NOVEL NEXT Chapter 284: A Different Perspective.
Knock Knock
Dumbledore looked at the door, his crystal-like blue eyes peering over his half-moon spectacles as he slowly closed the thick book in his hand and placed it back on the stand where a rather eager quill was bounding back and forth on the stilts, waiting to be reunited with it.
Dumbledore then calmly waved his wand before speaking out loud.
"My doors are always open for you Severus."
There was a soft pause after Dumbledore said that before the ancient wooden door to the Headmaster's office which had never been replaced, opened with a smooth breeze.
Snape stepped inside and walked straight up to the Headmaster's desk in front of which Dumbledore was standing and looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Did something happen at your small moonlit picnic hosted by 'Him'?"
Snape looked annoyed for a few seconds but then spoke nonetheless.
"One of the members was looking for the Beyonder Characteristics of a Beyonder from the Spectator Pathway." Snape spat out.
But Dumbledore didn't react as he'd expected.
Dumbledore remained calm and silent as if asking him if there was more to be revealed. And when Snape spoke no more, Dumbledore sighed softly.
"I see."
The light blues of Dumbledore's eyes deepened until they turned a deep oceanic depth as he looked through something only he could see.
But within a moment it vanished. So fast that if Snape had been any lower than Sequence 4, he might've missed it.
"You don't have to worry about it Seve-"
"But that means 'He' is helping 'Him'!" Snape argued back.
Dumbledore sighed and shook his head before speaking as if he were speaking to a child.
"I've told you many times Severus. You need not fear Tom's name while you are in front of me. It's your fear that gives him the ability to reign over your mind."
Snape however didn't budge from his question. He stared at Dumbledore with a piercing stare that felt like it would burn holes through Dumbledore would he not respond properly.
A soft smile formed on Dumbledore's face as he saw this.
And then he spoke with a little giddiness in his tone.
"Have you not already seen how such a twist can be used, Severus?"
Snape's eyes widened ever so slightly as he recognised what Dumbledore was alluding to.
"But…" Dumbledore shook his head, "What I want you to figure out Severus, is if 'We' can work together. This is an important year…for Harry."
Severus looked at Dumbledore with a scowl before he spoke again with a little anger.
"I suspect Black's also a part of the gathering."
"Oh? He is? Now that's a surprise..." Dumbledore said with a soft frown as if he was trying to piece together a picture that he couldn't fully imagine, yet.
Putting the matter aside, Dumbledore looked back at Snape and asked him another question.
"Can you confirm the identities of any other members?"
Severus quickly shook his head.
"Although I have guesses, I don't have anything concrete. Everyone is blanketed by a grey fog that covers most of their features."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with mischief as he continued further-
"Did you figure out Sirius's identity because of his insults?"
Snape scowled but said nothing.
And just when he was about to turn away and leave, Dumbledore spoke one last time-
"Make sure to talk to Professor Moody if you can. He broke his flask in an accident. I'm sure he'll want a new one for his juices. One of your potion flasks would-"
Before Dumbledore could finish his words, however, Snape slammed the door shut.
Dumbledore's gaze remained on the door as he thought through several things in the span of a moment. And when the sound of the gargoyle outside stopped, he flicked his hand.
Almost immediately, a vast projection emerged from his mind, as it encapsulated the entire office.
There were several pictures pinned all across the walls, with some notable ones being Harry, Hermione, Ron, Sirius and Snape himself.
There were even several ministry officials, Cornelius Fudge, Amelia Bones, and Arthur Weasley. Each having their own tags, like useful, righteous, and justice.
But Dumbledore's eyes lay on the centrepiece of it all.
And surprisingly, it wasn't Voldemort.
It was the hazy image of a student whose appearance was covered by the grey fog, as Dumbledore had seen it in Arrodes, Gehrman Sparrow.
Dumbledore walked up to the picture of the student and pinched it to pull out a long red yarn that extended along with him as he moved over to a higher position by stepping on stairs that magically appeared under his feet before pinning it onto another similarly greyed out picture that had two more connections.
"Mr. World…was it?"
As soon as the connection formed, Dumbledore's eyes gleamed as he looked at the second thread that extended from the shady picture.
Dumbledore's fingers strummed it once, causing it to vibrate as a picture was pulled closer along with all its connections.
"....Harry…I hope you do well this year."
Dumbledore then extended his hand a little and caused the quill that was excitedly writing into a book to shoot into his hand obediently.
Dumbledore smiled with an amused expression when he grabbed it and began to write in the air in exquisite cursive.
".....Voldemort's rebirth ritual will be stopped by Harry and his friends...he will also be aided by Mr. Error's Blessed, Gehrman Sparrow…"
Dumbledore looked at it for a while but the more he looked at it the more he frowned.
'Something's not adding up…'
Dumbledore then scratched away whatever he had written in the air before letting the slightly disappointed quill return to the book where it began scratching something even more feverishly.
"GOD DAMN IT!!!!"
"HOW COULD I BE SO NAIVE!!!!????"
"WHAT AM I!? A TEN YEAR OLD!!?!?"
BANG BANG BANG BANG
Sirius banged his head on a wall before he was forced to stop when it started to hurt too much.
He then looked at the stopwatch that was in his hand which showed that it had been run for about thirty minutes.
"No way was that real!!!"
"How could I be dragged away into the realm of an unknown entity!?"
"Did Walburga have something to do with this!?"
"Did she get into a generational debt to stay out of poverty or something!?"
"CURSE YOU YOU GOD DAMN OLD WOMAN!!!!"
"AND ME!!! CURSE ME TOOOO!!!!!"
"WHO TALKS LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF A REAL GOD!!!!"
"OH GOD I HAVE SINNED!! PLEASE FORGIVE M-"
"Not even Kreacher would forgive Ma- Mas- Master Sirius." Kreacher interrupted while picking up pieces of glass from the floor.
Sirius gave him a strict glance before sighing a little as he asked Kreacher a question in a serious tone.
"Did you notice anything off about me last week at night Kreacher?"
Kreacher looked at Sirius for a few seconds before his eyes widened slightly-
"What did you notice!?" Sirius asked with excitement.
Kreacher's eyes had widened as if he'd realised the mysteries of the entire universe and then he spoke, albeit in barely a whisper, but Sirius heard it loud and clear.
"Master Sirius did not piss his bed in sleep after a blackout!"
"$#@!( YOU KREAC-"
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