won't die but that isn't really reassuring. She could have permanent brain damage from this. I thought you said you were a powerful occlumens."
"I am but I was surprised by the attack and so she broke through. It's not just the content overload she's affected by it's also that she hasn't had contact with the outside world for centuries. The panic she must be feeling. Poppy do you have a sleeping draught on you?."
Dumbledore asked.
"Yes I think so," she said while searching inside a bag she was caring with her.
"Ahh hear it is" Poppy announced while revealing a small vial of purple liquid. Leanin over the shaking Eleanor, she held her face still and forcefully opened her mouth pouring the contest of the bottle into the girl's mouth.
"It should only take about a minute for the effects to start kicking in." Poppy said standing up straight.
Sitting down on the couch next to Eleanor, Dumbledore starts analyzing her face.
She was a beauty, there was no doubt. Her pale skin contrasted perfectly with her long blood-red hair of which a few strands were lying on her face.
She had her mouth slightly parted through which you could see her retracted canines.
Looking past her neck he could see that Hagrid's jacket had slightly parted. through which he recognized the fine white silky fabric of her nightgown.
Looking even further down to her hands. He could see she had long sharp fingernails.
In her hands, she was holding the book and wand she had back when he first saw her, forty-five years ago.
Reaching down he gingerly pulled the book from her grasp, it was beautifully designed, white leather and a gold rim with a crest in the center of it. It seemed familiar to him so he asked the resident healer "Poppy?"
"Yes?"
"Do you recognize this crest?" he said, turning the front of the book towards her.
She squinted at it "Oh, but of course, that's the Dragon of house Pendragon."
Glancing over at Eleanor his eyes widened. Waving his wand a few times a book came zooming out of one of the shelves. It was brown and made of leather with no title or inscription on it.
It was one he had found in his younger years, a journal of a squire in King Arthur's court. He had read it before and thought it quite interesting.
Grabbing it out of the air Dumbledore quickly started scrolling through it.
After some time he suddenly exclaimed.
"Found it".
"What have you found this time Albus?" said Severus who just came through the door. He was a thin man with sallow skin, a large, hooked nose, and yellow, uneven teeth. With shoulder-length, greasy black hair which frames his face, and cold, black eyes. Wearing dark, flowing robes that billowed behind him as he walked.
"Ah, Severus so glad you came," Dumbledore exclaimed joyfully.
"What happened, the portrait just told me to come quickly," Snape said.
"I think it's better if you come to see her yourself" the headmaster stated, gesturing to him to come over.
Striden over to stand next to Dumbledore in a hushed voice he asked "Who is she?".
"She is the reason I called you here." Raising an eyebrow Snape turned to look at him.
"Is that so?" he asked. "It is" Dumbledore stated matter of factly "You see it's quite hard to explain. Have you ever heard of the tree of peace?" seeing the expression on Snape's face he continued.
"Well, it's a tree that has been standing since anyone can remember right here in our forbidden forest. To the centaurs it's as important as their lives I have heard of people who have tried to steal pieces of it. Being killed by them, they have quite a close attachment. You see it's made of pure crystal and is over 320 feet tall.
Now for Hogwarts, it has a different meaning. It's where the new Headmasters have to go to be officially recognized, it's a strange ritual I know but it's held on for who knows how long.
I see no reason to discontinue it, and lucky I didn't.
Without it, I wouldn't have known who she was.
You see the tree wasn't empty, no far from it. This girl, this little girl was in there for who knows how long, and now she has awoken.
Just imagine how scared she must feel so alone in a time she doesn't recognize. So by accident or on purpose, she used legilimency on me. I was so surprised that I couldn't defend myself.
She looked at everything. The shock she must have felt is too much for her underdeveloped mind to handle. So I'm asking for your opinion, what should we do?" He asked looking over his spectacles at his former student.
Breathing deeply Snape tried to compartmentalize what he had learned. "Well if I were you I would keep her here to see how she reacts to the new knowledge and maybe help her come to terms with it. Find out if she has any relatives and then bring her to them." Snape stated.
