A certain Hogwarts rune professor

Chapter 678 The Lion and the Firebird

"Just a projection of Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked.Dumbledore nodded happily.

"So... Voldemort's last Horcrux disappeared?" Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"There it is," Dumbledore stretched out his hand and pointed in one direction, and Harry was startled. A crimson baby-like monster was curled up in the grass, looking terribly frightening. "Voldemort's Killing Curse brought it here with you. I came here before you and walked around. It didn't take long for you to come. To be honest, it was a bit loud. Let's go, let's go to other places." place to go."

Dumbledore led the way, and Harry followed immediately.

They were walking on a dirt road in the country, with green bushes and wild flowers growing wantonly on both sides, untended but lush.They walked down from the heights, and the buildings in the village were unobstructed.Harry was becoming more and more certain that this was a fictional scene—the more modern houses he and Sirius had seen when they visited the grave were now gone.

Dumbledore pointed his finger in a direction, and Harry was surprised to see that it was covered in a white light.

"What's that place?" he asked.

"You know," said Dumbledore with a smile, "you've seen it many times."

Harry couldn't see what was in the white light, but he could roughly judge it based on the location. He widened his eyes: "Your home?"

"Yes, we will part there," Dumbledore said in a deep voice.

"separate?"

"Oh—I'm sorry, Harry, but you'll have to go back alone. My life has come to an end, and I think I'll keep going," said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at the white light in the distance.Harry wondered if he saw something he couldn't.

"End of life? You, Professor Dumbledore, you—"

"I'm glad you finally realized that I'm going to die, oh, I might already be dead." Dumbledore said, seeing Harry's wide-eyed expression, he smiled slightly: "Don't feel sorry for me, Harry, yes I chose this ending myself, and realized it step by step. My life is very long and wonderful, especially the last year, which made up for many regrets."

They walked a certain distance, and Harry was in a state of disarray at this moment. He mustered up the courage to ask, "Is it—is it because of me? To deal with the soul fragments in me."

Dumbledore stopped, stopped, and looked at Harry, "Of course it includes this reason."

"I'd rather be myself," Harry murmured.

Dumbledore showed great tolerance and understanding, and he said reassuringly: "It just so happens that I think so. And-Harry, you are one of the reasons I do this, and I would do the same without you. decision, but it would be more cost-effective for me if I could solve your problem by the way."

"But what about school?" said Harry sullenly.

"Did you forget? I've handed in my resignation," said Dumbledore, blinking. "Minerva and Felix will take care of the school. I'm sure they'll do a good job."

"Speaking of Professor Hap—" Harry suddenly thought of another reason, "He thinks the exposure of the wizarding world is inevitable. Sirius and Ms. Burns also agree with this view, and everyone is preparing for it."

"You're quite right," Dumbledore agreed.

"Only you can reassure everyone - I mean, when the news becomes public," Harry said bluntly.

"I don't dare to take on this reputation," Dumbledore shook his head. "In fact, I am as at a loss as you are in the face of that future. Felix, Amelia, and even you will do better than me .”

"Me?" Harry said, startled.

"Yes, would you tolerate wizards abusing Muggles?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry shook his head.

"The other way around, let Muggles enslave wizards?"

Harry shook his head again.

"Look, isn't this very good?" Dumbledore said with satisfaction, "Remember your choice at the moment, even if this road is not easy, it will never make you regret it, because you are doing it Right thing."

Harry was a little confused, he followed Dumbledore into this somewhat familiar village.Then he discovered the 'abnormality'.

"Albus." A short, chubby middle-aged Muggle woman in an apron greeted warmly, and Harry thought she looked a bit like Mrs. Weasley.

"Mrs. Brenda." Dumbledore stopped and said with a smile.

"Little Bart wants to eat at your house, he likes magic so much," the woman said.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore said happily, the wrinkles on his forehead stretched out, "Ariana likes children very much, and she has prepared a lot of programs for the bonfire party."

"Oh, I know, she's always so kind, but I think it's too much trouble for you..." Mrs. Brenda said with some embarrassment, she took out two apples from under her apron and stuffed them to Dumbledore and Harry, "I baked some honey biscuits for Bart Jr. to take over tonight."

