Fall

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25th June 1995, Nurmengard

(Dumbledore POV)

Albus went inside went to Gellert's former throne room and sat down on the throne in the middle of the castle. He was as ready as he could ever be. Albus looked at the mark on his chest, watching the last line slowly fade away into nothingness. He kept watching for hours until it disappeared. The crow on his chest started pulsing and disappeared. It was time, the Morrigan was coming.

The room started to inexplicably darken. The light coming from the candles seemed to find some sort of resistance, like it was slowly being stopped from illuminating the room. Even the Gubraithian Fire torch was being affected, something that should have been impossible. Nothing should affect the everlasting fire from burning.

Albus did not feel the wards being affected and that made him nervous. The wind seemed to pick up, even when he's indoors. He could feel it in his bones, she was coming. Then, suddenly, the torches seemed to be put out in a fraction of a second. Even the Gubraithian Fire torch was affected, once more. Suddenly, as the torches and candles were lit once more, a hooded figure in black stood in front of him, shadows moving around her.

He instinctively knew that it was the Morrigan. He could feel the danger and power this being's presence seemed to broadcast. Albus felt like his own subconscious told him to run away as fast as he could and go as far as possible, away from death.

But the former Headmaster knew that he couldn't escape his hunter, his pursuer. His only chance at survival was to fight, and he certainly had the time to do so.

The Morrigan entering Nurmengard without triggering any of the wards took him off-guard, the only thing that he had heard of that could do that was the Potter invisibility cloak and his pursuer seems to have replicated the magic somehow. This did not bode well for him.

The figure just stood there for a few seconds and seconds was all it took Dumbledore to activate his trap. Since wards didn't seem to stop her from moving through them, he could not rely on them to delay her until the trap is properly powered on.

One of the unique features of the Nurmengard is the fact that the wards allow their master to affect the fortress itself. Which meant he could create rooms and walls wherever and whenever he wanted. He could even affect the spacial enchantments of the castle. No wonder Gellert was overconfident; in this fortress, he was a god.

Albus created a room around the hooded figure trying to trap it somehow. He manipulated the extension charms to make it almost as big as the Great Hall in Hogwarts. He turned around to create a secret passage to get away, only to find the Morrigan standing there. This was impossible, it should have taken her minutes to escape his impromptu prison.

She glided towards him, and he create a wall separating them and remove the floor from her side of the room. He turned around to run away once more, to find his hunter standing in front of him. Again, she glided over to him, but this time she was faster and Albus panicked. He created a hole in the ground under him to escape this terrifying being. He fell down to the lower floor and was barely able to cast, "Arresto Momentum" to avoid serious injuries.

Again, his pursuer was not far behind, and he decided to cast the first spell at her. "Protego Horriblis" he bellowed spinning the elder wand in a circle. This was Gellert's signature spell, an army killer spell if used correctly, both defense and attack. It was a variation of the Fiendfire spell that was a bit less powerful but allowed a lot more flexibility and control over the fire. One of the characteristics of Fiendfire was its ability to consume magic, and this shield charm derived from it allowed it to nullify practically every spell that goes through it.

Albus created a giant phoenix out of the cursed flames and thrust his wand, sending it at his enemy. He had hoped briefly that she was dead now, that he had won. It was for naught of course as after he recalled the flames, the figure was still standing there as if nothing happened.

The Morrigan slowly glided towards him and Albus intensified the power of the flames, only for them to part as the hooded figure glided near them. Albus was very anxious now, he only knew of one light spell that could kill that thing as it affects the soul. And so, Albus cast the spell he hated most, "Avada Kedavra". The green beam light coming from his wand, went at a blinding speed towards his attacker who did not dodge. Whatever hope, Dumbledore had died that moment where the green light seemed to go through the figure as if she wasn't there.

Then suddenly, the wards notified Dumbledore that his trap was ready, he still had a chance. He chanted, "In darkest day, in brightest night, no evil shall escape my might, banish the darkness so that reigns light." The moment he finished the incantation, the ritual he had been preparing began. He bled the wards dry overpowering the ritual. It was a very obscure one that destroyed anything with dark magic. From what he researched about the Morrigan, he deduced that, whatever it was, was a creature of darkness, similar to a dementor, and would be affected by it. This ritual was successful in destroying dementors who were considered to be immortal so it was a good chance that it could kill he attacker.

A blinding white light engulfed the room and probably the entire fortress considering how much he powered the ritual. It took him of-guard and blinded him. It was a few moments later that he was able to see once more, trying to blink away the spots in his eyes. With his vision back he looked hopefully at where his attacker stood before his trap only tom find the same hooded figure standing there as if nothing happened.

She started to glide, slowly, towards him and he panicked. It didn't even seem affected in any way whatsoever by his ritual. And his trap had drained the wards, meaning that his field advantage was gone. He bellowed "lux hastas" and dozens of spears of light materialized from his wand and attempted to skewer the Morrigan, only to go through her again, like it did with the killing curse.

Albus had only one chance, one hope that Flamel's word were true somehow. The figure was almost a few feet away and raised its hands towards him. He channeled magic into his wand, the stone he wore in his ring and the cloak he was wearing. "You cannot harm the master of death, cease at once." The figure froze, as if it was petrified and Albus Dumbledore felt a weight lift off his shoulders; he had done it, he had survived the Morrigan.

Of course, his victory was short lived as every Hallow turned into ash and the Morrigan moved again, and this time, he was petrified. He couldn't move anything from the neck down. This was it; this was the end for him. He was going to die.

The Morrigan's hooded face approached his and she started to remove her hood. He was afraid that she would kiss him like a dementor would, but he was curious to what was hidden underneath the hood. Was she human, was she a god?

