38. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (2)

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore found himself lost in thought. It had been a gamble to expose such young minds to the mirror. First the potter twins then Silver, to tell the truth, he had been pleasantly surprised by two out of three. Both Sophia Lily Potter Evans and Silver Malfoy had weathered the temptation of the mirror with little to no problem. Harry on the other hand…

Dumbledore sighed as he looked to the side where the mirror laid. He would be moving it to its final resting place soon. He could understand Young Harry’s fascination with it. Afterall, Dumbledore too wished for a similar thing. In the mirror two people could be seen, one a little girl, his sister, Arianna. The other being once a friend, a lover, an enemy, Gellert Grindelwald. 

With a wave of his hand a cloth fell on the mirror. He had no time to dwell on the past, instead he opted to think about the present and plan for the future. The small compulsions he had used to make the kids talk had left a bad taste in his mouth. At least he had made them rather weak on purpose. If there was something they truly rather not tell, then they could resist as was the case, he suspected, with Sophia and Silver.

The former had blushed furiously forming a half baked lie Dumbledore was sure not even her brother believed. The lie was amusing however in how closely it linked with Silver’s own. A vast library full of books. Dumbledore didn’t believe that Silver had lied, he didn’t believe she had told the whole truth either. Even so, from what little she offered he could make guesses. 

A young woman seeking knowledge above all else. He had seen many like her traveling these halls. Not to mention she wasn’t the only one in her generation, not by a long shot seeing as little Miss. Granger was doing her best to compete. With that he could put his most insidious worries to rest. That didn’t mean he would let his guard down. 

Tom too had been inquisitive in his younger years. Dumbledore still didn’t know what had changed him, what had driven him to such madness. He could make guesses of course, but they were just that. 

He once again reviewed the memories of the events. How Harry got lost in a desire so pure. A wish for home, love and belonging. Where Harry looked to the past, Dumbledore could see that Sophia looked to the future. Her lie of a vast library with all the books to hide her embarrassment at what she saw. It truly made Dumbledore curious, so much so he had been tempted to use legilimency on the young girl, he hadn’t. 

“A slippery slope that one.” Dumbledore murmured under his breath. He had already manipulated them, used compulsions on them. Truly, a slippery slope he had stepped on. Legilimency would have been a step too far that would have seen him falling down the slope. Afterall, small weak compulsions wouldn’t harm them, Legilimency on the other hand could very well harm their juvenile minds. 

Shaking his head he still wondered about it. What could have young Sophia seen? Reviewing the memory once more he paid more attention noticing small things he hadn’t paid all that much attention to. For example, how the girl began fidgeting with her glasses. Glasses, Dumbledore realized, she hadn’t worn before the christmas break.  

A puzzle, Dumbledore liked those. He began gathering clues from his memories. The more he thought about it, the closer he felt to the answer. The girl had few friends, even fewer that would have the economic stability to give such a gift. Especially so seeing as they were enchanted. That last tidbit Dumbledore realized after looking closely, he couldn’t discern the enchantment, not from his memories alone. Even so, he didn’t believe it to be anything that would harm her. 

Harry, although he had gained access to his family vault, didn’t have the necessary connections or knowledge necessary to acquire such artefact. The Weasleys… Dumbledore didn’t even need to mention them. Besides them, there would only be Silver and she did have not only the wealth but also the connections. 

It was at that moment that Dumbledore felt like he had finally collected and assembled the puzzle. As it finally clicked he chuckled with both mirth and melancholy. Of course all of this was nothing more than an educated guess. Even so, he felt like he had hit the nail in the head. 

“To think that she would be a witch's witch.” He felt a certain level of kinship with the girl taking into account his own past. He just hoped it would end better than his own relationship. Thinking that he risked a glance to the mirror still hidden under a piece of cloth. A few moments later a new thought came.

 Could it be that that was what Silver had been hiding in her own answer? It was certainly possible. The mirth soon bled away as he thought deeply about the situation. The two would have a long and arduous path ahead. Especially with Silver being part of not only a pure blood family but the Malfoys no less. 

He couldn’t see a way in which Lucius would accept such a pairing… or well there could be. Afterall, a political marriage with the Potters could definitely benefit him. However, if that were the case he would try to marry Silver to Harry instead. Or perhaps Sophia to young Draco. 

