Chapter 1138: The Longed-for Object
Chapter 1138: The Longed-for Object
"Calm, keep calm. You'll see them again soon." Dumbledore forced himself to suppress his anxious emotions and self-soothed.
At this moment, he recalled Albert's warning and realized that he had indeed been too hasty.
Even if there were no traces of magic left on the door before him, it would still not be wise to reach out and touch it directly, especially since the door was just an ordinary wooden one. It was unusual that it had remained relatively well-preserved after such a long time instead of completely rotting away.
Dumbledore muttered a spell under his breath and prodded the wooden door in front of him with his wand, but there was no response.
"Am I overthinking this?" Dumbledore murmured.
However, he still did not intend to touch the door with his hand. Instead, he waved his wand and caused the door to open on its own.
A sphere of light flew out from the tip of his wand and floated into the pitch-black house, illuminating the interior completely.
The house was completely dilapidated. Thick cobwebs hung from the ceiling, and the walls and roof showed varying degrees of collapse. A rotten rafter had fallen to the ground, giving the impression that the entire house would crumble at the slightest touch.
Dumbledore cautiously stepped inside and carefully observed his surroundings, but he found no traces of magic.
Was the Horcrux not here?
The old man turned his gaze back to the strange wooden door at the entrance. When he reached out with his hand, which was still clad in the dragon hide glove, to touch the door, there was still no reaction.
After studying the wooden door for a while and confirming that there were no traces of Dark Magic on it, he finally removed the glove and reached out to touch the door. Suddenly, a strange suction force seemed to emanate from the door, pulling Dumbledore toward it.
When he came to his senses, Dumbledore found himself standing in a pitch-black room.
As if triggered by the intrusion, a bone-chilling blue magical flame ignited in front of him, and the blue potion began to spread, as if intending to burn the intruder to ashes.
If it had been an ordinary wizard who stumbled upon this situation, they would likely have panicked and been reduced to ashes by the magical flame.
Even if one could remain calm, there would be no escape from the approaching death.
However, the person standing here was Dumbledore. He calmly raised his wand and began to chant a series of bizarre spells rapidly. He pointed his wand forward, and the original blue magical flame suddenly surged and then went out completely, plunging the surroundings back into dead silence and darkness.
Suddenly, a sphere of light flew out from the tip of his wand, instantly dispelling the darkness around him.
Dumbledore surveyed his surroundings with the help of the Lumos spell. His gaze fell on the strange statue in front of him, but he quickly shifted his attention away from it and continued to observe his environment.
The area was not large, and rough walls surrounded it. The wooden door behind him served as the entrance, but what surprised Dumbledore the most was that he saw traces of Dark Magic on the door. This meant that anyone who tried to open the door to leave would likely trigger one of Voldemort's traps.
That made sense. Given Voldemort's character, he would never allow anyone who intruded here to leave easily.
Dumbledore did not pay further attention to the door but turned his gaze back to the strange statue in front of him. He seemed to hear whispers emanating from the statue, as if someone were speaking to him.
However, Dumbledore appeared unaffected by the whispers. His expression was focused and sad as he stared intently at a ring on the statue, his azure eyes, usually filled with wisdom, now brimming with sorrow.
He slowly approached the statue, his eyes fixed on the black gemstone set in the ring, trying to discern if this was the Resurrection Stone he had yearned for.
Indeed, the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was etched upon the black gemstone.
"Ariana!"
Dumbledore's lips quivered slightly, and his eyes were moist with unshed tears. With a trembling arm, he reached out, having waited far too long for this moment. He longed to see Ariana, his deceased parents, and...
Dumbledore, wearing the dragon hide glove, removed the ring from the statue. As he attempted to put it on his finger, his movement suddenly stilled.
"I should return to Hogwarts immediately," Dumbledore said, suppressing the deep longing in his heart as he clutched the ring tightly in his hand.
"Fawkes!" the old man called out, summoning his phoenix.
A ball of golden-red flame appeared out of thin air, and Fawkes responded to Dumbledore's call.
"Quick, take me back to Hogwarts."
Dumbledore's gaze remained fixed on the ring he held tightly in his hand as he left with Fawkes's assistance.
Upon returning to Hogwarts, Dumbledore breathed a sigh of relief. The familiar surroundings relaxed his tense nerves. He put down his wand, but his eyes remained glued to the ring in his hand.
