Chapter 35 - For The Greater Good II

"Drink of Despair… The false Slytherin's locket was hidden under it. The only way to access it was by drinking the potion." Dumbledore explained and took out the fake locket from the table drawer. "Someone other than Voldemort found it before us, Harry."

Harry took the locket and tried to match it with his memory. It looked the same as the real locket but without any darkness hidden inside it.

"Harry, I don't have much time left." Dumbledore took out another thing from this drawer, a ring. "The curse I received destroying this has spread too far. It strengthens over time. Severus tried his best but this is the limit…"

Harry already expected it, but hearing it was different. The old man, who had forever been synonymous with 'invincible and wisdom' to him was now on the verge of death.

"H-How will we defeat Voldemort, Professor? We need you for the final battle against him," Harry asked.

"Believe in yourself, Harry. You are the boy of the prophecy. It is in your fate to be Voldemort's end. The two of you share the wand core—Not me, it is you who will defeat him," Dumbledore said as if it was a matter of fact, not just a possibility. "From your first year to now, you have faced Voldemort and won each time. Have faith in yourself, you will triumph once again."

Harry looked down, unsure if he should even be called that. Since last year, he had done so many vile things that he questioned his magical nature. Was it still light?

"Harry." Dumbledore seemingly saw the doubts. "I have fought many dark wizards. From Grindelwald to Voldemort, and dozens of those who came between. Sometimes… you have no choice but to take a less pleasant path for the greater good. The important thing is to not lose yourself to the darkness."

Harry gulped, wondering if Dumbledore knew about what he had been up to. "I… I don't think it matters, Professor. Since Voldemort's end means my end."

Dumbledore found himself at a loss of words. He could see Harry had already accepted his fate and yet chose to walk it. Unlike himself, who had lived over a century and experienced most of what life had to offer, he knew it was harder for a boy to make peace with himself like this.

"You have my admiration, Harry." Dumbledore placed his wand on the table. "You have fought and defeated Voldemort physically and mentally, a feat not many could have achieved. If there are some… setbacks from it, it's natural. You should accept your shortcomings and strive to keep forging a path ahead. Nobody is perfect, not even me."

It's like he knows everything. Harry could feel it. The old man was asking him to stop worrying and just deal with it.

Dumbledore stood up just then, albeit very weakly. "Now, will you accompany me to the astronomy tower?"

"Of course, Professor." Harry helped Dumbledore as the old man couldn't even walk straight in his condition.

The two of them exited the office and found Professor McGonagall still waiting for them there. From there, the three of them arrived at the top of the astronomy tower. It had somehow turned cloudy since Harry had woken up, as if even the sky knew the matters of urgency.

"Harry, I need you to fight me." Dumbledore requested. "Defeat me in a fair duel."

"What?!" Harry exclaimed in shock. "H-How is that even possible? I'm just a student, Professor."

"Believe in yourself and give it your all. This is my last request from you." Dumbledore insisted and walked to the edge of the tower's floor. "My time is limited, Harry. You may have stopped Draco Malfoy's plan, but its culmination remains the same."

"The attack on you?!" Harry questioned.

"A dying tree remains a dying tree no matter the water and potions you feed it. Harry, raise your wand now and prepare." Dumbledore readied himself too. "Give it your all. Worry not of how it ends for that is my fate."

I hope my guess is wrong. Harry took out his wand and prepared himself.

"Professor McGonagall, please stand as a witness." Dumbledore requested the transfiguration professor. "You will need to give an account to the Ministry in the future."

Snap!

"Aaagh!" Harry groaned in pain all of a sudden. Dumbledore had just flicked his want a little and he felt sharp stinging pain on his shoulder already.

He's serious! Harry realized.

"Expulso!" Harry responded with an attack.

Woosh!

Dumbledore easily neutralized it and retaliated, throwing Harry back with such force that he was flung in the air and hit the astronomy apparatus.

He's not using verbal incantations. Harry stood up again in pain. How am I to fight the strongest known wizard?

