Chapter 270: Of Bright Delights

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I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.

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8 November 1994, Beauxbatons, France

Harry turned, feeling some trepidation from the familiar voice. He dearly hoped that he was wrong, that someone was messing with him. Unfortunately, his suspicions were correct. He was alone in a room with Albus fucking Dumbledore.

It was hard to explain what was going through Harry's head. His heartbeat had gotten louder, and he was visibly starting to sweat… He was afraid… That's what it was. Everything hit him all of a sudden. He was alone in the company of the man who had almost killed him once before. He had suffered for years at the very least in that infernal garden of Avalon and ended up crippled for months afterwards, barely capable of using magic due to the damage.

It wouldn't have been an understatement to say that he fully hated Albus Dumbledore with a passion. It was odd; he rarely ever hated anything, but seeing the man looking unbothered just made his blood with a burning passion. He wanted the man dead…

He didn't care about the politics of it all, or who the next champion of light would have been… He didn't care that it would have left Grindelwald to do whatever he wished without impunity… Harry only wanted to see the former headmaster dead.

Before the gardens, he wouldn't have been this way. He would have thought about the repercussions, about how much the man was technically a stabilizing influence… He wouldn't have liked the man, but he wouldn't have hated him.

Even when he knew he was nearby, he had subconsciously put it in the back of his mind. Dumbledore was just an enemy, just another opportunistic man… Harry didn't want to think about the consequences of the man's presence, yet now, he had to face them.

It was odd, to truly and fully hate another human being. He had never experienced anything like it before. True hate…

Harry did his best to ignore the terrifying fact that the old man was able to transport him without realizing it with his Arcane Hearing… He needed to keep a clear head.

He was able to suppress the urge to attack the man, especially since he would have probably lost. He was also alone in some kind of subspace, and he needed to be patient on how to proceed. Instead of panicking, he decided to respond to the man's comment, "I never thought I'd see the day where you would actively seek me out…"

The elderly man put a fake smile on his face, "Oh, I wouldn't say that much… You're such a fascinating child, Harry Potter. Why wouldn't I want to speak to you?"

"You know, the whole trying to kill me and everything might have tainted any image I had of you."

The former headmaster chuckled, "And you have destroyed my life's work in your childish tantrum."

There was some bitterness there, to say the least, but something was different. Something was wrong with Dumbledore. Now that he had stopped panicking, it was all clear to see.

The way Dumbledore behaved was odd. He was always patient, and ready to manipulate people. To be fair, he had taken them both when Harry was completely alone, and to the world, it would have looked like he had just taken a breather or wanted some privacy. It wouldn't have been that unusual for teenagers to sneak away during feasts…

Sure, if something happened to him, Dumbledore would have been the main suspect, even if many of the other competitors or even the ICW could have wanted him gone, either for revenge or in fear of another potential Archmage. After all, Harry had made a splash with his task.

However, there was this surety in Dumbledore's expression that had been absent before. The man was obviously certain that he would get what he wanted and did not fear any consequences. Something was different…

Deciding to dig in further, Harry snarked back, "Grindelwald destroyed your life's work, and he wouldn't have been able to do it if it weren't for your own actions."

"And yet that starting seed of doubt, that made everyone question my motives, came from what you said in your guardianship hearing…"

Harry let out a bitter laugh, "Is that so? Weren't you the one who pushed me into a corner that day?"

"I was playing the game, you're the one who went overboard. There's a certain etiquette in political events, certain expectations to make sure that not too many people lose their careers. You broke that… But that's not why I'm here, as you probably know."

"Flamel's journal," Harry simply stated.

"Ah, Nicholas was a dear mentor of mine, and later even a close friend. What you have in your hands is some of his final work, and experiments that I wish to continue. I want to make sure his legacy doesn't die with him, you see."

Harry wanted to punch the man in the face, "Yeah, but as you probably know, the journal has a few safety features, including an ownership clause."

