Harry pushed the old door open and stepped inside, wondering about the strange itching sensation he suddenly felt at the back of his head.
Something felt out of place; his senses told him that much.
Dumbledore, as always, sat behind his grand desk, looking no different than the last time Harry saw him, his half-moon spectacles falling down his nose.
That's the image he stumbled upon.
The headmaster's office, like the man, looked the same as usual.
The large and beautiful circular room was still full of funny little noises that seamlessly came from nowhere and at the same time, seemingly everywhere.
There were many silver instruments spread throughout the room, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke; even in the magical world, the room's guests still found them weird.
The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. Curiously enough, the only obvious difference Harry had noticed in the room was the absence of the sorting hat.
'Curious that,' he thought, wondering why the man in front of him had discarded the patched, frayed, and extremely dirty piece of fabric.
Moving to take a seat in front of the Headmaster, after being gestured to do so, Harry looked at the silver devices in the room. Not with his eyes, mind you, but with his senses.
And sense them he did…
There was a miniature doorframe-like item that, instead of a door, had a magnifying glass connected to the upper frame, which oscillated hypnotically.
Upon seeing it, the average witch or wizard wouldn't pass it more than a curious glance. The item, however, would not be as kind.
When glanced upon, the magnifying glass would legilimise the looker and harness the memories that came up in the person's mind. That way, Dumbledore could easily steer the conversation to whatever topic he wanted, and the artefact would do the rest.
That was one of the many nefarious items in the room, though there was even one hidden from sight and inside the room's structure.
The said item was probably the nastiest one in the room, as it would slowly and insidiously make everyone in the room trust and follow the headmaster's guidance without too much thought. It felt ancient, and Harry could sense numerous blood wards cast upon it. Its considerable size was probably why it remained hidden from view.
Harry had felt prey to its effects before, though now his superb occlumency shields allowed him to block the familiar presence that tried to settle over his thoughts.
Despite all of that, though, the discovery of the silver instruments' purposes wasn't what was occupying Harry's mind, because the man sitting in front of him… even though he looked and felt exactly as Albus Dumbledore, it wasn't him.
Of course, he had known that much immediately upon entering the room. However, the true person's identity had eluded him until now, his presence hidden under very smart and misleading charms.
'The bastard could probably fool everyone in the entire world, or at least manage to hide his true identity from being found out.'
Despite the man's exemplary charm work, though, Harry had managed to dig deep enough and bypass all the roadblocks, feeling the presence that was hidden underneath so much magic that needed a few charms added, just to stop it from being visible to the naked eye.
Anyhow, as soon as Harry realised that the man in front of him wasn't Dumbledore, his identity was all but revealed.
In fact, the only reason he had dug deep enough to undo the person's meticulous work was simply to let the other man know that he could do so—and that Harry was better than him.
Because Harry knew that Voldemort would sense him unravelling his little subterfuge.
Nevertheless, he still sat down on the offered chair.
"Hello, Tom," Harry said calmly and nodded at the man.
Not-Dumbledore allowed a brief flash of surprise to cross his face before his expression smoothed back into Dumbledore's characteristic, serene smile.
"Harry Potter. We meet at last," the Dark Lord said, his voice sounding exactly like Dumbledore's.
"Not the first time for me, I must say. Still, it's a pleasure to meet another piece of your soul, Tom," Harry said easily, as if the fact that he had just revealed the aforementioned man's most prized secret was nothing but old news.
This time, the look of surprise and the clearly visible anger that crossed the old man's face took longer to disappear. Dare he say, Harry might have even glimpsed an inkling of fear. Alas, his recovery was quick.
"It surprises me that you know of such magicks, Potter. One could reasonably assume that not only do you know about them, but you have also dabbled with them yourself," Voldemort stated, a small grin on his face.
Harry shrugged off the man's words and said, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm, "Whatever you think in your free time is none of my concern, Tom-boy."
Perhaps angering a dark lord wasn't the smartest course of action; however, Harry was nothing if not daring. He was a Gryffindor after all!
Before the man could launch into what would no doubt be a long rant, which would no doubt lead to a wand-draw, Harry leaned forward.
"I must confess, though, oh my mortal enemy, I'm curious as to how you managed to hijack the old man's body," he said, genuinely wondering how one of Voldemort's horcruxes had not only managed to come back to life—something his original self failed to accomplish—but had also possessed Dumbledore without anyone finding out.
Surprising Harry, the Dark Lord threw his hands up and laughed joyfully. Voldemort could laugh.
"It wasn't even hard. The old fool had practically asked to be possessed," he said smugly, then paused, contemplating whether to reveal how he came to be.
At least that's what Harry gathered.
.
.
.
Discord Link... [https://discord.com/invite/NJ3WV9RVgR]
Patreon Link: [https://www.patreon.com/Mr_0ne] or do a Google search of 'Patreon Fake Violinist'
Chapter 131: It's Finally Over