"You are too kind, Mrs. Brenda," said Dumbledore politely, and they parted, he and Harry walking on.

Harry found it strange, but Dumbledore was clearly in a good mood, and he could feel the overflowing happiness from him.He took a bite of the apple and hummed some kind of slightly comical country tune.Along the way, many people came to say hello to him. Among these people were wizards and Muggles, but what they had in common was that they all knew the existence of magic, but they didn't show any surprises.

On the road, a wizard dressed as a hippie leaned against the wall and performed magic tricks to a group of children.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry finished listening to a complete tune, put down the half-eaten apple, and asked impatiently, "Are these people also dead souls?" He clearly remembered that Dumbledore said that here is The gap between life and death, in theory, only wizards should be able to get here, right?
"I don't think so," said Dumbledore.

"That—" Harry paused, was it Dumbledore's fantasy?

"When I first arrived here, there was fog everywhere around me. This environment is obviously not suitable for conversation. The moment I turned this idea, it automatically became like this." Dumbledore said, "It may indeed have something to do with me. .”

They chatted like friends, and Dumbledore talked about the prophecy he saw from Grindelwald, "Skeeter played an important role."

Speaking of Felix again:

"I like him--young and promising, not greedy for power, and clear-headed enough. Of course, he has been very independent since he was a child, and sometimes I think he is too mature. I can't educate him like you can--only Can use other people to contain him, such as you, Severus, Miss Granger, that Niffler, Sirius, Remus, Neville... there are already many people before you know it."

Later, Dumbledore mentions a prophecy he heard at the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries.

"I think I'm the lion of the prophecy - brilliant but old now. I'm a Gryffindor."

"Why can't it be the Firebird?" Harry asked, breathlessly. "Phoenixes are immortal, aren't they? And you have Fawkes, and perhaps the prophecy hints that you will be reborn in the fire like the Phoenix..."

Dumbledore smiled.

"Oh, Harry, you can't expect a dying old man to love the world more than a young man of his generation, and I did dream of changing it, and I left all the passion, longing, fever, and longing of my life in that summer , to stay in my time. You are more willing than I am to make the world a better place, and I—look, they're waiting for me!"

Harry looked up, and they came to the place where the white light was before they knew it. He couldn't see anything before, but now his eyes caught some figures. It was Dumbledore's father, mother and sister, holding hands. Start with gentle eyes.

"Is it real? Are they real?" said Harry hastily, the way he wanted to remind Dumbledore.Perhaps his family, like those visions seen before, existed because of Dumbledore.

"I know I will go alone, but I will not refuse to fill my stomach before embarking on a new adventure." Dumbledore said softly, so Harry knew that Dumbledore was awake and determined Having decided, he watched Dumbledore walk towards the white light, towards his family.

"I wish you well, Harry."

Dumbledore said finally, and white light engulfed him.

……

Principal's office.In the mirror, Felix saw Harry open his eyes, his face had changed back to his own.Felix let out a soft breath, knowing that Dumbledore had succeeded.Fawkes let out a short and mournful cry. Felix stood up and walked to Dumbledore with his half 'disabled' arm. He seemed to be asleep, and the resurrection stone ring on his hand flickered, as if breathe.

"Crack!"

Clear crunch.Like a black gem, there was a crack on the surface of the resurrection stone, followed by a dense rustling sound, the cracks were densely covered with cobwebs, and at a certain moment, the resurrection stone became fragments.

Countless firefly-like light spots gathered in the air and danced lightly. Felix seemed to see a vague figure, but it was fleeting.Dumbledore's hand dropped, and Felix took the cold hand and placed it on Dumbledore's knee.

A wand fell from the cuff.

It's the Elder Wand.

Felix hesitated for a moment, then thrust his wand back into Dumbledore's hand.

"Harry." He turned to face the mirror and said clearly.

At the same time, Fawkes spread his wings, glanced back at Dumbledore who was sitting quietly, and flew into the mirror.The sad Fengming sounded in the ears of Felix and Harry at the same time. Harry struggled to sit up, he was in pain everywhere now, but after hearing the professor's cry and Fox's cry, he grabbed the crooked Putting on the glasses on the side, he raised his head and stared at the firebird hovering above his head.