She pulled down her hood, revealing her face. It was not the monstrous being he expected but he was met with a familiar face. She looked older than he remembered, and he knew that it was impossible since the owner of the face was dead. He had killed her himself hours ago after all.

"Why do you have this face?" He rasped.

The girl smiled at him, "Because it's my face. It's been a while Albus Dumbledore."

"Jasmine Potter?" He asked.

"Yes," She responded.

"Impossible!" He spoke. And it was impossible, the girl was dead. He had gotten ownership of the elder by killing her and no magic could bring the dead back to life, he had researched it after his sister died.

"Darling, you have no idea what's possible. It's funny that you thought that you could defeat me with my trinkets. Nicholas really laid it on thick, didn't he?"

"Trinkets? How are you here? How are you alive? How could you be the Morrigan? It was thousands of years ago." He asked.

"It's quite funny actually, it was a little accident with time magic. Sent me a few thousand years back. Lived some interesting lives to be honest. I actually founded your school if you would believe it."

Albus was flabbergasted. This was his enemy, an actual founder of Hogwarts in front of him.

She continued, "You actually remind me of Myrddin, an old foolish student of mine. Very ungrateful brat. He ended up attacking me for some prophecy, I made his death long and painful."

This was too much for Albus. "Morgan Le Fey?" he questioned.

"Ah, yes I went by that name a few centuries back. Was confused by another witch called Morgause Le Fey. Horrible woman, she stole my last name for notoriety and was adamant that Camelot was hers and wanted to conquer Britannia."

Albus was too stunned to actually answer.

She continued, "Oh, right. Where was I? Ah, yes, the Hallows. I made them as a way to trick the Peverell brothers. They were always cursed artifacts; they were just subtle curse. Powerful but subtle, you have felt the elder wand's curse. Which brings us to today's issue. You broke the natural laws by killing Fawkes. Phoenixes have a much bigger role than you realize, and your murder will have severe consequence in the near future, something that could destroy the entire planet."

"How?"

"This is not the time for a lecture on cosmic balance. Teaching you will be as easy as teaching a monkey how to use calculus. Especially considering how old you are, you're very set in your way." She answered back.

"How dare you! This is an illusion of some sort, I had plans. I was going to save the wizarding world." He sneered at her.

"You, Albus Dumbledore, have been seeing the world through a keyhole trying to see as much as possible but now that you understand that you could have simply picked the lock and opened the door, you refuse the truths that you couldn't see before." She answered back without a tinge of heat in her voice.

She continued, "I never like you, Dumbledore. You're very manipulative and judgmental, and your morals are so flexible. You have no honor, no code. You caused me to have a miserable childhood but I'm too old to care about that. Your summoning of me was cute and I was slightly bored, so I agreed to come. I had planned to let you kill yourself with the ring's curse and be done with it but then I saw what you did to my castle and knew that you had to suffer for it before dying. I took away your magic first by disarming you. It was the thing that made you special, your power. But you couldn't handle the loss and broke a natural law to bring it back which sealed your fate."

"How was I supposed to know that it was a natural law? They are not written." Albus yelled at her.

"Of course, we can't write them down, if people know of them, they'll try to break them just because they could. Your actions threatened every life of this planet. You have to deal with the consequences of your decision. I put the idea in your head to find the resurrection stone in the Gaunt shack and let you be cursed. I used another compulsion for you to visit Grindelwald to deal with the curse and you killed him."

"No!" He gasped.

She laughed at him, "You might consider yourself a master of the mind arts, but your skills are that of a child compared to mine. I didn't make you do anything; I just gave you ideas, you're the one that acted on them. You killed the only man to ever love you, the real you not the persona you project. You killed the only man you ever loved. I made myself a target for your obsession, the Hallows. I made sure that Nicholas told you about the saying between the Morrigan and the master of the Hallows and you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. You killed my teenager self and I made sure the whole world watched. Now, look at you, I took away your magic, your reputation, your goals, your love. I didn't even have to do it myself; you're the one who is responsible for this. When you die today, the world will remember Albus Dumbledore as the hidden dark lord that almost conquered Britain, the man that sacrificed children for power. Your dream is dead. Albus Dumbledore is destroyed. Your war will not happen. I made sure Nathan killed Voldemort, permanently this time, and with a bit of soul magic, every death eater is now dead. Which is something that was blamed on you."

Albus could not believe for a second how deep her manipulations ran. He never stood a chance. How could he? Everything was planned masterfully from the start.

"Why? Why do all this? You could have just killed me any time. Why would you prolong my suffering?" He asked, resigned to his fate.

"Hogwarts is more than a building, the wards became self-aware centuries ago, by my design. She is the closest thing I have to a daughter, and you hurt her. You imprisoned her in her own walls for decades. This wasn't just some convoluted way for me to kill you, this was revenge." She smirked at him.

"Alright then, I'm ready to join my family." He lowered his head, preparing for his death.

"You're not going to see them. You're never going to see them again. You broke the natural laws, Albus Dumbledore. You have broken the laws of life and death. You will not be allowed in the afterlife, or as you call it, the next great adventure. You will suffer in limbo, in the void alone until you succumb to your madness and lose your identity, your self. That is your punishment. You will see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing. You will be alone for centuries. You will beg for death in a day, your mind will fracture in a week. Time is meaningless there; you will stay in limbo until there is no you anymore. Goodbye, Albus Dumbledore."

Listening to his fate, he looked up at her, eyes wide. Before he could protest, Jasmine touched him, and he turned to dust and ash. Albus Dumbledore was dead.