At this moment, Dumbledore could hardly wait to see his loved ones again.
He had waited far too long for this moment.
The old man took out the Gryffindor sword from the cabinet and slashed it down onto the ring that lay on the table. A terrifying shadow surged out from the ring, letting out a long, piercing scream before dissipating.
That was Voldemort's soul, preserved within the ring.
Dumbledore had finally succeeded in destroying another Horcrux.
However, this was not what Dumbledore was most concerned about. He had set down the Gryffindor sword and was now muttering to himself about how to use the Resurrection Stone, intending to summon his long-deceased parents and sister, Ariana.
As Dumbledore reached out to pick up the already destroyed ring, something unexpected happened.
A piercing pain shot through his fingertips and spread throughout his body, almost causing him to lose consciousness.
The ring slipped from his fingers and landed on the table, startling the portraits that had been quietly observing the events.
The intense pain snapped Dumbledore out of his grief, and he looked down at his hand, which appeared burnt and blackened. His lips trembled as he muttered, "Careless, after all these years, I've made no progress at all."
He had naively thought that destroying the Horcrux would be enough to ensure his safety. However, he should have expected Voldemort to place a curse on it.
Dumbledore picked up his wand and attempted to remove the curse from his hand, but to no avail. The curse Voldemort had left on the Horcrux was slowly eroding his life force, not taking his life all at once, perhaps because Voldemort wanted to prolong the intruder's suffering.
"Severus, I need your help. Please come to my office immediately," Dumbledore said, steadying himself against the table. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace, and soon, Severus Snape emerged from the green flames.
"What happened, Dumbledore?"
Snape stepped out of the fireplace, shocked at the weakened state of the elderly wizard before him. He had never seen Dumbledore so frail.
"I seem to have been cursed. Is there anything you can do...?" Dumbledore lifted his charred hand.
"I'm not sure, it looks like a particularly powerful curse," Snape said, examining Dumbledore's hand before pointing his wand at it and reciting a spell under his breath.
Dumbledore inspected his hand, which now looked like dead wood, and asked quietly, "Did it work?"
"No, I've only managed to contain the curse temporarily, imprisoning it within your hand. It will continue to spread, and as time passes, it will only grow stronger," Snape replied, frowning as he looked at the broken ring and the Gryffindor sword. "Did you really think that destroying the ring would be enough to break the curse upon it?"
"I suppose so... I must have lost my mind..." Dumbledore changed the subject and asked, "Severus, how much time do I have left?"
Snape hesitated before answering, "Perhaps two or three years."
"That's enough time," Dumbledore said calmly.
"What do you mean, 'enough time'?" Snape asked, his anger rising. "Why did you put on that ring? You must have known it was cursed. Why did you touch it?"
Dumbledore gave a bitter smile and replied, "The temptation was too great."
"What temptation?" Snape pressed.
Dumbledore did not answer.
"I'll brew some potions to help suppress the curse," Snape said, seeing that Dumbledore wasn't going to elaborate. "You should contact that extraordinary man. Perhaps he can help heal your injury."
"You've done marvelously, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly. "Please keep this matter confidential."
"That won't be easy. People will notice soon enough," Snape said, turning to leave through the fireplace.
"Was this what Albert was referring to?" Dumbledore wondered aloud after Snape had disappeared into the flames. "Am I truly such a fool?"
Dumbledore picked up the ring and made his way to his bedroom.
Once he had closed the door, he closed his eyes and, following the instructions for using the Resurrection Stone, turned the ring in his hand three times.
Three figures appeared beside Dumbledore. They were neither ghosts nor flesh-and-blood humans but rather seemed like materialized memories. They surrounded Dumbledore, their faces bearing smiles of reunion.
"I'm sorry, Ariana," Dumbledore said, lifting his head, his eyes filled with tears as he apologized to his sister. "Abelforth was right. It was all my fault. Everything was my fault. I'm the one who killed you!"
"I've never blamed you," Ariana said, reaching out to stroke the old man's head as if comforting a heartbroken child.
"I shouldn't have done what I did," Dumbledore said sadly. "I knew your health was fragile..."
"I'm sorry, Albus," Dumbledore's father said, his voice filled with guilt as he looked at his aged son. "We left you with such a heavy burden."
If he hadn't acted rashly and ended up in Azkaban, perhaps things would have turned out differently.
The chains of life had bound his most talented son, who should have been free to soar like a bird.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
