Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
Chapter 141: Dumbledore Confidence
20 July 1996
Gaunt Shack, Little Valley Located Outside Little Hangleton
After the school holidays began, Albus Dumbledore started his Horcrux hunt alone.
Despite Dudley serious warning for him not to hunt the horcrux alone, Dumbledore believe on himself more and he had chosen to proceed by himself. He believed it was necessary and more efficient to do it alone.
After all, he was Albus Dumbledore and not to be arrogant but Dudley manage to hunt the horcrux alone and he had been known as the greatest white wizard in history.
He was confident in his strength, his experience, and his knowledge of dark magic. Dudley, no matter how insightful and experienced he might be, was still underage, a student bound by rules and limitations. Dumbledore had lived for more than a century. He had faced Grindelwald. He had studied the darkest corners of magic and survived.
Surely, hunting fragments of Voldemort horcrux was something he could manage alone.
That assumption would cost him his life and he didn't know it yet.
His first step was research about Voldemort past.
He retraced Tom Riddle past meticulously, he visited the orphanage where Riddle had grown up, when he was kid. He spoke with the last living Gaunt in Azkaban, visiting him in prison and illegally extract the memory from him.
Finally, his path led him to the Gaunt Shack, the place where the gaunt family had lived in the past.
The moment he stepped near it, Dumbledore can felt it. The very thick Dark magic and it felt so disgusting nearing it. Although he was ready to enter the shack, he still feel slightly nervous and he stopped himself, thinking back of Dudley warning.
"No wonder Dudley warned me to bring others," Dumbledore muttered quietly. "No... I can do it alone."
The moment he entered, two serpents lunged at him from the shadows, their fangs dripping with dark enchantments. Dumbledore reacted instantly. A single flick of his wand reduced them to dust before they could even reach him.
He is calm and dispelled every Dark magic that trying to attack him.
Dumbledore raised his wand again. "Revelio."
Magic rippled outward, scanning every inch of the shack. Shelves, walls, floorboards and only one thing stood out.
A drawer at the corner of the room.
Dark magic seeped from it.
Frowning, Dumbledore transfigured a nearby stone into a long metal rod and used levitation to slide the drawer open from a safe distance.
Something leapt out violently.
It struck the rod instead of his hand.
Dumbledore reacted instantly, disintegrating the object into ash before it could reform.
He stepped forward cautiously and then froze upon seeing the content inside.
Inside the drawer lay a ring and he recognized it immediately.
This thing has become his obsession when he was teenagers.
It was The Resurrection Stone.
A relic he had searched for across decades.
And now, it was here.
Dumbledore felt it, an invisible pull, for him to touch it. The stone resonated with his deepest desires, amplifying thoughts he had buried long ago.
"Ariana," muttered Dumbledore.
Guilt surged through him like a wound torn open. His sister's face filled his mind, feeling fragile, broken, lost because of him. And the memory of his mother, his father… the family he had failed.
"Just once," a voice whispered in his mind. "Just one moment."
He knew it was a trap.
He knew better, his mastery of Dark Magic screamed danger.
Yet his mind faltered, overwhelmed by longing.
Before he could stop himself, he slipped the ring onto his finger.
ZRSSTTT—!
"Arghhh!"
Agony exploded through his arm as the withering curse activated instantly, dark magic racing through his veins. His flesh began to decay, the curse spreading relentlessly.
Still, he did not let go, he wanted to use the stone and wanted to dispell the curse, he tried to destroy the stone, attacking it directly with the most stupid method, by using a stone to broke the ring, but the curse did not stop.
"Ariana…" he whispered weakly.
Suddenly, a silvery figure appeared before him.
Dumbledore's eyes widened.
"Ariana… I'm sorry," he said, his voice breaking.
"Brother?" the figure asked softly.
Then, two more figures emerged, his mother and father.
"Mom… Dad…" Dumbledore breathed, tears welling.
For a moment, happiness eclipsed pain. He talked with Ariana, Mother and father and suddenly Fawkes appear infront of his eyes.
The phoenix sent message to him that he was in trap, the ring are a curse.
His eyes widen and he found out that the silvery figure are trying to talk with him for a long time. They are trying to stall him and something struck him.
This was no true resurrection.
It was a lure, an ancient killing artifact, crafted to exploit grief.
With a surge of will, Dumbledore tore the ring from his finger and hurled it across the shack. The figures vanished instantly.
Pain crashed into him in full force.
Clutching his arm, Dumbledore quickly transfigured a box and sealed the ring inside it. Without another moment's hesitation, he signaled to focus to bring him to safety.
He landed inside his office and hit the floor hard.
Fawkes looked at him in alarm. The phoenix immediately flew to his side and lowered its head, letting healing tears fall onto Dumbledore arm. However, to Fawkes distress, the magic had no effect.
"I am sorry, my friend," Dumbledore said softly while caressing fawkes with his left arm.
Raising his wand, he cast a Patronus and sent an urgent message to Snape.
Once it was done, Dumbledore turned his attention to the ring. He lifted his wand again, his expression grave.
"Avada Kedavra."
A jet of green light shot toward the ring, but nothing happened.
"Weird," Dumbledore muttered. "Shouldn't it destroy the soul inside it?"
The curse failed because a Horcrux was not created by simply splitting the soul. It was forged through an exceptionally powerful, foul form of Dark Magic, one that protected the vessel from physical damage and most spells. Unfortunately, Dumbledore did not yet fully understand this, he thought it was a splitting soul but it wasn't.
He turned toward the shelves, with a flick of his wand, the Sword of Godric Gryffindor lifted into the air and flew into his grasp.
Gripping the hilt firmly, Dumbledore raised the blade and drove it down into the ring.
The ring screamed and all the foul magic vanished.
Dumbledore let out a breath of relief. A few seconds later, the office door burst open, and Snape entered, only to find Dumbledore on the ground, his arm withered, the shattered ring lying nearby.
...
There is 30 advanced chapter on my patreon.Chapter 167: Moving
Chapter 168: Proposal
Chapter 169: Multiplayer Condition
Chapter 170: Susan Power
Chapter 171: Grangers Reaction
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