Chapter 666: The Lion and the Firebird

"Just a projection of Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked. Dumbledore nodded his head in a cheerful manner.

"So ... the last piece of Voldemort's Horcrux disappeared?" Harry mentally sighed with relief.

"There it is," Dumbledore pointed his finger in a direction and Harry was startled as a baby-like creature covered in crimson hue curled up in the grass, looking horribly hideous. "Voldemort's killing curse brought it here with you and I got here before you guys could wander around. It didn't take that long for you both to get here and to be honest, it was screeching a bit loudly, so come on, let's go elsewhere."

Dumbledore led the way out of the premises and Harry immediately followed.

They walked along a country dirt road, with untended green bushes and wildflowers growing wildly on either side, untended but lush. They walked down from the high ground, the buildings in the village becoming visible. Harry became more and more certain that this place is a fictional scene - all the more modern houses he had seen when he and Sirius had visited the graves are gone now.

Dumbledore's finger pointed in one direction and Harry was surprised to find it covered in white light.

"What is that place?" He asked.

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

Harry couldn't see what lay within the white light, but he could roughly guess it based on the location and his eyes widened, "Your home?"

"That's right, that's where we will part." Dumbledore said in a low voice.

"Parting?"

"Oh - I'm sorry Harry, only one can go back now. My life has come to an end and I think I will move on." Dumbledore said, staring wistfully at the white light in the distance. Harry wondered if he could see something he couldn't.

"Life has come to an end? You, Professor Dumbledore, you-"

"I'm glad you've finally realised that I'm dying, oh, probably already dead." Dumbledore said, smiling faintly as he looked at Harry's wide-eyed expression, "Don't feel sorry for me Harry, I chose this ending for myself and made it happen one step at a time. I've had a long and wonderful life, especially the last year, which made up many of my regrets."

They walked forward some distance, and Harry's mind currently in turmoil, he gathered the courage to ask, "Is it - is it because of me? To fix the soul fragment in me."

Dumbledore stopped and paused, sizing Harry up, "Of course, that would certainly be included in the cause."

"I'd rather die alone." Harry muttered.

Dumbledore showed great tolerance and understanding as he said persuasively, "It just so happens that I feel the same way. And - Harry, you're one of the reasons I'm doing this, and I would have made the same decision even without you, but it would have been more cost-effective for me to solve your problem in the process."

"But what about school?" Harry mumbled.

"Did you forget? I've already handed in my resignation," Dumbledore said with a wink, "Minerva and Felix will run the school. I'm sure they can do a better job."

"Speaking of Professor Hap-" one more reason suddenly struck Harry, "He thinks the exposure of the wizarding community is inevitable, Sirius and Ms. Bones agree with that, and everyone is preparing for it. "

"You're quite right." Dumbledore said approvingly.

"Only you can appease everyone - I mean, when the news is out to the public." Harry said bluntly.

"I wouldn't dare to claim that I have that level of prestige," Dumbledore shook his head, "In fact, I'm just as clueless as you are in the face of that future. Felix, Amelia, and even you would do better than I would."

"Me?" Harry said in shock.

"Yes. Would you allow wizards to ill-treat Muggles?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head.

"What about the opposite, allowing muggles to enslave wizards?"

Harry shook his head again.

"You see, wouldn't that be just fine?" Dumbledore said with satisfaction, "Remember the choice you are making at this moment, even if it is not an easy path to take, it will never leave you with regrets, because you are doing the right thing."

Harry was a little confused as he followed Dumbledore into the somewhat familiar village. The next thing he noticed is something 'unusual'.

"Albus." A short, chubby, middle-aged Muggle woman in an apron greeted enthusiastically, and Harry thought her eyebrows looked a little like Mrs. Weasley's.

"Mrs. Brenda." Dumbledore said with a smile as he halted.

"Little Bart wants to come to your house for dinner, he loves magic so much." The woman said.

"Well, he is most welcome!" Dumbledore said happily, the wrinkles on his forehead stretching, "Ariana is very fond of children, she has quite a few things planned for the bonfire."