"Give it your all, Harry!" Dumbledore bellowed, his long beard fluttering. As if responding to his mood, the cloudy sky turned into a heavy storm. The winds picked up and the rain followed.

Harry gritted his teeth and went ahead with deadlier attacks. He had learned plenty from Voldemort's memories, including his way of fighting. He merely never tried it in fear of losing himself to the dark side.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry shouted and prepared for a response.

However, to his utter shock, Dumbledore was struck by it in his chest as he remained standing there in a daze. Blood oozed from his chest, sullying the white robes crimson.

"Where did you learn that spell?" Dumbledore asked sternly.

Harry didn't hide it anymore. "I found a book, Professor. A potions book, marked with revisions, corrections, better ways to concoct potions, and… this spell. The previous owner was the Half-Blood Prince!"

Dumbledore glanced at Professor McGonagall for a moment, nodded at her, and then focused back at Harry. "Why have you stopped? The fight is far from over."

Boom!

Harry quickly made a Protego shield and stopped the exploding force right in front of his face. Every single spell from Dumbledore was life-threatening to him. Any mistake was deadly.

"Haaa!" Harry bellowed, this time opting for Voldemort's magic knowledge. He avoided verbally chanting the spell. At first, he couldn't cast anything and had to continue to block the incoming attacks. But he kept repeating it and focusing on it.

Just work! I can't defeat the Professor otherwise! Harry constantly tried to use non-verbal spells. Come o–

Woosh!

Yes!

At last, Harry sent an Expelliarmus to stop the old man before they went too far. However, Dumbledore gave his best and countered it with the same spell.

From then, Harry no longer shouted the spells. He tried to keep moving, making space between them. His spells got quicker slowly, deadlier as time went on. Meanwhile, Dumbledore's responses kept going slower and slower to the point Harry was able to guess the incoming attack and counter.

However, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't land a good blow to Dumbledore. The duel seemingly entered a stalemate as he kept defending himself.

Dumbledore increased the power behind each blow as if aiming to defeat Harry finally.

Constantly being pushed back, Harry gritted his teeth and decided to try out something he had never used before. It was notorious for being hard to control. But he had no choice and he had seen Voldemort use it in his memories.

"Fiendfyre!"

Woosh!

A powerful storm of fire oozed out of Harry's wand and circled all around him, getting bigger and bigger until it began taking the form of a dragonhead. It looked like a fiery tornado as it kept growing, burning the walls, the astronomy mechanism behind him, and much of the tower.

"Ugh…" Harry struggled to contain it but slowly got used to it. "I'm sorry, Professor!"

At last, he swung his wand towards Dumbledore and struck him directly. As expected, Dumbledore formed a shield for himself and stopped the fire. But Harry kept on going, stepping towards Dumbledore.

The fire kept getting bigger and bigger, decimating the entire top of the tower. The tornado increased in size and grew bigger than the tower's floor area, floating in the air around the tower by then. All of that blazing fire struck Dumbledore from all sides.

I-I'm losing it!

He had no idea how Dumbledore was doing since he couldn't see beyond the fire. But he could feel the resistance was becoming weaker as walking forward became easier.

Seconds passed, and the ringing headache in Harry's head signified his magical limit. But he kept going, even when his nose started bleeding. His face turned pale as if all his blood was drawn out, his eyes turned bloodshot red.

Boom!

At last, the Fiendfyre exploded outwards.

"Professor!" Harry failed to feel Dumbledore's presence anymore.

Harry tried to take back the Fiendfyre and stop its rampage. It took all of his focus and magical mastery to do it. Time-consuming, he felt every second was like an eternity. Dumbledore hadn't attacked him or resisted his fire for a while now.

Shhh~

At last, the fire shrank and vanished back into Harry's wand. The sheer destruction of his move became evident then. Yet, he looked around and couldn't find Dumbledore anywhere.

"Professor!" he shouted and rushed to where the Headmaster was standing. Right at the edge of the floor, he found Dumledore's wand. "No, no, no!"

His young heart skipped a few beats as he stepped closer to the edge. He looked down from there.

"Noooo!"

Thud!

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