Professor Haipu's voice seemed to come from the entire sky:

"Harry, Dumbledore left Voldemort to you, can you handle it?"

Harry looked not far away, Voldemort's fingers moved, and he was about to wake up.He muttered, "Leave it to me." He stayed where he was, quietly watching Voldemort get up from the ground, watching the expression on his face go from shock, to bewilderment, to hatred, and finally to panic.

"You're disguising yourself as Snape and destroying my last Horcrux?" shrieked Voldemort, clutching his wand, looking nervously from side to side, shouting into the air, "Dumbledore! Hap! Where? Come out!"

Harry looked down at the hysterical Voldemort and lowered his eyes.

"Stop shouting, it's only me here."

"Only you?" Voldemort looked at him in astonishment, and then suddenly understood, "They asked you to kill me? You, how dare they—" He stopped talking suddenly, showing a trace of pity in Harry's eyes .

"Voldemort, you are alone, and behind me stand all those who love me," Harry said, but his words only made Voldemort angrier.

"Harry Potter!" Voldemort called out the name in the most spiteful tone possible.

"Tom Riddle," said Harry quietly.

There is nothing left to say, and at this moment, everything becomes clear.The same thought flashed through their minds: only one could get out of here alive.The red light collided with the green light, and golden flames shot out from the intersection of the spell, and both of them fought hard.

The high-pitched cry of the phoenix, like the drumbeat of war, doubled Harry's confidence.The red light completely overwhelmed the green light, turning Voldemort's face green, his eyes shone with fear, the green light was forced back to the wand, Voldemort's body froze, and the fear on his face was condensed.

His wand was thrown into the air and whirled toward Harry, but instead of reaching out to catch it, Harry let it fall to the ground.He stared at Voldemort, knowing it was over.

Felix closed his eyes.After a while he opened his light blue eyes and said: "You are tired, Harry, Fox will take you to the school hospital and let Madam Pomfrey examine your body. And—" he hesitated, "first Do not reveal the news of Dumbledore's death to the outside world, keep it strictly confidential. I will find time to explain it to you tomorrow."

The mirror image in front of him disappeared, and Felix stayed in the dark. For him, the night was far from over.He kept dismantling the magical power belonging to Dumbledore entrenched in his arm. The spell resisted passively, but it could only tremble slightly under Felix's suppression.

……

There was a slate-green tinge on the horizon, a sign that dawn was coming in a few hours.

Fort Nurmengard.

A stiff body was thrown into the cell.

Grindelwald hit the ground heavily like a tattered bag, without any heaving of his body.

"He won't die?" A member of the law enforcement team questioned.

Then Grindelwald heard the rustle of shoes on the ground, his feet stopped beside him, and a finger went under his nose.Grindelwald took shallow, even breaths.

"Dizzy."

The footsteps were completely away from him, and Grindelwald waited quietly.The door was locked, and then there was a sizzling sound, the sound of the cell's defensive magic being activated; then the footsteps and voices became faint, but he waited, he held his breath, and did not let go. After any small echo—finally, there was a sound of the door closing from afar.

Grindelwald looked up blankly.There was no one in front of me.

He grinned and laughed silently, and then let out a louder and louder laugh, echoing in the narrow cell, and finally retched.He coughed and retched, his expression was extremely painful, and tears flowed down uncontrollably.finally--

A bloody speculum was vomited out and rolled on the ground.

"Thank you for your kindness, Longbottom, for not ruining that hair."

Grindelwald said hoarsely. He took out the "The Tales of Beedle the Poet" from his arms and put it in the corner. Now is not the time to read it.He came back and picked up the looking glass from the ground, wisps of magic power poured out of the looking glass, and then the magic power turned into a blazing blue flame, lighting him like a burning torch.

Suppressed groans of pain came from the cell.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a low sound of chanting incantations from the blue flames, and a blue fire bird soared into the sky.

……

Tonight is bound to be a long night.

(End of this chapter)