"Yes. I don't know if you've ever learnt this in class, but ownership can easily be transferred either through bargains or by force…"

He could tell easily that the former headmaster wanted to unsettle him or even subtly threaten him into giving up the journal, "Maybe you're right… Maybe someone could theoretically win the diary from me. However, what if I somehow anticipated this and bound it to my bloodline, or even better, to my magic crest? In this case, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to relinquish it, would I? I tend to be very thorough when it comes to protecting my stuff… I wonder if that means that I'm a greedy person… Anyway, it's sad that because of my impulsive decision, no one would be able to get the diary… What a shame; it would have been worth a pretty penny. I hope that one of my descendants will be able to decipher its mysteries and read Flamel's last words… They must have been fascinating."

Harry was bullshitting. He hadn't bound the journal to his crest; it would have been an idiotic thing to do. This was a diary written by someone far more skilled than himself with magic. He had learned long ago not to take risks with unknown artefacts and putting it near his soul was a very bad idea, no matter how much he liked Flamel.

After all, he was the man who taught Dumbledore, and the former headmaster must have learned an awful lot from him.

However, the Archmage could easily believe that it would have been the truth. To be perfectly fair, Harry had acted rather rashly when it came to the headmaster. The guardianship hearing, and the way he made a mockery of Dumbledore's tournament, were not the actions of a subtle person. To be fair, the first one, he had been taken by surprise, and the second one, he was just doing it out of pettiness for being forced to compete, and he had nothing to lose by doing so. Dumbledore didn't know that Harry could be subtle for the simple reason that when he needed to be, no one knew of his involvement. After all, no one knew about the Battle of Hogsmeade or even that Sirius Black was still alive…

The man's face morphed into a fake concerned expression, "Oh, you must have someone examine your crest promptly. The damage alone of using an unknown artefact could be…"

"Disastrous, I know. But what's life without risk?" he replied cheekily, doing his best to not betray the panic he was feeling.

Dumbledore seemingly stopped feeling patient, "Where is the Philosopher's Stone?"

Huh, that made a disturbing amount of sense. Harry knew that it was Dumbledore who killed the Flamels, even Nicholas Flamel knew that he would meet his end at the hands of his apprentice, but he had always assumed that Dumbledore had taken the Philosopher's Stone when he killed them. The stone containing a fragment of the Light must have been a very powerful artefact, especially since everyone thought that it was missing.

So, Flamel got one over Dumbledore and hid the damn thing in a way that no one could have traced… How interesting. While its location was not in the diary, Harry could technically leverage this information…

Calmly, he answered, "How about a trade then? One answer for another…"

The older man frowned, "Speak!"

"How about this then? I'll tell you everything I know about the Philosopher's Stone's location, but, in exchange, you tell me exactly what you're doing here…"

"I don't understand, young Harry… I'm here to judge on this…"

Harry interrupted him, "We're alone here, Dumbledore. I don't have any hidden recordings; you're the one who ambushed me. So, spare me the whole judging thing, you couldn't give a shit about school tournaments, and you know it, especially now that you're not a headmaster anymore. There's nothing here that might help you make connections that you wouldn't have made far more easily. You're not here about the Diary, you didn't even know that it existed. So, why?"

The man remained silent, meaning that Harry's theories were positive. That loud release of magic at the end of the task was probably his doing. He needed to know its source and what its purpose was.

And to do that, he needed to keep pushing, "Oh, come on! Are you sure you actually want the stone, the fragment of Light that has been missing for centuries, that could actually make you whole, and ensure your victory against Grindelwald once more…."

Adding in a sprinkle of information that no one other than Flamel could have known, made the deal far more legitimate…

Of course, that was when Harry heard a scream with his Arcane Hearing and dodged the slash of fire that came at him. He quickly retaliated with a slash of his own, which Dumbledore took over with his wand, compressed it into a ball, and released it as a beam of force and fire. Harry decided to neutralize it by warping space around it, dividing the beam and redirecting it to the dozens of transfigured statutes that were trying to sneak in on him.

Funnily enough, the former headmaster was smiling, "Very impressive, young Harry. Very impressive indeed."

"You say that, but you're the one who tried to sneakily attack me. I thought that this would have been beneath you…"

"In battle, there is no such thing as honour, and believe me, boy, we are battling. Every word we speak is a way to hurt our enemy, nothing more, nothing less. You might be talented, but you lack experience, and it shows."

