Chapter 63: A Forced Clearing of the Sky

As Dumbledore raised his wand, Dracula's eyes began to glow with a ferocious, predatory heat.

"After all this time," he hissed, his mouth stretching into a wide, eager grin that revealed two impossibly sharp fangs. "Do I finally get to fight you, Dumbledore?" Simultaneously, the wand of elder wood, cored with the bone of a human finger, materialized in his free right hand.

He had not felt this excited since the day he awoke.

Over the long, quiet centuries, he had encountered only a handful of opponents who could stir this exhilarating thrill of battle within him. They were, without exception, wizards of immense power, titans who had dominated their eras. But such Grand Sorcerers were rare, a dying breed, and Dracula had long since grown bored of easy fights.

But today was different.

Today, his opponent was the greatest wizard of the modern age, Albus Dumbledore. For a chance to truly test his strength against such a legend, he would gladly go all out.

Dumbledore's expression was grave as he stared, not at Dracula, but at the pulsing orb of darkness cradled in Dracula's left palm. The sphere had now swollen to the size of a dragon's egg, the very air around it warping and distorting under its immense gravitational pull.

Through that rippling distortion, Dracula could just make out Dumbledore's face. And for a fleeting moment, he saw a sly, mischievous twinkle flash in the old wizard's blue eyes.

"Professor Dracula," Dumbledore said, his voice suddenly cheerful. "I've changed my mind." He gave Dracula a cheerful wink. "If you wish to blast open Salazar Slytherin's little clubhouse, then by all means, blast away! I won't stand in your way."

As he spoke, he swiftly drew a glowing runic symbol on the wall next to the tap. The rune, shaped like a piercing eye, pulsed once before fading into invisibility. The next moment, a magnificent, fire-red bird burst into existence in a flash of flame, landing gracefully on Dumbledore's shoulder. With a proud tilt of its head towards Dracula, the phoenix flapped its wings and vanished, taking the Headmaster with it.

"Hmm?"

Dracula stood stunned, watching the empty space where Dumbledore had been. He glanced down at the "black hole" in his hand, now larger than a dragon egg and humming with irreversible, catastrophic power. His eyelid twitched.

Merlin's beard, he thought, his excitement curdling into pure annoyance. What am I supposed to do with this now? Blast a hole through the entire castle?

With a dark expression, Dracula raised the wand he had prepared for an epic duel and pointed it at the lavatory's grimy little window.

"Finestra."

The glass shattered, revealing the gloomy, cloud-choked night sky. With a grunt of effort, Dracula heaved the sphere of pure destruction out into the open air. The orb, nearly invisible against the night, shot upwards at an impossible speed.

"RUMBLE!"

A deafening, muffled explosion ripped through the heavens, the shockwave shaking Hogwarts to its very foundations. Dust and debris rained down from the ancient ceilings. High above, the thick blanket of clouds was torn asunder, the swirling mists vaporized in an instant.

Where there had been darkness, there was now a pristine, star-dusted sky. A brilliant full moon hung like a silver coin in the sudden clarity, its light scattering like a million tiny diamonds across the surface of the Black Lake.

From the window of the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore gazed up at the spotless night sky, a faint, satisfied smile on his lips.

"Do you think Professor Dracula understood my meaning, Fawkes?" he murmured, stroking the phoenix's crimson feathers.

"Kree?" Fawkes tilted his head quizzically.

At that moment, a dusty, patched hat, seemingly unwilling to be left out, hopped onto the windowsill. "Were you talking to me, Dumbledore?" it asked in its gruff, unpleasant voice.

Dumbledore's serene expression faltered. The contemplative mood he had so carefully cultivated was shattered, a well-rehearsed sigh getting stuck in his throat. "No, I was not talking to you," he said, his voice flat.

"Then he must have been talking to me!" a portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black chimed in from the wall. "And let me tell you, Albus, that Dracula fellow is trouble..."

"Silence, Phineas!" the portrait of Dilys Derwent snapped. "Can't you see the Headmaster is thinking?"

"Oh, I thought he was asking us a question."

The portraits erupted into a noisy, bickering chorus. Dumbledore rubbed his temples, led Fawkes away from the window, and with a weary snap, drew the screen shut, silencing the cacophony.

The sudden, violent clearing of the sky had consequences all over the castle.

Two fifth-year prefects, Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, were having a secret, whispered rendezvous in a secluded cloister. The sudden, brilliant moonlight stripped away the comforting darkness, exposing their clandestine meeting. Blushing furiously, the two rule-abiding students scurried back to their respective common rooms.

In the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid was attempting a bit of amateur magical husbandry. He had just placed a manticore near a nest of Fire Crabs, hoping a sprinkle of arousal potion would lead to an exciting new hybrid. The abrupt moonlight, however, illuminated his massive form. The two highly aggressive species, finding a common enemy, turned their combined fury on him.

And in a dimly lit corridor, Fred and George Weasley were engaged in their weekly game of hide-and-seek with Argus Filch. The sudden tremor shook the castle, causing a cloud of dust to fall from the ceiling. Fred, unable to stifle a cough, gave away their position.

"Don't worry," George whispered as Filch's shuffling footsteps grew closer. "It's pitch black. We can slip away before he spots us."

Just then, the brilliant moonlight poured through a high window, illuminating their two guilty faces in a perfect, silver spotlight.

The Weasley twins froze.

And Dracula, the culprit of it all, had already departed the semi-abandoned girls' lavatory. He left behind only a single, tiny bat, hanging upside down in the deepest shadows, its beady eyes fixed on the small, serpent-marked tap.

He understood Dumbledore's plan perfectly now.

***

(End of Chapter)

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