33 Confrontation

As Oz walked up towards Dumbledore's office he mused deeply to himself about how he should approach the situation at hand. Dumbledore is a powerful and manipulative wizard and there's no telling what he will do when Oz walks in.

After what felt like hours of walking, Oz finally arrived at the gryphon stairwell. As soon as he reached the stairwell though, he realised that he actually didn't know the password. However, that didn't seem to matter as the staircase revealed itself anyway. Dumbledore was probably prepared to let him up when he arrived.

'I guess him not giving me the password is also a sort of sign that he doesn't trust me at all yet'.

Oz climbed up the spiral steps finally reaching a door.

'Well... here goes nothing...'.

Steeling himself one more time, he walked into the headmaster's office.

.

As Oz walked in the first thing he immediately noticed was Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes. Seeing the phoenix Oz was reminded of the Ambrosius ritual where he needed to collect as many parts of different beasts and creatures as possible. Although he was tempted, Oz couldn't exactly go up and ask Fawkes for a feather or forcefully take one especially with Dumbledore in the room.

After staring at the phoenix for a while he turned to see Dumbledore at the top of the steps looking down at him, the man was wearing his signature grandfatherly smile. A smile that would make any onlookers relaxed.

"I see you're interested in my phoenix. His name is Fawkes and he's been with me for many years, He's a dear friend of mine".

Dumbledore walked down the stairs and finally stopped as he was just a small distance away from Oz.

"Its a pleasure to meet you properly Oz. I understand last year you had some issues in Hogwarts with the other Slytherins not accepting you... however I feel as though that wont be an issue now."

Now Dumbledore was up close to Oz, he could get a proper grasp at the sheer power he wielded. The man was known as the second coming of Merlin, the man who defeated the dark lord grindelwald and the man who is now headmaster of Hogwarts. What Oz could see/sense right now was proof that those titles weren't just for show.

'This man... he's at the peak of step 3. His magic is so pure... I can literally feel it emanating from him. He isn't known as one of the most powerful wizards in the world for nothing... His core even seems to be balanced a bit! I thought he was against using dark magic but it seems in the past he must have brushed with it, that must've been when he was with Grindelwald. My previous evaluation of him in the first year was extremely off the mark...'.

After collecting himself from his shock Oz heaved a breath as he looked Dumbledore straight in the eyes.

"Let's get to the point Dumbledore, what is it you called me up here for? All of last year you didn't bother with me but on the first day of this year you suddenly grow an interest?".

Dumbledore stroked his beard at Oz's remark, seemingly amused at Oz's comment.

"With the way you word it, it almost sounds like you expected me to talk to you at one point... No matter... If you want to know I just wanted to talk to the descendant of Merlin, Oz Ambrosius. People always refer to me as a second coming of Merlin so hearing you were actually of Merlin's descent made me incredibly interested in who you are".

Oz looked a Dumbledore with a slight frown on his face.

'This man is obviously lying... He only wants me here so he can get a grasp on what my motives are while in Hogwarts, especially after the Harry situation'.

"It seems either rumours spread fast or you knew already that I was connected to Merlin... Well Dumbledore I'm happy to oblige if you'd like to have a little chat about my lineage and where I came from, however I feel as if you already know as much as I do".

Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly as he responded:

"Oh? It seems you hold my intelligence at a very high esteem! Such kindness is wasted on me".

Dumbledore walked back towards his chair as he took a seat, after getting himself comfy he started explaining his thoughts:

"I had my suspicions that you were of a noble lineage in your first year. After all its not like Wizards, especially those placed in Slytherin, pop out of thin air with no magical lineage known of. Your core and mind seemed to be heavily masked as well and from what I can tell its a mixture of your own strength as well as the power of the ring you possess..."

Oz allowed Dumbledore to keep talking, a lot of what he was saying were things that Oz expected Dumbledore to know already.

"My suspicions were proven and set in stone as soon as a descendant of Merlin was found in Gringotts this summer just gone... I instantly linked that event to you. Then soon after the descendant of Merlin was found a master enchanter called 'Lee Oswald' appears? You should know as the descendant of Merlin that Merlin himself was a master enchanter, someone who could create magical artefacts just by lifting a finger".

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair as he gently smiled.

"You can imagine the shock I felt when I realised deep down that you Oz, a boy in his second year at Hogwarts was both the master enchanter and the descendant of Merlin everyone has been searching for... Such an impressive lad you are! Your work from last term showed me your intelligence first hand but creating a product like the Health Specs? thats some raw talent!".

As Dumbledore continued on Oz realised that he was trying to be very friendly with him, almost as if he was wary of what Oz could do... no he was wary of what he could become.

"Just as all the pieces fell into place in my mind Hagrid then comes to tell me that you approached him and Harry in the Leaky Cauldron, exposing Harry's abuse to the wizards and witches there. Such a situation to me seemed as though you were trying to get at me. You're a smart boy Oz so you should know that I'm his legal guardian after his parents unfortunately passed away...".

Oz's face stayed cold throughout all of Dumbledore's speech. Internally he was slightly surprised by how well he pieced it together. Then again, its not like Oz took any effort to cover his tracks as to him these things were going to be public eventually anyway. Plus this was Dumbledore he's dealing with, a man who is renowned for his intelligence.

'So heres the punchline. Instead of thanking me for exposing Harry's abuse he instead decides to go down the route of "Did you expose it to get at me"... He's too caught up in the bigger picture and doesn't realise the damage he's doing... the damage he's been doing all these years'.

Looking at Dumbledore sat in his chair, Oz walked up to the desk directly in front of the man. As he arrived directly in front of the man Oz started to speak:

"Albus Dumbledore, you're a man of great stature, a man of great wisdom, a man of great power. Your previous accolades are a testament to how powerful you are and how wise you are. Being called the second coming of Merlin is also a statement of the highest order and in all honesty I respect both your power and wit greatly, however..."

Oz paused for a moment as he crossed his arms.

"You're far too short-sighted".