"Ugh, I know, she's always so kind, but I think it's too much trouble for you all ..." Mrs. Brenda said somewhat embarrassed, as she pulled two apples from under her apron and slipped them to Dumbledore and Harry, "I've baked some honey biscuits and asked little Bart to bring them over tonight."

"You are too kind, Mrs. Brenda." Dumbledore said politely, and they parted ways as he and Harry continued on their way.

Harry found it strange, but Dumbledore was obviously in a very happy mood, and he could feel that overflowing joy from him. He took a bite of his apple and hummed some sort of slightly comical country tune again. A number of people came up to greet him along the way, both wizards and muggles, but what they all had in common was that they were aware of the existence of magic and showed no surprise.

On the way, a male wizard dressed like a hippie leaned against a fence and performed magical tricks for a group of children.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry inquired impatiently as he put the half-chewed apple down after listening to a full tune, "Are these people also departed souls?" He clearly remembered Dumbledore saying that this is the place where life and death come together, and in theory, only wizards should be able to get here, right?

"I don't think so." Dumbledore said.

"Then-" Harry paused, did Dumbledore imagine it?

"When I first got here, there was mist everywhere around me, and it was obviously not the right environment for a conversation, and the moment I had that thought, it just automatically became like this." Dumbledore said, "It probably does have something to do with me."

They chatted as if they are friends, Dumbledore talked about the prophecy that Grindelwald had shown him, "Skeeter played an important role."

Then he talked about Felix.

"I think highly of him - young and talented, not power-hungry, and level-headed to boot. Of course, he's been very self-assertive since he was a kid, and sometimes I think he's too mature. I couldn't educate him the way I did you - I can only use other people to keep him in line, like you, Severus, Miss Granger, that Niffler, Sirius, Remus, Neville ... I don't know how many people there are already. "

Later, Dumbledore mentioned the prophecy he had heard at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic.

"I think I am the lion of the prophecy - brilliant once, but now old. I am a Gryffindor."

"Why can't you be a Firebird?" Harry asked, holding his breath, "Phoenixes are immortal, aren't they? And you have Fawkes, maybe the prophecy hinted that you would be like the phoenix and be reborn in the fire ..."

Dumbledore laughed.

"Oh Harry, you can't expect a dying old man to love the world more than the young men of this era, I did dream of changing it, I left all the passion, vision, fervour, and desire in my life back in that summer, back in the time that belonged to me. You have a greater will to make the world a better place than I do, and I - look, they're waiting for me!"

Harry looked up, they had unknowingly walked to where the white light is, he couldn't see anything before, but now his eyes caught some figures, it is Dumbledore's father, mother, and sister, they are holding hands, with gentle eyes.

"Is this real? Are they real?" Harry whispered sharply, trying to remind Dumbledore in this manner. Perhaps his family, like the visions he had seen before, existed because of Dumbledore.

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"I know I will be going alone, but I will not refuse to fill my stomach before embarking on a new adventure." Dumbledore said softly, so Harry knew that Dumbledore is sober and determined, and he watched as Dumbledore walked towards the white light, towards his family.

"I wish you to be blessed with good fortune, Harry."

Dumbledore said at the end, and with that the white light engulfed him.

...

Headmaster's office. In the mirror, Felix saw Harry's eyes open and his face had changed back into his own. Felix let out a soft breath, knowing that Dumbledore had succeeded. Fawkes let out a short, sad clear chirp as Felix stood up, dragging his half 'crippled' arm over to Dumbledore, who seemed to be asleep, the resurrection stone ring on his hand flickering and seeming to breathe.

"Click!"

A clear shattering sound was heard. A crack appeared on the surface of the black resurrection stone, followed by a dense rustling sound, cracks like a spider's web appeared, and at a certain moment, the resurrection stone turned into fragments.

Countless florescent dots of light gathered in the air and danced, and Felix seemed to see a blurred figure, but it was fleeting. Dumbledore's hand dropped, and Felix grabbed the cold hand and placed it on Dumbledore's knee.

A wand fell from his sleeve.

It looked like the Elder Wand.

Felix hesitated for a moment and shoved the wand right back into Dumbledore's hand.

