ALL NOVEL Chapter 189 – For The Greater Good (2)
When Dumbledore appeared, he came through the floor of the Astronomy Tower, emerging from a hidden staircase. Of course, we couldn't see him nor hear his silenced steps, the latter being probably the work of some kind of spell. To our luck, I was right because he didn't use any large-scale or powerful revealing spells. He was too afraid and cautious, avoiding alerting Flamel, who was just outside, keeping watch.
Staying still and ready, I wasn't even blinking, not wanting to miss any moment to act. My eyes were starting to burn, wondering what the hell he was doing for so long, not knowing that he was already standing before the two artifacts. Maybe he was still thinking, and, just perhaps, he realized that he had already killed for it, pushing himself over the line, making sure he could not turn back anymore. It was a death that made him abandon those old dreams, and it was another death that now put him back on track. I know I was right with my conjecture because I heard him whisper when I saw a hand appear from nowhere, holding an old, faded wand.
"Not even Death will be able to claim me anymore..."
Knowing it would alert everybody when he made a move to dispel the spell on the box, his hand moved so fast that it left afterimages, looking like he used two spells at once. One was for destroying the box along with the protective spell, and the second was unlocking his own hex, which he placed on the Elder Wand. Yet, before being able to touch it, a stunning spell flew straight at his back. I watched him twitch and react in a flash, swirling to face the spell, deflecting it while the cape he wore was thrown backward on his body. Despite his age, he was nimble and dangerous, not only deflecting Nevile's attack, but as the others jumped in, he easily knocked them back, be it Hermione or Krum, leaving Dumbledore to only worry about McGonagall, Zevron, and Neville.
There was no room or time to talk because everyone knew there was no time to spear. Everything was based on reflexes and how well one could improvise. Maybe it was by design, as Dumbledore didn't want to give us enough time to plan out anything, something that has been a thorn in his side since he returned to Britain. As they fought, I could already hear the rushing footsteps from below, belonging to more mages and, most importantly, to Flamel. No matter how strong Dumbledore was, he was alone. His only advantage was that those who fought with him for decades, like McGonagall, couldn't bring themselves to indeed try and hurt him, giving him enough freedom to cast his spells.
"Fools..." I thought, but both Quincy and I remained hidden, not interfering. Yet. Which was the best decision because I had a hunch that this would happen.
I watched as Dumbledore raised a magical ice wall, separating himself from the rest before he reached towards the Elder Wand. The moment his fingers touched it, proving that no more tricks were protecting it, we also made our move.
It was the first time I felt that I managed to match Grindelwald's speed. Maybe I really did because my disarming spell flung the wand out of his hand, right into the claws of Quincy, who swooped down from above, catching it mid-air and flying out of the Astronomy Tower. She was, without thinking, heading towards Grindelwald at the owlery, not giving Dumbledore a chance to try and catch her either by hand or a spell.
However, Dumbledore was still Dumbledore. Losing the wand made him reach for the Philosopher's Stone instead, managing to warp his fingers around it. Yet, it also gave me enough time to act a second time. Without any more hesitation, I transformed into a basilisk, focusing my eyes on his body, his face... his eyes. I don't know if he knew it or if it was a coincidence, but he pulled the cloak over his head to avoid my gaze. My change was instant and sudden, so our eyes met while he was right in the middle of closing his eyelids behind the cover of the coak.
Yet, the effect was something that was different from what was expected to happen. I knew that if looking into the eyes of a basilisk happened through a medium, the victim would turn to stone. I expected it and would have accepted it as a result because it would still be me capturing Dumbledore... But, maybe because I was not a real basilisk or maybe because of the Hallow's properties, he didn't get petrified.
Instead, the Invisibility Cloak began stiffening, losing its elasticity and silky, smooth fabric, beginning to solidify and turn into marble. Both of us were stunned a little, but only until the ice wall spell shattered, and Flamel was the one stepping through the crumbling fragments, aiming an explosion spell at both of us.
Was he still angry at me? Maybe it was because of my animagi form. I can't tell, not that it mattered. When his flaming fireball hit the solidified cape, it exploded into sharp fragments, ending one of the Hallows and, with it, Dumbledore's dream. If not for my tougher scales, multiple fragments would have pierced my body, but then, probably because of his anger, the old wizard did something drastic.
While clenching onto the Philosopher's Stone, he took control of the spinning fragments in the air, flinging them towards two people. Me and Flamel. He wasn't playing around, and I had only a brief millisecond to react, trying to shrink my body by transforming it back to my human form, but it was too late. He was still one of the greatest wizards...
He managed to aim the splinters directly toward my eyes, trying to blind me for good. He even calculated that I would dodge, launching multiple at different trajectories that would all be aiming at my eye at various levels, depending on my movement. It was the wedding ring I crafted that saved me from going completely blind that day, blocking the spell that was propelling them toward me and diverting them off course, but it couldn't catch all because of its limits.