 For the first time since the sneak attack, Harry had given himself a moment to think, and to him, that was immeasurable. Alright, what could Harry say about his opponent? First things first, he didn't need to win… Dumbledore wanted something from him, but he also couldn't really afford to be kicked out as a Judge for the tournament… He wanted that position, but how much Harry didn't know. Would he jeopardize it just to take out Harry? No, he couldn't really take that bet…

First things first, thanks to his enhanced Arcane Hearing with the resurrection stone, Harry had a better idea of his opponent. It could barely be considered an actual analysis, but there was something underneath all of that pure deafening sound, a soul… And while his emotions were muted, he could definitely discern them…

He was hopeful and yet irritated. He really wanted the stone, didn't he?

To be fair, he did kill Flamel for it, so that wasn't exactly a surprise.

Alright, back to the situation, he could beat this man, but not in a straight fight… He was too inexperienced, and not powerful enough… The conclusion was to not make it a fair fight. Harry's first instinct would have been to run away using his portal, which was something that he had been trying to achieve ever since he had found himself there, but he felt something odd, whenever he tried to open one... Something wasn't letting him out.

Dumbledore's face morphed into a vicious smile, "Oh, I know about your portals. You weren't exactly subtle with them during the Quidditch World Cup, and it did explain a lot about how you escaped the Gardens of Avalon. It's a wonderful piece of magic, but one that could be foiled with the proper precautions. I have to admit it was an interesting exercise when designing this place, to constrain space warping into only its internal dimensions…"

"You're the one responsible for the attack on the World Cup. You wanted the European tournament to not be held in Britain, where you were quickly losing your political power and authority… This whole tournament is your doing."

Dumbledore didn't answer the question, instead, he asked one of his own, "I just realized that for all this time, we've never once crossed wands. Do you know why that is?"

"I thought it was because you didn't want to risk me taking that fancy wand of yours…"

That brought Dumbledore short, "That's some very dangerous knowledge…"

"Yes, one that would make you a target to every power-hungry person in the world. You could probably beat them, but you're not always alert, are you? If this little fact was shared, then you would never know true peace, you would never truly trust anyone… A sad fate and definitely a way to hinder most delicate plans, don't you think?"

"I could say the same if it was publicly known that someone figured out how to make true portals," the former headmaster retorted.

"Mutually assured destruction then?" Harry proposed.

Dumbledore nodded in acceptance, but Harry wasn't exactly hopeful. The man was oddly uncaring about his information as if he knew for a fact that Harry wouldn't say anything... This didn't bode well at all. Still, the older man commented, "You didn't answer my question. Do you know why we never crossed wands?"

Harry couldn't help but feel a bit of apprehension at the man's tone.

He was right to be afraid since the entire room became illuminated by hundreds of miniature suns. Only, they weren't suns… When Harry tried to look closer, they were more like spears made up of pure light, but he could tell that getting hit by them would have been a good idea.

Huh, Harry didn't even notice any slow build-up of magic. Did the man seriously do all of this with a single uncharged spell?

He gulped while putting the final touches on his plan… Even then, he could not help but realize why people were terrified of Albus Dumbledore. Yeah, this was definitely not going to be an easy fight.

The older man continued, "It's because I rarely needed to cross wands with anyone… If I needed something done, I had an army of politicians and followers ready to follow every command. I don't have that anymore, nor do I have the political power necessary to force your hand. Because you, a boy of fourteen, have forced my hand. You have achieved something that even Voldemort and all his followers couldn't… And in a way, you set me free. I forgot what it's like to really let loose, and for giving me this opportunity, I can't help but thank you for it. You should be proud in a way…"

And as if they were waiting for his command, the spears of light were banished towards Harry at blinding speeds…

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AN: I'm genuinely not sure about how I handled this interaction. I know it's not over, but there was a lot more that I wanted to put here. I know that Dumbledore's behaviour is a bit out of character, but there is a reason for it that you'll see in the next chapter. On the bright side, I'm really looking forward to writing the fight scene. As always, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.