As that thought came to mind Dumbledore felt a chill running down his spine, a bad omen. Shaking his head he decided to change tracks. Although he did have a lot of political might, there was very little he could do to help in this situation besides offering asylum should Silver defect to the light side of the political confrontation.

Instead, he decided to focus on a much more prominent worry. The fire that had consumed the quidditch pitch and worse than that, the fate of Professor Quirrel. This wasn’t the first time his thoughts had landed on this topic, one that had been discussed to length with not only the other professors but the aurors that came to investigate as well. 

It was perhaps thanks to a stroke of luck that only he and Snape had seen it. The visage of a black wraith escaping from Quirel's body as it perished. One so drenched in dark magic much too foul and perhaps more concerning, recognisable. 

Dumbledore had suspected, he had hoped he was wrong, now he knew he wasn’t. Tom wasn’t gone yet. Meaning, the prophecy still stood. At least, it worked as a cold comfort to know that he was still much too weak to act. However, who knew how much longer that would last. 

Either way, there wasn’t much he could do as of now. He had tried to track down the wraith of course, however he had failed. The forbidden forest being too large and sipped in wild magics for the trail to last. 

Something he could investigate at the time however was the source of the fire. One that had clearly targeted the possessed professor. Had someone known? And if so, why act in such a reckless way. Students had died! A tragedy that had needed a lot of dialog and connections to smooth over. 

In the end, he had failed to track the perpetrator. The magic that had been used was far too common in these halls not to mention… Dumbledore still had trouble reconciling the fact with reality. The fire had been mundane… almost, although there was some magic involved in its creation, it was far more complex in truth, a mixture of alchemy and chemistry. Something that truly puzzled him.

As one of the major advocators for muggles, Dumbledore understood better than anyone else how dangerous they could be. He had taken his time to study some basic chemistry when he was younger, something he was now glad for. The fire had been a combination of chemical and alchemical concoction that couldn’t be put out by conventional means. 

No one should have had the required knowledge within these halls to do such a thing. Only he and perhaps Snape knew enough to create such a frightening weapon and neither had been its origin. Truly a concerning fact. Perhaps someone had managed to go through the wards, infiltrating the school to perform this assassination. The idea had some merit but was discarded again as it had been the last couple dozen times it had surfaced in his mind. 

Hogwarts wards were ancient and powerful; none should be able to bypass them, not Tom, not even him. So no, he didn’t believe someone had infiltrated, the perpetrator had come from within. However, he couldn’t cast suspicion on the professors. None of them would have a reason to take matters in their own hands. Not to mention the lack of chemical knowledge needed. 

The students were far from likely too. Chemistry wasn’t taught in Hogwarts and those students that came from muggle backgrounds had joined the school at a far too young age to have the advanced knowledge required. They could have learned during the break periods but he found it very unlikely. Not to mention, they shouldn’t have a reason to take things into their own hands once more. 

Again Dumbledore found himself thinking in circles with no answer in sight. With a sigh he decided that enough was enough, he still had a mountain of work he needed to get through for his multiple positions. Thinking himself in circles would help none much less himself. Especially so when the work would only accumulate making his old bones ache. 

Truly, he was already exhausted from having to constantly put out fires, literal and otherwise. Perhaps in a few years he would take a page from his friend Nicolas. Fake his death and disappear to an isolated villa to spend his remaining years in peace and quiet. The idea had merit, it always had but he knew that the British magical community was no way near ready for him to step down. 

Especially not so with what was coming. He needed to at least rid the world of Tom before he even thought of retiring. Something that would surely take a few more years at the bare minimum. Signing another proposal Dumbledore stretched a little. It was already late or early seeing as his tempus charm told it was two in the morning. Looking back at his never diminishing pile of work Dumbledore decided he needed to rest. 

Standing up he began walking to his room, giving the sleeping fawkes a gentle pat as he passed by. Tomorrow will be a new day, especially seeing as classes will restart soon. He hoped that nothing more would happen. He didn’t think it would be that way, especially not with the lively children in the castle but hoping and dreaming is free. 

At the last step of the stairs to his room he turned to give the mirror one last glance. Dreaming and hoping is free but sometimes, doing so could hurt too. Shaking his head he entered his room before closing his door. Tomorrow will be a new day indeed.