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

At the same time, Fawkes spread his wings, looking back at Dumbledore, who sat silently and flew headlong into the mirror. The sad phoenix cry rang in both Felix's and Harry's ears at the same time, and Harry struggled to sit up, no part of him hurting now, but after hearing the professor's call and Fawkes' cry, he grabbed his glasses, which had crooked to one side, and put them on, gazing up at the firebird circling overhead.

Professor Hap's voice seemed to come from over the sky as well:

"Harry, Dumbledore left Voldemort to you, you can handle it, can't you?"

Harry looked not far away, Voldemort's fingers twitched, and he soon would wake up. He grunted, "Leave it to me." He stayed where he was and watched in silence as Voldemort rose from the ground, watching the expression on his face go from shock to dazedness, hatred, and finally just panic as he noticed his physical state.

"You disguised yourself as Snape to destroy my last Horcrux?" Voldemort said sharply, gripping his wand and looking around nervously as he shouted into the air, "Dumbledore! Hap! Where are you? Come out!"

Harry looked at the hysterical Voldemort and lowered his eyes.

"Don't shout, I'm the only one here."

"Only you?" Voldemort looked at him in shock, then instantly understood, "They sent you to kill me? How dare you, how dare they-" he stopped talking abruptly when he saw a hint of pity in Harry's eyes.

"Voldemort, you are alone, and behind me, there are all those who love me standing." Harry said, but his words only made Voldemort more angry.

"Harry Potter!" Voldemort shouted the name with the greatest resentment.

"Tom Riddle." Harry said calmly.

There was nothing more to say, and by this moment everything became clear. The same thought flashed through their minds: only one could get out of here alive. Red light collided with green light and golden flames shot out from the intersection of the spell as both men fought with all their might.

The phoenix let out a high-pitched chirp, like the drumbeat of war, which boosted Harry's confidence. The red light completely overwhelmed the green light, reflecting Voldemort's face in a ghastly green shade, his eyes glowing with dread as the green light was forced back into his wand and Voldemort's body froze, fear coalescing on his face.

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

Felix closed his eyes. Halfway through, he opened his pale-blue eyes and said, "You're tired, Harry and Fawkes will take you to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey examine you. And -" he hesitated, "don't tell anyone about Dumbledore's death yet, keep it strictly to yourself. I will find time to explain it to you tomorrow."

The mirror image in front of him disappeared and Felix stayed in the darkness, for him the night is far from over. He kept dismantling the magic that belonged to Dumbledore enshrouded within his arm, the charm resisted passively, but could only tremble gently under Felix's suppression.

...

A grey-green hue flashed across the horizon, a sign of the dawn that would come in a few hours.

Nurmengard Castle.

A stiff body was thrown into a cell.

Grindelwald hit the floor with a heavy thud like a ragged bag, his body didn't budge a bit.

"He's not dead, is he?" A member of the law enforcement team questioned.

Then Grindelwald heard the rustle of shoes scraping against the ground, a pair of feet stopped beside him, and then a finger reached under his nose. Grindelwald let out a shallow, even breath.

"Faint."

The footsteps moved away from him completely and Grindelwald waited in silence. The door was locked, then there was a "zipping" sound, the sound of the cell's defensive magic activating; after that the footsteps and the talking became faint, but he waited, holding his breath for the smallest hint of an audible echo - and finally, from a distant there came a sound of the door slamming shut.

Grindelwald looked up with hollow eyes. There is no one in front of him.

He grinned and laughed silently, then let out a sound that grew louder and louder, echoing in the cramped cell, and finally, he started to dry heave. He coughed and dry-heaved with a pained expression and tears flowing uncontrollably from his eyes. Finally -

A bloodied sneakoscope was vomited out and bounced around on the floor.

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

Grindelwald said in a hoarse voice as he took the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard from his pocket and placed it in the far corner; now is not the time to look through it. He returned and picked up the sneakoscope from the floor, wisps of magic poured out of it, then it turned into a blazing blue flame that lit him up like a burning torch.

A groan of suppressed pain came from the cell.

After an unknown amount of time, a low chanting sound came from the blue flames and a blue bird of fire rose into the air.

...

Tonight is destined to be a long night.

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