When I was halfway through my transformation, being a human again, I felt the sharp piece of marble lodge itself into my right eye, going in deep, making me hear a squelching sound as it blinded me. Reaching up with my emerging hand, I pulled it out without hesitation before it could go through and pierce my skull. I felt that something else was coming out with it, but I ignored the pain, trying to cast a spell at Dumbledore despite the fact that he was already halfway out, apparating away.
"Fucker..." I hissed, bleeding down my face, hearing a loud thump from behind me.
"Flamel!" Zevron shouted, and I didn't need to turn around to know; the noise came from Flamel, who was hit just the same, his skull pierced by one such fragment, killing the oldest wizard alive.
"Conrad!" Neville shouted, wanting to catch up to me, but Grindelwald's voice echoed in my mind before I could answer him.
"Get to the owlery. He is here!"
"The owlery." I spoke, my voice drowned out by the noise and clamor because of what just happened. Using my connection with Grindelwald to successfully override the no-apparition rule within Hogwarts, disappearing from view.
When I reappeared, I was atop the owlery, still holding the bleeding hole where my right eye used to be. It was a complete coincidence that my wand was pointing straight at the back of Dumbledore while Grindelwald, Quincy, and I surrounded him. I heard my wife taking a sharp breath, but instead of yelling or panicking, she kept her composure, not breaking the Y-shaped standoff with Dumbledore in the middle of it.
"Give up. Please." Grindelwald expressed, standing face to face with his old friend.
"Too late for that." He answered simply, not angry or anxious; it was as if he had removed himself from everything happening.
"You can come with me." Grindelwald continued, and just hearing it, I couldn't help but form a smirk and hear Quincy snort. My wife's fingers squeezed the Elder Wand in her left while her right hand remained unshaken, her wand pointed at Dumbledore.
"I should have done it back then." Dumbledore nodded, letting out a silent sigh, "How did you do it?"
"It is a trick I learned while studying magic in my cell."
"..." It wasn't only him who was a bit confused because neither of us knew what they were talking about, but Dumbledore's next word made my jaw start to drop. "I never knew someone would be able to pull others out of apparition. And you want to say that you learned it... while in prison?"
"I understood the principles behind it then." He nodded, "I can teach you. Magic is more than spells, artifacts, or power."
"Deja vu..." he chuckled. "You said something similar when I asked about the Hallows."
"It-"
"Enough. I will either kill you now and escape to prepare for the future or die here. Either way, we will see what the will of magic is. Which must be done... For the Greater Good."
His next spell was akin to a forcefield blasting forth from his body, flinging us from the top while also destroying the owlery. Quincy managed to transform again, escaping to fall; I, on the other hand, turned myself weightless, grabbing onto one of the pieces of the owlery. As for why, the reason for it was simple... it didn't fall, but instead, its hundreds of pieces began floating in the air.
The two of them exchanged spell after spell, sending lighting to the skies, making the earth crack below while multi-colored light lit up the darkness of the night. Even then, it was not hard to tell; Dumbledore was on the backfoot between them. Most likely, it was because the wand he was using was not his, something he just had as a backup, while Grindelwald used his original wand, gaining the upper hand between them.
"Conrad!"
With a shout, Quincy threw the Elder Wand toward me. Of course, we were not stupid; I knew exactly why she did it. The moment it left her fingers, Dumbledore ignored Grindelwald, turning toward us to Accio 'his' wand, wanting nothing else but to reclaim it.
"Greed is your downfall..." Grindelwald whispered sadly, yet it echoed in all of our ears as he lowered his wand, even though he had a clear shot at Dumbledore. Maybe the old wizard expected it to happen... What he didn't expect was my reaction.
I didn't look at the Elder Wand, not even once. We knew he would do it the moment he had the chance, which was our trap. The first spell that hit him was Quincy's stunning spell, landing square on his chest while. The second was mine, an emerald-colored flash of light consuming his whole being before his lifeless body toppled from the piece of rubble he was standing on, falling down dozens of meters, landing with a crunch.
The moment he was dead, the rubble also began dropping out of the sky, forcing us to land. Before I would jump, floating down, I looked a last time at Grindelwald, knowing what would happen next. Not just because of Krum but because of his whole personality... He had to disappear, and the less we knew, the better it was for both of us. He slowly nodded at me with a soft, proud smile as we exchanged our goodbyes wordlessly before he apparated away.
"Goodbye... Master." I whispered, understanding that we would never see each other again.
"Conrad... Your eye!" Quincy finally exclaimed, transforming mid-air and then rushing up to me in tears and wiping the blood from my face with her sleeves.
"It's just the loss of depth perception, no biggie." I grinned before turning my head towards the corpse of Dumbledore and using Accio to summon the Philosopher's Stone from his pocket. "See?" I chuckled, catching it with my free hand. "I can cope with it already!"
"But..." She sniffled while I hugged her with one arm.
"It's fine... It's fine because it is finally over..."