"Thank you Severus I was thinking among the same lines but you helped me realize that this is the right thing to do," Dumbledore said, smiling at the poisons master.
"I will be taking my leave then," Snape said, walking back to the door.
"Have a nice afternoon," Dumbledore replied as the door closed.
"Well Poppy, I think it better we keep her here till the end of the school year. Just to be sure.
I hope she makes it through this unscathed."
"That's very unlikely, Albus you heard what Severus said, I haven't met her though." madam Pompfry stated.
"Well from what I've seen, she seems strong-willed. So I think she'll make it." Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"Then I better take my leave. I still have some patients to attend to. Call for me when she wakes." She said before leaving.
Sighing Dumbledore leaned back and rubbed his temples. "Why does everything have to be so complicated," he thought in his mind.
Immediately he sat back up and reached forward for the book he had started reading before he was interrupted by Severus.
Flipping back to the page he was on he started reading.
"11. 10. 516
The day has been wrought by tension as the king has fathered a daughter. But it was not by her highness but by his half-sister Morgana Black. The queen is enraged and so are the Averys. From what I have heard Lady Black escaped with the child.
9. 4. 523
It was a fierce battle and we won. But sadly our beloved King has died. That includes his son Mordred and his half-sister Morgana le fay.
20. 5. 525
Today we have returned to the Camelot empty-handed. The search for the child has failed."
Dumbledore frowned and looked up from the book as he felt Eleanor squirm next to him. Looking over he saw her face contorted in pain.
Putting his book down he had an idea. Getting up he walked over to hunker down next to the pale girl touching her forehead he felt the natural cold of a dead body.
It was easy for him to use legilimency on people but he had to look them in the eye. Which didn't work here.
So he tried entering her mind through touch which he had never done before. Opening his mouth he said loud and clearly "Legilimens".
He could feel her Occlumecy shields pressing against him. They felt like rubber not the usual wall of iron. Which was most common among wizards with occlumency shields.
If he had guessed right then she was the girl he read about in the diary and if he was then she had learned this from her mother who was allegedly one of the most powerful witches of all time.
Breaking through he felt the expanse of her mind. It looked like a large library hall with huge shelves packed full of books. But at the moment it looked extremely untidy with multiple collapsed shelves and books covering the floor.
Looking around he saw the hall was circular with a large tower in the center. That seemed to break through a blanket of clouds above him. Which he suspected was normally white as snow was now dark and dreary.
He could hear a quiet sobbing coming from further ahead. Slowly walking towards it, being careful not to step on any of the books that lay in his way.
The massive stone tower loomed above him like an ever-present reminder that he had no power here. Looking ahead he saw that there seemed to be a point where the books were gathering.
A creaking was the first thing that told him something was happening. Looking around he saw the shelf to his left start moving towards him. Taking some more steps in quick succession to avoid it he looked back. He saw every bookshelf had started to move. His eyes widened and he started to quicken his pace. The strange thing was the faster he tried to move the slower he was. So thinking logically he slowed his pace.
After only a few seconds he reached the place the sobbing was coming from.
What he saw brought back bad memories.
Eleanor was sitting there, her knees tucked against her chest. She was tightly holding on to a book while a torrent of black smoke blew around her.
He recognized the black mass because his sister had the same ailment.
An Obscurus.
The wind suddenly started picking up and Dumbledore stumbled back a bit, thunder boomed up above and lightning crackled.
Regaining his balance he started moving forward the closer he got to Eleanor the stronger the wind became he called out to her "Eleanor, Eleanor" but she hadn't heard him. Noticing this he pushed on, tendrils started to extend from the Obscures.
They tried to wrap around him but he waved his hand and they reflected on an invisible surface. Reaching out his hand and squinting his eyes he tried to reach the eye of the storm where Eleanor sat unaware of what was happening.
As soon as he touched it the resistance disappeared and he stumbled through.
All around him the storm raged, books were being thrown around but luckily none of them were being damaged. Bending down he reached for the crying girl. Pulling her into his embrace he tried to soothe her but when he came into contact with the book she was holding he was pulled into a memory.
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