Dumbledore vs. Voldemort

Albus Dumbledore was a man who had seen many things in his long life - and a lot of them were very unpleasant. He had seen every side of human existence, the good, and the bad. Heroism and cowardice. Selflessness and selfishness. The extraordinary kindness people were capable of and the extraordinary cruelty that came along with it. War was ugly by nature, and he'd resigned him to seeing people die, sometimes in a very gruesome manner. Nothing, however, had prepared him for the sight when Kingsley Shacklebolt had called him to the Ministry of Magic on urgent matters. Arthur Weasley had found a stomach-turning note left by Voldemort when he had come in to work that morning.

A message that had been written in blood. On the back of one of their Aurors, the words carved into the flesh, the man's organs strewn about him in a gruesome star-pattern. And the worst thing? His heart had still been beating when Dumbledore had arrived.

The message was simple, short, and left Dumbledore with a feeling of dread. It consisted of only two words.

Two Days .

The headmaster had rushed back to the Order headquarters and immediately called for an emergency session. Voldemort had taken the bait, and the battle would be upon them soon. Both sides knew that this was a trap, and both would throw everything they had at each other, in the hopes of completely wiping out their opposition. Dumbledore steeled himself as people started trickling in. Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived first, after having left a number of Unspeakables in charge of cleaning up the mess, followed shortly by a few other aurors. Tonks came with them, bringing the Weasley twins and Ginny with her.

In short order, a large portion of the active members of the Order of the Phoenix had assembled to the emergency call Dumbledore had sent out, almost a hundred people in all, from all parts of the country. The aging headmaster glanced around the assembled faces, some of which he knew very well, and cleared his throat.

"I apologize for calling you all here on such short notice," he began, "however, we have a situation. Most of you are aware that with the help of the current Lord Polairix, we have drafted a plan to lure Lord Voldemort into an open battle at the Ministry of Magic, so that we can destroy all of his forces and supporters at once. Until now, it was uncertain whether he had taken our bait, but not anymore." Dumbledore's face fell. "Auror Gadwell, who went missing two nights ago, was found early this morning, bearing a message from Voldemort. He will attack the Ministry in two days. The defenses are not yet all in place, and our troops not in position, hence the reason I've asked you to come here. We must-"

Before he could go on, the fireplace roared to life once again, the flames turning green and licking up angrily. Before anyone could ask what was going on, spells started flying out of the fireplace - most of them were dark curses, interspersed with the occasional green flash of the killing curse. The assembled Order members broke out into panic and rushed from the room, trying to find cover from the relentless spellfire. Finally, the barrage ceased, leaving scores of dead witches and wizards on the ground, and hooded and masked figures began pouring out of the flames.

Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock as he realized what this meant. Order headquarters had been compromised. Most of the survivors had managed to find some sort of cover, kneeling behind upturned tables or behind the doorways in the corridor. They were about to return fire, when a cold voice spoke with a distinct hiss in its tone.

"Dumbledore," Lord Voldemort drew out the name, spitting it out like an insult. "Today is the day you die. It will bring me great pleasure to finally see you on the ground, writhing in pain."

The old headmaster froze, hoping against hope that he was dreaming. "It's no matter, Tom," he finally replied after a long silence. "Even if we fall, others will take our place. There will always be those who fight for freedom."

"Like that golden boy of yours, Harry Potter?" Voldemort laughed, and Dumbledore didn't have to see him to know there was a disgusted sneer on the man's snake-like visage. "Oh, wait, I forgot… you sent him to Azkaban . I bet that went over real well. Tell me, Dumbledore, how does it feel to have sent an innocent child into that hell, hmm?"

Murmurs sprung up from the Order members who hadn't known the whole story yet, as well as from those who had still believed Harry guilty. Dumbledore ignored them, instead straightening up and looked Voldemort in the eye. "That will always be the biggest mistake I've ever made, Tom. I just thank Merlin every day the boy is who he is, because no matter what, he will stop you."

"Brave words, Dumbledore. Unfortunately, you're right, the boy just stubbornly refuses to be turned." The dark lord grinned toothily. "However, there it will also have been the last mistake you ever made. Avada Kedavra !"

...

Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.

Free members get 2 chapters free.

Join Right Now

Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)