"Thank you, Minerva," Dumbledore told his trusted colleague before him. "Do you wish to view the memory with me?"
The Transfiguration professor considered the offer for a long moment. "Yes, I think I shall. We owe this boy quite a bit, and frankly I find myself quite curious about him."
"Indeed," the Headmaster agreed. "Shall we enter together?" he only half asked. After a short nod, both professors touched their wands into the pensieve and were quickly sucked into McGonagall's memory of Halloween night.
The memory began a couple minutes before the stranger had made his presence known. Professor McGonagall seemed drawn to her past self's plight, while Dumbledore was taking in the entire scene as best he could.
"Moody gets caught with a curse here," she input from his side, drawing the Headmaster's attention to the three Order members barricaded against the wall of the Three Broomsticks. Sure enough, Moody was struck by not one, but two flashes of light at roughly the same time. "We didn't know what hit him, so we activated his portkey."
Dumbledore nodded gravely and looked down the street. "There," he called emphatically, pointing off in the distance. "He is just taking down two Death Eaters in the distance." It was tough to see that far with the darkness around them, but he could just make out the two flashes of light connecting with their targets. The stranger was shrouded in shadow, but he could make out some movement heading into an alleyway.
It was about a minute later that two spells erupted from the alley beside the bar. With a flick of his wrist, Dumbledore rewound the memory several seconds and walked toward the entrance to the alley. Again, two spells exited the alley almost simultaneously. He rewound again, and by now he was directly in front of the alley peering in, but the stranger was hidden in shadow, and McGonagall's memory would not allow him to pursue further. Again twin beams of light were shot out, catching the Death Eaters unawares.
Dumbledore's mind was churning rapidly. The two spells were too close together to have been cast by the same person. Which could only mean one thing: the stranger was not alone. But only one person walked out of the alleyway, calling out and drawing attention away from the Order members, allowing them to quickly subdue a couple more Death Eaters. Both professors watched with rapt attention as the stranger dueled with ten Death Eaters.
"You'll notice that several spells have been blocked, though he hasn't yet used a shielding charm," Dumbledore commented to his colleague.
"What do you make of it, Albus?" she asked him, knowing that the wise Headmaster was already drawing conclusions.
"His first shots on the Death Eaters were too close together to have been cast by him alone. He has a friend with him, hidden, who is shielding him while he duels. He is careful to avoid anything resembling the Unforgivables, and he tries to avoid other dangerous looking hexes, but he is not shy about stepping into some spells when necessary. He knows he's being shielded from them."
McGonagall nodded beside him, though the Headmaster's gaze was locked firmly on the battle before him. The stranger was not making any headway against his foes, though he was certainly holding his own rather admirably, especially for one so young. That's when the boy did something that was both incredibly reckless and brilliant. He charged the Death Eaters and engaged them in close range combat.
Dumbledore could spot the moment when the boy could seemingly tell that the shield had given out and began to dodge all spells that he could. Did they have some way to communicate to each other? McGonagall stiffened noticeably when the boy was struck with each of the cutting curses. Dumbledore's only noticeable reaction was in his eyes. His body did not shift in the slightest.
A short time later, the two professors were back in the Headmaster's office each pondering over what they had just scene. "So you think that there were two of them?" McGonagall finally asked, breaking the silence.
"I'm sure of it," the Headmaster replied. "And both must be rather powerful by the looks of it. The boy's companion was able to hold up a shield continuously for several minutes. A difficult feat. And the boy showed himself to be excellent in a duel. He was a bit reckless, but his strategy proved to be sound. He wasn't making any progress with all the Death Eaters in front of him, so he rushed them and made them wary of their own crossfire. It was a dangerous maneuver, sure, but without it he would not have won that duel."
Silence descended over the pair as Dumbledore's mind was racing rapidly. They could make for excellent allies, whoever they were, but he was not sure where their loyalties lay. They were obviously against the Death Eaters and for that he was thankful. But he was wary of having two such powerful unknowns entering the equation. He hoped to get a chance to meet with them to find out just where they stood.
Dumbledore finally broke the silence between them. "Thank you again for sharing your memory of the battle with me."
"Don't mention it, Albus," McGonagall replied easily. "I only hope I get the chance to thank them once again." Dumbledore only nodded solemnly in agreement.
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