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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 70: The Real Face Beneath
The two professors were still discussing what they saw, unsure if they understood it correctly.
However, by the expression of dread on his face, Dumbledore did understand it quite well. "You put the soul insid—"
"I'll hold on to these, if you don't mind." Harry stored the glasses in a container that was then miniaturized and placed inside one of his many pockets. "I'll dispose of them later."
"His face changed again," Morgan commented. She was the only one still paying attention to the corpse. "I think I've seen this man walking around Knockturn Alley on more than one occasion. He was the pretentious prick type of guy. What was his name?..."
"By Merlin!" McGonagall exclaimed as she laid eyes on the dead man.
Now that the possession was over and the soul fragment was gone, his face returned to its original shape. He now looked like a middle-aged man with very long platinum-blonde hair, an elongated, clean-shaven jaw, and a pair of elegant eyebrows.
"That's Lucius Malfoy!" the professor said.
"He disappeared without a trace two years ago," Professor Flitwick said. "It was all over the newspapers."
"And now we know why…" Dumbledore muttered as an idea formed in his mind. "He was one of the most loyal followers of the Dark Lord, and he somehow ended up being possessed by a fragment of his soul. This matter will require further investigation to figure out the details, but we can assum—"
"Hold on, what?" McGonagall interrupted him. "Albus, are you saying that the shadow we just saw belongs to You-Know-Who?"
Dumbledore remained silent for a long moment. "You cannot speak about this with anyone. It will only serve to cause chaos."
The Headmaster saw the two professors nod and continued. "The face of that young man with dark hair… his name is Tom Riddle, and many years ago, he was a student here at Hogwarts. I am the one who found him at a Muggle orphanage and brought him here. I won't go into details right now, but I have good reasons to believe that Riddle is the true identity of the Dark Lord."
"So, does this mean that You-Know-Who was still around? And that his soul is now trapped in your glasses?" Flitwick said.
"What I have trapped was just a soul fragment," Harry corrected him. "That wizard must have used some method to break a few pieces of his soul a—"
"Mister Potter, please…" Dumbledore interrupted him. "Some things should not be spoken out in the middle of a hallway."
Harry nodded. The Headmaster was not wrong on that one.
"Now we should really call the Aurors. Minerva, I'll leave you to it. Try to get Amelia Bones to come here if you can." Dumbledore turned his eyes to Professor Flitwick. "Make sure that no students come this way until the Aurors arrive."
After giving the dead Malfoy another look, Dumbledore walked inside the office and quickly located the briefcase resting on top of the bed.
Morgan and Harry remained outside. Rescuing the real Alastor Moody was left to the Headmaster. They didn't even know that man.
"That explains why that guy was interested in you," Morgan commented. Her amber eyes were fixed on Harry now. "That Dark Lord is still after you."
"I suppose he is." Harry didn't sound too concerned. "Whatever plans he originally had, he must have made some changes after finding out that I was alive."
"This was just a shadow of the real wizard. He will still be out there, somewhere… plotting who knows what," Morgan pointed out. "What are you going to do?"
"What else? I will continue to act as I was. This changes nothing. I still need to take part in two more tasks to fulfill my part of the contract. And our true enemy remains unchanged. If this Dark Lord wants to get in our way… he will certainly regret it."
Morgan glanced at the corpse. "He is likely already regretting it. I bet this puppet was an important part of his plans. What do you think his plan was?"
"No way to tell now," Harry responded.
"Mmmm… now that I think about it, we have two fragments of this crazy dark wizard's soul. How broken could his soul be?" Morgan pondered.
"You know much more about souls than I do. Honestly, just breaking a piece of your soul one time already seems like one time too many." Harry shook his head. "These modern wizards are so reckless…"
Morgan nodded. "That is t—"
They turned their heads toward the office when they heard some steps and found the Headmaster coming out with a very ragged person at his side.
Harry observed the figure of the real Alastor Moody. He was missing a leg and an eye. He also appeared to be malnourished, but if that was all, he would no doubt recover in no time thanks to the wonders of healing magic.
"You got your friend back," he commented.
Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "Thanks to you two…" His blue eyes shifted to Morgan. "Especially you, Madam Yafel. I apologize for my previous accusations."
"No need to worry. I don't get offended that easily," Morgan told him. "Since our business here is concluded, we will be taking our leave."
"The Aurors will no doubt wish to speak with you two," Dumbledore pointed out.
"Oh, I'm sure they do." Morgan rolled her eyes. She had little sympathy for the Ministry of Magic and its methods. "You can tell them to come visit my shop if they have any questions."
She saw Dumbledore get visibly nervous. "I will…"
"Come on, Me— Harry." Morgan began to walk away.
"Take care, Mister Dumbledore," Harry said to the old wizard. "You can send me an owl if something happens."
"Don't forget to come back for the Yule Ball on December 25th. All champions are meant to attend," Dumbledore reminded him as he walked away.
Harry waved his hand at him.
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